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HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


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HISTORY  //     ' 

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OF 


NORTH   CAROLINA, 


FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD. 


BY  FRANCOIS-XAVIER  MARTIN. 


Colonia  autemjura,  institutaque  populi  Romani,  non  sui 

arbitrii  habebant. 

Gel.  lib.  16,  cap.  23. 


VOLUME  I. 


ITEVr-ORLEANS: 


PRIJSrTED  BY  A.   T.  PEJVJ^IMAJV  Sf  qp,.,    ,    „  .    . 
Corner  of  Chartres  aud  Bienville  Street^.; :  r     '•*  '• 


1829 


Mav  1^13 


r- 


Eastern  BistHct  of  Louisiana,  ss. 

Be  it  remembered,  That  on  the  twentieth  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  tMenty-nine,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  the  fifty-third,  FRANCOIS-XAVIER 
MARTIN,  of  the  said  district,  hath  deposited  in  the  Clerk's  office  for  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Louisiana, 
the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author^  to  wit: 

*'  The  History  of  North  Carolina,  from  the  earliest  period.     By 

Francjois-Xavier  Martin. 

Colonioi  auteinjura,  institutaque  populi  Romania  non  sui 
arhitrii,  habebant. 

Gel.  lib.  16,  cap.  23. 

In  conformity  to  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled  "  An 
act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts  and  books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during 
the  times  therein  mentioned;"  and  also,  to  the  act  entitled  "An  act  sup- 
plementary to  an  act,  entitled  '  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learnings 
by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts  and  books,^  to  the  authors  and 
proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,'  and  ex- 
tending the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving  and  etching 
historical  and  other  prints." 

FRANKLIN  W.  LEA, 

Clerk  of  the  United  Court  for  the  Eastern  ZHstrict- 

of  Louisiana, 


•  ••  • 

•  •  • 

•  ••  • 


•  •< 


**5 


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1    •  •     •  • 

»       ••    •••• 

•    •  •  •     •  • 


PREFACE. 


An  historical  inquiry  into  the  discovery, 
settlement  and  improvement  of  the  country, 
now  covered  by  the  important  member  of 
the  North  American  confederacy,  on  the 
shores  of  which  the  English  made  their  first 
attempt  towards  colonization,  is  certainly  an 
object  of  general  curiosity ;  and  the  work 
has  been  undertaken,  in  the  hope,  that,  if  it 
be  not  too  negligently  performed,  the  youth 
of  North  Carolina  may  not  find  it  void  of 
interest  and  utility. 

If  it  be  true,  that  history  is  the  best  mean 
of  teaching  and  exercising  the  minds  of  those 
who  destine  themselves  to  public  life,  this 
advantage  will,  more  certainly  and  eminently 
be  found  in  the  annals  of  the  country,  which  is 
to  be  the  theatre  of  one's  actions:  especially, 
if  these  annals  present  the  rare  and  interest- 
ing spectacle  of  a  handful  of  adventurers, 
attempting,  with  incredible  toil  and  danger, 


VI  ;  PREFACE. 

a  settlement  in  a  new  world,  and  after  re- 
peated disasters,  successively  falling  victims 
to- their  enterprising  spirit,  and  the  cruelty 
and  treachery  of  the  aborigenes  :  next,  that 
of  a  new  set,  continuing  the  like  efforts,  un- 
dismayed by  a  beginning  so  disastrous, 
enduring  for  years  the  combined  calamities 
of  famine,  disease  and  war,  succeeding  at 
last,  in  laying  the  foundation  of  a  colony, 
which  suffered  a  long  time,  under  the  errors 
of  a  theoretical  system  of  government,  ill 
calculated  for  its  moral  and  local  condition, 
struggled  afterwards  under  the  oppression  of 
q,n  unnatural  parent  country,  and  finally, 
shaking  off  the  yoke  of  dependence,  through 
alternate  vicissitudes  of  misfortune  and 
success,    became   a   powerful   state. 

Imperfect  as  the  present  publication  is,  it 
began  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  writer 
as  early  as  the  year  1791:  at  that  period,  the 
legislature  of  North  Carolina  afforded  him 
some  aid,  in  the  publication  of  a  collection 
of  the  statutes  of  the  parliament  of  England, 
then  in  force  and  use  within  that  state.  In 
preparing  that  work,  he  examined  all  the 


PREFACE.  VII 

Statutes  from  Magna  Charta  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  an  arrangement 
of  all  those  which  related  to  America,  afford- 
ed him  a  complete  view  of  the  colonial  sys- 
tem of  England.     In  1803  he  was  employed 
by  the  same  legislature  to  publish  a  revisal  of 
the  acts  of  the  general  assembly,  passed  dur- 
ing the  proprietary,  royal  and  state  govern- 
ments, and  the  local  information  he  acquired 
in  carrying  into  effect  the  intentions  of  those 
who   employed  him,  suggested  the  idea   of 
collecting    materials  for    a    history    of  the 
state  ;  and  when  afterwards  he  had  the  honor 
of  representing  the  town  of  Newbern,  in  the 
house  of  commons,  he  was  favored  with  a 
resolution  of  the  general  assembly,  authoriz- 
ing the  secretary  of  state  to  allow  him  access 
to  the  records  of  his  office.    In  the  speeches 
of  the  governors,  at  the  opening  of  the  ses- 
sions of  the  legislature,  he  found  a  reference 
to  the  principal  transactions  during  the  re- 
cess,  and  there  were  few  important  events, 
particularly  relating  to  the  state,  which  left 
no  trace  on  the  journals  of  the  legislature, 
or  the  proceedings  of  the  executive. 


vni  PREFACE. 

During  several  journeys,  which  he  afters- 
wards  made  to  several  parts  of  the  country, 
he  received  considerable  information  from 
individuals.  Mr.  George  Pollock  of  New- 
bern,  confided  to  him  an  official  letter  book, 
and  several  documents  left  by  one  of  his 
ancestors,  who  came  to  the  county  of  Albe- 
marle, in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following,  exercised  the  functions  of  chief 
magistrate  over  the  northern  part  of  Caro- 
lina. The  late  governor  Johnson,  a  nephew 
of  Gabriel  Johnson,  who  presided  over  the 
affairs  of  the  province  from  the  year  1734 
to  1754;  governor  Smith,  who  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  papers  of  president  Rowan, 
and  governor  Ashe,  whose  ancestors  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  country, 
afforded  considerable  materials.  The  gen- 
tlemen in  possession  of  the  records  of  the 
Quaker  meetings,  in  Perquimans  and  Pas- 
quotank counties,  and  the  head  of  the  TJni- 
tas  Fratrum,  or  Moravian  Brethren,  cheer- 
fully  yielded  their  assistance, 


PREFACE.  IX 

A  citizen  of  North  Carolina,  beino*  a  citi- 
zen  of  the  United  States,  has  a  right  to  ex- 
pect, in  a  history  of  his  own  state,  some 
notice,  not  only  of  the  settlement  of,  but  also 
of  the  most  prominent  events  that  took 
place  in,  the  sister  states  ;  and,  as  the  affairs 
of  the  mother  country  have  necessarily  a 
considerable  influence  on  those  of  her  colo- 
nies, the  principal  wars,  in  which  England 
was  engaged,  must  necessarily  be  noticed  in 
the  history  of  any  of  her  American  pro- 
vinces. Under  these  impressions,  the  neces- 
sary informa,tion,  in  this  respect,  was  sought 
in  the  most  approved  publications. 

The  writer  imagined,  he  had  collected 
sufficient  materials  to  justify  the  hope  of 
producing  a  history  of  North  Carolina, 
worth  the  attention  of  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  he  had  arranged  all  those  that  related 
to  transactions,  anterior  to  the  declaration  of 
independence,  when,  in  1809,  Mr.  Madison 
thought  his  services  w-ere  wanted,  first  in 
the  Mississippi  territory  and  afterwards  in 
that  of  Orleans;  and  when  the  latter  terri- 


*J8 


X  ,  PREFACE. 

tory  became  a  state,  the  new  government 
thought  proper  to  retain  him. 

He  had  entertained  the  hope,  that  the  time 
would  arrive,  when  disengaged  from  pubUc 
duties,  he  might  resume  the  work  he  had 
commenced  in  CaroUna;  but  years  have 
rolled  away,  without  bringing  on  this  period  ; 
and  a  shock  his  health  lately  received  during 
the  year  of  his  great  climacteric,  has  warn- 
ed him,  that  the  moment  is  arrived  when  his 
intended  work  must  engage  his  immediate 
attention,  or  be  absolutely  abandoned. 

A  circumstance,  for  some  time,  recom- 
mended the  latter  alternative.  The  public 
prints  stated,  that  a  gentleman  of  known 
industry  and  great  talents,  who  has  filled  a 
very  high  office  in  North  Carolina,  was  en- 
gaged in  a  similar  work ;  but  several  years 
have  elapsed  since,  and  nothing  favors  the 
belief,  that  the  hopes  which  he  had  excited, 
will  soon  be  realized. 

This  gentleman  had  made  application  for 
the  materials  now  published,  and  they  would 
have  been   forwarded  to  him,    if  they  had 


PREFACE.  XI 

been  in  a  condition  of  being  useful  to  any 
but  him  who  had  collected  them.  In 
their  circuitous  way  from  Newbern  to  New- 
York  and  New-Orleans,  the  sea  water  found 
its  way  to  them :  since  their  arrival,  the  mice, 
worms,  and  the  variety  of  insects  of  a  humid 
and  warm  climate,  have  made  great  ravages 
among  them.  The  ink  of  several  very 
ancient  documents  has  grown  so  pale,  as  to 
render  them  nearly  illegible,  and  notes 
hastily  taken  on  a  journey,  are  in  so  cramped 
a  hand,  that  they  are  not  to  be  deciphered 
by  any  person  but  him  who  made  them. 

The  determination  has  been  taken  to  put 
the  work  immediately  to  press,  in  the  con- 
dition it  was  when  it  reached  New-Orleans: 
this  has  prevented  any  use  being  made  of 
Williamson's  History  of  North  Carolina, 
a  copy  of  which  did  not  reach  the  writer's 
hands  till  after  his  arrival  in  Louisiana. 

The  expectation  is  cherished,  that  the 
people  of  North  Carolina  will  receive,  with 
indulgence,  a  work,  ushered  to  light  under 
circumstances  so  untoward. 


XII  PREFACE. 

Very  ample  notes  and  materials  are  ready 
for  a  volume,  relating  to  the  events  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  and  another,  detailing 
subsequent  transactions,  till  the  writer's  de- 
parture from  Newbern,  in  1809.  If  God 
yield  him  life  and  health,  and  his  fellow 
citizens  in  North  Carolina  appear  desirous 
these  should  follow  the  two  volumes,  now 
presented  to  them,  it  is  not  improbable  they 
will  appear. 

Gentilly,  near  New-Orleans,  > 
'      July  20,  1829.  5 


THE 

HISTORY 

OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA* 


CHAPTER  I 

The  country,  the  history  of  which  is  now  at- 
tempted to  be  traced,  was  first  known  to  the  Eu- 
ropeans, in  the  year  1512,  twenty  years  after  the 
landing  of  Christopher  Columbus  in  the  new  world., 
as  an  undefined  part  of  the  vast  section  of  the  north- 
ern continent  of  America,  which  was  then  discover- 
ed by  Juao  Ponce  de  Leon,  a  subject  of  the  crown  of 
Spain.  He  gave  it  the  name  of  Florida,  either  from 
its  flowery  appearance,  or  from  the  circumstancjfof 
his  first  discovering  it  on  Palm  Sunday.  He  landed 
on  the  most  southern  part  of  the  continent,  near  a 
small  river,  which  fails  into  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  a 
few  leagues  to  the  south  of  the  present  town  of 
Pensacola. 

Sebastian  Cabot,  however,  had  fifteen  years  be- 
fore sailed  along  the  eastern  coast  of  that  conti- 
nent, from  that  latitude  to  the  56th  degree,  under  a 
commission  from  Henry  VIL  of  England,  without 
any  attempt  towards  a  settlement.  ^ 

On  the  return  of  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  to  Spain, 
his  sovereign  bestowed  on  him  a  grant  of  Florida. 
He  soon  after  made  a  second  voyage;  but  on  his 
landing,  the  Indians  fell  on  his  men  and  massacred 

N.  CAROI vlNA.       I 


<2  CHAPTER  [1520 

the  greater  part  of  them.  In  the  conflict,  the  chief 
received  a  wound,  which  put  an  end  to  his  existence, 
shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Spain. 

Th^  French  made  three  fruitless  attempts  to  es- 
tablish a  colonv  on  the  continent  of  North  America? 
in  the  year  1535.  In  the  year  1506,  nearly  thirty 
years  before,  Jean  Denys.  one  of  their  navigators- 
sailed  from  Rouen,  visited  and  drew  a  chart  of  the 
gulf  of  St.  Lawrence;  and  Thomas  Aubert  of 
Dieppe,  in  the  year  1508,  had  sailed  up  the  river 
of  that  name,  and  it  is  said,  that  as  early  as  the 
year  1504,  fishermen  from  Normandy  and  Brittany 
visited  its  shores. 

Lucas  Vasquez  de  Aillon,  in  1520,  equipped  two 
vessels  in  Hispaniola,  for  Florida,  with  the  viev/  of 
seizing  on  a  number  of  Indians,  reducing  them  to 
slavery,  and  employing  them  in  working  in  the  mines. 
He  passed  through  the  Lucaye  islands,  and  discovered 
the  continent  in  the  thirty-second  degree  of  northern 
latitude,  and  anchored  between  two  capes,  then  called 
Chicora  and  Guadalpe,  on  the  river  afterwards  called 
Jordan  river.  The  Indians  fled,  on  the  landing  of 
the  Spaniards,  who  overtook  two  of  them  and  car- 
ried  them  on  board ;  and  after  giving  them  meat  and 
drink,  they  suffered  them  to  return  to  their  friends. 
This  courteous  demeanor,  induced  the  Indians  to  come 
on  board  in  great  numbers^  bringing  a  large  quantity  of 
fowls  and  vegetables.  The  Spaniards  landed  again,  and 
proceeded  a  considerable  distance  in  the  interior  of  the 
country,  where  they  were  received  with  great  hospitality 
and  friendship. 

On  their  return,  thev  invited  a  number  of  Indians  to 
an  entertainment  on  board ;  and  weighing  anchors  in  the 


1528]  THE  FIRST.  5 

midst  of  it,  brought  away  their  unsuspecting  hosts. 
One  of  the  vessels  was  lost  at  sea ;  the  other  reached 
Hispaniola,  but  most  of  the  Indians  on  board,  perished, 
victims  to  their  sadness,  or  an  obstinate  abstinence. 

Other  vessels  went  from  Hispaniola  to  Florida,  and 
brought  away  a  number  of  Indians,  who  were  reduced 
to  slavery,  and  employed  in  working  the  mines. 

Vasquez  having  obtained  the  king's  privilege,  sent 
several  vessels  to  Florida,  in  1524 ;  and  his  ambition 
being  excited  by  the  information  which  he  received, 
that  the  land  was  extremely  fertile  and  contained  mines 
of  gold,  sailed  with  those  vessels  in  1525 ^  and  proceeded 
to  the  river  Jordan,  where  he  lost  one  of  his  vessels  on 
the  cape  of  St.  Helena,  and  two  hundred  of  his  men 
were,  on  his  landing,  massacred  by  the  Indians. 

In  1523  and  the  two  following  years,  the  same 
coast  was  explored  with  a  considerable  degree  of 
accuracy,  by  Giovano  Veranzzany,  employed  by 
Francis  I.  of  France. 

Pamphilo  de  Narvaez  obtained,  in  1526,  from 
Charles  I.  of  Spain,  the  office  of  governor  of  all  the 
lands  which  he  might  discover,  from  Rio  de  Palmas,  to 
the  confines  of  Florida.  He  sailed  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  year  1528,  from  tlie  port  of  Yagua,  on  the;>outhern 
coast  of  the  island  of  Cuba;  and  having  passed  round 
the  island,  they  left  its  nothern  coast,  at  the  distance  of 
twelve  leagues  above  the  Havana;  and  taking  advantage 
of  a  strong  southern  wind,  they  reached  the  coast  of 
Florida,  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  on  the  12th  of  April. 
He  landed  on  the  next  day,  and  procured  fish  and 
Venison  from  the  natives.  It  is  said,  one  of  their  huts 
was  so  capacious  as  to  be  capable  of  sheltering  three 
buadred  men.     He  discovered  in  the   possession  of 


4  CHAPITER  [152& 

the  Indians,  a  cymbal  of  gold,  which  induced  Narvaez 
to  believe  that  this  metal  was  in  abundance  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  landed  ten  men  and  forty  horses, 
and  took  possession  ot  the  land  with  the  accustomed 
ceremonies.  The  Indians,  though  they  could  not  make 
themselves  understood  by  the  Spaniards,  manifested 
by  their  countenances  and  demeanor,  the  reluctance 
with  which  they  received  them.  The  Spaniards,  pro- 
ceeding farther,  came  to  a  tribe  of  Indians  who  received 
them  better,  and  supplied  them  with  corn  ;  and  saw  here 
some  boxes  containing  the  skelt  tons  of  dead  men,  cover- 
ed with  skins.  Narvaez  sojourned  several  days  near 
these  Indians,  and  made  frequent  excursions  into  the 
country,  during  which  he  had  several  skirmishes  with 
t^em.  At  last,  destitute  of  provisions,  and  finding 
nothing  but  a  sterile  country  and  impassable  roads,  he 
re-embarked;  but  tlie  greatest  part  of  his  men  perished, 
through  fatigue,  hunger  and  disease.  Those  who  es- 
caped these  complicated  disasters,  reached  Rio  de 
Palmas.  Narvaez  was  not  among  them  :  hfs  ship 
fou^'dered  in  a  storm,  aiid  he  was  never  heard  of. 

A  little  more  than  ten  years  after,  Ferdinand  de 
Soto  was  sent  by  the  crown  of  Spain  as  governor  of 
Florida.  More  fortunate  or  more  prudent,  at  first, 
than  those  who  had  preceded  him,  he  effected  the 
landing  of  the  colonists  who  accompanied  him,  with- 
out the  loss  of  any  of  them  :  they  were  as  nume- 
rous as  those  whom  Narvaez  had  brought  from 
Spain.  For  a  while,  this  was  the  first  successful  es- 
tablishment of  a  colony  of  Europeans  on  the  conti- 
nent of  North  America.  It  supported  itself  during 
five  years  against  the  natives  who  at  last  vanquish- 
ed and  destroyed  it.     The  Spaniards  during  that 


1549]  THE  FIRST.  o 

period  made  no  effort  to  obtain  their  subsistence  by 
agriculture:  they  employed  their  time  in  excur- 
sions into  the  country,  in  a  fruitless  search  after  the 
precious  ores. 

Jacques  Cartier  is  said  to  be  the  navigator,  who 
in  the  year  1534,  gave  the  name  of  St.  Lawrence  to 
the  gulf  and  river,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  enter- 
ing them  on  the  day  of  the  festival  of  that  Saint.  Irt 
the  folIowif)g  year,  he  wintered  in  the  country, 
now  called  Canada,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
New  France.  He  went  as  high  up  as  a  place  then 
called  Hochelaga,  now  Montreal  He  returned  in 
the  year  l.'i40,  and  began  a  settlement  at  a  short 
distance  from  the  spot  on  which  the  city  of  Quebec 
was  afterwards  built.  Tv»o  years  after,  Mons.  de 
Robertval,  with  two  ships  and  two  hundred  men 
proceeded  up  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  twelve  miles 
above  the  island  now  called  the  island  of  Orleans, 
built  a  fort,  and  wintered  there. 

In  1544,  Carthagena  was  invaded  by  a  company 
of  French  adventurers.  This  is  the  first  act  of  hos- 
tility  between  European  nations,  in  the  new  world. 

Although  the  British  nation  had  yet  made  no  ef- 
fort to  form  any  estabhstiment  in  America,  their  ships 
had  for  several  years  been  engaged  in  the  fishery  at 
Newfoundland.  In  the  year  1548,  the  first  British 
statute  relating  to  America  was  passed;  the  ob" 
ject  of  it  was  to  repress  the  extortions  of  the  officers 
of  the  admiralty  who  demanded  a  duty  or  part  of 
the  profits  on  every  voyage  made  to  Ireland,  Iceland 
and  Newfoundland. 

In  1549,  Charles  V.  of  Spain,  sent  Lewis  de  Be- 
luastro^  a  Dominican  friar,  to  Florida,  with  orders  to 


^  CHAPTER  ,      [1564 

reduce  the  natives  to  the  Christian  faith  and  Span- 
ish obedience;  and  he  and  two  of  his  followers 
were  slain,  and  eaten  by  the  savages. 

The  country  remained  unnoticed  by  the  Euro- 
peans until  the  year  1562,  when  Jisper  de  Coligny, 
admiral  of  France,  procured  two  vessels  to  be  fit- 
ted out,  under  the  orders  of  Jean  Ribaud,  for  the  os^- 
tensible  purpose  of  discoveries  on  the  eastern  coast 
ofthe  continent  of  North  America,  but  perhaps  with 
a  view  of  securing  an  asylum  for  the  protestants  of 
France,  if  a  continuation  of  ill  success  should  des- 
troy their  cause  in  that  kingdom.  The  adventurers 
made  the  land  in  tlie  highest  degree  of  northern  lati- 
tude, near  a  cape  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of 
Cape  Frangais;  it  is  one  of  the  promontories  ot  the 
estuary  on  which  the  town  of  St.  ^Augustine  now  lies, 
and  they  landed  on  the  banks  of  the  river  St.  iMary, 
which  now  separates  Florida  from  Georgia.  After 
spending  some  time  in  reconnoiteriug  the  country, 
and  carrying  on  some  little  trade  with  the  natives, 
finding  themselves  in  no  condition  to  effect  a  settle- 
ment, they  returned  home,  bringing  to  their  country- 
men the  best  account  of  the  climate,  the  country 
and  its  inhabitants,  which  their  short  stay  could 
enable  them  to  procure. 

The  admiral,  charmed  with  the  report,  deter- 
mined on  forming  a  settlement,  that  might  afford 
him  and  his  companions  a  retreat,  which  the  cir- 
cumstances ofthe  times  rendered  daily  more  neces- 
sary. Unforeseen  difficulties  delayed  the  small 
fleet  wiiich  he  procured  for  this  purpose  till  the  year 
1564.  Five  or  six  ships  then  carried  as  many  hun- 
dred pereons  to  begin  a  colony,  under  the  orders  of 


1584]  THE  FIRST.  '^ 

Rene  Laiidoniere.    They  disembarked  at  the  place 
of  landing  of  the  first   expedition.     They  immedi- 
ately commenced  the  building  of  a  fort,  which  was 
called  ^drx  Carolina^  or  Fort  Charles^   and  the  coun- 
try Caroline^  in  honor  of  Charles  IX.  who  then  fill- 
ed the  throne  of  France.     The  colony  w^as  hardly 
settled,  when  the  Spaniards,  who  then  asserted  an 
exclusive  right  to  the  whole  continent,  sent  a  consi-, 
derable  force  under  Admiral  Don  Pedro  Menendez 
to  attack  it.     The  French,  too  small  in  number  to 
offer  any  resistance,  sought  their  safety  in  submis, 
sion;  but  the  cruel  enemy,   deeming  that  no  faith 
needed  to  be  preserved  v»  ith  the  Huguenots,  disre- 
garded the  promise,  under  which  the  weaker  party 
had  been  induced  to  yield,  and  treacherously  put 
them  to  the  sword.    A  few,  however,  escaped  to  the 
woods:  they  were  pursued   and  hung  to  the  trees, 
with  this  deriding  inscription,  not  as  Frenchmen^  biff 
as  Heretics. 

Far  from  endeavoring  to  avenge  this  outrage,  the 
ministers  of  Charles  VII.  rejoiced  at  the  miscar- 
riage of  a  project,  which  indeed  they  had  sanctioned, 
but  which  they  did  not  relish  because  it  had  origi- 
nated with  the  chief  of  the  Huguenots,  and  the  suc- 
cess of  it  might  have  given  strength  to  their  cause. 
The  fanaticism  of  the  times  confirmed  their  resolu- 
tion to  manifest  no  resentment;  an  individual  was 
to  do  what  the  nation  ought  to  have  done. 

Dominique  de  Gourgues,  a  Gascon,  an  able  and 
bold  navigator,  the  known  enemy  of  the  Spaniards, 
on  whom  he  had  personal  injuries  to  avenge,  ar- 
dently attached  to  his  country,  fond  of  hazardous 
undertakings  and  of  glory,  sold  his  patrimony,  built 


«» 
o 


CHAPTER  [1684 


a  few  vessels,  and  uniting  to  himself  some  choice 
companions,  went  in  pursuit  of  the  murderers  of  his 
countrymen  in  America,  drove  them  from  one  fort 
to  another;  vanquished  them  every  where,  hung  a 
number  of  them  to  the  trees  on  the  sea  shore,  and 
opposing  derision  to  derisiv»n,  inscribed  over  them, 
not  as  Spaniards^  but  assassins. 

Here  ended  this  expedition.  De  Gourgues,  either 
from  want  of  provisions,  or  the  apprehensions  that 
the  friendship  of  the  Indians  would  cease,  with  the 
means  of  purcliasing  it,  or  that  the  Spaniards  might 
arri "e  in  numbers  suiFicient  to  overcome  him,  des- 
xfoyed  all  the  forts  whsch  they  had  erected,  and  sail- 
ed back  to  France.  He  was  received  b;^  hi<  coun- 
trymen with  all  the  admiration  he  deserved:  not  so 
hy  the  court;  despotic  and  superstitious,  it  had 
every  tiling  to  fear  from  virtue. 

Neithi  rthe  French  nor  the  Spaniards  made  anj 
further  attempt  to  transplant  a  colony  into  Caroline: 
this  was  to  be  the  work  of  the  English.  Their  first 
attempt  was  made  in  1.^84.  On  the  22d  of  July  of 
that  year,  the  English  flag  was  displayed  before  the 
shores  of  Carolina  by  Arthur  Barlow  and  Philip 
Amidas.  They  were  the  commanders  of  two  small 
vessels  built  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who  had  ob- 
tained from  queen  Elizabeth  a  patent,  authorising, 
lim,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  to  take  possession  of  such 
remote,  heathe  >  and  barbarous  lands,  as  were  not 
occupied  by  any  Christian  prince.  Amidas  and 
Barlow  had  sailed  from  the  Thames,  and  taking 
their  route  by  the  Canary  and  West  India  islands,  had 
approached  the  continent  towards  the  gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, after  a  passage  of  fifty-seven  days. 


1584]  THE  FIRST.  -& 

A  fragrant  odour  wafted  to  the  adventurers, 
the  glad  tidings  of  tlie  vicinity  of  the  land,  some 
time  before  they  could  descry  it.  The  coast  at  first 
offered  no  convenient  harbor,  and  they  sailed  by  it  for 
upwards  of  one  hundred  miles,  without  discovering 
any.  They  entered  however  with  difficulty  and  cau- 
tion, the  first  inlet  which  tiiey  saw,  and  having 
returned  thanks  to  God,  went  ashore  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  land  in  the  name  of  their  sovereign. 

At  first,  they  judged  themselves  on  the  continent, 
but  taking  advantage  of  an  eminence,  they  discover- 
ed that  the  sea  surrounded  them.  Theisland  appear- 
ed to  be  seventy  miles  in  length,  and  six  in  breadth: 
it  lay  between  cape  Fear  and  cape  Hatteras,  and 
was  very  low,  and  is  concluded  to  be  that  of  Ocra- 
cock,  or  some  other  near  it  along  the  coast,  now  in 
the  county  oi  Carleret.  Stately  cedars,  pines,  cy- 
press, sassafras,  and  other  trees  of  a  fragrant  smell, 
covered  it;  on  them  numerous  and  large  clusters  of 
grape  hung  in  natural  festoons;  and  the  land  abound- 
ed  in  deer,  raccoons,  and  svild  fowls.  They  were 
nearly  three  days  on  this  island,  without  seeingany  of 
the  natives;  on  the  third,  three  Indians  came  in  a  ca- 
noe from  the  main  land;  they  fearlessly  approach- 
ed the  strangers,  and  one  of  them  went  on  board  one 
of  the  vessels;  he  chattered  much,  ate,  drank,  and 
gladly  accepted  a  shirt  and  a  hat,  which  were  pre- 
sented [nm;  after  viewing  attentively  every  thing 
on  board,  he  went  away,*  and  in  a  short  time 
returned  with  his  canoe  loaded  with  fish. 

On  the  next  day,  a  groat  number  of  Indians  came 

in  large  canoes:  among  them  was  the  king's  brother; 
the    English  learnt   from   him  that  hib  name   was 

N.    CAROLINA,      2 


iO  CHAPTER  *         {1584 

Granganameo,  that  of  the  king  Wingina,  and  that 
the  country  was  called  Wingadocea,  and  the  island 
Woccon.  The  natives  were  generally  tall  and 
well  shaped,  very  respectful  to  the  chief,  and  cour- 
teous to  each  other.  The  king  lay  at  the  principal 
town,  ill  from  the  wounds  he  had  lately  received  in 
battle.  Granganameo  sat  down  on  a  mat,  v^  hich 
was  spread  for  him,  and  received  the  English,  with- 
out manifesting  the  least  fear,  as  they  approached 
him  with  their  arms;  he  invited  them  by  signs  to  sit 
down,  and  stroaked  his  own  head  and  breast  and  then 
theirs,  as  a  mark  of  courtesy.  Four  of  the  natives  sat 
down  also:  the  others  stood  up  around.  The  English 
made  presents  to  Granganameo,  and  the  four  Indians 
who  were  sitting;  but  he  took  the  whole  to  himself. 
The  parties  having  spent  some  time  in  traffic,  separated. 

Two  days  after,  Granganameo  paid  the  English 
another  visit,  came  on  board,  and  ate  and  drank  merrily. 
He  had  brought  a  quantity  of  dressed  deer  skins,  which 
he  bartered  for  a  copper  kettle  and  a  pewter  plate.  The 
latter  pleased  him  so  much  that,  boring  it  in  the  rim,  he 
hung  it  to  his  neck  as  a  breastplate.  He  afterwards 
brought  his  wife  and  children  to  see  the  vessels :  she 
was  of  a  short  stature,  but  remarkably  well  made;  her 
behaviour  was  modest.  She  had  on  a  long  loose  coat, 
with  a  short  apron  of  leather;  a  band  of  white  coral  en- 
circled her  temples,  and  strings  of  large  pearl,  hung  from 
her  ears  down  to  her  waist.  The  children  were  fanci- 
fully decked  with  red  copper  and  feathers.  The  women 
who  attended  her,  had  pendants  of  red  copper  in  their 
ears. 

The  Indians  came  daily  from  the  surrounding  shores, 
with  leather,  coral,  several  kinds  of  dye  stuffs,  bucks^ 


1585]  THE  FIRST.  il 

rabbits,  hares,  fish,  melons,  cucumbers,  and  various 
roots.  .    . ' 

An  acquaintance  having  been  thus  contracted,  by 
mutual  beneficence  and  kindness,  Amidas  ventured, 
with  a  party  of  seven  men,  up  the  sound,  now  called 
Pamplico,  then  Occam.  He  reached,  on  the  fi^llowing 
day,  an  island,  then,  and  still  called  Roanoke,  now  in 
the  county  of  Currituck  ;  and  went  up  to  a  small  vil- 
lage, consisting  of  nine  houses,  one  of  which,  was  that 
of  Granganameo.  It  was  large,  divided  into  several 
apartments,  built  of  cedar,  and  fortified  around  with 
sharp  pieces  of  timber.  The  village  itself,  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  pallisade,  which  had  a  gateway, 
guarded  by  a  sort  of  turnstile.  The  chief  was  from 
home,  but  the  visitors  were  received  and  entertained  by 
his  wife,  with  courteous  hospitafity.  She  despatched 
some  of  her  people  to  draw  up  the  boat  of  her  guests, 
and  bring  the  oars  to  the  house :  she  washed  their  feet 
in  warm  water,  and  conducted  them  into  an  inner  room, 
laid  before  them  boiled  venison,  roasted  fish^  and  hominy; 
melons,  baked  roots,  and  various  fruits,  were  afterwards 
offered.  In  the  evening,  the  English  retired  to  their 
boat,  and  putting  a  little  off  the  shore,  lay  at  anchor. 
She  seemed  concerned  at  the  distrust  which  this  caution 
seemed  to  manifest.  Her  attention  to  their  comfort 
was  not,  however,  lessened.  She  had  their  supper 
brought  to  the  shore,  and  made  several  Indians  remain 
there  as  a  guard,  during  the  whole  night. 

The  English  were  informed,  that  on  the  main  land, 
on  the  shores  of  the  great  river  Occam  (Pamplico  sound) 
stood  a  large  town  called  Pomecock,  (supposed  to  be 
near  the  mouth  of  Gibbs'  creek,  in  the  present  county 
of  Hyde)  andat  the  distance  of  six  days  march,  another. 


12  CHAPTER  [1585 

called  Skihoah.  They  were  told  also  of  a  river  called 
Cibo,  which  fell  into  Occam,  in  which  were  large  quan- 
titles  of  muscles,  bearing  pearls. 

Wingina's  dominions  extended  westward,  as  far  as 
Chowanock  river,  and  southerly,  to  Secotan,  a  town 
equidistant  from  Neuse,  Tar  river  and  Pamplico  sound. 
There  began  the  dominions  of  Piamancum,  king  of  the 
Nussocks,  whose  chief  town  was  called  Pomonick. 
The  Wingadocea  and  Nussock  Indians  had  lately  con- 
cluded a  peace,  which  had  terminated  a  very  long  and 
bloody  war,  occasioned  by  the  treachery  of  the  lattef, 
who,  having  invited  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Secotan  to  a  feast,  had  slain  the  men,  and  detained  the 
women  as  prisoners. 

Amidas  returned  to  the  shipping  the  next  day. 
With  a  view  to  try  the  strength  of  the  soil  on  the  island 
before  which  they  lay,  they  had  committed  ty  the  ground 
a  few  peas;  after  ten  days,  they  had  risen  to  the  height 
of  fourteen  inches. 

The  English  being  too  small  in  number  to  attempt  a 
settlement,  and  the  present  being  only  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery, a  few  days  were  spent  in  obtaining  the  best 
information  respecting  the  neighbouring  continent,  and 
trafficking  with  the  natives,  who  daily  came  on  board  to 
barter  their  rude  productions,  for  the  commodities  of  the 
English,  especially  for  their  iron  and  other  useful  metals: 
after  which  the  vessels  sailed  for  England,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  15th  of  September.  Two  of  the  na- 
tives, Manteo  and  Manchefe,  voluntarily  accompanied 
Amidas. 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
splendid  description,  which  the  adventurers  g^ve  of  the 
climate,  the  soil,  and  the  productions  of  the  country 


1586]  THE  FIRST,  15 

they  had  visited,  that,  flattered  with  the  idea  of  pos- 
setssing  a  territory  abounding  with  such  advantages,  she 
gave  it  the  name  of  Virginia,  as  a  memorial  of  its  having 
been  discovered  under  the  auspices  of  a  virgin  queen. 

Sir  Walter,  anxious  to  take  possession  of  so  valu- 
able a  property,  fitted  out,  early  in  the  following  year, 
seven  small  ships  laden  widi  arms,  ammunition,  and  pro- 
visions, with  t'ne  view  of  carrying  thither  a  sufficient 
number  of  colonists,  to  effect  a  permanent  settlement. 
He  gave  the  command  of  this  small  fleet  to  Sir  Richard 
Grenville,  his  kinsman,  whom  he  had  interested  in 
the  enterprise ;  who  left  Plymouth  on  the  tenth  of 
April,  taking  the  southern  route.  He  spent  some 
time  cruising  against  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  did  not  arrive  on  the  continent  till  the  latter  part  of 
June;  and  landing  on  both  the  islands  of  Ocracock  and 
Roanoke,  visited  the  shores  of  the  continent  along 
Pamplico  and  Albemarle  smind,  and  a  .^reat  lake  called 
Paquinip,  now  Mattamukee.  Parties  of  his  men 
went  out  northerly,  as  far  as  the  bay  of  Chesapeake ; 
westerly,  to  the  Chowanocks,  up  Wcapomcie  river, 
(Albemarle  sound)  on  the  shores  of  which,  were  the 
towns  of  the  Pasquenocks,  Pasquotanks,  and  Chepavvrr, 
in  that  part  of  the  country  now  known  as  the  county  of 
Perquimans,  Muscamung,  the  westernmost  town  of 
Wingadocea;  thence  along  Chowanock  (Chowan)  river; 
they  went  to  the  town  of  Mavaton,  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  that  river,  near  the  spot  on  which  Canon's  ferry  has 
been  established,  and  higher  up  that  of  Opanock,  on 
the  opposite  bank,  a  little  below  the  confluence  of 
Meherrin  and  Nottoway  rivers.  The  Indians  in  this 
settlement  were  very  numerous,  and  in  time  of  need 
were  able  to  send  forth  seven  hundred  warriors:  the 


14  CHAPTER  [1586 

English  found  about  half  way  between  Roanoke  and 
Tar  rivers,  the  town  of  Wanjoacks  and  that  of  the 
Pananarocks  on  the  latter. 

Sir  Richard,  next  proceeded  to  cape  Hatteras,  where 
he  was  visited  by  Granganameo,  who  came  to  renew 
his  acquaintance  v/ith  the  English;  this  was  the  last 
time  they  saw  that  chief,  who  died  a  few  days  after. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  Sir  Richard,  sailed  for 
England,  leaving  a  colony  of  one  hundred  and  eight 
persons,  under  the  orders  of  Ralph  Lane,  The  choice 
of  this  spot  was  not  fortunate,  the  island  being  in  a 
bleak  sound,  and  destitute  of  a  convenient  harbour. 

The  chief,  as  well  as  tlie  most  beneficial  object  of  the 
attention  of  the  colonists,  after  providing  the  means  of 
subsistence,  ought  to  have  been  the  attainment  of  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  country  around  them  ;  to 
this  they  were  not  absolutely  inattentive,  neither  were 
their  labors  altogether  unsuccessful.  Gold,  however, 
was  the  principal  inducement  that  tempted  Europeans 
to  visit  America;  and  towards  the  discovery  of  mines 
were  the  thoughts  of  the  adventurers  incessantly  bent. 
They  had  persuaded  themselves  that  the  country  of 
which  they  were  in  possession,  could  not  be  destitute 
of  precious  metals,  with  which,  America  was  imagined 
to  abound. 

/  With  a  view  to  realize  the  fond  hopes  which  they 
entertained,  the  colonists  reconnoitred  the  neighbouring 
continent.  The  Indians  soon  discovered  the  object 
which  the  English  sought  with  so  much  avidity:  and 
Menotoscon,  king  of  the  Chowanocks,  amused  gover- 
nor Lane,  with  tales  of  rich  mines  in  the  western  parts 
of  the  country,  which  they  had  not  yet  explored.  He 
«poke  of  a  copper  mine,  and  a  pearl  fishery;  and  gave  an 


1585]  THE  FIRST.  lo 

account  of  the  river  now  called  Roanoke,  which,  he 
described  as  rising  from  a  rock  so  near  the  sea,  that, 
during  high  winds,  the  surge  beat  over  the  spring. 
The  governor  sanguinely  concluded  this  sea  to  be  the 
gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  some  arm  that 
opened  into  it.  Their  heads  being  filled  with  these 
chimerical  ideas,  the  English  formed  various  schemes, 
and  undertook  a  fatiguing  and  hazardous  journey  up 
that  river,  at  the  instigation  of  Wingina,  to  visit  the 
Moratuck  Indians,  the  great  nation  called  the  Morjoacks, 
a  number  of  other  warlike  tribes,  and  a  great  king,  who 
dwelt  at  some  days  journey  from  the  head  of  the  river. 
So  eager  were  they,  and  so  resolutely  bent  on  discovery, 
that  they  could  not  be  induced  to  return,  as  long  as 
they  had  a  pint  of  corn  a  man,  left,  and  two  mastiff 
dogs,  (which  they  boiled  with  sassafras  leaves)  that 
might  afford  them  sustenance  on  their  way  back. 
However,  after  several  days,  having  vainly  undergone 
great  hardship  and  danger,  they  at  last  returned,  and 
joyfully  reached  their  habitations  on  Roanoke  island. 

The  death  of  Granganameo  had  caused  a  great  altera- 
tion in  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  His  credit  with  Win- 
gma,  his  brother,  and  the  interest  of  Ensenore,  their 
father,  had  restrained  the  king's  malice  and  perfidy 
within  some  bounds ;  but,  on  the  death  of  Granganameo^ 
he  changed  his  name  to  that  of  Pennissassan,  and  be- 
came a  secret,  but  a  bitter  enemy  to  the  English.  To 
his  machinations,  were  chiefly  owing  the  hardships  they 
had  undergone  in  their  journey  to  the  Chowanocks. 
He  had  given  secret  intelligence  to  those  Indians,  of  the 
approach  of  governor  Lane;  and  had  sown  seeds  of  dis- 
cord, between  the  white  and  red  people.  But  a  rumor 
being  spread,  that  governor  Lane  and  bis  party  were  all 


16  CHAPTER  [15S6 

slain,  or  starved  in  their  journey  up  Monattuck,  he 
began  to  blaspheme  the  God  of  the  English,  and  endea- 
voured, by  all  the  devices  in  his  power,  to  annoy  and 
distress  them. 

Ensenore,  his  father,  the  best  friend  the  English  had, 
after  the  death  of  Granganameo,  lost  all  his  ability  to 
serve  and  assist  them.  But  their  return  with  the  son  of 
Mcnatonon,  (one  of  the  greatest  Indian  kings)  as  a 
prisoner,  joined  to  the  tesdmony  of  Manteo,  and  the 
other  Indians  who  had  accompanied  them,  showing  how 
little  the  English  valued  any  people  they  met  with,  or 
regarded  toils,  hunger  or  death,  restrained,  for  a  while, 
his  devices,  and  brought  Ensenore  again  into  credit  and 
esteem. 

The  king  of  the  Chowanocks,  soon  after,  sent  a 
present  of  pearl  to  govt^rnor  Lane,  and  Okisko,  king  of 
the  Weapomeaks,  who  possessed  all  the  country  between 
Chowan  river  and  Albemarle  sound,  up  to  the  bay  of 
Chesapeake,  came,  attended  with  twenty  of  his  chief- 
tains, who,  with  their  king,  acknowledged  their  subjec- 
tion to  the  king  of  the  English.  This  circumstance, 
and  the  persuasions  of  Ensenore,  induced  Wingina  to 
seek,  at  least  in  appearance,  the  friendsliip  of  the 
English.  He  came  with  his  people,  planted  their  fields, 
and  made  weirs  for  them,  when  they  w^ere  near  famish- 
ing. This  good  understanding  was  not,  however,  of 
long  duration.  The  death  of  Ensenore  put  an  end  to 
it.  For  Wingina,  under  pretence  of  celebrating  his 
father's  funeral  rites,  laid  a  scheme  of  assembling  sixteen 
or  eighteen  hundred  Indians.  With  this  force  he  intend- 
ed to  cut  off  all  the  English  at  once.  But  his  design 
was  discovered  to  governor  Lane,  by  his  prisoner 
Okisko,  the  son  of  a  king  of  the  Chowanocks.     The 


1586]  THE  FIRST.  17 

governor  in  his  turn,  endeavored  to  seize  on  all  the 
canoes  on  Roanoke,  with  the  view  to  secure  the 
Indians  on  the  island.  They  took  the  alarm,  and  a 
small  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  five  or  six  Indians 
were  slain,  and  the  rest  effected  their  escape.  A  mu- 
tual distrust  succeeded,  until  Wingina,  being  entrap- 
ped by  the  English,  and  killed,  with  eight  of  his  men, 
the  Indians  were  intimidated  into  a  peaceable  demeanor. 

The  colonists  having  been  inattentive  to  the  culture 
of  the  ground,  and  the  provisions  which  they  had 
brought  from  England,  being  nearly  exhausted,  they 
found  themselves  under  the  necessity  of  imitating  the 
natives,  and  resorting  for  food  to  the  precarious  supplies 
afforded  them  by  the  water  and  woods.  This  re- 
source proved  insufHcient;  and  governor  Lane  sent 
parties  of  his  men  in  different  directions,  to  procure 
subbistence.  Some  went  to  the  main  to  support 
themselves  on  roots  and  oysters.  Twenty  men  were 
sent,  under  the  orders  of  ciiptain  Strafford,  towards  the 
Croatans,  a  nation  of  Indians  then  living  on  the  southern 
shore  of  cape  Lookout;  and  a  Mr.  Prideaux,  went  with 
twenty  others,  to  cape  Hatteras,  to  shift  for  themselves, 
and  espy  any  sail  passing  by  the  coast,  from  which 
relief  might  be  expected. 

These  two  detachments  had  not  been  long  out,  when 
one  of  captain  Strafford's  men  returned  to  the  island, 
bringing  information  of  the  approach  of  a  fleet  of  twenty- 
three  sail;  and  on  the  following  day,  the  captain  himself 
came,  and  handed  to  governor  Lane,  a  letter  from  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  The  adn  iru  was  on  his  return  from 
a  successful  expedition  against  the  Spaniards,  in  South 
America,  having  taken  Carthagena  and  the  capita!  city  of 
Hispaniola,  burnt  the  fort.s  of  St.  Augustine  and  St. 

N.  CAROLINA.       3 


rg  CHAPTER  [1586 

Helena,  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  and  done  much  other 
injury  to  the  enemy.  He  had  been  ordered  to  visit,  on 
his  return,  the  colony  of  Virginia,  and  to  afford  it  pro- 
tection and  assistance.  He  agreed  to  supply  governor 
Lane  with  one  hundred  men,  a  small  vessel,  and  provi- 
sions for  four  months.  But,  before  he  could  afford  this 
relief,  his  scheme  was  defeated  by  a  sudden  and  violent 
storm,  which  forced  out  to  sea,  among  many  other 
ships,  that,  on  board  of  which  were  the  men  and  provi- 
sionsy  destined  for  the  colony. 

Discouraged  by  this  misfortune,  and  w^orn  out  with 
fatigue  and  famine,  the  colonists  unanimously  deter- 
mmed  on  abandoning  the  country  in  the  summer;  or  as 
soon  as  the  discoveries  they  could  make,  would  justify 
their  return. 

For  this  purpose,  a  ship  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
tons,  with  sufficient  provisions,  was  detached  from  the 
fleet;  but,  as  she  was  of  too  great  a  burden  to  lie,  with 
safety,  in  any  of  the  harbors  of  the  colony,  and  there 
was  too  great  a  danger  in  suffering  her  to  ride  in  an 
open  road,  they  prevailed  on  Sir  Francis  to  take  them 
on  board  of  the  fleet,  which  sailed  for  England  on  the 
19th  of  June;  and  they  landed  in  Portsmouth,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  following  month;  the  colonists  having  re- 
mained about  one  year  in  Virginia. 

Such  was  the  inauspicious  result,  of  the  first  attempt 
to  plant  an  English  colony,  on  the  continent  of  North 
America.  The  nation  derived  from  it  no  other  advan- 
tage, than  some  knowledge  of  the  country  and  its  inha- 
bitants, and  of  the  introduction  into  England  of  a  nutri- 
tive root,  the  cultivation  of  which*  has  since  been  won- 
derfully  extended,  principally  in  Ireland;  and  which 
furnishes  now,  a  welcome  dish  to  the  table  of  the  wealthy^ 


1586]  THE  FIRST.  19 

and  a  cheap  food  on  that  of  the  poor :  and  that  of  a  weed 
of  singular  strength  and  power,  tobacco,  the  use  of 
wiiich,  gradual'sy  t-^x tended  itself  to  every  class  of  society 
aiid  the  demand  for  which  has  become  almost  universal. 

Harriot,  a  man  of  science  and  observation,  who  ac- 
companied governor  Lane:,  published,  on  his  return,  a 
short  treatise,  in  which,  he  described  with  great  accuracy, 
the  climate,  soil,  and  productions  of  the  country. 

According  to  his  account,  the  natives  were  generally 
well  proportioned,  straight  and  tall,  their  eyes  black,  or 
of  a  dark  hazle,  the  white  part  streaked  with  red;  their 
complexion  was  tawney,  their  bodies  being  kept  daubed 
with  bear's  grease,  blackened  with  burnt  coals,  or  red- 
dened with  the  powder  of  a  root,  which  they  obtained 
from  the  Indians,  who  dwelt  in  the  hilly  part  of  the 
country. 

They  believed  in  one  eternal  Supreme  God,  the  crea- 
tor of  the  world,  and  in  the  immortalitv  of  the  soul. 
They  had  an  idea  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments, and  imagined  that  there  were  Gods  of  an  infe- 
rior order,  who  had  assisted  the  Supreme  one,  their  crea- 
tor, in  the  foundation  of  the  world  :  and  that  mankind  had 
sprung  from  a  woman,  who  had  conceived  in  the  em- 
braces of  one  of  the  Gods.  They  founded  these 
doctrines,  on  the  authority  of  two  persons,  who  had 
risen  from  the  dead.  The  influence  of  these  tenets, 
however,  on  their  priests  and  chiefs,  was  much  weaker 
than  on  the  common  people.  The  former,  like  the 
great  in  civilised  countries,  freeing  their  consciences 
from  the  shackles  of  a  creed,  and  their  actions  from  the 
restraints  of  religion,  and  sometimes  of  morality. 

They  were  not,  however,  so  firm  in  these  opinions, 
as  to  close  up  their  minds  against  information.     They 


20  CHAPTER  [iSSa 

admirfd  the  watches,  compasses,  guns,  burning  glasseSp 
and  other  instruments  of  the  English,  and  thouo;ht  they 
were  the  work  of  the  Gods,  or  at  lea^t,  that  the  Grids  had 
taught  the  English  how  to  construct  them.  Hence 
they  listened  with  great  attention,  to  conversation  on 
religious  subjects.  Wingina  himself  joined  the  colo- 
nists in  their  prayers;  and  when  he  was  sick,  attributing 
his  situation  to  some  offence  given  to  the  God  of  the 
white  people,  he  would  beg  them  to  pray  for  him,  and 
intercede  that  he  might  dwell  with  him  after  death. 
Once,  when  a  long  drought  had  withered  their  corn, 
they  considered  their  misfortune,  as  the  punishment  of 
their  ill  conduct  towards  the  English;  and  they  promis- 
ed them  a  portion  of  their  corn,  if  they  would  pray  to 
their  God  to  cause  it  to  ripen. 

The  estimation  in  which  they  held  the  English,  was 
considerably  heightened,  by  a  curious  accident.  An 
epidemical  disease  visited  the  country;  the  English 
were  free  from  it ;  and  it  fell  with  greater  violence  on 
some  Indian  tribes,  against  whom  they  had  causes  of 
complaint.  The  Indians  thought  it  was  the  work  of 
the  God  of  the  whites,  or  that  the  English  shot  invisi- 
ble bullets  at  their  enemies;  while  others,  noticing  that 
they  had  no  women  of  their  own,  and  appeared  not  to 
care  for  any  of  theirs,  imagined  they  were  not  immedi- 
ately born  of  women,  but  were  individuals  of  a  past 
generation,  risen  to  immortality ;  that  there  were  more 
of  them  still,  in  the  air,  as  yet  invisible ;  and  who,  at 
the  entreaty  of  the  others,  made  Indians  die  by  shooting 
invisible  bullets  at  them. 

The  English,  in  their  intercourse  with  the  Indians, 
acquired  a  relish  for  their  favorite  employment  of 
smoking  tobacco.     The  plant  grew  spontaneous  in  the 


1586]  THE  FIRST.  21 

country;  the  natives  called  it  Uppewock :  they  cured 
and  dried  the  leaf,  and  g;round  it  into  powder,  which 
they  put  into  earthen  tubes  and  drew  the  smoke  through 
the  mouth ;  it  was  in  so  high  an  estimation  among 
them,  that  they  had  a  tradition,  that  the  Gods  them- 
selves delighted  in  the  use  of  it.  They  sometimes 
lighted  fires,  into  which  they  threw  powdered  tobacco 
as  a  sacrifice  ;  and  when  they  were  caught  in  a  tempest 
in  crossing  Occam,  the  wide  sound  ol  Pamplico,  they 
imagined  the  angry  deities  could  be  appeased  by  throw-^ 
ing  it  into  the  air  and  on  the  water.  They  implored 
the  blessing  of  good  luck  upon  their  new  nets,  by 
casting  some  of  it  upon  them  ;  and  when  they  had 
escaped  some  eminent  danger,  they  threw  some  of  this 
dust  in  the  air,  with  antick  gestures,  stamping  the 
ground  in  time,  and  cadence,  clasping  their  hands,  and 
throwing  them  up  with  discordant  cries.  * 

Divided  into  small,  independent  tribes,  each  under 
its  particular  chief,  they  were  much  addicted  to  plun- 
der, and  for  that  reason,  frequently  engaged  in  conten- 
tion and  strife.  A  regard  to  mutual  defence,  had 
produced  alliances  among  them. 

Deriving  their  principal  subsistence  from  the  chase. 
and  the  water,  they  bestov/ed  very  little  attention  on 
agriculture;  they  seemed  to  have  no  idea  of  any  other 
than  national  property  in  land.  They  were  accustomed 
frequently  to  change  their  abode,  finding  it  convenient 
to  wander  from  one  place  to  the  other,  according  as  they 
were  invited  by  the  abundance  of  the  game  or  fish: 
unrestained  in  their  migrations  by  the  cares  of  hus- 
bandry, or  the  possession  of  any  property  in  cattle  or 
land. 


^  CHAPTER  {1586 

They  were  much  addicted  to  theft  and  rapine  :  and 
their  notions  ol  meum  and  tuum,  were  so  limited,  that 
a  disregard  of  them  could  not  be  considered  as  a 
crime. 

Inhabiting,  for  the  most  part,  marshy,  or  low  sandy 
land,  they  were  frequently  in  great  dearth  of  provisions; 
and  instigated  by  want  and  hunger,  the  strong  and  the 
weak  could  seldom  withstand  the  temptations  of  vio- 
lence and  fraud.  When,  in  their  frequent  migrations, 
a  number  of  them  settled  in  any  part  of  the  country, 
'which  wide  water  and  extended  dismal  swamps  sepa- 
rated from  the  habitations  and  range  of  the  rest  of  the 
tribe,  inclination  and  regard  to  mutual  defence  induced 
them  to  live  together,  and  avoid  as  much  as  possible, 
any  intercourse  with  the  bulk  of  the  tribe,  who  felt  dis- 
posed to  treat  straggling  individuals  as  enemies ;  and 
when,  in  course  of  time,  their  multiplication  rendered 
the  colony  too  numerous,  for  the  scanty  supplies  which 
the  spot  afforded,  parties  went  to  establish  themselves 
at  a  distance,  without  dissolving  the  connexion,  which 
had  subsisted  between  them,  and  those  thev  had  last 
left  behind. 

The  tribes  were  longer  on  the  ground  they  occupied, 
as  it  «*fforded,  by  the  vicinity  of  the  water,  or  the  abun* 
dance  of  the  game,  an  easier  subsistence  to  their  mem- 
bers. 

Accounts  of  the  climate,  represented  it  as  unfavour- 
able to  health.  During  the  summer  months,  the 
weather  was  extremely  sultry,  so  as  to  render  an  expo- 
sure to  the  heat  of  the  sun  dangerous.  Even  the 
Bights,  were  said  to  be  seldom  so  cold  as  to  afford 
refreshment.      In   the    middle    of   the  day,    sudden 


1586]  THE  FIRST.  ^ 

storms  ovcfclouded  the  sky,  before  clear  and  serene, 
and  caused  such  quick  alteration  in  the  air  as  to  chili  the 
limbs,  still  moist  with  sweat,  stopping  perspiration,  and 
often  occasioning  fatal  diseases.  In  the  fall,  notwith. 
standing  the  coolness  of  the  air,  while  the  sun  was  under 
the  horizon,  it  became  oppressively  hot  when  he  was  at 
a  short  distance  from  his  meridian  height;  and  heavy 
dews  and  thick  fogs,  rendered  this  season  fatal.  During 
the  winter,  an  excessive  degree  of  coid  was,  at  times, 
though  rarely,  severely  felt ;  but  alternate  and  sudden 
changes  between  freezhig  and  hot  weather,  distressed 
the  colonists.  Every  shift  of  wind,  brought  on  a  sen- 
sible alteration  in  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  spring  began  early,  but  was  considerably  retarded 
in  its  progress^  by  the  return  of  sharp  and  piercing 
winds,  bringing  back  frost  and  snow,  and  the  charms  of 
that  season  were  hardly  noticed,  when  the  extreme  heat 
of  the  next  was  already  felt. 

The  colonists  had  been  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
Indian  tribes,  some  of  whom  were  hostile,  and  all  of 
them  warlike ;  and  neither  of  whom  saw,  with  much 
complacency,  a  part  of  their  country,  occupied  by  indi- 
viduals widely  differing  from  them  in  appearance,  man- 
ners and  language.  But  spirituous  liquor,  an  article 
which  few  Indians  can  taste,  without  craving  more,  and 
more,  until  it  subdues  reason  ,  and  for  which,  most  will 
part  with  any  thing  they  have  in  the  world,  rendered 
them  the  slaves  of  tlieir  guests;  and  if  there  were 
an}'^  of  them  who  withstood  that  temptation,  knives, 
hatchets,  hoes,  and  spades,  were  objects  of  inappreci- 
able value  in  their  eyes.  Those  who  ministered,  as 
well  to  the  real,  as  the  imaginary  wants  of  tte  aborigines. 


24  CHAPTER  [1586 

could  not  fail  being*  considered  as  welcome  guests,  or 
desirable  inhabitants.  The  nearer  tribes  were  supplied 
with  the  means  of  rendering  themselves  terrible  in  arms, 
by  the  use  of  fire  arms  ;  and  the  friendship  of  the  whites 
was  courted,  with  a  view  to  obtain  this  advantage,  or 
prevent  its  being  afforded  to  the  enemy.  By  this  means* 
allies  were  acquired  among  the  neighbouring  tribes,  and 
securities  against  the  attempts  of  distant  ones. 

On  the  return  of  governor  Lane,  with  his  colonists, 
to  England,  the  British  were  without  any  establish- 
ment in  America.  There  was  not  a  single  individual 
of  that  nation  living  under  British  laws,  in  the  new 
hemisphere  ;  the  possessions  of  the  Spaniards  and  Por- 
tuguese, in  South  America,  were  considerable.  In 
North  America,  the  crown  of  Spain  had  one  or  two 
forts  on  the  coast  of  Florida.  The  French  had  a  grow- 
ing establishment  in  Canada.  We  have  noticed  their 
progress  in  those  parts  as  far  as  the  year  1535  ;  in  that 
year,  Jacques  Cartier,  having  carried  off  in  his  ship  one 
the  Indian  chiefs ;  the  circumstance  so  exasperated  the 
natives,  that,  for  a  very  great  number  of  years,  they 
absolutely  refused  to  allow  the  French  any  trade  in 
Canada.  But  towards  the  year  1581,  a  bark  of  thirty 
tons  sailed  up  the  riv-er  St.  Lawrence,  from  France,  and 
was  permitted  to  trade.  Soon  after  her  return,  a  ship 
of  eighty  tons,  was  fitted  out  of  the  island  of  Jersey; 
and  in  the  year  of  1583,  three  large  French  ships  were 
employed  in  the  trade  to  Canada ;  one  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  tons?  one  of  one  hundred,  and  one  of  eighty. 

The  British,  the  French,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Por- 
tuguese, had  many  ships  emploved  in  the  codfishery  of 
New  Foundland.      As   early  as  the  year  1577,    the 


1786]  I^E  SECOND.  iib 

French  had  one  hundred  and  fifty,  the  Spaniards  one 
hundred,  and  the  Britihh  and  Portuguese  fitty  ships, 
fishing  there.  The  I  nglish  are  said  to  have  had  the  best 
ships,  and  to  have  there  given  the  law^  to  those  of  other 
nations  ;  and  it  is  said,  to  account  for  the  small  number 
of  their  ships  in  that  part  of  the  w^orld,  that  they  employed 
many  in  the  fishery  at  Iceland,  where  the  French  from 
Biscay,  had  twenty  pr  thirty  ships,  to  kill  whales  for 
train  oil. 


Furchas — Smith — Stith-^Marshall 


ai,    CARD.      4. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  the  year  1586,  had  provided  a 
ship  of  one  hundred  tons,  to  carry  succour  to  gover- 
nor Lane  and  his  men;  she,  however,  did  not  sail  till 
the  middle  of  April,  and  did  not  reach  Virginia,  till  the 
latter  part  of  June  ;  a  few  days  after  the  depaiture  of  the 
colonists  in  Sir  Frances  Drake's  fleet.  Her  comman- 
der, after  having  spent  some  time  in  fruitless  endeavors 
to  discover  them,  returned  to  England  with  his  lading. 

A  fortnight  after.  Sir  Richard  Grenviile  arrived  with 
three  other  ships,  and  an  ample  supply  of  provisions, 
but  was  unable  to  obtain  any  account  of  the  ship  which 
had  preceded  him,  or  of  ihe  men,  whom,  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  he  had  left  on  Roanoke;  he  sailed  up  and 
down  the  principal  sounds  and  rivers,  in  useless  quest  of 
them;  at  last,  unwilling  to  forego  the  right  of  posses- 
sion, he  returned  to  the  island,  where  he  landed  fifteen 
(some  writers  say  fifty)  men,  to  whom  he  gave  a 
supply  of  provisions,  and  returned  to  England* 

In  the  following  year,  three  ships  were  sent  to  Vir- 
ginia, under  the  command  of  John  White,  who  was 
appointed  governor  of  the  colony,  and  was  accompa- 
nied by  eleven  persons,  who  were  to  be  his  counsellors 
and  assistants.  Their  names  were  Roger  Baily,  Ana- 
nias Dare,  Simeon  Fernando,  Christopher  Cowper, 
TUomas   Stephens,  John  Sampson,   Thomas   Smith, 


-2^  CHAPTER  [158T 

Dyonisius  Harvey,  Roger  Pratt,  George  Howe,  An== 
thony  Cage.  Sir  Walter  gave  them  a  charter,  incor- 
porating  them  under  the  style  of  "  the  governor  and 
assistants,  of  the  city  of  Raleigh,  in  Virginia;"  and  di- 
rected them  to  make  their  first  settlement  on  the  shores 
of  the  bay  of  Chesapeake,  and  to  erect  a  fort  there. 
This  expedition  took  the  old  route,  by  the  way  of  the 
West  Indies,  and  narrowly  esc  iped  destruction,  on  the 
shores  of  cape  Fear.  The  danger  which  they  ran  was 
imputed  to  the  carelessness,  and  by  some,  to  the  desiga 
of  a  sailor,  who  had  accompanied  Amidas  in  his  first 
voyage,  and  was  now  acting  as  a  pilot;  he  was  sus- 
pected of  an  intention  of  occasioning  the  miscarriage 
of  the  expedition  ;  but  the  vigilance  of  captain  Strafford, 
who  commanded  the  vessel  on  board  of  which  this  man 
was,  prevented  any  fatal  consequence;  and  they  all  arrived 
safe  at  cape  Hatteras,  on  the  22d  of  July. 

The  governor,  with  forty  of  his  best  men,  went  on 
board  of  the  pinnace  intending  to  pass  up  to  Roanoke, 
in  the  hope  of  finding  the  men,  whom  Sir  Richard 
Grenvillehad  left  there  the  year  before;  and  after  a  con- 
ference with  them,  concerning  the  state  of  the  country 
and  the  Indians,  to  return  to  the  fleet,  and  proceed  along 
the  coast  to  the  bay  of  Chesapeake,  according  to  the 
orders  of  Sir  Walter  Paleigh;  but  no  sooner  had  the 
pinnace  left  the  ship,  than  Simon  Fernando,  the  princi- 
pal naval  commander,  who  was  named  as  one  of  the 
governor's  assistants,  although  he  was  destined  to  re- 
turn soon  to  England,  called  to  the  sailors  on  board  the 
pinnace,  and  charged  them  not  to  bring  back  any  of  the 
colonists,  except  the  governor,  and  two  or  three  others 
whom  he  approved,  but  to  leave  them  on  the  island  ;  for 
the  summer,  he  observed,  was  far  spent,  and  he  would 


1587]  THE  SECOND.  .    29 

not  land  the  planters  in  any  other  pl^ce.  The  sailors  on 
board  the  pinnace,  as  well  as  those  on  board  of  the  ship^ 
having  been  persuaded  by  the  master,  to  this  measure, 
the  .s:overnor  judging  it  best  not  to  contend  with  them, 
proceeded  to  Roanoke.  At  sun  set,  he  landed  with  his 
men  at  the  part  of  the  island,  on  which  Sir  Richard 
Grenville  landed  his  men,  but  discovered  no  sign  of 
them,  except  the  skeleton  of  a  man  w^ho  had  been  killed 
by  the  Indians.  The  next  day,  the  governor  and  seve- 
ral of  the  new  comers,  went  to  the  north  end  of  the 
island,  where  governor  Lane  had  built  a  fort  and  several 
dwelling  houses,  the  year  before,  hoping  there  to  find 
some  sign,  if  not  certain  information  of  the  men  left 
there  by  Sir  Richard  Grenville.  But  on  coming  to  the 
place,  and  findhig  the  fort  razed,  and  all  the  houses, 
though  standing  unhurt,  overgrown  with  weeds  and 
vines,  and  deer  feeding  within  them  :  they  returned  in 
despair  of  ever  seeing  their  looked-for  countrymen  alive. 
Orders  were  given  on  the  same  day,  for  the  clearing  and 
repair  of  the  houses,  and  the  erection  of  new  cottages. 
All  the  colony,  consisting  of  ninety-one  men,  seventeen 
women,  and  nine  children,  in  all,  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen persons,  soon  after  landed,  and  commenced  a 
second  plantation. 

George  Howe,  one  of  the  governor's  assistants, 
having  wandered  to  some  distance  into  the  woods,  was 
attacked  and  slain,  by  a  party  of  the  Dassamonpeake, 
a  tribe  who  dwelt  on  the  main  opposite  to  the  island,  in 
the  neck  formed  by  the  river  Alligator  and  the  narrows, 
which  now  forms  the  lower  part  of  the  county  of 
Tyrell, 

As  soon  as  the  houses  were  cleared,  and  measures 
taken  for  sheltering  the  colonists,  governor  \^^hite  sent 


30  CHAPTER  [155? 

captain  Strafford,   with  a  party  of  twenty  men^  to  the 
Croatans,  a  friendly  tribe,  who  dwtit  on  the  s(  uthern 
shore  of  cape  Lookout,  in  that  part  ot  the  country,  now 
known  as  the  county  of  Carteret,  with  the  view  of  ob- 
taining some  information  of  the  place  to  which  the  men^ 
left  by  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  had  retreated.     He  learned 
that  they  had  been   surprised  by  a  party  ot  Indians,  of 
the  Secotan,   Agnasco,2ja,  and   Dassamonpeake  tribes, 
who,  Iiaving  treacherously  slain  one  of  thtm,  compelled 
the  rest  to  repair  to  the  house,  in  which  they  kept  their 
provisions  and  weapons,  which  the  Indians  instantly  set 
on  fire  ;  that  the  English  leaving  the  house,  skirmibhed 
with  the  assailants  for  above  an  hour  ;  that  in  this  skir- 
mish, another  of  their  number  was  shot  in  the  mouth 
with  an  arrow,  and  died  ;    that  tht.y  retired,  fighting  to 
the  water  side,  where  lay  their  boats,  with  which  they 
fltd  to  cape  Hatteras ;  that  they  landed  on  a  little  island, 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  entrance  into  the  harbor  of  Hat- 
teras, where  they  remained  a  while,  and  afterwards  de- 
parts d,  whither  they  knew  not.    Unable  to  obtain  a  more 
satisfactory  acccount  of  his  countrymen,  captain  Straf- 
ford returned  with  his  party,  to  the  fleet  at  Hatteras. 

The  governor  endeavored  to  renew  and  preserve,  a 
good  understanding,  with  the  nations  of  Indians  in  the 
neighbourhood,  but  found  it  necessary  to  chastise  the 
Dassamonpcake,  who  had  murdered  George  Howe,  and 
still  continued  troublesome.  In  the  dead  of  night,  he 
left  the  island  of  Roanoke,  accompanied  by  captain 
Strafford  and  a  chosen  party  of  twenty  men,  guided  by 
Manteo,  who  had  ever  remained  a  firm  friend  of  the 
English.  They  reached  the  main  by  break  of  ddv^ 
marched  up  to  the  town,  and,  discovering  some  Indians 
sitting  around  a  fire,  they  discharged  their  pieces  at 


1587]  THE  SECOND.  Si 

them :  one  was  shot  down,  and  the  governor,  judging 
the  murder  of  George  Howe  sufficiently  expiated,  de- 
sired Manteo  to  inform  the  others,  they  had  nothing 
more  to  apprehend.  The  English  had  scarcely  groun- 
ded their  arms,  wl*en  they  discovert d  they  had  fired  on  a 
party  of  their  friends,  the  Croatans.  These  men  having 
heard  that  the  Dassamonpeake  Indians,  fearing  the  re- 
venge which  the  English  had  come  to  execute,  had  fled 
and  left  their  corn  ripe  and  ungathere*^,  had  come  to  cut 
and  carry  it  away.  Both  parties  joined  in  securing  as 
much  of  it  as  was  fit  to  be  taken  down,  and  retired,  ieav- 
ing  the  rest  unspoiled. 

On  the  13th  of  August,  Manteo  was  baptised,  ac-> 
cording  to  the  directions  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  in 
reward  for  his  services  to  the  English,  was  called  Lord 
of  Roanoke,  and  of  Dassamonpeake. 

On  the  18th,  Eleanor,  a  daughter  of  governor  White, 
who  had  accompanied  him,  and  was  married  to  Ananias 
Dare,  one  of  his  assistants,  was  deUvered  of  a  daughter, 
who  was  the  first  child  born  from  English  parents,  in  the 
new  world;  she  was  named  Virginia. 

The  supply  of  provibions  brought  from  England, 
being  considerably  reduced,  and  necessity  requiring 
immediate  attention  to  the  renewal  of  it,  the  colonists 
besought  governor  White  to  return  to  England,  and 
solicit  some  further  relief.  He  yielded  to  their  entrea- 
ties,  and  sailed  for  England  on  the  27th  of  August, 
having  remained  but  thirty-six  days  in  his  government. 
At  his  departure,  the  colony  consisted  of  one  hundred 
persons,  and  one  of  the  islands  near  cape  Hatter^s,  had 
been  selected  for  its  principal  settlement. 

Governor  White,  on  his  arrival  in  England,  found 
the  nation  ia  a  great  commotion,  occasioned  by  a  rumor 


32  CHAPTER  [1588 

of  an  impending  invasion  by  the  Spaniards,  who  had 
fitted  out  an  immenhe  fleet  for  that  purpose.  A  coun- 
cil of  war  had  been  formed  by  the  queen,  and  charged 
with  the  direction  of  the  warUke  preparations  which 
the  emeri>;ency  called  for.  It  was  composed  of  such 
persons  as  were  in  the  highest  reputation  for  miluary 
knowledge.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Richard  Gren^ 
ville,  Ralph  Lane,  governor  White's  predecessor  in  Vir- 
ginia,  the  persons  whose  exertions  he  had  come  to 
solicit,  had  been  honored  with  seats  at  this  board,  and 
their  time  was  taken  up  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties, 
which  iheir  appointment  imposed.  However,  in  a  little 
time,  Sir  Walter  found  leisure  to  fit  out  a  small  fleet  tot 
the  relief  of  his  colony;  and  it  was  to  have  sailed  early  in 
the  following  year,  under  the  orders  of  Sir  Richard 
Grenville ;  but  the  alarm,  occasioned  by  the  formidable 
armament  made  by  the  king  of  Spain,  increasing,  every 
ship  was  impressed,  and  Sir  Richard  was  summoned  to 
attend  Sir  Walter,  in  the  county  of  Connvall,  and  assist 
him  in  training  the  troops  arrayed  there.  Governor 
White,  in  the  mean  while,  exerted  himself  so  much,  that 
he  obtained  two  barks,  with  which  he  sailed  from 
Biddefort,  on  the  22d  of  April. 

The  crews  of  these  vebbcls,  who  were  more  anxious  to 
enrich  themselves  by  plunder,  than  to  hasten  to  the  re- 
lief of  their  distressed  countrymen,  attacked  every 
Spanish  vessel  they  met ;  and  one  of  the  barks  falling 
in  with  two  large  ships  of  that  nation,  was,  after  a 
bloody  fight,  overcome,  boarded  and  rifled.  In  the 
most  distressed  condition,  unable  to  continue  her  voy- 
age, she  returned  to  England.  Three  weeks  after,  the 
other  came  in,  in  the  bame  phght,  and  the  voyage  was 
abandoned  to  the  great  distress,  and  finally,  the  utter  ruin 


1590]  THE  SECOND.  $5 

of  the  colony,  and  the  great  regret  of  its  patron  and 
founder. 

Sir  Walter  was  much  disjointed,  by  the  disappoint- 
ment of  the  fond  hvopes  he  had  hitherto  entertained,  and 
the  miscarriage  of  all  his  attempts  to  settle  his  colony, 
notwithstanding  tlie  rare  sums  he  spent  in  the  prosecu- 
tion  of  his  darling  scheme.  His  attention  beiii^  enga- 
ged in  the  warlike  enterprises  of  the  day,  he  determined 
on  the  transfer  of  his  interest,  in  the  discoveries  made, 
under  the  patent  he  had  obtained  from  his  sovereign,  to 
governor  White,  and  some  merchants  and  adventurers 
of  the  city  of  London. 

Accordingly,  by  an  indenture,  which  bears  date,  the 
7th  of  March,  1589,  he  granted  to  Thomas  Smith,  John 
White,  and  others,  full  power  to  ca**ry  to  Virginia,  such 
of  the  queen's  subjects  as  might  be  willing  to  go 
thither,  and  to  plant  and  inhabit  the  country,  with  free 
trade,  to  them,  their  heirs,  and  assigns,  to  an(J  from  Vir- 
ginia, or  any  part  of  America,  to  which  he  might  claim 
an  interest,  title,  or  privilege.  Sir  Walter,  in  this  instru- 
ment, takes  the  title  of  chief  governor  of  Assamacomoe, 
alias  Wangadacea,  alias  Virginia;  and  he  finally  closed  his 
concerns  in  the  colony,  by  a  donation  of  one  himdred 
pounds  sterling,  to  be  appropriated  to  thepiomotion  of 
Christianity  among  its  inhabitants. 

The  supplies  which  governor  White  had  come  to  so- 
*  licit,  were  much  delayed  by  this  transfer  of  property. 
The  assignees  suffered  iwilve  months  to  elapse,  before 
they  procured  any  shipping  to  carry  relief  to  the  colo- 
nists. Three  ships  were  at  last  equipped  at  Plymouih, 
and  sailed  under  the  orders  of  governor  Whiie,  on  the 
£Olh  of  March,  1590;  a  thirst  for  plunder  ii.duccd  the 
crews  of  these  ships,  to  lose  again,  a  consideruble  tiracj 

if.  CARO.       5 


34  CHAPTER  [1590 

by  taking  the  West  Indies  in  their  route ;  and  it  was 
not  til!  the  3d  of  Aac;nst,  that  the  expedition  fell  in  with 
some  of  the  sandy  islands,  near  Ocracock  ;  from  thence 
they  proceeded  to  Harteras.  which  they  did  not  reach 
till  the  15th.  On  their  approach,  they  were  much  re- 
joiced at  seeing  a  smoke  rising  from  the  spot  on  which 
governor  White  had  left  the  colonists,  three  years  be- 
fore. A  discharge  of  cannon  was  made  to  apprize  them 
of  the  approach  of  succour,  and  captains  Strafford  and 
Cooke,  were  despatched  with  two  boats- ;  but,  notwith- 
standing the  most  diligent  search,  they  returned  without 
having  been  able  to  obtain  any  intelligence  of  the  per- 
sons they  were  in  quest  of.  They  made  preparations 
the  next  morning  to  visit  the  island  of  Roanoke ;  but 
the  wind  being  at  north  east,  in  passing  a  bar,  one  of  the 
boats  was  upset,  and  the  other  half  filled  with  water. 
Captain  Spicer,  with  six  of  his  men,  were  dashed  to 
pieces  on  the  shoals :  the  other  four,  deterred  by  the 
fate  of  their  companions,  not  trusting  to  their  legs  on 
the  surf,  but  s^vimming  in  deep  water,  were  saved  by 
captain  Cook.  The  courage  of  the  survivors  was  so 
much  damped  by  this  accident,  that  they  gave  up  the 
pursuit  and  returned  to  the  shipping. 

A  few  days  after,  governor  White  prevailed  on  a 
party  of  nineteen  men,  to  accompany  him  to  cape  Hat- 
teras.  The  people  he  had  left  there  in  1587?  had  mani- 
fested, before  his  departure,  an  intention  to  remove  to 
the  main  ^^and  they  had  promised  him.  that  in  case  they 
did  so,  they  would  carve,  on  some  conspicuous  tree, 
door  or  post,  the  name  of  the  place  to  which  they  might 
determine  on  removing,  placing  a  cross  over  it,  in  case 
they  found  themselves  in  distress,  at  the  time  of  their 
departure.    In  landing  on  the  cape,  he  caused  a  trumpet 


1590]  THE  SECOND.  'do 

to  be  sounded,  a  signal  which  he  caused  to  be  repeated 
at  intervals,  and  in  different  places.  No  answer  was 
given,  V/b^n  the  party  approached  the  spot  from 
v/hich  they  had  seen  the  smr^ke  arise,  on  the  day  of  their 
arrival,  they  [dwnd  that  the  fire  had  proceeded  from  dry 
rgrass  and  soim"  rotcen  trees.  After  a  very  tedious 
search  J  ihey  came  to  a  high  post  or  tree,  on  which  were 
carvtd;he  betters  CHO,  and  at  some  distance,  they  read 
the  word  CRQATAN,  on  another.^  They  gladly  no- 
ticed the  absence  of  the  sign,  intended  to  indicate  a  state 
of  distress.  The  houses  had  been  pulled  down,  and  a 
large  space  enclosed  by  a  high  pallisadt  ;  within  the 
pallisade,  they  found  many  bars  of  iron  two  pigs  of 
lead,  four  iron  fowlers  iron  sack  shot,  **and  suchlike 
heavy  things,  thrown  here  and  there,  almost  overgrown 
with  grass  and  weeds."  In  the  end  of  an  old  trench, 
they  found  five  chests  that  had  been  carefully  hidden^ 
three  of  which,  governor  White  recognized  as  his  own^ 
and  adds,  *' about  the  place  we  found  many  of  my  things 
spoiled  and  my  books  torn  from  the  covers,  the  frames 
of  some  of  my  pictures  and  maps  rotten  and  spoiled 
with  rain,  and  my  armour  almost  eaten  through  with 
rust." 

Every  thing  seeming  to  preclude  the  hope  of  making 
any  further  discovery,  in  remaining  on  the  cape,  the  party 
determined  on  returning  to  the  shipping.  In  doing  so 
they  were  near  perishing,  a  violent  storm  having  arisen, 
ivhich  lasted  the  whole  night.     As  soon  as  it  subsided, 

• 

*  The  stump  of  a  live  oak,  said  to  have  been  the  tree,  on 
which  this  word  was  cut,  was  shown,  as  late  as  the  year  1778, 
by  the  people  of  Roanoke  Island.  It  stood  at  the  distance  of 
about  six  yards  from  the  shore  of  Shalon-bas-bay,  on  the  lanct 
then  owned  by  Daniel  Baum.  This  bay  is  formed  by  Balla«<- 
point  and  Bauna's-point 


m  CHAPTER  [1590 

they  vvei£!:hed  anchor  for  Croatan,  In  the  attempt  one 
of  the  cables  oi  the  ship  in  which  governor  White  was, 
broke  and  carried  off  another  anchor ;  they  let  go  the 
third,  and  the  ship  went  so  far  adrift  that  she  was  near 
bein^^  stranded.  Disheartened  by  so  many  untoward 
accidents,  the  stock  of  provisions  on  board  the  fleet 
being  nearly  exhai-.sted,  the  governor,  for  the  present, 
abandoned  the  thought  of  any  further  search  after  the 
colonists,  and  sat  sail  for  the  West  Indies,  with  the 
intention  of  refitting  the  vessels,  wintering  and  pro- 
curing a  supply  of  provisions,  in  order  to  return  in  the 
spring. 

Perhaps  the  hope  of  a  better  success,  than  in  the  first 
part  of  the  voyage,  in  cruising  against  the  Spaniards, 
induced  this  determination :  if  it  did,  the  expectations  it 
had  created  were  disappointed.  A  few  days  after  the 
departure  of  the  -vessels  from  cape  Hatteras,  the  wind 
proved  unfavorable,  and  continuing  in  the  same  direc- 
tion for  a  long  time,  governor  White  directed  his  pilots 
to  make  the  best  of  their  wav  to  the  Western  islands, 
which  he  reached  on  the  23d  of  September;  and  after  a 
short  stay  they  proceeded  to  England. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  assignees,  made  no  further  at- 
tempt to  discover  or  release  the  unfortunate  colonists. 
They  were  never  heard  of.  Lawson,  who  lived  in 
North  Carolina,  during  the  first  year  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  supposes  *'  they  were  forced  to  cohabit  with 
the  natives  for  relief  and  conversation."  He  adds,  that 
the  Hatteras  Indians,  who  then  lived  on  Roanoke  island, 
or  much  frequented  it,  boasted,  that  several  of  their 
ancestors  were  white  people,  and  *' could  talk  in  a  book;" 
the  truth  of  which  he  thought  confirmed,  by  several  of 
them  hiwing  grey  eyes,  a  circumstance  which  does  not 


1593]  THE  SECONDv  37 

occur  in  any  other  tribe.  The  ruins  of  a  fort  were  ex- 
tant in  his  days,  and  other  traces  of  them  are  still  discern- 
able.  English  coin,  a  brass  gun,  a  powder  horn,  and  a 
small  quarter  deck  gun,  made  of  iron  strives,  with  hoops 
of  the  same  metal,  were  shown  to  him  as  existing  relics 
of  the  first  adventurers. 

Although  the  French  had  not  yet  any  fixed  colonies 
in  America,  they  were  not  inattentive  to  their  discove- 
ries in  Canada.  In  1591,  a  fleet  sailed  from  St.  Malo,  for 
the  river  St.  Lawrence.  The  French  resorted  to  the 
islands  at  the  mouth  of  that  stream,  to  fish  for  morses  or 
sea  cows ;  the  teeth  of  these  animals  were  then  sold  much 
dearer  than  ivory  ;  they  are  a  foot,  and  sometimes  more, 
in  length ;  their  hides,  when  tanned,  are  as  large  and 
much  thicker  than  a  bull's.  A  single  bark  caught,  this 
year,  fifteen  hundred  of  them. 

War  continuing  between  England  and  Spain,  priva- 
teers of  the  former  nation,  frequently  visited  the  West 
Indies  in  search  of  booty.  In  1592,  Christopher  New- 
port conducted  thither,  three  ships  and  a  small  bark,  and 
took  several  prizes,  on  the  coast  of  Hispaniola,  in  the 
bay  of  Honduras,  and  plundered  and  burnt  several 
towhs,  and  obtained  considerable  plunder. 

In  the  following  year,  Georg  Drake,  an  Englishman, 
made  a  voyage  up  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  to  the 
island  of  Nameo,  and  carried  home  intelligence  of  the 
profitable  trade  of  the  French  in  this  part  of  America. 
Other  English  ships  went  at  the  same  time,  to  cape  Bre- 
ton, to  fish  for  morses  and  whales.  This  is  the  first 
mention  we  find,  of  whale  fishery  by  the  English.  Al- 
though they  found  no  whale  in  this  instance,  yet  they 
discovered,  on  an  island,  eight  hundred  whale  fins,  at  a 
place  where  a  Biscayan  ship  had  been  lost  three  years 


38  CHAPTER  '  [1594 

before,  and  this  is  the  first  account  we  find  of  whale  fins 
and  whale  bone,  as  an  article  of  trade  to  England. 

Sylvester  Wyat,  of  B^'istol,  soon  after  sailed  up  the 
bav  of  St.  Lawrence,  in  a  bark  of  thirty-five  tons,  as  far 
as  the  rite  of  Assumption,  for  the  barbs  or  fins  of  whales 
and  train  oil.  Ten  leagues  up  the  bay  of  Plauntra,  he 
found  the  fishermen  of  St.  John  de  Huz,  Sebibeno  and 
Biscay,  to  be  upwards  of  sixty  sail,  of  which,  eight 
ships  only  were  from  Spain.  At  FauUon,  foXirteen 
leagues  to  the  westward  of  cape  Brace,  he  found  twenty 
sail  of  Englishmen ;  and  having,  in  their  harbor,  satis-* 
factorily  made  up  his  return  cargo,  he  sailed  for  England. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  sent,  this  year,  captain  Whidden, 
an  old    and  experienced  officer,  to  Guiana,  in  South 
America,  and   receiving  flattering  accounts  from  that 
country,  determined  on  visiting  it  in  person.  Fitting  out 
a  fleet  at  a  great  expense,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  on 
the  6th  of  February  following:  aiming  at  Trinidad,  he 
spent  a  month  in  coasting  the  island.     Learning,  during 
this  period,  the  state  of  St.  Joseph,  a  small  city  lately 
built  by  the  Spaniads,  on  that  island ;  and  knowing  that 
the  search  for  Guiana,  could  only  be  made  in  small 
crafts,  and  that  his  ships  must  be  left  several  hundred 
miles  behind,  he  deemed  it  unsafe  to  leave  behind  him  a 
garrison  of  enemies,  interested  in  the  same  enterprise, 
and  in  daily  expectation  of  re-enforcement  from  Spain, 
Determined  in  this  purpose,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening, 
he  boldly  assailed  the  guards,  and  having  put  them  to  the 
sword,  advanced  with  one  hundred  men,  and  by  break 
of  day  took  the  city,  which,  at  the  entreaty  of  the  In- 
dians, he  sat  on  fire.     He  took  Antonio  de  Boneo,  the 
Spanish  governor,  prisoner,  and  carried  him  on  board  of 
his  ship.     Sir  Walter  was  provoked  to  this  measure  by 


1595]  THE  SECOND.  39 

the  treachery  oF  Boneo,  who,  the  year  before,  had  cap- 
tured ei£(ht  of'  captain  Whidden's  men,  after  having 
given  his  word,  that  ihey  might  take  wood  and  water 
safely.  It  appears  that  he  and  his  followers,  had  treated 
the  Indians  with  great  cruelty,  which  accounts  for  the 
attachment,  these  oppressed  natives  manifested  for  Sir 
Walter,  and  the  English  people,  whom  they  considered 
as  their  detiverers.  Bancroft,  so  lately  as  1766,  saysy 
*Hhe  Charibees,  of  Guiana,  retain  a  tradition  of  an 
English  chief,  who,  many  years  since,  landed  among 
them,  and  encouraged  them  to  persevere  in  enmity  to 
the  Spaniards,  promising  to  return  and  settle  among 
them,  and  afford  them  assistance.  It  is  said  that  they 
still  preserve  an  English  jack,  which  he  left  with  themp 
that  they  might  distinguish  his  countrymen."  **This," 
,  adds  Bancroft,  **  was  undoubtedly  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
who,  in  the  year  1595,  made  a  descent  on  the  coast  of 
Guiana,  in  search  of  the  fabulous  city  of  Manoa  del 
Dorado,''^ 

Leaving  his  ships  at  Trinidad,  Sir  Walter  proceeded, 
with  one  hundred  men,  in  boats,  four  hundred^  miles  up 
the  Oronoque ;  but  the  river  beginning,  dangerously,' to 
swell,  he  returned  without  effecting  any  discovery.  Se° 
veral  petty  kings  of  the  country,  howev^er,  resigned 
their  sovereignties  into  his  hands,  for  the  use  of  queen 
Elizabeth.  It  was  his  intention  to  seek  for  the  colonists 
governor  White  had  left  in  Virginia ;  but  violent  storms 
compelled  him  to  abandon  his  design. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  Sir  Francis  Drake  and  Sir 
John  Hawkins,  sailed  from  England  with  six  of  the 
queen's  ships,  and  twenty-one  private  ships  and  barks, 
on  an  expedition  against  the  Spaniards,  to  the  West 
Indies.     Om  the  way  from  Gaudeloupe  to  Porto  Rico, 


40  ^    -         CHAPTER.  [1597 

Sir  John  Hawkins  died;  and  was  succeeded  in  his  com- 
mand, by  Sir  Thomas  Barkerville.  Tlie  next  day, 
Sir  Francis  made  a  desperate  attack  on  the  shipping  in 
the  harbor  of  Porto  Rico:  but,  obtaining  Uttle  advan- 
tage, he  proceeded  to  the  main,  and  took  the  towns  of 
Rio  de  la  Hache,  Rancheria,  St.  Martha  and  Nombre 
de  Dios.  Sir  Thomas  Barkerville  now  marched,  with 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  men,  for  the  reduction  of 
Panama;  but  the  Spaniards  having  had  notice  of  his 
design,  had  strongly  fortified  themseves,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  enterprize. 

Sir  Francis  Drake,  proceeding  to  Nombre  de  Dios, 
died  on  his  passage,  between  the  island  of  Escudo  and 
Porto  Beilo,  on  the  28th  of  January.  His  remains 
were,  according  to  naval  custom,  sunk  in  the  sea,  very 
near  the  place  where  he  first  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
fame  and  fortune.  The  fleet  anchored  at  Porto  Bello, 
the  same  day ;  but  the  inhabitants  fled  at  the  approach 
of  the  Enghsh,  carrying  away  their  goods. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  at  his  own  expense,  fitted  out 
two  vessels,  under  Lawrence  Keymis,  who  made  fur- 
tlier  discoveries  in  Guiana.  In  the  following  year,  he 
sent  thither  Leonard  Berne,  in  a  pinnace.  This  man 
entered  into  a  friendly  correspondence  with  the  natives, 
and  returned  to  England. , 

Sir  Anthony  Shirley,  commanding  an  English 
s<iuadron,  landed  at  Jamaica  on  the  29th  of  January ,  and 
inarched  six  miles  into  the  island,  to  the  principal  town. 
The  inhabitants  submitting  to  his  mercy,  he  resided 
there  about  five  weeks,  and  then  sailed  for  Honduras, 
and  took  Puerto  de  Cavallos. 

The  earl  of  Cumberland  having  received  a  commis- 
sion from  the  queen,  to  attack  and  destroy  the  territories 


159r|      '  THE  SECOND  41 

of  her  enemies,  took  the  island  of  Porto  Rico,  and  car- 
ried oiF  eighty  pieces  of  cannon,  eighty  ships,  and  much 
wealth;  but  the  expedition  was  disastrous;  for  about 
six  hundred  men  were  lost  by  the  bloody  flux,  sixty 
slain  in  battle,  and  about  forty  cast  away  on  the  return 
of  the  fleet. 

Monsieur  de  Pointis  appeared,  with  a  squadron,  be- 
fore Carthagena,  and  forced  it  to  capitulate;  but  his 
soldiers,  in  breach  of  the  capitulation,  pillaged  the  town* 

Charles  Leigh,  a  merchant  of  London,  made,  this 
year,  a  voyage  to  cape  Breton  and  the  island  of  Ramea. 
Having  given  umbrage  to  the  French,  in  the  latter  place, 
by  taking  the  powder  and  ammunition  from  a  vessel^ 
supposed  to  belong  to  Spain,  but  which  proved  to  be- 
long to  the  subjects  of  the  French  king,  two  hundred 
Frenchmen  assembled,  and  planted  three  peices  of  ord- 
nance on  the  shore,  against  the  English,  and  discharged 
on  them,  one  hundred  small  shot  from  the  woods. 
There  were  also,  in  readiness  to  assail  them,  about  three 
hundred  Indians.  On  a  parley,  however,  the  contest 
subsided.  In  this  voyage,  Leigh  obtained  a  considera- 
ble quantity  of  codfish  and  train  oil,  and  had  some  traffic 
with  the  natives. 

France,  after  fifty  years  of  internal  commotions,  hav- 
ing recovered  her  tranquility,  ^as  enabled  to  renew  her 
enterprizes  for  the  colonization  of  Canada.  Henry  IV, 
gave  to  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche,  a  commission  to  con- 
quer that  country,  and  other  countries  in  America,  not 
possessed  by  any  Christian  prince.  The  marquis  took 
with  him,  a  Norman  named  Chetodel,  as  his  pilot,  and  a 
number  of  convicts  out  of  prison.  He  landed  forty  of 
these  men  on  the  isk  of  Sable,  and  proceeded  to  Acadia, 
made  researches  in  that  region,  and  returned  to  France,, 

N.    CARO.      6 


4t  CHAPTER  [1600 

without  attempting  to  make  any  settlement,  or  having  it 
in  his  power  to  carry  back  those  miserable  outcasts^ 
whom  he  had  set  on  shorcr  Ht- was  prevented,  b^  vari- 
ous misfortunes,  from  returning  to  America,  and  died 
of  vexation. 

His  patent  was  renewed  in  the  following  year,  m  favor 
of  Monsieur  de  Chauvin,  who  now  made  a  voyage  up  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  to  Tadoassac,  two  hundred  and 
seventy  miles  from  the  sea.  He  returned  home  with  a 
load  of  fnrs,  leaving  some  of  his  people,  who  were  ena- 
bled, by  the  kindness  of  the  natives,  to  encounter  the 
severity  of  the  climate.  He  made  a  second  voyage,  the 
next  year,  with  the  same  good  fortune ;  and  sailed  up 
the  St.  Lawrence,  as  high  as  the  place  on  which  the 
town  of  Trois  Rivieres  has  since  been  built. 

This  year,  Willii^m  Parker  sailed  from  Plymouth,  in 
England,  with  two  ships,  one  pinnace,  and  two  shallops,, 
to  Cumana;  and  Iraving  taken  the  pearl  fishery  in  that 
island,  with  the  governor  of  Canada,  who  was  there  with 
a  company  of  soldiers,  he  received  five  hundred  pounds, 
in  pearl,  for  the  ransom  of  the  whole;  proceeding  to 
Porto  Bello,  he  made  himself  master  of  it,  remained  on 
it  one  day,  plundered,  and  left  it,  without  injury  to  its 
buildings. 

Although  the  disastrous  effect  of  Raleigh's  attempt,, 
to  effect  a  settlement  in  America,  together  with  the  war 
with  Spain,  checked  the  spirit  of  colonization,  it  was 
now  revived:  Bartholomew  Gosnold  sailed,  in  a  small 
bark,  from  Falmouth,  with  thirty-two  persons,  for  the 
northern  ports  of  Virginia,  with  the  design  of  beginning 
a  plantation.  One  is>  surprised,  at  the  smallness  of  the 
means,  which  were  depended  upon,  for  the  establishment 
of  the  English  colonies  in  America,     Of  the  thirty- 


1602]  THE  SECOND  43 

*   I. 

two  persons  who  embarked  with  Gosnold,  eight  were 
*' mariners  and  sailors;  twelve  purposvjd,  after  the  dis- 
covery of  a  proper  place  for  a  plantatio;i,  to  rt-turn  with 
the  ship  to  E'lsylaiid;  the  rest,  in  all  twelve  persons, 
were  to  remain  there  for  population."  Instead  of  making 
the  usual  circuit,  by  the  Canaries  and  West  Indies,  he 
steered,  as  near  as  the  wind  would  permit,  due  west,. and 
was  the  first  fLuglishman  who  came  in  a  direct  course, 
to  this  part  of  America.  After  a  passage  of  seven 
weeks,  he  discovered  land  on  the  American  coast ;  and 
soon  after,  met  a  shallop,  with  sails  and  oars,  having  on 
board  eight  Indians.  These  people  first  hailed  the 
English  :  after  signs  of  a  friendly  disposition,  and  a  long 
speech  made  by  one  of  the  Indians,  they  jumped  on 
board  :  they  were  *'  all  naked,  having  loose  deer  skins 
about  their  shoulders,  and  near  their  waiste,  seal  skins 
tied  fast,  like  Irish  dinmic  trowsers."  One  of  them, 
ivho  seemed  to  be  their  chief,  wore  a  waistcoat,  breeches, 
cloth  stockings,  shoes,  and  a  hat ;  one  or  two  others, 
had  a  few  things  of  European  fabric  ;  and  these,  *'  with 
apiece  of  chalk,  described  the  coast  thereabouts,  and 
could  name  Placeiitia,  of  Newfoundland :  they  spoke 
divers  Christian  words.'*  Their  vessel  was  supposed 
to  have  belonged  to  some  unfortunate  fishermen,  from 
Biscay,  wrecked  on  the  coast.  Sailing  along  the  coast, 
captain  Gosnold  discovered,  on  the  next  day,  ahead, 
land,  in  the  latitude  of  forty-two  degrees,  where  he 
came  to  anchor  ;  and  taking  a  great  number  of  cod, 
he  called  it  cape  Cod.  On  the  following  day,  he 
coasted  the  land  southerly,  and  in  attempting  to  double 
a  point,  he  came  suddenly  into  shoal  water,  and  called 
the  place  Point  Care ;  Dr.  Belknap  supposes  this  to 
have  been  the  point,  now  called  Malesbarre,  or  Sandj^ 


44  CHAPTER  CI6O2 

Point,  the  southern  extremity  of  the  county  of  Barnsta- 
stable,  in  Massachusetts :  he  proceeded  southerly^ 
as  far  as  an  island,  which,  in  honor  of  the  queen,  he. 
called  Elizabeth  island,  a  name  which  it  still  retains : 
he  found  on  it,  a  pond  of  fresh  water,  two  miles  in  cir- 
cumference, in  the  centre  of  which,  is  a  small,*  rocky, 
isle,  on  which  he  began  to  erect  a  fort  and  store  house. 
In  the  year  1797,  Dr.  Belknap  visited  this  spot,  and 
discovered  the  remains  of  the  cellar  of  this  house,  the 
stones  of  which  were,  evidently,  taken  from  the  neigh- 
bouring beach,  the  rock  of  the  isle  being  less  moveable, 
and  lying  in  ledges.  While  the  men  were  occupied  in 
this  work,  Gosnold  went  to  the  main  land,  to  traffic 
with  the  natives,  who  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
on  which  the  town  of  New  Bedford  now  stands.  In 
nineteen  days,  the  fort  and  house  were  completed ;  but, 
discontents  arising  among  those  who  were  to  remain  in 
the  country,  the  design  of  a  settlement  was  abandoned, 
and  the  whole  of  the  company  returned  to  England. 

Sir  Walter,  although  he  bad  no  longer,  any  particular 
interest  in  the  colony  of  Virginia,  made  a  further  effort 
for  the  discovery  and  relief,  of  the  men  left  there  by  go- 
vernor White.  He  purchased,  and  fitted  out  a  bark, 
and  despatched  Samuel  Mace,  an  able  seaman,  from 
Weymouth,  who  left  that  port  in  the  month  of  March, 
fell  on  the  American  coast,  in  about  the  thirty-fourth 
degree  of  north  latitude,  and  proceeded  along  it,  but 
returned  home  without  effecting  the  object  of  his  mis- 
sion. This  was  the  fifth  attempt  of  Sir  Walter,  to  suc- 
cour his  colonists,  since  the  year  1587.  **  At  this  last 
time,  to  avoid  all  excuse,  he  bought  a  bark,  and  hired 
all  the  company,  for  wages  by  the  month ;  but  they  fell 
forty  leagues  to  the  southward  of  Hattaracke,  in  thirty- 


1603]  THE  SECOND,  45 

four  degrees,  or  thereabouts  ;  and  having  there  spent  a 
month,  when  they  came  along  the  coast  to  seek  the  peo- 
ple, they  did  it  not,  pretending,  that  the  extremity  of 
weather,  and  loss  of  some  principal  tackle,  forced, 
them  from  the  object  of  searching  for  the  port  of  Hatta- 
racke,  to  which  they  were  sent." 

Notwithstanding  the  vast  expense  of  men  and  trea- 
sure, wasted  in  the  attempt  to  establish  an  English  col- 
ony, on  the  shores  of  the  northern  continent  of  Amer- 
ica, at  the  expiration  of  about  twenty  years,  since  the 
first  voyage  of  Amidas  and  Barlow,  to  Ocracock,  there 
was  not,  at  the  death  of  queen  Elizabeth,  the  24th  of 
March,  1603,  a  single  individual  settled  on  the  main ; 
and,  although  upwards  of  a  century  had  elapsed,  since 
the  discovery  of  the  new  world  by  Columbus,  no  Eu- 
ropean nation,  excepting  the  Spani^irds,  had  succeeded 
in  making  any  settlement  on  it ;  and  a  few  soldiers  of 
that  nation,  maintained  at  two  or  three  posts  in  Florida, 
appear  to  have  been  all  the  Europeans  in  North  Amer- 
ica. As  before  the  attempts  of  the  British,  the  w^hole 
norti^ern  continent,  was  known  to  the  Europeans  under 
the  appellation  of  Florida,  now  all  that  part  of  it,  from 
the  spot,  on  which  the  first  adventurers  of  that  nation 
landed,  northly,  was  called  Virginia,  as  far  at  least,  as  the 
river  St.  Lawrence.  The  geographers  of  the  day,  re- 
presented that  vast  extent  of  country,  as  divided  into 
three  parts :  Canada  belonging  to  the  French,  Virginia 
to  the  English,  and  Florida  to  the  Spaniards  :  within 
these  insipient  divisions,  no  settlement  had  as  yet  been 
made,  so  as  to  have  entitled  any  part  of  it  to  a  par* 
ticular  name. 

It  is  surprising,  to  find  with  how  much  difficulty  the 
colonists  provided  for  their  subsistence;    the  woods 


4B  CHAPTER.  fl603 

teemed  with  buffalo,  deer,  opossums,  and  squirrels ; 
there  were  immense  banks  of  oysters  and  cockles,  and 
herrings  visited  the  rivers  yearly,  in  large  shoals : 
the  sea  and  rivers  supplied  fish  in  abundance  ;  the  trees 
of  the  forest  yielded  honey  in  quantity,  as  well  as 
grapes,  persimons,  plumbs,  and  other  fruit:  wild  tur- 
keys and  other  game,  were  in  plenty ;  and  we  have  seen, 
that,  whatever  was  committed  to  the  ground  yielded  am- 
ple returns :  the  Indians  drew  from  their  gardens,  large 
supplies  of  beans,  peas,  and  pumpkins:  in  the  spring,  the 
ground  was  covered  with  strawberries :  the  briers  af- 
forded black  and  other  berries :  s^^irubs  yielded  chinca- 
pins  :   land  turtles  were  easily  procured. 

The  failure,  of  Sir  Walter's  efforts  to  plant  a  colony 
in  Virq:inia,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  ordinary  cause  of 
the  failure  of  most  of  men's  attempts:  the  absence 
of  the  eye  of  the  master,  the  great  distance  at  which  the 
operations  he  directed,  were  to  be  executedv  and  the 
small  share  of  his  attention,  which  other  more  impor- 
tant, immediate,  or  near  objects  of  his  ambition,  or  ease, 
allowed  him  to  bestow  on  his  colony.  There  cannot 
be  any  doubt,  that,  if  one  half  of  the  treasure  that  was 
fruitlessly  wasted,  had  been  disbursed  in  these  and  sub- 
sequent operations,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  a 
man  of  ordinary  prudence,  a  very  different  result  w^ould 
have  been  obtained. 

The  spot  selected  was  not,  it  is  true,  the  most  eligi- 
ble one ;  but  the  cUmate  was  extremely  mild  :  the  land, 
though  generally  barren,  was  sufficiently  variegated  with 
fertile  spots. 


CHAPTER  la 


Towards  the  middle  of  the  month  of  April,  1603,  a 
ship  of  fifty  tons,  called  the  Speedwell,  was  despatched 
from  Milford  Haven,  for  the  further  discovery  of  the 
northern  part  of  Virginia,  under  the  command  of  Martin 
Pring;  a  bark  of  twenty-six  tons,  called  the  Discovery, 
was  also  put  under  Pring's  orders;  he  reached  the 
American  coast  early  in  June,  between  the  43d  and  44th 
degrees  of  northern  latitude,  among  a  number  of  islands^ 
in  the  mouth  of  Penobscot  bay,  and  proceeded  southerly 
^o  a  bay,  which  he  called  Whotson  bay,  in  honor  of  the 
mayor  of  Bristol,  who  had  patronised  and  was  interested  in 
the  expedition  ;  he  there  built  a  hut,  which  he  surround- 
ed with  a  palissade ;  here  a  part  of  his  men  kept  guard, 
while  the  others  were  emploj-ed  in  collecting  sassafras, 
with  which  he  was  directed  to  load  his  vessels.  The  na- 
tives visited  the  English,  and  demeaned  themselves,  and 
were  treated,  in  a  friendly  manner;  and  after  a  stay  of 
seven  weeks,  a  cargo  being  obtained  for  the  bark,  she  was 
despatched  home.  Soon  afterwards,  the  Indians  manr- 
^sted  hostile  intentions.  Pring  hastened  the  loading  of 
the  ship,  and  sailed  for  England  on  the  9th  of  August, 

In  the  mean  while,  another  attempt  had  been  made  to 
search  for  and  relieve  the  colonists  left  bv  governor  White, 
near  Cape  Hatteras.  Bartholomew  Gilbert  sailed  for 
this  purpose,  in  a  bark  of  fifty  tons,  on  the  lOthof  Ma\ 


'i 


4^  CHAPTER  [1603 

he  took  the  old  route,  by  the  West  Indies,  and  descried 
the  continent  on  the  23d  of  July,  about  the  40th  degree 
of  northern  latitude.  Adverse  winds  prevented  him  from 
proceeding  to  the  Chesapeake,  where  he  was  directed  to 
land.  Having  gone  ashore  with  four  men,  the  Indians 
fell  upon  and  destroyed  this  small  party.  Dismayed  at 
the  event,  the  people  on  board  weighed  anchor  immedi- 
ately, and  returned  home. 

Henry  IV.  of  France,  being  ever  intent  on  es- 
tablishing a  French  colony,  on  the  northern  part  of  the 
continent,  granted  this  year  to  Pierre  de  Gaet,  Sieur  du 
Montz,  a  lord  of  his  bed  chamber,  a  patent  for  all  the 
land,  between  the  40th  and  46th  degrees  of  northern  lati- 
tude, including  not  only  what  is  now  known  to  us  as  the 
provinces  of  Canada  and  New-Brunswick,  the  New -Eng- 
land states,  and  those  of  New- York,  New-Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  constituting  him  his  lieutenant-general  in 
that  region. 

Samuel  Champlain,  of  Bronage,  in  France,  sailed  up 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  anchored  at  Tadoussac. 

Although  the  Europeans  had  as  yet  no  settlement 
on  the  northern  continent  of  America,  they  employed 
200  ships  and  10,000  men,  in  the  fisheries  of  New- 
Foundland. 

In  the  following  year,  the  Sieur  Dumontz  sailed  for 
America,  taking  Champlain  as  his  pilot,  and  attended 
by  Mons.  Potrincourt,  with  a  number  of  adventurers. 
On  their  arrival,  Dumontz  made  a  grant  to  Potrincourt 
of  a  tract  of  land,  which  was  called  Port  Royal,  a  name 
which  it  retained  till  the  English,  in  the  reign  and  in 
honor  of  quetn  Ann,  substituted  to  it  that  of  Annapolis. 
Dumontz,  leaving  the  grantee  in  possession  of  his  new 
acquisition  with  a  few  colonists,  proceeded  up  a  river 


1604]  THE  THIRD.  49 

then  called  by  the  natives  Scoodick,  but  afterwards  St. 
Croix,  which,  in  the  treaty  by  which  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  was  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  is 
named,  as  constituting  a  part  of  ihe  boundary  of  the  do- 
minions of  the  contracting  parties.  On  an  island,  in  the 
middle  of  this  river,  Dumontz  wintered  and  erected  a 
fort,  part  of  the  foundations  of  which  were  discovered  in 
1798,  by  Professor  Webber,  who  attended  the  Ameri- 
can commissioners. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  king  James  concluded  a  trea- 
ty of  peace  with  Phillip  II.  of  Spain.  By  this  event,  a 
number  of  his  subjects,  of  birth  and  enterprise,  to  whom 
the  war  had  afforded  employment  for  their  talents,  find- 
ing their  attention  and  hopes  excited  by  the  great  suc- 
cess of  the  Spaniards  in  South  America,  turned  their 
thoughts  towards  emulating  their  rivals,  on  the  northern 
continent. 

The  discovery  of  gold  mines,  and  of  a  north-west 
passage  to  the  Indies,  was  the  prominent  object  of  the 
adventurers'  ambition.  The  earl  of  Southampton,  and 
the  earl  of  Arundel,  fitted  out  a  ship,  and  gave  the  com- 
mand of  it  to  George  Weymouth.  He  sailed  from  the 
Downs  with  twenty-eight  persons,  on  the  31st  of  March, 
and  forty -four  days  after  made  land  in  about  41  degrees  30 
minutes  north  latitude.  After  coasting  awhile,  he  entered 
and  sailed  about  60  miles  up  the  river  which  is  now  called 
Penobscot,  in  the  state  of  Maine.  He  set  up  crosses  in 
several  places,  in  token  of  his  having  taken  possession  of 
the  country,  had  some  traffic  with  the  natives,  and  in 
the  month  of  July  returned  to  England,  carrying  with 
him  five  Indians,  one  a  Sagamore,  and  three  chiefs. 

The  year  1605  is  rcmaikable  for  the  first  attempt  to 
the  establishment  of  the  British  empire  in  the  West  In- 

N.  CARO.       7 


50  .CHAPTER  [1606 

dia  islands.  The  crew  of  a  ship,  called  the  Olive  Blos- 
som,, owned  by  Sir  Oliver  Leigh,  bound  from  London 
to  Surinam,  landed  on  and  took  posse>sion  oi  the  inland 
of  Bi^'badces;  they  found  it  ^bandoiied  by  the  native 
Chiraibs,  and  ert cted  a  cross,  on  which  they  inscribed 
Jamesy  king  of  England^  and  of  this  island. 

The  ill  success  of  the  attempts  made  by  individuals  of 
the  English  nation,  during  near  a  quarter  of  a  century^ 
which  had  elapsed  since  the  expedition  under  the  orders 
of  Amidas  and  B  trlow,  haviui]^  evinced  that  private 
means  were  insufficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
desired  end,  in  the  sprinj^  of  the  fblio\ring  vear,  an  asso- 
ciation  was  formed  in  London,  composed  of  men  of  in- 
fluence, talent  and  wealth,  with  a  view,  by  their  urjited 
stock  and  efforts,  to  overcome  the  difficulties,  which  had 
heretofore  attended  the  establishment  of  an  English 
colony  in  the  new  world. 

Sir  Richard  Ha':klu.>t,  one  of  the  dignitaries  of  West- 
minster, was  among  the  foremost.  Historians  place  the 
name  of  this  gentleman,  immediately  after  that  of  Sir 
Walter  Rileigh,  in  the  list  of  the  promoters  of  this  noble 
undertaking.  Educated  imdcr  the  directions  of  a  kins- 
man of  great  natural  and  commercial  information,  he  had 
bestowed  an  early  attention  upon  history  arid  geography, 
and  in  his  more  mature  years  had  trannlatc:d  into  Eng- 
lish, relations  which  had  been  published  in  Spain  and 
Portugal,  of  the  voyages  and  discoveries  of  tlie  adven- 
turers of  those  nations,  and  had  published  acc"  unts  of 
the  expeditions  ot  the  navigators  of  his  own.  The  sup- 
port of  the  crown  was  sought  and  obtained,  and  king 
James  favored  the  association  with  a  charter. 

This  instrument  bears  date  the   10th  of  April.     It 
incorporates  Sir  Thomas  Smith,   Sir  John  Somers, 


1606]  THE  THIRD.  51 

Richard  Hackluyt,  Edward  M.  Wingfield,  of  the  city  of 
London,  and  tlK  individuals  wi'.o  may  thereafter  be  join- 
ed to  them,  as  iht  first  colony^  and  authorizes  them  to 
begin  their  settlement  or  plantation,  at  any  place  on  the 
coast  of  Virginia,  in  America,  betwe«  n  the  34th  and 
4l3t  degree  of  northern  latitude,  and  a  grant  is  made  to 
them  of  ail  the  country  for  the  distance  of  fifty  miles  on 
the  coast,  on  each  side  of  the  spot,  on  which  they  may 
make  their  first  settlement,  and  one  hundred  miles  back, 
making  in  the  whole  10,000  square  miles,  or  six  mil- 
lions four  hundred  thousand  acres,  together  with  all  the 
islands  over  and  against  the  coast,  within  the  distance  of 
one  hundred  miles. 

Thomas  Hanham,  Raleigh  Gilbert,  William  Parker, 
and  George  Popham,  of  the  town  of  Plymouth,  and 
such  individuals,  who  may  thereiifter  be  joined  to  them, 
are  by  the  same  instrument  incorporated  as  the  second 
company.  They  are  directed  to  make  their  first  settle- 
ment on  the  same  coast,  within  the  38th  and  45th  de- 
grees of  northern  latitude,  and  the  same  extent  of  terri- 
tory is  allotted  to  them  as  to  the  first  colony,  of  which 
the  spot  on  which  they  may  begin  their  first  establish- 
ment is  likewise  to  be  the  centre.  But  it  is  provided, 
that  after  either  colony  shall  have  begun  its  settlement, 
the  other  shall  nut  begin  its  own,  within  a  less  distance 
than  one  hundred  miles.  All  the  king's  subjects  are 
forbidden  to  settle,  on  the  back  of  the  lands  of  the  colo- 
nies, without  the  king's  license. 

The  internal  government  of  each  colony  is  given  to  a 
council  of  thirteen  persons,  to  be  constituted  by  the  king, 
and  regulated  by  his  instructions,  under  his  sign  manual, 
and  a  council  of  Virginia,  the  members  of  which  are 
likewise  to  be  chosen  by  the  king,  to  regulate  the  seve- 
ral affairs  of  both  colonies. 


■  52  ■  CHAPTER  [1606 

The  colonies  are  to  search  for  and  obtain  gold,  silver 
and  copper,  not  only  within  their  respective  limits,  but 
also  in  the  lands  on  the  back  of  them,  paying  to  the 
king  one  fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver,  and  one  fifteenth  of 
the  copper. 

The  councils  are  respectively  authorized  to  establish 
and  cause  to  be  struck^  a  coin,  to  be  current  in  the 
colonies. 

Leave  is  granted  to  the  patentees,  to  carry  to  Virginia 
such  of  the  king's  subjects,  as  may  be  willing  to  remove 
thither,  (excepting  only  those  whom  he  may  specially 
forbid  from  emigrating,)  and  to  take  for  this  purpose  a 
sufficiency  of  shipping  and  ammunition  of  war;  and 
they  are  authorized  to  repel  invasion  or  insult,  by  force. 

A  duty  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  on  the  commerce  of 
the  king's  subjects,  and  five  per  cent,  on  that  of  foreign- 
ers, on  sales  and  purchases,  was  granted  to  the  colonies 
for  the  term  of  twenty  years,  after  which  it  was  to  be 
collected  for  the  king. 

The  exportation  of  the  company's  goods  from  any  of 
the  king's  dominions,  were  to  be  free  from  duty. 

All  persons,  born  in  Virginia,  were  to  be  British 
natural  born  subjects.  ; 

The  king  declares  to  all  Christian  kings,  princes  and 
states,  that  if  any  person  within  the  colonies,  or  any  by 
their  license,  shall  lob  or  spoil,  by  sea  or  by  land,  or 
commit  any  act  of  insult  or  unlawful  hostility,  on  the 
subjects  of  any  king,  prince  or  state,  in  amity  with  him, 
he  will,  on  complaint,  cause  proclamation  to  be  made 
within  some  convenient  part  of  England,  commanding 
proper  satisfaction  to  be  made,  and  on  default  will  put 
the  offender  out  of  his  liegeance  and  protection,  and  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  party  injured  to  pursue  him  with 
hostility. 


1606]  THE  THIRD.  5^ 

Lastly,  lands  in  Virginia  are  to  be  holden  of  the  king, 
as  of  the  manors  of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  county  of 
Kent,  in  free  and  common  socage  ;  not  in  capite. 

The  charter  was  accompanied  with  instructions  and 
orders,  untler  the  king's  sign  manual,  by  which  a  board, 
to  be  styled  the  king's  council  for  Virginia,  was  estab- 
lished, consisting  of  William  Wade,  lieutenant  of  the 
tower  of  London,  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Sir  Walter  Cope, 
Sir  George  Moore,  Sir  Thomas  Popham,  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges,  Sir  John  Trevor,  Sir  Henry  Montague, 
recorder  of  the  city  of  London,  Sir  William  Romney, 
knights,  John  Doderidge,  solicitor- general,  and  Tho- 
mas Warr,  esquire,  John  Eldred,  of  the  city  of 
London,  Thomas  James,  of  Bristol,  and  John  Bragg, 
of  the  county  of  Devon,  merchants.  It  being  soon  af- 
ter found  difficult  to  convene  a  board,  the  members  resi- 
ding at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other,  the  king 
created  twenty-six  new  members;  sixteen  of  whom  were 
presented  to  him  by  the  first,  and  the  rest  by  the  second 
colony.  The  council  was  now  divided  into  two  boards, 
to  each  of  which  were  committed  the  affairs  of  one  of 
the  colonies. 

These  councils  were,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  king  and 
his  heirs,  to  give  instructions  to  a  council  resident  in 
each  colony,  the  members  of  which  they  were  for  the 
first  time  to  appoint ;  the  king  reserving  to  himself  the 
right  of  new  modelling  and  increasing  the  number  of 
the  members  of  such  councils. 

The  colonial  councils  were  respectively  to  consist  of 
thirteen  members,  at  most.  They  were  to  choose 
among  themselves  a  president ;  this  officer  was  not  to 
be  a  minister  of  the  gospel :  his  election  was  to  be  an- 
nual, and  he,  as  well  as  the  members,  were  removable  a^ 
the  pleasure  of  the  board. 


,34  CHAPTER  [1606 

It  was  recommended  to  these  councils,  to  provide  for 
the  celebration  of  divine  worship  among  the  colonists, 
and  as  soon  and  as  much  as  possible  among  the  Indians, 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  church  of  England. 

They  were  charged  to  guard  against  attempts  to  de- 
coy  any  of  the  whites  from  their  allegiance,  and  to  cause 
to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and  in  flagrant  cases  to 
be  sent  to  England,  any  person  endeavoring  so  to  do. 

Tumult,  rebellion,  conspiracy,  mutiny,  sedition, 
murder,  were  directed  to  be  punished  with  death,  with- 
out benefit  of  clergy.  The  president  and  council  were 
constituted  a  court  in  each  colony,  having  cognizance  of 
these  offences;  the  trial  was  to  be  by  jury,  but  this 
tribunal  was  authorized  to  suspend  the  execution  of  its 
sentence  until  the  king's  pleasure  was  known;  it  had 
jurisdiction  of  lesser  offences,  for  which  corporeal  or  pe- 
cuniary punishment  was  denounced,  and  it  was  even  au- 
thorized to  award  damages  to  the  injured.  Its  pro- 
ceedings were  to  be  summary  and  oral,  until  sentence, 
which,  with  the  nature  of  the  offence,  was  to  be  reduced 
to  writing,  and  subscribed  by  all  the  councillors  present. 

During  the  first  five  years  after  their  landing,  the  co- 
lonists were  to  trade  altogether  in  one,  or  at  most  three 
common  stocks,  in  each  colony.  The  fruit  of  their  la- 
bors,  and  all  the  goods  and  commodities  imported,  were 
to  be  deposited  in  a  common  warehouse,  and  a  treasurer 
or  cape  merchant,  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  council,  in 
each  colony,  and  with  the  assistance  of  clerks,  was  to  re- 
ceive, preserve,  and  deliver  out  the  joint  property.  In 
return  for  his  labor,  each  colonist  was  to  be  supplied  with 
necessaries,  out  of  the  colony's  stores. 

The  adventurers  of  the  first  colony  were  to  appoint 
one  or  more  companies,  each  consisting  of  three  persons 


1606]  THE  THIRD,  56 

at  the  least,  to  reside  in  London,  or  at  such  other  place 
as  the  council  should  appoint,  durinj^  the  first  five  years, 
to  receive  and  take  charge  of  all  commodities  to  be 
shipped  to  or  landed  from  the  colony  ;  and  the  adven- 
turers of  the  second,  were  to  make  similar  appointments 
at  or  in  the  neii>;hborhood  of  Plymouth. 

Every  colonist  was  to  take  an  oath  of  obedience,  and 
that  prescribed  by  the  4th  of  James. 

The  legislative  power  was  vested  in  the  colonial  coun- 
cils, but  they  were  not  restricted  from  denouncing  any 
punishment  afi'ecting  life  or  limb,  and  their  acts  were 
liable  to  be  rescinded  by  the  king,  or  his  council  for  Vir- 
ginia, in  England. 

It  was  recommended  to  the  colonists  to  treat  the  In- 
dians  with  kindness,  and  to  endeavor  to  bring  them  to 
the  knowledge  of  God,  and  obedience  to  the  king. 

Finally,  the  members  of  the  king's  council  for  Vir- 
ginia, in  England,  were  to  take  such  oaths  as  the  privy 
council  should  appoint,  and  the  colonial  council  such  as 
the  king's  council  for  Virginia  should  require. 

The  adventurers  for  the  first  colony,  eager  to  realize 
the  hopes,  which  the  formation  of  so  respectable  an  asso- 
ciation had  excited,  soon  fitted  out  two  ships  and  a  small 
bark,  which  they  placed  under  the  orders  of  Christopher 
Newport;  his  instructions  bear  date  the  10th  of  De- 
cember. A  list  of  the  persons  who  were  to  compose 
the  first  colonial  council,  was  committed  in  a  sealed  co- 
ver to  his  care  and  that  of  Bartholomew  Gosnold  and 
John  RadclifFe,  with  directions  to  open  it  within  twenty- 
four  hours  after  their  landing  in  Virginia,  and  not  be- 
fore ;  and  it  was  ordered,  that  immediately  after  its  being 
opened,  the  councillors  should  be  proclaimed,  a  presi- 
dent  chosen,  and  government  organised  :  Newport  was 


36  s   CHAPTER  [1607 

instracted  to  spend  two  months,  in  discovering  and  re- 
connoitering  the  rivers  and  harbors  of  the  country,  with 
such  vessels  and  crews  as  the  council  should  direct,  and 
to  return  with  such  commodities  as  could  in  the  mean- 
while be  procured,  leaving  the  bark  for  the  service  of  the 
colony. 

The  council  in  England  being  very  intent  on  the  dis- 
covery of  a  passage  to  the  south  sea,  as  the  certain  and 
infallible  way  to  rich  mines  of  gold,  directed  the  colonists 
to  enter  and  sail  up  every  navigable  stream,  and  if  any 
of  them  happened  to  have  two  main  branches,  and  the 
difference  was  not  great,  to  follow  that  which  led  to  the 
north-west,  it  being  imagined  that  the  Pacific  ocean 
would  probably  be  sooner  reached  in  that  direction. 
They  particularly  desired  that  notice  should  be  taken, 
whether  the  rivers  they  examined  sprang  from  the  moun- 
tains or  a  lake,  as,  in  the  latter  case,  a  passage  to  the  op- 
posite sea  would  be  more  easily  attained,  and  out  of  the 
same  lake,  streams  might  be  found,  flowing  in  a  contrary 
direction. 

The  flotilla  took  its  departure  from  Black  well  on  the 
19th  of  December,  sailing  by  the  way  of  the  Canary  and 
the  West  India  islands.  Some  time  was  spent  in  tra- 
ding with  seaports,  and  the  continent  was  not  reached 
till  the  26th  of  April.  The  names  of  cape  Henry  and 
cape  Charles  were  given  to  the  promontories  through 
which  they  entered  the  bay  of  Chesapeake,  in  honor  of 
Henry,  prince  of  Wales,  and  Charles,  duke  of  York,  his 
brother,  who  afterwards  succeeded  to  the  British  crown. 
A  party  of  twenty  persons  landed  on  cape  Henry,  where 
they  were  met  by  five  Indians,  who  wounded  two  of 
them^dangerously,  and  fled  to  the  woods. 

In  the  evening  the  packet,  which  contained  the  list  of 
the  councillors  and   the  orders  of  the  company,  was 


leOT]        •  THE  THIRD.  5^7 

opened  and  read.  It  appeared  that  Edward  M.  Wing, 
field,  Bartholomtw  Gv)saoid,  Jolaii  Smith,  Christopher 
Newport,  Johii  RadolifFe,  John  Martin,  and  John  Ken- 
dal, were  appointed  of  the  council :  Wingfield  was  ap- 
pointed presiident. 

The  colonial  council,  a  few  days  after,  fixed  on  a  pen« 
insula  on  the  north  side  of  a  river,  which  the  natives 
called  Powhatan,  and  to  which  die  name  of  James  river 
was  now  given,  in  honor  of  the  king,  for  the  spot  on 
which  the  habitations  of  the  colonists  were  to  be  erected, 
and  dignified  it  with  the  name  of  Jamestown,  a  name 
which  it  still  retains;  and  although  it  never  was,  nor  is 
likely  ever  to  be  remarkable  for  population,  commerce 
or  wealth,  it  will  long  boast  of  being  the  most  ancient 
settlement  of  the  whites  in  tht:  United  States. 

The  site  was  advantageous,  and  eminendy  so,  when 
compared  to  the  shoaly  and  dangerous  coasts,  on  which 
chance  had  thrown  the  first  French  and  English  adven- 
turers on  the  continent.  A  happy  situation,  as  well  as 
a  valuable  one;  yet  it  was  not  sulficiently  advantageous 
to  insure  the  prosperity  of  the  colony.  Animosities  had 
arisen  among  some  of  the  principal  colonists  during  their 
long  voyage,  and  had  not  finished  with  it.  The  colonial 
council  had  bti^un  its  operations  by  an  act  of  injustice,  ia 
excluding  John  Smith  trom  a  seat  at  their  bo.  rd.  The 
colony  suffered  much  irom  the  loss  of  the  advantages, 
which  it  had  reason  to  expect  from  his  influence  and  ac- 
tivity. Appeased,  however,  some  time  after,  by  the 
exhortations  of  Mr.  Hunt,  their  chaplain,  the  council 
admitted  the  excluded  member,  who  receiving  his  com- 
mission the  next  day,  they  all  turned  their  undivided 
attention  to  the  government  of  a  colony   ** feeble  in 

N,  CARD.       8 


58  CHAPTER  *        [1601 

numbers  and  enterprise,    which  was  thus  planted  in 
discord,  and  grew  up  in  misery." 

Newport  and  Smith  were  now  sent  with  twenty  men, 
to  reconnoitre  the  stream,  upon  which  the  colonists  had 
fixed  their  residence.  On  the  sixth  day,  they  reached  an 
Indian  town,  called  Powhatan,  consisting  of  about  twelve 
houses,  pleasantly  situated  on  a  hill,  a  little  below  the  spot 
on  wlVich  the  city. of  Richmond  now  stands  ;  it  was  the 
principal  and  hereditary  seat  of  Powhatan,  emperor  of  the 
country ^  who  had  given  his  name  to  the  town  and  riven 

The  council  had  judged  it  best  to  forbear  any  thing 
like  military  parade,  even  to  admit  any  other  kind  of  for- 
tification, than  a  few  logs  placed  together  in  the  shape  of 
a  half  moon.  The  natives  soon  came  to  visit  the  new 
comers,  and  at  first  manifested  none  but  friendly  disposi- 
tions ;  and  the  latter  endeavored,  by  a  kind  and  hospitable 
reception,  to  encourage  an  intercourse.  But  the  In- 
dicins  soon  began  to  manifest  a  quite  different  temper ; 
a  party  of  the  English,  as  has  been  said,  had  gone  up  the 
river  ;  others  were  scattered  in  the  woods,  exploring  the 
ground,  or  procuring  clapboards,  and  other  timber  for 
loading  the  ships.  The  Indians  came  into  town,  and 
fell  on  the  few  whites  who  had  been  left  there,  and  were 
quierly  employed  in  building  and  gardening;  and  killed 
a  boy,  wounded  seventeen  men,  and  retired  into  the 
thickets,  frightened  by  a  cross-bar  shot,  which  shattered 
to  pieces  a  huge  tree,  near  which  several  of  them  stood. 
This  event  excited  the  caution  of  the  council ;  thev 
caused  the  fortification  to  be  surrourded  by  a  pallisade, 
the  ordnance  to  be  mounted,  and  the  men  to  be  regularly 
trained  and  exercised. 

On  the  return  of  the  party  sent  up  the  river,  John 
Smith  marched  against  the  Indians,  and  compelled  them 
to  sue  for  peace. 


1607]  THE  THIRD.  50 

On  the  16th  of  June,  Newport  and  Nelson  sailed  for 
England  with  the  two  ships,  leaving  one  hundred  colo- 
nists in  Jamestown.  They  did  not  bear  wd\  the  scorch- 
ing heat  of  summer;  they  sickened  in  the  fall,  and  were 
reduced  low;  in  consequence  of  the  ill  supply  of  pro- 
visions, they  were  put  on  a  very  scanty  allowance,  and 
the  little  food  they  had,  was  of  a  very  inferior  quality. 
Penury,  excessive  heat,  the  moisture  of  the  air,  in  a  coun- 
try covered  with  woods,  generated  disease ;  one  half  of 
the  colonists  fell  its  victims  before  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber ;  the  survivors,  dispirited  and  famished,  sought  their 
subsistence  in  crabs  and  sturgeons. 

Wingfield  was  considered  as  the  author  of  the  dis- 
tresses of  the  colony,  by  his  embezzlement  and  waste  of 
its  stores.  The  indignation  of  the  colonists  was  raised 
to  the  highest  pitch,  by  the  discovery  of  a  project  for  de- 
serting them,  and  returning  to  England  in  the  bark, 
which  he  was  on  the  eve  of  effecting.  He  was  dpoired, 
with  one  of  the  council,  who  had  engaged  to  accompany 
him. 

John  Radcliffe  was  chosen  president,  in  his  room. 
The  new  administrator  was  not  remarkable,  either  for 
wisdom  or  activity,  but  he  was  unassuming,  and  con- 
fiding in  the  advice  of  John  Smith,  a  man  who,  with  an 
undoubted  courage  and  indefatigable  activity,  possessed 
a  strong  judgment,  permitted  him  to  direct  the  afFairs  of 
the  colony  under  him. 

Smith  immediately  adopted  the  only  plan  that  could 
save  the  whites.  He  surrounded  the  town  with  forifi- 
cations,  rude  indeed,  but  sullicient  to  resist  the  enemy 
against  which  they  were  raised.  He  next  marched  with 
^  small  party,  and  alternately  resorting  to  promises  and 
threats,  to  caresses  and  violence,  induced  or  compelled 


60  CHAPTER  [160t 

the  neighboring  tribes  of  Indians  to  yield  him  a  supply 
of  provisions.  In  one  of  his  expeditions  afterwards,  he 
was  attacked  by  a  nnmerous  party  of  savages  and  be-ing 
compelled  to  retreat,  fell  up  to  the  nt^ck  in  a  swamp,  and 
was  made  a  prisoner.  Ht^  engaged  for  some  time,  the 
attention  of  his  captors,  with  a  compass  dial,  which  he 
^  happened  to  have  about  him  ;  tht  y  wondered  at  the  play 
of  the  fly  and  needle,  which  the  gla^s  hindered  them  from 
touching,  without  preventing  them  from  seeing  it ;  he 
excited  their  surprise  and  veneration,  by  the  wonderful 
accounts  he  gave  them  of  its  utility,  so  as  to  interest 
them  in  his  favor.  They  however  bound,  and  triumph- 
antly led  him  to  Powhatan,  their  chief,  by  whose  orders 
he  was  about  to  be  put  to  death,  when  Pocahonta,  the 
chieftain's  favorite  daughter,  rushed  between  him  and 
his  executioners,  and  by  her  entreaties  and  tears,  pre- 
vailed on  her  father  to  spare  the  captive's  liie,  and  sooa 
after  to  liberate  him. 

The  store  house  at  Jamestown,  thatched  with  reeds, 
taking  fire  by  accident,  burned  with  such  violence,  that 
the  fortifications,  arms,  appard,  bedding,  and  much 
private  goods  and  provisions,  were  consumed. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year,  Nelson  and  New[)ort  re- 
turned  from  England,  with  one  hundred  colonists,  and 
a  considerable  supply  of  provibions. 

At  the  arrival  of  this  timely  succor,  the  colony  was 
reduced  to  thirty-eight  persons,  six^y- two  having  died 
since  the  departure  of  these  ships,  in  the  month  of  June. 
The  survivers,  worn  out  by  fatigue,  disease,  and  fam- 
ine, had  long  been  making  pn  parations  to  return  home; 
but  Smith,  alternately  resorting  to  solicitations  and 
command,  had  prevailed  upon  them  to  delay  tlie  execu* 
tion  of  their  design » 


leOI]  THE  THIRD.  61 

Plenty  appeared  a.8:ain,  and  the  planters  industriously 
applied  themselves  to  clear  and  sow  rhe  ground.  Their 
atte;ition  was,  however,  diverted  from  iheir  necessary 
pursuit,  by  tue  disco verv  of  a  yellowi->h  sediment,  in  a 
stream,  issuing  from  a  bank  of  sand:  it  was  fondly  con- 
sidtrred,  as  a  sure  indication  of  a  rich  mine  of  gold. 
The  labors  of  husbandry  were  immediately  suspended, 
and  every  thought  and  every  effort  employed,  in  search, 
ingfor,  and  securing,  this  apparently  valuable  dust ;  and 
one  of  the  ships  was  sent  home,  with  a  load  of  this  ideal 
treasure.  The  fatal  illusion  was  momentarv ;  not  so  its 
effects  :  they  were  long  and  sensibly  felt.  The  neglected 
fields  yielded  no  crop,  and  penury  was  again  attended 
by  disease.  The  colonists  were  once  more*  saved  from 
destruction,  bv  the  indefatii^able  activity  of  Smith,  who 
again,  by  persuasion,  and  when  that  failed,  by  violence, 
induced  the  Indians  to  spare  pArt  of  their  stores  to  the 
whites. 

The  succeeding  winter  was  extremely  cold,  and  the 
risror  of  the  season  was  the  cause  of  additional  mortality: 
the  winter  was  likewise  extremely  cold  in  the  more 
northern  part  of  the  continent.  L'Escarbot,  a  French- 
man, who  was  in  Canada  about  this  time,  remarks,  that 
the  winter  of  1607,  had  been  the  hardest  that  had  ever 
been  seen ;  "  many  savages  died  throu.^h  the  rigor  of 
the  weather :  in  these  our  parts,  many  poor  people,  and 
travellers,  have  been  killed,  through  the  severe  hardness 
of  winter  weather." 

There  wtre  judged  to  beat  this  time,  within  sixt)' 
miles  from  Jamestown,  about  seven  thousand  Indians, 
nearly  two  thousand  of  whom,  were  able  to  bear  arms; 
the  most  seen  together,  by  the  English,  were  from 
seven  to  eight  hundred. 


t5>  CHAPTER.  [1608 

On  the  recent  encouragement  for  settling  north  Vir- 
ginia, Raleigh  Gilbert,  a  nephew  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
with  two  ships  and  one  hundred  men,  furnished  with 
ordnance,  ammunition  and  provisions,  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  Sagadehoc,  or  Kennebeck  river :  he  built 
a  storehouse,  and  fortified  it,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
Fort  St.  George. 

In  the  summer  of  the  following  year,  John  Smith, 
with  a  party  of  fourteen  men,  explored  in  an  open  barge, 
the  bay  of  Chesapeake,  from  the  ocean  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Susquehannah,  trading  with  some  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  fighting  with  some  others;  making,  according  to 
his  own  reckoning,  an  ascent  of  ne.irly  three  thousand 
miles.  He  found  among  the  Susquehannah  Indians, 
hatchets,  and  utensils  of  iron  and  brass,  which  they  had 
obtained  from  the  French,  by  the  way  of  Canada.  On 
his  return  to  Jamestown  he  drew  a  map  of  the  bay,  and 
the  rivers  Rowing  into  it,  and  annexed  to  it,  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  country,  and  the  nations  inhabiting  it.  This 
map  was  made  with  such  accuracy,  that  it  is  the  original 
from  which  all  subsequent  maps,  have  been  chiefly 
copied. 

His  superior  ability  and  industry,  induced  the  coun- 
cil and  settlers  to  invest  him  with  the  presidency  of  the 
board,  and  government  of  the  colony. 

Newport  returned  soon  after  with  seventy  colonists, 
among  whom,  were  some  persons  of  distinction:  eight 
Dutchmen  and  Poles  were  sent  to  teach  the  planters  the 
making  of  tar,  glass  and  potash  :  by  this  vessel,  the  pre- 
sident and  council  received  instructions  to  explore  the 
western  country,  in  order  to  procure  certain  intelligence 
of  the  South  Sea;  and  when  Newport  returned  to  Eng- 
land, he  left  two  hundred  persons  in  the  colony. 


1609]  THE  THIRD.  G3 

The  few  men,  left  at  Sagadehoc,  having  lost  their 
stores  by  fire,  the  preceding  winter,  and  in  this  ''cold, 
mountainous,  barren,  rocky,  desert  country,  meetino- 
with  nothing  but  extreme  hardships,  and  hearing  of  the 
death  of  some  of  their  principal  supporters,  returned 
to  England.  Their  patrons,  offended  at  their  unex- 
pected arrival,  desisted,  for  several  years,  from  any 
further  attempt.'' 

The  French  availing  themselves  of  this  circumstance, 
to  extend  their  infant  settlement;  Dumontz,  being  en- 
couraged by  his  sovereign,  Henry  IV.  sent  over  three 
ships  with  families  to  conmience  a  permanent  settlement, 
Samuel  Champlain,  who  undertook  to  conduct  this  col- 
ony, after  examining  ti)e  most  eligible  places  for  a  settle- 
ment in  Acadia,  and  on  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  selected 
a  spot  at  the  confluence  of  this  river,  and  that  of  St. 
Charles,  at  the  distance  of  about  three  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  the  sea:  here  he  erected  barracks, 
sowed  wheat  and  rye,  and  on  the  third  of  July,  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  city  of  Quebec,  the  capital  of  Canada. 

This  year,  Henry  Hudson,  under  a  commission 
from  king  James,  discovered  Long  island,  that  of 
Manhattan,  on  which  the  city  of  NewYork  now  stands, 
and  the  river  to  which  he  gave,  and  which  still  bears  his 
name. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year,  Samuel  Argal 
arrived  at  Jamestown,  in  a  ship  loaded  with  provisions. 
The  great  influence  which  the  king  derived  from  the 
dependence  on  his  will,  in  which  the  first  charter  kept 
the  affliirs  of  the  company,  had  deterred  many  persons  of 
capital,  rank  and  influence,  from  taking  any  share  in  its 
concerns  ;  and  the  patentees  chose  not  to  ventuie  much 
farther  than  thcv  had  hitherto  done.     The  monarch  was 


64  CHAPTER  fiSOS 

therefore,  Induced,   in  order  to  revive  their  drooping 
spirits,  to  grant  them  a  new  charter.     This  instrument 
bears  date,  the  16th  of  May,  1609.     It  incorporates  six 
hundred  and  seventy  individuals,  and  fifty-six  corpora- 
tions of  the  city  oi  London,  under  the  style,  of  **  The 
treasurer  and  company,   of  the  adventurers  and  plan- 
ters of  the  city  oi  London,  tor  the  first  colony  of  Viiv 
ginia.''     It  grants  to  them  all  the  territory  in  that  part 
of  America,  called  Virginia,  from  the  point  of  land  call- 
ed cape,   or  point  Comfort,  two  hundied  miies  to  the 
northward,  and  two  hundred  miies   to  the  southward, 
along  the  sea  coast,  irom  sea  to  sea,  with  all  the  islands 
along  the  coasc,  wiihin  one  hundred  n)iks.     A  council  is 
established,  to  be   composed  of  sixty -two    nobiemen, 
knights  and  gentlemen,  resident  in  London,  under  the 
style  of  **  The  king's  council  for  the  company  of  adven- 
turers and  planters,  of  Virginia."      Sir  Thomas  Smith 
was  appointed  treasurer,  and  the  vacancies  in  the  coun- 
cil, were  to  be  filled  up  by  the  treasurer  and  council,  out 
of  the  adventurers.     The  appointment  of  the  governor 
and  other  officers,  was  vested  in  the  council,  who  were 
authorized  to  legislate  for  the  colonists,  while  resident  in 
Virginia,  or  in  their  outward  and  homeward  voyages : 
all  the  former  laws  were  abrogated.     The  adventurers 
were  liable  to  be  disfranchised,  by  the  major  part  of  the 
assembly  of  the  adventurers,  and  the  treasurer  andcoun- 
cil  were  empowered  to  admit  new  members  of   the 
corporation. 

The  company  were  authorised  to  search  for  mines, 
not  only  within  the  boundaries  of  the  grant,  but  in  any 
part  of  the  country  not  granted  to  other  persons ;  and 
to  ship  to  Virginia,  any  of  the  king's  subjects,  not  espe- 
cially excepted  by   him,  and  who  might  be  willing  to 


i609]  THE  THIRD.  eS 

remove  thither,  with  all   necessary  supplies,  free  from 
duty. 

A  freedom  from  all  subsidies  and  customs,  in  Vir. 
giuia,  for  twenty-one  \ears,  was  granted,  and  from  taxes 
and  impositions  f  3r  ever,  on  importation  and  exporta- 
tion of  goods,  by  the  treasurer  and  company,  except 
five  per  cent. 

The  company  was  authorized  to  repel,  by  violence, 
every  intruder,  and  to  seize  the  vessels  and  goods  of 
persons  trading  within  their  limits,  without  their 
Jicense. 

Children,  born  in  Virginia,  were  declared  natural  born 
subjects  of  the  kifig. 

Jurisdiction,  in  criminal  matteis,  was  given  to  the  go- 
vernor and  council,  and  they  were  empowered  to  enforce 
martial  law,  in  case  of  rebellion. 

Lastly,  provision  w^as  made  for  the  favorable  interpre- 
tation of  the  charter,  and  the  confirmation  of  such  privi- 
leges in  the  former  one,  as  were  not  abrogated  in  the  pre- 
sent. Future  adventurers  were  allowed  to  be  entitled 
to  the  same  privileges  as  the  present  patentees,  and  the 
oath  of  supremacy  v/as  required  to  be  taken,  by  every 
person  removing  to  Virginia. 

Lord  Delaware  was  chosen  first  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, under  the  new  charter.  In  accepting  his  com- 
mission, he  required  some  little  time  to  arrange  his  pri- 
vate concerns;  and,  in  the  mean  while,  the  council 
despat'jhed  Sir  Thomas  Gates  as  lieutenant  general,  and 
Sir  George  Somers  as  admiral.  The  fleet,  with  which 
they  sailed,  consisted  of  nine  ships,  on  board  of  which, 
five  hundred  colonists  took  passage.  It  sailed  in  tlie 
latter  part  of  May. 

N.   CAIIO.       9 


6G  CHAPTElt  [160Sr 

Sir  Thomas  and  Sir  George  were  the  bearers  of  a 
commission,  authorizing  them,  on  their  landing  in  Vir- 
ginia, to  cause  lord  Delaware  to  be  proclaimed,  to  su- 
persede the  former  council,  and  to  take  upon  themselves 
the  administration  of  the  governrnxcnt  of  the  colony,  till 
the  arrival  of  his  lordship. 

These  two  officers  were  on  board  of  the  same  ship, 
which  was  separated  from  the  fleet,  in  a  violent  storm, 
on  the  25th  of  July,  and  cast  ashore  on  the  rocks  of  Ber- 
mudas ;  a  hmail  ketch  perished  at  the  same  time.  The 
fleet  reached  Jamestown  a  few  weeks  after ;  (about  tlie 
middle  of  August.) 

Without  tidings  from  their  commanders,  and  de- 
prived of  all  the  papers,  which  the  council  had  sent  with 
the  new  administration,  it  appeared  impossible  to  change 
the  order  of  things.     The  new  colonists  insisted,  that 
the  former  form  of  government  was  abrogated  ;  but,  as 
they  could  produce  no  testimony  of   its  abrogation, 
nor  any  warrant,  authorizing  the  establishment  of  any 
new  form,    Smith  refused  to  yield  up  the  reins  of  go- 
vernment.    The  accession  of  a  number  of  colonists, 
which  should  have  added  to  the  security  of  the  colony, 
heightened  the  danger  it  was  in.     Anarchy  and  confu- 
sion prevailed  ;   the  authority  of  Smith,  verging  towards 
its  end,  was  but  httle  respected :  to  the  new  comers, 
Smith  attributed  the  disastrous  situation  of  the  country: 
he  describes  them  as  "a  lewd  company,    containing 
many  unruly  gallants,  packed  hither  by  their  friends,  to 
create  ill  destinies."     He  detached  two  hundred  of  them 
to  the  falls  of  James  river,  and  to  that  part  of  the  present 
state  of  Virginia,  which  is  now  called  the  county  of 
Nansemond.     In  the  latter  settlement,  the  English,  im- 


1609]  THE  THIRD.  «e7 

prudently  giving  offence  to  the  neighbouring  Indians, 
the  savages  fell  upon  them,  and  massacred  the  greater 
number:  and  the  survivors  returned  to  Jamestown,  to 
seek  protection  under  the  authority,  which,  a  short  time 
before,  they  had  contemned. 

A  systematic  design  was  now  meditated  upon,  by 
Powhatan,  against  the  colony  ;  but  his  expectations  w^ere 
frustrated,  by  the  discovery  made  by  Pocahonta,  his 
daughter,  tlien  but  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age, 
who,  in  a  dark  and  dreary  night,  came  to  Smith,  in 
Jamestown,  and  informed  him  of  her  father's  determi- 
nation, to  come  and  destroy  the  colonists,  on  the  follow- 
ing day :  this  timely  information  enabled  the  whites  to 
avert  the  impending  blow. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  president  Smith,  return- 
ing from  an  excursion  up  the  bay;  the  casual  explosion 
of  a  keg  of  gun  powder  near  him,  while  he  was  sleeping 
in  his  boat,  so  miserably  mangled  his  body,  that  he  was 
for  several  days,  unable  to  move  without  assistance  :  he 
caused  himself,  at  last,  to  be  brought  on  board  of  one 
of  the  ships,  and  returned  to  England,  in  search  of  bet- 
ter professional  assistance,  than  the  colony  could  afford. 

He  left  behind  him,  besides  the  ships,  seven  boats, 
commodities  to  trade,  a  crop  of  corn  lately  housed,  pro- 
visions for  ten  weeks  in  the  store,  upwards  of  four 
hundred  and  ninety  colonists,  twenty  four  pieces  of 
ordnance,  three  hundred  muskets,  with  other  arms,  and 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  ammunition. 

The  Indians,  their  language  and  habitations,  were 
well  known.  The  colony  was  well  supplied  with  nets 
for  fishing,  farming  utensils,  wearing  apparel,  and  pos- 
sessed five  horses  and  a  mare,  five  or  six  hundred  hogs, 


6S  CHAPTER  p610 

some  g:oats,  sheep  and  fowls,  and  were  in  every  other 
respect  in  a  comfortable  and  prosperous  situation. 

The  Virginians  were  not  long  without  feeling  the 
absence  of  the  chief,  to  whose  judgment  and  activity  the 
colony  owed  its  prosperous  state.  In  the  disorder  that 
ensued,  s  veral  laid  claim  to  the  supreme  command; 
the  choice  of  the  colonists,  at  last,  fell  upon  George 
Perc'v ,  whose  heart  was  virtuous,  and  whose  connexions 
were  respectable,  but  whc  '>e  talents  were  not  suited  to 
the  turbulence  of  the  times  ;  his  constitution  had  ill 
borne  the  effects  of  a  change  of  climate,  and  his  health 
was  so  much  impaired,  that  he  stood  in  need  of  Euro- 
pean medical  assistance,  as  much  as  the  person  he  was 
a})pointed  to  succeed. 

The  Indians  soon  became  conscious  of  the  advantage 
which  they  derived,  from  the  absence  of  the  man  by 
whom  they  had,  until  now,  been  reduced,  and  kept  ift 
awe  and  subjection,  and  of  the  favorable  opportunity  of 
making  a  successful  attack  upon  the  whites;  the  wonted 
supplies  were  kept  back,  and  casual  aggressions  an» 
nounced  soon  frer  a  state  of  war.  Unable  to  attack  the 
enemy,  the  whites  confined  themselves  to  Jamestown, 
and  lost  the  opportunity  of  j)rocuring food  by  hunting; 
their  stock  of  provisions  was  consumed,  and  a  dreadful 
famine  ensued  ;  in  six  months,  the  colony  was  reduced 
to  sixty-eii^ht  persons,  of  all  ages  and  sexes,  so  feeble 
and  emaciated,  that  they  could  not  have  survived  their 
companions,  without  some  speedy  reli^  f. 

Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  Sir  George  Somers  arrived  at 
Jamestown  tram  Bermudas  on  the  twenty-third  of  May ; 
none  of  the  crew  of  the  vessel,  in  which  they  had  been 
shipwrecked,  had  perished,  and  they  had  been  so  fortu- 


1610]  THE  THIKD,  e^ 

nate  as  to  save  all  the  provisions  on  board  of  it ;  during 
a  stay  of  ten  months  on  this  uninhabited  island,  they  had 
built  two  barks,  in  which  they  had  made  the  voyage  to 
Virginia. 

One  hundred  and  thirty  persons  came  in  these  barks, 
and  the  provisions  saved  from  the  ship,  having  support- 
ed them  at  Bermudas,  during  their  long  stay  there,  and 
during  their  passage,  could  not  long  supply  their  wants, 
and  those  of  the  colonists,  to  whom  they  were  now 
joined. 

It  appeared,  that  on  putting  the  people  on  the  most 
scanty  allowance,  the  stock  on  hand  would  not  last  much 
longer  than  a  for' night.  In  this  dilemma,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  abandon  the  country,  and  proceed  to  New*- 
foundland,  where  present  relief  might  be  obtiiined,  and 
sufficient  shipping  to  carry  the  colonists  to  Eng- 
land, this  being  the  season  of  the  fishery ;  they  sailed 
Accordingly. 

Thus,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  first 
attempt  of  the  English  to  establish  a  colony  in  America, 
six  vears  after  the  lavini^  the  foundation  of  Jamestown, 
was  the  northern-  coniinent  wltl^ut  a  single  individual, 
acknowledging  obedience  to  the  laws  of  England,  not- 
withstanding the  very  great  sacrifices  of  lives  and  wealth, 
in  endeavoring  to  accomplish  this  desirable  object. 

The  French  settlement,  in  Canada,  was  thriving,  and 
Lewis  XIII.  who  this  year  succeeded  Henry  IV.  on  the 
throne  of  France,  less  inclined  to  war  than  his  predeces- 
sor, had  manifested  the  intention  to  foster  the  rising 
colony. 

The  Spaniards  still  kept  a  few  soldiers,  in  some  scat- 
tered forts  on  the  coast  of  Florida. 


TO  CHAPTER,  >[i610 

The  Dutch  had  lately  visited  the  island  of  Manhattan, 
discovered  by  Hudson,  in  order  to  trade  with  the  natives, 
and  built  some  huts,  in  token  of  their  possession  of 
the  country,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  New- 
Netherland. 


Sm  ith — St'ith — Beverly — Keith — Marshall. 


16101  THE  FOURTH.  71 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Little  did  the  colonists  believe,  when  they 
abandoned  Jamestown,  and  with  it  the  hope  of  be- 
ing among  the  founders  of  the  English  empire  in 
America,  that  in  a  few  days  an  auspicious  event 
was  to  restore  them  to  their  forsaken  dwellings,  and 
enable  them  to  resume  the  successful  establishment 
of  the  first  English  colony.  How  near  is  often  the 
hour  of  despair  to  that,  which  aifords  us  the  true 
pledge  of  the  attainment  of  our  most  sanguine  wisheSc 
The  colonists  wereyet  in  the  river,  when  three  ships 
were  descried  approaching  its  mouth;  Lord  Del- 
aware was  in  one  of  them;  one  hundred  and  fifty  new^ 
settlers  accompanied  him,  and  the  flotilla  was  load- 
ed with  a  plentiful  supply  of  provisions,  clothing, 
tools  of  husbandry,  ammunition,  &c.  He  prevailed 
on  the  Virginians  to  return,  and  on  his  landing  pro- 
ceded  to  the  church,  where  divine  service  was  per- 
fo'^med,  after  which  he  caused  his  commission  to  be 
read,  when  president  Percy  surrendered  to  him  his 
authority  with  the  patent  and  seal  of  the  colony. 

He  had  been  vested  with  the  sole  and  supreme 
command  in  the  colony,  in  the  constitution  of  which 
a  very  important  change  was  effected;  the  original 
aristocracy  of  the  country  was  converted  into  the 
rule   of  one,  over  the  deliberations  of  whom  th(^ 


n  CHAPTER  [1610 

people  had  no  control.  The  evil  of  anarchy 
had  of  late  been  so  sorely  felt,  that  tlie  necessity  of 
the  change  appeared  obvious,  and  the  amiable  and 
dignified  demeanor  of  the  new  admihistraior,  ei- 
ther prevented  or  silenced  the  murmurs  of  tt.ose  who 
might  not  relish  the  alteration.  A  number  of  French- 
men were  brought  with  the  last  colonists,  for  the 
purpose  of  cultivating  the  vine;  and  considerable 
hopes  were  entertained  that  America  would  supply 
the  market  of  London  with  wine.  It  is  extraordi- 
nary, that,  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries,  notwith- 
standing the  apparent  aptitude  of  soil  and  climate, 
and  the  very  frequent  attempts  that  ha-  e  followed 
this  very  important  and  costly  experiment,  and  the 
encouraging  success  of  posterior  ones,  no  prac- 
tical result  has  as  yei^  in  any  considerable  degree 
realized  the  fond  expectation;  nor  even  authorized 
thebelief  that  the  time  is  much  nearer,  when  those 
who  delight  in  the  juice  of  the  grape,  are  to  be  gratis 
fied  by  the  prospect  of  an  American  vintage. 

Under  the  administration  of  lord  Delaware, 
peace,  industry,  order  and  plenty  succeeded  to  an- 
archv,  ill  success,  confusion  and  dearth* 

Sir  George  Somers  had  noticed  during  his  stay 
at  Bermudas,  that  there  were  in  the  woods  of  that 
island  a  great  number  of  hogs,  which  were  suppos- 
ed to  have  descended  from  animals  of  that  species 
that  had  escaped  from  some  vessel  wrecked  near 
that  island.  It  was  deemed  prudent  to  send  him  thi- 
ther, in  order  that  he  might  obtain  as  many  of  them  as 
possible,  which  would  make  a  valuable  acquisition 
to  the  stock  of  the  colony.  After  a  very  tedious 
passage,  he  reached  the  island,  but  before  he  could 


1610]  THE  FOURTH.  13 

accomplish  the  object  of  his  mission,  he  departed 
this  life.  Mathevv  Somers,  his  nephew,  who  com- 
manded under  him,  neglected  the  execution  of  his 
dying  wiil  to  fulfill  the  intentions  of  lord  Delaware, 
and  returned  to  England  to  carry  the  corpse; 
having  buried  the  heart  and  entrails  near  the  spot 
on  which  the  principal  town  of  the  island  has  since 
been  built,  and  called  St.  George,  in  honor  of  the 
knight 

This  year,  the  earl  of  Northumberland  and  forty- 
four  other  persons,  were  incorporated  by  the  name 
of  the  "  Treasurer  and  company  of  the  adven- 
turers and  planters  of  the  cities  of  London  and 
Bristol,  for  the  colony  and  plantation  of  New- 
foundland," and  obtained  from  the  king  a  grant  of 
the  country  from  the  46th  to  the  52d  degree  of 
northern  latitude,  together  with  the  seas  and  islands 
lying  within  ten  leagues  from  the  coast.  The 
preamble  stales,  as  one  of  the  inducements  to  the 
grant,  that  *' divers  of  the  king's  subjects  were  de- 
sirous lo  plant,  in  the  southern  and  eastern  parts  of 
Newfoundland,  whither  the  subjects  of  this  realm 
have  for  upwards  of  fifty  years  been  used  annually 
in  no  small  number  to  visit,  to  fish."  The  parties 
soon  after  sent  thirty  more  persons,  under  the  or- 
ders of  John  Guy,  of  Bristol;  who  began  a  settle- 
ment at  Conception  bay,  where  they  wintered. 

Under  the  administration  of  lord  Delaware,  the 
colony  rpassumed  a  promising  aspect;  but  it  did 
not  long  possess  the  nobleman,  to  whom  it  was  in- 
debted for  its  restoration.  His  lordship,  finding  his 
constitution  daily  impaired,  by  a  climate  not  con- 
genial to  it,  sailed  oa  the  28th  o/  March,  in  quest 

N.  CARO.      10 


74  .      CHAPTER  [^16  ii 

of  relief,  far  the  island  of  Nevis,  famous  in  those 
days  for  its  wholesome  waters.  The  number  ^of 
colonists,  at  his  departure  from  Jamestown,  was 
two  hundred. 

George  Percy,  who  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, yielded  them  to  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  who  had 
been  appointed  to  succeed  lord  Delaware,  and  who 
arrived  shortly  after  with  three  ships,  bringing  with 
him  three  hundred  colonists,  twelve  cows,  twenty 
goats,  and  abundance  of  provisions. 

A  new  governor,  however.  Sir  Thomas  Gates, 
arrived  in  the  month  of  August:  with  him  came  a 
small  fleet,  consisting  of  six  ships,  on  board  of 
which  were  two  hundred  and  eighty  men,  twenty 
women,  one  hundred  head  of  cattle,  two  hundred 
hogs,  military  stores,  and  provisions. 

The  colony  now  began  to  extend  itself  up  James 
river,  and  several  new  settlements  were  made.  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  with  three  hundred  men,  being  one 
half  of  the  colonists,  went  up  James  river,  and  built 
a  town,  which,  in  honor  of  the  prince  of  Wales,  he 
called  Henrico,  the  ruins  of  which,  according  to 
president  Stith,  were  still  visible  in  1746.  His 
settlement  being  some  time  after  attacked  by  the 
Appamatox  Indians,  who  dwelt  on  the  river,  which 
to  this  day  preserves  their  name,  he  marched 
against  them,  drove  them  off,  and  took  possession  of 
their  town,  which  in  remembrance  of  the  island  of 
Bermudas,  he  called  Bermuda  Hundred. 

In  the  following  year,  the  company  obtained  a 
new  charter:  its  date  is  of  the  12th  March.  It  con- 
firms their  former  privileges,  and  prolongs  the  time 
of  their  exemption  from  the  payment  of  duties  on 


1612]  THE  FOURTH.  Tfa 

commodities  exported  by  them,  and  their  certain 
boundary  by  this  grant  was  extended,  so  as  to  in- 
clude all  the  islands  lying  within  three  hundred 
miles  of  the  coast:  this  extension  had  been  solicited 
with  a  view  of  including  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Virginia,  the  island  of  Bermudas  and  the  islands 
that  surround  it. 

The  company,  however,  disposed  immediately  of 
their  new  acquisition  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  their 
own  members,  who,  in  honor  of  the  late  Sir  George 
Somers,  gave  these  islands  the  name  of  Somers'  Islands ; 
a  name  which  they  have  retained  on  the  English  charts: 
on  those  of  other  nations,  and  pretty  generally  among 
English  mariners,  they  are  still  known  by  the  name  of 
Bermudez,  the  Spanish  navigator  who  is  said  to  have 
discovered  them.     The  new  proprietors,  last  noticed, 
sent  thither  a   colony    of   sixty    persons,    under    the 
guidance  of  Richard  Moore.    They  landed  in  June,  and 
in  the  following  month  subscribed  certain  articles  of 
government,  which  have  been  the  origin  from  which 
civil  institutions  have,  without  interruption,  been  sup- 
ported in  Bermudas  to  this  day:  in  the  course  of  the 
year,  the  colony  received  an  accession  of  thirty  persons. 
King  James  favored  the  adventurers  of  the  first  colony 
with  the  permission  of  raising  in  England  money  by  a 
lottery:  this  is  the  first  instance  of  any  public  counte- 
nance being  given   to   the  raising  of  money  in   this 
pernicious  way. 

Two  ships,  with  eighty  men,  and  a  supply  of  provi- 
sion, arrived  this  year  in  Virginia. 

The  year  1613  is  memorable  for  the  first  hostilities 
betsvecn  the  English  and  French  colonists  in  America. 


m  CHAPTER  L^^l^ 

Samuel  Champlain,  when  commencing  the  settlement 
of  Canada,  had  found  the  Adisonkas  engaged  in  an  im* 
placable  war  with  the  Iroquois  or  five  nations,  a  confe- 
deracy, consisting  of  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Ononda- 
gas,  Cayugas  and  Senekas,  who  had  been  nnited  from 
ancient  time,  had  been  driven  from  their  possessions 
near  Montreal,  and  had  found  an  asylum  on  the  south- 
east  border  of  lake  Ontario.  The  Adisonkas  had,  in 
their  turn,  been  constrained  to  abandon  their  lands^ 
situated  above  the  three  rivers,  and  to  look  for  safety 
behind  the  straights  of  Quebec.  Cham  plain  had 
espoused  their  cause,  and  accompanying  them,  on  an 
expedition  against  the  five  nations,  had  discovered  the 
lake  to  which  he  gave  his  name;  but  which,  except 
among  the  French,  retains  at  this  day  its  Indian  name 
Ontario.  The  alliance  of  the  Adisonkas  with  the 
French,  turned  the  scale  of  success,  and  the  allied 
tribes  were  defeated  in  several  buttles,  and  reduced 
to  great  distress,  till  procuring  fire  arms  from  a  Dutch 
ship,  that  sailed  high  up  Manhattan  river,  they  became 
formidable  enemies  to  the  Adisonkas  and  the  French. 

Madame  de  Guercheville,  a  pious  French  lady, 
zealous  for  the  conversion  of  the  American  Indians,,  had 
procured  from  Dumontz  a  surrender  of  his  patent,  and 
obtained  from  Louis  XIII.  a  charter  of  all  the  lands  of 
New  France,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Florida,  with 
the  exception  of  Port  Royal.  She  sent  out  Saussaye, 
with  two  Jesuit  missionaries.  He  left  Honfleur  on  the 
twelfth  of  March,  in  a  vessel  of  one  hundred  tons,  and 
on  the  sixteenth  of  May,  arrived  at  Lac  Acre,  or  Aca- 
dia, where  he  set  up  a  cross,  with  the  arms  of  Madame 
de  Guercheville,  in  token  of  his  having  taken  posses- 
sion for  her.    He  proceeded  ncKt  to  Port  Royal,  where 


1614]  THE  FOURTH.  77 

he  found  only  five  persons,  v\  horn  he  took  with  him,  and 
two  Jesuits  whom  he  met  there ;  with  them  he  proceeded 
to  Mont  Depot,  an  island  thus  named  by  Champlain,  at 
the  entrance  of  the  river  Pentat^oet,  in  forty-four  degrees 
twenty  minutes  of  latitude ;  the  Jesuits  fixed  their  settle- 
ment  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  island,  and  called  the  place 
St.  Lawrence.  Saussaye  left  them  a  suitable  number  of 
colonists. 

The  settlers  were  hardly  provided  with  accommoda- 
tions, before  they  were  attacked  by  the  English  of  Vir- 
ginia, under  captain  Samuel  Argal,  sent  by  governor 
Gates,  with  seven  small  vessels,  sixty  soldiers,  and  four- 
teen guns.  The  French  were  not  in  a  situation  to  make 
any  resistance,  and  yielded  to  superior  force.  One  of 
the  Jesuits  was  killed,  several  of  the  colonists  were 
wounded,  and  all  made  prisoners,  excepting  four  or  five, 
who  found  their  safety  in  flight.  Argal  supplied  his  pri- 
soners with  a  fishing  vessel,  in  which  they  returned  to 
France ;  he  however  retained  fifteen  of  them  and  a 
Jesuit,  whom  he  brought  to  Jamestown. 

On  his  arrival  there,  governor  Gates,  and  the  council, 
resolved  to  send  him  back  to  the  coast  of  Acadia,  to  raze 
all  the  settlements  and  forts  to  the  forty-sixth  degree* 
An  armament  of  three  vessels  was  immediately  put  un- 
der the  orders  of  captain  Argal,  with  which  he  proceeded 
to  St.  Lawrence,  wdiere  he  broke  to  pieces  the  cross, 
with  the  arms  of  Mackime  de  Guercheville,  and  erected 
another  with  those  of  James  L,  for  whom  possession  was 
now  taken  of  the  country.  He  next  sailed  to  St.  Croix, 
where  he  destroyed  all  the  remains  of  Dumontz's  settle- 
tnent,  and  proceeding  to  Port  Royal,  he  reduced  the 
buildings  erected  there  to  ashes. 


78  CHAPTER  [161.^ 

Oil  his  return  to  Virginia,  he  visited  the  Dutch  settle-! 
ment  on  Hudson's  river,  of  which  he  demanded  posses- 
sion. Hendrick  ChrisUans,  the  governor,  incapable  of 
resistance,  submitted  himself  and  his  colony  to  the  kin^' 
of  England,  and  under  him  to  the  governor  of  Virginia. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Jamestown,  captain  Argal  acs 
companied  Sir  Thomas  Gates  to  Chickahominy,  where  a 
treaty  was  held  with  the  Indians,  who  solemnly  engaged 
to  be  faithful  to  king  James. 

A  proper  direction  ^vas  now  given  to  the  activity  of 
the  colonists  ;  it  exerted  itself  in  useful  industry,  and  a 
very  important  change  took  place.     Hitherto,  no  sepa- 
rate or  private  property  had  been  allowed,  either  in  any 
part  of  the  soil,  or  in  the  produce  of  it ;  the  planters  had 
till  now  labored  together,  and  were  fed  and  supported 
out  of  the  common  stock.     The  five  years  during 
which  this  imprudent  regulation  had  been  enforced,  by 
the  king's  instructions,  were  now  expired ;  the  effect  of 
it  had  not  differed  from  what  ought  to  have  been  ex- 
pected ;  few  and  feeble  efforts  were  made,  while  indus- 
try was  not  exerted  by  the  certainty  of  the  exclusive  en- 
joyment of  the  produce  of  its  labor;  every  one  sought 
to  remove  his  shoulder,  as  much  as  possible,  from  the 
public  burden.     Three  acres  were  allotted  to  each  man, 
to  be  improved  as  a  farm ;  he  was  required  to  work 
eleven  months  for  the  store,  out  of  which  he  was  allowed 
twelve  barrels  of  corn,  and  one  month  was  allotted  him 
to  make  the  rest  of  his  provisions. 

In  the  course  of  the  year,  five  hundred  and  forty  per- 
sons arrived  from  England,  at  Bermudas. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  governor  Gates  returned 
to  England,  and  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
Virginia,  devolved  on  general  Thomas  Dale. 


16J6]  THE  FOURTH.  79 

A  Dutch  governor  arrived  at  the  settlement  of  Hud- 
son river,  with  a  reinforcement,  to  assert  the  right  of 
Holland  to  the  country  :  he  refused  to  acknowledge,  as 
his  predecessor  had  done,  the  dependence  of  the  colony 
on  the  English  throne,  and  put  it  in  a  posture  of  de- 
fence ;  he  built  a  fort  on  the  south  end  of  the  island  of 
Manhattan,  where  the  city  of  New  York  was  afterwards 
built. 

John  Smith  visited,  this  year,  the  northern  part  of 
Virginia,  ranging  the  coast  from  Penobscot,  to  cape 
Cod,  trading  with  the  natives.  From  the  observations 
he  made  on  the  shores,  islands,  harbors  and  headings, 
he,  on  his  return,  formed  a  map,  and  presented  it  to 
prince  Charles,  who,  in  the  warmth  of  admiration,  gave 
it  the  name  of  New  England. 

The  allotment  of  farms  to  the  colonists  had,  at  first/ 
produced  a  stimulus  to  industry ;  but  while  these  farms 
^vere  held  by  a  precarious  tenure,  and  he,  who  bestowed 
his  labor  on  the  ground,  had  no  security  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  improvements  he  erected  on  it,  it  could  not 
be  expected  that  agriculture  should  make  rapid  ad- 
vances. It  was  therefore  determined,  to  grant  to  every 
adventurer  in  the  colony,  fifty  acres  of  land,  in  free  and 
common  socage,  and  the  same  quantity  for  every  person 
imported  into  the  colony. 

In  1616,  the  government  of  Virginia  was  committed 
to  Sir  George  Yardly.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  the  Chic- 
kahominies  proving  refractory,  he  marched  against 
them  with  one  hundred  men ;  he  made  twelve  pri- 
soners, who  were  ransomed  for  one  hundred  bushels  of 
corn ;  and  as  the  price  of  peace,  the  Indians  loaded  three 
boats  with  the  same  article. 


80  CHAPTER  [161T 

The  culture  of  tobacco,  which  was  introduced  about 
this  time,  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  colonists  ;  for  it, 
the}''  neglected  the  fields  that  yielded  the  more  neces- 
sary, though  less  profitable  kind  of  produce  ;  thus,  their 
inattention  to  raising  sufficient  supplies  of  provisions, 
rendered  their  means  of  subsistence  more  precarious; 
and  a  consequent  bcarcity  ensued,  which  compelled  the 
whites  to  renew  their  demands  upon  the  Indians:  those 
people,  at  first,  reluctantly  yielded  a  part  of  their  stores; 
but,  the  frequenciy  of  applications  soon  induced  an 
open  refusal ;  the  English  sought  to  obtain  by  violence, 
that  which  was  denied  to  entreaty :  the  Indians'  antipa- 
thy and  lurking  animosities  were  revived,  and  thej 
soon  began  secretly  to  look  for  means  of  revenge. 

Captain  Argal,  who  arrived  in  Virginia  as  governor, 
in  the  following  year,  found  it  verging  towards  its  ruin: 
the  public  works  and  buildings  neglected,  and  fallen 
into  decay;  five  or  six  private  houses  only,  fit  to  be  in- 
habited; the  state  house  occupied  as  a  church  ;  the  mar- 
ket  place,  streets,  and  every  oth?r  spare  place,  planted 
with  tobacco;  the  people  dispersed,  and  their  entire 
number  reduced  to  about  four  hundred.  It  was  the 
misfortune  of  the  colonists,  that  the  new  administrator 
did  not  possess  the  talents  which  their  situation  de- 
manded. 

On  the  solicitations  of  the  colonists,  for  a  supply  of 
husbandmen  and  implements  of  agriculture,  the  treasurer 
and  company  sent  out  lord  Delaware,  in  a  ship  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  tons,  with  two  hundred  settlers.  His 
lordship  died  on  his  passage,  near  the  b  ly,  which  then 
received,  and  has  to  this  day  retained  his  tide  :  ?he  ship 
arrived  safely,  and  soon  after,  the  colony  received  an 
accession  of  forty  persons,  by  another. 


hUQ]  THE  FOURTH. 

Governor  Argal's  coiiduct  became  unusually  m 
ous;  and  martial  law,  which  had  been  proclaimed  and 
ecuted,  durinf^  the  turbulence  of  former  times,  was  r 
in  a  season  of  peace,  made  the  common  law  of  the  h 
he  published  several  edicts,   *'  which  mark  the  sevt 
of  his  rule,  but  some  of  them  evinced  his  attentioi 
public  safety.     He  ordered  that  all  goods   should 
sold,  at  an  advance  of  twenty  per  ceiit.,  and  toba 
taken  at  three  shillings   per  pound,  and  not  more  t 
less,  under  the  penalty  of  three  years  servitude  to 
colony  ;  that  there  should  be  no  private  trade  nor  fa. 
liarity  with  the  Indians  ;  that  no  Indian  should  be  tan; 
to  shoot  game,  under  the  penalty  of  death,  to  the  teacl 
and  learner ;    that  no  man  should  shoot,  except  in  J 
own  defence,  against  an  enemy,  till  a  new  supply 
ammunition  was  received,  on  pain  of  a  year's  servitu,^ 
that  every  person  should  go  to  church,  on  Sundays^? 
holidays,  or  be  confined  the  night  succeeding  the  s 
fence,  and  be  a  slave  to  the  colony  the  following  wt> 
for  the  second  offence,  a  slave  for  a  month,  and  for  f, 
third,  a  year  and  a  day."  f 

In  the  month  of  April,   1619,    Sir  George  Yard! 
who  had  been  appointed  governor  general  of  Virgin' 
reached  Jamestown,  and,  in  pursuance  of  his  instru 
tions,  issued  a  proclamation  for  the  holding  of  a  col 
nial  assembly,  on  tlie  19th  of  June.     On  that  day,  tl 
representatives  of  eleven  boroughs  assembled  to  excr 
cise  legislative  powers  ;  they  sat  in  the  same  house  wit 
the  governor  and  council,  according  to  the  practice  of  tli 
Scotch  parliament. 

The  fall  of  this  year  is  remarkable  for  a  dreadful  mc; 
tality  in  Virginia,  not  less  than  three  hundred  colonist 
having  fallen  victims  to  it. 

N.  CARD.        11 


*: 


CHAPTER,  [mk 

'nty  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  were  this  year, 
cd  irom  Virginia  to  England. 
:  Puritan  or  Reformed  church,  in  the   north  of 
id,  had,  in  the  year  1606,  on  account  of  its  dis- 
state,  divided  into  to  two  distinct  churches :  one 
f  h,  under  the  care  of  John  Robinson,    finding 
p.itremely  harrassed,  on  account  of  its  non-con- 
;     sought  an  asylum   in  Holland :  they  settled  in 
r  Jam,  and  afterwards  in  Leyden.     After  residing 
i  years  in  the  last  city,  various  causes  induced 
'o  think  of  a  removal  to   America.     In  the  year 
having  determined  to  go  to  Virginia,  they  des- 
;d  some  of  their  members  to  treat  with  the  Vir-^ 
company,  from  which,  after  several  attempts,  they 
::d  a  patent,  in  the  year  1619- 
parations  were  instantly  made,  and  in  the  montli 
fy  of  the  following  year,  a  part  of  the  church  re- 
I  to  England,  and  on  the  5th  of  August,  sat  sail 
outh  Hampton,  for  Virginki,  on  board  the  ship 
^j  3e,  of  one  hundred  tons  ;  and  a  smaller  one,  the 
l^-  '1,  of  sixty:  a  leak  sprung  by  the  latter,  com- 
.hem  to  return,  and  they  at  last  sailed' from  Ply- 
h,  leaving  the  leaky  ship  behindhand  taking  another 
,  the  May  Flower. 

tey  reached  cape  Cod,  on  the  19th  of  November^ 
inding  themselves  more  northerly  than  they  wished, 
stood  to  the  southward,  intending  to  land  towards 
son  river  :  falling,  however,  among  shoals,  encoun- 
g  severe  storms,  they  were  induced,  as  the  winter 
rapidly  advancing,  to  abandon  their  plan,  and  after 
ing  for  a  considerable  time  in  search  of  a  conve- 
;  spot,  the  company  landed,  on  the  23d  of  Decem- 
and  two  days  after,  began  to  build  the  first  house, 


imo]  THE  FOURTH. 

^n  the  spot  where  the  present  town  of  Plymout 
state  of  Massachusetts,  now  stands. 

A  few  days  after  their  departure  from  Englai 
James  had  granted  a  patent  to  the  duke  of  Lei 
marquises  of  Buckingham  and  Hamilton,  the 
Arundel  and  Warwick,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gore 
thirty-four  other  persons,   and  their  succtssor^, 
the  style  of  '^The  council  established  at  Plymn 
the  county  of  Dover,  for  the  planting,  ruling,  .j;4 
and  governing  of  New  England,  in  Amenca.'V 
country  lies,  between  forty  and  forly-eight  dep-i 
north  latitude,  from  sea  to  sea,  was  given  them  in' 
^ute  property ;  the  rest  of  their  charter,  differs  bi 
from  that  of  the  Virginia  company.  '■ 

In  the  mean  time,  eleven  ships,  with  twelve  hj 
and  sixteen  persons,  had  arrived  at  Jamestown,  an( 
after,   one  hundred  and  fifty  girls,  either  "  youn 
uncorrupt,"  or  ''handsome  and  well  re  com  men ''^ 
their  virtuous  education  and  demeanor,''  were 
the  colonists.     They  were  thought  too  valua^ 
gratuitously  bestowed  :  one  hundred  weight  of ' 
the  value  of  Avhich,  in  money,  was  about  fifty 
was  at  first  insisted  upon ;  but  the   supply  nol 
equal  to  the  demand,  the  price  advanced  fifty  pe 
and  one  hundred  dissolute   persons  w^ere  deliver 
the  king's  command,  to  the  treasurer  and  com 
home,  by  the  knight  marshal,  and  were  according 
over  as  servants. 

The  culture  of  tobacco  had  hitherto  exclusi' 
grossed  the  attention  of  the  colonists.     It  was 
rected,  to  more  immediate  and  variegated  objec 
hundred  and  fifty   persons  were  employed  in 
up  iron  works;  others    were  directed  to   appJ 


!  CHAPTER  [1624 

making  pitch,  tar  and  potash,  to  erect  some 
I  prepare  for  the  culture  oF  silk  :  tobacco  was, 
still  considered  the  principal  staple  commodi- 
1  inspestion  of  it  was  now  ordered, 
ch  ship  arrived  at  Jamestown,  and  disposed  of 
egroes :  this  was  the  first  importation  of  the 

lony  was  flourishing ;  it  had  been  divided  into 

r*  :hes,  and  had  five  clergymen. 

ext  year,  governor  Yardly  was  succeeded  by 

s  Wyatt ;  seven  hundred  settlers  arrived  with 

administrator:  he  brought  an  ordinance  and 

)n  of  the  treasurer,  council  and   company,  in 

ibr  settling  the  government  of  the  colony  in  a 

ja  council  of  state,   or  his  assistants,   and  a 

lembly.     The  latter  body  was  to  consist  of 

^sses,  to  be  chosen  by  every  town,  hundred, 

lar  plantation :  the  governor  had  a  negative 

:  but  they  were  not  to  have  any  force  till  ra- 

e  general  court,  or  the  company  in  England, 

Ts  were,  on  return,  to  be  of  no  force,  till  ap- 

the  general  assembly  in  Virginia. 

n  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  a  school 

city,   and  for  the   support   of  the  clergy 

:  the  province. 

inando  Gorges,  who  was  entrusted  with  the 
:  Plymouth  company,  conceived  the  design 
ig  the  Scotch  to  form  a  settlement  in  New 
or  that  purpose  a  patent,  for  the  whole  coun- 
ia,  was  granted  to  Sir  William  Alexander :  it 
,  into  a  palatinate,  by  the  name  of  Nova 
e  holden  as  a  fief  of  the  crown  of  Scotland, 
)rietor  was  invested  with  the  accustomed  re- 


1(321]  THE  FOURTH.  '  80 

gal  powers,  belonging  to  a  county  palatine.  The  attempt 
to  bring  over  a  Scotch  colony  proved  abortive.  Sir 
Alexander  divided  his  palatinate  into  two  districts,  call- 
ins:  the  southern  one  Nova  Caledonia,  and  the  other 
Nova  Alexandria. 

This  year,  George  Calvert  Lord  Baltimore,  ob- 
tained a  patent  for  the  south-eastern  peninsula,  of  New- 
foundland, which,  he  named  the  province  of  Avalouy 
from  Avalonius,  a  monk,  who  was  supposed  t  j  have 
converted  the  British  king  Lucius  and  all  his  court,  to 
Christianity.  At  Ferryland,  in  the  province  of  Avalon, 
lord  Baltimore  built  a  fine  houy:,  and  spent  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  pounds  sterling,  in  advancing  his 
piantadon.  He  appointed  Edward  Wynne,  governor 
of  the  colony,  and  visited  it  twice  in  person ;  but  he  was 
so  annoyed  by  the  French,  that,  though  he  repulsed  and 
pursued  their  ships,  and  took  sixty  prisoners,  yet,  he 
found  his  province  so  much  exposed  to  their  insults^  and 
the  trouble  and  expense  of  defending  it  so  very  great, 
ihat  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  it. 

Virginia  now  made  rapiil  advances  in  population  and 
wealth.  The  quantity  of  tobacco,  now  exported,  was 
more  than  sufiicient  to  supply  the  English  market ;  and 
the  company  opening  a  trade,  for  the  surplus,  with  the 
Dutch,  considerable  shipments  were  made  to  Middle- 
berry  and  Flushing.  This  division  of  wealth,  and  the 
consequent  diminution  of  the  revenue,  which  the  crown 
derived,  from  a  duty  which  had  been  imposed  on  the  im- 
portation of  tobacco,  awoke  the  attention  of  the  king, 
who  interposed  his  authority,  to  check,  what  he  called 
an  illegal  innovation.  The  company  invoked,  not  only 
their  general  privileges  as  Englishmen,  to  carry  their 
commodities  to  the  best  market,  but  insisted  on  the  full 


36  CHAPTER  [1622 

benefit  of  the  particular  concession,  in  their  charter,  by 
which  they  contended  an  unlimited  freedom  of  com- 
merce was  secured  to  them.  This  controversy,  which 
is  remarkable,  as  the  first  between  the  mother  country 
and  one  of  the  colonies,  was  at  last,  terminated,  by  an 
amicable  arrangement.  The  company  obtained  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  importing  tobacco  into  the  kingdom, 
and  submitted  to  the  obligation  of  bringing  all  its  pro- 
ductions there,  and  to  a  duty  of  nine  pence  per  pound 
of  tobacco. 

Extensive  settlements  were  now  made,  at  a  consider- 
able distance  from  Jamestown,  even  as  far  as  the  Po- 
tomac; and  the  situation  of  the  colonists  appeared  so 
prosperous,  Vv^hen  contrasted  with  the  disastrous  state, 
in  w^hich  it  had  lately  been,  that  they  suffiered  themselves 
to  be  lulled  with  the  most  dangerous  security,  and  their 
attention  to  be  entirely  taken  up,  in  procuring  the  lux- 
uries of  civil  life  ;  their  martial  exercise  was  entirely  laid 
aside,  and  every  precautionary  measure,  against  the  infi- 
delity and  attacks  of  the  Indians,  discarded  as  super- 
fluous. 

These  people  had  been  employed  by  the  whites,  in 
the  capacity  of  menial  servants,  of  fishermen,  and  hun- 
ters ;  they  had  been  allowed  the  use  of  fire  arms,  and 
had  acquired  a  considerable  dexterity  in  the  management 
of  them :  those  who  did  not  dwell  within,  or  in  places 
contiu:uous  to  the  habitations  of  the  whites,  came  into 
them  at  all  times  of  the  day,  and  even  of  the  night,  and 
were  received  as  welcome  guests,  or,  at  least,  as  harm- 
less visitants.  This  inconsiderate  confidence,  enabled 
them  to  plan,  and  in  a  great  degree  to  accomplish,  the 
general  slaughter  of  the  whites  :  the  plot  was  concealed 
with  surprising  secrecy,  although  all  the  natives  within 


ie!22]  THIS  FOURTH.  87 

a  very  wide  circle,  were  successively  engaged  in  the 
conspiracy.  Each  tribe  had  its  station  allotted,  and  a 
part  cast  in  the  tragedy.  On  the  morning  of  the  dav 
appointed,  every  one  w^as  at  his  post,  and  the  English 
were  so  unconscious  of  the  approaching  catastrophe, 
that  a  number  of  Indians,  who  came  in  as  spies,  to  as- 
certain whether  any  unthought  of  obstacle  might  pre- 
vent the  success  of  the  enterprise,  under  the  pretence  of 
bringing  in,  as  usual,  presents  of  venison  and  vegeta- 
bles, were  received  with  the  accustomed  cordiality.  As 
the  sun  reached  the  meridian,  the  foe  suddenly  rushed 
in,  from  every  point  of  the  compass,  upon  the  settle- 
ments of  the  whites,  in  every  part  of  the  colony.  Men, 
woPxien  and  children  fell,  indiscriminately,  under  the 
axe  or  knife.  Jamestown  was,  however,  saved  by  the 
fidelity  of  an  Indian,  who  lived  with  one  of  the  planters, 
as  one  of  his  domestics,  and  recoiling  at  the  idea  of  being 
the  destroyer  of  his  master,  acquainted  him  with  what 
was  about  to  happen,  soon  enough  to  alarm  his  neigh- 
bours, who,  running  to  their  arms,  defended  themselves 
so  bravely,  as  to  repel  the  assailants.  The  Indians  had 
not  courage  or  strength  of  mind,  to  execute  the  horrid 
deed,  which  they  had,  with  so  much  sagacity,  concerted 
and  concealed. 

In  eome  of  the  settlements,  not  one  white  person  es- 
caped :  in  the  whole,  one  fourth  part  of  them  fell.  War 
ensued,  and  was  followed  by  flimine.  Eighteen  hundred 
persons  only,  survived  these  disasters. 

Several  families  fled  to  the  southward,  and  settled  a 
place  called  Malllca^  near  the  river  May,  and  afterwards, 
visited  and  converted  tlie  Appalache  Indians  to  the 
-Christian  faith. 


88  CHAPTER  [1623 

On  the  first  account  of  this  complicated  series  of  dis- 
asters, a  liberal  collection  was  made  for  the  relief  of  the 
sufftrers,  by  the  company  in  London.  A  supply  of 
arms  was  obtained  from  the  tower,  and  vessels  were 
speedily  despatched  with  the  much  needed  relief. 

While  the  colony  experienced  so  disastrous  a  calam- 
ity, the  company  at  home  were  distracted  by  dissention 
in  her  councils.  The  king  added  his  influence  to  the 
efforts  of  one  of  the  parties  that  divided  the  company  : 
but  its  weight  was  not  sufficient  to  cause  the  scale  to 
preponderate.  Cha5>:rined  at  this,  he  comniissioned  Sir 
William  Jones,  and  six  other  persons,  to  inquire  into  all 
matters  respecting  Virginia,  from  the  beginning  of  its 
settlement ;  and  he  also,  at  the  same  time,  sent  others  to 
inquire  on  the  spot.  On  the  arrival  of  this  deputation  at 
Jamestown,  the  general  assembly  was  called,  not  at  their 
request,  for  they  kept  all  their  designs  as  secret  as  possi- 
ble. The  house  had  information  of  the  proceedings  in 
England,  and  copies  were  sent  over  of  all  the  papers 
that  had  been  acted  on  ;  they  drew  up  a  spirited  remon- 
strance, and  sent  an  agent  with  it  to  England. 

This  legislature  is  the  first,  the  records  of  which 
have  escaped  the  destroying  hand  of  time.  One  of  the 
acts  it  passed,  is  in  the  nature  of  a  bill  of  rights  ;  it  dc- 
'  fines  the  powers  of  the  governor,  the  council,  and  the  as- 
sembly, and  it  asserts  and  declares  the  privileges  of  the 
people,  in  regard  to  taxes,  burdens,  and  personal 
services. 

In  the  mean  w^iilc,  the  king  had,  by  a  writ  of  quo 
-warranto^  prosecuted  the  annihilation  of  the  company 
he  was  not  unsuccessful ;    the  court  of  king's  bene 
declared  the  charter  forfeited. 


1^24]  THE  FOURTH.  89 

On  the  26th  of  August,  a  commission  was  issued  for 
the  cippointment  of  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  as  royal  gover- 
nor of  Virginia,  with  eleven  assistants  or  councillors; 
both  the  chief  administrator  and  his  council,  were  to  act 
during  the  king's  pleasure:  no  assembly  was  mendon- 
ed  or  allowed, 

James  did  not  live  to  realize  the  fond  expectations, 
which  he  now  entertained,  from  his  uncontrolled  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  Virginia. 

At  his  decease,  which  happened  on  the  27th  of 
March,  1625  ;  he  left  the  English  settlements,  in  x\mer- 
ica,  in  a  very  advanced  degree  of  progressing  improve- 
ment. On  his  coming  to  the  throne,  he  found  not  an  indi- 
vidual of  his  nation  living  under  her  laws,  in  any  part  of 
the  new  world.  The  settlers  of  his  province  of  Virginia, 
were  now  scattered  over  all  the  borders  of  the  Chesa- 
peake, within  the  present  limits  of  the  state  ;  diey  pos- 
sessed large  herds  of  cattle ;  great  sums  of  money  had 
been  spent,  raid  much  care  bestowed,  in  the  prosecution 
of  useful  arts  and  manufactures,  particularly  iron  works, 
wine,  siik,  sawing  mills  and  salt  pans.  The  exporta- 
tion of  tobacco  averaged  forty-two  thousand  and  eighty 
five  pounds  a  year,  and  a  specimen  of  Virginia  wine  had 
been  sent  to  England,  in  1622. 

The  northern  colony,  although  but  four  years  had 
elapsed  since  "the  landuigof  the  pilgrims,"  had  multi- 
plied their  settlements  along  the  coast. 

Neither  was  the  success  of  the  English  in  coloniza- 
tion confined  to  the  main.  The  small  island  of  Bermu- 
das and  its  islots  contained  now,  an  English  population 
equal  to  that  of  Virginia,  successfully  employed  in  rais- 
ing tobacco ;  and  in  the  last  year  of  James'  reign,  the 

N.    CARO.       12 


90  CHAPTER  [1625 

islands  oF  St.  Christopher  and  Barbadoes,  began  to  be 
added  to  the  list  of  English  colonies. 

The  French  and  the  Dutch  wtre  the  only  nations 
that  could  be  said  to  have,  at  this  time,  any  establish- 
ment in  North  America,  although  the  Spaniards  had 
yet,  as  in  the  beginning  of  James'  reign,  a  few  soldiers 
garrisoning  some  forts  built  on  the  coast  of  Florida. 

But  neither  the  French  nor  the  Dutch  could  rival  the 
English  :  the  first  had  established  the  towns  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  but  the  population  there  was  extremely 
thin  ;  they  traded  at  Tadoussac,  and  had  some  fishing 
huts  on  the  coast  of  Acadia :  they  had  also,  a  few  sol- 
diers in  a  fort  they  had  built,  in  the  island  of  St. 
Christopher. 

The  Dutch  at  New  Netherlands,  in  defence  of  that 
colony,  had  built  several  forts,  one  on  the  east  side  of 
Delaware  bay,  which  they  named  fort  Nassau,  one  up 
Hudson  river,  called  fort  Orange,  on  the  spot  on  which 
stands  the  present  town  of  Albany,  and  a  third,  the  Hirsse 
©f  Good  Hope,  on  Connecticut  river.     At  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson,  they  had  laid  out  the  city  of  New  Amster- 
dam, which  is  now  known  as  that  of  New  York  ;  they 
gave  their  attention,  principally  to  the  fur  trade ;  four 
thousand  beaver,  and  seven  hundred  otter  skins,  were 
exported    to  Holland,    in  the    year    1624,    estimated 
at   twenty-seven    thousand    one    hundred    and    fifty 
guilders. 

Lord  Baltimore,  had  abandoned  the  settlement  he  had 
begun  at  Newfoundland  ;  none  of  the  European  nations 
had  any  established  government  there ;  fishing  vessels 
from  the  most  of  them,  sought  employment  thither ; 
among  them,  the  English  had  three  hundred  and  fifty 


1625 J       "  THE  FOURTH.  91 

sail,  estimated  at  one  thousand  five  hundred  tons,  em- 
ploying five  thousand  persons,  and  making  on  an  average, 
annually,  about  cue  hundred  and  thirty. five  thousand 
pounds  sterling. 


Smith — Stith — Beverly — Keith — MarshalL 


CHAPTER  V. 


Sir  George  Yardly  was  appointed  governor  of  Vir» 
ginia,  on  the  accession  of  Charles  IL  to  the  throne  of 
England.  The  new  monarch  devolved,  on  his  repre- 
sentative at  Jamestown,  the  absolute  government  of  the 
proviace,  under  the  directions  of  the  crown  ;  the  Vir- 
ginians v/ere  compelled  to  obey  statutes,  in  the  forma- 
tion of  which  they  had  no  agency,  and  to  pay  taxes,  for 
the  imposition  of  which  they  were  not  consulted.  Neither 
was  the  new  oppressive  system  confined  to  their  public 
affairs ;  it  soon  affected  private  property  ;  the  planters 
were  forbidden  to  dispose  of  their  tobacco  to  any  per- 
son, but  certain  commissioners  appointed  by  the  king 
to  engross  that  commodity ;  the  king's  favorites,  at 
home,  soon  began  to  obtain  vast  and  ill  defined  conces- 
sions of  land,  which  checked  the  progress  of  agriculture, 
and  became  the  source  of  frequent  disputes  about  titles, 
and  consequent  litigation. 

In  the  following  year,  a  bill  for  the  maintenance  and 
increase  of  shipping  and  navigation,  and  for  the  free 
liberty  of  fishing  voyages  on  the  coasts  of  Newfound- 
land, Virginia  and  New-England,  passed  the  house  of 
commons,  but  never  was  returned  from  the  house  of 
lords  ;  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  revival  of  a  bill, 
the  introduction  of  which  had  given  offence  to  king 
James,  in  162L     The  spirit  of  the  commons  was  noL 


i627]  CHAPTER.  93 

repressed  by  the  miscarriage  of  it ;  in  a  strong  repre- 
sentation of  grievances,  which  they  presented  to  th^ 
monarch,  they  insisted  that  *'  restraint  of  the  subject  from 
the  liberty  of  a  free  fishing,  with  all  the  necessary  inci- 
dents, w^s  a  great  national  grievance."  The  spirit  dis- 
played by  this  animated  assembly,  and  its  refusal  to  grant 
to  the  sovereign  a  required  aid,  brought  on  its 
dissolution. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  having  patron- 
ized the  scheme  of  Gulielm  Usselin,  to  establish  a  Swe- 
dish colony,  near  that  of  the  Dutch,  on  Hudson  river, 
a  number  of  Swedes  and  Fins  came  over  in  the  year 
1627,  and  landed  on  cape  Henlopen,  which  they  ciilled 
Paradise  Point ;  they  purchased  from  the  natives  all  the 
land  from  that  cape  to  the  falls  of  the  Delaware. 

On  the  twenty- second  of  June,  Charles  I.  granted  to 
the  earl  of  Carlisle  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  and  all  the 
Caribbee  islands ;  the  whole  w^as  erected  into  a  province^ 
which,  in  honor  of  the  patentee,  was  calkd  Carliola. 

Governor  Yardly  dying,  was  succeeded  by  sir  John 
Harvey.  The  conduct  of  the  new  administrator  was  not 
calculated  to  lessen  the  pressure  of  the  king's  despotism ; 
he  was  haughty,  inauspicious,  and  unfeeling. 

The  English,  the  following  year,  settled  on  the  island 
of  Nevis,  and  at  the  same  time  was  laid  the  foundation 
of  tl"ie  colony  of  Massachusetts.  The  council  for  New- 
England,  on  the  nineteenth  of  Mcirch,  sold  to  sir  Henry 
Roswell,  sir  John  Young  and  four  other  associates,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Dorchester,  in  England,  a  patent 
for  all  that  part  of  New- England,  lying  between  three 
miles  to  the  northward  of  IVlerrimack  river,  and  three 
miles  to  the  southward  of  Charles  river,  and  a  length 
within  the  described  breadth,  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  to 


94  '  '  CHAPTER  [1629 

the  South  sea,  and  on  the  following  year  the  grantees 
were  incorporated,  by  the  name  of  '*  the  governor  and 
company  of  the  Massachusetts  bay,  or  New-England." 

A  commission  having  been  given  this  year,  by- 
Charles  I.  to  David  Kertz  and  two  kinsmen  of  his,  of 
the  same  name,  they  advanced  as  far  as  point  Levy,  and 
sent  an  officer  on  shore,  to  Quebec,  to  summon  the  city 
to  surrender.  Samuel  Cham  plain,  who  had  the  chief 
command  there,  knowing  his  means  inadequate  to  a 
defence,  surrendered  the  city  by  capitulation. 

This  year,  the  town  of  Boston,  in  Massachusetts,  was 
settled. 

In  1629,  the  English  began  a  settlement  at  New- 
Providence,  one  of  the  Bahama  islands,  which  at  that 
time  was  entirely  uninhabited. 

Sir  William  Alexander  sold  all  his  rights  in  Nova 
Scotia,  excepting  Port  Royal,  to  Saint  Etienne,  lord 
Latour,  a  French  Huguenot,  on  condition  that  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  territory  should  continue  subjects  to  the 
crown  of  Scotland.  The  French  still  retained  possession 
of  the  country. 

Sir  Robert  Heath,  attornev-2:eneral  to  Charles  I.  ob> 
tained  a  grant  of  the  lands  between  the  thirty- eighth 
degree  of  north  latitude,  to  the  river  St.  Matheo.  His 
charter  bears  date  of  October  5,  1629,  or  the  fifth  year 
of  Charles  I.  The  preamble  sets  forth,  that  the  grantee 
being  excited,  wath  a  laudable  zeal  for  the  propagation 
of  the  Christian  faith,  the  enlargement  of  his  sovereign's 
empire  and  dominions,  the  increase  of  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  kingdom,  had  besought  leave,  by  his 
own  industry  and  charge,  to  transplant  an  ample  colony 
of  English  subjects,  unto  a  certain  country  in  America, 
not  yet  planted  or  cultivated. 


1630]  THE  FIFTH.  y5 

The  land  granted,  is  thus  debcribed  :  " by  all  that  river 
or  rivulet  o:  Sua  Matheo,  on  the  bouih  part,  by  aii  that 
river  or  rivulet  ot  Pasiso  Ma^no^  on  the  north  part,  and 
all  the  land^,  tenements  or  hereditaments,  wiihm  the  said 
two  streams,  by  the  tract  thereunto,  the  ocean  on  the 
eastern  and  weste/n  parts,  so  far  south  as  the  continent 
extends  it^elt  there:  and  also  all  those  islands  ot  Vea- 
nis  .liia  Bahama,  and  ah  the  islands  and  islots  near  there- 
to, and  iy  ng  southward  oi  and  irom  the  said  entrances 
all  which  lie  within  the  thirty-first  and  thirty. sixth  de- 
crees of  north  latitude  inclusiveiv." 

The  tenure  is  declared  to  be  as  ample  as  any  bishop 
of  Durham,  in  the  kingdom  of  England,  ever  held  and 
erjoyed,  or  ought  or  could  of  right  have  held  and 
enjoyed. 

Sir  Robert,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  are  constituted  the 
true  and  absolute  lords  and  proprietors,  and  the  country 
is  erected  into  a  province,  by  the  name  of  Carolina,  and 
the^islands  are  to  be  called  the  Carolina  islands. 

Sir  Robert  conveyed  his  right,  some  time  after,  to  the 
earl  of  Arundel.  This  nobleman,  it  is  said,  planted 
several  parts  of  his  acquisition,  but  his  attempt  to  colo- 
nize was  checked  by  the  war  with  Scotland,  and  after- 
wards the  civil  war.  Lord  Maltravers,  who  e  con  after, 
on  his  father's  death,  became  earl  of  Arundel  aid  Sussex 
and  earl  marshal  of  England,  made  no  attempt  to  avail 
himself  of  the  grwnt. 

On  the  fifth  of  November,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  con- 
cluded with  Spain,  by  which  it  was  stipulated,  that  the 
subjects  of  both  crowns  should  be  at  peace  and  amity, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Hitherto,  the  Spaniards  had 
exercised  perpetual  hostility  against  all  European  ships 


96  CHAPTER  [1631 

in  the  American  seas,   pretending,  under  Alexander's 
bull,  to  the  exclusive  right  of  navigating  them. 

Robert,  earl  of  Warwick,  having  the  last  year  receiv- 
ed a  patent  from  the  council  of  Plymouth,  of  all  that 
part  of  New-England,  which  extends  from  Narraganset 
river  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  on  a  strait  line, 
near  the  shore,  towards  the  south-east,  from  sea  to  sea, 
now  made  it  over  to  William  viscount  Say  and  Seal, 
Robert,  lord  Brook,  and  their  associates.  This  is  the 
original  patent  for  Connecticut. 

In  the  month  of  May,  the  king  granted  a  license,  un- 
der his  sign  manual,  to  William  Claiborne,  "to  traffic 
in  those  parts  of  America,  for  which  there  was  already 
no  patent  granted  for  the  sole  trade."  Claiborne  and 
his  associates,  with  the  intention  of  monopolizing  the 
trade  of  the  Chesapeake,  planted  a  small  colony  on  the 
island  of  Kent. 

By  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  in  the  following  year, 
Charles  I.  resigned  the  right  which  he  had  claimed  to 
New-France,  Acadia  and  Canada,  as  the  property  of 
En^^land,  to  Louis  XIII.  kijig  of  France. 

Sir  Thomas  Warner,  governor  of  St.  Christopher, 
established  a  small  colony  on  the  island  of  Montserrat. 
Antigua  was  settled  at  the  same  time. 

George  lord  Baltimore,  sickened  by  the  severity  of 
the  climate,  and  barrenness  of  the  soil,  in  his  provhice  of 
Avalon,  having  visited  that  of  Virginia,  was  much 
pleased  with  the  mildness  of  the  weather  and  the  fertility 
of  the  land,  and  observing  that  the  settlements  in  the 
latter  province  did  not  extend  behind  the  river  Poto- 
mac, on  his  return,  solicited  a  grant,  but  before  the 
patent  could  be  prepared  and  pass  the  seals,  he  died,  on 


IS34]  THE  FIFTH.  ^ 

the  16th  of  April.  On  the  20th  of  June  following,  his 
eldest  son  Ceciliiis  Calvert  lord  Baltimore,  received  a 
grant  of  a  vast  tract  of  land  to  the  northward  of  the  river 
Potomac,  which  was  erected  into  a  province,  by  the 
name  ot  Maryland,  in  honor  of  Henrietta  Maria,  queen 
of  Enojland,  and  daui^hter  of  Henry  IV,  of  France  ;  this 
included  the  island  of  Kent,  of  which  we  have  seen 
William  Clay  borne  had  possessed  himself  the  preceding 
jear. 

This  grant  gave  umbrage  to  the  Virginians ;  in  a 
petition  to  the  king,  they  remonstrated  against  "  some 
grants  of  a  great  portion  of  the  lands  of  the  colony,  so 
near  their  habitations,  as  will  be  a  general  disheartening 
to  them,  if  they  shall  be  divided  into  several  govern- 
ments." Clay  borne  lay  claim  to  his  island,  and  de- 
clared his  intention  to  disown  the  jurisdiction  of  Mary- 
land, countenanced  by  the  Virginians,  whose  jealousy 
ol  the  new  grantee  was  extended  to  the  members  of  the 
religion  he  professed ;  the  legislature  passed  severe  laws 
against  sectaries  of  all  denominations :  this  was  an  in- 
considerate act ;  it  occasioned  the  flight  of  some  of  the 
planters  to  other  colonies,  and  prevented  the  arrival  of 
others  who  intended  to  remove  to  Virginia. 

This  year  was  built  the  first  house  in  Connecticut. 

Lord  Baltimore  sent  over  his  brother,  George  Calvert, 
with  about  two  hundred  Roman  Catholics  ;  they  sailed 
from  England  in  the  month  of  November,  and  arrived 
in  the  Chesapeake  in  the  following  year ;  proceeding  to 
the  Potomac,  he  passed  by  the  Indian  town  of  that 
name,  and  went  to  Piscataway,  where  by  presents  to 
the  head  men,  he  conciliated  their  friendship  to  such  a 
degree,  that  they  offered  to  sell  one  part  of  the  town  to 
him,  and  to  live  in  the  other,  till  they  could  gather  their 

N.  CARO.        13 


CHAPTER.  [163.> 

harvest,  when  they  would  resign  the  whole  to  the  Eng- 
lish, Calvert,  thus  obtaining  possession  of  the  town, 
gave  it  the  name  of  St.  Mary's. 

The  king  now  gave  a  special  commission  to  the  arch- 
bishop and  eleven  other  persons,  for  governing  the 
American  colonies,  and  an  order  was  given  to  the  lords 
commissioners  of  the  cinque  ports  and  other  sea  ports, 
to  stop  the  promiscuous  aixi  disorderly  departure  of 
the  king's  subjects  to  America,  and  the  sending  of  a 
governor- general  thither  was  spoken  of. 

As  soon  as  information  of  this  reached  Boston,  there 
was  a  general  meeting  of  as  many  of  the  colonists,  as 
could  be  called  together,  and  the  clergy  were  wished  to 
attend  it,  and  give  their  advice ;  all  the  ministers  ap- 
peared, except  one,  and  the  meeting  came  to  an  unani- 
mous resolution,  that  if  such  a  governor  were  sent,  he 
ought  not  to  be  received,  but  the  people  should,  if  able, 
defend  their  lawful  rights,  otherwise  temporise. 

In  the  summer,  the  council  of  Plymouth  surrendered 
its  charter  to  the  king,  that  instrument  being  complained 
of  in  parliament,  who  construed  it  as  a  monopoly :  and 
soon  after,  a  quo  warranto  was  brought  against  the 
governor,  deputy  governor  and  assistants  of  the  corpo- 
ration of  Massachusetts,  on  which  a  judgment  was  soon 
obtained  against  them.  Preparations  were  made  for 
sending  over  a  governor-general,  but  a  large  ship,  which 
was  buih  for  that  purpose,  fell  asunder  in  the  launching, 
and  the  scheme  was  abandoned. 

In  the  fall,  the  patentees  of  Connecticut  sent  over  John 
Winslow,  as  the  first  governor  of  that  colony ;  the 
Dutch  of  New  Netherlands  opposed  his  taking  posses-- 
sion  of  his  government,  but  he  prevented  them,  and 


iG36]  THE  FIFTH.  99 

built  a  fort  at  the  entrance  of  Connecticut  river,  which 
lie  called  Sa}  brook. 

The  French  this  year  made  their  first  establishment 
at  Cayenne,  in  the  West  Indies,  under  Monsieur  de 
JBouligny. 

In  the  following  year,  the  settlement  of  Providence 
was  began,  under  the  aus}3ices  of  Roger  Williams,  a 
minister,  who  had  been  driven  away  from  Massachu- 
setts ;  and  John  Wheelright,  another  minister  from  the 
same  colony,  who  w^as  ordered  by  the  general  court  to 
remove  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  on  a 
charge  of  sedition  and  contempt  of  authority,  began  a 
plantation  at  Rhode  Island. 

Although  the  people  in  Virginia,  at  a  great  distance 
from  the  throne,  and  ever  awed  by  the  authority  derived 
from  a  royal  commission,  submitted  for  a  considerable 
time  to  governor  Harvey's  exactions  and  tyranny,  their 
patience  was  at  length  exhausted;  roused  almost  to 
madness,  they  seized  and  sent  Sir  John  a  prisoner  to 
P2n  gland. 

The  king  found  the  mode,  adopted  by  his  subjects,  in 
Virginia,  to  redress  their  own  grievances,  quite  repug^ 
nant  to  his  idea  of  the  passive  obedience  due  to  a  mo- 
narch ;  he  considered  it  as  an  encroachment  on  his  rights, 
and  a  daring  act  of  rebellion  ;  he  refused  to  admit  to  his 
presence  two  colonists,  who  had  come  over  with  the 
governor,  in  order  to  lay  the  complaints  of  their  coun- 
trymen at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  far  from  hearkening 
to  their  solicitations,  he  renewed  the  powers  of  Sir 
John,  and  commanded  him  to  return  immediately  to 
Jamestown. 

Charles  did  not,  however,  persist  long  in  tlie  determi- 
nation of  disregarding  the  remonstrances  of  the  colonists ; 


100  CHAPTER  [163F7 

either  affected  by  their  distress,  or  conscious  of  the  dan- 
ger  he  ran  in  provoking  them,  to  assert  their  rights  by 
violence,  he  despatched,  in  the  following  year,  Sir  John 
Berk'ey,  to  supersede  governor  Harvey. 

The  new  administrator,  on  meeting  the  colonists,  im- 
parted to  them  the  orders  he  had  received,  to  rule  the 
country,  according  to  the  laws  of  Enj^hnd,  and  he  soon 
after  directed  an  election  of  burgesses,  to  meet  him  and 
the  council  in  a  general  assembly. 

In  the  month  of  April,  the  king  issued  a  proclamation, 
to  restrain  the  transportation  of  his  subjects  to  America ; 
it  forbade  the  granting  of  any  license  for  that  purpose, 
unless  the  applicant  produced  a  certificate  of  his  having 
taken  the  oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance,  and  con- 
formed to  the  discipline  of  the  church  of  England;  and 
an  ordinance  was  issued,  forbidding  all  persons  to  enter- 
tain any  stranger  that  should  arrive  in  the  colonies,  with 
intention  to  reside,  or  allow  him  an  habitation,  without 
liberty  from  the  stimding  council. 

The  plan  of  uniting  the  government  of  the  America^ 
colonies,  under  one  officer,  was  revived,  and  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  was  appointed  governor-general,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  ever  acted  under  bis  commission. 

Governor  Berkley  had  it  in  strict  charge,  to  require 
from  every  vessel  sailing  from  Virginia,  a  bond  with 
surety,  for  the  landing  of  her  cargo  in  some  part  of  the 
king's  European  dominions. 

Monsieur  d'Ernambuc,  the  founder  of  the  French 
colony  in  the  island  of  St.  Christophers,  brought  from 
that  island  one  hundred  soldiers,  to  Martinico ;  he  built 
a  fort,  which  he  called  St.  Peters',  and  began  the  settle- 
ment of  that  island. 


1638]  THE  FIFTH.  101 

The  power  of  archbishop  Laud  growing  grievous  to 
the  Puritans,  many  of  them  thought  of  seeking  refuge  in 
the  American  plantations ;  such  number  of  families  be- 
gan  to  transport  themselves,  that  government  took  um- 
brage, and  a  proclamation  was  issued,  to  prevent  mi.2"ra- 
tions  to  Amtrica,  without  the  king's  license.  Oliver 
Cromwell  and  John  Hambden,  two  persons  who  a  few 
years  after  became  so  famous,  were  among  a  number  of 
men  of  note,  who  had  made  preparations  for  their  depar- 
ture, and  m  consequence  of  the  proclamation,  the  lord 
treasurer  was  directed  by  an  order  of  the  king  and  council, 
to  take  speedy  and  effectual  measures  for  the  stay  of 
eight  ships,  in  the  river  Thames,  bound  to  New- Eng- 
land ;  accordingly,  Oliver  Cromwell  and  John  Hambden, 
and  the  rest  of  the  passengers,  were  compelled  to  aban- 
don their  intended  voyage. 

In  the  following  year.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  ob- 
tained from  the  crown  a  distinct  charier  of  all  the  land, 
from  Pasquataqua  to  Sagadehoc,  styled  the  Province  of 
Maine  ;  he  was  created  lord  palatine  of  the  country,  with 
the  same  powers  and  privileges  as  the  bishop  of  Durham, 
in  the  county  palatine  of  Durham  ;  he  constituted  a 
government  in  the  province,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
city,  which  he  called  Gorgeana. 

This  ye  ir  is  noted  for  the  establishment  of  the  first 
printing  press  in  North  America,  it  was  set  up  at  Cam- 
bridge ;  and  the  establishment  of  a  nunnery  in  Quebec, 
in  Canada. 

The  colony  of  Virginia  was  called  upon  by  the  king's 
letter,  to  grant  assistance  to  Henry  lord  Maltravers,  in 
settling  Carolana,  and  on  motion  of  William  Hawley, 
who  was  his  lordship's  deputy,  an  order  of  council  was 
made  to  that  effect. 


102  CHAFfER  -  [1640 

An  attempt  was  made  in  parliament,  to  establish  over 
Virginia  the  government  of  the  ancient  company,  and 
to  annul  the  charter  of  Maryland ;  but  it  was  vigo- 
roiisly  opposed  by  the  Virginia  assembly,  and  the  mea- 
sure was  abandoned:  *' the  ancient  dominion  had  now 
learned  from  experience,  that  more  liberty  is  enjoyed 
under  any  form,  than  beneath  the  rule  of  a  commercial 
company." 

The  French  began,  in  1641,  to  establish  a  colony  at 
a  place  on  the  continent  of  South  America,  called  Suri- 
nam, but  finding  the  climate  unhealthy,  and  the  land  low 
and  marshy,  they  abandoned  it  to  the  English,  who  the 
same  year,  under  the  auspices  of  lord  Willoughby ,  first 
settled  there. 

The  intrigues  of  Clayborne  in  Maryland  infused 
jealousy  into  the  natives  ;  the  rapid  increase  of  the  Eng- 
lish, threatening  their  own  annihilation  as  a  people,  gave 
them  much  uneasiness;  individuals  procured  their  lands, 
without  the  authority  of  government,  for  considerations 
totallv  inadequate,  with  which,  therefore,  on  review,  they 
were  greatly  dissatisfied.  These  combined  causes,  in 
the  beginning  of  1643,  brought  on  an  Indian  war, 
which,  with  its  accustomed  evils,  continued  several 
years. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  May,  1643,  was  signed  at  Bos- 
ton, a  treaty  made  between  the  colonies  of  New -Eng- 
land; this  measure  had  been  in  agitation  for  several 
years,  and  five  years  before  those  of  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, Plymouth,  and  New-Haven,  had  formed  a 
treaty  of  amity,  offence  and  defence,  mutual  advice  and 
assistance,  on  all  necessary  occasions;  circumstances 
delayed  the  execution  of  this  treaty,  which  was  now 
subscribed  bv  commissioners  from  those  colonies,  who 


1644]  THK  FIFTH.  105 

met  at  Boston.  The  vicinity  of  the  French,  Dutch, 
and  Swedes,  the  hostile  attitude  taken  by  the  Indian 
tribes  near  them ;  the  civil  dissentions  in  England,  which 
obstructing  commerce,  rendered  a  communication  with 
the  mother  country  difficult,  and  consequently  pre- 
vented the  means  of  obtaining  supply  or  relief  on 
urgent  occasions. 

The  parties  to  this  instrument  declare,  that  as  in  na- 
tion and  religion,  so  in  other  respects,  they  be  and  con- 
tinue one,  and  henceforth  be  called  the  United  Colonies 
of  New.Eno;land.  The  united  colonies  were  to  form  a 
body,  with  regard  to  their  common  concern,  but  the 
private  concerns  of  each  were  to  be  managed  by  its  own 
court  and  magistrates;  in  case  of  need,  the  force  to  be 
raised  by  the  union,  was  to  be,  in  the  proportion  of  one 
hundred  men  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  forty- 
five  in  each  of  the  others.  This  union  subsisted  until 
the  abrogation  of  the  charter  of  the  New- England 
(solonies,  by  James  II.  in   1684. 

The  earl  of  War\vick  was  this  year  appointed,  in  pur- 
suance  of  an  ordinance  of  parliament,  governor  in  chief 
and  admiral  of  the  American  colonies ;  a  council  was 
given  him,  composed  of  five  peers  and  twelve  com- 
moners ;  with  it  he  was  empowered  to  examine  the  state 
of  the  colonies,  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  to  re- 
move  governors  and  officers  and  appoint  others  in  their 
places,  and  to  assign  to  those  such  part  of  the  powers  that 
were  there  granted,  as  he  should  think  proper. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  governor  in  chief  was 
a  charter  of  incorporation  of  the  towns  of  Providence, 
Newport  and  Portsmouth,  with  the  power  of  governing 
themselves,  but  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  England. 


104  CHAPTEE  [1645 

Duparquet  of  Martinico  this  year  took  possession  of 
the  island  of  St.  Lucia,  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV.  who 
had  ascended  the  French  throne  two  years  before. 

The  legislature  of  Virginia  prohibited  trade  by  barter, 
and  estab'ished  the  piece  of  eight  or  six  shillings,  as  the 
standard  of  currency  for  the  colony. 

A  rebellion  now  broke  out  in  Maryland,  at  the  head 
of  which  were  William  Clayborne  and  Richard  Ingle, 
who  not  only  forced  governor  Calvert  to  fly  for  aid  and 
protection  into  Virginia,  but  took  possession  of  the 
public  records,  and  for  a  long  time  prevented  the 
exei  cise  of  the  powers  of  government. 

Bv  an  ordinance  of  the  lords  and  commons  of  Kno:- 
land,  all  merchandize,  goods  and  necessaries,  for  the 
American  plantations,  were  exempted  from  duty  for 
three  years,  on  condition  that  no  ship  or  vessel  in  any  of 
the  colonial  ports,  be  suffered  to  load  any  goods  of  the 
growth  of  the  plantations,  and  carry  them  to  foreign 
parts,  except  in  English  bottoms.  This  was  the 
foundation  of  the  navigation  acts. 

The  French,  in  Canada,  finding  it  difficult  to  contend 
with  the  Iroquois,  a  very  powerful  nation  of  Indians, 
solicited  aid  from  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  and 
offered  liberal  compensation:  but  no  succor  was  given, 
it  being  thought,  those  Indians  would  be  a  powerful 
bulwark  between  the  English  and  French,  in  case  of  a 
war  breaking  out  between  them. 

Tlie  commissioners  of  the  united  colonies  sent  an 
agent  to  the  governor  and  council  of  Canada,  to  project 
an  agreement,  by  which,  in  case  of  war  between  the  two 
nations,  the  French  and  English  colonies  should  re- 
main in  peace.     Monsieur  d'Ailleboust,  the  governor, 


1648J  THE  FIFTH.  105 

as  well  as  his  council,  received  the  proposition  with 
great  eagerness,  and  appointed  father  Dreuillettes  to  go 
to  Boston  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  on  con- 
dition that  the  English  would  aid  the  French  against  the 
Iroquois :  but  the  same  reasons,  that  had  induced  the  re- 
jection of  this  measure  last  year,  prevailed,  and  nothing 
was  done. 

The  year  1648  is  remarkable  for  the  peace  o£ 
Westphalia. 

The  French,  under  the  auspices  of  Monsieur  de 
Poincv,  governor  of  St.  Christopher,  began  their  settle- 
ments in  the  island  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

During  the  extreme  distress  of  the  royal  party  in  Eng- 
land, this  year,  the  territory  between  the  Rappahannock 
and  the  Potomac,  was  granted  to  lords  Hopton,  Beverly, 
Culpepper,  and  other  cavaliers,  who  probably  wished  to 
make  Virginia  an  asylum. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  Charles  I.  was  beheaded  at 
Whitehall,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age,  and  the 
twenty. sixth  of  his  reign. 

Atthe  demise  of  this  monarch,  the  whole  centre  coast 
©f  the  northern  continent  of  North  America,  was  either 
settled  or  had  been  granted  away,  from  the  province  of 
M  tine  to  the  river  St.  Matheo.  The  settlements  of  th^ 
French,  in  Canada,  were  in  a  coiibiderable  progress. 

The  foundation  of  the  whole  of  the  New- England 
colonies  was  laid ;  the  Dutch  possessed  the  present  states 
©f  New- York  and  New- Jersey,  and  part  of  that  of  Con- 
.necticut,  and  had  plantations  much  higher  than  Albany  ; 
the  Swedes  occupied  the  'lores  of  the  present  states  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Delaware ;  the  colony  of  Maryland, 
cwing  to  its  late  commotion,  was  still  in  its  infancy; 
thai  of  Virginia  was  in  a  prosperous  state ;  the  country 

N.  CARO.       14 


106  CHAPTER  [I64S 

now  covered  by  the  states  of  North  and  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia,  was  claimed  by  the  assignees  of  Sir  Robert 
Heaih,  who  till  now  had  made  no  advances  towards  the 
occupation  of  it. 

The  Spaniards  ha<I  made  no  improvements  in  Florida; 
they  still  kept,  as  during  the  reigns  of  the  two  predeces- . 
sors  of  Charles  L,  a  few  soldiers  in  some  forts  on  the  coast. 

We  have  seen,  that  part  of  the  island  of  St.  Christo- 
pher had  been  occupied  by  the  English,  and  another 
by  the  French;  these  two  nations  still  kept  their 
possessions. 

The  English,  during  Charles's  reign,  had  occupied » 
in  the  West  Indies,  the  island  of  Earbadoes. 

The  French  had  settled  colonies  in  Martinico,  St.' 
Lucia,  St.  Christopher,  and  claimed  the  island  of  Gre- 
nada, but  the  establishments  were  of  so  little  importance, 
that  in  the  year  1651,  Duparquet  purchased  from  the 
West  India  company,  the  islands  ot  Martinico,  St. 
Lucia,  Grenada,  and  the  Grenadines,  for  fifty  thousand 
livres,  of  the  value  of  little  more  than  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars. Seven  years  after,  the  progress  of  colonization  in 
the  West  Indies  had  been  so  very  great,  that  he  sold 
the  single  island  of  Grenada,  for  thirty  thousand  crowns,, 
of  the  value  of  about  eierhteen  thousand  dollars. 

The  successes  of  the  English,  in  the  predatory  incur- 
sions upon  Spanish  America,  during  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, had  never  been  forgotten  :  and  from  that  period 
downward,  the  exploits  of  Drake  and  Raleigh  were  imi- 
tated, upon  a  smaller  scale  indeed,  but  with  equally  des-  ^ 
perate  valour,  by  small  bands  of  pirates,  gathered  from 
all  nations,  but  chiefly  French  and  English.  The  en- 
grossing policy  of  the  Spaniards  tended  greatly  to  ex- 
tend the  number  of  these  freebooters,  from  whom^their 


1648]  THE  FIFTH.  lOlf 

colonies  suffered  in  the  issue  dreadful  calamity.  The 
windward  islands,  which  the  Spaniards  did  not  deem 
worthy  their  own  occupation,  had  been  gradually  settled 
by  adventurers  of  the  English  and  French  nations  ;  but 
Frederick  of  Toledo,  who  was  despatched  in  1630  with 
a  powerful  fleet  against  the  Dutch,  had  orders  from  the 
court  of  Madrid  to  destroy  these  colonies,  whose  vicinity 
at  once  offended  the  pride,  and  excited  the  jealous  suspi- 
cions,  of  their  Spanish  neighbors.  This  order  the  Span- 
ish admiral  executed,  with  sufficient  rigour :  but  the 
only  consequence  was,  that  the  planters,  being  rendered 
desperate  by  persecution,  began,  under  the  well  known 
name  of  buccaneers,  a  retaliation  so  horribly  savage,  that 
the  perusal  makes  the  reader  shudder.  When  they  car- 
ried on  these  depredations  at  sea,  they  boa^'ded,  without 
respect  to  disparity  of  number,  every  Spanish  vessel 
that  came  in  their  way,  and  demeaning  themselves  both 
in  the  battle  and  after  the  conquest,  more  like  demons 
than  human  beings,  they  succeeded  in  impressing  their 
enemies  with  a  sort  of  superstitious  terror,  which  ren- 
dered them  incapable  of  offering  effectual  resistance ; 
from  piracy  at  sea,  they  advanced  to  making  predatory 
tlescents  on  the  Spanish  territories,  in  which  they  dis- 
played the  same  furious  and  irresistible  valour,  the  same 
thirst  of  spoil,  and  the  same  brutal  inhumanity  to  their 
captives ;  the  large  treasure  which  they  acquired  in  their 
adventures,  they  dissipated  in  the  most  unbounded  licen- 
tiousness, in  gaming,  women,  wine,  and  debauchery  of 
every  species  ;  when  their  spoils  were  thus  wasted,  they 
entered  into  some  new  association,  and  undertook  new 
adventures. 

Smith — Stith — Beverly — Keith — Marshall 


CHAPTER  Vr. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1650,  Charles  II.  sent  from 
Breda,  a  new  commission  to  Sir  William  Berkely,  as 
governor  of  Virginia,  declaring  his  intention  of  ruling 
ajid  ordering  the  colony,  according  to  the  laws  ?nd 
statutes  of  England.  His  authority  continued  to  be  ac- 
knowledged in  Virginia,  and  several  of  the  West  India 
islands.  This  induced  parliament  to  prohibit,  by  an 
ordinance,  all  trade  with  Virginia,  Barbadoes,  Bermu- 
das and  A  itiguci;  and  in  the  following  year,  the  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts  passed  an  act,  forbidding  all  trade 
with  these  colonies,  till  their  submission  to  the  common- 
wealth, or  the  further  orders  of  the  general  court. 

This  year,  the  French  established  a  colony  on  the 
island  of  Grenada,  and  the  English  on  that  of  Anguilla. 

The  Dutch,  navigating  their  ships  at  a  much  cheaper 
rate  than  their  neighbors,  and  carr^^ing,  conserjuently,. 
goods  for  a  much  less  freight,  had  engrossed  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  carrying  trade  ;  they  were  even  em- 
ployed to  convey  Amtrican  produce  to  England.  This 
evil  had  arisen  to  so  high  a  degree,  that  English  seamen 
finding  it  difficult  to  find  occupation,  on  board  of  the 
vessels  of  their  own  nation,  sought  it  on  board  of  those 
of  the  Dutch.  This,  and  a  desire  of  adopting  the  most 
effectual  mode  of  retaining  the  colonies  in  dependence  on 
the  parent  state,  and  of  securing  to  it  the  benefit  of  their 


1651]  CHAPTER.  lOy 

increasing  commerce,  induced  parliament  to  pass  an 
act,  forbidding  the  importation  of  merchandise  from 
Asia,  Africa,  or  America,  (including  the  English  plan- 
tations there)  into  England,  in  any  but  English 
built  ships,  and  belonging  either  to  English,  or  English 
plantation  subjects,  navigated  by  an  English  commander, 
and  a  crew,  of  which  three  fourths  should  be  Eng- 
lish; excepting  such  merchandise,  as  should  be  import- 
ed directly  from  the  original  place  of  their  growth  or 
manutacture,  in  Europe  solely  ;  and  that  no  fish  should, 
thenceforward,  be  imported  into  England  or  Ireland, 
nor  exported  thence  to  foreign  ports,  nor  even  from  one 
of  their  own  home  ports,  but  what  should  be  caught  by 
their  own  ships. 

The  house  of  commons,  who  had  assumed  the  go- 
vernment of  England,  issued  a  proclamation,  for  the  re- 
duction of  the  colonies  to  a  dependence  on  the  mother 
country.  This  paper  states,  that  as  the  colonies  were 
settled  at  the  expense  of  the  mother  country,  they  were 
dependent  on  it,  and  owed  obedience  to  its  laws.  A 
consideral)le  fleet  was  accordingly  put  under  the  com- 
mand of  Sir  George  Ayscue,  and  he  was  directed  to  pro  • 
ceed  to  America,  to  endeavor,  by  peaceable  means,  to 
reduce  the  colonies  to  obedience,  and  if  these  fliiled,  to 
reduce  them  bv  force. 

Sir  George  Ayscue  reached  the' island  of  Barbadoes, 
on  the  16th  of  October,  and  with  some  difficulty  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  the  islandto  capitulate:  the  other  Eng- 
lish islands  recognized  the  power  of  the  commonwealth, 
This  being  eff*ected.  Sir  George  despatched  captain  Den- 
nis, with  a  small  squadron  of  men  of  war,  to  reduce  the 
colony  of  Virginia,  to  the  rule  of  the  protector. 


no  CHAPTER  [1652 

Governor  Berkely,  who  had  timely  notice  of  the  ap- 
proach of  the  men  of  war,  made  preparations  to  defend 
the  country.  There  happened  to  be  before  Jamestown, 
seven  Dutch  ships,  the  masters  of  which,  apprehend- 
ing they  might  be  considered  as  pursuing  a  forbidden 
trade,  were  easily  persuaded  to  lend  their  assistance,  in 
repelling  the  squadron  of  the  commonwealth.  The 
cargoes  of  these  ships  were  landed,  cannon  was  put  on 
board,  and  they  were  filled  with  armed  men :  a  line 
of  them  was  formed,  moored  close  to  shore,  with 
their  broadsides  to  the  enemy :  several  pieces  of  ord- 
nance were  placed,  so  as  to  support  the  line  formed  by 
the  ships,  flanked  by  a  number  of  troops,  covering 
the  shores  of  the  river  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

The  commander  of  the  English  fleet,  whose  force  was 
much  weakened  by  the  fatigues  the  troops  had  experi- 
enced, and  the  shortness  of  the  supply  of  provisions, 
was  much  disappointed  in  encountering,  when  he  ima- 
gined he  touched  the  end  of  his  labors,  an  enemy  so 
well  prepared  to  resist  him ;  he  determined  on  an  attempt 
to  attain  by  negotiation,  what  appeared  so  difficult  to 
effect  by  arms ;  flags  of  truce  passed  between  him  and 
the  governor. 

One  circumstance  was  calculated  to  facilitate  the  sub- 
mission of  the  colony.  There  were  on  board  of  the 
fleet,  large  quantities  of  merchandise  belonging  to  two 
members  of  the  council,  who  were  not  long  without 
understanding,  that  the  restoration  or  loss  of  their  pro- 
perty depended  on  their  conduct,  or  the  eventual  suc- 
cess of  the  negotiation.  Beverly,  a  historian  of  the  day, 
imagines  that  the  unanimity,  which  heretofore  had  pre- 
vailed in  the  councils  was,  on  this  account,  destroyed 


^ 


1652]  THE  SIXTH.  Ill 

and  perplexed;  the  idea  of  resistance  was  abandoned, 
and  the  efForvS  of  tbe  council,  were  confined  to  obtaining 
favorable  terms  for  the  surrender  of  Virginia. 

In  this  they  met  with  no  difficulty  :  the  English  com. 
mander  consented,  that  neither  the  governor  nor  any  of 
the  council,  should  be  obliged  to  take  any  oath  or  en- 
gagement to  the  commonwealth,  for  twelve  months ; 
nor  confined  for  praying  for,  or  speaking  well  of,  the 
king,  in  their  private  homes  or  neighbourly  conference, 
during  that  time. 

That  governor  Berkely  might,  at  his  own  expense, 
send  a  person  to  give  an  account  to  the  king,  of  the  sur- 
render of  the  colony.  . 

That  the  governor  and  members  of  the  council, 
should  have  their  lands,  horses,  goods,  and  debts  pro- 
tected, and  liberty  to  remove  themselves  with  their 
property. 

That  all  persons  in  the  colony,  who  had  served  the 
king  in  it  or  in  England,  should  be  free  from  prosecu- 
tion therefor,  and  that  the  commissioners  of  the  protec- 
tor should  issue,  immediately  on  the  surrender  of  the 
colony,  an  act  of  oblivion  and  indemnity,  under  their 
hands  and  seals :  these  preliminaries  having  been  arrang- 
ed, articles  were  agreed  on  for  the  surrender  of  the 
colony. 

It  was  stipulated,  that  the  plantations  of  Virginia  and 
its  whole  lands,  should  be  and  remain,  in  due  obedience 
and  submission  to  the  commonwealth  of  England,  and 
enjoy  the  same  freedom  and  privileges,  as  the  frecborn 
people  of  England. 

That  the  general  assembly  should  convene,  and  trans- 
act business,  as  had  been  theretofore  used ;  but  that 


112  CHAPTER  [1652 

nothing  should  be  acted  or  done,  contrary  to  the  go- 
vernment of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  laws  then 
established. 

That  there  should  be  a  total  remission  and  indemnity, 
of  every  thing  done  or  spoken  against  the  parliament. 

That  the  ancient  limits  of  the  colony  should  be  con- 
firmed ;  as  well  as  all  the  patents  for  land,  granted  by  any 
of  the  preceding  governors ;  and  the  privilege,  of  fifty 
acres  of  land  to  new  comers,  should  be  continued. 

That  there  should  be  as  free  a  trade  from  Virginia, 
as  from  any  EngUsh  plantation  in  America. 

That  Virginia  should  pay  no  taxes,  not  imposed  by 
the  general  assembly,  and  that  no  fort  or  garrison 
should  be  erected  or  maintained,  without  its  consent, 
and  no  charge  should  be  made  against  them  for  the 
present  expedition. 

That  such  colonists,  as  might  refuse  to  take  an  oath  of 
fidelity  to  the  commonwealth,  might,  within  one  year, 
withdraw  themselves  and  property. 

That  the  use  of  the  prayer  book,  changing  what  re- 
lates to  the  sovereign,  should  continue  ;  that  the  minis- 
ters should  remain  in  their  functions  for  one  year. 

That  the  grant  of  the  quit  rents  for  seven  years,  should 
be  confirmed. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  it  was  agreed,  in  a  general  as- 
sembly,  composed  of  the  commissioners  and  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  that  Richard  Bennett  should  be  go- 
vernor for  one  year,  or  until  the  pleasure  of  the  council 
of  state  should  be  known.  William  Clay  borne  was  ap- 
pointed  secretary  of  the  colony  ;  and  a  council  of  thir- 
teen was,  at  the  same  time,  appointed  to  advise  the  go- 
vernor; and  these  executive  officers  were  directed  to 


1653]  THE  SIXTH  113 

act  from  time  to  time,  and  to  have  such  power  and  au- 
thorities as,  by  the  house  of  assembly,  shall  be  appointed 
and  granted,  to  their  several  places. 

To  encourage  the  staple  commodity  of  Virginia,  the 
English  parliament,  this  year,  passed  an  act  which  gave 
legal  power  to  the  ordinances  of  James  and  Charles,  for- 
bidding the  planting  of  tobacco  in  England. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Maine  were,  at 
their  own  request,  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  col- 
ony of  Massachusetts,  to  which  they  have  remained  uni- 
ted in  government,  till  within  a  few  years.  Massa- 
chusetts claimed  the  jurisdiction  of  that  province,  as 
lying  within  the  limits  of  its  charter  of  1628. 

The  government  of  Maryland  was  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  Lord  Baltimore,  for  disloyalty  to  the  ruling 
power  in  England,  and  settled  in  the  hands  of  parlia- 
ment; two  years  after,  it  was  vested  in  those  of  the 
protector. 

By  an  order  of  the  council  of  state  for  England,  the 
government  of  Rhode  Island  was  suspended ,  but  the 
colonists,  taking  advantage  of  the  distraction  which  soon 
after  ensued  in  England,  resumed  its  government,  and 
continued  without  interruption  till  the  restoration. 

This  year  is  noted  For  the  first  coinage  in  the  Eng- 
lish colonies.  A  mint  being  established  in  Boston,  the 
money  coined  was  in  pieces  of  one  pound,  six  shillings 
and  three  pence. 

The  law  enacted,  that  the  legend,  Massachusetts,  and 
a  tree  in  the  centre,  be  on  one  side  of  the  coin,  and  New 
England,  the  year  of  our  Lord,  and  the  figures  XX, 
VI,  and  III,  according  to  the  value  of  the  piece,  be  on 
the    other  side ;    the   date,    1652,    was   never    altered 

N.    CARO.    15 


114  CHAPTER  [1651:^ 

although  more  coin  was  stamped  annually,  for  thirty 
years. 

This  year  was  executed,  at  Hartford,  in  Connecticut, 
Mrs.  Greensmith,  the  first  witch  heard  of  in  North 
America  :  she  was  accused,  in  the  iiidictment,  of  prac- 
tising evil  things  on  the  body  of  Ann  Cole,  which  did 
not  appear  to  be  true.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Stone  and  other 
ministers,  swore  that  Mrs.  Greensmith  had  confessed 
to  them,  that  the  devil  had  had  carnal  knowledge  of  her. 
The  court  then  ordered  her  to  be  hanged  on  the  indict- 
ment. 

Sir  William  Berkely  representing,  that  he  had  been  pre- 
vented, by  the  war  between  the  protector  and  the  Dutchr 
from  leaving  the  colony,  and  the  time  allowed  him  to 
stay,  by  the  articles  of  capitulation,  having  expired,  a  de- 
lay of  eight  months  was  allowed  him  by  the  general 
assembly. 

The  settlement  on  Albemarle  sound  continued  to  in^ 

N       crease  ;  and  in  1653,  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  on  the 

^  application  of  Roger  Greene  and  others,  inhabitants  of 

r-if  .^.  Nansemond  river,  ordered,  that  ten  thousand  acres  of 

land,  be  granted  to  the  first  one  hundred  individuals, 

who  might  settle  on  Moratuck  or  Roanoke  rivers,  and 

on  the  south  side  of  Chowan  river  and  its  branches.     It 

was  required  they  should  settle  by  each  other,  and  be 

supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition.     One  hundred 

"^  f-t  '  acres  were  granted  to  Greene,  next  to  those  formerly 

••-         granted,  as  a  reward. 

In  the  year  1654,  Edward  Digges  succeeded  Richard 
Bennett,  as  governor  of  Virginia. 

Preparations  were  made,  this  year,  in  New  England, 
for  the  conquest  of  the  settlement  on  Manhattan  island 
and  Hudson  river,   from  the   Dutch,      But,   Oliver 


^.655]  THE  SIXTH.  115 

Cromwell,  desirous  that  the  two  sister  republics  might 
be  well  together,  made  a  sudden  peace,  which  put  an 
end  to  the  hostile  intentions  of  New  England,  and  left 
the  Dutch,  for  a  few  years  longer,  in  possession  ox  New 
Netherlands. 

Colonel  Woods,  who  dwelt  at  the  falls  of  James  river, 
sent  suitable  persons,  on  a  journey  of  discovery  to  the      '  ^ 
westward;  they  crossed  the  Allegheny  mountains,  and //      • 
reached  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  other  rivers  empty-  7 

ing  into  the  Mississippi. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year,  the  protector  sent 
vice-admiral  Penn,  with  a  fleet  of  thirty  sail,  on  board 
of  which  was  a  considerable  number  of  land  forces,  im- 
<ler  general  Venables,  to  take  the  island  of  Jamaica. 
After  taking  a  reinforcement  of  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred soldiers,  in  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  the  fleet  arrived 
before  Jamaica  on  the  13th  of  April,  and  soon  after  be- 
gan the  attack  ;  but  the  Spaniards  made  so  rigorous  a  de- 
fence, that  the  general  was  obliged  to  re-imbark  his  men. 
The  army  landed  before,  and  began  the  siege  of  St.  Yago 
de  la  Vega,  the  capital  of  this  island ;  on  the  2d  of  May, 
on  the  fall  of  the  city,  the  whole  island  was  reduced,  and 
annexed  to  the  dominions  of  England,  of  which  it  has 
to  this  day  made  a  part. 

The  Dutch  now  drove  away  the  Swedes,  from  their 
possession  on  the  Delaware,  which  was  added  to  New 
Netherlands.  It  will  be  remembered,  that  the  Swedes 
had  first  landed  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  in  the 
year  1627.  During  a  period  of  about  thirty  years,  they 
extended  their  settlements  along  tb-  shore,  as  high  up 
as  the  spot,  on  which  the  town  of  NewCasilenow  stands; 
there  they  had  a  fort,  called  fort  Casimir,  the  name  of 
^hich,  the  Dutch  altered  to  Nmser  Amstel;  they  had 


116  CHAPTER  [1656 

another  fort,  called  fort  Christina,  on  the  stream  which 
to  this  day  retains  that  name. 

The  city  of  New  Amsterdam  (now  New  York)  was 
in  the  following  year,  laid  out  into  streets,  on  the  origi- 
nal plan,  which  has  since  been  improved  to  so  great  an 
advantage. 

Governor  Digges  was  succeeded  in  the  chief  magis- 
tray  of  the  colony,  in  the  year  1656,  by  Samuel  Ma- 
thews. The  new  governor  did  not  long  hold  the  rein  a. 
He  was,  soon  after  his  election,  requested  to  join  his 
two  predecessors,  who  had  been  sent  to  England,  as 
agents  of  the  colony,  to  solicit  the  ratification  by  the  pro- 
tector, of  the  articles  on  which  Virginia  had  been  sur- 
rendered, as  well  as  a  favorable  settlement  of  a  dispute 
respecting  boundaries,  which  had  for  bcveral  years,  ex- 
isted between  the  colonies  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  to 
remove  unfavorable  impressions,  which  the  mind  of  the 
protector  had  received,  on  account  of  her  protracted  at- 
tachment to  the  royal  cause;  and  a  report  which  prevail- 
ed in  England,  that  she  supported  lord  Baltimore  against 
the  interests  and  the  wishes  of  the  people;  a  report 
which  derived  credit  from  the  circumstance  of  Philip 
Calvert,  the  governor  of  Maryland,  having  found  an 
asylum  in  Virginia,  when  expelled  from  his  govern- 
ment, during  the  insurrection  headed  by  William  Clay- 
borne,  in  1645. 

After  the  departure  of  governor  Mathews,  the  powers 
of  government  devolved  on  the  president  of  the  council. 

The  adventurers  from  New  England,  who  had  medi- 
tated a  removal,  and  settlement  on  Hudson  river,  being 
disappointed  by  the  late  peace  with  Holland,  turned  their 
views  towards  the  southward,  and  came  to  cape  Fear 


1658]  THE  SIXTH.  lit 

river,  on  the  shores  of  which,  they  established  grazing 
farms  ;  the  country  affording,  in  their  judgment,  a  plen- 
tiful winter  pasture  for  cattle.  The  protector  made  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  induce  these  people  to  settle 
still  more  southerly,  and  increase  the  population  of 
Jamaica,  lately  added  to  the  dominions  of  England. 

But,  the  lands  affording  no  encouragement  to  agri- 
culture, and  the  settlers  not  finding  the  convenience  of 
a  fishery,  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in  New 
England,  they  soon  grew  tired  of  their  new  abode:  they 
imprudently  neglected  to  secure  the  good  will  of  the 
Indians.  The  settlement  did  not  thrive  ;  and,  aUhough 
it  afterwards  received  some  aid  from  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  it  subsisted  but  a  few  years. 

Cromwell  granted,  under  the  great  seal  of  England, 
to  Charles  St.  Etienne,  William  Crown,  and  Thomas 
Temple,  for  ever,  the  territory  called  Acadia,  aud  part 
of  the  country,  commonly  called  Nova  Scotia,  extend- 
ing along  the  coast  of  Pentagoet,  to  the  river  St. 
George ;  it  was  erected  into  a  province  independent  of 
New  England,  and  the  grantees  w^ere  appointed  as 
hereditary  governors. 

An  insurrection  was  raised  in  Maryland,  by  Feudal, 
a  man  of  a  restless  disposition.  It  greatly  distressed 
the  province. 

During  the  government  of  the  commonwealth,  in  or- 
der to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  Barbadoes,  for  their 
attachment  to  Charles  I.  and  for  resisting  its  force  and 
authorities,  in  1651,  and  also  to  distress  the  Dutch, 
who  carried  on  a  lucrative  trade  with  the  colony,  the 
parliament  resolved  to  alter  the  whole  system  of  com- 
merce of  Barbadoes,  by  prohibiting  all  foreign  ships 
from  trading  with  the  English  plantations,  and  not  suf- 


118  CHAPTER  [1659 

fering  any  goods  to  be  imported  into  England,  but  in 
English  bottoms,  or  in  ships  of  the  European  nations, 
of  which  the  merchandise  imported  was  the  genuine 
produce  and  manufacture. 

The  affairs  of  Maryland  continuing  in  a  distracted 
state>  the  government  of  that  province  was  surrendered, 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  protector,  to  Feudal,  who 
had  been  appointed  governor  by  the  proprietor. 

Under  the  government  of  administrators,  appointed 
by  the  protector,  the  colony  of  Virginia  enjoyed,  during 
seven  years,  an  uninterrupted  repose  and  tranquility. 
It  afforded  shelter  to  a  number  of  partizans  of  the  royal 
cause,  who  imagined  it  unsafe  to  stay  in  England.  Sir 
William  Berkely,  (the  last  of  the  royal  governors)  had 
been  allowed  to  remain  unmolested  on  his  estate.  His 
mild  and  upright  administration,  his  honest  and  candid 
conduct,  during  the  late  struggle  of  the  royal  cause,  and 
his  retired,  and  general  life  since,  had  rendered  him  the 
idol  of  the  friends  of  the  king,  without  rendering  him 
suspicious  to  the  repubUcans;  and  governor  Mathews 
dying,  in  the  year  1659,  Sir  William  was  requested  to 
re-assume  the  reins  of  government.  This  he  declined 
to  do,  unless  he  was  permitted  to  act  under  the  com- 
mission he  had  received  from  his  exiled  sovereign.  His 
offer  being  accepted,  he  caused  Charles  H.  to  be  pro- 
claimed king  of  Virginia  ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  his 
administration  was  to  issue  writs  of  election  for  the  legis- 
lature to  meet  on  the  12th  of  March,  1660  ;  but  he  was 
afterwards  induced  to  prorogue  it,  and  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  summer,  accounts  reached  the  province,  that  his 
example  had  been  followed  by  the  metropolis,  and  that 
the  sovereign,  to  whose  obedience  the  Virginians  had  re- 
turned,  had  been  proclaimed  in  England,  on  the  29th 


1660]  CHAPTER.  llt> 

of  May,  and  had  made  his  public  entry  in  the  city  of 
London,  on  the  9th  of  June. 

Ahhough,  under  the  commonwealth,  the  English 
colonies  in  America,  acquired  considerable  population 
and  wealth,  the  island  of  Jamaica,  is  the  only  addition 
made  to  their  number,  during  that  period. 

The  legislature  of  Virginia,  having  passed  laws  un- 
favorable to  the  Quakers,  a  number  of  whom  had  fled 
thither,  from  the  persecuting  spirit  of  New  England, 
many  families  sought  an  asylum  on  Albemarle  sound. 


Sfn  ith —  Stith — Bcverhf — Keith — MarshalL 


CHAPTER  VII. 

I 

At  the  first  session  of  parliament,  after  the  re- 
ttoration  of  Charles  II.  to  the  throne  of  England, 
was  passed  a  statute,  famous  in  the  English  annals, 
and  particularly  affecting  the  American  provinces. 
It  is  the  12  Charles  II.  c.  18,  commonly  called  the 
navigation  act. 

Its  bases  are  those  of  the  statute  of  1657;  it  for- 
bids the  importation  and  exportation  of  any  com- 
modity into  or  from  any  of  the  king's  dominions  in 
Asia,  Africa  or  America,  except  in  vessels  built  in 
England  or  its  plantations,  of  which  the  master  and 
three  fourths  of  the  crew  must  be  English  subjects, 
under  pain  of  forfeiting  the  ship  and  cargo.  Aliens 
are  forbidden  to  exercise  the  occupation  of  a  mer- 
chant or  factor,  in  any  of  these  places,  under  the 
penalty  of  forfeiting  their  goods  and  chattels:  sugar, 
tobacco,  cotton,  wool,  indigo,  ginger  and  dyewood, 
of  the  growth  or  manufacture  of  the  English  colo- 
nies, are  forbidden  to  be  exported  to  any  country 
but  England,  Ireland,  Wales  or  Berwick  upon 
Tweed;  and,  as  some  return  for  these  restrictions, 
the  act  secures  to  the  colonies  the  monopoly  of  the 
tobacco  trade,  by  prohibiting  the  planting  of  it  in 
England,  Ireland,  Wales,  Jersey,  Guernsey  and 
Berwick  upon  Tweed. 


1661]  THE  SEVENTH.  121 

While  parliament  thus  early  attended  to  the 
affairs  of  the  colonies,  the  king  lost  no  time  in  for- 
warding instruclions  to  governor  Berkely:  he  re- 
quired hi-m  to  call  an  assembly  as  early  as  possible, 
and  to  demand,  in  his  name,  a  repeal  of  all  acts, 
passed  during  the  rebellion,  that  df  rogated  from 
the  dependence  and  obedience  of  the  colony  on 
and  to  the  king  and  parliament  of  England ;  au- 
thorizing him  to  give  assurance  of  the  royal  inten- 
tion, and  this  being  done,  to  grant  a  general  pardon 
and  oblivion,  without  any  other  exception  than  that 
of  persons  attainted  by  act  of  parliament. 

Governor  Berkely  was  at  the  same  time  required 
to  send  over  a  statement  of  every  shipment  of 
tobacco  from  his  province,  in  order  that  evasions  of 
the  navigation  act  might  be  detected  and  punished. 
The  establishment  of  iron  works,  in  the  colonies, 
does  not  appear  at  that  time  to  have  been  con- 
sidered as  injurious  to  the  mother  country;  for  it 
appears  that  the  governor  was  consulted  on  the 
practicability  of  erecting  one,  at  the  expense  of 
the  king. 

The  legislature  met  at  Jamestown  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1681.  The  speech  from  the  chair,  and  the 
answer  to  it,  proclaimed  and  echoed  unqualified 
professions  of  loyalty.  A  legislative  revisal  of  all 
the  colonial  statutes  was  the  earliest  and  chief 
work  of  this  session:  in  the  preamble,  the  intention 
is  avowed  of  repealing  and  expunging  all  unneces- 
sary acts,  but  more  particularly ''  such  as  mightkeep 
in  memory  their  forced  deviation  from  his  majesty's 
obedience."  The  most  of  that  body,  who  used 
these  expressions,  were  persons  who?  till  a  very 

N.  CARO.       16 


122'  CHAPTER  [1661 

short  time  before,  had  been  lavish  of  the  most  ful- 
some assurances  of  unbounded  attachment,  and  the 
most  respectful  submission,  to  the  protector,  and  of 
their  intended  support  of  the  republican  govern- 
ment. Their  present  declarations  might  be  held 
up,  when  contrasted  with  their  former  professions, 
as  an  example  of  the  facility  with  which  the  senti- 
ments of  mankind  accommodate  themselves  to 
circumstances,  if  a  late  event  in  France  had  not 
afforded  a  more  prominent  one. 

The  law  of  England,  which  had  till  now  bj  im- 
plied consent  been  considered  as  the  rule  of  action 
in  the  colony,  was  now  expressly  declared  to  be  in 
full  force,  except  in  such  cases  only,  in  which  local 
circumstances  rendered  them  inapplicable. 

A  charter  granted  by  parliament,  during  the 
protectorate,  to  the  society  for  spreading  the  gospel 
among  the  Indians  on  the  continent  of  North  Ame- 
rica, being  vacated  by  the  restoration-,  colonel 
Beddingfield,  a  Roman  Catholic  officer  in  the  king's 
army,  of  whom  a  considerable  part  of  the  land  had 
been  purchased,  seized  it  for  his  own  use,  pretend- 
ing he  had  sold  it  below  its  value,  in  hopes  to  recover 
it,  upon  the  king's  return.  In  order  to  defeat  his 
design,  the  society  solicited  a  new  charter,  which 
they  obtained  by  the  interest  of  the  lord  chancellor: 
it  bears  date  the  7th  of  February,  in  the  fourteenth 
year  of  the  king's  reign,  and  differs  but  little  from 
the  former  one.  Robert  Boyle  was  their  first 
governor:  they  afterwards  recovered  colonel  Bed- 
dingfield's  land. 

The  colony  of  Massachusetts  was  not  so  early  as 
that  of  Virginia,  in  returning  to   the  king's  obe- 


1662]  THE  SEVENTH.  12S 

dience:  even  after  official  accounts  had  reached 
Boston,  of  his  restoration,  the  peojjle  continued 
unwillino;  to  recognize  his  authority.  However,  in 
the  course  of  this  year,  the  governor  called  the 
general  court,  and  the  form  of  a  proclamation  was 
agreed  upon,  by  which  Charles  was  acknowledged 
as  their  sovereign,  and  proclaimed  as  "the  lawful 
king  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  and  all 
other  countries  thereunto  belonging."  From  an 
orderpublisbed  bythecourt  beforethe  proclamation, 
"forbidding  all  disorderly  behavior  on  the  occa- 
sion, and  declaring  that  no  persons  might  expect  in- 
dulgence for  the  breach  of  any  law,"  and  forbidding 
in  a  particular  manner  "that  any  man  should  pre- 
sume to  drink  his  majesty's  health,  which  he  had  in 
a  special  manner  forbid,"  it  would  seem,  that  the 
people  of  New  England  were  less  loyal  or  less 
versatile,  than  those  of  Virginia;  at  all  events,  that 
there  were  many  among  them  who,  far  from  beii;g 
ready  to  shape  their  conduct  and  alter  their  pro- 
fessions with  the  circumstances,  were  too  much 
attached  to  their  principles,  tamely  to  allow  the 
noisy  exultations  of  the  successful  party,  and  that 
they  were  a  sufficiently  numerous  and  respectable 
body  to  command  some  respect  for  their  feelings. 

In  the  following  year,  the  people  of  Connecticut 
obtained  from  the  crown  a  charter,  vesting  them 
with  such  ample  privileges,  that  more  than  a  cen- 
tury after,  when  they  declared  themselves  inde- 
pendent, it  was  thought  quite  unnecessary  to 
establish  the  rights  of  the  people  on  a  firmer  basis; 
and  time  has  not  yet  shown  that  necessity.  Thie 
instrument  bears  date  the  20th  of  April,  1662. 


124  CHAPTER  [lem 

The  authority  of  lord  Baltimore,  over  the  pro- 
vince of  Maryland,  being  re-established  by  the 
restoration,  he  sf^nt  over  Charles  Calvert,  his  eldest 
son,  to  govern  it.  This  gentleman  met  with  no 
difficulty  in  assuming  the  reins  of  government.  The 
first  legislature,  after  his  arrival,  passed  an  act  for 
coining  money:  it  was  enacted,  that  it  should  be  of 
as  good  silver  as  English  sterling;  that  every  shil- 
lin  {,  and  so  in  proportion  for  other  pieces,  should 
weigh  at  least  nine  pence  in  such  silver,  and  that 
the  proprietor  should  accept  of  it  in  payment  of  his 
rent  and  other  debts.  This  law  and  that  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1652,  are  the  only  ones  of  the  kind  that 
are  to  be  found  among  the  legislative  acts  of  the 
English  American  colonies  before  the  revolution. 
The  plantations  of  this  province  were  now  extended 
as  far  as  cape  Henlopen,  from  which  the  Dutch 
had  lately  retired. 

The  legislature  of  Virginia  met  in  the  month  of 
March.  The  principal  object,  attained  by  the 
governor  at  this  session,  was  the  establishment  of 
the  church  of  England,  by  legislative  authority,  in 
the  colony;  an  object  which  the  king,  in  his  instruc- 
tions, had  strongly  recommended.  Provision  was 
made  for  building  churches,  laying  out  glebes,  and 
the  appointment  of  vestries;  power  was  given  to 
the  governor  to  induct  ministers  already  ordained^ 
and  all  others  were  forbidden  to  preach. 

Father  Feijoo,  in  his  Theatro  Critico,  has  re» 
corded  the  tremendous  effects  of  an  earthquake, 
which  was  in  1663  felt  in  Canada  and  almost  every 
part  of  the  northern  continent;  in  a  space  of  twelve 
hundred  miles,  several  mountains  shook  one  against 


1663]  THE  SEVENTH.  125 

the  other;  some  were  torn  from  their  seats  and  pre- 
cipitated into  the  river  St.  Lawrence;  others  sunk 
in  deep  crevasses,  which  were  made  in  several 
places.  A  very  large  and  rocky  one,  occupying  up- 
wards of  two  miles,  sunk,  leaving  in  its  place  a 
wide  and  extensive  plain:  lakes  were  formed  on 
the  spot  where  high  and  inaccessible  mountains  had 
hitherto  stood. 

Sir  Robert  Heath's  grant  of  land,  to  the  south- 
ward of  Virginia,  perhaps  the  most  extensive  pos- 
session ever  owned  by  an  individual,  remained  for 
a  long  time  ahuost  absolutely  waste  and  unculti- 
vated. This  vast  extent  of  territory  occupied  all 
the  country  between  the  30th  and  36th  degrees  of 
northern  latitude,  which  embraces  the  present 
states  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ten- 
nessee, Mississippi  and,  with  very  little  exceptions, 
the  whole  state  of  Louisiana  and  the  territory  of 
East  and  West  Florida,  a  considerable  part  of  the 
state  of  Missouri,  the  Mexican  provinces  of  Texas, 
Chiuhaha,  &c.  The  grantee  had  taken  possession 
of  the  country  soon  after  he  had  obtnined  his  title, 
which  he  afterwards  had  conveyed  to  the  earl  of 
Arundel.  Henry  lord  Maltravers  appears  to  have 
obtained  some  aid  from  the  province  of  Virginia  in 
1639,  at  the  desire  of  Charles  I.,  for  the  settlement 
of  Carolana,  and  the  country  had  since  become  the 
property  of  a  Dr.  Cox ;  yet,  at  this  time,  there 
were  two  points  only  in  which  incipient  English 
settlements  could  be  discerned ;  the  one  on  the 
northern  shore  of  Albemarle  sound  and  the  streams 
that  flow  into  it.  The  population  of  it  was  very 
thin,  and  the   greatest  portion  of  it  was  on   the 


126  ["CHAPTER.  [1663 

north-east  bank  of  Chowan  river.    The  settlerp  had 
come    from  that  part  of  Virginia  now   known  as 
the  county  of  Nansemond,  which,  it  has  been  ob- 
served, began  to  be    occupied   by  the   whites    as 
early  as  the  year  1609:  they  had  been  joined  by  a 
number  of  Quakers  and  other  sectaries,  whom  the 
spirit  of  intolerance  had  driven  from  New  England, 
and  some  emigrants  from  Bermudas.     Their  rmm- 
ber,   though    not  great,   must  have  been  far  from 
insignificant;  for,  besides  the  culture  of  corn  and 
other  grain,  necessary  to  life   and    the  raising  of 
cattle,  they  made  a  considerable  quantity  of  tobacco 
for  exportation;  a  circumstance,  which  must  be  pre- 
sumed from  the  attempt  of  .the  legislature  of  Vir- 
ginia, this  year,  to  procure  the  union  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,   in  a  plan  then  under  consideration, 
on  the  subject  of  tobacco,  their  staple  commodity, 
which,  owing  to  the  glut  of  the  markets  and  its  de- 
teriorated quality,  had  fallen  so  low  in  value,  as 
scarcely  to  furnish  clothing  for  the  colonists.     The 
other  settlement  of  the  English  was  at  the  mouth  of 
Cape    Fear  river:  we  have  seen   that  those   who 
composed  it,  had  come  thither  from  New  England, 
in  1659.     Their  attention  was  confined  to  rearing 
cattle. 

It  cannot  now  be  ascertained,  whether  the 
assignees  of  Carplana  eve  surrendered  the  charter 
under  which  it  was  held,  nor  whether  it  was  con- 
sidered as  having  become  vacated  or  obsolete  by 
non  user,  or  any  other  means;  but,  on  the  15th  of 
March,  the  king  granted  to  Edward,  earl  of  Claren- 
don, George,  duke  of  Albemarle,  William,  earl  of 
Craven,  John,  lord  Berkely,  Anthony,  lord  Ashley, 


1663]  THE  SEVENTH.  127 

Sir  George  Carteret,  Sir  John  Colleton  and  Sir 
William  Berkely,  the  country  to  the  south  of  the 
thirtv-sixth  desfree  of  northern  latitude,  as  far  as  a  line 
running  due  west  from  the  river  St.  Matheo,  from  sea 
to  sea,  in  absolute  property  for  ever.  The  territory 
was  erected  into  a  province,  by  the  name  of  Carolina, 
of  which  the  grantees  were  created  lords  proprietors, 
with  ample  powers  to  settle  the  province,  and  establish 
a  fonn  of  government  under  them. 

As  soon  as  the  charter  issued,  the  duke  of  Norfolk 
and  Sir  Richard  Greenfield's  heirs,  started  a  title  to  the 
country  granted,  in  the  fifth  year  of  Charles  I,  to  Sir 
Kichard  Heath ;  but  the  king,  in  council,  declared  the 
charter  of  Sir  Robert  Heath  null  and  void,  and  ordered 
the  attorney-general  to  avoid  it,  by  a  writ  of  quo 
warranto. 

The  principal  nations  of  Indians,  which  occupied  the 
country  thus  granted,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, were  the  Tuscaroras  and  the  Creeks,  on  the  sea 
shore;  the  Catawbas,  Cherokees,  the  Chickasaws  and 
the  Choctaws,  in  the  middle  part,  and  the  Natchez,  on 
the  Mississippi.  Allied  to  some  of  these  nations, 
were  a  considerable  number  of  tribes ;  the  independence 
of  each  tribe  was  marked  by  its  pecufiar  language,  but 
each,  besides  its  own,  spoke  that  of  the  allied  nation. 
These  tribes  were  c«.)mposed  of  sedentary  individuals,  or 
rather  were  a  collection  of  families,  who  found  their  chief 
support  in  the  waters  of  the  stream  on  which  they  dwelt, 
or  from  the  chase,  in  some  distant  spot,  secluded  from 
the  others  bv  marshes  and  water  courses.  Within  the 
country,  included  by  the  present  limits  of  the  state  of 
which  the  history  is  here  attempted^  the  Pasquotank?, 
Tuteloes,  Meherrins,  Wopomeaks  and  Chowanocks,  on 


les  CHAPTER  [1663 

the  north ;  the  Hatteras,  Coramines,  Pamplicoes,  Mat- 
taraubkeets,  and  Cr^  -atans,  on  the  east,  the  Saras,  Neu- 
ses,  Saponas  and  Sippahaws,  on  the  south,  wtre  the  prin- 
cipal tribes.  They  had  large  towns,  inclosed  with  huge 
pallisadoes,  and  sent  several  hundred,  and  some  several 
thousand,  warriors  to  the  field ;  others,  less  stationary 
and  numerous,  depended  for  subsistence  on  the  chase, 
and  wandered  about,  in  search  of  advantageous  hunting 
grounds.  The  more  peaceful,  were  sometimes  dis- 
turbed by  irrupiions  from  the  warlike  nations,  that  dwelt 
on  the  northern  lakes,  even  as  far  as  the  Simmagons, 
w^ho  dwelt  in  Canada,  and  who,  while  their  country  was 
covered  wi  h  snow,  came  southerly  to  prey  on  the  occu- 
pants of  a  softer  climate.  The  Indians  trom  the  west 
side  of  the  Appalachian  mountains,  even  those  of  the 
shores  of  the  Mississippi,  at  times,  joined  ihej>e  northern 
invaders,  and  the  country  exhibited  in  miniature  the 
spectacle  which  Europe  and  Asia  has  witnessed,  in  the 
irruptions  of  the  Hunns,  the  Goths  and  the  Vandals,  on 
the  Gauls  and  the  Germans,  and  the  Tartar  on  the 
Chinese. 

The  lords  proprietors,  having  obtained  a  declaration 
of  the  privy  council,  that  considering  the  present  condi- 
tion of  Carolina,  all  former  grants  were  void,  held  their 
first  meeting  in  the  month  of  May,  in  order  to  devise 
measures  for  the  planting  of  th^rir  colony  ;  they  formed 
a  joint  stock  for  the  transportation  of  some  colonists, 
and  issued  proposals  for  the  encouragement  of  others  ; 
among  other  privileges,  the  proprietors  offered,  that  the 
emigrants,  if  in  sufficient  number,  might  offer  thirteen 
persons,  out  of  which,  a  governor  and  a  council  of  six, 
should  be  appointed  for  three  years  ;  that  a  grand  assem- 
bly, composed  of  the  governor,  the  council,  and  dele. 


1663]  THE  SEVENTH.  129 

gates  of  freemen,  should  be  called,  as  soon  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  colony  would  allow,  with  power  to  make 
laws,  not  contrary  to  those  of  England,  and  liable  to  be 
repealed  by  the  proprietors  ;  that  every  one  should  enjoy 
the  most  perfect  freedom ;  that  during  five  years,  every 
new  setder  should  be  allowed  one  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  fifty  for  every  servant  introduced  by  him  into  the 
colony,  paying  one  half  penny  only  an  acre ;  and  that 
the  same  freedom  from  customs,  which  had  been  allow- 
ed  by  the  royal  charter,  should  be  allowed  to  every  one. 
The  province  was  divided  into  two  counties,  the  river 
of  Cape  Fear  being  their  internal  boundary  ;  the  northern 
was  called  Albemarle,  and  the  southern  Clarendon, 
in  honor  of  two  of  the  proprietors.  Sir  William  Berke- 
ly,  governor  of  Virginia,  who  was  also  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors and  was  tlien  in  his  government,  was  desired 
to  visit  the  settlement  in  the  county  of  Albemarle,  and 
establish  in  it  a  form  of  government  suitable  to  its 
situation.  His  instructions  are  dated  September  8, 
1663 ;  he  was  authorized  to  constitute  one  or  two 
governors  and  councils,  and  other  officers,  the  proprie- 
tors reserving  to  themselves  only  the  appointment  of  a 
surveyor  and  secretary. 

A  copy  was  sent  him  of  the  proposals  of  the  pro- 
prietors, to  all  that  w^ould  settle  themselves  on  Cape  Fear 
river,  prepared,  on  the  receipt  of  a  paper  from  persons 
who  desired  to  settle  there,  the  terms  of  which  were  said 
to  be  as  low  as  it  was  possible  for  the  proprietors  to 
descend.  These  proposals,  governor  Berkely  was  in- 
formed, were  not  intended  for  the  meridian  of  Albe- 
marle county,  where  it  was  hoped  to  find  more  facile 
people,  who,  by  his  interest,  might  settle  on  better 
terms  for  the  proprietors.     The  terms  there  were  left  to 

N*  CARO.       17 


tm  '  CHAPTER  [166:3 

his  management,  and  an  opinion  was  expressed,  that  as 
much  land  as  possible  should  be  granted,  rather  than 
deter  any  settler. 

The  proprietors  stated  the  information  which  they 
had  received,  tliat  the  people,  settled  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Chowan  river,  had  bought  great  tracts  of  land  from 
the  Ind  ans,  which  it  was  deemed  improper  to  allow 
them  wholly  to  retain :  as  they  would  probably  keep 
such  land  in  their  hands,  and  so  occasion  a  great  dis- 
tance between  the  settlements,  and  destroy  or  weaken 
the  means  of  mutual  assistance  in  time  of  danger;  and 
if  they  yielded  a  part  of  their  lands  to  purchasers,  it 
would  likeiv  be  on  such  hard  terms  as  would  deter  new 
settlers.  Guverncjr  Berkciy  was  therefore  instructed, 
to  persuade  or  com|>el  such  persons  to  be  satisfied,  with 
such  portions,  as  were  allotted  to  others. 

He  was  authorized  to  establish  two  governments,  that 
is,  one  on  each  side  of  Chowan  river,  from  a  belief,  that 
individuals,  anxious  for  liberty  ofconscier.ee,  might  de- 
sire a  governor  of  their  own  proposing,  which  those  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  might  dislike. 

Lastly,  he  was  instructed  to  procure  a  vessel, 
of  a  small  draught  of  water,  to  search  for  an  inlet  into 
the  sound,  through  which  great  ships  might  come  in ; 
and  to  obtain  some  account  of  Charles  river. 

Several  gentlemen  of  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  being 
dissatisfied  with  their  condition  there,  and  having  seen 
the  proposals  of  the  lords  proprietors,  despatched  a  ves- 
sel to  reconnoitre  the  country,  along  Cape  Fear  or 
Clarendon  river,  early  in  the  month  of  September. 

Anthony  Long,  William  Hilton,  and  Peter  Fabiau, 
were  intrusted  with  this  expedition  ;  the  journal,  which 
they  published  on  their  return,  is  believed  to  be  the 


1663J  THE  SEVENTH.  191 

earliest  account  of  Cape  Fear  river,  that  ever  appeared 
ill  print. 

On  the  29th  of  September,  ihey  reached  the  conti- 
nent,  in   thirty  two  degrees  twenty   minutes  of  north 
latitude,  and  ran^^ed  the  coast  as  fiir  as  thirty. three  de- 
grees eleven  minutes,  without  finding  any  entrance  for 
their  ship  to  the  northward  of  the  thirty-second  degree. 
On  the  3d  of  October,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  vio- 
lent  storm,  the  wind  between  north  and  east ;  it  con- 
tinued for  several  days,  so  that  the  ship  was  forced  to  a 
considerable  distance  off  the   shore,  and  driven  by  the 
rapidity  of  a  strong  current  to  cape  Hatteras ;  on  the 
twelfth,  thev  came  to  an  anchor  in  seven  fathoms  of  water, 
and  taking  the  meridian  altitude,  they  found  themselves 
in  thirty-three  degrees  forty-three  minutes.     The  bad- 
ness of  the  weather  detained  them    until   the  sixteenth, 
when  they  sailed  about  fifteen  miles,  and  came   to  an- 
chor in  seven  fathoms  of  water.     Several  Indians  came 
on  board,   bringing  a  large  quantity  of  fish,  large  mul- 
let, young  bass  and  shad;  on  the  twenty -fourth,  they 
sailed  up  the  river  for  about  twelve  miles  farther,  and 
rowed  up  the  next  day  nearly  the  same  distance,  where 
they  moored  the  ship.     On  the  twenty-sixth,  they  went 
in  the  yawl  to  Necoes,  an  Indian  town  ;  they  continued 
sailing  up  the  river  for  about  ninety  miles,  and  finding 
the  passage  much  obstructed  by  fallen  trees,  and  their 
provisions  nearly  spent,  after  viewing  the  land  around 
them,  they  reached  the  ship  on  the  second  of  Novem- 
ber ;  on  the  fourth,  they  went  fourteen  or  fifteen  miles 
up  the  river,  in  search  of  the  north-west  branch  of  it, 
which  they  called  Swampy  branch  ;  they  sailed  on  it  to 
the  distance  of  fifteen  miles,  and  returned.     On  the 
sixth,  they  sailed  up  another  branch  of  the  main  river, 


1S2  CHAPTER  [1663 

the  mouth  of  which  was  near  the  place  where  the  ship 
rode  ;  they  called  it  Green's  river,  and  sailing  up  to  the 
distance  of  fifteen  miles,  they  found  it  divided  into  two 
inconsiderable  branches ;  the  land  was  generally  full  of 
marshes  and  swamps.  On  their  return  to  the  ship,  they 
took  a  supply  of  provisions,  and  sailed  up  the  main  river 
again ;  on  the  fourth  day,  they  came  to  a  place,  where 
the  river  was  narrowed  by  two  islands  in  the  middle  of 
it ;  it  was  there  so  crooked  and  so  much  obstructed  by 
fallen  trees,  that  they  were  com|7elled  to  proceed  on  land 
along  the  river  three  or  four  miles,  and  found  it  widen- 
ing more  and  more ;  they  then  returned ;  the  course  of 
the  river,  as  far  as  they  could  see,  was  straight,  and  its 
direction  towards  the  north-east;  they  judged  them- 
selves at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fiftv  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  ;  the  land  on  both  shores 
appeared  rich,  very  level,  and  covered  with  tall  giass; 
the  banks  were  steep,  and  in  some  places  very  high  ;  the 
woods  were  full  of  deer,  conies,  turkeys,  partridges, 
crants,  ducks,  teals,  pigeons  and  paroquets.  The 
timber  consisted  chiefly  of  oak,  some  of  which  were 
from  twelve  to  eighteen  feet,  and  even  twenty-four  feet 
high,  below  the  first  limbs  ;  large  cypress  were  abun- 
dant ;  walnut,  birch,  beech,  maple,  ash,  bay,  willow, 
elder  and  holly,  were  found  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  lower  innumerable  pines,  tall  and  fit 
for  masts  and  boards,  for  the  most  part  in  barren  and 
sandy  soil,  but  in  some  places  up  the  river,  in  good 
ground,  mixed  among  the  oak  and  other  timber,  mul- 
berry trees  and  grape  vines  were  found  in  quantity.  OiV 
the  north-west  side  of  the  river,  they  viewed  a  large 
tract,  extending  to  the  distance  of  several  miles,  with- 
out any  tree,  except  a  few  scattered  oak ;  it  was  covered 


1665]  THE  SEVENTH.  133 

with  luxuriant  grass,  which  rose  to  the  height  of  a  man's 
waist,  and    in   many  places  to  that  of  his  shoulder ;  it 
abounded  in  deer  and  turkeys  ;  they  named  it  stag  park. 
.Proceeding  downwards,  they  came  to  another  remarka- 
ble place,  on  the  same  side  as  the  former,  which  it  ap- 
peared to  join ;  the   uncommon   circumstance,  of  its 
abounding  with  rock,  stone,  and  pebbles,  induced  the 
adventurers  to  give  it  the  name  of  Rocky  Point,  an  ap- 
pellation which  it,  at  this  day,  still  retains  ;  they  judged 
the  distance  from  this  spot  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  to 
be  about  seventy-  five  miles.     On  the  twenty-third,  they 
came  to  a  place  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  about  six 
miles  lower,  which  from  the  great  quantity  of  wild  tur- 
keys they  saw  about  it,    they   called  Turkey  Quarters. 
The  land  along  the  river  was  high  and  rich,  but  at  tlie 
distance  of  two  miles  from  the  shore  sandv  and  barren, 
bearing  only  pine  trees.     Going  down  the  river,  they 
stopped,  after  rowing  eight  or  nine  miles,  on  a  rich  tract, 
covered  with  valuable  timber  ;  the  bank  of  the  river  be- 
inp^  high  and  steep,  they  named  the  place  Highland  Points 
As  they  proceeded  downwards,  the  country  appeared 
full  of  meadows,  and  still  farther  on  the  banks   of  the 
river,  were  large  marshes,  on  the  back  of  which  were 
some  good  pasture  land,  but  generally  sandy  barrens, 
covered   with  innumerable    pines.     They  reached  the 
shi.:>  on  the  seventeenth,  and  spent  a  few  days  in  viewing 
the  land  around,  on  both  sides  of  the  river  :  it  was  for 
the  most  part  poor. 

On  the  twentieth,  they  weighed  anchor,  and  proceed- 
ed downwards  about  six  miles,  and  came  to  anchor 
opposite  to  a  river,  which,  after  one  of  the  adventurers, 
was  named  Hilton  river ;  the  land  on  both  shores  re- 
sembled much  that  on  Green  river.     On  the  twenty- 


134  CHAPTEP.  [)66S 

third,  they  sailed  up  in  the  long  boat,  to  the  distance  of 
nine  miles,  and  found  that  the  latter  river  joined  the  one 
they  were  in;  sailing  higher  up,  the  stream  forked,  and 
they  took  the  branch  to  the  larboard,  and  sailing  up  eight 
miles  farther,  found  themselves  in  Green  river  again. 
They  did  not  proceed  higher  up  than  about  eight  miles, 
when  judging  themselves  at  the  distance  of  fifty-four 
miles  webt  by  north  from  the  ship,  they  returned.  As 
they  were  rowing  down,  four  Indians  came  to  them  in 
a  canoe,  and  having  sold  them  a  few  baskets  of  acorns, 
returned  to  the  shore  ;  one  of  them,  following  the  boat 
along  the  shore  for  two  or  three  miles,  stopped  on  the 
top  of  a  high  bank,  and  as  the  Enj^lishmen  rowed  un- 
der it,  shot  an  arrow,  which  grazing  the  shoulder  of  one 
of  them,  stuck  in  the  upper  edge  of  the  boat,  but  was 
broke  to  pieces,  the  head  remaining  fast.  The3^  imme- 
diately rowed  to  the  shore,  and  leaving  four  men  to  keep 
the  boat,  the  rest  ran  up  the  bank,  in  quest  of  the  Indiiin. 
They  were  some  time  without  hearing  or  seeing  any 
body  ,  at  last,  they  heard  several  voices  singing  at  a 
distance  in  the  woods,  which  they  took  for  a  challenge. 
As  they  were  advancing,  they  were  called  back  to  their 
boat,  by  the  report  of  two  muskets.  The  men,  under 
whose  care  it  was  left,  had  fired  on  an  Indian,  whom 
they  had  seen  creeping  along  the  bank,  with  apparently 
hostile  intentions.  They  had,  however,  missed  him, 
and  he  had  sought  his  safety  in  flight.  While  an  ac- 
count was  giving  of  this  circumstance,  two  Indians  ap- 
proached, hollowing  bonny,  bonny;  they  had  bows  and 
arrows,  which  they  willingly  exchanged  for  a  few  beads. 
The  head  of  the  arrow,  which  still  remained  fast  in  the 
boat,  was  pointed  out  to  them;  they  manifested  great 
concern,  and  disowned  any  knowledge  of  the  accident ; 


1663]  THE  SEVENTH.  IS5 

they  soon  after  went  away,  and  the  Eng;lish  marked  a 
tr^e  on  the  top  ot"  the  bank,  and  named  the  place  Mount 
Strong.     The  banks  of  the  river  were  of  clay,  and   in 
some  part  of  marl,  and  the  iand  was  not  inferior  to  that 
on  the  other  river.     They  judged  the  one  they  were   in 
came  irom  hii^her  up  in  the  country,  from   the   greater 
rapidity  oi  the  current,  and  the  c|uantity  of  drift  wood 
carried  down  the  stream.     On  their  way   to   the   ship, 
they  saw  several  spots  of  ground  cleared  by  the  Indians, 
and  planted  with  corn;  the  trees  stood  up,  being  only 
barked  around  in  the  lower  extremity,  so  as  to  kill  them. 
Tne  corn  stalks,  notwithstanding  the  fields  were  much 
shadowed  by   the  timber,  were  very  tall.     Proceeding 
still  downwards,  they  reached  another  Indian  plantation, 
on    which  they   landed,  and  were  hospitably  received ; 
after   purchasing  acorns  and  corn,  they  went  on,  and 
having   proceeded  about  six   miles,  they  perceived  an 
Indian,  peeping  over  a  high  bank  ;  they  presented  a 
musket  at  him,  calling  out  skerry  ;  whereupon,  a  num- 
ber of  Indians  made  their  appearance,  crying  out  bonnt/^ 
bonny,  and  making  signs  of  friendship  ;  they  ran  down- 
Wards  along  the  shore,  before  the  boat,  endeavoring  to 
persuade   the  white  people  to  land;  these,   however, 
kept  their  guns  presented,  crying  owX.  skerry  :  The  na- 
lives,  perceiving  their  attempts  to  induce  the  whites  to 
approach  the  shore  unavailing,  two  of  them  got  into  a 
larg:e  canoe  and  advanced  towards  the  boat,  one  of  them 
paddling  with  a  large  cane,  and  the  other  with  his  hcUids  ; 
they  with  difficulty  reached  the  boat,  and  laid  hold  of  her 
fenders  and  clewing,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  persuad- 
ing the  persons  on  board  to  come  ashore.     The  adven- 
turers were  met,  on  their  landing,  by  a  party  of  near  forty 
lusty  Indians,  who  came  running  on,  crying  bonny. 


336  CHAPTER  [1663 

The  head  of  the  arrow  was  pointed  out  to  them,  on  the 
side  of  the  boat ;  one  of  them  made  a  long  speech,  and 
threw  beads  into  her,  in  token  of  friendship,  and  gave 
the  white  people  to  understand,  that  when  he  heard  of 
the  insult  they  had  received,  he  had  felt  great  grief,  and 
shed  tears,  and  had  come  with  his  people  to  make  peace 
with  them ;  that  if  they  could  discover  the  offender, 
they  would  tie  his  hands  and  cut  off  his  head  ;  and  as  a 
testimonial  of  their  love  and  good  will  to  the  adventurers, 
two  tall  and  handsome  young  Indian  women  wTre  pre- 
sented to  them  :  they  appeared  to  be  the  chief's  daugh- 
ters, or  persons  of  high  rank  in  the  natioif,  manifested 
no  reluctance  at  their  being  thus  tendered  as  a  peace  of- 
fering, and  very  willingly  entered  the  boat.  Valuable  as 
this  gift  was,  the  time  at  which,  and  the  number  of  per- 
sons to  whom,  it  was  made,  imperiously  required  the  re- 
turn of  it  to  the  donors ;  one  of  them  with  difficulty 
consented  to  leave  the  boat ;  at  last,  they  were  both  dis^ 
missed,  with  a  small  present  of  beads.  A  few  hatchets 
were  presented  to  the  chief,  and  such  of  the  Indians 
whose  appearances  pointed  them  out  as  standing  next  in 
s-ank  ;  and  tliey  departed,  after  promising  to  come  down 
and  visit  the  whites,  on  board  of  their  ship. 

The  adventurers  named  this  spot  Mount  Bonny,  in 
token  of  the  peace  thus  concluded,  and  reached  the  ship 
on  the  twenty- sixth. 

On  the  next  day,  they  weighed  anchor  and  came  down 
to  an  island  (Cram  island,)  within  twelve  miles  from 
the  sea,  and  on  the  first  day  of  December,  the  Indians 
came  on  board,  according  to  promise ;  they  were  in 
great  number ;  and  at  this  meeting,  Wat  Coosa,  their 
king,  and  his  chieftains,  sold  to  the  adventurers  the  river 
and  land  of  Cape  Fear. 


1663J  THE  SEVENTH.  137 

They  went  to  view  the  land  about  the  cape ;  it  ap-    *  **      f, 
peared  quite  sandy  and  barren,  some  low  and  shrubby  »    1%  J!  ' 
trees  scattered  in  many  places,  grass  and  rushes  growing  *      ^  ** 
in  others,  but  the  most  covered  with  clear  sand.     There    ^%\**  t^ 
were  some  cattle,  left  by  the  people  from  New  England, 
in  the  care  of  the  Indians,  to  be  fattened  :  the  spot  ap- 
peared much  fitter   to  starve  them.     Yet  the  Indians, 
dwelling  around  the  cape,  did  not  allow  these  animals  to 
go  higher  up  to  better  pasture  grounds,  lest  the  reward 
they  received  from  the  owners  of  the  cattle,  should  be 
shared  by  other  Indians.     On  a  hi.^h  post,  on  the  sea 
shore,  was  nailed  a  writing,  describing  the  land  on  the 
river  as  mit^erably  poor :  it  had  been  placed   there  by 
the  people  from  New  England  :  another,  more  correctly 
descriptive,  was  substituted. 

The    colony    from    jNlussachu setts    was    settled    on 
Charles  river,  tliLit  i^,   the  stream   now  caled  Oldtown 
Creek.     They  had  srititd  in  1660,  and  deserted  their         ^^ 
habitations  in  1663. 

The  Lidians  brought  several  times,  to  the  ship,  good 
and  fat  beef,  and  some  swine,  with  very  good  salt,  which 
they  said  was  ob-aiiied  in  the  country. 

The  ship  hailed  for  Baibadoes  on  the  fourth  of  De- 
cember, and  on  tlie  sixth  of  February  anchored  in 
Carlisle   bay. 

Pleased  with  the  accounts  which  they  received,  the 
persons  at  whose  charge  the  ship  had  been  sent,  deter- 
mined 10  remove  to  Cape  Fear,  and  according  to  the 
proposals  of  the  lords  proprietors,  the  names  of  thirteen 
persons  were  forwarded  them,  out  of  which  they  were 
requested  to  choose  a  governor  and  council. 

In  the  fall  p-overnor  Berkeiy,  at  the  request  of  the 
lords  proprietors,  visited  the  county  of  Albemarle,  and 

,^    N.    CARO.    18    *  '  :         • 


•     ♦    «    V 


*^-. 


138  CHAPTER  [16^4 

f^  "  appointed  Georeje  Drummond,  a  man  of  prudence  and 
jm£%m  *  fidelity,  governor  of  it.  He  sent  commissions  lo  other 
^^^^  *  gentlemen,  to  fill  the  offices  of  assistants  or  counsellors, 


^  judges  and  justices  of  the  peace,  and  depaned,  after 
having  taken  measures  for  the  proper  administration  of 
a  provisional  government. 

This  year  was  granted  by  the  king,  the  charter  of  the 
prvjvince  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  Providence  Planta- 
^  tions.     It  differed  but  little  from  that  of  the  province  of 

Connecticut,  and  like  it,  was  thought,  after  the  declara- 
ticii  of  independence,  so  completely  to  define  and  protect 
the  rights  of  the  people,  as  to  render  it  useless  to  frame 
a  constitution. 

On  the  twelfth  of  March,  1664,  the  duke  of  York  ob- 
tained from  his  brother  a  patent  for  various  and  exten-  ' 
sive  tracts  of  land,  covering  the  country  now  known  as 
the  states  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware;  and  on  the  twelfth  of  June,  he  conveyed  to 
John  Berkely,  baron  of  Stratton,  and  Sir  Ge«Tge  Carte- 
ret, of  Saltrenn,  in  Dover,  two  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
province  of  Carolina,  a  portion  of  this  vast  territory, 
which  was  erected  into  a  province,  by  the  name  of  New- 
Jersey,  in  honor  of  Sir  George,  whose  family  came  from 
the  island  of  Jersey.  Three  inhabitants  of  Long  Island 
removed  this  year  into  the  new  province,  to  the  spot,  on 
which  the  first  town  of  New  Jersey  was  built,  and  in 
compliment  to  Sir  George's  lady,  it  was  called 
Elizabethtown. 

In  the  summer,  commodore  Nichols,  with  four  fri- 
gates and  three  hundred  soldiers,  sailed  from  England 
for  the  reduction  of  New  Netherlands.  On  their  anchor- 
ing before  the  fort,  Stuyvesant,  the  Dutch  governor, 
sent  a  letter  on  board,  to  require  some  notice  of  Nichob' 


1664]  THE  SEVENTH.  139 

intention,  and  was  answered  by  a  summons  to  surren- 
der. He  at  first  determined  on  a  defence,  but  soon  after, 
considering  his  unequal  force,  offered  to  treat.  On  the 
twenty. seventh  of  August^  a  capitulation  was  signed,  by 
which  the  fort  and  town  of  New  Amsterdam  were  sur- 
rendered to  the  English.  The  town  now,  in  honor  to 
the  Duke  of  York,  changed  its  name  to  that  of  New- 
York.  On  the  twenty -fourth  of  September,  Fort 
Orange  capitulated  also,  and  the  town  near  it  was  called 
Albany,  the  Scotch  title  of  the  duke.  On  the  first  of 
October,  the  Dutch  settlements  on  the  Delaware  were 
taken  possession  of  by  the  English.  Thus  were  the 
Dutch  driven  away  from  New  Netherlands,  which  they 
had  occupied  for  about  half  of  a  century,  and  the  south- 
ern English  provinces  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  now 
connected,  by  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  English  posses- 
sions, to  the  northernmost  part  of  the  English  empire 
In  America. 


Chalmers — Laxvson — Archdale, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  English  in  1604  took  the  island' of  St.  Lucia, 
from  the  French.  They  were  assisted  by  six  hundred 
Charibee  Indians,  in  seventeen  canoes.  Two  years  after, 
the  colony,  reduced  by  epidemical  diseases,  to  eighty- 
nine  individuc.ls,  burnt  their  fort,  and  abandoned  the 
island. 

In  the  next  year,  surmising  some  lands  beyond  the 
southern  boundary  of  their  province,  to  be  of  considera- 
ble importance,  they  solicited  from  the  king,  a  second 
charter,  which  might  include  them.  It  was  obtained 
without  difficulty.  The  date  of  it,  is  the  13th  of  June, 
1665. 

This  instrument  grants  to  them,  their  heirs  and  as- 
signs, the  province  of  Carolina,  within  the  king's  do- 
minions, in  America,  extending  north-eastward,  as  far 
as  the  north  end  of  the  Currituck  river  or  inlet,  on  a 
straight  westerly  line,  to  Wvonoak  creek,  which  lies 
within,  or  about,  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes, 
north  laiitude,  and  so  west,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  South 
sea;  and  south  and  westward,  as  far  as  the  29th  degree 
"inclusive,  and  so  westward,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  South 
sea. 

It  invests  them  with  the  power  of  building  churches, 
chapels  and  oratories,  to  bt'  dedicated  and  consecrated, 


1665]  CHAPTER.  141 

according  to   the  ecclesiastical  law  of  England,   and 
gives  tlum  the  right  of  advovvson  and  patroiiage. 

It  creaes  the  grantees,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  lords 
propriet(irs  of  the  province,  to  be  holden  in  free  and 
common  socage,  as  of  the  king's  man(;r  of  Green- 
wich in  Kent,  reserving  to  the  crowii  one  fonrth  part  of 
the  gold  and  silver  ore,  that  may  be  found  within  the 
province,  and  authorizes  them  to  erect  and  establish 
counties,  baronies  and  colonies,  cities,  towns  and  ma- 
nors; to  enact  constitutions  and  laws,  with  the  consent 
of  the  freemen;  imposing  penalties,  inflicting  punish- 
ments extending  even  to  the  deprivation  of  any  mem-  - 
her  or  life,  to  grant  pardons  and  reprieves,  establish 
courts  of  justice,  and  appoint  officers  of  them.  The 
laws,  however,  are  required  to  be  consonant  to  reason, 
and,  as  much  as  may  be,  conformable  to  those  of 
En^^land. 

A  temporary  power  is  given  to  the  lords  proprietors, 
to  make  ordinances,  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace, 
until  ihe  legislative  bodv  may  be  convt- ned. 

The  king  grants  hcense,  to  any  of  his  subjects,  to  re- 
move to  Can.ilina,  declares  such  as  do,  and  iheir  chil- 
dren born  there,  British  subjects,  allowing  them  free- 
dom of  commerce  with  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland, 
and  to  export  their  commodities  there  and  even  to  for- 
eign ports,  paying  the  accustomed  duties;  to  import  ^ 
into  any  of  the  king's  dominions,  silks,  wines,  raisins, 
capers,  wax,  oil  and  olives,  during  the  term  of  seven 
years,  and  to  export  farming  utensils  free  from  any 
duty. 

Power  is  given  to  the  grantees  of  erecting  ports, 
and  levying  duties  and  customs ;  to  confer  titles  of 
honor  ;  but  it  is  provided,  that  such  titles  shall  be  differ- 


142  CHAPTER  [1666 

ent  from  those  used  in  England ;  the  right  of  erecting 
fortifications,  of  levying  troops,  of  mustering  and  train- 
ing the  inhabitants  to  arms,  to  make  war  by  sea  and 
land,  and  exercise  martial  law  in  cases  of  necessity,  is 
also  granted  to  them. 

The  province  is  declared  a  distinct  goverment,  me- 
diately dependent  on  the  crown.  The  inhabitants  arc 
released  from  any  obligation  of  conformit}^  to  the  church 
of  England,  or  taking  any  test  oath,  and  a  free  toleration, 
in  religious  matters,  is  granted. 

The  lords  pro]>rietors  now  made  constant,  although 
not  very  successful,  efforts  to  induce  individuals  of  all 
ranks,  to  migrate  to  their  province.  For  this  purpose, 
they  appointed  agents  in  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  the  colo- 
nies in  the  West  Indies,  on  the  continent,  and  in  the 
island  of  Bermudas.  A  number  of  people  left  that 
island,  and  settled  on  Pasquotank  river,  where  they  ap- 
plied themselves  chiefly  to  ship  building.  The  few 
planters,  who  had  settled  on  the  shore  of  Chowan  river, 
jyere  now  joined  by  emigrants  from  New  England. 

The  lords  proprietors  made  choice  of  John  Yeamans, 
among  the  persons  proposed  by  the  planters  of  Barba- 
does,  who  intended  to  remove  to  the  county  of  Ciaren- 
den,  and  appointed  him  governor  of  it.  This  gende- 
man,  being  then  in  England,  was  knighted  on  the  occa- 
sion, and  the  king  made  the  colony  a  present  of  twelve 
pieces  of  ordnance,  and  some  warlike  stores. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  Sir  John  Yeamans  led 
from  Barbadoes  a  body  of  emigrants,  and  began  a  set- 
tlement on  the  southern  shore  of  Cape  Fear  river:  he 
laid  out  a  town,  which,  in  honor  of  the  king,  he  called 
Charleston.  The  spot,  which  w^as  thus  dignified,  is  not 
at  this  day  to  be  determined.     Lawson,  in  his  map  of 


1666]  '  THE  EIGHTH-  143 

Carolina,  has  preserved  the  name  of  Charleston,  and  it 
is  imagined,  from  the  place  it  occupies  on  this  map,  that 
the  town  stood  not  far  from,  if  not  upon,  a  stream,  now 
in  the  county  of  Brunswick,  called  Oldtowu  creek; 
perhaps  at  the  confluence  of  it  and  the  river. 

Governor  Yeamans  was  more  successful  than  the  peo- 
ple of  New  England,  who  had  preceded  him  thither,  in 
cultivating  the  good  will  of  the  Indians,  from  w^hom  his 
colonists  derived  considerable  assistance  in  clearing  and 
planting  the  land.  The  vessels,  that  had  brought  the 
adventurers,  were,  in  a  short  time,  loaded  with  lumber, 
and  soon  returned  to  fetch  new  adventurers,  and  a  far- 
ther supply  of  provisions ;  thus  an  advantageous  com- 
merce was  established,  between  the  county  of  Clarendon 
and  the  island,  which  had  spared  it  its  first  inhabitants. 
The  favorable  reports,  which  the  islanders  received  from 
their  friends  on  the  continent,  induced  new  adventurers 
to  follow  the  first.  The  merchants,  induced  by  the 
profits  which  the  first  expedition  had  given,  made  fre- 
quent shipments,  and  the  success  of  the  lords  proprie- 
tors' agents,  in  that  island,  in  procuring  colonists,  was 
so  great,  that  the  legislature  of  Barbadoes  interposed  its 
authority,  and  forbade,  under  severe  penalties,  the  spir- 
iting people  off  ^he  island. 

The  emigrants  from  Barbadoes  had  purchased  from 
the  Indians,  a  tract  of  land  thirty-two  miles  square,  for 
which  they  now  solicited  a  grant  from  the  lords  proprie- 
tors, with  a  charter  of  incorporation.  Although  this 
was  refused,  they  obtained  liberal  grants  of  land,  and 
every  other  reasonable  indulgence.  A  county  was  then 
established,  which  was  called  Clarendon. 

The  Ion  Is  proprietors,  desirous  of  obtaining  a  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  their  province,  fitted  out  a  ship 


144  CHAPTER  [1667 

and  sent  William  Sayle,  to  explore  the  coast  of  Caro- 
lina. On  his  way,  Sav^e  was  drivt:n,  in  d  storm,  on 
St.  Salvador,  one  of  thr  Baham  »  islands,  and  the  one  on 
which  Christopher  Columbus  first  landfd  in  America. 
He  staid  some  time  on  this  island,  to  refit  his  ship,  and 
visited  the  neighboring  one;  and  next  proceeded  to 
Carolina,  and  surveyed  the  coast,  entering  the  rivers  and 
making  astronomical  observations,  in  various  points. 

On  his  return,  the  lords  proprietors  were,  from  his 
account,  induced  to  solicit  a  grant  of  the  Bahama  islands, 
and  the  king  grave  them  a  patent,  for  all  those  islands 
between  the  twenty-second  and  twxnty-fourth  degrees 
of  north  latitude. 

The  year  1667,  is  remarkable  for  the  pacification  of 
Brtda.  By  the  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Dutch,  New 
Netherlands  was  confirmed  to  the  English,  and  Siirinam, 
which  had  lately  been  taken  from  the  Dutch,  was  ceded 
to  them  in  return,  the  English  planters  in  Surinam, 
principally  removing  to  Jamaica.  ^  Their  nun»bfr  at  the 
time  of  this  evacuation,  amouted  to  about  fifteen  hun^ 
dred,  besides  their  fiimilies. 

Legislative  countenance  was  this  year,  for  the  first 
time,  given  to  the  transportation  of  malefactors  to 
America.  By  the  18  Charles  II.  c.  3,  power  was  given 
to  judges  of  assizes,  commissioners  of  oyer  and  termi- 
ner and  general  jail  delivery,  to  order  persons  convict- 
ed of  theft  and  rapine,  on  the  northern  b(^rdei  s  of  Eng- 
land, to  be  transported  into  any  of  the  king's  dominions, 
in  America.  • 

In  October,  governor  Drummond  was  succeeded  by 
Samuel  Stephens,  who  was  authorized  to  grant  land, 
with  the  concurrence  of  the  council,  returning  to  the 
lords  proprietors  one  h^lf  of  the  gold  and  silver  ore. 
A  constitution  was  given,  at  the  same  time,  to  the 


1668]  THE  EIGHTH.  146 

colony  of  Albemarle.  The  governor  was  to  act  with  the 
advice  of  a  council  of  twelve,  the  one  halt  of  whom  he 
was  authorised  to  appoint,  thcf  other  half  was  to  be  cho- 
sen by  the  assembly.  The  assembly  was  com.posed  of 
the  governor,  the  couiicil,  and  twelve  delegates,  chosen 
by  the  freeholders.  Goveraor  Stephens'  commission 
bears  date  in  October,  16c37. 

The  first  legislature  met  in  this  year,  or  early  in  the 
next;  Chalmers  says,  in   1669;  but  their  meeting  is 
mentioned  in  an  authentic  instrument  of  the  lords  pro- 
prietors of  the  first  of  May,    1668.     The  laws  enacted 
exhibit  strong  evidence  of  the  temper,  manners  and 
opinions  of  the  colonists.      To  induce  migration,  an 
asylum  was  offered  to  dishonest  debtors;  and  suits,  for  any 
debt  created  out  of  the  country,  were  prohibited  for  five 
years;  the  acceptance  oi  any  power  of  attorney,  to  de- 
mand the  payment  of  them,  was  forbidden;  and  with  a  view 
to  promove  population  by  some  more  natural  means,  it 
was  provided,  that  **as  people  might  wish  to  marry,  and 
there   being  no  minister  in  the  settlement,   that  none 
might  be  hindered  from  so  necessary  a  W(jrk,  for  the  pre- 
servation of  mankind,  any  man  and  woman,   carrying 
before  the  governor,  or  any  member  of  the  council,  a  ftv/ 
of  their  neighbors,  and  declaring  their  mutual  consent, 
were  to  be  declared  man  and  wife."     A  limited  exemp- 
tion from  taxes  was  granted  to  n?w  sealers;  and  dealers 
from  abroad   were   prohibited  from    coming  into  the 
country,  or  among  the  neighboring  tribes,  to  traffic  with 
the  Indians.     With  a  view  to  retain  adventurers,  the 
right  to  a  certain  quantity  of  land,  which  was  acquired  by 
migration,  was  declared  not  to  be  the  subj  ct  of  con- 
veyance, till  the  transferee  had  remained  two  years  in  the 
country.     A  tax  of  thirty  pounds  of  tobacco,  on  every 

N.  CARO.       19 


146  CHAPTER.  [1668 

law  suit,  was  laid,  as  a  provision  for  the  payment  of  the 
expenses  of  the  governor  and  council,  during  the  session 
of  the  legislature. 

These  laws  were  transmitted  for,  and  received  the  ap- 
probation of  the  lords,  proprietors ;  for  it  seems  they  had 
reserved  to  themselves  a  veto,  on  the  laws  of  the  province; 
they  remained  in  force  upwards  of  one  half  of  a  cen- 
turv,  and  were  confirmed  in  the  vear  1715,  and  are  the 
six  first  chapters  among  the  acts  of  the  session  of  that 
year. 

The  assembly  transmitted  a  petition  to  the  lords  pro- 
prietors, in  order  to  obtain,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
c^vHity  of  Albemarle  might  hold  their  lands,  upon  the 
same  tenure  as  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia  held  theirs ; 
and  on  the  1st  of  May,  1668,  their  lordships,  by  an  in- 
strument, called  the  great  deed  of  grant,  directed  gover- 
nor Stephens  to  grant  land  to  such  persons  as  should 
come  into  the  colony  of  Albemarle,  to  plant  and  inhabit 
it,  to  be  holden  of  their  lordships^  on  the  same  terms 
and  conditions  as  lands  were,  at  the  time,  especially 
granted  in  Virginia. 

The  county  was  at  this  period  in  a  very  thriving  con- 
dition  ;  a  considerable  quantity  of  tobacco  was  raised ; 
provisions  were  very  abundant;  many  of  the  inhabitants 
were  engaged  in  ship  building ;  vessels  from  the  West 
Indies  came  to  procure  lumber;  and  a  number  of  tra- 
ders from  New  England,  visiting  the  settlement  during 
the  winter,  ministered  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  and 
carried  away  whatever  they  had  to  spare. 

The  negotiations  for  peace,  between  England  and 
France,  which  began  in  1667,  were  not  concluded  till 
the  following  year.  France  yielded  to  England,  all  her 
rights  in  the  island  of  St.  Christopher,  together  with  the 


% 


1669]  THE  EIGHTH.  14T 

islands  of  Antigua  and  Montserrat,  and  England  yielded 
up  Acadia  to  France,  generally,  without  any  specifica- 
tion of  limits,  and  particularly,  Pentagoet,  St.  John,  Port 
Royal,  La  Haive  and  cape  Sable,  lying  within  it. 

Before  this,  no  mention  is  made,  in  any  treaty  be- 
tween England  and  Spain,  of  America.  Spain  being 
contented  to  keep  up  her  ancient  claim  to  that  country, 
and  England,  careful  to  keep  and  improve  the  footing 
she  had  already  gained  on  it,  a  general  treaty  of  com- 
merce was  concluded  between  England  and  Spain., 
relating  to  the  interests  of  both  kingdoms,  in  Europe 

I 

and  America. 

It  was  stipulated,  that  Spanish  and  British  vessels,  in 
their  respective  states,  should  not  be  visited  by  the  judges 
of  contraband,  nor  by  any  other  person  whatever.  No 
officer  or  soldier  be  put  on  board  till  tlie  captain 
shall  have  entered  his  goods,  and  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  land.  This  article  was  stated  as  a  stipulation,  free- 
ing British  vessels  from  tlie  visits  of  guard  a  castes. 
It  is  evident,  it  relates  only  to  places,  where  they  might 
lawfully  trade. 

Lord  Willoughby,  governor  of  Barbadoes,  sent  forces 
to  St.  Vincent  and  Dominica,  and  subduing  the  Carib- 
bea  Indians,  added  these  two  islands  to  the  dominion 
of  England. 

On  the  2d  of  May,  1669,  the  king  granted  to  prince 
Rupert,  and  several  lords,  knights  and  merchants  asso- 
ciated with  him,  a  charter,  incorporating  them  as  **  the 
governor  and  company  of  adventurers  trading  from 
England  to  Hudson's  bay,"  and  ceding  to  them  the 
whole  trade  of  the  waters  within  the  entrance  of  Hud* 
son's  straits  and  the  adjacent  territories. 


# 


148  CHAPTER  [1669 

The  lords  proprietors,  unsatisfied  with  any  system 
that  had  been  hitherto  imagined,  for  the  government  of 
their  province,  made  application  to  the  celebrated 
John  Locke,  for  the  form  of  a  constitution,  suited  to  the 
situation  and  temper  of  the  colonists,  and  yet  ''  agree- 
able to  the  monarchy  of  which  Carol*' na  was  a  part,  and 
which  mig^t  avoid  making  too  numerous  a  democracy.'* 
T  is  philosopher,  endeavoring  to  carry  :he  intentions 
of  his  employers  into  effrct,  compiled,  and  soon  after 
presented  for  their  approbation,  a  body  of  fundamental 
constitutions,  which  were  finally  adopted,  in  the  month 
of  July,  1669. 

This  instrument  provides  for  the  election  of  a  pala- 
tine from  among  the  lords  proprietors,  who,  presided 
by  this  officer,  were  to  constitute  a  palatine  court,  en. 
trusted  with  the  exercise  of  the  powers  granted  to  them 
by  this  charter.  A  body  of  hereditary  nobility  was  to 
be  created,  consisting  of  landgraves  and  caciqiies:  the 
former  were  to  be  proprietors  of  at  least  four  baronies, 
or  tracts  of  land  of  twelve  thousand  acres  each;  the 
latter  of  two  signories,  or  tracts  of  half  that  quantity  of 
land.  Two  fifths  of  the  province,  laid  off  into  baronies 
and  signories,  were  to  be  the  portion  of  the  nobility,  one 
third  of  whom  were  to  be  landgraves.  The  estates  of 
the  nobility  were  to  descend,  and  remain  inseparable 
from  the  dignity  for  ever. 

The  provincial  legislative  body,  dignified  with  the 
appellation  of  parliament,  was  to  be  composed  of  such 
lords  proprietors  as  might  be  in  the  province,  and  the 
deputies  or  proxies  of  the  others,  of  the  landgraves  and 
caciques  and  of  the  representatives  of  the  freeholders, 
chosen  in  separate  districts.  These  persons  were  to 
sit  and  deliberate  together,  in  the  same  appartment, 


1669]  TPIE  EIGHTH.  149 

and  each  individual  was  to  have  one  vote.  The  parlia- 
ment was  to  be  triennial ;  no  proposition  Wcjs  to  ori- 
ginate in  it,  and  its  deliberations  were  to  be  confined  to 
such  objects,  as  were  submitted  to  its  consideration  by 
the  grand  council. 

The  grand  council  was  to  be  composed  of  the  lords 
proprietors,  by  themselves  or  proxies,  and  the  land- 
graves and  caciques.  It  was  invested  with  the  executive 
powers  of  government. 

Various  judicatories  were  instituted,  and  an  infinite 
number  of  minuie  regulations  made. 

THe  church  of  England  was  alone  to  be  allowed  a 
public  maintenance  by  law,  but  all  others  were  to  be 
permiMed  the  ex  rcise  of  their  particular  modes  of 
worship,  and  to  levy  contributions  on  their  own  mem- 
bers, for  the  support  of  their  ministers. 

At  the  end  of  every  century,  the  laws  enacted  in  the 
province  were  to  become  void,  without  the  formality  of 
a  repeal. 

These  fundamental  constitutions,  which  consisted  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  articles,  were  declared  to  be 
the  sacred  and  unalterable  rules  of  government  in 
Carolina  for  ever. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference 
to  him  who  framed,  and  those  who  imposed  them,  whe- 
ther the  people,  who  were  expected  to  be  governed  by 
them,  would  find  them  acceptable ;  nor  was  it  con- 
sidered, whether  they  could  be  compelled  to  forego  for 
them  the  form  of  government,  under  which  they  had 
settled  the  desert,  and  in  which  they  might  justly  deem 
they  had  acquired  an  interest. 

The  duke  of  Albemarle  was  the  first  palatine ;  but  he 
did  not  long  enjoy  this  dignity.     At  his  death,  which 


loO  CHAPTER  [1669 

happened  on  the  3d  of  January,  1670,  it  passed  to  John 
lord  Bcrkely;  and  the  other  proprietors  were  also  ap- 
pointed to  high  sounding  offices,  and  the  Tramer  of  the 
new  form  of  government  was  rewarded  with  a  land- 
graveship. 

Governor  Stephens  was  directed  to  organize  the  go- 
vernment of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  according  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  It  does  not  appear,  that  a  similar 
application  was  made  at  the  same  time  to  governor  Yea- 
mans,  of  the  county  of  Clarendon.  The  people  of  Albe- 
marle did  not  relish  the  innovation;  great  murmurs 
were  excited  by,  and  much  opposition  made  to  it :  dis- 
contents daily  increased,  and  the  governor  never  com- 
pletely succeeded  in  carrying  his  orders  into  execution. 
A  rumor  prevailed  in  the  settlement,  which  although 
without  foundation,  was  not  on  that  account  of  less 
mischief:  an  intended  dismemberment  of  the  province 
was  spoken  of.  An  other,  and  more  real  cause  of  com- 
plaint existed.  The  colonists  had  hitherto  disposed  of 
such  commodities  as  they  could  spare,  to  the  people  of 
New- England,  who  visited  them,  while  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather  shut  their  own  ports.  The  proprietors 
now  wished  to  divert  the  commerce  of  this  province 
from  this  channel  and  turn  it  towards  England.  The 
small  quantity  of  produce  for  exportation,  which  was  at 
any  time  ready  for  shipping,  the  difficulty  of  the  naviga^- 
tion,  which  precluded  the  use  of  large  vessels,  the  in- 
eonveniency  of  procuring  West  India  produce,  if  the 
trade  with  Boston  was  abandoned,  offered  obstacles  to  a 
direct  trade  with  the  metropolis,  which  the  lords  pro- 
prietors  overlooked,  but  which  appeared  insurmounta- 
ble to  the  colonists. 


1670]         •  THE  EIGHTH.  '         J51 

On  the  29th  of  July,  1669,  the  lords  proprietors  ap- 
pointed William  Say  le,  governor  of  that  part  of  Carolina 
which  lies  south-westwardly  of  cape  Carteret;  they 
fitted  out  two  ships,  on  board  of  which  the  new  gover- 
nor sailed,  accompanied  by  Joseph  West,  who  was  en- 
trusted with  the  commercial  affairs  of  their  lordships, 
who  were  for  some  time  the  only  merchants  that  sup- 
plied the  wants  of  the  colonists  ;  they  employed  vessels 
to  carry  on  a  circuitous  traffic,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing colonists,  cattle  and  provisions,  from  Virginia, 
Bermuda  and  Barbadoes,  and  of  carrying  off  the  incon- 
siderable produce  of  their  colony.  About  eight  hun- 
dred new  settlers  accompanied  governor  Sayle,  who  was 
amply  supplied  with  provisions,  arms,  and  tools  for 
building  and  agriculture ;  he  landed  at  Port  Royal,  in 
that  partof  South  Carolina  now  known  as  Beaufort  dis- 
trict, and  soon  after  issued  writs  for  electing  delegates 
to  set  in  parliament.  In  order  to  encourage  settlers  at 
Port  Royal,  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  were  granted 
to  every  one,  at  an  easy  quit  rent :  clothes  and  provis- 
ions were  distributed  from  the  stores  of  the  lords  propri- 
etors, to  those  who  could  not  provide  for  themselves: 
and  to  secure  the  good  will  of  the  neighboring  tribes, 
considerable  presents  were  made  to  the  Indian  chiefs. 

A  bloody  war  between  the  Westoes  and  the  Serannas; 
two  powerful  Indian  nations  in  Carolina,  was  now  car- 
ried on  with  fury,  and  proved  fatal  to  both :  an  event 
which  paved  the  way  to  the  introduction  and  establish- 
ment of  the  English  colony. 

The  treaty  of  M.idrid,  for  ascertaining  the  rights  of 
England  and  Spain,  to  certain  territories  in  America, 
was  signed  on  the  18th  of  July,  1670  :  by  the  seventh 
article  of  it,  it  was  stipulated  that  the  king  of  England 


152  CHAPTER  [1670 

should  remain  in  possession  of  the  territory  he  had  before 
possebst^d,  in  the  West  India  islands  and  on  the  conti- 
nent. Prior  to  this  period,  nothing  is  known  to  have 
been  done  to  settle  the  plantations  of  England  in  the 
new  world.  *' The  king  of  England,''  it  is  said,  "his 
heirs  and  successors,  shall  have,  hokl,  and  possess  for- 
ever, with  full  right  of  sovereign  dominion,  possession 
and  property,  all  lands,  countries,  and  dominions  what- 
soever, which  said  king  and  his  subjects  do,  at  the  pre- 
sent hold  and  possess,  so  that  in  regard  thereof,  or  upon 
any  color  or  pretence,  nothing  ought  or  may  ever  be 
urged,  or  any  question  or  controversy  moved,  concern- 
ing the  same  hereafter."  By  the  eighth  article,  it  was 
stipulated,  that  each  party  should  abstain  from  the  ports, 
harbors,  roads,  &.c.  of  the  other,  but  provision  is  made 
for  hospitality  in  case  of  distress. 

By  the  clause  of  uti  possidetis,  in  this  treaty,  the 
English  gained,  in  their  opinion  at  least,  a  confirmation 
of  their  logwood  trade,  and  possession  upon  the  bay  of 
Campeachy,  several  Englishmen  havin.L>:,  for  some  years 
before,  employed  themselves  in  cutting  wood  in  that 
country,  and  a  number  of  them  having  formed  an  estab- 
lishment for  that  purpose,  in  the  lagune  de  tcrmiims, 
whence  considerable  shipments  were  made  to  Jamaica 
and  New- England. 

,  Parliament  this  year  extended  the  powers  of  the 
courts,  to  order  the  transportation  of  offenders  to  any  of 
the  king's  plantations  beyond  sea,  for  seven  years,  to 
the  cases  of  persons  stealing  cloth  from  the  rack,  or  em- 
bezzling the  king's  stores  to  the  value  of  twenty  shillings. 
It  was  made  felony  for  them  to  return  before  the  expira- 
tion of  their  time  of  exportation.  (22.  C.  11.  ch.  5.) 

In  the  following  year,  governor  Sayle  being  dissatis- 
fied with  the  situation  he  had  chosen  at  Port  Royal,  re- 


J671]  THE  EIGHTH. 

moved  northerly  to  a  neck  of  land  between  Ashley  and 
Cooper  rivers.  Deputies,  sent  by  the  lords  proprietors 
to  aid  governor  Sayle  in  his  administration,  arrived  soon 
after,  and  brought  twenty-three  articles  of  instructions, 
called  temporary  agrarian  laws,  intended  for  the  equal 
division  of  land  among  the  people,  and  the  plan  of  a 
magnificent  town,  to  be  laid  out,  on  the  neck  of  land  be- 
tween Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers,  to  be  called,  in  honor 
of  the  king,  Charleston. 

Governor  Sayle  falling  a  victim  to  the  climate,  Sir 
John  Yeamans  claimed  the  chief  command,  as  vice  pala- 
tine, being  the  only  landgrave  or  nobleman  in  the  pro- 
vince :  but  the  council  called  Joseph  West  thereto,  till 
the  pleasure  of  the  proprietors  was  known,  and  in  Au- 
gust (1671)  Sir  John  received  a  commission,  by  which 
he  was  a|)pointed  governor  of  the  southern  county. 
From  that  period,  there  remained  but  two  governments 
in  the  province ;  the  authority  of  governor  Yeamans 
was  extended  to  all  the  settlements  in  the  province,  to 
the  south  of  Cape  Fear  river.  The  country  having  never 
been  accurately  surveyed,  it  was  thought  more  eligible 
by  the  planters  on  Cape  Fear  and  tliose  at  Port  Royal, 
to  unite  in  a  settlement  on  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers,  and 
the  foundation  of  Charleston  was  laid.  Ti^e  site  of  the 
old  town  formed,  in  1805,  part  of  the  plantation  of  Elias 
L.  Horry  ;  no  trace  of  it  was,  however,  to  be  seen  there, 
excepting  a  small  bottom  running  directly  across  the 
neck,  which  is  imagined  to  be  the  remains  of  a  wide 
ditch,  made  to  protect  the  town  from  the  incursions  of 
the  Indians.  The  county  of  Clarendon  lost  its  name, 
being  divided  into  four,  which,  in  honor  of  some  of  the 
lords  proprietors,  were  named  Berkely,  Colleton, 
Craven  and  Carteret,  and  the  people,  who  till  now  had 

N.  CARO.       20 


154  '  -  CHAPTER  [1671 

been  under  military  government,  at  this  time  began  to 
have  a  constitutional  legislature. 

The  county  of  Albt^marle  was  at  the  same  time  di- 
vided into  three  precincts,  the  eastern  was  called 
Carteret,  the  middle  one  Berkely,  and  the  western 
Shaftesbury,  in  honor  of  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  lately 
created  earl  of  Shaftsbury. 

The  following  extract  of  governor  Berkely  ^s  answer, 
in  June  1671,  to  enquiries  from  the  committee  of  the 
colonies,  is  a  curious  specimen  of  his  loyalty:  '*We 
have  forty -eight  parishes^  and  our  ministers  are  well 
paid,  and  by  my  consent  should  be  better,  if  they  would 
pray  oftener,  and  preach  less ;  but,  as  of  all  other  commo- 
dities, so  of  this,  the  worst  are  sent  us,  and  we  have  few 
that  we  can  boast  of,  since  the  persecution  in  Cromwell's 
tyranny  drove  divers  worthy  men  hither.  Yet,  I  thank 
God,  there  are  no  free  schools,  and  no  printing,  and  I 
hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years  :  for  leearn- 
ing  has  brought  disobedience,  heresy,  and  sects,  into 
the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them,  and  libels, 
against  the  best  government." 

This  year  is  remarkable,  by  the  discovery  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, by  father  Marquette,  a  recollect  friar,  from 
Canada;  he  entered  it  through  the  river  Ouisconsing ; 
his  first  trip  was  up  the  river,  as  high  up  as  the  falls  of 
St.  Anthony;  and  in  company  with  Joliet,  a  Canadian  tra- 
der, he  descended  the  river  as  far  as  the  Arkansas.  On 
his  return,  he  established  a  mission,  having  gathered 
some  Indians  and  Canadians,  on  the  bank  of  the  Illinois 
river,  at  a  place  called  the  Great  Rock,  about  five  leagues 
above  the  mouth  of  the  river.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  ^ 
district  of  the  Illinois.  The  settlement  growing  nume- 
rous, the  emigrants  disagreed  between  themselves,  and  a 


1672]  THE  EIGHTH.  153 

colony  was  settled  at  Cahokia,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  about  five  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois. 

In  1672,  William  Edmundson,  an  eminent  leader 
/  among  the  Quakers,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Eng- 
land to  America,  with  the  celebrated  George  Fox,  was 
despatched  from  Maryland,  as  his  precursor  to  the 
county  of  Albemarle.  He  crossed  the  wide  wilderness, 
which  separates  the  county  of  Albemarle  from  the  set- 
tlements of  Virginia,  accompanied  by  another  man  only. 
They  first  reached  the  plantation  of  one  Phelps,  a  person 
of  his  society,  who  had  removed  with  his  family  from 
New  England  to  the  precinct  of  Berkely ,  and  dwelt  on 
Perquiman's  river :  Phelps'  family  v/ere  greatly  rejoiced 
at  their  intei^iew,  not  having  seen  any  leader  of  this 
society  for  several  years  :  this  happening  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  the  neighbors  were  invited  to  a  reli- 
gious meeting;  a  number  of  them  attended,  but  the 
pious  guests  lamented  that  many  of  the  congregation 
appeared  to  have  so  little  regard  for  decency,  on  such 
an  occasion,  as  to  set  down,  smoaking  their  pipes,  du- 
ring the  silent  part  of  the  devotional  exercises  ;  yet  they 
had  to  rejoice,  that  when  Edmundson  delivered  his  tes- 
timony, *'in  the  authority  of  truth,"  several  of  them 
were  convinced.  This  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
first  meeting  of  Friends  in  Carolina,  and  there  is  no 
evidence  that  it  was  not  the  first  religious  one  of  Chris- 
tians. Edmundson  held  his  next  meeting  at  the  house 
of  Francis  Jones,  one  of  the  council,  who  dwelt  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  who,  pleased  with  the 
doctrine  of  his  visitors,  joined  the  society.  Meetings 
were  held,  before  the  departure  of  Edmundson,  in  other 
parts  of  the  precinct  of  Berkely,  and  in  that  of  Carteret, 


i;> 


156  CHAPTER  [167|i 

and  a  quarterly  meeting  of  discipline  was  established  in 
Berkely,  to  which  the  members  of  the  society  in  the  two 
other  precincts  were  made  amenable.  The  Quakers 
justly  boast,  that  they  are  the  first  body  of  Christians, 
who  organized  a  religious  government  in  Carolina. 

The  maxims  of  the  Spanish  government  admitting 
no  competition,  about  what  they  looked  upon  as  their 
property  in  America,  the  queen  regent  of  Spain  pub- 
lished, on  the  22d  of  June,  1672,  a  royal  schedule,  pur- 
porting that  "  such  as  should  make  any  invasion,  or 
trade  without  license,  in  any  part  of  the  Indies,  should 
be  considered  as  pirates."  This  schedule  was  consi- 
dered by  the  Spanish  officers  in  America,  as  inhibiting 
the  English  from  cutting  wood,  on  the  coast  of  Cam- 
peachy,  and  they  began  to  confiscate  all  P^nglish  ships 
found  with  that  article  on  board. 

Complaints  being  made  in  parliament,  that  the  pro- 
duce and  manuiactures,  of  the  king's  dominions  out  of 
Europe,  were  allowed  to  be  carried  from  the  places  of 
their  production  and  manufacture,  to  any  other  part  of 
his  dominions  thence,  without  duty,  to  the  great  in- 
crease of  the  trade  from  one  plantation  to  the  other  ;  and 
the  colonists  not  satisfied  with  being  supplied  with  those 
commodities,  for  their  own  use,  free  from  duty,  while 
the  king's  subjects  in  England,  paid  a  high  one  therefor, 
brought  great  quantities  of  them  to  Europe,  and  sold 
them  to  the  shipping  of  other  nations,  to  the  great  hurt 
of  the  revenue,  and  the  trade  of  England  ;  a  statute  was 
passed,  enacting,  that  if  any  vessel,  that  might  legally 
trade  in  the  plantations,  should  come  to  any  of  them, 
and  take  on  board  any  sugar,  tobacco,  cotton,  indigo, 
ginger,  logwood  or  cocoa  nut,  without  giving  a  bond  for 
the  landing  of  such  commodities  in  England,  Wales  or 


1673]  THE  EIGHTH.  157 

Berwick,  upon  Tweed,  a  duty  should  be  levied  and 
collected  here,  in  the  plantations  of  the  commissioners 
of  customs  in  England,  under  the  direction  of  the  lord 
treasurer.  Tonnage  and  poundage  duty,  had  been 
imposed,  and  extended  to  every  part  of  the  king's  do- 
minions, on  his  coming  to  the  crown  ;  but  this  is  the 
first  instance  of  the  imposition  of  customs,  on  the  colo- 
nies alone,  to  be  levied  by  colonial  revenue  officers. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  war  was  proclaimed  in  England, 
against  the  Dutch. 

The  causes  of  this  war  were  stated  to  be  the  nonexi- 
cution  of  the  treaty  of  Breda,concluded  in  1667,  the  re- 
fusal of  the  Dutch,  to  lower  their  flag  before  English 
ships ;  the  continuance  of  their  fisheries  on  prohibited 
coasts;  the  publication  of  injurious  falsehoods,  and  of 
paintings  and  medals  by  order  of  the  States  general. 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  the  States  general 
fitted  out  a  small  armament,  under  the  orders  of  com- 
modore Binkes,  to  destroy  the  commerce  of  England 
and  America.  After  having  burnt  most  of  the  ship- 
ping in  Virginia,  the  commodore  hearing  of  the  de- 
fenceless situation  of  New  York,  determined  on  im- 
proving the  opportunity  of  reducing  again  that  pro- 
vince, to  the  obedience  of  the  States  general.  On  the 
30th  of  July,  he  reached  Staten  island,  where  he  was 
met  by  an  officer,  sent  by  the  commander  of  the  fort, 
who  offirred  to  treat  for  a  surrender,  and  on  that  very 
day  the  Dutch  squadron  moved  under  the  fort,  landed 
their  troops,  and  took  possession  of  it,  without  firing  a 
single  gun.  The  city  surrendered  at  the  same  time,  and 
shortly  after,  the  whole  province  was  under  the  domi- 
nation of  the  Dutch. 


158  .        CHAPTER  [1673 

The  Spanish  commander  at  the  fort  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, hearing  of  some  dissention  in  Sir  John  Yeamans" 
government,  despatched  a  small  armed  party,  who  ad- 
vanced to,  and  took  possession  of  the  island  of  St.  Hel- 
ena, dislodging  the  settlers.  Governor  Yeamans  sent 
fifty  volunteers,  under  col.  Godfrey,  who  compelled  the 
Spaniards  to  evacuate  the  island. 

The  people  of  New  Jersey  refusing  to  pay  quit  rents 
to  the  proprietors,  an  attempt  was  made  to  compel 
them,  whereupon  they  took  arms,  assumed  the  govern- 
ment, and  compelled  Philip  Carteret,  the  proprietors' 
governor,  to  return  to  England. 

Charles  II.  attempted  to  assume  the  sovereignty  of 
St,  Vincents,  and  the  neighbouring  island,  St.  Lucia 
Dominica  and  Tobago;  great  contention  prevailed 
between  England  and  France,  till  1748,  when,  by  the 
treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle,  they  were  declared  neutral. 

The  population  of  the  Carribean  islands,  in  the  posses- 
sion of  England,  being  greatly  increased,  they  were 
formed  into  two  distinct  governments ;  the  principal 
officer  of  the  first  was  directed  to  reside  at  Antigua. 
Besides  this  island,  he  had  under  him  those  of  St,  Kitts, 
Nevis,  Montserrat  and  the  Virgin  islands.  The  princi- 
pal officer  of  the  other,  was  directed  to  reside  in  the 
island  of  Barbadoes;  besides  this,  he  presided  over  the 
islands  of  St.  Lucia,  St.  Vincent  and  Dominica. 

Martinico  being  infested  with  run  away  negroes,  a 
treaty  was  made  with  Francisgel,  a  negro  of  Mr,  Faler- 
bert's,  chief  of  a  band,  in  which  it  was  stipulated,  that  he 
should  have  his  freedom  and  ten  acres  of  pasture,  and 
that  some  of  his  band  should  be  chastised. 

A  party  of  Dutch  buccaneers,  who  were  settled  at 
Tortola,   were  driven   out  by  a  stronger  party,  who 


1673 J  '  THE  EIGHTH.  159 

called  themselves  English ;  and  soon  after,  Tortola  and 
'its  dependencies,  (the  Virgin  islands)  by  a  commissioa 
granted  by  Charles  II.  to  Sir  William  Stapleton,  were 
annexed  to  the  leeward  island  government.  The  Dutch 
had  done  little  towards  the  cultivation  of  the  island,  at 
the  time  they  were  expelled. 


Chalmers — Laxvson — Archdale — Edwards. 


CHAPTER  IX 

In  the  year  1674,  governor  Yeamans,  reduced  to 
a  feeble  vState  of  health,  by  the  wfirmth  of  the  cli- 

^  mate  and  bis  labor  for  the  prosperity  of  tlie  colony, 
committed  to  his  care,  returned  to  Barbadoes, 
where  he  soon  after  died.  He  was  succeeded  in 
the  government  by  Joseph  West,  who,  we  have 
seen,  was  the  commercial  agent  of  the  lords  pro- 
prietors.    This  part  of  the  province  had,  at  this 

.  time,  its  governor  and  grand  council,  and  the  free- 
holders having  now  chosen  their  representatives, 
the  three  branches  met  in  parliament,  and  for  the 
iirst  time  legislative  acts  were  passed,  which,  being 
afterwards  ratified  by  the  lords  proprietors,  the 
government  was  thus  organized  in  this  part  of 
Carolina,  a  little  more  than  five  years  after  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution  proposed  hy  Locke. 

About  the  same  time,  governor  Stephens  also 
died,  and  the  assembly  of  the  county  of  Albemarle 
called  Cartwright,  their  speak  r,  to  the  chief 
magistracy  '4ill  orders  should  come  from  England.'- 
The  ill  humor,  which  had  been  excited  by  the 
attempt  to  establish  the  government  modelled  by 
LocKe,  had  not  subsided.  Governor  Stephens  had 
been  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  executing  in  this 


1675]  CHAPTER.  -  16! 

respect,  the  orders  of  the  lords  proprietors,  and  the 
new  adiTiiaistratiou  was  not  more  successful. 

The  lords  proprietors  sent  vines  and  other  use- 
ful plants  to  their  province,  with  persons  skilled  in 
the  culture  of  them. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  a  treaty  of  peace,  be- 
tween England  and  the  States  General,  was  signed 
at  Westminster :  by  the  sixth  article,  New  Nether- 
lands were  restored  to  the  English,  and  Surinam  to 
the  Dutch.  The  duke  of  York^  having  obtained  a 
new  patent,  in  order  to  remove  any  difficulty,  des- 
patched Edmund  Andros  to  receive  possession  for 
him.  In  the  month  of  October,  the  Dutch  troops 
evacuated  the  country,  and  Andros,  who  was 
appointed  governor  for  the  duke  of  York,  took 
possession  of  it,  as  far  as  the  Delaware. 

Philip  Carteret,  the  governor  of  New  Jersey  for 
the  proprietors,  returned  this  year,  and  the  people 
being  satisfied  with  some  new  arrangements,  made 
in  England  by  the  proprietors,  submitted  to  the 
government. 

The  year  1675  is  remarkable  for  the  commence- 
ment of  a  long  and  tedious  war,  cotnmotily  called 
king  Philip's  war,  which  during  that  year,  and  part 
of  the  following,  greatly  distressed  the  people  of 
New  England,  and  winch  did  not  finish  till  the 
death  of  that  chief  Six  hundred  of  the  whites  were 
either  killed  in  battle,  or  murdered  by  the  savages  : 
twelve  or  thirteen  towns,  and  above  six  hundred 
buildings,  chiefly  dwelling  houses,  were  destroyed. 
It  entailed  a  tremendous  debt  on  the  colonies,  while 
it  almost  totally  destroyed  their  means  of  meeting  it 

N,    CARO.  21 


162  CHAPTER  [1675 

Before  this  war,  the  jealousy  of  the  merchants  of 
London,  had  induced  complaints  againt  the  people 
of  New  England,  whose  growing  commerce  began 
to  be  viewed  with  alarm.  It  was  represented  at 
home,  that  they  not  only  traded  to  most  parts  of 
Europe,  but  encouraged  foreigners  to  go  and  traffic 
with  them;  that  they  supplied  the  other  plantations 
with  commodities,  which  they  should  receive  from 
England  alon^^;  thai  Boston,  having  then  become 
the  great  entrepot  of  the  colonies,  the  navigation  of 
the  kingdom  was  greatly  prejudiced,  the  national 
revenue  impaired,  and  the  people  empoverished; 
that  these  abuses,  at  the  time  that  they  actually 
destroyed  the  trade  of  England,  would  leave  no 
sort  of  dependence  of  the  colonies  on  the  mother 
country.  The  governors  of  the  colonies  were  now 
charged,  strictly  to  enforce  the  navigation  act,  and 
it  was  determined  that  ''no  Mediterranean  pass 
should  be  granted  to  New  England,  to  protect  its 
vessels  against  the  Turks,  till  it  was  seen  what  de- 
pendence it  would  acknowledge  on  his  majesty,  or 
whether  his  custom  house  officers  would  be  re- 
ceived, as  in  the  other  colonies."  This  demonstra- 
tion of  the  wrath  of  the  parent  state,  at  a  moment 
when  the  colony  smarted  under  the  stings  of  war, 
did  not  depress  the  spirits  of  the  people  of  New 
England.  That  spirit  of  resistance,  which  had 
began  to  manifest  itself,  continued  active,  and  dur- 
iug  the  followhjg  century  vigorously  defended,  and 
at  the  end  of  that  period  victoriously  asserted,  the 
independence  of  the  people. 

While  the  flames  of  war  were  thus  raging  in  the 
East,  a  spirit  of  insurrection  awoke  in  the  South. 


X676J  THE  NINTH.  16S 

Nathaniel  Bacon,  a  bold,  seditious,  and  eloquent 
joung  man,  who  had  been  some  time  in  Virginia, 
and  had  already  rendered  himself  remarkable  as 
the  fomeriter  of  opposition  to  governor  Berkely, 
improving  the  opportunity,  which  an  attack  of  the 
Indians  on  the  western  settlements  presented,  offer- 
ed himself  as  a  leader  to  the  party  opposed  to  Sir 
William;  they  chose  him  for  their  general,  and  he 
headed  six  hundred  of  them  into  Jamestown.  With 
this  force,  he  surrounded  the  capitol,  in  uhich  the 
legislature  was  in  session,  and  compelled  that  bodj 
to  recognize  him  as  the  legal  commander  of  the 
troops  under  him.  He  led  them  out  towards  the 
Indians,  but  on  his  way  was  overtaken  by  a  pro- 
clamation, issued  by  *,he  governor  after  his  depart- 
ure, in  which  he  was  denounced  as  a  rebel  and  a 
traitor.  Roused  to  indigfiation.  the  popular  chief 
marched  back  to  Jamestown.  The  legislative  body 
w'as  now  adjourned,  and  the  aged  royal  chief,  alone 
and  unsupported,  deemed  it  impossible  to  withstand 
his  opponent,  and  made  a  precipitate  letreat  to 
the  eastern  shore,  where  he  called  his  friends  to 
his  aid=  Re-animat  d  by  the  collection  of  some 
forces,  he  advanced  with  them  towards  the  insur- 
gents. In  various  skirmishes,  each  party  obtained 
occasionally  some  advantage.  Bacon's  men,  exas- 
perated by  the  opposition,  became  guilty  of  those 
excesses  always  attending  popular  commotions: 
they  set  fire  to  Jamestown,  laid  waste  the  estates  of 
those  who  adhered  to  the  governor,  and  forcibly 
carried  awny  their  women.  Forced  to  retaliate, 
Sir  William  ordered  court  martials  to  pass  on  some 
prisoners  he  took,  and  seveiai  underwent  capital 


164  CHAPTER  [165'6 

punishment;  the  estates  of  others  were  confiscated. 
The  two  parties  were  about  totally  to  destroy  each 
other,  when  Heaven  put  an  end  to  the  dire  calamity 
by  the  sudden  and  natural  death  of  Bacon. 

When  the  news  of  this  civil  war  in  Virginia 
reached  England,  the  ministry  thought  it  prudent  to 
send  over  troops,  to  check  this  incipient  spirit  of 
insubordination  in  America.  Sir  John  Barry  was 
despatced  with  a  small  fleet,  on  board  of  which  was 
embarked  a  regiment  of  infantry.  This  is  the  first 
instance  of  English  troops  being  sent  over  to 
America,  to  enforce  submission  to  government. 

While  New  England  and  Virginia  were  thus  dis- 
tracted by  war  and  internal  commotions,  the  county 
of  Albemarle  was  far  from  enjoying  perfect  tran- 
quility. The  dissentions,  which  the  attempt  of 
governor  Stephens  to  establish  Locke's  form  of 
government,  had  excited,  were  not  yet  allayed,  and 
the  temporary  and  precarious  authority  which  his 
successor  exercised,  had  proved  insufficient  for  the 
restoration  of  order.  In  the  beginning  of  this  year^ 
finding  his  administration  unlikely  to  be  productive 
of  much  credit  to  himself,  or  advantage  to  the  lords 
proprietors,  he  determined  on  a  voyage  to  England, 
to  lay  befo  e  them  the  state  of  the  country,  leaving 
its  affairs  *Mn  ill  order  and  worse  hands." 

The  lords  proprietors,  reflecting  how  much  their 
former  instructions  had  been  neglected,  and  their 
designs  opposed  by  those  who  had  been  entrusted 
with  their  execution,  flattered  themselves  with  hav- 
ing found  in  Eastchurch,  a  man  who  would  carry 
their  views  into  effect,  and  appointed  him  governor 
of  the  county  of  Albemarle  in  the  month  of  Novem- 


1676]  THE  NINTH.  Itfo 

ber.  His  address  and  abilities  had  raised  him  to 
the  office  of  speaker  of  the  assembly,  and  he  had 
lately  arrived  in  England,  in  order  to  lay  the  remon- 
strances of  the  people  before  their  lordships.  The 
instructions  which  were  given  him  at  his  departure, 
were  calculated  to  allay  the  present,  and  to  prevent 
future  disorders.  Miller,  a  man  of  consideration, 
was  sent  with  him  as  secretary  and  collector  of  the 
customs.  They  took  their  passage  on  board  of  a 
vessel  bound  to  the  West  Indies :  here,  the  charms 
of  a  Creole  lady  for  a  while  held  the  governor  in 
bondage.  The  captive  sent  his  companion  to  rule 
the  people  of  Albemarle,  till  the  chain  that  bound 
him,  prov.ed  too  weak  to  hold  him,  or  strong  enough 
to  enable  him  to  draw  the  beauty,  who  had  im- 
posed it. 

John  Barry  and  Francis  Morrison,  the  king's 
commissioners  sent  to  Virginia  after  Bacon's  rebel- 
lion, in  their  report  of  that  event,  complained  that 
the  independent  plantations  of  Maryland  and  Caro- 
lina', then  very  prejudicial,  would  in  time  prove 
utterly  destructive,  to  the  royal  interest  and  govern- 
ment in  Virginia,  and  they  proposed  that  with  a 
salvo  to  the  right  of  the  proprietors,  the  jurisdiction 
and  power  of  government  might  so  reside  in  the 
crown,  that  they  might  be  obedient  to  all  orders, 
rules  and  process  of  the  king  and  his  council;  else, 
he  would  not  only  find  that  be  had  given  a  great 
deal  of  land,  but  so  many  subjects  also;  and  that 
the  next  generation  would  not  know  nor  own  the 
royal  power,  if  the  writs,  trials,  and  process  be  per- 
mitted to  continue  in  the  name  of  the  proprietors, 
without  any  salvo  of  alleaiiance  to  the  king  :  that  it 


166  CHAPTER  '  [1677 

was  daily  seen,  that  not  only  servants,  but  also  run 
Wiway  negroes  and  rebels,  flew  to  Carolina  or  the 
southward,  as  their  common  refuge  and  lurking 
place;  and  when  some  of  the  late  rebels  were  de- 
manded by  letter,  they  could  not  have  them  sent 
back. 

Miller  reached  the  place  of  his  destination  in 
July,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  president  of  the 
council,  which  his  friend  had  conferred  on  him, 
without  relinquishing  those  of  secretary  and  col- 
lector of  the  customs,  which  he  had  received  from 
the  lords  proprietors.  He  found  his  government 
to  consist  of  a  few  inconsiderable  plantations,  scat- 
tered on  the  north-east  side  of  Albemarle  sound, 
divided  into  four  precincts.  The  colonists  were 
far  from  being  numerous:  the  whole  population, 
consisting  of  all  persons  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
that  of  sixty,  amounting  only  to  fourteen  hundred 
polls,  one  third  of  whom  were  women,  Indians, 
servants  and  negroes.  Besides  some  cattle  and 
Indian  corn,  eight  hundred  hogsheads  of  tobacco 
constituted  the  yearly  produce  of  their  labor,and  the 
basis  of  an  inconsiderable  traffic,  carried  on  chiefly 
by  the  people  of  New  England.  These  men  sup- 
plying the  settlement  with  the  commodities  of 
Europe  and  the  West  Indies,  and  receiving  all  its 
produce,  influenced  in  a  considerable  degree  the 
affairs  of  the  country,  and  directed  the  pursuits  of 
the  people  lo  their  own  advantage.  From  July  till 
December,  Miller  collected  thirty-three  hogsheads 
of  tobacco,  and  a  little  more  than  five  thousand 
dollars,  for  the  duty  of  one  penny  sterling  on  every 
pound  of  tobacco  exported  to  the  other  pplpni^s  ? 


1677]  THE  NINTH.  167 

almost  all  that  was  made,  being  exported  to  Boston, 
whence  it  was  shipped  to  Europe.  The  little  reve- 
nue accr  ing  to  the  colony,  although  badly  collect- 
ed, amounted  to  something  more  than  twelve 
thousand  dollars  a  year. 

The  offices  of  president  and  collector,  which  Miller 
exercised,  m  the  deranged  state  of  the  colony,  were  not 
calculated  to  render  him  popular.  It  was  his  misfor- 
tune not  to  possess  any  quality,  by  which  this  disadvan- 
tage could  be  balanced.  The  discont- nt  of  the  people, 
emboldened  by  the  example  of  the  followers  of  Bacon, 
in  Virginia,  and  excited  by  the  counsel  of  some  of  those 
who  had  removed  to  Albemarle,  and  some  New  En.^- 
land  men,  increasing  daily,  rose  to  such  a  height  that  it 
broke  into  open  rebellion  in  the  precinct  of  Pasquotank; 
and  Culpepper,  a  man  who  had  come  over  to  the  coun- 
ty of  Clarendon  with  governor  Sayle,  in  1670,  as  sur- 
veyor general  of  Carolina,  and  had  raised  some  commo- 
tion on  Ashley  river,  placing  himself  as  the  head  of  the 
malcontents,  in  the  month  of  December,  and  securing 
the  favor  of  the  president,  and  that  ot  some  of  the  lords 
proprietors'  deputies,  entirely  prostrated  the  government 
of  the  country. 

They  complained  that  the  president  had  denied  them 
a  free  election  of  an  assembly,  and  had  positively  cheat- 
ed the  county  of  130,000  weight  of  tobacco,  which  had 
raised  the  levy  to  250  lbs  of  tobacco  a  head  more  thaa 
it  would  otherwise  have  been;  besides  nearly  20,000 
weight  of  tobacco ;  a  charge  which  he  had  brought  on  the 
county  by  h\s  piping  guard.  They  stated  that  a  Capt, 
Gillam  had  imported  a  quantity  of  goods,  more  than 
treble  that  which  he  had  brought  in  the  preceding  year, 
and,  about  two  hours  alter  his  landing,  was  arrested  and 


168  ^  CHAPTER  [1678 

held  to  bail  for  one  thousand  pounds,  in  an  action  of 
slander,  and  so  much  ill  used  and  abused  by  the  presi- 
dent, that  had  he  not  been  persuaded  by  some,  he  would 
have  gone  directly  out  of  the  country:  and  the  same 
night,  at  about  twelve,  the  president  went  on  board  with 
a  pair  of  pistols,  presenting  one  of  them  cocked  at  a  Mr. 
George  Dinant's  breast,  and  with  the  other  hand  arrested 
him  as  a  traitor. 

The  insurgents,  possessing  themselves  of  about  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  which  were  found  in  the  fiscal  ciiest, 
successfully  employed  them  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
revolt,  in  the  other  three  precincts.  They  appointed 
officers,  established  courts  of  justice,  called  a  parlia- 
ment, and  during  two  years  undisturbedly  exercised  all 
the  powers  of  an  independent  commonwealth. 

They  published  a  manifesto,  in  which  they  detailed 
the  grievances  which,  in  their  opinion,  had  justified  them 
in  suppressing  the  government  of  Miller,  and  assigned  as 
their  principal  motive  in  imprisoning  hiro  and  some  of 
his  council,  and  in  possessing  themselves  of  the  records 
of  the  county,  a  desire  "that  the  county  might  have  a 
parliament,  that  would  represent  their  grievances  to  the 
lords  proprietors." 

Alarmed  at  the  spirit  of  insubordination  and  insur- 
rection, which  manifested  itself  so  powerfully,  in  their 
colonies  on  the  continent,  the  English  ministry  deter- 
mined on  making  an  experiment  in  those  of  the  West 
Indies,  and  a  new  system  of  legislation  was  adopted  for 
the  island  of  Jamaica,  modelled  on  the  Irish  constitution. 
The  Earl  of  Carlisle  was  sent  over  for  the  purpose  of 
enforcing  it.  A  body  of  laws  was  prepared  in  the  privy 
council  in  England  (among  which  was  a  bill  for  settling 
a  perpetual  revenue  on  the  crown)  which  his  lordship 


1678]  THE  NINTH.  169 

was  instructed  to  present  to  the  assembly  and  to  require 
them  to  adopt  the  whole  code,  without  any  alteration  or 
amendment.  In  future,  the  heads  of  all  bills  (money 
bills  excepted)  were  to  be  suggested  in  the  first  instance 
by  the  governor  and  council,  and  transmitted  to  his 
majest}^,  to  be  approved  or  rejected.  On  their  having 
obtained  the  royal  confirmation,  they  were  to  be  return- 
ed, under  the  great  seal,  in  the  shape  of  laws,  and  passed 
by  the  general  assembly,  v/hich  was  to  be  convened  for 
no  other  purpose  than  this,  and  that  of  voting  the  usual 
supplies,  unless  in  consequence  of  special  orders  from 
Ens:land. 

The  assembly  rejected  the  proffered  constitution, 
with  great  indignation.  No  threat  could  frighten,  no 
bribe  could  corrupt,  nor  art  persuade,  them  to  pass  laws 
that  would  enslave  them  and  their  posterity. 

A  considerable  number  of  persons  went  from  New 
England  upon  a  journey  of  discovery,  and  proceeded 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  westward  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  war  soon  after  breaking  out  between  the 
British  colonies  and  the  Indians,  many  of  the  latter  re- 
treated to  Canada.  From  these  Monsieur  De  la  Salle, 
a  French  adventurer,  obtained  information  which  after- 
wards enabled  the  French  to  possess  themselves  of  the 
river. 

The  year  1678  is  remarkable  for  the  pacification  of 
Nimeguen.  On  the  third  of  March,  Charles  II.  signed 
a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  States  General,  in  which  the 
treaty  of  Breda  was  confirmed. 

The  statutes  relating  to  transportation  w^ere  now  ex- 
tended, and  it  was  enacted  that  should  any  convicted 
felon  in  open  court  pray  to   be  transported,   the  court 

N'.  CARD.       22 


no  ,  CHAPTER  [1679 

might  orrier  him  to  prison,  for  transportation  beyond 
sea.     31  Cu.  II.  ch.  2,  s.  14. 

Governor  Eahtchurch  at  length  arrived;  to  his  com- 
mission or  conduct  no  objection  could  be  made.  The 
insurgents,  however,  denied  his  authority,  and  refused 
obedience  to  him.  He  was  compelled  to  solicit  some 
aid  from  lieutenant  governor  Chicherly,  of  Virginia,  but 
died  of  vexation  before  any  could  be  obtained. 

Charles  II.  ordered  two  small  vessels  to  be  fitted  out 
at  his  own  expense,  to  transport  to  Carolina  several  fo- 
reign protestants,  who  proposed  to  raise  wine,  oil,  silk> 
and  other  productions  of  the  south. 

After  two  years  of  successful  revolt,   the  insurgents 
of  the  county  of  Albemarle  despatched  Culpepper  to  Eng- 
land to  proffer  their  submission  to  the  lords  proprietors ;. 
but  instructed  him  to  insist  on  the  punishment  of  Mil- 
ler, who  had  found  means  of  making  his  escape  out  of  their 
hands.  Culpepper  found  him  in  England,  filling  the  court 
with  complaints  of  his  sufferings  and  accusations  against 
his  prosecutors,  but  without  success.  The  lords  proprie- 
tors accepted  the  submission  of  the  insurgents  ;  but  as 
their  envoy  was  returning  home,  after  having  executed 
his  trust,  he   was  prosecuted  by  the  commissioners  of 
the  customs,  for  having  acted  as  collector  of  the  cus- 
toms, without  their  authority,  and  having  embezzled 
the  king's  revenue  in  Carolina  ;  he  was  arrested  on  board 
of  a  vessel  at  the  Downs,  brought  back,  and  at  Trinity- 
term,  1680,  tried  bv  virtue  of  the  statute  of  Henrv  VIII. 
on  an  indictment  for  high  treason   committed  without 
the  realm.  35  H.  VIII.  ch.  2.    The  famous  lord  Shafts- 
bury,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  popularity,  appeared  in 
his  behalf,  and  represented,  contrary  to  the  most  un- 
doubted facts,  ''that  tiiere  never  had  been  any  regular 


1679]  THE  NINTH.  171 

government  in  the  county  of  Albemarle,  that  its  disor- 
ders were  only  feuds  among  planters,  which  could 
amount  only  to  a  not."  He  Wus  acquitted,  and  is  the 
first  colonist,  who  appears  to  have  been  regularly  tried 
in  the  court  of  the  king's  bench,  upon  that  statute. 

The  lords  of  the  committee  of  the  plantations  reported 
to  the  king  that,  having  heard  the  complaints  of  the  com- 
missioners of  the  customs  against  John  Culpepper,  and 
having  been  attended  by  the  lords  proprietors  of  Caro- 
lina, they  were  fully  satisfied,  after  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  conduct  of  that  man,  that  he  had  by  his  se- 
ditious practices  abetted  a  rebellion  in  that  province, 
imprisoned  seven  of  the  deputies  of  the  proprietors  and 
the  collector  of  the  king's  customs,  and  having  seized 
into  his  own  hands  the  custom  of  his  maj<"sty,  had,  in  a 
proclamation  issued  in  his  own  name,  declared  himself 
the  lawful  collector,  endamaging  the  royal  revenue  to  a 
considerable  amount :  that  these  facts  were  confessed 
by  the  delinquent,  who  solicited  a  pardon,  desiring  that, 
if  mercy  was  not  extended  to  him,  he  might  be  tried  in 
the  country,  where  the  offence  had  been  committed. 
But  the  commissioners  of  the  customs  prayed  that  no 
favor  might  be  shown  to  him,  unless  he  made  or  pro- 
cured satisfaction  for  the  property  used  and  embezzled, 
which  was  said  to  amount  to  three  thousand  pounds. 

The  lords  proprietors,  in  the  mean  time,  had  sent  John 
Harvey,  as  president  of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  and 
they  prevailed  upon  S<"th  Sothel,  one  of  tliem,  who,  at 
the  death  of  lord  Clarendon,  had  purchased  his  lord- 
ship's share  in  the  province,  to  go  over  as  governor  of 
Carolina,  in  order  by  his  presence  to  allay  the  feuds  of» 
and  restore  tranquility  among,  the  colonists,     He  .saiU 


17^  CHAFIliiR.  [IGm 

ed  on  his  iiUended  voyage,  but  was  captured  by  the  Al- 
gerines. 

The  oldest  records  extant  in  the  state  of  North  Ca- 
rolina are  proceedings  of  a  palatine  court,  held  by  presi- 
dent Harvey  who  came  out  in  1679  or  1680.  It  appears 
to  have  been  a  court  of  probates.  The  accounts  are  kept 
in  pounds  of  tobacco  ;  a  negro  v.^oman  is  valued  at  four 
thousand  five  hundred  pounds  of  that  commodity,  a 
milch  cow  at  four  hundred  pounds. 

The  piece  of  land,  formed  by  the  confluence  of  Ashley 
and  Cooper  rivers,  offering  a  more  eligible  spot  for  the 
chief  town  of  the  southern  government  of  Carolina  than 
the  one  on  which  Charleston  had  been  built,  the  lords 
proprietors  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants,  many 
of  whom  had  begun  in  the  preceding  year  to  remove 
thither.  The  foundation  of  a  new  town  was  now  laid 
here,  and  in  the  course  of  year  thirty  dwelling  houses 
were  erected.  It  received  the  name  of  the  old  town, 
which  was  now  abandoned,  and  the  new  one  was  de- 
clared the  port  for  the  various  purposes  of  traffic,  and 
the  capital  for  the  general  administration  of  government 
in  that  pajt  of  the  province. 

The  province  of  New  Hampshire  was  separated  from 
that  of  Massachusetts ;  a  commission  for  the  distinct  go- 
vernment of  that  colony  being  this  year  brought  to 
Portsmouth.  By  it,  the  people  had  a  representation,  in 
a  body  chosen  by  themselves,  and  the  king  was  repre- 
sented by  a  governor  and  council,  of  his  own  appoint- 
ment, and  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  repealing  the 
acts  of  the  legislature  at  his  pleasure. 

In  the  month  of  March,  Monsieur  De  la  Salle,  ac- 
companied by  Father  Hennepin,  descended  the  Ohio  and 
ascended  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  46th  degree  of 


• 


!681]  THE  NINTH.  173 

north  latitude,  where  they  were  stopped  'by   a  fall,  to 
which  tliey  gave  the  name  of  St.  Anthony. 

The  ministry  in  England  unable  to  conquer  the 
stubborn  perseverance  of  the  assembly  of  Jamaica,  for- 
bore insisting  any  longer  on  establishing  the  Irish  con- 
stitution in  that  island,  and  on  the  third  of  November 
issued  a  commission  to  the  earl  of  Carlisle,  containing: 
the  power  of  making  laws  with  the  assembly,  in  the  man- 
ner which  had  hitherto  prevailed. 

A  party  of  Spaniards  landed  on  the  island  of  Provi- 
dence, one  of  the  Bahama  islands,  and  totally  destroyed 
an  English  settlement.  They  took  governor  Clark,  • 
who  commanded  it,  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  in  irons,  and 
put  him  to  death  by  torture  ;  and  Don  Philip  de  Vare- 
da  Villegas  arrived  in  April,  1680,  at  the  island  of  Trist 
and  the  laguna  de  terminos,  attacked  the  English  log- 
wood cutters,  while  separated  from  each  other,  and  dis- 
lodged them  from  thence. 

Henry  Wilkinson  was,  in  the  following  year,  appoint' 
ed  governor  of  that  part  of  the  province  of  Carolina 
which  lies  between  that  of  Virginia  and  and  a  line  drawn 
at  the  distance  of  five  miles  to  the  south  of  PampHco  ri- 
ver.    President  Harvey,  whom  he  reHeyed,  had  com-  j-t^^^ 
manded  but  little  regard.     He  manifested  too  vindictive  SuCtU 
a  spirit,  against  those  who   had  been  implicated  in  the  J)/U^  \ 
late  revolt.    They  were  proceeded  against  with  severity, 
and  punished  with  heavy   fmes,  tedious  imprisonment, 
and  some  of  them  with  banishment;   contrary  to  the  in- 
struction of  the  lords  proprietors,  who  had  recommend- 
ed great  moderation. 

The  people  of  New  England  persevered  in  their  resist- 
ance to  the  act  of  parliament,  establishing  a  duty  on  colo- 
iiial  produce.  Edward  Randolph*,  who  had  been  appointed 


i74  CHAPTER  [1682 

collector  of  it  at  Boston,  arrived  this  year,  and  made  a 
vigorous,  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  execute  his  office. 

On  the  fourth  of  March,  Charles  11.  granted  to  Wil- 
liam Penn  a  charter  for  all  the  land  between  the  river 
and  bay  of  Delaware  and  Lord  Baltimore's  province  of 
Maryland,  erecting  it  into  a  province  by  the  name  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  constituting  him  and  his  heirs  abso- 
lute proprietors  of  it.  He  immediately  gave  public  no- 
tice of  the  king's  grant,  and  invited  purchasers;  and  a 
number  of  persons,  chiefly  of  the  Quaker  profession, 
formed  themselves  into  a  company,  and  bought  twenty 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  new  province,  at  the  rate 
of  twenty  pounds  sterling  for  every  thousand  acres.  On 
the  11th  of  July  he  entered  into  stipulations  with  the 
purchasers  and  other  individuals  who  desired  to  remove 
to  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  fall  a  number  of  the  colo- 
nists left  England.  They  reached  the  new  province 
late  in  the  year,  and  began  a  settlement,  above  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Schuylkill  with  the  Delaware. 

In  the  spring,  the  proprietor  published  a  form  of  go- 
vernment and  laws,  which  he  had  made  with  the  con- 
.  sent  of  the  persons  in  England  who  had  become  inter- 
.  estcd  in  the  province.  He  obtained  from  the  duke  of 
York  a  release  of  his  right  to  the  land  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  a  conveyance  for  the  tract  which  was  first  known 
under  the  appellation  of  the  territories  of  Pennsylvania, 
afterwards  by  the  three  lower  counties  of  Delaware,  and 
now  as  the  state  of  Delaware. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  he  landed  at  Newcastle,  at- 
tended by  about  one  hundred  new  settlers.  He  caused 
the  people  in  the  neighborhood  to  meet  him  on  the  next 
day,  and  having  received  before  them  legal  possession  of 
the  province,  he  made  a  speech  to  them,  acqurinting 


1683]  THE  NINTH.  1T5 

them  with  his  views,  commenting  on  the  nature  and  end 
of  government,  particularly  of  that  which  he  meant  to 
establish,  assured  them  of  liberty  of  conscience  and  civil 
freedom,  and  recommended  to  them  to  live  in  sobriety 
and  peace.  After  renewing  the  commissions  of  former 
magistrates,  he  proceeded  to  Upland,  the  settlement  now 
known  as  the  town  of  Chester  ;  he  there  met  the  general 
assembly  of  the  province,  on  the  fourth  of  December. 
The  three  lower  counties  were  annexed  to  the  province, 
and  an  act  of  settlement  was  passed,  in  reference  to  the 
frame  of  government ;  the  Dutch  and  Swede  inhabits 
ants,  and  other  foreigners  in  the  province,  were  natural- 
ized, and  all  the  laws  agreed  on  in  England,  were  passed 
in  form. 

William  Penn  immediately  after  entered  into  a  treaty 
with  the  natives,  from  whom  he  purchased  as  much  of 
the  soil,  as  the  circumstances  of  the  province  called  for, 
and  settled  a  very  kind  correspondence  with  them.  He 
immediately  after  laid  out  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  upwards  of  eighty  houses  or 
cottages  were  erected  in  it. 

Lord  Cardross,  a  Scotch  nobleman,  embarked  with  a 
number  of  families  of  his  nation,  with  whom  he  began  a 
settlement  on  the  island  of  Port  Royal,  in  Carolina  ;  but 
his  lordship,  in  consequence  of  some  arrangement  made 
with  the  lords  proprietors,  having  claimed  separate  and 
co-ordinate  authority  with  governor  West  of  Charles- 
ton, was  compelled,  with  circumstances  of  outrage,  to 
acknowledge  his  submission  and  dependence  ;  he  soon 
after  returned  home. 

The  spring  of  the  following  year  is  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  the  western  world,  by  the  descent  of  Monsieur 
De  la  Salle  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea,  which  he 


116  CHAPTER  [168S 

reached  on  the  seventh  of  April.  He  took  possession  of 
that  mighty  stream  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign,  Louis 
XIV.  of  France,  in  whose  honor  the  country  was  called 
Louisiana. 

On  his  way,  he  stopped  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river, 
and  built  a  fort,  within  the  then  chartered  limits  of  North 
Carolina,  near  the  present  town  of  Memphis,  in  the 
state  of  Tennessee. 
/  Seth  Sothel  arrived  this  year  in  Carolina,  and  took  on 

himself  the  government  of  the  northern  part  of  the  pro- 
vince, governor  Wilkinson  having  lately  died.  The 
nev/  administrator  did  not  find  the  scene  of  anarchy 
altered,  neither  was  he  calculated  to  put  a  period  to  it. 
The  instructions  of  the  lords  proprietors  enjoined  him 
to  endeavor,  by  a  mild  and  humane  administration,  to 
reconcile  the  colonists  to  order  and  obedience.  The 
annals  of  delegated  authority  have  not  recorded  a  name, 
which  deserves  more  to  be  transmitted  to  posterity  with 
infamy,  than  that  of  Sothel:  bribery,  extortion,  injus- 
tice, rapacity,  breach  of  trust,  and  disobedience  to  the 
laws,  are  the  crimes  with  which  he  was  charged,  while 
he  misruled  a  miserable  colony. 
,  The  four  precincts  on  Albemarle  Sound,  which  were 
hitherto  designated  by  the  titles  or  names  of  some  of  the 
lords  proprietors,  viz.  Shaftsbury,  Berkely,  &c.  were 
now  named  by  the  principal  streams  that  water  them, 
Chowan,  Perquimans,  Pasquotank  and  Currituck;  ap- 
pellations which  they  to  this  day  retain. 

Edward  Randolph,  the  collector  sent  from  England 
for  the  port  of  Boston,  having  written  home,  that  he  was 
in  danger  of  being  punished  with  death,  by  an  accursed 
law  of  the  province,  as  a  subverter  of  the  constitution, 
for  his  attempts  to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  office,  was 


1684]  THE  NINTH.  lit 

ordered  home.  On  his  arrival,  he  preferred  an  accusa- 
tion of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  against  the  cor- 
poration of  Massachusetts,  and  on  the  sixth  of  July  an 
order  in  council  was  passed,  for  issuing  process  of  quo 
warranto^  for  the  dissolution  of  its  charter.  This  order 
was  however  accompanied  by  a  declaration  of  the  king, 
that  if  the  colony,  before  prosecution,  would  submit  to 
his  pleasure,  he  would  regulate  their  charter,  for  his 
service  and  their  good,  and  with  no  other  alterations 
than  such  as  should  be  necessary  for  the  support  of  his 
government  in  the  province.  The  proud  spirit  of  New 
Englandmen  could  not  brook  to  yield  to  such  terms  ;  it 
preferred  encountering  the  full  effect  of  the  royal  wrath. 
Accordingly,  the  high  court  of  chancery  in  England,  on 
the  eighteenth  of  June  following,  gave  judgment  for  the 
king,  against  the  governor  and  company  of  Massachu- 
s(  tts ;  their  charter  w^as  annulled,  and  their  liberties  taken 
in  the  king's  hands.  Colonel  Kirk  was  now  appointed 
the  royal  governor  for  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  Maine  and  Plym.outh. 

The  French,  in  order  to  engross  the  fur  trade,  and  to 
check  the  influence  of  the  EngUsh  on  the  Indians,  built 
the  fort  at  Detroit. 

Lord  Effingham,  who  was  appointed  the  preceding 
year  governor  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  was  instruct- 
ed by  his  sovereign  to  allow  no  person  to  use  a  print- 
ing press,  on  any  occasion  whatever. 

The  want  of  a  circulating  medium  being  severely 
felt  in  the  province  of  Carolina,  its  parliament,  at  the 
same  time  "  raised  the  value  of  foreign  coin,"  and 
passed  an  act  to  suspend  the  prosecution  of  all  foreign 
debts ;  it  received  the  assent  of  the  lords  proprietors, 
but  it  was  afterwards  dissented  from,  because  it  *'  was 

N.  CARO.      23 


178  CHAPTER  [1685 

contrary  to  the  king's  honor,  since  it  was  in  effect  to 
stop  the  course  of  justice,  and  because  the  padiament 
had  no  power  to  enact  a  law  so  contrary  to  those  of  Eng- 
land." The  lords  proprietors  ordered  all  officers  to  be 
dismissed,  that  had  promoted  that  law. 

Tr.e  confederacy  of  the  five  nations  of  Indians,  in 
Caniidi^  had  extended  its  conquests  to  a  vast  extent  to 
the  soiidi  and  west,  from  the  shores  of  the  Mississipj)i  to 
the  borders  of  the  western  settlements  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia.  These  two  provinces,  <^)ften  involved  in  the 
calamities  of  their  Indian  allies,  whom  thev  were  unable 
to  protect,  except  by  treaties,  found  it  expedient  to 
settle  terms  of  peace  with  the  ferocious  concjuerors  :  the 
governor  of  Virginia  proceeded  to  Albany,  where,  with 
that  of  New  York,  he  met  the  deputies  of  the  five  nations, 
and  concluded  a  peace. 

In  1685,  the  bishop  of  London  sent  James  Blair,  as 
his  commissary  in  Virginia. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  Charles  II.  died,  and 
was  succeeded  bv  James,  duke  of  York,  his  brother. 

At  this  period,  with  the  exception  of  the  province  of 
Georgia,  which  was  not  established  till  half  a  century 
after,  all  the  colonies,  who  in  the  next  century  seceded 
from  the  British  empire,  and  became  the  United  States 
of  America,  were  already  in  an  advanced  state  of  pro- 
gressive improvement :  the  English  had  besides  valua- 
ble establishments  at  Bermudas,  and  in  a  number  of  the 
West  India  islands. 

The  Frenuh  in  Canada  made  great,  but  not  equal  pro- 
gress ;.  they  had  settlemerrts  to  the  west,  as  far  as 
Detroit  and  MichiUimackinac,  and  had  extended  of 
late  their  discoveries  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico ;  they  carried 


1685J  THE  NINTH.  179 

on  a  considerable  commerce  among  the  Inrlian  tribes, 
who  hunted  on  the  banks  of  the  Missibsippu  Their 
pro{j;ress,  however,  was  considerably  checked  by  the 
Indians  of  the  five  nations,  whom  the  g;ovcrnment  of 
the  EngUsh  colonies  supported,  as  a  barrier  against  the 
encroachnv  nts  of  the  French. 

The  Spaniards  had  no  settlement  on  the  northern 
continent,  except  the  few  fortb  on  the  coast  of  Florida, 
which  for  upwards  ol  a  century  they  hud  kept  up,  with- 
out any  agricultural  improvements  around  them. 

Although  the  English  colonies  might  rejoice  in  their 
advancing  population  and  wealth,  their  political  sky 
was  not  as  serene  as  the  natural.  We  have  seen  the 
storm  bursting  over  the  northernmost  section  ;  thick 
clouds  were  gathering  over  Rhode  Island  and  Connecti- 
cut ;  the  people  of  New  York  were  not  yet  allowed  all 
the  rights  of  Englishmen ;  the  small  colony  of  New 
Jersey,  divided  among  two  proprietors,  was  distracted 
in  her  councils ;  Pennsylvania,  in  the  midst  of  her  sis- 
ters,  in  perfect  tranquiliiy  beheld,  unconcerned  for  her 
own  situa  ion,  the  clouds  that  hovered  around  them.  The 
southern  provinces  had  not  recovered  from  their  internal 
dissentions,  and  the  attacks  of  the  Indians. 

The  popiihtion  of  Carolina  was  still  very  inconsidera- 
ble :  in  the  northern  part  of  the  province,  there  were 
scattered  plantations  on  both  sides  of  Albemarle 
sound,  and  the  shores  of  the  rivers  that  empty  i'^to  it: 
in  t.e  southern  part,  there  wtrt  still  a  few  planters  on 
Cape  Fear  river,  but  most  of  the  planters  from  Barba- 
does  had  removed  to  the  shores  of  Ashley  and  Cooper 
rivers,  where  was  now  a  growing  sttliement.  These, 
with  the  habitations  of  the  tew  Scotch  families  left  by  lord 
CardroiS  at  Port  Royal,  constituted  the  whole  popula- 


iB9 


CHAPTER. 


[1685 


tion  of  the  province.     The  settlement  on  Ashley  and 
Cooper  rivers,  had  received  a  small  reinforcement  by  the 
migration  of  some  Dutch  families,  on  the  conquest  of 
the  New  Netherlands,. 


Chalmers-^Hlsf^ry  of  South  Carolina — Edwards. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  death  of  Charles  II.  had  put  a  temporary  stop  to 
proceedings  against  the  chartered  American  colonies : 
but  James  II.  soon  found  it  expedient  to  renew  themo 
In  July,  1685,  the  administration  of  the  governor  and 
company  of  Connecticut  was  complained  of,  viz :  **  they 
have  made  laws  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England  ;  they 
impose  fines  on  the  inhabitants,  and  convert  them  to 
their  own  use  ;  they  impose  an  oath  of  fidelity  upon  the 
inhabitants,  without  administering  the  oath  of  supremacy 
and  allegiance,  as  in  their  charter  is  directed  ;  they  deny 
to  the  inhabitants  the  exercise  of  the  religion  of  the 
church  of  England,  arbitrarily  fining  those  who  refuse 
to  come  to  their  congressional  assemblies  ;  his  majesty's 
subjects  inhabiting  there,  cannot  obtain  justice  in  the 
courts  of  the  colony  ;  they  discourage  and  exclude  from 
the  government  all  gentlemen  of  known  loyalty,  and 
keep  it  in  the  hands  of  the  independent  party  in  the 
colony."  In  consequence  of  these  charges,  James  or- 
dered a  ^wo  warranto  to  be  issued  against  the  charter  of 
Connecticut.  The  people  perceived  the  king  was  in 
earnest,  and  their  alarm  manifested  itself  in  humble 
solicitations  for  favor.  In  the  month  of  October,  of  the 
same  year,  a  similar  process  was  sued  out  against  the 
colonyof  Rhode  Island.  Colonel  Kirk's  commission  not 
having  received  the  royal  seal,  before  the  late  king's  de- 


182  CHAPTER  [1686 

mise,  Joseph  Dudley,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was 
appointed  president  of  New  England.  The  first  post 
office,  was  established  in  the  colonies,  in  the  year  1685, 
and  Edward  Randolph  was  appointed  deputy  post- mas- 
ter, for  New  England.  i 

The  Spaniards,  at  St.  Augustine,  believing  that  some 
late  attacks,  on  their  people  by  the  Indians,  were  owing 
to  the  ill  conduct  of  some  of  the  Scotch  settlers,  leit  by 
lord  Cardross  on  the  island  of  Port  Royal,  invaded  that 
part  of  the  colony  and  laid  it  waste. 

This  year,  writs  of  quo  warranto  were  issued,  with  a 
view  to  obtain  the  forfeitures  of  the  charters  of  Carolina 
and  New  Jersey.  The  proprietors  of  the  first  province, 
prudently  bending  before  a  storm,  which  it  seemed  vain 
to  resist,  eluded  the  force  of  a  blast,  that  had  laid  the 
charters  and  government  of  New  England,  in  ruins  ;  and 
offered  a  treaty  of  surrender.  New  Jersey  was,  not 
long  after,  annexed  to  the  government  of  New  England. 

The  king,  intending  to  establish  the  same  arbitrary 
rule  in  New  York,  as  he  had  designed  for  New  Eng- 
land, deprived  that  colony  of  its  immunities.  Gover- 
nor Dongan,  hitherto  the  proprietor's,  now  the  royal 
governor,  was  instructed  not  to  allow  any  printing  press; 
the  assembly  was  abolished,  and  New  York  reduced  to 
the  condition  of  a  conquered  province. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
whom  the  king  had  appointed  governor  of  New  Eng- 
land, arrived  at  Boston.  He  was  instructed  to  con- 
tinue the  former  laws  of  the  country,  so  far  as  they 
were  not  inconsistent  with  his  commission  ar)d  instruc- 
tions, until  other  regulations  were  established  by  the 
governor  and  council ;  to  give  universal  toleration  in 
religion,  and  encouragement  to  the  Church  of  England; 


1687]  THE  TENTH.  18:!^ 

to  execute  the  laws  of  trade,  and  prevent  frauds  in  the 
customs.  As  it  was  not  imasjined  that  the  new  order 
of  things  would  be  submitted  to,  on  the  part  of  the  col- 
onists, by  choice,  a  small  military  establishment  was 
formed,  and  warlike  were  stores  sent  over. 

In  obedience  to  his  instructions,  governor  Andros, 
within  ten  days  after  his  landing,  dissolved  the  govern- 
ment of  Rhode  Island ;  broke  its  seals,  and  assumed 
the  administration  of  that  province. 

A  number  of  French  Protestants,  driven  from  their 
country,  by  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,|which 
took  place  the  preceding  year,  arrived  in  Boston ;  they 
were  kindly  received,  and  a  subscription  sat  a  foot,  for 
the  use  of  those  who  need^^d  relief;  they  built  a  small 
brick  church  in  School  street.  The  greater  part  of  them, 
however,  soon  after  sought  a  milder  climate,  in  the  pro- 
vinces of  Virginia  and  Carolina. 

The  year  1687,  is  remarkable  for  the  first  plan  of  an 
insurrection  of  the  blacks  on  the  continent.  It  took 
place  in  the  province  of  Virginia,  and  in  that  part  of  it 
which  is  called  the  northern  neck ;  it  was  discovered 
just  in  time  to  prevent  its  explosion,  and  lord  Effing- 
ham averted  its  consequences,  by  the  early  and  strict 
exectiiion  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  police  of  slaves. 
John  Burke  believes  their  number  fell  little  short  of  one 
half  of  the  population  of  that  province. 

During  the  month  of  April,  the  king's  attorney  gene- 
ral, in  England,  sued  out  a  writ  of  quo  warranto^  against 
lord  Baltimore,  the  proprietor  ol  Maryland;  but  no 
judgment  was  obtained. 

In  the  month  of  October,  governor  Andros,  attended 
by  his  suite  and  sixty  soldiers,  went  to  Hartford,  where 
the  general  assembly  was  in  session,  and  declared  th^ 


184  CHAPTER  [1687 

charter  government  to  be  dissolved .  The  assembly,  be- 
ing called  upon  to  surrender  the  charter,  protracted  the 
discussion  that  arose,  till  early  candlelight,  when,  the 
instrument  being  brought  in  and  laid  on  the  speaker's 
table,  the  lights  were  instantly  extinguished,  without 
any  disorder  or  confusion  ensuing;  but  when  the 
candles  were  lit,  the  parchment  could  not  be  found. 
Captain  Wadsworth,  of  Hartford,  had  silently  carried  it 
off,  and  secreted  it  in  a  hollow  tree,  which,  to  this  day, 
is  regarded  with  veneration,  as  the  preserver  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  colony. 

Sir  Robert  Holmes  was  despatched  from  England, 
with  a  small  naval  force,  and  an  extraordinary  commis- 
sion, for  suppressing  pirates  in  America.  The  gover- 
nors of  Carolina  were  instructed  to  show  examples  of 
submission  to  his  power,  and  to  afford  every  possible 
assistance  to  his  armament.  This  project  was  success- 
ful, till  new  causes,  not  long  after,  gave  rise  to  piratical 
adventurers,  which  required  all  the  continued  energy  of 
William  and  Mary  to  suppress. 

The  French,  at  this  time,  made  their  first  attempt  at  a 
settlement,  on  the  gulf  of  Mexico.  Monsieur  de  la 
Salle  had  returned  to  France,  in  1683,  to  carry  to  his 
sovereign,  the  news  of  his  discovery,  and  taking  posses- 
sion, of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  country  at  the  mouth 
of  that  river.  Louis  XIV.,  anxious  to  secure  this  new 
acquisition,  despatched  a  small  armament,  consisting  of 
four  vessels,  under  la  Salle,  with  one  hundred  soldiers, 
some  artillery,  and  a  number  of  settlers.  La  Salle  took 
the  old  route  by  the  way  of  the  West  Indies ;  he  touched 
at  Hispaniola,  and  unfortunately  missing  the  mouth  of 
the  river  he  was  in  quest  of,  he  fell  two  hundred  miles 
to  the  westward,  in  the  bay  of  St.  Bernard,  which  he 


XG8T3  THE  TENTH.  185 

called  the  bav  of  St.  Louis :  here  he  built  a  fort,  and 
leaving  a  garrison  in  it,  proceeded  easterly,  along  the 
coast,  in  search  of  the  Mississipjii ;  reaching  another 
river,  which  he  mistook  for  the  one  he  looked  for,  and 
built  another  fort,  on  its  bank.  He  then  sat  off  for  Can- 
ada by  land,  intending  to  reach  it  through  the  river  Illi- 
nois, and  proceeded  as  far  as  the  settlement  of  Nacog* 
doches,  in  the  Spanish  province  of  Texas,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  which,  he  was  murdered  by  one  of  his  men, 
on  the  27th  of  March,  1687 ;  the  rest  of  the  party  con- 
tinued their  route  to  Quebec.  The  Indians  feil  on  the 
men  la  Salle  had  left  on  the  sea  shore,  and  destroyed  them 
all,  except  a  few  whom  they  carried  away  to  their 
villages. 

It  was  thought  advisable,  in  1687,  on  several  ac- 
counts, particularly  the  extensive  progress  the  French 
were  making  in  Canada,  to  appoint  one  general  gover- 
nor over  New  England;  th?^  submissive  application  of 
the  people  of  Connecticut  could  no  further  be  regarded, 
than  by  allowing  them  their  choice,  to  be  annexed 
to  New  York  or  Massachusetts;  they  preferred  the 
latter;  and,  accordingly.  Sir  Edmund  Andros  hav- 
ing been  appointed  captain  general  over  all  Ntw  Eng- 
land, the  charter  of  Connecticut  was  surrendered  to  him 
at  Hartford,  in  October,  1687,  and  the  colony  was  an- 
nexed to  Massachusetts,  according  to  the  royal  promise, 
through  the  people's  petition  ;  but  t  ;e  very  night  of  the 
surrender  of  it,  Samuel  Wadaworth,  of  Hartford,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  mob,  violently  broke  into  the  apart- 
hients  of  Sir  Edmund,  regained,  carried  off,  and  hid  the 
charter  in  the  hollow  of  an  elm  tree. 

In  the  year  1688,  the  distractions  and  commotions, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  rose 

N.    CARO.       24 


18(3  CHAPTEU  Ll<538 

to  such  a  height,  that  the  colonists,  almost  driven  to 
despair,  secured  the  persr>n  ^.>f  governor  Sothel,  and  im- 
prisoned him,  withthevie'vof  sending  him  to  England, 
to  answer  to  the  lords  proprietors  for  his  crimes ;  but, 
yielding  to  his  entreaties,  and  his  offer  to  submit  their 
mutual  accusations  to  the  assembly,  they  left  him  at 
liberty.  The  general  assembly  gave  judgment  against 
him  on  all  the  charges,  and  compelled  him  to  abjure  the 
country  for  twelve  months,  and  the  government  forever. 

King  James  now  united  the  four  colonies  of  New 
England,  and  tlie  provinces  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  under  one  government,  and  appointed  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros  captain  general  and  vice  admiral,  over 
them,  and  Francis  Nicholson  was  named  his  lieutenant. 
All  the  powers  of  government  were  vested  in  a  gover- 
nor and  council,  and  the  people  had  no  agency  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  affairs,  nor  any  vote  in  the  appointment 
of  officers. 

The  inhabitants  of  several  towns  in  Massachusetts, 
refused  to  make  the  assessments,  without  which,  the 
taxes  imposed  by  the  grant  of  the  legislative  council 
under  governor  Andros,  could  not  be  collected.  The 
selectmen  of  Ipswich  came  to  a  resolution,  "  That,  in- 
asmuch as  it  is  against  the  privileges  of  Englishmen  to 
have  money  raised  without  their  consent,  in  an  assembly 
or  parliament,  therefore,  they  will  petition  the  king,  for 
the  liberty  of  an  assembly,  before  they  make  any  rates.'*^ 
The  governor  endeavored  to  procure  obedience  by 
prosecutions,  and  the  judges  punished  several  individuals 
by  heavy  fines  and  long  imprisonment.  Increase  Ma- 
ther, a  respectable  clergyman,  was  sent  to  England,  to 
represent  the  grievances  of  tht'  people  of  New  Englandi 
to  the  king* 


1689]  THE  TENTH.  187 

Early  in  the  following  year,  accounts  of  the  abdication 
and  departure  of  the  king  for  France,  which  had  taken 
place  on  the  23d  of  December,  reached  the  continent, 
and  it  was  rumored  that  the  prince  of  Orange  had,  or 
would  soon  land  in  England.  Thus,  at  a  time  that  a 
revolution  was  effected  at  home,  the  northern  colonies 
gave  the  parent  state  the  example  of  another.  They  had 
suffered  for  three  years,  under  a  privation  of  their  most.. 
valuable  rii^hts,  and  their  patience  Vv^as  now  exhausted.. 

Sir  Edmund  Andros,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
imitating  the  capricious  and  arbitrary  conduct  of  James, 
the  people  could  not  long  brook  submission  to  their 
sway:  having  sought  in  the  wilds  of  America,  the 
secure  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  they  were 
not  dis-posed  to  see  their  dearest  rights  wrested  from 
them,  without  a  struggle  to  retain  them.  They  had,  for 
several  years,  suffered  the  impositions  of  a  tyrannical 
administration,  and  the  dissatisfaction  and  indignation 
which  had  been  gathering  was  now  blown  to  a  flame,  by 
a  report  of  an  intended  massacre  by  the  governor's 
guards.  On  the  18th  of  May,  1689,  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston  took  arms;  the  people  poured  in  from  the  coun- 
try, and  the  governor,  with  such  of  his  friends  as  had 
been  most  active,  and  many  other  obnoxious  persons, 
were  secured  and  confined.  The  old  magistrates  were 
restored,  and  the  next  month  the  news  of  the  revolution 
in  England,  quieted  all  apprehensions  of  the  conse- 
quences of  what  had  been  done.  Sir  Edmund  was,  how- 
ever, kept  in  the  castle  till  the  month  of  February,  when 
he  was  sent  to  England  for  trial,  and  the  general  court 
sent  with  him  a  committee  of  several  gentlemen,  to 
substantiate  the  charges  against  hinv, 


188  ,  CHAPTER  [168i? 

Most  of  the  members  of  the  council,  the  princi- 
pal officers,  and  the  collectors,  to  the  number  of  about 
fiftv,  were  likewise  seized  and  confined. 

The  old  magistrates  were  reinstated  ;  and  call  ing  to 
their  assistance,  a  number  of  respectable  individuals 
from  the  town  and  county,  formed  themselves  into  a 
**  Council  for  the  safety  of  the  people,  and  the  continu- 
ation of  the  peace."  On  the  24th,  the  magistrates 
chosen  in  1686,  subscribed  a  declaration  of  their  accep- 
tance of  the  care  in  government  of  the  people,  until,  by 
directions  from  En,5^land,  there  might  be  an  orderly  set- 
tlement o!  government,  and  on  the  29»h,  William  and 
Mary  were  proclaimed,  with  great  ceremony,  iu  Boston. 
An  address  was  sent  to  their  majesties,  and  they  were 
besoiight  to  allow  the  exercise  of  government,  accord- 
ing to  the  charter,  till  they  were  pleased  to  establish  a 
new  one.     Thi*^  was  acceded  to. 

The  people  of  Rhode  Island,  on  hearing  of  the  im- 
prisonment of  governor  Andres,  met  at  Newport  on 
the  1st  of  May,  voted  to  resume  their  charter,  and 
called  in  their  former  officers. 

Robert  Treat,  who  had  been  elected  governor  of  Con- 
necticut, in  1687,  when  the  charter  was  surrendered  to 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  was  declared  still  governor  of  the 
province.  Intellisfence  was  received  of  an  insurrection 
and  the  overthrow  of  governor  Andros,  at  Boston. 
The  new  governor  summoned  the  old  assembly,  who 
voted  the  validity  of  the  charter,  and  directed  Samuel 
Wadsworth  to  bring  it  forth,  who,  attended  by  the  high 
sheriff  and  a  concourse  of  people,  carried  it  to  the  go- 
vernor; the  general  court  voted  their  thanks  and  twenty 
shillings  to  the  gentleman,  for  his  care  and  preservation 
vof  the  charter. 


1689]  THE  TENTH.  189 

Oil  receivinsj  information,  in  New  York,  of  the 
king's  abdication,  the  principal  officers  met,  in  order  to 
consult  on  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion ;  but,  while 
they  were  deliberating^,  Jacob  Leisler,  at  the  head  of  a 
party  of  fifty  men,  took  possession  of  the  fort,  in  the 
name  of  tlie  prince  of  Orang'^ ;  and  in  the  month  of 
June,  William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed,  and  until  the 
arrival  of  coioael  Henry  Slaughter,  two  years  after,  as 
royal  governor,  th^^  province  was  ruled  by  a  committee 
of  safety,  presided  by  Leisler, 

Their  mcijesties  were  soon  after,  proclaimed  in  the 
other  colonies. 

Philip  Ludwell,  of  Virginia,  who  had  filled  in  that 
province,  the  office  of  collector  of  the  customs,  and  w-io 
had  suffi;red  for  his  adherence  to  governor  Berkely, 
during  Bacon's  rebelHon,  came  over  as  governor  of  the 
northern  part  of  Carolina, 

In  the  month  of  November,  William  Blair  was  re- 
ceived in  Virginia,  as  commissary  of  the  bishop  of  Lon- 
don, in  the  English  provinces  on  the  continent.  The 
duties  of  the  commissary  were  analagous  to  those  of  a 
pope's  legate.  He  was  representing  in  the  colonies,  the 
right  reverend  father  of  the  church,  and  he  made  visita- 
tions, enquiring  into  and  correcting  the  discipline  of  the 
churches,  a  id  acted  in  all  cases  with  that  supreme  eccle- 
siastical authority,  exercised  by  his  superior,  himself. 

The  province  of  Virginia  was  at  that  time  much  dis- 
tracted, and  ready  to  break  out  at  the  slightest  irritation, 
into  open  revolt;  nothing,  says  John  Burk,  had  hitherto 
preserved  ever  the  appearance  of  tranquiUty;  but  the 
revolution  in  England,  and  the  hopes  of  redress  from  a 
kingj  elected  by  the  nation,  on  principles  of  liberty. 


190  ^  CHAPTER  [169© 

General  Codrington  compelled  the  French  inhabitants 
of  St.  Kitts  to  surrender,  and  forced  eighteen  hundred 
of  them  to  seek  refuge  in  Martinique  and  Hispaniola. 

The  ministers  found  themselves  in  a  perplexing 
dilemma :  if  they  condemned  Andros'  administration, 
the  sentence  might  be  drawn  into  a  precedent,  and 
they  might  seem  to  encourage  rebellion  and  insurrection 
in  future  periods,  when  circumstances  did  not  render  so 
desperate  an  expedient  necessary.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  they  should  approve  of  his  administration,  and  cen- 
sure the  conduct  of  the  colonists,  it  would  imply  a  re- 
probation of  the  very  measure,  which  had  been  pursued 
in  bringing  about  the  revolution  in  England.  It  was, 
therefore,  considered  prudent  to  dismiss  the  business, 
without  coming  to  a  formal  decision  :  the  people  were 
accordingly  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  freedom,  and 
Sir  Edmund,  in  public  estimation  guilty,  escaptd  cen- 
sure. Shortly  after,  he  succeeded  lord  Effingham,  in 
the  government  of  Virginia,  in  which  his  conduct  ap- 
pears to  have  been  correct. 

While  Louis  XIV.,  in  his  attempt  to  support  king 
James,  kindled  the  flames  of  war  in  Europe,  the  count 
of  Frontenac,  his  governor  in  Canada,  spurred  on  the 
Indians  to  aid  him  in  annoying  the  English  in  iVmerica. 
On  the  29th  of  June,  a  party  of  Indians  came  to  the 
town  of  Sorell,  in  the  province  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
killed  or  captured  about  fifty  persons.  Soon  after, 
they  routed  the  garrison  at  Oyster  river,  where  they  slew 
more  than  twenty  of  the  inhabitants.  On  the  28th  of 
August,  they  took  the  fort  at  Pemaquid,  and  committed 
great  depredations  in  the  province  of  Maine.  In  the 
mean  time,  a  host  of  privateers  sailed  out  of  Acadia, 
captured  a  number  of  English  vessels,  and  kept  the 


1690]  THE  TENTH.  191 

sea- coast  in  constant  alarm.  Nor  were  these  excursions 
stopped  by  the  severity  of  the  weather.  On  the  8th  of 
February,  1690,  the  enemy  fell  on,  and  committed  great 
slaughter  in,  Schenectady,  on  the  Mohawk  river.  On 
the  18th  of  March,  another  party  made  an  attack  on 
Salmon  fails,  a  settlement  on  the  river  which  divides  the 
province  of  New  Hampshire  from  (hat  of  Maine.  They 
slew  thirty,  and  carried  away  fifty-four  of  the  inhabi- 
tants into  captivity,  setting  fire  to  the  houses  and  mills  ; 
and  in  May,  another  party  destro}'cd  the  settlements  at 
Casco. 

The  general  court  of  Massachusetts  now  determined 
to  retaliate,  and  make  an  attempt  on  Port  Royal.  Un- 
der the  command  of  Sir  William  Phips,  eight  vessels 
were  accordingly  fitted  out,  and  he  sailed  with  seven  or 
eight  hundred  men,  on  the  28th  of  April :  the  fort  of 
Port  Royal,  being  incapable  of  resisting  this  force,  sur- 
rendered with  little  or  no  resistance,  and  Sir  William 
possessed  himself  of  all  the  coast  from  Port  Royal  to 
the  settlements  of  New  England,  and  was  induced  by 
this  success  to  attempt  the  reduction  of  Canada.  Two 
thousand  men  were  to  march  up  the  lakes,  and  thence 
to  Montreal,  while  a  fleet  was  attacking  Quebec.  Thir- 
teen sail  were  collected,  the  largest  of  which  was  a  44 
gun  ship.  They  sailed  from  Nantasket  on  the  9th  of 
August.  Success  did  not  attend  the  attempt.  The 
army  which  was  to  proceed  up  the  country  not  being 
provided  with  batteaux  and  provisions,  retreated  with- 
out crossing  the  lakes.  The  fleet  was  early  discovered 
in  the  river,  and  was  not  before  Quebec  till  the  5th  of 
October.  Three  days  after,  all  the  effective  men,  about 
twelve  hundred  in  number,  were  landed,  but  re-embark- 
ed on  the   11th,  without  success.     The  extreme  cold 


192  CHAPTER  [1^0 

and  tempestuous  weather  compelled  Sir  William  to 

retreat.  ' 

So  fond  were  the  hopes  of  success  at  Boston,  that 
the  general  court  had  not  made  any  provision  for  the 
payment  of  the  troops,  imagining  the  capture  of  Que- 
bet  would  have  rendered  such  a  provision  useless.  The 
clamours  of  the  disbanded  soldiery  rose  so  high,  that 
an  insurrection  was  dreaded.  In  this  extremity,  an 
emission  of  paper  money  was  resorted  to.  It  was  the 
first  that  was  issued  in  the  American  colonies. 

A  great  number  of  French  refuL'^ees  were  this  year 
sent,  at  the  king's  expense,  to  the  province  of  Virginia, 
and  setded  themselves  on  James  river ;  others  purchas- 
ed land  from  the  proprietors  of  Carolina,  and  settled 
on  Pamplico  and  Santee  rivers. 

Doctor  Cox,  to  whom  the  title  of  Sir  Robert  Heath, 
under  the  patent  of  the  year  1629,  to  Carolana,  had 
passed  through  several  conveyances,  laid  a  memorial 
before  king  William,  in  which  he  represented  the  great 
expense  he  had  been  at,  in  discovering  and  settling 
Carolina;  but  his  claim,  though,  as  it  is  said,  incontesti- 
bly  proven,  was  disregarded.  His  son,  Daniel  Cox, 
who  had  resided  fourteen  years  in  the  country,  maintain- 
ed his  father's  claim,  and  pubUshed  a  full  account  of  it. 

Seth  Stothel,  countenanced  by  a  powerful  faction,  in 
the  southern  part  of  Carolina,  and  presuming  on  his 
authority,  as  one  of  the  lords  proprietors,  made  his  ap- 
pearance in  Charleston,  and  seized  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. His  popularity  and  power  were  of  short  dura- 
tion. The  assembly,  two  years  after,  compelled  him 
to  abjure  the  county,  and  government.  The  lords  pro- 
prietors, says  Hewit,  dissented  from  all  the  laws  passed 
during  his  government. 


1692]  THE  TENTH.  193 

The  settlement  at  New  Providence,  in  the  Bahama 
islands,  being  already  considerable,  a  regular  ajovern- 
ment  was  established  there,  by  the  lords  proprietors  of 
Carolina,  and  Cadwallader  Jones  was  sent  as  governor. 

The  island  of  St.  Kitts  was,  this  year,  reconquered 
from  the  French,  by  the  English,  under  colonel  Cod- 
rington,  and  the  white  male  inhabitants,  amounting  to 
about  eighteen  hundred,  were  sent,  with  their  women 
and  children,  to  Hispaniola  and  Martinico. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  in  the  following  year,  the 
town  of  York  was  destroyed ;  fifty  of  the  inhabitants 
killed,  and  one  hundred  of  them  made  prisoners.  The 
province  of  New  Hampshire  suffered  so  much  by  the 
incursions  of  the  French  and  Indians,  that  it  was  on 
the  eve  of  being  abandoned. 

On  the  14th  of  May,  1692,  Sir  William  Phips  'ar- 
rived at  Boston,  with  the  new  charter  of  the  province, 
and  a  commission,  constituting  him  governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  captain  general  of  the  colonies  of  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island.  In  the  latter  colonv,  he 
vainly  attem.pted  to  exercise  his  authority.  The  pro- 
vince, designated  by  the  old  charter,  contained  the 
whole  of  the  old  colonv  of  Massachusetts,  that  of  Plv- 
mouth,  the  provinces  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  and 
all  the  country  between  these  provinces  as  far  north  as  the 
river  St.  Lawrence.  The  new  charter  did  not  secure 
to  the  colonists  all  the  privileges,  which  they  had  en- 
joyed under  the  old.  The  legislature  endeavored  to 
.make  amends  for  this,  by  an  act  in  the  nature  of  a  bill 
©frights,  or  magna  charter;  but  it  was  disallowed  by 
the  king. 

The  provinces  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were 
left  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  first  charter. 

N,  CARO.      25 


194  CHAPTER  [T69S 

Sir  Williatn  Phips,  according  to  his  instructions ^ 
proceeded  to  Pemaquid,  where  he  built  a  fortress,  on 
a  larger  scale,  and  superior  in  the  execution  of  the  work, 
to  any  hitherto  constructed  by  the  English  in  America. 
It  was  named  fort  William  Henry. 

A  patent  was  this  year  laid  before  the  legislature  of 
Virginia,  for  establishing  a  general  post-office  in  Virgin 
nia,  an  act  was  passed  to  give  it  effect ;  but  such  was 
the  dispersed  situation  of  the  planters,  that  the  project 
failed  in  its  execution. 

Governor  Ludweii  being  sent  by  the  lords  proprie- 
torii  to  take  the  command  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
province,  l«is  authority  devolved  on  Alexander  Lilling- 
ton,  and,  on  the  succeeding  year,  on  Thomas  Harvej^ 
as  deputy  governor. 

The  Indians  in  the  southern  part  of  Carolina  were 
now  at  war  between  themselves,  and  governor  Lu dwell 
adopted,  as  a  mean  of  security  for  the  whites,  the  plan 
of  setting  one  tribe  against  the  other.  Besides  securing 
the  friendship  of  some  tribes,  which  he  employed  to 
Garry  on  war  against  the  others,  he  encouraged  all  to 
bring  captives  to  Charleston,  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
portation to  the  West  Indies.  This  year,  twenty  Che- 
rokee chiefs  came  in,  v/ith  proposals  of  friendship,  soli*^ 
eiting  the  assistance  of  government  against  the  Esau 
and  Coosaw  tribes,  who  had  taken  some  of  their  people 
prisoners.  They  complained  at  the  same  time  of  the 
outrages  of  the  Savanna  tribe,  who,  contrary  to  former 
regulations  established  among  themselves,  had  sold 
some  of  their  countrymen  ;  and  begijjed  the  governor 
to  return  the  captives,  and  protect  them  against  such 
insiduous  enemies.  The  governor  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  the  Cherokees, 


1693]  .       THE  TENTH.  19S 

and  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power  for  their  protection 
and  defence.  The  prisoners,  he  observed,  had  already- 
been  shipped  away  to  the  West  Indies,  and  could  not 
be  recalled,  but  he  engaged  to  take  care  for  the  future, 
and  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to  I  he  custom  of  sending 
them  out  of  the  countrv. 

Both  parts  of  the  province  were  still  ift  a  confused 
state.  After  the  fairest  trial,  the  form  of  government, 
proposed  by  John  Locke,  proved  totally  unfit  for  the 
wants  and  state  of  the  province  ;  the  people  declared  to 
the  lords  proprietors,  they  would  rather  be  governed  by 
the  powers  granted,  without  regard  to  the  fundamental 
constitutions,  and  the  lords  proprietors  granted  their 
request.  Thus,  says  Chalmers,  at  the  end  of  twenty- 
three  years,  perished  the  labour  of  Mr.  Locke.  Then 
was  abrogated,  at  the  entreaty  of  the  Carolinians,  who 
had  scarcely  known  one  day  of  enjoyment^  a  system  of 
laws,  which  had  been  intended  to  remain  ever  sacred ; 
which  far  from  having  answered  their  end,  introduced 
only  disputes,  faction,  and  disorder,  that  were  ended  by 
the  dissolution  of  the  proprietors'  government.  The 
Carohnian  annals  show  to  all  projectors  the  vanity  of  at- 
tempting to  make  laws  for  a  people,  whose  will,  pro- 
ceeding  from  true   principles,    must   be  forever   the 

supreme  law. 

A  dreadful  storm  was  this  year  experienced  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  northern  part  of  Carolina.  "It  seemed 
to  revtrse  the  order  of  nature." — It  stopped  some 
rivers,  and,  for  others,  it  opened  channels,  that  were 
ever  navigable. 

The  kin.c:  and  queen  assumed  the  government  of  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania  in  their  own  hands,  and  Ben- 
jamin Fletcher  was  appointed  governor  of  this  province, 


i9S  CHAPTER  [16M 

ts  well  as  that  of  New- York;  The  personal  friendship 
of  Penn  for  king  James,  and  an  intimacy  at  court  du- 
ring his  reign,  rendered  him  suspected  of  disaffection  to 
the  present  government.  In  the  following  year,  he  was 
permitted  to  resume  the  government  of  his  province, 
and  he  sent  over  William  Markham. 

The  French  took  fort  Nelson,  in  Hudson's  bay,  and 
placed  in  it  a  garrison  of  sixty-ei^ht  Canadians,  and  six 
Indians.     They  named  it  fort  Bourbon. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1693,  Sir  Francis  Wheeler 
sailed  from  Dartmouth,  with  three  men  of  war,  and  some 
land  forces,  under  the  orders  of  colonel  Foulkes.  He 
reached  the  island  of  Barbadoes  on  the  4ih  of  March, 
where  preparations  were  made  for  an  attack  on  Mar- 
tinique. The  flret  arrived  before  this  island  on  the  first 
of  April,  the  troops  landed  at  Cul  de  sac  marin,  and  de- 
stroyed the  plantations  in  that  quarter,  among  which 
were  several  fine  ones.  The  troops  landed  a  few  days 
after  at  Diamond's  point,  where  they  laid  the  country- 
waste.  The  fleet  proceeded  to  the  neighborhood  of 
fort  Royal,  and  fort  St.  Pierre,  when  they  had  several 
skirmishes  with  the  inhabitants,  and  sat  fire  to  several 
houbes  and  plantations.  On  the  23d,  the  fleet  set  sail 
for  the  island  of  Dominico,  when  it  was  determined 
to  attack  that  of  Guadeloupe ;  but  a  malignant  dis- 
ease, pervading  the  fleet,  induced  Sir  Francis  lo  make 
the  best  of  his  way  for  Boston.  So  terrible  was  the 
contagion,  that  before  he  reached  the  continent,  he  had 
lost  thirteen  hundred,  out  of  twenty-one  hundred, 
sailors,  and  eighteen  hundred,  out  of  twenty-four  hun- 
dred, soldiers.  He  entered  the  port  of  Boston  on  the 
12th  of  June,  and  endeavoured  to  prevail  on  governor 
Phips  to  raise  men  for  the  reduction  of  Canada,    Tliis 


1695J  THE  TENTH.  197 

could  nor  be  effected,  and  the  fleet  sailed  for  New- 
foundland, where  Sir  Francis  landed,  and  destroyed  the 
settlement  or  St.  Pierre  de  Miquelon. 

Some  Englishmen,  with  their  families,  removed  to 
the  Virgin  islands,  where  they  made  considerable  im- 
provements: their  wants  were  few,  and  their  govern- 
ment simple,  and  without  expense.  Tiieir  judicial 
powers  were  exercised  by  the  governor,  and  by  a 
council  chosen  among  themselves.  There  were  no 
taxes:  money,  when  wanted  for  public  purposes,  was 
raised  by  voluntary  contributions.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, it  could  not  be  expected  that  the  colony 
would  rise  to  much  importance. 

Dissentions  and  disorder  still  prevailing  in  Carolina, 
the  proprietors,  anxious  to  prevent  the  destruction  and 
ruin  of  their  settlement,  resolved  to  send  one  of  their 
own  number,  with  full  power  to  redress  grievances, 
and  settle  duTerences  in  the  colony.  Lord  Ashley,  the 
celebrated  author  of  the  **Characteri sties,"  was  chosen, 
but  soon  after  declined  the  mission.  The  second  choice 
of  the  proprietors  fell  on  John  Archdale,  a  Quaker,  and 
a  man  of  considerable  knowledge  and  discretion.  He 
reached  the  northern  settlement  of  Carolina  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  assumed  the  government  of  the  whole  province. 
The  planters  received  him  with  universal  joy,  and  pri- 
vate animosities  and  civil  discord  seemed  awhile  bu- 
ried in  oblivion.  The  le^iislature  was  called,  and  go- 
vernor Arclidale,  by  the  discreet  use  of  his  extensive 
powers,  settled  almost  every  matter  of  general  concern, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  colonists.  The  price  of  land, 
and  the  forms  of  conveyance,  were  settled  by  law. 
Three  years  rent  was  remitted  to  those  who  held  land 
by  grant,  and  four  to  such  as  held  them  by  survey,  and 


198  CHAPTER  [1695 

not  by  grant.  Such  lands,  as  had  escheated  to  the  lords 
proprietors,  were  ordered  to  be  let  out  or  sold*  It  was 
agreed  to  take  the  arrears  of  great  tracts  either  in  money 
or  commodities,  as  should  be  most  convenient  to  the 
planters.  Magistrates  were  appointed,  for  trying  all 
causes,  and  determining  all  differences,  between  the 
settlers  and  the  Indians.  Public  roads  were  ordered  to 
be  made,  and  water  passages  to  be  cut,  for  the  more 
easy  conveyance  of  produce  to  the  market.  Some  for- 
mer laws  were  altered;  and  such  new  statutes  were 
made,  as  the  good  government  and  peace  of  the  colony 
appeared  to  require.  Public  affairs  assumed  an  agreea- 
ble aspect,  and  excited  just  hopes  of  the  future  progress 
and  prosperity  of  the  settlement. 

Governor  Archdale,  in  the  beginning  of  the  new 
year,  proceeded  to  Charleston,  where  he  met  the  legisla- 
ture of  that  part  of  the  province,  in  the  month  of  March. 

The  planting  of  rict  was  introduced  about  this  time, 
in  Carolina.  A  brig  from  Madagascar,  on  her  way  to 
England,  came  to  anchor  off  Sullivan's  island: — 
Thomas  Smith,  a  landgrave,  going  on  board,  received 
from  the  captain  a  bag  of  seed  rice,  with  information  of 
its  culture  in  the  east,  its  suitableness  for  food,  and  its 
incredible  increase.  The  landgrave  divided  the  seed 
among  his  friends,  and  an  experiment  being  made  in 
different  soils,  the  success  surpassed  the  expectation 
the  captain  of  the  brig  had  excited,  and  from  this  small 
beginning,  arose  the  staple  commodity  of  Carolina, 
which  soon  became  the  chief  support  of  the  colony,  and 
the  great  source  of  its  opulence. 

This  year,  George,  lord  Carteret,  died,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  John,  then  five  years  of  age,  who,  in 


16961  THE  TENTH.  199 

1744,  succeeded,  on  his  mother's  death,  to  the  title  of 
viscount  and  earl  Granville.  His  mother,  Grace  Car- 
teret, was  dau^^hter  to  the  late  earl  of  Bath.  She  was 
(Dec.  17,  1714)  created  countess  Granville,  viscount- 
ess Carteret.  ^ 

In  the  year  1695,  king  William  granted  a  char- 
ter to  the  Scots,  African  and  Indian  Company,  au- 
thorizing them  to  plant  and  maintain  colonies,  in  any 
part  of  Asia,  Africa  and  America,  not  the  property  of 
such  European  powers  as  were  at  amity  with  his  majesty: 
with  an  exemption  for  twenty -one  years  from  all  du- 
ties on  the  produce  of  such  plantations.  They  were 
not  only  empowered  to  defend  their  colonies  and  trade 
by  force  of  arms,  but  had  the  promise  of  the  royal  au- 
thority to  do  them  right,  if  they  were  disturbed,  at  the 
public  expense. 

In  the  beginning  of  1696,  a  fleet  of  seven  men  of  war, 
and  twelve  transports,  sailed  from  Plymouth,  under  the 
orders  of  Herbert  Wolcott,  for  St.  Kitts,  from  whence 
they  proceeded  to  Hispaniola,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
aid  from  the  Spanish  governor  tl  ere,  to  attack  the 
French.  This  being  aff*orded,  the  allied  powers  pre- 
pared for  battle,  but  such  a  misunderstanding  prevailed 
among  the  officers  of  the  two  nations,  that  nothing  could 
be  effected.  Disease  made  great  havoc  among  the  En- 
glish forces,  and  the  commodore  fell  a  victim  to  it,  and 
the  number  of  sailors  was  so  niuch  reduced,  that  on  the 
return,  one  of  the  ships  was  left  at  cape  Florida,  for  want 
of  hands  to  work  her. 

The  French,  in  the  following  year,  attacked  and  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  Fort  Prince  William,  at  Pcma- 
quid,  and  destroyed  all  the  English  settlements  in  Nova 
Scotia,  excepting  those  of  St,  Johns,  Bonavistaand  Car- 


^200  CHAPTER.  tl696- 

boniere  harbor,  and  the  English  re-took  Fort  Bourbon 
(Nelson,)  in  Hudson  bay. 

The  small  pox  raged  among  the  Pamplico  Indians, 
and  considerably  reduced  that  tribe. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year,  governor  Archdalc 
returned  home,  leaving  the  administration  of  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  province,  in  the  hands  of  Thomas  Harvey, 
as  deputy  governor. 

This  year  was  established,  in  England,  the  board  of 
the  lord's  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations,  the 
affairs  of  the  colonies  being  at  this  time,  too  considera- 
ble and  important  to  be  managed,  as  part  of  the  concerns 
of  any  of  the  departments.  Wit^  this  board,  the  go- 
vernors of  the  colonies  were  directed  to  hold  a  constant 
correspondence,  and  to  transmit  to  it,  the  journals  of 
their  comicils  and  assemblies,  the  accounts  of  the  collec- 
tor of  the  customs  and  naval  officers. 

Parliament  now  laid  additional  restrictions  on  the 
trade  of  the  colonists.  By  the  statute  7  and  8,  W.  and 
M.  c.  22,  it  was  enacted,  that  no  commodity  should,  af- 
ter the  28th  of  March,  1698,  be  exported  to,  or  im- 
ported from,  the  plantations,  to  England,  Waltrs  or 
Berwick-upon-Tweed,  except  in  vessels  built  in  Eng- 
land, Ireland  or  tiie  plantations,  owned  by  the  king's 
subjects,  and  navigated  by  a  master  and  crew,  three- 
fourths  of  whom,  at  least,  should  bi-  British  subjects;  an 
exception  was  made  in  iavor  of  prize  vessels.  The 
execution  of  the  revenue  laws  was  enforced  by  very  se^ 
vere  penalties.  Persons,  charged  with  ai\y  offence 
against  them,  were  made  liable  to  be  tried  in  any  part  of 
the  colonies,  in  which  the  officer  or  informer  might 
allege  it  to  have  been  committed  i  and  they  were  depriv- 
ed of  a  trial  de  medietate  iinguce.     Commodities  of 


1696]        '  THE  TENTH.  2QI 

the  s^roTvth  and  produce  of  the  plantations,  were  forbid- 
den to  be  landed  in  Ireland  or  Scotland,  till  after  they 
had  been  landed,  and  the  duties  thereon  paid  in  England, 
Wales  or  Berwick-upon-Tweed.  The  appointments  of 
the  governors  of  the  proprietary  provinces  were  re-^P" 
quired  to  be  proposed  to,  and  approved  by  the  king ; 
and  the  proprietors  of  these  provinces  were  forbidden 
from  selling  land  to  any  but  the  king's  natural  born 
subjects  of  England,  Ireland,  Wales,  or  Berwick-upon- 
Twxed,  without  the  king's  license.  The  governors,  in 
every  colony,  were  specially  charged  to  see  the  revenue 
laws  carried  into  complete  operation ;  all  laws,  customs 
and  usages,  in  practice  in  any  of  the  plantations,  were 
declared  to  be  void  and  of  no  effect.  Juries  were  re- 
quired to  be  composed  of  natural  born  subjects  of  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  or  the  plantations,  and  the  informer,  or 
prosecutor,  was  permitted  to  allege  the  offence  to  have 
been  committed  in  any  colony,  province,  county,  pre- 
cinct or  district,  in  the  plantations. 

Although  no  design,  on  the  part  of  the  ministry,  of 
taxing  any  of  the  colonies,  at  so  early  a  period  as  this,  can 
be  ascertained,  about  this  time  a  pamphlet  was  pub-  ^ 

lished  in  England,  recommending  a  parliamentary  tax    ^^ 
on  one  of  them.     This  pamphlet  was  answered  by  two 
others,  which  totally  denied  the  power  of  taxing  the  col- 
onies, because  they  had  no  representatives  in  parliament 
to  give  consent. 

Preparations  being  made  in  France,  for  sending  a  coL 
ony  to  the  Mississippi,  the  king  of  Spain  sent  don  An- 
dres de  Ariola,  to  Pensacola,  as  first  governor  of  the 
province.  Don  Andres  built  a  fort,  with  four  bastions  ; 
he  gave  it  the  name  of  St.  Charles,  and  erected  a 
church  and  a  few  hovels. 

N,    CARD.    26 


m.  CHAPTER  [169? 

Early  in  the  following  year,  a  French  fleet,  under 
commodore  de  Pointiz,  plundered  Carthagena,  de- 
stroved  its  forts,  and  carried  off  eight  millions  ot  crowns. 
A  little  before  his  landing,  ti  e  people  of  fashion,  and 
the  ecclesiastics  of  both  sexes,  had  retired  into  the 
country,  with  one  hundred  mules,  lad^n  with  treasure. 

On  t'«e  17th  of  April,  vice  admiral  N(-vil  arrived  at 
Barbadoes,  wi>h  a  ftect  of  En.^lish  and  Dutch  men  of 
war;  'hev  were  in  quest  of  Pointiz,  and  Fell  in  with  him, 
but  he  escaped  them.  The  fleet  cast  anchor  at  Cartha- 
gena,  which  had  hufftTed  so  much  from  the  visit  of  the 
French,  that  the  inhabitants  seriously  spoke  of  abandon- 
ing it.  From  thence,  the  fl.eet  proceeded  to  Hispaniola, 
Rear  admiral  Muse  was  sent  wnh  a  small  party  to  Petit 
Goave,  which  he  surprised.  The  inhabitants  flew  into 
the  woods,  and  the  soldiers  began  to  pillage  the  town, 
but  soon  grew  intoxicated  and  set  fire  to  it.  The  rear 
admiral  having  joined  the  fleet,  they  proceeded  t» 
Jamaica,  in  order  to  take  the  king's  ships  that  were  there, 
and  proceed  to  Havana,  in  order  to  meet  and  convey 
the  galleons  home.  The  governor  refused  to  allow  the 
fleet  to  enter  the  port,  even  to  permit  them  the  purchase 
of  some  provisions  they  were  in  want  of;  and  the  gene- 
ral of  the  marines  sent  word  to  vice  admiral  Nevil,  that 
his  orders  did  not  allow  him  to  avail  himself  of  the  offer 
to  convey  the  galleons.  Rear  admiral  Muse  and  a  num- 
ber of  English  captains  fell  victims  to  the  diseases  of 
the  climate.  The  fleet  proceeded  to  Virginia,  where 
the  vice  admiral  paid  the  last  debt  of  nature ;  and  Tho- 
mas Dicks,  the  only  commander  who  survived,  took  the 
command,  and  conveyed  hence  the  merchant  ships  that 
5ay  before  Jamestown. 


1697]  THE  TENTH.  gOS 

On  the  28th  of  September,  peace  was  concluded 
between  England  and  France.  Louis  XIV.  acknow- 
ledged William  III.  king  of  England,  and  engaged  not 
to  trouble  him,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment oi  hib  three  kingdoms,  nor  to  favor  in  any  dtgree^ 
any  person  that  might  pretend  to  have  any  claim  thereto. 
Mutual  rcbtitution  was  agreed  to  be  madt^,  of  II  coun- 
tries, forts  and  colonies,  taken  by  each  party  during  the 
war. 


Chalmers — History  of  South  Carolina — Marshall 


\ 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  peace  of  Riswick  was  scarcely  published  in 
America,  before  a  misunderstaading  l^egaii  to  manifest 
itself  between  the  agents  of  both  powers  in  the  tiew 
world.  The  French  claimed  the  exclusive  propt^rty  of 
the  fisheries,  and  of  every  part  of  the  country  to  the  east- 
ward of  Kennebeck.  The  English  lay  claim  to  all  the 
country  westward  of  St.  Croix,  as  being  within  the 
bounds  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts.  Governor 
Villebon  of  Acadia  informed  lieutenant  governor 
Slaughter  of  Massachusetts,  that  he  was  instructed  to 
consider  Kennebedc  river,  from  its  source  to  the  sea, 
as  the  boundary  between  the  two  nations. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1699,  d'Iberville,  ^with 
two  frigates  and  two  transports,)  sent  by  Louis  XIV.  to 
begin  the  settlement  of  Louisiana,  arrived  on  the  coast 
of  Florida,  and  built  a  fort  in  the  bay  of  Biloxi,  between 
that  of  Mobile  and  the  Mississippi :  this  was  the  first 
permanent  establishment  of  the  French  on  the  gulf  of 
Mexico :  it  continued,  with  steady  but  slow  improve- 
ment, till  the  cession  of  the  country  to  the  Spaniards, 
seventy  years  after. 

King  William  having,  in  the  year  1695,  at  the  request 
of  the  parliament  of  Scotland,  incorporated  a  company  in 
that  kingdom,  to  trade  to  Africa  and  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  they  projected  a  settlement  at  Darien ;  three  ships 


1699]  ~  CHAPTER.  20d 

and  two  tenders;  with  about  twelve  hundred  colonists, 
sailed  irom  the  Frith,  in  Scotland  ;  they  landed  on  the 
continent,  within  a  league  of  an  island  now  knov/n  as 
St.  Catherine's  island,  treated  with  the  natives,  and  with 
their  leave,  on  the  fourth  of  November,  took  possession 
of  a  tract  of  the  country  never  before  possessed  bv  any 
European  power,  where  they  built  a  fort,  and  be2:an  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  town,  to  be  called  New  Edinbur^^, 
and  they  named  the  settlement  Caledonia.  It  lav  near 
Panama  and  had  Portobeilo  on  one  side,  and  Carthao^ena 
on  the  oti^ei .  This  situation,  while  it  excited  in  Scotland 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  treasures  of  gold,  gready 
alarmed  the  Spaniards  a.id  tne  French,  and  Louis  XIV. 
offered  to  Charlts  11.  a  fleet  to  de-.trov  the  Scots.  Both 
nations  complained  to  king  William,  who  too  readily 
hearkened  to  their  representations.  Accordingly,  the 
next  spring,  Sir  William  Bereton,  governor  of  Jamaica, 
issued  hii  proclamation,  imnoriing,  that  the  king,  con- 
siderins:  the  settlement  of  Darien  as  a  vicjlation  of  his 
treaties  with  his  allies,  all  the  king's  subjects  were  for- 
bidden to  hold  any  correspondence  with  the  Scots  at 
Caledonia,  or  to  give  them  any  assistance.  The  go- 
vernors of  Barbadoes,  New- York  and  Massachusetts, 
issued  similar  proclamations,  and  the  settlement  was 
abandoned. 

The  administration  of  the  government  of  the  northern 
part  of  Carolina  devolved  on  Henderson  Walker,  by 
the  death  of  Thomas  Harvey,  in  1699,  and  a  material 
alteration  took  place  in  the  judiciary.  Hitherto,  the 
general  court  had  been  holden  by  the  chief  magistrate, 
the  deputies  of  the  lords  proprietors,  and  two  assistants : 
a  commission  was  now  issued,  appointing  five  persons 
justices  of  the  supreme  court,  two  of  whom  were  ot  the 


206  CHAPTER  [1«99 

quorum,  the  presence  of  one  of  whom  was  necessary 
for  constituting  the  court. 

Government  being  informed,  that  captain  Kidd,  who 
had  fitted  out  an  armed  vessel,  called  the  Adventure 
Gaily,  and  had  obtained  a  commission,  authorizing  him 
to  capture  pirates  and  seize  their  vessels  and  goods,  ex- 
ercised notorious  piracies,  rear  admiral  Benlow  had  par- 
ticular orders  to  look  for  him,  and  seize  him  and  his 
crew,  with  his  vessel  and  goods,  in  order  that  an  ex- 
ample might  be  made.  The  history  of  this  man  was 
this  :  a  number  of  confederated  pirates,  mostly  English, 
infesting  the  East  India  scas»  and  having  taken  a  ship  of 
the  great  mogul,  die  company  communicated  to  govern- 
ment their  apprehensions,  that  this  prince  might  grant 
letters  of  reprisals  to  his  subjects,  and  it  was  determined 
to  destroy  these  pirates,  who  took  shelter  in  hidden 
creeks  in  the  island  of  Madagascar.  A  ship  was  ac- 
cordingly fitted  out,  and  the  command  of  her  given  to 
Kidd,  who  knew  the  retreats  of  the  pirates,  and  was 
supposed  in  all  respects  to  be  well  qualified  to  attack 
them.  Government  appropriated,  however,  no  fund 
for  his  armament ;  the  king  proposed  to  interest  in  it 
such  individuals  as  might  be  wilUng  to  supply  the  means; 
he  offered  to  subscribe  three  hundred  pounds  himself, 
and  charged  his  ministers  to  look  for  adventurers. 
Lord  Somers,  the  earls  of  Oxford,  Romney  and  Bella- 
mont  and  others,  furnished,  however,  all  the  funds  ;  the 
king  having  found  the  means  of  avoiding  to  take  any  in- 
terest, by  making  an  abandonment  of  the  proceeds  of  all 
captures  to  the  adventurers. 

Kidd  sailed,  and  news  reached  England  some  time 
after,  that,  instead  of  pursuing  the  pirates,  he  was  himself 
engaged  in  piratical  pursuits,  committing  great  depreda- 


1699]  THE  ELEVENTH.  207 

tions  in  the  West  Indies,  and  alon^  the  coast  of  the  con- 
tinent. The  ministers,  and  lord  Somers  principally, 
were  highly  blamed,  and  it  was  maliciously  insinuated, 
that  Kidd  would  not  have  dared  to  engage  in  thcbc  pira- 
cies, if  he  had  not  depended  on  the  protection  of  those, 
who  had  supplied  the  means  for  the  expedition. 

Rear  admiral  Benlow  proceeded  to  Carthagena,  with 
four  men  of  war,  where  he  compelled  the  governor  to 
release  several  merchantmen,  which  the  Spaniards  had 
taken,  on  account  of  the  settlement  made  by  the  Scotch 
at  Darien.  The  rear  admiral,  having  anchored  at  Ja- 
maica, was  pressed  by  the  governor  and  merchants  to 
requi-e  from  the  Spanish  admiral,  some  reparation  for 
the  injuries  the  commerce  of  the  king's  subjects  had  of 
late  sustained  in  the  West  Indies,  by  frequent  captures^ 
For  this  purpose,  he  proceeded  to  Portobello :  the 
Spanish  admiral  found  an  excuse  for  the  excesses  of  his 
countrymen,  in  confounding  the  interest  of  the  English 
with  that  of  the  Scotch.  No  satisfaction  could  be  ob- 
tained. The  rear  admiral  returned  to  Jamaica,  where 
hearing  that  Kidd  had  lately  been  seen  in  those  seas,  he 
went  in  quest  of  him.  In  his  cruize,  he  anchored  at  St. 
Thomas,  to  expostulate  with  the  Danish  governor,  who 
was  said  to  afford  shelter  to  Kidd,  and  other  pirates  who 
infested  the  sea :  he  received  a  very  unsatisfactory  an- 
swer ;  but  as  he  had  no  order  to  proceed  to  extremities, 
he  was  compelled  to  dissimulate.  He  next  proceeded 
to  New- York,  where  he  was  informed,  that  the  earl  of 
Bellamond,  governor  of  that  province,  had  sent  Kidd  to 
England,  with  a  considerable  part  of  his  booty.  At- 
tempts were  made  to  induce  this  man  to  implicate  the 
lords  who  had  procured  him  the  king's  commission, 
but  however  irregular  might  have  been  his  conduct,  he 


•208  CHAPTER  ^  [1699 

had  honesty  enough  to  refrain  from  accusing  innocent 
persons  :  he  was  tried  at  tiie  old  bailey,  with  several  of 
his  accomplices,  convicted,  executed,  and  hung  in 
chains. 

Dr.  Cox,  of  New  Jersey,  proprietor  of  the  province 
of  Carolana,  fitted  out  two  ships,  provided  with  twenty 
great  guns,  sixteen  patereros,  abundance  of  small  arms, 
ammunition,  stores  and  provisions  of  all  sorts,  not  only 
for  the  use  of  those  on  board,  and  for  discovery  by  sea, 
but  also  for  building  a  fortification  and  settling  a  colony ; 
there  being,  in  both  vessels,  besides  sailors  and 
common  men,  above  thirty  Eni^lish  and  French  volun- 
teers, **some  noblemen  and  all  gentlemen."  One  ship 
entered  the  Mississippi,  and  meeting  a  party  of  French- 
men, by  whom  they  were  pursued,  the  people  on  board 
were  persuaded  that  they  had  mistaken  the  stream  they 
were  on,  for  the  Mississippi :  they  returned  to  sea. 
The  place  in  which  they  met  the  French  was,  from  this 
circumstance,  called  the  English  Turn. 

The  attention  of  the  colonists,  in  some  of  the  north- 
ern provinces,  had  been  drawn  to  the  raising  of  wool, 
and  the  manufacture  of  some  coarse  kinds  of  cloth  :  this 
sign  of  incipient  prosperity  was  noticed  in  England  with 
a  jealous  eye  ;  and  with  a  view  to  depress  the  enterpri- 
sing spirit  of  the  colonists,  which  tended  not  only  to  free 
them  from  their  dependence  on  the  manufactures  of 
England,  but  to  enable  them,  in  course  of  time,  to  rival 
those  in  the  West  India  market,  and  in  order  to  compel 
the  shipment  of  a  greater  quantity  of  the  wool  raised  in 
America  to  the  mother  country,  a  statute  was  now 
passed  (10  &  11  of  W.  &:  M.  3)  prohibiting  the  trans- 
portation  of  wool,  or  any  article  manufactured  out  of 


1699]  THE  ELEVENTH.  209 

wool,  from  one  of  the  American  provinces  to  another, 
by  land  or  water.  These  instructions  were  guanled  by 
very  severe  penalties,  made  recoverable  in  the  courts  of 
Westminster ;  and  the  governors  were  strictly  charged 
to  prevent  the  statute  being  eluded.  By  this  mean,  the 
industry  of  the  colonists  was  confined  to  very  narrov/ 
limits,  and  was  prevented  from  extending  beyond  the 
manufacture  of  such  coarse  household  goods,  as  a  family 
might  make  for  its  own  use,  or  that  of  some  of  its 
neighbors  in  the  same  province. 

Complaints  being  made  by  the  court  of  France,  of 
irruptions  by  the  Indians  in  alliance  with  England,  on 
the  back  settlements  of  the  French  in  Canada,  orders 
were  despatched  to  lord  Bellamont,  governor  of  New- 
York,  to  forbid  any  act  of  hostility  against  the  French  in 
Canada,  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  the  circum- 
stances, which  had  caused  the  complaints  of  the  court  of 
France,  that  the  Indians  of  the  five  nations  should  be 
disarmed,  as  far  as  he  and  the  governor  of  Canada  should 
deem  proper,  and  his  lordship  was  directed  to  live  in 
good  understanding  with  the  French,  till  the  commis- 
sioners, appointed  under  the  treaty  of  Riswick,  should 
agree  on  measures  that  would  ensure  a  continuance  of 
peace. 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1699,  the  board  of  trade 
reported  to  the  king,  that  his  attorney-general,  upon  the 
perusal  of  letters  patent  and  conveyances,  produced  to 
him  by  doctor  Coxe,  had  given  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
the  doctor  had  a  good  title  to  the  province  of  Carolana, 
extending  from  the  31st  to  the  36th  degree  of  north 
latitude,  inclusive,  on  the  continent  of  America,  and 
several  adjacent  islands. 

N.  CARO.       27 


^10  CHAPTER  [nO« 

By  this  report,  the  king  and  his  council  unanimously 
agreed,  that  the  doctor's  design  of  settling  his  province, 
should  be  speedily  encouraged  and  promoted. 

His  majesty  told  the  doctor's  son,  he  would  leap  over 
twenty  stumbling  blocks,  rather  than  not  to  effect  an 
English  settlement  on  the  Mississippi,  and  assured  him, 
that  he  not  only  would  receive  public  encouragement, 
but  that  six  or  eight  hundred  French  refugees,  or  Van- 
dois,  would  be  transported  there,  at  the  expense  of  the 
crown,  to  join  such  of  his  subjects  as  could  be  induced 
to  remove  and  begin  a  settlement  thither. 

Lord  Lonsdale,  the  lord  privy  seal,  was  among  the 
most  distinguished  patrons  of  this  undertaking  ;  he  of- 
fered to  assist  the  design  with  two  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  or  a  ship  of  two  hundred  tons,  with  one  hun- 
dred persons,  of  whatever  trade  or  employment  might 
be  thought  most  convenient,  and  to  provide  them  with 
provisions  and  necessary  tools  and  instruments  of  agri- 
culture, for  one  year.  The  death  of  this  nobleman  soon 
after,  and  that  of  his  sovereign  within  a  short  period, 
put  an  end  to  the  hopes  of  the  doctor. 

The  coast  of  the  continent,  particularly  that  of  Caro- 
lina, continued  to  be  infested  with  pirates,  wiio  commit- 
ted great  depredations;  several  vessels  belonging  t« 
Charleston  were  taken,  and  kept  as  prizes,  and  the  crews 
sent  ashore.  A  ship  had  been  fitted  out  at  the  Havana^ 
to  cruise  on  the  coast  of  Carolina,  the  crew  of  which 
was  composed  of  Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Portuguese 
and  Indians ;  after  a  successful  course  of  piracy,  the 
motley  crew  quarrelled  about  the  division  of  their  booty, 
and  the  Englishmen,  nine  in  number,  being  the  weakest 
part  of  the  crew,  were  turned  adrift  in  the  long-boat; 
they  landed  on  Sewel  bay,  and  proceeding  thence  to 


1700]  THE  ELEVENTH.  211 

Charleston,  were  recognized  by  the  master  of  a  ship 
which  they  had  captured,  and  were  taken  up,  tried 
and  executed. 

With  a  view  to  purine  the  sea  of  these  marauders,  par- 
liament  passed  a  statute  (11  and  12  W.  III.  c.  7)  au- 
thorizing commissioners  appointed  by  the  king,  exclu- 
sively to  take  coiJ:nizance  of  piracies  in  proprietary  go- 
vernmeiits  in  America:  a  forfeiture  of  the  charter  was 
denounced,  in  all  cases  in  which  the  governors  should 
refuse  their  aid  to  the  commissioners.  By  a  statute  of 
the  same  year,  (c.  12,)  governors  of  the  colonies,  guilty 
of  oppression  or  any  offence  against  the  laws,  within 
their  own  (j:overnment,  were  directed  to  be  tried  in  the 

'.0  ' 

court  oi  ki  ig's  bench,  in  England,  or  before  commis^ 
sioner.-:  appointed  by  the  king  in  any  county  in  it. 

in  \Tjt  month  oi' January,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blair,  a  minis- 
ter of  the  church  of  England,  was  sent  by  lord  Wey- 
mouth as  an  itinerant  missionarv,  to  reside  in  the  north- 
ern  part  of  the  province  of  Carolina  :  his  lordship  allow- 
ed hmi  a  s-ilary  of  one  hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  he 
is  the  first  settled  minister  of  whom  an  account  has  been 
preserved.  He  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  mission 
with  great  diligence  ;  but  the  people  were  settled  on  so 
distant  plantations  along  the  rivers,  that  he  was  obliged  to 
be  continually  travelling  from  place  to  place,  which 
could  not  possibly  be  done  without  a  guide,  on  account 
of  the  badness  of  the  roads,  the  difficulty  of  finding  the 
wav,  and  the  vast  wilderness  between  the  plantations, 
many  of  which  were  at  the  distance  of  forty  miles  from 
each  other  ;  the  whole  population  not  exceeding,  at  this 
time,  five  thousand  souls,  and  the  inhabited  part  of  the 
country  was  about  one  hundred  mil  s  square.  He  was 
very  useful  in  reviving  a  sense  of  religion  among  the 


212  CHAPTER  [1701 

people,  and  during  his  st^y  an  act  of  assembly  was 
passed  for  building  three  churches.  He  found  the  labor 
of  continual  travelling,  during  the  extreme  heat  of  the 
summer,  and  the  alternate  and  rapid  vicissitudes  of  cold 
and  heat  during  the  remainder  of  the  year,  beyond  his 
strength  of  body  :  he  attempted  to  fix  his  residence  in 
one  of  the  middle  precincts,  and  offered  to  officiate  to 
those  who  would  come  to  him,  but  the  people  were  dis- 
satisfied  with  this,  and  complained  that  he  acted  contrary 
to  the  wishes  of  lord  Weymouth,  who  intended  his 
charity  for  the  whole  colony.  At  leitgth,  he  found  it  so 
difficult  to  give  satisfaction,  and  to  endure  the  hardships 
of  his  situation,  that  he  returned  to  England,  quite  sunk 
\yith  poverty  and  sickness. 

This  year,  a  society  for  propagating  the  gospel  in 
foreign  parts,  was  formed  in  England,  and  received  the 
king's  charter. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  king  James  died.  Louis 
XIV.  gave  to  his  son  (since  called  the  pretender)  the 
title  and  honors  of  king  of  England.  This  was  a  tacit 
engagement  to  support  this  prince,  in  violation  of  one 
of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Riswick,  King  William 
became  exasperated  at  it,  and  considered  the  conduct  of 
Louis  as  a  provocation  to  war.  It  must,  however,  be 
admitted,  that  the  English  monarch  had  not  waited  for 
this  event  to  declare  himself  against  France.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year,  negotiations  had  been  commenced 
between  him,  the  emperor,  and  the  States  General,  and 
had  been  concluded  and  signed  a  very  few  days  before 
the  death  of  James. 

A.  rupture  having  taken  place  between  England  and 
Spain,  governor  Moore,  of  the  southern  part  of  Caro- 
lina, proposed  to  the  legislature  to  undertake  an  expedi- 


1702]  THE  ELEVENTH.  213 

tion  a«'ainst  the  Spanish  settlement  at  St.  Augustine. 
The  proposition  was  acceded  to,  and  about  nine  thou- 
sand dollars  were  voted  for  the  expense  attending  it : 
six  hundred  militia  were  raised,  and  an  equal  number  of 
Indians  engaged,  and  vessels  impressed.  The  forces 
were  collected  at  Port  Royal,  which  was  the  place  of 
general  rendezvous,  and  in  the  month  ol  September,  the 
governor  embarked  with  part  of  the  forces,  with  a  view 
to  block  up  die  harbor,  and  colonel  Robert  Daniel,  a 
landgrave  of  the  province,  proceeded  by  land  with  the 
rest,  to  make  a  descent  on  the  town.  The  colonel  ar- 
rived, entered  and  plundered  the  town,  before  the  vessels 
made  their  appearance,  and  the  Spaniards  seasonably  re- 
tired to  the  castle,  with  their  money  and  other  valuable 
effects.  Governor  Moore,  on  his  arrival,  found  it  im- 
possible  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  for  want  of  artillery, 
and  despatched  the  colonel  to  Jamaica  to  fetch  some : 
in  the  mean  while,  two  Spanish  men  of  war  appearino:, 
the  governor  raised  the  siege,  and  made  a  hasty  retreat 
to  Charleston. 

About  thirty  thousand  dollars  were  due  to  the  troops, 
and  the  nine  thousand  voted  by  the  legislature  were  ex- 
pended. To  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  time,  an  act  of 
assembly  was  passed,  for  the  emission  of  paper  money. 
In  order  to  sink  the  bills,  a  tax  was  laid  on  Hquors,  skins 
and  furs,  which  it  was  believed  would  enable  the  pro- 
vince to  take  up  all  the  paper  then  put  in  circulation,  in 
three  years.  This  was  the  first  instance  of  a  pajx^r  cur- 
rency in  Carolina,  and  the  second  in  the  English  Ame- 
rican provinces.  Two  years  after,  a  similar  emission 
took  place  in  the  island  of  Barbadoes. 

The  proprietors  of  East  Jersey  and  West  Jersey, 
finding  it  dilficult  to  govern  their  provinces,  to  the  satis- 


^14  CHAPTER  [1702 

faction  of  the  settlers,  or  their  own  interest,  resigned  the 
government  of  them  to  the  crown  :  they  were  erected 
into  one  royal  province,  which  was  called  New  Jersey, 
and  lord  Cornbury  was  appointed  the  first  p;overnor  of  it. 

On  the  llih  of  March,  king  William  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  queen  Anne. 

On  the  demise  of  the  king,  the  European  possessions 
on  the  northern  continent  of  America,  were  extended  on 
the  sea  shore  over  almost  all  the  country  they  covered  at 
the  declaration  of  independence.  With  the  single  ex- 
ception of  the  province  of  Georgia,  all  the  provinces  that 
joined  in  this  instrument,  were  now  occupitd.  The 
reader  has  seen,  that  besides  the  pur«?uits  of  agriculture, 
navigation  and  commerce,  a  part  of  the  settlers  began  to 
seek  their  livelihood  Dv  manufactures,  and  that  their  sue- 
cess  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  mother  country, 
who,  alarmed  at  the  rapid  advances  of  the  colonists  in  this 
respect,  had  sought  to  check  their  enterprising  spirit  by 
parliamentary  restrictions  :  and  he  must  have  viewed 
with  interest  and  pleasure,  the  early  development  of 
that  spirit  of  liberty  and  independence,  which  he  will 
observe  in  the  short  space  of  three  fourths  of  a  century, 
bursting  into  a  flame. 

The  population  of  the  English  provinces  amounted, 
according  to  an  enumeration  made  about  two  years  be- 
fore the  present  period,  to  two  hundn^d  and  sixty-two 
thousand  souls,  nearly  one  half  of  whom  were  in  that 
part  of  the  continent  known  under  the  name  of  New 
England. 

The  French  establishment  of  New  France,  in  Canada 
and  Acadia  did  not  contain  twenty  thousand  souls  : 
they  carried  on  a  very  extensive  trade  with  the  western 
Indians,  from  whom  they  obtained  vast  quantities  of  fur. 


1705]  THE  ELEVENTH.  ^  215 

The  settlement  of  Louisiana,  was  as  yet  confined  to  a 
fort  on  the  bay  of  Biloxi,  and  a  few  scattered  plantations 
near  it. 

The  Spaniards  had  began  to  occupy  Florida,  by  other 
improvements  than  the  erection  of  a  few  forts  along  the 
coast,  to  which  they  had  confined  themselves  for  a  cen- 
tury, after  their  first  occupation  of  the  country  ;  the 
settlements  at  St.  Augustine  and  Pensacola,  which  at 
this  day  constitute  almost  the  only  portions  of  Florida 
as  yet  improved,  were  formed.  Under  the  guns  of  the 
castle  of  St.  Augustine,  a  small  town  had  reared  itself,  a 
circumstance  which  evinces  that  some  little  attention 
was  paid  to  agriculture  in  the  neighboring  waste. 

The  colony  of  Bermuda  was  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. 

In  the  West  Indies,  the  French  had  a  population,  in 
three  several  islands,  of  three  thousand  whites  and  forty- 
five  thousand  blacks.  There  are  no  documents,  from 
which  the  number  of  people  in  the  English  West  India 
islands,  can  be  ascertained. 

The  Spaniards  possessed  the  islands  of  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  and  one  half  of  that  of  Hispaniola. 

After  these  nations,  no  other  had  settlements  in  the 
West  India  islands. 


Chalmers — History  of  South  CaroUna'-^MarshalL 


CHAPTER  XII. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  queen  Anne's  reign  was  a 
*JecIaration    of  war  against  France  and  Spain:  it 
took  place  on  the  11th  of  May,  1702.  The  preamhle 
of  this  instrument   begins    by  a   reference  to   the 
usurpations  and  encroachments  of  Louis  XIV.,  who 
is  stated  to  have  taken  and  kept   possession  of  a 
great  part  of  the  Spanish  dominions,  exercising  an 
absohite  power  in  that  monarchy ,  having  seized 
Milan  and  the  Spanish  Netherlands  by  his  arms, 
and  made  himself  master  of  Cadiz,  of  the  entrance 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  of  part  of  the  Spanish 
East  Indies,  by  his  fleets.     It  charges  the  French 
monarch  with  the  design  of  invading  the  liberties  of 
Europe,  and  to  obstruct  the  freedom  of  the  naviga- 
tion and  commerce  of  the  world.    It  recites  the  lale 
treaty  of  alliance  with  the  empire,  the  States  Gene- 
ral and  other  powers,  in  which  it  is  stipulated,  that 
if  the  injuriescomplained  of  are  not  redressed  within 
a  certain  time,  now  elapsed,  the  parties  concerned 
shall  assist  each  other,  v*^ith  their  whole  strength; 
and  concluding  with  the  real,  the  last,  though  not 
the  least  cause  of  the  war,  that  the  French  king, 
instead  of  giving  the   satisfaction  wdiich  he  owed, 
had  not  only  proceeded  to  fresh  violences,  but  had 
added  a  great  affront  and  indignity  to  the  queen 


1703]  THE  TWnELPTH.  217 

and  her  kingdom,  by  declaring  the  pretender  king 
of  Great  Britain. 

The  Apalachian  Indians,  excited  by  the  Spaniards 
at  St.  Augustine,  making  frequent  incursions  on  the 
western  settle  nents  of  Carolina,  governor  Moore 
marched  into  the  heart  of  their  settlements,  and 
laid  waste  their  towns  between  the  rivers  Savannah 
and  Alabama,  and  killed  or  captured  several 
hundreds  of  the  enemy. 

Lord  Granville  was  now  the  palatine  of  Carolina: 
though  the  form  of  constitution  framed  by  Locke 
had  for  several  years  been  set  aside,  the  office 
of  palatine  and  the  dignities  of  landgrave  and 
cacique  were  preserved  as  long  as  the  proprietary 
government  continued.  The  palatine,  being  a 
zealous  member  of  the  church  of  England,  exerted 
all  his  influence  to  establish  on  a  legal  footing  the 
worship  of  that  church  in  the  province.  xAccording- 
ly,  he  instructed  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  who  suc- 
ceeded governor  Moore,  to  promote  the  passage  of 
a  law  for  this  purpose.  Another  reason  powerfully 
operated  on  the  mind  of  Sir  Nathaniel:  the  queen 
had  opposed  his  appointment  to  the  government  of 
Carolina,  on  a  suspicion  of  his  entertaining  senti- 
ments unfavorable  to  the  revolution,  and  had  given 
at  last  her  assent  on  condition  of  his  qiialifying  him- 
self for  the  office  in  the  manner  required  by  the 
laws  of  England,  and  his  giving  security,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and 
plantations,  for  his  faithful  observance  of  the  laws 
of  trade  and  navigation,  and  his  obedience  to  such 
instructions  as  she  might  from  time  to  time  give  him. 
He  was   directed   to   appoint  a  deputy  governor 

N.  CARO.      28 


nt  CHAPTER  [nos 

for  the  northern  part  of  the  province :  in  disposing 
of  land,  he  was  instr-jcted  to  require  twenty  pounds 
sterling:  for  every  thoUvS^^nd  acres,  and  to  make  it  a 
condition  to  be  inserted  in  the  p^rant,  that  the  pre 
mises  should  revert  to  the  lords  proprietors,  if  not 
settled  within  four  years;  but,  the  most  important 
object  recommended  to  the  attention  of  the  new 
governor,  was  the  establishment  of  the  church  of 
England  in  the  province.  Both  parts  of  it  were  in 
a  deplorable  state  as  to  religion;  sucli  of  the  inha- 
bitants as  were  born,  or  had  grown  up  to  manhood, 
in  Carolina,  were  almost  utter  strangers  to  any 
public  worship  of  the  Deity.  Among  the  first  emi- 
grants, some  sense  of  religion  had  been  for  a  while 
preserved,  but  the  next  generation,  reared  in  a 
wilderness  in  which  divine  service  was  hardly  ever 
performed,  and  where  private  devotions  cannot  be 
supposed  to  have  been  much  attended  to,  were 
rather  remarkable  for  loose,  licentious  principles, 
and  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion were  often  treated  with  the  ridicule  and 
contempt  of  professed  infidelity.  The  population 
of  the  colony  was  composed  of  individuals  of  dif- 
ferent nations,  and  consequently  of  various  sects; 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  Dutch  Lutherans,  French 
Calvinists,  Irish  Catholics,  Enghsh  Churchmen^ 
Quakers  and  Dissenter*;  emigrants  from  Bermuda 
and  the  West  Indies,  which,  from  their  late  settle- 
ments, could  not  be  places  remarkable  for  the 
education  of  young  people,  in  Christianity  and 
morality. 

Governor  Johnston,   assisted   by   the   principal 
officers  of  the  southern  part  of  the  province,  exerted 


1703]  THE  TWELFTH.  St^ 

his  influence  with  so  much  success,  as  to  procure 
the  eiecuon  of  a  sufficient  number  of  persons, 
dis nosed  to  forward  his  views. 

Notwithstinditifi:  the  great  opposition  which  the 
bill  received,  it  passed  into  a  law.  The  southern 
part  of  Carolina  was  divided  into  ten  parishes,  and 
provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  ministers, 
thf^i  erection  oi'  chijrches  and  glebes;  and  an  act 
was  passed,  requiring  members  of  assembly  to  con- 
form to  the  religious  worship  in  the  province,  ac- 
corling  to  the  church  of  England,  and  to  receive  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  according  to  th« 
rites  a! id  usages  of  that  church. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  county  of  Colleto!),  which 
was  cidefly  settled  by  dissenters,  sent  John  Ashe,  an 
influential  character  among  them,  and  the  grandsire 
of  Samuel  Ashe,  who  was  governor  in  North  Carolina 
in  179^',  to  lay  their  ^^rievances  before  the  lords 
proprietors.  The  s^overnor  succeeded  in  prevent- 
ing this  gentleman  obtaining  a  passage  in  any  of  the 
ships  in  Charleston:  he  was  compelled  to  travel  by 
land  to  Virginia,  where  he  embarked.  On  his  way, 
he  stopped  in  the  county  of  Albemarle,  where  he 
was  received  with  great  respect  and  cordiality,  and 
the  people,  feeling  the  same  interest  as  his  consti- 
tuents in  the  object  of  his  mission,  prevailed  on 
Edmund  Porter  to  accompany  him,  in  order  to  aid 
by  the  representations  of  tiie  people  of  the  northern 
part  of  the  province,  the  object  which  the  people 
of  Carolina  had  much  at  heart. 

The  palatine  received  the  emissaries  of  their 
lordships'  vassals  in  America  with  considerable  cold- 
ness.    Unable  to  effect  the  object  of  his  mission, 


220  CHAPTER  ^170;^ 

hy    his    representaiiori   to   the   lords    proprietors, 
John  Ashe,  finding  lh«i  public  sentjaif  nt  in  his  favor, 
determined  on  raising  it  into  action,  by  a  candid 
representation  of  the  grievances  oi  his  eonstituf  nts; 
but   death    prevented    the    intended   appeal.      Hi* 
papers  fell  into  -he  hands  of  those  wtio  had  an  inte- 
rest to  suppress  the  expression  of  hs  sentiments* 
Bent  upon  carrying  the  palatine's  views  into  exe- 
cution, governor  Johnson  overcame  every  obstacle 
in    his  way,     A  corporation,  composed  of  twentj 
individuals,  was  instituted,  with  power  to  e  ercis« 
high    ecclesiastical    jurisdiction.      Authority    wa8 
given  it,  to  deprive  ministers  of  their  livings,  and 
the  acts  of  the  legislature,  of  vviiich  John  Ashe  had 
gone  to  procure  the  repeal,  were  executed  whh 
great  zeal  and  rigor.     The  dissenters  were  exas- 
perated :  a  migration  to  Pennsylvania  was  spoken 
of,  but  it  was  at  last  determined   to  send  Joseph 
Boon  to  England,  with  a  petition  to  the  house  of 
lords.     On  the    introduction  of  this    petition,   the 
house,  on  the  motion  of  lord  Granville,  the  palatine 
of  Carohna  heard  counsel,  al  its  bar,  in  behalf  of 
the  lords  proprietors,  and  after  some  debate,  came 
to  a  resolution,  that  the  laws  complained  of  were 
founded  on  falsity  in  matter  of  fact,  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England,  contrary  to  the  charter  of  the  lords 
proprietor^,  an  encouragement  to  atheism  and  irre- 
ligion,  destructive  to  trade,  and  tended  to  the  ruin 
and  ^population  of  the  province.     The  lords  next 
addressed   the   queen,   beseeching  her  to   use  the 
most  effectual   means   to  deliver  the    province   of 
Carolina  from  the    "arbitrary    oppression    under 
which  it  lay,  and  to  order  the  proprietors  of  it  to 


17031  THE  TWELFTH.  £21 

be  pf-osecutecl  accordiiio;  lo  law."  The  subject  was 
referred  to  t'le  lords  commishioners  of  trade  and 
plantations,  who  reported,  t^iat  the  facts  stated  in 
the  petition  were  true;  that  the  powers  granted  by 
the  charier,  had  been  abused;  that  the  grantees 
h'ld  isicurred  a  forfeiture  of  it,  and  recommended 
that  process  might  be  ordered  to  issue  accordingly 
against  their  lordships.  The  queen's  law  servants 
were  thereupon  directed  to  procnre  a  writ  of  quo 
warranto^  and  to  report  what  might  more  effectual  I  j 
be  done,  in  order  that  the  queen  might  take  the 
government  of  Carolina  into  her  own  iiands.  1  he 
matter  was,  however,  abandoned,  and  no  step  was 
taken  to  annul  the  charter,  or  relieve  the  people. 

The  French  in  Canada  began  new  hostilities  on 
the  frontier:  in  the  month  of  July,  a  body  of  ^\q 
hundred  French  and  Indians,  in  various  parties, 
attacked  all  the  settlements  from  Casco  to  Wells, 
and  killed  and  took  one  ijundred  and  thirty  people, 
burning  and  destroying  rI!  before  them. 

Hostilities  immediately  began  in  the  West  Indies. 
Rear  admiral  Benlow  took  a  Spanish  man  of  war, 
carrying  the  governor  of  Ca  thagena.  In  the  sum- 
mer, he  destroyed  a  number  of  French  vessels  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  sent  captain  Leake  to  New- 
foundland, where  he  took  or  destroyed  eleven 
French  merchantmen. 

In  the  month  of  March  following,  he  attacked 
Guadeloupe,  where  he  burnt  several  plantations, 
and  drove  the  inhabitants  from  Basseterre;  from 
whence  he  retired  with  a  considerably  booty. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  1704,  Hertel  de  Neu- 
▼ille,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  three  hundred  French 


222  CHAPTER  £1704 

and  Indians,  surprised  and  burnt  the  town  of  Deer- 
field,  in  Connecticut,  slew  above  forty  persons,  and 
made  one  hundred  prisoners. 

In  the  summer,  colonel  Benchurch  sailed  from 
Boston-  with  five  hundred  and  fifty  Svddiers,  des- 
troyed the  towns  of  Morris  and  Chebucto,  and  did 
considerable  damage  to  the  French  and  Indians  in 
Penobscot  and  Passamaquoddy. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  president  Walker  died. 
During  his  administration,  we  are  informed  by  the 
stone  that  covers  his  remains,  the  proviiice  enjoyed 
perfect  order  and  tranquility.  On  hearing  of  his 
death,  Sir  Nathaniel  Johnson,  whose  commission 
extended  now  over  the  whole  province,  sent  Robert 
Daniel,  the  officer  who  had  seconded  governor 
Moore  in  the  late  attack  of  St.  Augustine,  to  suc- 
ceed president  Walker  as  deputy  governor  of  the 
Dorthern  part  of  Carolina. 

This  gentleman  had  it  in  charge,  to  procure  the 
establishment  of  the  church  of  England  by  legal 
authority.  The  bill  received  great  opposition,  but 
the  address  of  the  governor  secured  its  passage. 
The  act  provided,  among  other  things,  for  a  fine  on 
any  person  holding  a  place  of  trust,  who  should 
neglect  to  qualify  himself,  by  taking  the  oath 
required  by  law.  This  part  of  the  province  was 
now  divided  into  parishes,  and  provision  was  made 
for  the  building  of  churches,  laying  out  glebes,  and 
providing  for  the  maintenance  of  a  clergy.  The 
people,  not  quite  so  obsequious,  as  the  members  of 
the  legislature  had  been,  to  the  pleasure  of  governor 
Daniel,  manifested  an  immediate  intenlion  to  pre- 
vent the  execution  of  the  laws :  the  Quakers,  who 


1704]  THE  TWELFTH.  223 

composed  a  considerable  part  of  the  population  of 
the  precincts  of  Pasquotank  and  Perquimans, 
evinced  a  disposition  to  sacrifice  the  pacific  princi- 
ples of  their  sect,  to  the  preservation  of  their  rights. 
A  union  ^vas  formed  with  the  dissenters  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  province,  in  order  to  convey  to 
England  their  just  complaints  against  such  arbitrary 
and  oppressive  measures.  Their  petition  was  intro- 
duced, and  strongly  supported,  in  the  house  of  lords, 
and  the  peers  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  acts  of  the 
kgislature  of  Carolina,  requiring  conformity  to  the 
church  of  England,  were  "founded  on  falsity,  in  matter 
of  fact,  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,  contrary  to 
the  charter  of  the  proprietors,  an  encouragement  to 
atheism  and  irreligion,  detrimental  to  trade,  and  tended 
to  the  depopulation  and  ruin  of  the  province."  Queen 
Anne  declared  them  null  and  void. 

The  American  colonies  suffering  greatly  from  the 
different  value  of  coin,  in  the  provinces,  queen  Anne,  to 
create  a  uniformity,  in  this  respect,  this  year  issued  a 
proclamation  for  settling  and  ascertaining  the  current 
rates  of  foreign  coin,  in  her  majesty's  plantations  of 
North  America. 

Parliament,  this  year,  relaxed  a  little  the  restrictions 
of  the  navigation  act,  (15  Ch.  II.  c.  7,)  which  forbade 
the  importation  of  any  European  manufactures  to  the 
plantations,  except  from  England,  and  the  Irish  linens 
were  permitted  to  be  shipped  from  Ireland  to  the  plan- 
tations, in  vessels  navigated  according  to  law.  34 
Anne,  c.  8. 

The  importation  of  naval  stores  from  the  plantations 
to  England  was,  at  the  same  time,  encouraged  by  a 


224  e'HAPTER  [1706 

bounty  on  tar,  pitch,  rosin,  turpentine,  hemp,  masts, 
yards,  and  bow-sprits.     3  &  4  Anne,  c.  10. 

This  year  was  printed  the  firs:  American  newspaper: 
it  was  entitled  *'The  B  >ston  New>-Letter." 

The  Bishop  of  London  sent  Gideon  Johnson,  as  his 
commissary  for  the  province  of  Carofina.  He  was 
directed  to  make  Charleston  his  place  of  residence. 

Governor  Daniel  made  a  treaty  of  peace,  at  a  general 
meeting  of  the  chiefs  of  the  different  tribes  of  Indians, 
bordering  on  the  settlement  of  the  whites.  By  an  ar- 
ticle of  it,  inserted  at  the  desire  of  the  Indians,  white 
traders  w^re  forbidden  from  supplying  the  Indians  with 
rum.  This  stipulation  was  not,  however,  aft'ifrwards 
insisted  upon  :  the  young  Indians  threatened  to  kill 
the  plenipotentiaries,  who  had  proposed  it,  and  they 
were  allowed  to  have  rum,  when  they  went  to  the  house 
of  an  Englishman  to  buy  it. 

The  following  year,  the  town  of  Bath,  on  Tar  river, 
was  established,  by  an  act  of  the  legislature,  and  the 
county  of  Albemarle  was  divided  ;  the  southern  part  be- 
ing erected  into  a  county,  called  Bath,  composed  of  three 
precincts,  Wickham  and  Pamplico,  on  Roanoake  and 
Tar  rivers,  and  Archdale,  on  Neuse. 

Sir  Nathanit'l  Johnston  having  appointed  Thomas 
Cary  deputy  governor  of  the  northern  part  of  this  pro- 
vince, the  lords  proprietors  disapproved  of  his  choice, 
and  required  that  their  deputies  should  from  among 
themselves  elect  a  president  and  commander  in  chief. 
William  Glover  was,  accordingly,  chosen.  Cary  yielded 
to  this  measure  at  first ;  but  a  few  weeks  after,  support- 
ed  by  the  influence  of  the  Quakers,  and  surrounded  by 
a  rabble  of  profligate  persons,  posiessed  himself  of  the 


1706 J  THE  TWELFTH.  225 

records  of  the  province,  and  resumed  the  reins  of 
government. 

Monsieur  dc  Subercase,  governor  of  Acadia,  sent  an 
expedition,  to  chase  the  English  from  Newfoundland. 
He  was  so  flir  successful,  that  the  trade  of  the  island, 
was  almost  ruined. 

In  the  following  year,  the  city  of  Charleston  was  in- 
vaded. Monsieur  Le  Fevre,  commanding  a  French 
frigate,  having  with  him  four  armed  sloops,  and  eight 
hundred  soldiers,  appeared  off  the  coast.  Governor 
Johnson,  w^ho  had  intelligence  of  his  approach,  had  taken 
every  measure  necessary  to  resist  the  enemy.  The 
alarm  was  immediately  given,  and  the  militia  put  under 
armSt  The  enemy  hovered  all  night  upon  the  coast, 
and  anchored  next  mornina:  near  James  Island.  He 
employed  the  day  in  sounding  the  south  bar,  and  this 
delay  gave  the  governor  time  to  call  to  his  aid  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  militia  from  the  country,  ajid  a  num- 
ber of  Indians.  The  next  day,  the  enemy  ]passed  over 
the  bar,  and  cast  anchor  near  SuHivan's4^nd.  Governor 
Johnson  placed  some  great  guns  on  board  of  a  number 
of  ships  that  were  in  the  harbor,  and  gave  the  command 
of  this  little  flotilla  to  William  Rhett,  a  man  of  ability 
and  spirit.  The  French  commander  now  sent  a  flag 
to  demand  a  surrender  of  the  town,  but  was  resolutely 
answered,  it  would  be  defended  to  the  last  extremity. 
The  enemv  now  landed,  and  burnt  several  houses  on 
James  island  and  Bearsly  creek.  Another  party  went 
to  Wando  creek,  to  kill  hogs  and  cattle.  The  govern- 
or now  sent  captain  Gantry,  with  an  hundred  men,  to 
watch  the  motions  of  these  men.  He  crossed  the  river 
in  the  night,  coming  up  with  the  enemy  at  break 
of  day,  and  finding  them  in  a  state  of  imagined  security, 

N.    CARD.    29 


aSli  .  CHAPTER  [1707 

surrounded  and  surprised  them  with  a  sharp  fire,  which 
completely  routed  them.  A  considerable  number  were 
killed,  wounded,  or  drowned,  and  the  rest  were  made 
prisoners. 

Rhett,  improvins^  this  momentary  success,  advanced 
with  six  ships  upon  the  enemy,  who  precipitately 
weighed  anchor,  and  sailed  over  the  bar. 

A  few  days  after,  the  governor  was  informed  that  ii 
ship  of  war  was  at  Serra  bay,  and  had  landed  a  number 
of  men.  On  this,  he  ordered  captain  Fenwick  to  cross 
the  river,  with  his  company,  and  march  against  them ; 
while  Rhett  should  sail  round,  and  attack  the  enemy. 
Captain  Fenwick  came  up  with,  and  charged,  the 
enemy,  who,  after  a  few  vollies,  retired  to  the  ship. 
Rhett  came  soon  after  to  his  assistance,  and  the  French 
ship  struck,  without  firing  a  shot,  and  the  gallant  officer 
returned  to  Charleston,  with  his  prize  and  ninety  pri- 
soners.  Of  tight  hundred  men,  the  French  lost  three 
hundred,  in  killed  and  captured  :  among  the  latter  was 
Monsieur  D* Arb(  ussol,  the  commander  of  the  land 
forces,  with  several  of  the  sea  officers.  The  loss  of  the 
Americans  was  trifling. 

In  the  following  year,  lord  Granville,  the  palatine. 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  earl  of  Craven. 

Since  the  assumption  of  government  by  president 
Carey,  an  end  had  been  put  to  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  an  entire  anarchy  prevailed.  The  most 
respectable  part  of  the  community  adhered  to  president 
Glover,  and  with  a  view  to  an  attempt  to  put  an  end 
tx)  the  disordered  state  of  the  colony,  it  was  determined 
to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  general  assembly,  whe- 
ther president  Carey,  or  president  Glover,  should 
exercise  the  supreme  power. 


iT07]  THE  TWELFTH,  2iit 

For  this  purpose,  an  election  was  ordered.  In  the 
precinct  of  Chowan,  after  the  writ  of  election,  issued 
by  president  Glover,  was  read,  by  Daniel  Halsey,  the 
deputy  marshal,  one  Robert  Fendall  rose,  and  read  a 
similar  writ,  issued  by  president  Carey.  The  election 
went  on,  and  five  members  were  chosen.  The  votes 
were  counted,  and  there  appeared  ninety-four  votes  for 
the  members  chosen,  and  sixty-five  for  another  ticket. 
The  successful  candidates  were  all  friends  to  president 
Glover's  pretensions.  Edward  Moseley,  the  leader  of 
the  minority,  bitterly  complained  of  unfairness  in  tlie 
election,  and  made  all  the  contusion  he  could. 

On  the  11th  of  October,  the  assembly  met  at  captain 
Heckelfield'b,  on  Little  river.  Nine  members  came 
from  the  precinct  of  Chowan,  five  of  whom  were  re- 
turned by  the  deputy  marshal  as  chosen  by  the  majority. 
Robert  Fendall  returned  those,  as  well  as  the  five 
chosen  by  Edward  Moseley's  party,  he  bein^  one  of 
tbem.  Of  the  latter,  four  only  attended;  the  fifth, 
thinki.ig  his  election  illesjal,  staid  at  home. 

The  house  bei^an  by  ordering  these  nine  men  out, 
and  after  some  debate,  called  in  Edward  Moselc^y's 
party,  he  beins:  one  of  them,  and  ordered  the  other  * 
five  to  be  forcibly  kept  out.  They  chose  Edward 
Moseley  speaker,  and  presented  him  as  such  to  presi- 
dent Carey  and  his  counciL 

The  house  consisted  only  of  twenty -six  members, 
including  the  five  from  C-?owan  precinct.  Out  of  the 
twenty -one,  eight  were  Quakers,  who  knew  that  presi- 
dent Glover  would  not  suffer  them  to  take  their  seats, 
without  taking  the  oath:  six  were  from  the  county  of 
Bath,  all  under  the  influence  of  president  Carey  :  two 
«r  three,  of  the  remaining  seven,  were  chosen  by  the 


22»  CHAP^fER  [nm 

Quakers  of  Pasquotank  precinct.  So  that  the  five 
members  from  Currituck  precinct  could  not  make  any 
stand:  some  of  them  went  away- 

m 

Then  the  mstrument  of  writing^,  or  commission  from 
the  lords  proprietors,  which  John  Porter  had  brought, 
was  read,  and  the  house  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the 
act  passed  during  the  administration  of  governor  Daniel, 
laying  a  fine  on  any  person  holding  a  place  of  trust  or 
profit,  who  should  neglect  to  qualify  himself,  by  taking 
the  oath  required  by  law,  was  by  that  instrument 
suspended. 

President  Carey  and  president  Glover  sat  in  separate 
rooms,  with  their  respective  councils;  and  Robert  Da- 
niel, as  a  landgrave,  having  a  right  to  a  seat  in  the  upper 
house,  sat  alternatelv  with  either  council. 

President  Glover  sent  a  message  to  the  assembly,  by 
one  of  their  body,  informing  them,  that  to  settle  the 
government,  and  to  put  the  queen^s  laws  into  execution, 
it  was  necessary  that  the  gentlemen  returned  should 
choose  a  speaker,  qualify  themselves  according  to  law, 
and  the  house  should  purge  itself  of  all  unduly  elected 
and  unqualified  members ;  tor  a  reference  had  been 
made  to  the  general  assembly,  not  to  any  number  of 
persons,  met  without  authority.  He  observed,  that,  it 
was  contrary  to  all  law  and  reason,  and  in  a  very  great 
degree  derogatory  to  the  queen's  prerogative,  and  be- 
traying the  trust  reposed  by  the  crown  in  the  lords 
proprietors,  to  submit  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment to  any  number  of  men,  howsoever  chosen  and 
delegated,  even  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  all  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  province,  unless  they  should  previously 
acknowledge  their  allegiance,  which  both  the  common 
law  and  statute  required  should  be  done  by  oath;  a  for- 


1707]  THE  TWELFTH.  229 

mality  which  the  queen  had  imposed,  and  the  lords 
proprietors  could  not  dispense  with :  for  in  doing  other- 
wise, the  government  could  be  surrendered  to  the  dis- 
posal of  persons  who  were  traitors  to  the  q\ieen,  or 
maintained  the  rights  of  the  pretended  prince  of  Wales. 
To  such  an  assembly,  he  said,  he  would  undertake  to 
prove,  1.  That  he  was  the  lawful  president  of  the  queen's 
council,  and  that  the  execution  of  the  lords  JDroprietors' 
commission  belonged  to  him,  and  to  no  other  person : 

2.  That  Thomas  Carey  was  not  president,  nor  had  been 
lawfully  invested,  or  possessed,  with  any  power  of  go- 
vernment,    since    his    departure    to    South  Carolina: 

3.  That,  although  the  powers  of  government  should  be 
extinct  in  him  (Giover)  by  death,  or  the  command  of 
the  lords  proprietors,  Thomas  Carey  was  not  qualified 
to  be  elected  to  the  office  of  president. 

He  added,  that  if  the  gentlemen  now  met  assumed  to 
themselves  the  arbitrary  power  of  proceeding  in  any 
other  manner,  he,  as  president  of  the  council,  and  com- 
mander in  chief,  charged  and  commanded  all  civil  and 
military  officers,  and  all  the  queen's  loving  subjects,  to 
forbear  aiding  or  assisting  them,  in  the  execution  of  such 
arbitrary  powers. 

He  concluded,  that  as  the  assembly  had  rendered 
them^selves  incapable  of  deciding  on  the  niatter  that  was 
to  have  been  submitted  to  them,  he  protested  against  all 
they  had  done,  and  would  do,  ijgainst  him,  or  any  act  of 
his  administration:  and,  because  Thomas  Carey  had 
pubhcly  threatened,  surreptitiously,  without  any  form  of 
law,  to  take  his  life,  and  that  of  others  who  had  assisted 
him  in  keeping  the  peace  ;  he  appealed  to  the  queen,  in 
her  court,  at  Westminster,  and  offirred  himself  as  her 
prisoner,  to  be  sent  in  chains,  if  the  matter  required  it, 


rso  CHAPTER  [1707 

to  the  governor  general  of  Carolina,  in  Charleston,  and 
thence  to  England  :  provided,  that  Thomas  Carey  and 
John  Porter,  who  had  been  the  chief  causes  of  the  un- 
happy troubles  that  had  distracted  the  country,  should 
bind  themselves,  with  sureties,  to  prosecute  him  there. 

The  message  was  returned  to  president  Glover,  by 
the  member  by  whom  he  had  sent  it,  vvh(3  informed  him 
he  was  instructed  to  say  that  the  house  should  not 
concern  themselves  therein. 

The  Quakers  would  show  themselves  singular, 
coming  to  the  table  with  their  hats  on,  laying  ^heir  hands 
on  the  book,  repeating  the  words  of  the  oat!),  using  the 
word  declare  instead  of  the  word  swtar,  and  then  having 
their  explanation  of  the  sense  or  mt-aning  in  which  they 
took  it  entered  underneath,  they  subscribed,  with- 
out  kissing  the  book,  and  declared  they  took  it  in  that 
sense,  and  no  otf  er. 

The  society  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  fo- 
reign parts,  lately  established  in  England,  sent  over  this 
year  the  reverend  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  reverend  Mr. 
Gordon,  to  whom  thev  allowed  handsome  salaries. 
The  former  took  charge  of  the  two  eastern  precincts, 
Currituck  and  Pasquotank;  the  other  had  under  liis 
pastoral  care  the  two  eastern  ones,  Perquimans  and 
Chowan.  The  act  for  building  three  churches,  passed 
under  the  administration  of  governor  Daniel^  had  been 
partially  carried  into  execution.  Two  churches  had 
been  built :  the  one  in  the  precinct  of  Chowan  was  so 
small,  and  so  inartificially  put  together,  that  the  inhabi- 
tants talked  already  of  building  another.  A  better  one 
had  already  been  built  in  the  precinct  of  Perquimans ; 
both,  however,  were  very  small.  The  people  in  the 
precinct  of  Chowan  were  very  ignorant ;  few  of  them 


1707]  THE  TWELFTH.  281 

could  read,  and  fewer,  even  among  the  better  sort,  could 
write;  yet,  most  of  them  were  serious  and  well  inclined^ 
and  ready  to  embrace,  both  in  public  and  in  private, 
all  opportunities  of  being  instructed.  The  precinct  of 
Perquimans,  was  chiefly  inhabited  by  Quakers,  and  Mr. 
Gordon  complained,  that  his  flock  in  that  part  of  the  di- 
vision, was  ignorant  and  loose  in  their  morals,  and 
unconcerned  in  religion. 

Mr.  Adams  gave  a  better  account  of  his  parishioners 
in  the  precinct  of  Pasquotank.  In  their  way  of  living, 
he  observed  they  had  much  the  advantage  of  the  rest  of 
the  colony,  being  much  more  industrious  and  careful, 
and  above  all,  were  to  be  commended  for  their  order, 
seriousness  and  decency,  during  worship.  The  roads 
in  their  precinct,  were  worse  than  in  the  western  ones  ; 
but  it  was  more  thickly  settled:  it  contained  thirteen 
hundred  souls,  nine  hundred  of  whom,  professed  them- 
selves members  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  pas- 
tor considered  this  precinct  as  the  principal  branch  of 
his  division,  and  made  it  chiefly  his  residence.  Curri- 
tuck, the  other  precinct,  including  the  Sound  Banks, 
and  a  portion  of  the  shore  on  the  south  side  of  Albe- 
marle sound,  was  the  least  pleasant  part  of  his  district: 
it  contained  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine  souls.  The 
weather  was  damp  and  cold  in  winter,  and  the  mos- 
chetos  rendered  the  country  extremely  unpleasant,  in 
summer. 

The  clergymen  landed,  with  the  belief  that  they  should 
meet  with  great  discouragement  in  their  mission,  and 
entered  on  the  execution  of  its  duties  with  great  resolu- 
tion, and  received  great  countenance,  from  most  of  the 
persons,  in  the  administration  of  that  kind  of  govern- 
ment, which  existed  in  the  countrv. 


y 


232  .       CHAPTER  [1708 

In  the  following  year,  a  considerable  number  of 
French  Huguenots,  who  had  emigrated  to  Virginia, 
on  the  repeal  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  by  Louis  XIV., 
had  settled  near  the  Manakin  towns,  on  James  river, 
and  came  over,  headed  by  Phiilipe  de  Richebourg,  a 
clerg\  man  of  their  profession  ;  a  number  of  them  began 
a  settlement  on  Trent  river,  near  the  spot,  on  which  a 
toll  bridge  was  afterwards  built  on  that  stream  ;  the  rest 
removed  to  South  Carolina,  and  formed  an  establishment 
on  Santee  river,  which  was  afterwards  made  a  parish,  by 
the  name  of  St.  James. 

Parliament  this  year,  passed  a  statute,  (6  Anne, 
c.  30,)  for  enforcing  the  due  execution  of  the  procla- 
mation of  the  queen,  of  the  18th  of  June,  1704,  to 
regulate  the  currency  of  foreign  coin,  in  the  several 
colonies  and  plantations  in  America. 

Carey,  as  receiver  of  the  quit  rents,  having  neglect- 
ed to  settle  his  accounts,  the  proprietors,  by  an  instru- 
ment of  writing,  which  they  sent  by  John  Porter,  one  of 
their  deputies,  removed  him  from  office,  and  ordered 
him  to  come  over  and  give  an  account  of  his  conduct; 
which  he  refused  to  do,  and  continued  his  opposition  to 
the  colonial  government. 

The  depredations  of  the  French  in  the  palatinate,  com- 
pelled the  inhabitants  to  desert  their  country.  Twelve 
thousand  of  them,  in  the  most  forlorn  condition,  sought 
refuge  in  London.  The  queen,  for  some  time,  sup- 
ported them  out  of  the  privy  purse.  She  was  after- 
wards helped  by  the  benevolence  of  her  subjects,  and 
twenty  thousand  pounds  were  subscribed  and  paid  into 
the  treasury  of  the  city,  for  the  relief  of  these  fugitives, 
who  were  finally  disposed  of  as  colonists,  in  Ireland  and 


1709]  THE  TWELFTH.  233 

North  America.  Several  of  them  came  to  Carolina,  and 
Edwat  d  Tynte,  who  had  succeeded  Sir  Nathiiiiel  John- 
ston in  the  government  of  the  province,  was  directed  to 
grant  land  to  them,  in  the  county  of  Bath,  the  population 
of  which  was,  as  yet,  very  thin. 

Christopher,  Baron  de  GraifFenreidt,  a  Swiss  nobleman 
from  the  Canton  of  Bern,  vvas  at  this  time  in  England, 
with  a  considerable  number  of  his  countrymen,  desirous 
of  migrating  to  America. 

The  lords  prv)piietors,  considering  that  the  value  of  their 
estate,  in  the  province  of  Carolina,  depended  on  its  pop- 
ulation, offered  encouragement  to  the  palatines  and 
Swiss,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  remove  to  Carolina. 
Ships  were  provided,  and  orders  were  given  for  the 
transportation  of  those,  who  offered  to  go  and  settle  on 
the  lords  proprietors'  lands. 

The  baron  was  created  a  landgrave.  Louis  Mitchell, 
one  of  the  principal  characters  among  the  Swiss,  had  ten 
thousand  acres  of  land  allotted  to  him,  on  the  rivers 
Neuse  and  Cape  Fear,  or  any  of  their  branches,  at  the 
rate  of  ten  pounds  sterling  for  every  one  thousand  acres, 
and  five  shillings  of  quit  rent.  One  hundred  thousand 
acres  were  reserved  for  him,  at  the  same  price,  provided 
they  were  taken  within  seven  years.  One  hundred  acres 
were  given  to  every  man,  woman  and  child,  free  from 
quit  rent  for  ten  years. 

This  was  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  northern  part 
of  the  province.  Besides  a  great  number  of  palatines, 
fifteen  hundred  Swiss  followed  the  baron.  They  set- 
tled chiefly  on  Neuse  and  Trent  rivers;  and  for^their 
accommodation,  Thomas  Pollock  laid  offa  tract  of  land, 
at  the  confluence  of  Trent  and  Neuse,  for  a  town,  which 
in  compliment  to  the  leader  of  the  Swiss,  he  called  New 

N.  CARO.       30 


^4  CHAPTER  [1710 

Bern;  the  city  of  Brrn,   in   Switzerland,    being  the 
place  of  nativity  of  thij>  nobleman. 

The  absence  of  a  regular  govera{^Je{l^  in  North  Car- 
olina, now  ^ave  ribe  to  grtat  fends  and  di? traction  ;  the 
partisans  of  president  Glover,  irrit;itt  d  hv  the  persecu- 
tions thev  experienced  from  president  Carey,  sought 
a  temporary  refuge  in  the  neighb oriiig  province  of 
Virginia. 

The  missionaries  complained,  that  these  commotions 
retarded  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  arid  even  enconragtd 
the  ridicule  of  its  ordinances.  T^ey,  however,  perse- 
vered in  their  work,  in  the  hope  that  the  feuds  might 
subside.  Their  expectations  were  disappointed,  and 
M  ..  Gordon  despairing  of  being  any  longer  usefirl,  em- 
barked for  Europe,  carr  ing  letters  from  the  r^rincipal 
inhabitants  of  the  precincts  of  Chowin  and  Pasrpiotank> 
stating  that  he  had  discharged  his  functions  with  great 
fidelity  among  them,  and  indeflitigably  employed  his 
time  in  promoting  the  interest  of  religion,  in  the  colony. 

In  the  month  of  October,  Graaftenreidt  and  Mitchell^ 
contracted  with  the  commissioners  a))pointed  by  the 
queen,  for  the  relief  and  protection  of  the  palatines,  to 
transport  to  North  Carolina,  a  greater  number  of  them^ 
These  persons  received,  each,  twenty  shillings  in  clothes^ 
and  five  pounds  ten  shillings,  were  paid  for  their  trans- 
portation and  comfortable  settlement ;  they  were  com- 
posed of  ninety-two  families,  and  Gmaffenreidt  and 
Mitchell  agreed  to  allow  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
to  each  family,  to  be  divided  among  them  by  lot,  free 
from  rent  for  five  years,  and  afterwards,  at  the  rate  of 
one  half  per  cent.  Carolina  money.  , 

Provisions  were  allowed  them  for  one  year,  payable 
at  the  end  of  the  year. 


niO]  THE  TWELFTH.  "  ^^ 

^     Two  cows  and  calves,  a  sow  and  pigs,  two  ewes  andw 
lambs,  widi  a  male  of  each  kind,  to  each  family,  the       ^-.^ 
Value  whfrreof  was  payable  in  seven  years,  with  one  half  *"^^ 
of  the  stock  then  remainin^i;;  tools  and  implements,  for 
fellin.k-  W')od  and  bai;dini>;  houses  s^ratis. 

In  the  month  of  December,  these  palatines  arrived 
at  the  confluence  of  Trent  and  Neuse  rivers,  where 
they  b^a^ari  a  sHrlement,  near  that  of  the  former. 

The  R  V,  vlr.  Adams,  thou,<i^»i  much  dejected  at  the 
dep inure  of  his  c.'>lleaij;ue,  resolved  to  make  further 
eff'>rrs;  but  die  rniblic  distractioa-.  could  not  be  com* 
P'»s  '!,  The  !iartie!!>  ^n\.v  more-  and  more  embittered 
a^i-.u  St  each  o  ht-r ;  and,  thougn  he  behaved  with  un* 
bi-iiided  mo  deration  and  unwearied  zeal,  in  his  pastoral 
function-.,  he  was  compelled,  wearied  by  the  hardships 
he  met  wir  ,  to  abandon  the  hope  of  doing  any  good, 
and  dercrmined  to  return  to  England,  in  1710.  His 
concTi*  gatinu  bore  testimony  to  his  good  conduct,  and 
assur-'t  hi-,  employers,  he  liad  waded  through  every 
iiiilicuiiy,  U'^der  ihe  vigilant  eye  of  his  most  malicious 
enemv,  v/uhout  having  beer  charged  with  any  thing 
tinb.'coming  a  minister  of  Christ.  As  he  was  prepar- 
ing to  emo ark  he  fell  sick  and  died. 

In  thf  month  of  August,  Edward  Hyde,  who  had 
been  cnoseu  to  govern  the  nordiern  part  of  the  province, 
arrived,  with  instructions  to  governor  Tynte,  to  com- 
mission him  as  'db  deputy.  H-:  found  the  governor 
dead:  diis  cii'cnmstance  left  him  without  power,  as  he 
had  no  testimoi^ial  of  his  authority,  except  unoffi- 
cial letters,  from  some  of  the  lords  proprietors  to  their 
deputies,  btit  he  was  so  successful  in  his  endeavors  to 
conciliate  botli  parties,  and  the  inhabitants  were  so 
anxious  for  bume  settled  form  of  legal  government,  tha^" 


••    -s-t-^.v  :^>r.. 


t^'^ 


^36  .CHAPTER  [17!© 

all  the  lords  proprietors'  deputies,  without  even  the  ex- 
ception of  Thomas  Carey,  solicited  him  to  assume  the 
»     i^^  supreme  command,  as  president  and  commander  in  chief, 
I  J  '     until  his  commission  as  governor  should  arrive.     He 
was,  accordingly,  appointed  and  sworn  as  such. 

The  adherents  of  president  Glover  received  him  with 
sincere,  and  those  of  president  Carey  with  apparent,  cor- 
diality. The  planters,  who  had  S(^!ji^ht  a  shelter  from 
the  political  storm,  in  Virginia,  now  returned  to  their 
estates,  and  one  of  them,  high  in  authority,  in  a  congra- 
tulatory letter  to  the  governor,  on  his  arrival,  hoped 
"  that  he  would  settle  the  religion,  laws,  and  Hberty  of 
the  province,  on  such  asuie  foundation,  that  they  might 
not  be  trodden  again  by  the  Quakers,  Atheists,  Deists, 
and  other  evil  disposed  persons." 

During  the  confusion,  the  white  people  were  suffered 
to  fall  on  the  Indians,  to  redress  their  real,  or  pretended, 
wrongs,  which  was  attended  with  direful  consequences: 
for,  although  they  succeeded  by  such  means  against  one 
tribe,  there  were  others  that  took  the  alarm,  when  they 
found  that  the  English  broke  their  faith  with  the  Indiansa 
Every  act  of  violence  was  not  attended  with  like  suc- 
cess, and  the  next  was  made  accountable  for  the  want 
of  success  of  the  former.  Hostilities  began  in  the 
month  of  December.  Some  of  tlie  Meherrin  Indians, 
fell  on  the  most  distant  settlement,  on  Chowan  river 5, 
and  killed  two  or  three  individuals.  It  was  a  misfor- 
tune that  the  whites  had  been  allowed  to  settle  on  land 
/  contiguous  to  the  Indians.     This  ought  to  have  been 

prevented,  even  when  not  objected  to  by  the  natives,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  preserving  a  good  under- 
standing, between  them  and  the  whites,  while  they  lived 
so  near. 


mo]  THE  TWELFTH.  237 

This  summer,  some  galleys  were  sent  to  protect  the 
coasts  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  which  proved  a  great 
relief  to  those  two  colonies,  laboring  under  daily  alarms 
and  terrible  apprehensions,  and  discouraged  by  the  fre- 
quent insults  and  depredations  of  the  privateers  of  the 
enemy,  and,  often,  vexed  to  stand  the  helpless  specta- 
tors of  their  own  losses. 

In  the  winter,  the  Indians  began  their  irruptions 
anew,  **  They,"  says  a  letter  of  a  gentlemen  in  office, 
of  the  25th  of  December,  '*  daily  gather  strength,  and 
have  again  besieged  a  party  of  inhabitants,  in  a  smali  fort 
they  had  hastily  thrown  up  for  their  protection.  The 
disiraciions,  among  the  white  people,  gave  the  Indians 
all  the  facility  they  could  wish  for  destroying  us.  The 
late  assembly  appears  to  have  resolved  to  sacrifice  their 
country  to  dieir  private  resentments,  and  because  they 
could  not  introduce  into  the  government,  the  persons 
most  obnoxious  in  the  late  rebellion  and  civil  war,  they 
will  make  no  provision  for  defending  any  part  of  the 
country,  and  are  now  dissolved  without  doing  any 
business." 

.  Tranquility  was  now  restored,  and  continued  to  pre- 
vail, till  an  election  of  representatives  to  the  first  assem- 
bly, under  the  new  administration,  took  place.  Carey's 
party  having  been  unsuccessful,  he  protested  against 
the  legality  of  the  authority,  under  which  the  election 
had  been  holden. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  a  law  was  passed 
for  securing  his  person,  and  that  of  some  of  his  accom- 
plices. Provision  was  made,  for  compelling  him  to 
account  for  the  moneys  he  had  received  during  his 
administration. 


238  CHAPTER  [17J0 

These  acts  are  not  extant  at  tbis  day ;  but  colonel 
Spots  wood,  then  govern  r  of  Virginia,  in  a  communica- 
tion  to  lord  Darmouth,  secretary  of  state,  observed, 
"they  Were  too  severe  to  be  justified;  and,  indeed, 
showed  more  the  resentment  of  the  makers,  for  the  inju- 
ries they  had  received,  than  their  prudence  in  healing  the 
distractions  of  the  country." 

On  the  adoption  of  these  measures,  Thomas  Carey 
left  his  seat  at  the  council  board,  and,  repairing  to  the 
precinct  of  his  residence,  collected  a  party  of  armed  men, 
at  the  head  of  whom,  he  bid  defiance  to  the  chief  magis- 
trate and  the  legislature.  He  fortified  his  house,  en- 
trenched  it,  and  raised  a  battery,  on  which  he  placed 
some  cannon.  His  success,  in  these  measures  of  de- 
fence, emboldened  him  to  act  in  the  offensive.  He 
caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  president  and  comman- 
der in  chief,  and  by  proclamation  established  a  court  of 
justice;  and  fitted  out  a  brig,  furnished  him  by  a  leading 
Quaker,  armed  it  with  six  guns,  and  with  her  and  a 
barca  tonga,  filled  with  fusiliers,  he  sallied  forth,  and 
came  to  an  anchor  with  his  naval  force,  near  a  plantation, 
to  which  governor  Hyde  and  his  council  had  removed. 
On  the  ai)peardnce  of  this  armament,  an  express  was 
despatched  to  governor  Spotswood,  of  Virginia,  f  )r  as- 
sistance. The  council  of  that  province  advised  the  go- 
vernor to  offer  his  mediation  to  both  parties,  and  to  en- 
deavor to  induce  governor  Hyde  to  procure  a  suspen- 
sion of  the  acts  passed  against  Thomas  Carey,  and  the 
latter  to  suffer  the  administration  of  the  government  to 
proceed  undisturbed,  till  the  pleasure  of  the  lords 
proprietors  was  known. 

Governor  Spotswood  immediately  despatched  a  man, 
well  qualified  for  moderating  the  resentment  of  the  par- 


1710J  V '3^^^  TWELFTH.  Sa^. 

ties,  with  letters  to  governor  Hyde  and  Thomas  Carey. 
This  mediator  was  well  received,  by  la^overnor  Hyde 
and  his  council,  who  declared,  that,  for  the  peace  of  the 
country,  they  were  ready  to  yield  their  assent  to  any 
terms  that  could,  with  justice  and  honor,  be  proposed. 
Thomas  Carey  made  the  same  proposition ;  but  an 
interview  having  taken  place  between  the  contending 
parties,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  mediator,  he  treacher- 
ously attempted,  though  without  success,  to  secure  the 
governor  and  his  council,  and  make  them  prisoners. 
Enraged  at  his  failure,  he  warned  the  mediator  to  return 
to  Virginia ;  and  avowed  his  determination,  not  to  treat 
otherwise  than  w^ith  his  arms. 

A  few  days  after,  though  the  conduct  of  Thomas 
Carey  was  sufficient  to  show  what  little  faith  ought  to 
be  given  to  any  treaty  with  him,  or  his  party,  the  medi- 
ator went  to  him  and  urged  him  to  declare  what  his  de- 
mands were,  and  prevailed,  with  difficulty,  upon  him, 
to  furnish  a  specification  of  them.  At  length,  Carey 
produced  a  paper  containing  his  proposals,  of  which  he 
very  unwillingly  allowed  a  copy  to  be  taken,  which 
he  refused  to  subscribe.  These,  with  a  very  trifling 
alteration,  were  acceded  to  by  governor  Hyde  and  his 
council ;  but  Carey  still  persisted  in  withdrawing  from 
the  terms  of  accommodation,  and  the  mediator  returned 
to  Virginia. 

Thomas  Carey  now  increased  his  naval  force,  hoisted 
his  flag  at  the  topmast  head  of  his  brig,  and  came  within 
gun  shot  of  the  house,  within  which,  the  governor  and 
council  sat.  An  express  was  again  despatched  to  Vir- 
ginia, to  solicit  some  assistance  of  men  and  arms.  The 
queen's  council  for  that  province,  considering  how  diffi- 
cult it  was  to  foresee  how  far  a  party  of  such  desperate 


^40  GH  AFTER  [1710 

men,  should  they  meet  with  success  in  their  first  at- 
tempt on  the  government  of  Carolina,  might  carry  their 
disorganizing  arms  ;  that  the  rebellion,  excited  a  few 
years  before,  by  general  Bacon,  had  at  first  a  much  less 
dangerous  appearance  ;  that  the  insurgents  would  pro- 
bably endeavor  to  seduce  their  negroes,  some  of  those, 
in  the  frontier  counties,  having  been  already  carried 
away,  to  be  employed  on  board  of  the  armed  vessel,  ad- 
vised governor  Spolswood  to  raise  tlie  militia  of  the 
southern  counties  of  Virginia,  and  send  them  to  the  re- 
lief of  governor  Hyde  ;  and  applicition  was  made  to  the 
commander  of  the  king's  ships,  in  Virginia,  for  some 
boats  to  go  round  and  attack  Carey's  shipping.  Before 
any  relief  could  be  sent,  Carey  attempted  the  landing  of 
some  of  his  men,  under  the  fire  of  his  brio^;  but  thev 
were  repulsed  by  the  militia  of  the  neigl-borhood,  which 
governor  H-de  had  time  to  collect.  They  returned 
on  board,  and  tl«eir  chief  sought  a  safe  retreat  in  the 
swamps  of  Tar  river,  where  he  raised  his  standard,  and 
endeavored  to  bring  the  Tuscarora  Indians  into  an  aili- 
ance.  For  this  purpose,  he  despatched  to  them  Edward 
Porter,  one  of  his  coitucil,  who  endeavored,  by  promises 
of  great  rewards,  to  induce  them  to  cut  off  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  part  of  the  province,  who  adhered  to  gover- 
nor Hyde.  This  was  acceded  to  by  some  of  the  young 
warriors;  but  when  the  meter  was  debated  in  council, 
the  old  men  dissuaded  them  from  listening  to  Porter. 

Governor  Spotswood,  in  a  letter  to  lord  Darmouth,i 
complained  of  the  reluctance  he  found  in  the  inhabitants 
of  the  counties  of  his  government  bordering  on  Car- 
olina, to  march  to  the  relief  of  governor  Hyde.  These 
counties  were  chiefly  settled  by  Quakers,  and  he  imputed 
their  backwardness  to  the  religions  precepts  of  their  sect, 


IT  10]  THE  TWELFTH.  241 

especially,  seeing  that  their  brethern  in  Carolina  were 
Carey's  main  allies,  who,  not  only  formerly,  acted  as  his 
council,  and  openly  supplied  him  with  provisions,  and 
an  armed  brig,  but  also  took  upon  themselves  military- 
titles  in  the  civil  war. 

Thomas  Carey  now  retired  to  the  house  of  one 
Roach,  in  Pamplico,  which  he  fortified.  This  man  had 
lately  joined  Carey,  and  was  the  supercargo  of  a  ship 
just  arrived  from  London,  and  he  supplied  the  insur- 
gents with  trading  guns  and  ammunition  from  her 
cargo. 

In  the  month  of  July,  Carey  went  to  Virginia,  where 
governor  Spotswood  caused  him  to  be  apprehended,  in 
order  to  make  him  give  security  for  his  good  behaviour. 
While  under  examination,  Carey  prevaricated  so 
much,  that  governor  Spotswood  shipped  him  off,  on 
board  of  a  man  of  war,  bound  to  London. 

On  the  18th  of  September,  1710,  general  Nicholson 
sailed  from  Boston,  with  thirty-six  sail,  for  the  reduction 
of  Port  Royal :  he  arrived  on  the  24th,  and  landed  his 
troops  without  opposition  :  the  French  threw  shells  and 
bombs  from  the  fort,  w4iile  the  English  were  making 
preparation  for  the  attack,  and  a  bomb  ship  in  the  New 
England  fleet  plied  on  them  with  her  shells.  On  the  first 
day  of  October,  Subercase,  the  French  governor,  was 
summoned  to  surrender;  a  cessation  of  arms  was 
obtained,  and  terms  of  capitulation  were  agreed 
upon  and  signed  on  the  next  day  :  the  government  of 
the  country  was  given  to  colonel  Vetch,  and  the  fleet 
returned  to  Boston  :  the  name  of  the  town  was  altered 
from  Port  Royal  to  Annapolis,  in  honor  of  the  queen. 

A  statute  was  this  year  passed  by  parliament,  for  es- 
tablishing a  general  post  ofiice  at  New  York,  for  the 

N.   CARD.       31 


242  CHAPTER,  [17r€ 

plantations  on  the  continent :  the  preamble  states,  that 
posts  had  been  established  on  the  main  land  in  North 
America,  that  in  her  majesty's  plantations,  Ports- 
mouth, in  the  province  of  New  Hampshire,  the  north- 
ernmost, and  Charleston  in  that  of  Carolina,  the  souths 
ernmost  town,  are  mentioned  in  the  statute.  (9  Anne, 
c.  10.)  A  statute  was  also  passed  for  the  preservation 
of  white  and  other  pine  trees,  grow  in^  in  the  provinces 
of  New  England,  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  for  the 
masting  of  the  royal  navy.  (9  Anne,  c.  17.) 

In  the  following  year,  the  society  for  propagating  the 
gospel  in  foreign  parts,  sent  the  reverend  Mr.  Umstead, 
and  the  reverend  Mr.  Rainsford,  to  North  Carolina:  the 
former  took  his  residence  in  the  precinct  of  Chowan,  and 
the  latter  in  that  of  Currituck. 


Shdmers — History  of  South  Carolim^^JReeord^, 


CHAPTER  Xm. 

The  Indians  did  not  always  remain  idle  or  uncon« 
cerned  spectators  of  the  feuds  and  dissentions  that  so 
long  prevailed  among  the  whites.  The  successive  and 
regular  encroachments  on  their  plantations  and  hunting 
grounds,  which  an  increase  of  European  population  did 
occasion,  had  nv)t  been  always  submitedto,  without  a 
murmur.  Aith'^ugh  the  native:*  had  been  at  first  pleased 
with  neighbors,  from  whom  they  could  procure  spiritu- 
ous liquors  and  other  article**,  which  tended  to  the  gra- 
tificatioii  of  their  real  or  imaginary  wants,  they  had 
viewed  with  some  jealousy  the  frequent  accessions  of 
new  comers,  requiring  at  first  the  surrender  of  larger 
and  larger  portions  o^  their  domains,  and  at  last,  the  re- 
moval of  families  and  tribes,  from  the  neighborhood  of 
the  bones  of  their  ancestors,  to  more  distant  and  less 
valuable  tracts  of  land.  Other  causes  of  animosity  and 
ill  will  had  not  been  wanting :  they  were  determined  on 
securing  the  opportunity  of  attacking  the  whites,  while 
their  dissentions  rendered  them  more  easily  vulnerable. 
In  the  beginning  of  September,  they  concerted  the  plan 
of  a  sudden  and  simultaneous  attack  of  every  settlement 
in  the  colony. 

T^he  Tuscaroras  were  the  principal  and  the  most  nu- 
merous of  the  tribes  that  joined  in  the  conspiracy  :  they 
tmdertook  the  attack  on  the  plantations  on  Roanoke,  and 


244  CHAPTER  [1711 

from  that  river  to  that  of  Pamplico :  the  Indians  who 
lived  on  that  river,  and  from  whom  it  received  its  name, 
were  chari^ed  to  fall  on  their  more  immediate  white 
neighbors  :  the  Cothechneys,  who  dwelt  in  that  part  of 
the  province  now  known  as  the  county  of  Greene,  en- 
gaged to  come  down  and  join  the  Cores,  in  an  irruption 
on  the  settlers  along  Neuse  and  Trent  rivers  :  and  the 
Mattamuskets  and  Matchapungos  undertook  to  fall  on 
the  plantations  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town  of  Bath. 
Notwithstanding  the  very  great  number  of  individuals, 
of  diiferent  tribes,  to  whom  these  arrans^ements  must 
have  been  made  known  beforehand,  the  secret  was  not 
betrayed  by  any.  The  Tuscaroras,  whose  principal 
town  had  been  surrounded  by  a  high  pallisade,  sent 
thither  their  women  and  children.  From  thence,  on 
the  day  preceding  the  new  moon,  twelve  hundred  war- 
riors secretly  marched  in  numherless  divisiotis  :  de- 
tached individuals  were  sent  to  rerun noi^re.  and  en- 
tered the  hab'tations  of  the  inteijded  victims,  uuder 
the  mask  of  friendship  ;  tovvar<!s  ?  ight,  I  irger  squads 
appeared,  seemingly  in  quest  of  provi^iois.  Pre- 
tending to  be  offended,  they  ahus"d  the  planters,  and 
at  the  first,  and  often  before  the  least,  sign  of  resent- 
ment, gave  a  whoop,  'iid  being  instantly  joined 
by  others  from  the  neighboring  woods,  began, 
in  indiscriminate  slaughter,  murdering  the  grandsire 
and  the  father,  the  aged  grand  dame  the  lad,  the 
virgin,  and  the  sucking  infant  that  clang  to  the  bleed- 
ing bosom  of  the  mother.  One  hundred  and  thirty 
persons,  thus  fell  on  the  eleventh  of  September, 
in  the  settlement  on  Roanoke.  Most  of  the  Swiss 
and  palatines,  who  had  flattered  themselves  with 
having  found,  in  the  deserts  of  the  precinct  of  Craven;» 


1711]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  245 

an  asylum  against  distress  and  onprp.ssion,  fell  under 
the  tomahawk  or  the  knife.  The  French  Hugue- 
nots, in  the  town  of  Bath,  and  the  planters  around  it, 
were  inhumanly  slaughtered  ;  the  houses  and  cabins 
were  set  on  fire,  and  by  the  glare  of  the  conflagration 
the  unrelenting  foe  sought  for  new  victims;  with 
a  lighted  pine  knot  in  one  hand,  and  the  tomahawk 
in  the  other,  the  Indians  of  each  party  marched 
through  the  woods  to  a  common  center,  hunting,  in 
drunken  gambols,  for  the  few  wiiite  men  who  had  es- 
caped the  desolation  of  their  settlements  ;  they  di- 
vided themselves  into  new  parties,  and  scoured  the 
country  to  the  east  of  Chowan  river,  and  the  north  of 
Albemarle  sound ;  the  carnage  was  continued  for 
three  days,  and  did  not  iinish  till  drunkenness  and 
fatigue  disabled  the  savage  f  »e  frojn  further  action. 

The  few  colonists,  wiiom  fortune  favo 'ed  in  their 
escape,  assembled,  and  for  a  long  time,  under  arms, 
guarded  their  women  and  children,  till  assistance 
could  be  procured  from  the  southern  part  of  the 
province,  and  the  neighboring  one. 

A  few  days  before  the  massacre,  the  baron  of 
Graaffenreidt  and  Lawson  left  Newbern,  attended  by  a 
negro,  with  a  view  to  ascend  the  river  Neuse,  to  explore 
the  land  on  its  banks :  having  proceeded  to  a  small  dis- 
tance, they  landed  to  pass  the  night,  and  were  approach- 
ed by  two  Indians,  who  were  soon  after  joined  by  about 
sixty  more,  well  armed  :  this  induced  them  to  return  to 
the  boat,  to  proceed  farther  up,  where  they  were  follow- 
ed by  the  Indians,  who  took  from  them  their  arms,  pro- 
visions and  bai>;gage,  and  comj)elled  them  to  miirch 
with  them  all  night  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the 


246  CHAPTER  [1711 

river,  where  they  werepven  up  to  the  chief  of  a  village  : 
a  council  was  held,  and  it  was  determined  to  sum- 
mon the  inhabitants  of  the  villages  in  the  vicinity,  to  de- 
cide on  the  fate  of  the  prisoners.     About  two  hundred 
Indians  met,  and  forty  of  them  were  chosen  to  compose 
the  council,  who  strictly  examined  them  on  the   ob- 
ject of  their  excursion  :  they  answered,   that  their  in- 
tention.  was  to  seek  a  better  and  shorter  road  to  the 
plantations  of  the  whites  in  Virginia,  that  on  the  north 
side  of  Albemarle  sound  being  distant  and  bad.     The 
Indians  complained  much  of  the  conduct  of  the  Eng- 
lish,   and    particularly  of  Lawson,  who,  as  surveyor 
general,  was  instrumental  in  depriving  them  of  their 
land.     Finally,  the  council  determined  on  his  liberation, 
and  that  of  Graaffenreidt.     However,  on  the  next  day, 
an  Indian,  who  understood  English,  complained  to  the 
others,  that  the  prisoners  had  spoken  disrespectfully  of 
the  Indians,  and  three   or  four  of  them  fell  on  them, 
beat  them  in  a  furious  manner,  and  forcibly  dragged 
them  back  to  the  village,    where  the  council  sat  again, 
and  determined  on  putting  them  to  death. 

On  the  following  day,  the  victims  were  taken  to  a 
large  field  for  execution ;  their  wigs  were  thrown  into  a 
large  fire,  and  they  were  stripped  and  compelled  to  sit 
down  before  it ;  flowers  vvtre  strewed  on  them.  In  this 
situation,  they  were  kept  the  whole  day  and  succeeding 
night :  at  sunrise,  a  great  number  of  Indians  were  col- 
lected, to  the  amount  of  three  hundred ;  behind  the 
prisoners  was  a  party  who  guarded  them,  and  on  each 
side  sat  the  chiefs  in  two  rows;  behind  these,  were  the 
rest  of  the  Indians,  jumping  and  dancing  like  so  many 
devils,  and  cutting  a  variety  of  infernal  and  obscene 


nir]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  247 

capers  The  eouncil  again  deliberated,  and  GraafFen- 
\eidt  turning  to  them,  asked  them  whether  no  mtrcy 
could  be  shown  to  the  innocent,  and  with  what  propriety 
they  could  put  to  death  the  governor  of  the  palatines  : 
one  of  the  Indians  made  a  long  and  vehement  harangue, 
which  softened  the  hearts  of  a  majority  of  the  council, 
and  it  was  determined  to  spare  the  baron.  Lawson  and 
the  negro  were  now  put  to  death,  with  incredible  tor- 
tures :  his  spared  companion  was  det  ained  five  weeks  in 
captivity,  and  at  last  released. 

On  the  first  intelligence   of  this  sad  calamity  at 
Charleston^  the  legislature,  with  a  cheering  alacrity, 
equalled  only  by  the  necessity  which   called  it  into 
action,  appropriated  eighty  thousand  dollars  to   the 
relief  of  their  suffering  brethren.     Six  hundred  mi- 
litia, and  about   three  hundred  and   sixty  Indians^ 
were  detached,  under  the  orders  of  colonel  Barnwell. 
Governor  Spotswood,  of  Virginia,  on  the  first  ac- 
count of  the  disaster,   sent  a    detachment  of  the  mi- 
litia to  the  tributary  Indians  of  his  province,  to  pre- 
vent them  joining  in    the  war ;  and  understanding 
that  the  Indians,  in  some   of  the  Tuscarora  towns, 
had  refused  to  march  against  the  whites,  sent  messen- 
gers to  invite  them,   with  the  rest   of  the  friendly 
i-ribes,  to  a  conference,  at  the  Nottoway  line,  on  the 
southern  border  of  Virginia,  where  he  met  them  on 
the  7th  of  November.     He  had  drawn  together  at 
that  place  the  militia  of  the  three  southern  counties^ 
amounting  together  to  sixteen  hundred  men.     Three 
of  the  Tuscarora  chiefs  arrived  just  as  he  was  mus- 
tering this  force,  and  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find 
such  a  large  body  of  men,  in  good  order  and  disci- 
pline.    The  s;overnor,  after  entering  into  some  con- 


248  CHAPTER  [nil 

versation  with  the  chiefs,  had  the  pleasure  to  find  the 
report  which  his  messengers  had  made,  from  their 
observadoiiSj  while  in  the  Tuscarora  towns,  that  they 
were  very  desirous  of  continuing  in  peace,  and  were 
grewtly  concerned,  that  any  of  their  nation  should 
have  joined  in  the  massacre.  He  then  proposed  to 
them  to  carry  on  the  war,  agains^t  the  Indiars  who 
had  commenced  it,  and  to  join  the  queen's  subjects  in 
North  Carolina,  for  the  extirpation  of  the  assassins  ; 
and  that  for  the  purpose  of  giving  some  assurance  for 
their  future  good  behaviour,  they  should  deliver  two 
children  of  some  great  li.en  in  each  town,  who 
should  be  educated  in  the  college.  The  chiefs  re- 
plied, that  they  were  not  authorized  to  conclude  any 
thing,  without  the  consent  of  the  rest  of  the  nation  ; 
they  desired  time  to  inform  their  towns,  and  promised 
to  return  on  the  20th.  The  legislature  of  Virginia, 
which  sat  soon  after  this,  addressed  tije  governor,  to 
request  that  war  might  be  iminediateiy  declared 
against  the  Indians  who  had  been  concerned  in  the 
massacre,  and  voted  twenty  thousand  pounds  for  car- 
rying it  oil ;  and  the  qu^^en's  council  unanimously 
advised,  that  the  necessary  preparations  should  be 
made  for  carrying  on  the  war;  and  that  if  the  Tusca- 
rora chiefs  returned,  as  had  been  promised  at  Notto- 
way, their  alli-iuceand  co-o|}eratiop.  should  be  accepted. 
The  chiefs  were  detained,  by  llie  badness  of  the 
weather,  and  the  indisposition  of  two  of  them,  be- 
yond the  appointed  time  :  the  governor  entered  into  a 
conference  with  Uiem,  at  which  the  house  of  burgesses 
was  present.  The  chiefs,  after  accounting  for  the 
delay  that  occurred,  expressed  the  desire  of  the  In- 
dians of  their  towns,  to  continue  in  strict  friendship 


1711]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  ^49 

whh  the  wliifes,  and  assist  them  in  chastising  the  au- 
thors of  the  late  (lisor'ler. 

But  now  nn  uiifortunr.te  difference  arose  between 
the  governor  and  the  ho  ?se  of  burgesses,  the  latter 
insist* og  on  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  raising  an  a  my 
in  Virginia,  without  trusting  to  the  sincerity  of  the 
profession  of  the  Tuscarora  chiefs.  The  governor 
refusing  to  accede  to  this  proportion,  the  house  de- 
clined to  co-operate  in  his  plans  The  dispute  ended 
by  a  dissolution  of  the  assembly. 

Governor  Spotsvvood,  in  his  report  of  this  trans- 
action, to  the  lords  commissioners  of  tr^ide  and  plan- 
tations, charges  the  house  with  want  of  sincerity,  m 
their  proffer  of  aid  to  the  sister  province.  ^^Had 
they,"  said  he,  ^*really  inte^jded  to  carry  on  the  war 
against  the  Indians,  they  could  liot  have  done  it  in  a 
more  frugal  way,  than  by  the  treaty  I  concluded  with 
the  Tuscarora  chiefs.  Although  this  was  entered 
into  at  the  instance  of  their  own  house,  they  have 
made  no  provision  for  enabling  me  to  perform  the 
terms  of  it.  Indeed,  som^.  of  that  house,  since  the 
dissolution,  owned  more  freely,  than  they  would  do 
while  sitting,  that  most  of  the  irregularity  of  their 
proceedings  are  owing  to  so;r<e  rash  votes,  passed 
without  foresight,  which  they  could  not  afterwards 
get  over,  w  thout  breaking  the  rules  of  their  house  : 
and  so  they  chose  rather  to  let  tlie  country  suffer, 
thui  to  own  themselves  in  an  error.  The  conduct  of 
the  late  assembly  will,  in  all  probability,  give  a  new 
turn  to  the  humour  of  the  people,  and  make  them 
choose  for  their  representatives  men  of  more  generous 
and  disinterested  principles:    but  I  fihali  first  sec 

N.    GARO.     32 


'6 


m       '  CHAPTER  [1711 


some  sign  of  this  disposition,  before   I  call  a  new 
assembly. ^^ 

The  baron  and  Indians  entered  into  a  freaty  of 
peace,  by  which  it  was  stipulated  thr?t,  in  case  of  war 
between  the  English  an- 1  the  Indians,  the  palatines 
sbonld  reman  neutral :  that  no  land  should  be  t?^ken 
up  f'>r,  or  by,  the  Jaroii,  with*  ut  the  c  -rtsent  of  the 
Indians  :  that  there  should  Ue  a  full  fr-  lorn  to  hunt 
in  t!ie  pen  country  :  and  that  a  comti}!  vc  'a!  treaty  be 
ftnt'Ted  on,  so  that  jusii(e  migh?  »  e  d'j.^  to  the  In- 
dians, in  the  trade  carried  on  wifh  theTj 

Graaffenr*  idt  was  i!re  vveek<^  a  j  riso^er,  and  du* 
ring  tha-  ti  ne  the  p  !;ni?)j">^  were  call  d  out,  to  defend 
the  con?. try.  from  Edtuton  fit'  was^,  however,  soon 
after  retaken,  and  carried  to  Virsrinii. 

Appvehensio '.s  were  enter  ained  *hat  .lie  Fn^cb, 
who  traded  among  nations  of  Indians,  not  very  re- 
mote, would  find  means  t  >  unite  these  Indians  with 
the  Tuscai*oras,  and  furnish  tliem  with  arms  and  am- 
munit'on.  The  province  was  ill  supplied  with  the 
means  of  encountering  an  enemy,  not  otherwise  to  be 
reduced,  than  by  a  continued  pursuit  t  rough  the 
woods  and  deserts  ;  a  fatigue  whifh  ilie  people  were 
not  able  long  to  endure,  without  the  coaveniency  of 
tents,  to  secure  th  m  from  Uie  weather. 

Governor  Hyde  called  out  as  much  of  the  militia 
of  North  Carolina  as  he  conld  command,  but  the 
people  had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  resist  govern- 
ment, that  few  could  be  brought  to  any  order  or 
discipline. 

Colonel  Barnwell,  with  his  small  army,  expedi- 
tiously crossed  the  extensive  and  dismal  wilderness. 


i712j  THE  THIRTEENTH  251 

which  then  separated  South  and  North  Carolina. 
On  his  arrival  on  Neu.^e  river,  lie  was  joi-^ied  by  s  ich 
Si  portion  of  the  militia  of  the  colony  as  could  be 
spared  from  the  necessary  service  of  guarding  the 
help'ess  pa  t  of  the  iahabitints.  The  Vidians,  on 
the  first  iiiteilJge'lce  of  the  appr  'ach  of  this  succ«>ar, 
Lad  chiefly  colL;^*  ted  their  strejjgth  into  one  body. 
Colonel  Barn^vell  soon  caine  up  with  them,  and 
pnrsued  them  to  the  uuper  p  rt  of  he  present  county 
of  Cr  ven.  where  they  erecte  i  a  r^troog  wooden 
breastwork,  on  the  shor  s  of  Neuse  river,  at  the 
distance  of  about  elgutc-.en  miles  to  ihe  west  of  the 
tow  .ff  Vewbe'-n.  After  a  short  stay  there,  having 
received  some  reinfur/emeut  t'>  their  number,  they 
Bia  "ched  out  to  some  distance,  but  wer'>  attacked  with 
mui  h  bravery  by  the  forces  of  South  Carolina,  and 
deiCit^ed  with  great  slaughter.  Upwards  of  three 
Jiundied  of  tiem  were  killed,  and  one  hundred  made 
prisoners.  The  number  of  the  wounded  was  not 
ascertained.  The  rest  retired  into  their  strong  hold, 
where  they  were  surrounded,  and  after  sustaining 
great  loss,  sued  for  p^*ace,  which,  it  is  said,  was  too 
precipitately  granted  by  colonel  Barnwell. 

*^ln  all  pr  .b'.ibility,"  said  a  gentleman  in  high 
authority,  in  an  official  communication  to  tiie  lords 
proprietors,  two  years  afterwards,  '^  if  colonel  Bfirn- 
well  had  done  his  part,  tliough  some  of  his  Indiins 
left  him,  the  w.ir  would  ha\e  ])e  n  at  an  end  before 
th'S  time :  fore  lonel  itchell,  a  Swiss  gendeman, 
who  came  in  with  the  baron  de  Graaff'enreidt,  lia\  ing 
cont  nued  to  draw  the  trenches  within  eleven  yards 
of  the  Indian  I'ort,  raised  a  battery,  in  which  h  -  had 
placed  two  large   guns,  and   collected   a    quantity 


^52  CHAPTER  [1712 

of  light  wood  and  brush  between  the  end  of  the 
trenches  and  the  pallisade  of  the  fort.  The  Indians 
within,  who  were  all  those  concerned  in  the  massacre, 
would  have  surrendered  uncon  Mtionally,  if  a  shame- 
ful capitulation  had  not  taken  place. 

^'  The  storming  of  this  fort,  which  contained  the 
greatest  part  of  our  ene  nies,  wo  dd  have  so  much 
dispirited  the  rest,  that  ihey  would  have  complied 
with  our  own  terms,  and  aban'h)ned  the  country,  and 
our  people  would  have  been  encouraged  by  the  cap- 
ture of  so  many  slaves/' 

Colonel  Harnwell  returned  to  Charleston  soon 
after  the  surrender  of  the  f  >rt.  It  was  called  after 
him  ;  and  the  remains  of  it,  which  are  at  this  daj 
visil)le,  siill  retain  his  name. 

In  the  month  of  May,  governor  Hyrle  receivefl  his 
commission  from  He  ry,  duke  of  Beaufort,  the  pala- 
tine, beari  g  date  the  24th  of  January  precedi  g,  and 
he  was  qualified  under  it  on  the  9th  of  Alay.  His  in- 
structions required  him  "  to  use  with  all  gentleness 
those  who  were  deluded,  and  with  a  little  severity 
those  who  were  concerned  in  the  late  disorders,  as 
was  consistent  ^*  ith  law  and  justice.  And,  as  it  must 
of  necessity  have  happened,  that,  during  the  commo- 
tions, some  unfortunate  persons  should  have  suffered 
much  in  their  estates,  the  lords  proprietors  desired 
that  restitution  might  be  mads  to  them,  if  possible,  to 
the  full,  and  if  that  couLl  not  be,  as  far  as  the 
governor  could."  He  was  further  required  to  send  to 
the  lords  proprietors  as  exact  an  estimate  as  he  could 
make  of  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  He  was  au- 
thorized to  disp.  se  of  vacant  land,  in  tracts  of  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres  each,  at  the  rate  of  one  pound 


1712]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  253 

sterlins,  for  every  hundred  acres,  subject  to  a  quit 
rent  of  one  shilling.  He  was  directed  to  forward 
copies  of  all  the  proceedings  of  his  govejnment  to 
the  lords  proprietors,  by  the  way  of  the  province  of 
Virginia,  or  the  island  of  Barbadoes.  His  title  was 
governor  of  that  part  of  the  province  of  Carolina, 
which  lies  to  the  north  and  east  of  the  river  of 
cape  Fear. 

The  other  principal  officers  of  the  province  were, 
at  this  time,  Christopher  Gal^^,  chief  justice,  Edward 
Benwick,  attorney  general,  Danii-l  Ricliardson,  re- 
ceiver general,  Anthony  Stafford,  surveyor  general, 
and  Tobias  Knight,  secretary  of  the  province. 

The  expenses  of  government  did  not  cost  the  pro- 
prietors more  than  tbr*^e  hundred  a^id  eighty  pounds 
sterling  a  year  ;  two  hundred  of  Avhich  were  paid 
to  the  governor,  sixty  to  the  chief  justice,  and  forty 
to  each  of  the  attorney  general  and  secretaries  in  the 
province  and  in  England. 

In  pursuance  to  his  instructi  ^ns.  governor  Hyde 
issued  a  proclamUion  of  pardon,  in  favor  of  all  per- 
sons concerned  in  ^  arey's  rebellion,  except  Thomas 
Carey,  Em  man 'el  l,aw,  John  Porter,  Edmund  Por- 
ter, and  William  Tittel. 

The  assembly  sat  on  the  12th  of  March.  A  mes- 
senger was  sent  to  the  Saponalndians,  to  procure  them 
to  jv)in  the  provi.  ce  against  the  In  iians  in  arms,  and 
to  promise  them  protection  in  the  mean  while  for  their 
woven  and  chddren.  Korts  were  directed  to  be  built 
at  Core  Sound  and  at  a  Mr.  Reading's,  on  Tar  rixer : 
the  first  was  to  have  a  garrison  of  thirty  men,  and  be 
called  Kort  Hyde,  the  second  to  be  garrisoned  by  ten 
men  only. 


254  CHAPTER  [1712 

On  the  application  of  governor  Spotswood,  the  In- 
dians,  in  whose  town  in  Virginia  the  baron  de  GraafFen- 
reidt  was  detained  as  a  prisoner,  released  him,  and  he 
was  permitted  to  return  to  Newbern  :  the  palatines  and 
Swiss,  who  had  escaped  the  massacre,  were  permitted 
to  join  him,  after  he  had  engaged  his  word,  that  he  and 
they  would  remain  perfectly  neutral  during  the  war :   he 
lived  undisturbed  by  the  Indians,  but  was  persecuted  bv 
the  whites,  for  not  breaking  peace  with  their  common 
enemy  :  yet,  they  would  not  supply  him  with  provisions 
'  or  ammuni'ion,  though  no  doubt  wa:^  entertained  of  his 
willingness  to  carry  on  the  war,  if  the  means  were  sup- 
p  icd,for  it  were  madness  in  him  to  expose  himtaelfand  his 
coui'tryinen  to  the  fury  of  the  savages,  without  some 
better  assurance  of  hdp,  than  that  which  the  confused 
state  of  the  coluny  held  out,  as  the  Indians  would  soon 
destroy  hib  settlement,  or  compel  him  to  abandon  it,  by 
killing  his  cattle  and  preventing  the  planting  or  raising 
any  corn.     The  colony,  however,  derived  great  advan- 
tage from  his  neutrality,  as  it  enabled  him  to  discover 
and  communicate  any  plan  of  attack,  at  the  risk  of  paying 
dear  for  it. 

On  the  I2th  of  June,  'James  Fenton  was  sent  to 
Charleston,  to  solicit  a  further  aid. 

In  the  summer,  disease  added  its  horrors  to  the  disr 
tresses  of  the  war :  an  epidemic,  of  the  kind  of  those 
which  have  since  ravaged,  in  the  summer,  the  sea  port 
towns  of  the  United  States,  and  are  known  by  the  ap- 
pellation of  the  yellow  fever,  scourged  the  few  inhabit- 
ants  who  remained  ;  men  fell  like  leaves  in  autumn  :  on 
the  eighth  of  September,  governor  Hyde  became  a 
victim  of  it. 


1712]  .  THE  THIRTEFNTH.  ^255 

On  the  12th,  the  lords  proprietors'  deputies  made 
choice  of  Thorn  \s  Pollock,  the  deputy  of  lord  Carteret, 
as  president  atid  commander  in  chief.  This  gentleman, 
in  his  first  official  communication  to  tluir  lordships, 
after  his  election,  describes  the  situation  of  the  country 
in  the  following  words  : 

*'  The  people  of  this  government  are  gready  empove- 
rished ;  the  inhabitants  of  Pamplico  and  Neuse  have 
most  of  their  houses  and  household  goods  burnt,  their 
stock  of  cattle,  horses  and  hogs,  killed  or  carried  away, 
and  their  plantations  laid  waste  by  the  Indians  ;  they  are 
obliged  to  secure  their  families  in  forts,  and  we,  who  live 
on  the  south  and  south-west  of  Chowan  river,  are  un- 
der the  same  necessity.  The  farmers  of  the  county  of 
Albemarle  have  to  supply  the  whole  of  the  county  of 
Bath  with  grain,  not  only  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants, 
but  also  for  the  support  of  their  own  militia,  which  they 
have  sent  thither,  and  of  the  forces  that  are  come  from 
South  Carolina.  By  this  mean,  their  trade  is  ruined, 
and  the  vessels,  that  are  come  into  Albemarle  sound,  of 
late,  have  not  been  able  to  procure  any  loading,  except  a 
few  barrels  of  tar,  so  that  the  people  have  not  wherewith 
to  pay  their  debts ;  few  can  procure  clothing  for  their 
families, 

*'  The  province  is  very  largely  in  debt,  for  the  pay 
of  the  militia,  which  has  been  kept  in  actual  service,  for 
arms,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  the  expenses  of 
sending  expresses  to  the  neighboring  governments. 

**  The  war  with  the  Indians  still  rages  ;  disobedience 
to  the  constituted  authorities,  and  intestine  divisions,  still 
prevail  among  us.  The  want  of  the  means  of  discharg- 
ing the  arrearages  of  pay  due  to  the  men  who  arc  out,  is 
a  serious  cause  of  discontent,  perhaps  the  greatest  mis- 


i^56  CHAPTER  fnie 

chief  of  all :  for  albeit,  an  act  was  passed  by  our  legisla- 
ture, at  their  last  session,  imposing  a  penalty  of  five 
pounds  on  those  whj  refuse  to  march  against  the  In- 
dians, when  called  out,  yet  lew  men  could  be  induced  to 
leave  their  homes  ;  and  although  governor  Hyde,  a  short 
time  before  hib  death,  attempted  to  levy  this  penalty,  he 
found  but  few  persons  willing  to  assist  in  putting  the 
law  into  execution. 

"  We  have  now  no  more  than  from  one  hundred  and 
thirty  to  an  hundred  and  forty  men  on  Neuse  river,  un- 
der the  orders  of  colonel  McKee  and  colonel  Mitchell : 
these  officers  cannot  attempt  any  thmg  with  this  handful 
of  men:  they,  however,  expect  a  reinforcement  from 
South  Carolina. 

"  Some  of  the  Tuscarora  chiefs  have  lately  been  with 
governor  Spottswood  of  Virginia,  and  pretend  a  great 
inclination  to  [)eace  :  they  are  aeain  to  be  with  him  on 
the  26ih  of  this  month  :  we  are  to  send  two  agents  to 
meet  them  there,  Mr.  Tobias  Knight  and  major  Chris- 
topher Gale,  not  from  anv  expectation  that  the  governor 
will  make  any  treaty  for  us,  for  that  would  be  dishonora- 
ble to  your  lordhhips,  and  make  us  appear  contemptible 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Indians,  but  with  a  view  to  hear  what 
they  have  to  propose.  I  believe,  ht^wever,  that  this  pre- 
tended desire  for  peace  is  only  a  scheme,  to  gain  time 
until  they  can  gather  their  corn,  secure  it  in  their  forts, 
and  see  whether  they  are  to  have  any  assistance  from  the 
five  nations. 

"Your  lordships  may  see,"  continues  the  president, 
"  what  difficulties  we  are  placed  in  :  our  enemy  strong, 
numerous,  and  well  provided  with  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion :  our  people  poor,  dispirited,  undisciplined,  timo- 
rous, divided,  and  generally  disobedient,  without  arms 


1712J  THE  THIRTEENTH.  257 

or  ammunition  ;  the  few  who  are  willing  to  turn  out, 
unable  to  procure  their  pay,  cannot  obtain  necessary 
clothing,  to  support  the  severity  of  the  weather  in  the 
woods;  if  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  had  not 
assisted  us  with  their  militia  and  Indians,  Neuse  and 
Pamplico  would  be  entirely  deserted,  and  probably  a 
great  part  of  the  county  of  Bath." 

The  communication  concludes,  by  conjuring  their 
lordships  to  consider,  that  ''  the  people,  who  undergo 
these  distresses,  are  Christians,  the  subjects  of  the  queen 
and  the  tenants  and  vassals  of  the  lords  proprietors,  ven- 
turing their  lives  and  spending  their  estates  in  the  defence 
of  the  province,  and  to  lose  no  time  in  forwarding  a 
supply  of  arms  and  ammunition. " 

In  a  letter  of  a  later  date,  to  lord  Craven,  one  of  the  lords 
proprietors,  president  Pollock  attributes  the  calami- 
ties that  desolated  the  country,  to  **  the  machinations  of 
the  Quakers."  *'  Our  divisions,"  saye  he,  **  chiefly  oc- 
casioned by  the  Quakers  and  some  other  ill  disposed 
persons,  have  been  the  cause  of  all  our  troubles  :  for, 
the  Indians  were  informed  by  some  of  the  traders,  that 
the  people  who  live  here  are  only  a  few  vagabonds,  who 
had  run  away  from  other  governments  aiid  settled  here 
of  their  own  accord,  without  any  authoiity  ;  so  that,  if 
they  were  cutoff,  there  would  be  none  to  revenge  them. 
This,  with  their  seeing  our  differences  rise  to  such  a 
height,  that  we,  consisting  of  two  counties  only,  were  in 
arms  one  against  another,  encouraged  them  to  fall  upon 
the  county  of  Bath,  expecting  it  would  have  no  assist- 
ance from  this,  nor  any  other  of  the  English  plantations. 
This  is  the  chief  cause,  that  moved  the  Indians  to  rise 
against  us,  as  far  as  I  understand." 

N.  CARO.      33 


^oS  CHAPTER  [1712 

"  The  Quakers,  with  their  adherents,  have  been  a 
great  occasion  of  the  war :  for  they,  with  two  or  three 
persons,  (not  in  such  posts  of  profit  or  trust  in  the 
government  as  they  desire)  have  been  the  chief  cause 
that  the  war  has  not  been  carried  on  with  the  vi.8:or  it 
ought  to,  by  their  disobedience  to  the  government,  and 
the  encouragement  they  gave  others  to  imitate  them. 
In  some  of  the  precincts,  being  the  most  numerous  in  the 
election  fields,  they  chose  such  members  of  the  assem- 
bly as  would  oppose  what  was  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
war.  The  generality  of  the  people,  seeing  that  the  Qua- 
kers, from  their  disobedience  and  opposition  to  the  go- 
vernment, rose  actually  in  arms,  and  attacked  the  gover- 
nor and  council,  without  any  manner  of  punishment, 
were  emboldened  to  do  the  like,  and  seemed  to  want 
a  leader  onlv,  to  raise  another  insurrection." 

President  Pollock,  a  few  days  after  his  election,  re- 
ceived information  from  Charleston,  that  the  legislature 
had  directed  governor  Craven  to  send  one  thousand  In- 
dians and  fiftv  white  men,  to  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  county  of  Bath,  under  the  orders  of  colonel  James 
Moore,  a  son  of  the  late  governor  Moore,  of  South 
Carolina:  governor  Craven,  in  conveying  this  intelli- 
gence to  president  Pollock,  assured  him  he  was  so 
anxious  to  expedite  this  succour,  that  he  would  march 
with  it,  as  far  as  the  boundary  of  the  two  settlements. 

The  legislature  of  the  province  of  Virginia  appropri- 
ated a  sum  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  pounds,  to  be 
laid  out  under  the  direction  of  governor  Spots  wood,  in 
assisting  the  people  of  Carolina  in  carrying  on  the  war ; 
and  a  further  sum  of  six  hundred  pounds,  was  ordered 
to  be  invested  in  blankets  and  coarse  woollen  clothes,  to 
be  immediately  forwarded  for  the  use  of  their  troops. 


1712]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  259 

Tom  Blunt,  the  headman  of  the  Tuscaroras,  with  the 
chiefs  who  were  to  meet  the  commissioners  of  North 
Carolina,  at  governor  Spotswood's,  instead  of  attending 
there,  came  to  president  Pollock,  to  induce  him  to  con- 
sent to  a  termination  of  hostilities,  and  the  restoration  of 
trade.  The  president  utterly  refused  to  listen  to  him, 
unless  he  would  engage  to  bring  Hancock,  a  chief  of 
his  nation  and  his  kinsman,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
contrivers  of  the  late  massacre,  and  cut  off  and  bring  the 
scalps  of  six  other  Indians,  who  had  been  uncommonly 
active  in  it.  He  promised  to  do  so,  and  begged  some 
ammunition  for  that  purpose.  The  president  refused 
to  supply  him  with  any,  unless  he  would  bring  twelve 
hostages,  from  each  of  his  towns  or  forts.  He  appeared 
satisfied  with  this  proposal,  and  said  he  was  sure  of  the 
assent  of  some  of  his  towns,  and  hoped  for  that  of  all. 
He  went  away,  promising  to  be  back  by  the  middle  of 
October,  when  he  would  accompany  the  colony's  agents 
to  Virginia. 

At  the  appointed  time>  he  appeared  with  fifteen  of  his 
men,  saying,  he  had  been  in  pursuit  of  a  party  of  the 
Cothechney  Indians,  on  the  north  side  of  Pamplico  river; 
that  one  of  his  men  had  seen  Hancock  there,  but  accom- 
panied with  such  a  number  of  his  adherents,  as  pre- 
cluded the  hope  of  securing  him  ;  that  he  was  going 
with  a  large  party  in  quest  of  him,  and  would  hunt  with 
them  in  his  company,  in  order  to  catch  the  opportunity 
of  finding  him  alone,  and  after  he  had  secured  and 
brought  him,  he  would  go  to  Virginia.  The  president 
gave  little  credit  to  the  promises  of  a  man  capable,  from 
his  own  account,  of  acting  with  so  much  treachery  to 
one  of  his  own  nation,  his  kinsman  too,  but  concealed 
his  distrust,  lest  the  Indian,  finding  that  he  had  nothing 


260  CHAPTER  [1712 

to  hope,  should  join  the  rest  of  the  Tuscaroras,  against 
the  whites. 

On  the  25th  of  November,  however,  preliminary  arti- 
cles of  peace  were  entered  into,  between  the  president 
and  council,  and  Tom  Blunt,  Saroonah  and  four  other 
headmen  of  the  Tuscaroras. 

The  Tuscaroras  f)romised  to  mal^e  war  against  the 
Cothechneys,  Core,  Neuse,  Bear  river,  and  Pamplico  In- 
dians, and  not  to  give  quarter  to  any  male  individual  of 
either  of  these  tribes,  above  the  age  of  fourteen,  to 
capture  and  sell  to  the  English,  all  those  of  and  under 
that  age ;  and  thit  as  soon  as  these  tribes  were  destroyed, 
or  sooner,  if  it  were  desired,  they  would  join  the  English 
in  an  attack  on  the  Matchapongos. 

They  engac;ed  to  surrender  all  the  prisoners,  arms, 
horses  and  negroes,  taken  from  the  English,  and  to  forbear 
hunting  or  ranging  near  the  plantations  or  stocks  of  the 
English,  without  leave,  or  with  it,  in  a  larger  number 
than  three  at  any  one  time,  and  to  relinquish  all  claims  to 
the  land  on  the  south  side  of  Neuse  river,  below  Co- 
thechney  and  Bear  creeks,  on  the  north  side  of 
Pamplico  river. 

They  bound  themselves  to  pay,  after  a  general  peace, 
such  a  tribute,  as  should  be  agreed  on,  and  that,  in  the 
meanwhile,  no  further  injury  should  be  the  cause  of 
hostilities,  that  should  not  be  redressed  by  satisfaction, 
assessed  by  persons  appointed  for  tiiat  purpose. 

They  agreed  to  deliver,  at  the  house  of  the  president, 
before  the  next  full  nioon,  six  of  the  principal  women 
and  children  from  each  town,  as  hostages,  unless,  before 
that  time,  they  had  destroyed  the  enemy. 

Lastly,  they  promised  to  endeavour  to  bring  alive  to 
some  of  their  towns,  ten  Indians  named  in  the  treaty. 


1713]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  261 

who  had  been  the  foremost  in  the  mussacre,  and  to  send 
runners  to  fort  Reading,  who  were  to  give  two  whoops 
and  show  a  white  cloth,  as  a  signal,  and  to  pilot  such 
persons,  as  might  be  sent  from  the  garrison,  to  see 
execution  done  on  these  murderers. 
,  The  reinforcement  from  South  Carolina,  under  the 
orders  of  colonel  Moore,  reached  Neuse  river  a  few  days 
after  the  signature  of  these  preliminaries  :  the  provisions 
in  that  neighborhood  being  quite  exhausted,  the  presi- 
dent requested  the  colonel  to  march  his  men  into  the 
county  of  Albemarle,  where  they  could  refresh  them- 
selves and  wait  till  supplies  could  be  sent  round.  This 
increase  of  numbers,  in  the  northern  part  of  ihe  colony, 
was  productive  of  great  inconvenience  and  murmur; 
the  planters  loudly  complaii\ed  of  their  inability  to  pro- 
vide for  their  guests.  The  South  Carolina  Indians 
grew  so  unmanageable,  that  many  of  the  inh  bitants  of 
the  county  of  A  bemarle  showed  m  ):e  disposition  to 
turn  their  arms  against  those  troublesome  allies,  than  to 
inarch  with  them  as^jainst  the  common  enemv. 

With  the  view  of  ascertaining  whether  any  depend- 
cnce  could  be  placed  on  the  promises  of  Tom  Blunt,  no 
order  wa^  given  for  the  march  of  the  troops  into  the 
county  of  B.ith,  uiuil  the  middle  of  January. 

On  their  way  thither,  they  stopped  at  Fort  Reading, 
on  the  south  side  of  Pamplico  river,  where  they  were 
detained,  by  a  very  heavy  fall  of  snow,  till  the  4th  of 
February.  The  enemy,  on  the  first  intelligence  of  colo- 
nel Moore's  approach,  sought  their  safely  in  flight,  and 
finally  entrenched  themselves  in  Fort  Nahucke,  which 
they  had  built,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  spot,  on 
which  the  court  house,  of  the  county  of  Greene,  now 
stands.     On  the  20th  of  March,  the  colonel  laid  siege 


262  CHAPTER  {1713 

to,  and  in  a  few  days  became  master  of  it.  On  its 
surrender,  eight  hundred  prisoners  were  made.  The 
loss  of  the  Indians,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  great; 
but  no  materials  exist,  by  which  it  could  be  ascertained. 
Colonel  Moore  had  twenty-two  whites,  and  thirty-six 
Indians,  killed,  and  twenty-four  whites,  and  fifty -six 
Indians,  wounded.  The  Souih  Carolina  Indians,  se- 
cured as  many  slaves  among  the  Indian  prisoners,  as 
they  could,  and  made  the  best  of  their  way  towards 
Charleston.  One  hundred  and  eighty  of  them  only, 
remained  with  their  commander.  Colonel  Moore,  in 
making  his  report  of  the  siege,  to  the  president,  tendered 
him  the  continuance  of  his  services,  and  offered  to  retain 
his  small  force,  in  the  settlement  on  Neuse  river.  The 
president  judged  it  of  the  utmost  importance,  that  the 
blow  should  be  vigorously  followed  up,  lo  the  utmost 
of  the  power  of  the  colony,  till  the  enemy  was  compelled 
to  submit,  which  was  likely  to  happen  soon,  as  the  In- 
dians were  greatly  dispirited  by  their  late  defeat ;  and 
were  now  convinced  how  little  dependence  they  could 
place  in  their  forts.  He  called  a  meeting  of  the  council, 
for  the  15th  of  April,  and  requested  colonel  Moore  to 
attend,  in  order  to  afford  them  the  benefit  of  his  senti- 
ments. 

This  year,  a  violent  storm  opened  a  new  inlet,  about 
a  mile  south  of  the  old  one,  (Currituck)  since  which, 
the  latter  river  entirely  choaked  up,  and  grew  smaller  and 
smaller  every  day. 

On  the  meeting  of  the  council,  it  appeared  that  the 
stock  of  provisions  in  the  possession  of  the  colony, 
consisted  of  only  eight  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  and 
thirty-two  barrels  of  meat.  The  most  sanguine  did  not 
believe,  that  the  greatest  efforts  could  procure  more 


1713]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  263 

than  fourteen  hundreil  bushels  of  corn;  in  addition 
thereto,  governor  Craven  had  written  that  he  would 
send  two  or  three  hundred  Indians  more.  This  force, 
added  to  that  under  the  orders  of  colonel  Moore,  was 
not  sufficient  to  pursue  the  Indians  with  effect ;  and  if 
a  greater  number  could  be  obtained,  there  was  no  proba- 
bility, that  the  colony  could  afford  them  subsistence; 
few  farmers  having  corn  enough  for  the  use  of  their 
families  till  harvest.  The  council  were  of  opinion  that 
the  colony  being  unable  to  enter  into  a  new  campaign, 
it  was  best  to  make  an  honorable  peace,  if  possible, 
while  the  smart  of  the  last  blow  was  still  fresh. 

The  definitive  treaty  was,  accordingly,  concluded. 
Tom  Blunt  was,  in  consequence  of  his  fidelity,  and  the 
services  rendered  to  the  English,  made  and  acknow- 
ledged, king  and  commander  in  chief  of  all  the  Indians, 
on  the  south  side  of  Pamplico  river,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  government ;  and  a  firm  and  lasting  peace,  with 
him,  and  all  the  tribes  that  might  acknowledge  him  as 
such,  was  declared.  On  his  part,  he  engaged  to  deliver 
up  twenty  of  the  chief  contrivers  of  the  massacre,  to 
be  named  by  government.  He  promised  to  pursue  to 
destruction,  the  Cothechneys,  Matchapangos,  and  all 
other  tribes,  at  war  with  the  English,  and  bound  him- 
self to  attend  the  next  legislature,  with  three  hostages 
from  each  of  his  towns. 

The  council  obtained  from  him  information  that  the 
Indians  who  were  not  in  Fort  Nahucke,  had  retreated  to 
Fort  Cahunke;  at  the  distance  of  about  forty  miles 
to  the  south  west  of  the  former,  and  hearing  of  the  sur- 
render of  Fort  Nahucke,  had  abandoned  the  fort  and 
liad  scattered  ;  the  greater  part  of  them  going  up  Roa. 
noke  river.     Conaquani,  a  Tnscarora  chief  who  had 


264  CHAPTER  [47  IS 

lately  returned  from  Albany,  where  he  had  attended  a 
meeiin^r  of  the  English  commissioners,  was  endeavor- 
ing to  dissuade  Tom  Blunt  from  making  peace,  telling, 
him  the  Enj^lish  were  amusing  him  with  fair  words, 
to  keep  him  from  doing  any  mischief;  but  that,  when 
they  would  have  destroyed  the  rest  of  his  nation,  they 
would  in  turn,  fall  upon  him.  The  desire  of  having 
on  the  frontiers,  iriendly  Indians,  who  might  guard  the 
distant  plantations,  from  the  insults  of  straggling  par- 
ties ;  and  the  consideration,  that,  if  Tom  Blunt  attended 
the  legislature,  according  to  his  promise,  and  the  treaty 
was  confirmed  by  them,  there  would  only  be  the 
Cothechneys,  Core,  and  Matchapungos  to  reduce,  the 
motives  that  induced  the  council  to  offer  these  terms, 

A  party  of  the  Matchapungoes,  in  the  last  days  of  the 
month  of  April,  iell  on  the  western  part  of  the  precincts 
of  Currituck,  on  Alligator  river,  and  killed  twenty  white 
inhabitants :  and  colonel  Moore  sent  a  party  of  his  In- 
dians to  protect  that  settlement. 

The  legislature  met  early  in  the  month  of  May. 
Tom  Blunt,  attended  with  his  hostages,  and  the  treaty 
made  with  him,  by  the  president  and  council,  was  con- 
firmed. In  settling  the  claims  on  the  public  treasury, 
to  which  the  war  had  given  rise,  the  ordinary  resources 
of  the  colony  appeared  quite  insufficient.  Recourse 
was  had  to  the  press:  an  emission  of  bills  of  credit,  to 
the  amount  of  eight  thousand  pounds,  was  issued,  and  a 
law  was  passed,  making  the  bills,  then  already  in  cir- 
culation and  those  now  to  be  emitted,  a  tender  in  dis- 
charge of  all  sums,  due  on  contract,  for  rated  com- 
modities. 

This  is  the  first  emission  of  a  paper  currency,  in 
North  Carolina ;  and  there  are  no  means  of  ascertaining, 


1713]  THE  THIRTEENTH.  ae5 

whether  the  bills  that  were  in  circulation,  before  this 
time,  were  some  of  those  that  had  been  emitted  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  province,  since  the  year  1706,  after 
the  return  of  the  expedition  against  St.  Augustine.  It 
appears  that  the  bills  were  not  made  a  tender  in  all  pay- 
ments, but  only  in  case  of  contracts,  made  in  rated  com- 
modities* The  extreme  scarcity  of  the  precious  metals, 
had  thus  early  taught  the  inhabitants,  to  substitute  the 
contract  of  barter  tor  that  of  sale,  and  rate  the  principal 
articles  of  the  produce  of  the  country,  by  a  legal  tariff, 
so  that  payment  might,  in  all  cases  of  barter,  be  effected 
by  the  delivery  of  any  kind  of  produce,  the  debtor  might 
offer.  Contracts,  for  the  payment  of  money,  were  not 
affected  by  the  new  act.  From  that  day  to  the  present, 
the  experience  of  one  century  has  not  enabled  the  people 
to  carry  on  ordinary  dealings  between  man  and  man, 
without  tie  aid  of  paper  money. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature, 
colonel  Moore  sat  off  for  Pamplico,  in  order  to  collect 
his  Indians,  whom  he  had  ordered  to  range  on  the  lands 
of  the  Tuscaroras,  with  a  view  to  watch  their  motions, 
and  to  obtain  the  earliest  intelligence,  in  case  of  their 
embodying  for  a  new  attack.  The  colonel  marched 
with  them  against  the  Matchapungoes,  who  occupied 
that  part  of  the  country,  which  is  now  known  as  thu 
county  of  Hyde;  and  president  Pollock  sent  a  body  of 
militia  by  v/ater,  to  effect  a  descent  on  their  lands.  On 
the  approacii  of  these  forces,  the  Indians  sought  a  shel- 
ter in  the  Dismal  Swamp,  a  vast  desert,  one  hundred 
miles  in  length,  and  of  considerable  breadth,  full  of  lakes 
and  quagmires,  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  the  w  hites 
to  follow  them:  they  had  with  them,  portable  canoes, 
with  which  they  reached  its  most  distant  extremities. 

N.  CARD.       34 


26^  CHAPTER  [17  IS 

Colonel  Moore's  Indians  were  of  peculiar  service  on 
this  occasion :  they  hunted  out  the  foe,  made  several 
prisoners,  and  brought  a  considerable  number  ot  scalps. 

From  thence,  the  militia  and  ailied  Indians,  marched 
to  that  part  of  the  country,  near  which,  the  present  town 
of  Beaufort  stands,  where  they  vi;;orously  attacked  and 
despatched  a  party  of  the  Core  Indians,  who  were 
lurking  about  on  the  south  side  of  Neuse  river,  occa- 
sionally destroying  the  settlers,  about  the  town  of  New- 
bern,  or  crossing  the  sound,  joined  the  Matchapungoes, 
in  their  irruptions  on  that  of  Bath.  Colonel  Moore 
destroyed  a  great  number  of  canoes,  wisich  they  had 
collected,  burnt  their  town  and  laid  their  plantations 
waste. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  Tuscaroras,  who  had 
again  occupied  Fort  Carunche,  evacuated  it  and  joining 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  on  Roanoke  river,  abandoned  Car- 
olina. They  migrated  northerly,  towards  Canada,  near 
the  south  east  end  of  lake  Oneida,  on  the  shores  of 
which  they  settled.  They  were  admitted  into  the  con- 
federacy  of  fhe  five  nations,  which,  from  this  time,  were 
known  by  the  appellation  of  the  Six  Nations  :  the  Tus- 
caroras becoming  the  sixth  member  in  the  union. 

Of  the  thousand  Indians,  who  had  accompanied  colo- 
nel  Moore  from  Charleston,  one  hundred  only,  were 
now  with  him.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  Au- 
gust, the  Matchapungoes  and  the  Cores,  having  sued 
for  peace,  Tom  Blunt,  and  the  few  individuals  of  his 
nation,  who  had  remained  behind,  continuing  tranquil, 
and  forming  a  sufficient  barrier  between  the  back  settle- 
ments and  the  Cothechneys,  colonel  Moore  returned^ 
by  water,  to  Charleston. 


1713] 


THE  THIRTEENTH. 


261 


**The  differences  and  divisions  among  the  people," 
said  president  Pollock,  in  a  letter  to  lord  Carteret,  of  the 
15th  of  October,  "  have,  in  a  manner  subsided ;  most  of 
our  enemy  Indians  killed,  taken,  submitted,  or  fled,  so 
that  there  are,  but  foriy  or  fifty  individuals  hovering  on 
our  frontiers,  that  we  can  hear  of.  The  Quakers, 
though  very  refractory  under  president  Glover's  and  go- 
vernor Hyde's  administrations,  since  I  have  been  en- 
trusted vvi  h  the  government,  I  must  needs  acknowledge, 
have  been  as  ready,  in  supplying  provisions  for  the 
forces,  as  any  other  inhabitants  of  the  province." 


Chalmers — History  of  South  CaroUna'^Recordsc 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  1713,  peace  was  concluded 
between  England  and  France.  Louis  XIV.  recogniz- 
ed the  succession  of  the  British  throne  in  the  protec- 
tant line.  The  bay  of  Hudson  was  declared  to  belong 
to  Great  Britain,  a  tit  re  de  restitution^  and  Nova  Sco- 
tia, hitherto  called  Acadia,  Newfoundland  and  the  ad- 
jacent islands,  a  titre  de  noucelle  acquisition.  The 
exclusive  riorht  of  fishing  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia 
was  given  to  Great  Britain.  The  French  retained 
I'isle  Royale  and  that  of  Cape  Breton.  Commission- 
ers were  agreed  to  be  appointed  to  settle  the  limits  of 
the  American  dominions  of  both  nations. 

Peace  was  at  the  same  time  made  with  Spain.  She 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  Gihraltar  and  the  island  of 
Minorca.  Independently  of  these  two  very  valuable 
acquisitions.  Great  Britain  acquired  two  very  impor- 
tant advantages,  el  pacio  de  el  ass  lento  de  negro»^ 
and  an  implied  recognition  of  their  claim  to  the  log- 
wood trade, 

Elpaclo  de  el  assiento  de  negros^  was  a  contract 
which  secured  the  British  the  privilege  of  supplying, 
in  exclusion  of  Spanish  subjects,  several  parts  of 
Spanish  America,  with  negroes.  This  privilege  had 
at  first  been  enjoyed  by  the  French  Guinea  Company, 
under  a  convention,  which  began  the  1st  of  Septem- 


270  CHAPTER.  [1713 

ber  1701,  and  ended  on  the  same  day,  in  the  year 
1712.  The  British  had  appHed  themselves  to  thwart 
the  operations  of  that  company,  which  was  inclined 
by  its  losses  to  quit  that  service.  The  British  obtain- 
ed it  on  the  26th  of  March  1713.  The  treaty  be- 
tween France  and  Spain,  however,  left  some  share  of 
it  to  the  French,  but  as  the  British  had  obtained  better 
prices  than  those  given  to  the  French,  the  latter  were 
soon  evicted.  This  traffic,  aUhough  to  be  confined 
to  ihe  islands,  opened  the  way  to  the  main,  and  to  the 
commerce  that  it  facilitated,  was  one  of  the  motives 
of  the  war  which  the  peace  of  Utrecht  terminated. 

The  clause  of  uti  possidetis  in  the  treaty  between 
Great  Britain  and  Spain,  m  the  year  1070,  which  al- 
lowed, in  the  opinion  of  the  former,  the  right  of  the 
English  to  cut  logwood  in  the  bay  of  Cam  peachy 
was  recognized,  anrl  confirmed,  "  without  any  pre- 
judice, however,  to  any  liberty  or  power,  which  the 
subjects  of  Great  Britain  enjoyed  before,  either 
through  right, sufferance  or  indulgence." 

On  the  13th  of  July,  the  duke  of  Beaufort,  pala- 
tine of  Carolina,  granted  a  commission  to  Charles 
Eden,  as  governor  of  North  Carolina.  He  arrived  in 
the  spring  of  the  following  year,  and  qualified  on  the 
28th  of  May.  His  instructions  differ  very  little  from 
those  of  governor  Hyde.  He  was  directed  not  to  allow 
the  survey  of  land,  at  a  greater  distance  than  twenty 
miles  from  the  rivers  Cape  Fear  and  Trent.  The 
quit  rents  were  now  fixed  at  ten  shillings  sterling  for 
every  thousand  acres.  The  expenses  of  government 
were  now  encreased:  they  amounted  this  year  to  up- 
wards of  nine  hundred  pounds  sterling.  The  salary 
©f  the  chief  magistrate  was  raised  to  three  hundred 


1714]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  271 

pounds.  The  sale  of  land  and  the  collection  of  quit 
rents  did  not  produce  to  the  treasury  much  more 
than  eleven  hundred  pounds,  and  the  net  revenue 
was  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  pounds,  seven  shil- 
lings and  ten  pence.  One  half  of  a  century  had  alrea- 
dy elapsed  since  the  lords  proprietors  had  obtained 
the  king's  charter,  for  perhaps  the  most  unexampled 
concession  of  land.  They  had  spent  considerable  sums 
of  money  in  peopling  and  governing  their  province, 
and  yet,  at  this  very  late  hour,  it  hardly  yielded  a  reve- 
nue of  twenty  pounds  a  year,  to  each  of  the  eight 
proprietors. 

Governor  Eden  found  the  part  of  his  province  in 
a  state  of  incipient  convalescence.  He  visited  its 
precincts  and  was  every  where  received  with  marks  of 
cordiality  and  respect.  He  found  every  where  the 
planters  returned  on  their  farms,  endeavoring  to  re- 
trieve, by  agricultural  labours,  the  losses  which  they 
had  sustained  during  the  war. 

It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  meeting  of 
the  legislative  body  during  the  first  year  after  the  gov- 
ernor's arrival.  It  is  believed  there  was  none,  as  there 
was  one  on  the  preceding  year,  and  the  sessions  of 
that  body  were  biennial. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  Henry,  duke  of  Beaufort,  the 
palatine,  died,  and  was  succeeded  in  that  dignity  by 
John,  lord  Carteret. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  queen  Anne  died,  and  in  the 
fall  George  I.  was  proclaimed,  as  the  lawful  sove- 
reign of  the  British  empire,  and  of  the  province  of 
Carolina. 

In  the  month  of  February,  the  govrrnor  and  coun- 


27S  CHAPTER  [1715 

cil  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Core  and 
Matchapungolndians.  The  two  tribes  were  so  reduc- 
ed in  numbers  that  they  united  in  one  settlement, 
and  lands  were  allotted  to  them  near  Mattamuskeet 
lake,  in  the  precincts  of  Hyde.  An  agent  was  ap- 
pointed to  reside  in  their  neighborhood. 

The  storm,  that  had  just  subsided  in  the  northern 
part  of  Carolina,  now  broke  out  with  increased  fury 
in  the  south.  All  the  tribes  of  Indians,  from  Cape 
Fear  to  Florida  entered  into  a  confederacy  for  the 
destruction  of  the  whites.  The  principal  tribe  of  the 
Yamassees,  who  dwelt  on  the  back  of  Port  Royal 
island,  acted  in  this  tragedy  the  same  part  which  the 
Tuscaroras  had  perfr^rm^^d  ff)ur  years  before  on 
Roanoke.  Oii  the  !25tii  of  April,  about  break  of  day 
the  cries  of  vvar  gave  universal  alarm,  and  in  a  few 
hours  about  ninety  persons  were  massacred  in  Poco- 
taligo  and  the  neighboring  plantations.  A  captain  of 
militia,  escaping  to  Port  Royal,  alarmed  the  town, 
and  a  vessel  happening  to  be  in  ihe  harbour,  the  in- 
habitants repaired  precipitately  on  board,  sailed  to 
Charleston,  and  thus  providentially  escaped  a  massa-. 
ere.  A  few  families  of  planters  on  the  island,  not 
having  timely  notice  of  the  danger,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  savages.  While  the  Yamassees  were  thus  fall- 
ing on  Port  Royal,  the  Sauras,  Saponas  and  Sissipa- 
haw  tribes  who  dwell  towards  the  river  of  Cape  Fear 
ran  down  upon  the  plantations,  between  that  stream 
and  Charleston.  The  city  itself  trembled  for  its  peri- 
lous situation.  In  this  hour  of  terror,  although  there 
were  not  on  the  muster  roll  of  this  part  of  the  pro- 
vince, more  than  twelve  hundred  men  fit  to  bear  arms. 


1715]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  273 

the  governor  resolved  on  collecting  as  much  of  this 
small  force  as  he  could  to  march  against  the  enemy. 
He  proclaimed  martial  law,  and  laid  an  embargo  on 
all  ships  to  prevent  either  men  or  provisions  from  leav- 
ing the  country.  The  Indians  having  murdered  a 
family  on  a  plantation  to  the  north  of  Charleston, 
at  the  distance  of  about  fifty  miles,  captain  Barker, 
at  the  head  of  a  party  of  ninety  horsemen,  marched 
towards  the  foe;  but,  being  compelled  to  confide  in  an 
Indian  guide,  was  treacherously  led  in  an  ambuscade, 
where  he  was  slain,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  men : 
the  rest  retreated  in  confusion.  A  party  of  ahout 
four  hundred  Indians  came  down  on  lower  Goose 
creek,  where  seventy  men  and  forty  negroes  had  sur- 
rounded themselves  with  a  breastwork,  with  the  re- 
solution of  maintaining  their  post  Discouraged,  how- 
ever, about  as  soon  as  attacked,  they  rashly  agreed  to 
terms  of  peace;  but,  on  admitting  the  enemy  within 
their  works,  they  were  barbarously  murdered.  The 
Indians  now  advanced  towards  Charleston,  but  were 
repulsed  by  governor  Craven,  at  the  head  of  the 
militia.  The  Yamassees,  in  the  mean  while,  with  the 
tribes  near  them,  had  spread  desolation  through  the 
parish  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  proceeded  down  to 
Stono.  Governor  Craven's  men,  advancing  with  cau- 
tious step,  dispersed  their  straggling  parties,  until  he 
reached  the  Saltcatchers,  where  the  Indians  had  pitch- 
ed their  main  camp.  Here  was  fought  a  severe  and 
bloody  battle,  from  behind  trees  and  banks;  the  Indi- 
ans, with  their  terrible  war  whoop^  alternately  retreat- 
ing and  returning  with  redoubled  fury  to  the  charge. 
The  governor,  undismayed,  pressed  closely  on  widi 
N.  CARO.     35 


U1I4  CHAPTER  [ITlii 

his  militia,  pursuing  the  Indians  over  Savannah  riven 
The  enemy  sought  sheUer  in  the  province  of  Florida^ 
where  they  were  hospitably  received.  During  this 
war,  four  hundred  white  inhabitants  were  slain. 

Intelligence  of  its  breaking  out  did  no  sooner 
reach  the  Core  and  Matchapungo  Indians,  than  they 
attempted  to  avail  themselves  of  the  confusion,  which 
the  alarm  created  in  the  county  of  Bath,  by  irruptions 
on  distant  plantations,  where  they  slaughtered  several 
individuals.  Governor  Eden  called  out  a  part  of  the 
militia  and  prevailed  on  some  of  them  to  march  to 
cape  Fear  and  Charleston,  if  needed,  to  the  aid  of  th« 
white  people  there.  Colonel  Maurice  Moore  headed 
a  troop  of  horse  on  this  service. 

Three  small  forts  were  now  erected  on  the  Con- 
garee.  Savannah  and  Apalachicola  rivers,  to  protect 
the  province  of  Carolina  against  the  excursions  of  the 
Yamassees  from  Florida. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  governor  Eden  issued 
his  proclamation  for  convening  the  legislative  body 
on  the  ISdiof  November.  Hitherto,  for  several  ses- 
sions, it  had  assembled  in  the  church  of  the  precincts 
of  Chowan.  It  was  now  directed  to  meet  on  the 
plantation  of  John  Hecklefield,  one  of  the  lords  pro- 
prietors* deputies,  on  Little  river,  the  stream  that 
divides  the  counties  of  Pasquotank  and  Perquimans. 

The  acts,  that  were  passed  at  this  session,  are  the 
oldest  at  present  on  record,  that  have  survived  the 
ravages  of  time.  It  is  believed  a  revision  of  all  for- 
mer acts  was  had  at  this  period:  certain  it  is  that, 
on  the  rise  of  the  legislature,there  remained  no  acts  in 
force,  except  such  as  were  passed  or  confirmed  dur- 


nia]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  ms 

ing  the  session.    They  were  directed  to  be  printed, 
but  as  no  printed  copy  is  extant,  and  manuscript  ones 
may  be  found  in  some  Hbraries,  it  is  imagined  the  or- 
der of  the  legislature  in  this  respect  was  never  carried 
into  execution.    A  specific  tax  of  one  bushel  of  In- 
dian corn,  upon  every  titheable  inhabitant  was  laid  for 
the  support  of  some  forces,  which  it  was  judged  still 
necessary  to  keep  on  the  frontiers  for  the  defence  of 
the  back  settlers,  and  to  discharge  part  of  the  debt 
due  to  the  government  of  South  Carolina.    The  ex- 
treme scarcity  of  a  circulating  medium  again  induc- 
ed the  legislature  to  resort  to  the  press,  and  an  emis- 
sion of  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  bills  of  credit  was 
ordered.    We  have  seen  that  eight  thousand  pounds 
had  been  emitted  in  1713.     A  clause  in  the  act,  pass- 
ed for  the  new  emission,  induces  a  belief  that  several 
others  had  preceded,  and  rendered  some  palliative 
necessary.    The  act  denounces  any  member  of  a  fu- 
ture legislature,  who  may  move  any  proposition,  in 
the    opinion  of  the  house,    derogatory  or   preju- 
dicial to  the  credit  of  the  bills  about  to  be  emit- 
ted, or  to  any  new  emission,  as  an  enemy  to  the  lords 
proprietors  and  the  province.     If  the  man  hold  a 
seat  in  the  upper  house,  he  is  to  be  fined  in  the  sum  of 
twenty  pounds  and  his  seat  is  to  be  vacated  till  the 
pleasure  of  the  lords  proprietors  be  known ;    if  he 
be  a  member  of  the  lower  house,  he  is  to  be  fined  in 
the  same  sum  and  expelled  from  the  house,  and  de- 
clared incapable  of  ever  holding  a  seat  therein.    A 
tax  was  laid  for  raising  annually  the  sum  of  two  thou- 
sand pounds,  to  be  applied  to  the  redemption  of  (he 
bills.    An  act  was  passed  for  establishing  the  church 


276  CHAPTER  [1716 

of  England  and  the  election  of  vestrymen ;  but  provi- 
sion was  made,  at  the  same  time,  for  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  for  the  substitution  of  a  solemn  afRrma- 
tioo,  in  lieu  of  an  oath,  in  favor  of  the  Quakers.  An 
act  was  passed  for  establishing  the  town  of  Carteret, 
on  the  island  of  Roanoke.  This  island,  remarkable 
only  as  the  cradle  of  the  first  English  colony  in  the 
new  world,  must  have  had  at  this  time  a  proportiona- 
bly  greater  population,  than  it  now  enjoys.  However, 
it  seems,  in  the  language  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the 
legislature,  in  this  instance,  said  there  should  be  a 
town,  where  nature  had  said  there  should  be  none ; 
for  no  vestige  remains  of  the  town,  besides  its  name 
in  the  few  copies  of  the  acts  erecting  it,  which  ere  ex- 
tant. Provision  was  made  for  pilots  at  Roanoke  and 
Ocracock  inlets,  for  roads  and  ferries,  weights  and 
measures,  the  building  of  mills,  the  suppression  of 
vice  and  immorality,  and  for  keeping  the  22d  of  Sep- 
tember, the  anniversary  of  the  late  massacre,  as  a  day 
of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer ;  a  duty  was  laid 
on  the  tonnage  of  vessels,  to  supply  ammunition 
for  a  public  magazine;  priority  was  given  to  debts 
contracted  in  the  country;  the  damage  on  bills  of 
exchange  v^as  regulated ;  the  rate  and  place  of  delive- 
ry of  staple  commodities  were  fixed;  the  fees  of 
officers  ascertained ;  the  election  for  members  of  the 
legislature  regulated ;  the  rights  and  duties  of  mas- 
ters and  servants  settled ;  a  court  law  was  passed ;  the 
common  law  and  some  English  statutes  introduced : 
indeed,  the  acts  of  this  session  appear  to  form  a  com- 
plete code. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  session,  Edward  Moseley, 
the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  and  some  of  the  other 


1715]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  277 

members,  who  had  supported  president  Carey  during 
his  insurrection,  and  had  since  opposed  governor 
Hyde,  carried  through  the  house  a  number  of  resolu- 
tions, censuring  the  present  administration.  They 
voted, "that  the  impressing  of  the  inhabitants  or  their 
property,  under  pretence  of  its  being  for  the  pubjic 
service,  without  authority  from  the  assembly,  was  un- 
warrantable, a  great  infringement  of  the  liberty  of  the 
subject,  and  very  much  weakened  the  government, 
by  causing  many  to  leave  it:  that  the  late  treatment 
of  the  Core  Indians,  contrary  to  the  treaty  made  with 
them,  and  the  tenor  of  an  act  of  assembly  relating  to 
Indian  affairs,  was  injurious  to  the  justice  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  likely  to  involve  it  in  war:  that  such 
persons  as  refuse  to  take  the  public  bills  of  credit, 
in  payment  for  fees  or  quit  rents,  or  demand  or  receive 
any  allowance  for  taking  them,  very  much  lessen  their 
credit,  and  are  guilty  of  a  very  great  breach  of  the 
act  of  assembly." 

The  house  appointed  Edward  Moseley,  Joseph 
Jessup,  Thomas  Boyd,  William  Swann,  John  Por- 
ter, Frederick  Jones,  and  D.  McFarlane,  or  any  four 
of  them,  a  committee,  with  full  power  and  authority 
to  represent  the  deplorable  circumstances  of  the 
colony  to  the  lords  proprietors,  and  entreat  them  to 
accept  the  public  bills  of  credit  for  the  purchase  of 
land  and  the  payment  of  quit  rents,  as  well  in  that 
government,  as  in  that  of  South  Carolina. 

The  upper  house  reprobated  these  resolutions,  as 
being  clandestinely  obtained,  not  having  been  com- 
municated to  them,  as  tending  to  the  infringement  of 
the  authority  of  government,  whose  undoul)ted  pre- 


278  CHAPTER  [1715 

rogative  it  was  to  suppress  invasions  and  insurrections, 
and  provide  against  unforseen  emergencies:  as  at- 
tacking the  prerogatives  of  the  lords  proprietors,  and 
creating  in  them  jealousies  of  the  faithful  services  of 
their  officers  in  the  province:  and,  as  intended  to  give 
ill  and  disaffected  persons  an  opportunity  of  clandes- 
tinely venting  their  malice,  to  the  lords  proprietors, 
against  the  present  administration,  under  colour  of  the 
authority  of  the  people. 

In  the  summer,  the  governor  issued  a  proclamation 
for  dissolving  the  assembly. 

It  appears  that  there  were,  at  this  time, two  thousand 
taxable  inhabitants  in  the  settlement,  and  that  one 
million  of  acres  of  land  had  been  granted  by  the  lords 
proprietors. 

The  lords  proprietors,  disregarding  the  remon- 
strance and  petition  of  the  assembly,  instructed  their 
receiver  general,  in  Carolina,  to  demand  the  price  of 
land,  and  the  quit  rents,  in  sterling  money. 

The  province  of  Virginia  having  procured  from  the 
Indians  the  cession  of  a  vast  tract  of  land,  beyond  the 
Apalachy  mountains,  governor  Spotswood  formed  the 
design  of  raising  a  company,  who  should  acquire 
those  lands  from  the  crown,  and  settle  a  colony  there. 
But  the  good  understanding,  that  then  prevailed  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  France,  prevented  the  suc- 
cess of  his  scheme.  It  went,  however,  so  far  into 
effect,  that  three  millions  of  acres  were  granted  by  the 
colony  to  the  west  of  the  Apalachy  mountains.  The 
plan  of  ihe  governor  was,  about  half  a  century  after, 
improved  on,  by  the  establishment  of  the  Ohi« 
company. 


1717]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  2T9 

Experience  having  shown  that  the  punishments, 
inflicted  by  the  laws  in  force  in  the  mother  country, 
against  persons  guilty  of  robbery  and  larceny,  had 
not  proven  effectual  to  deter  the  wicked ;  and  many 
offenders,  to  whom  the  royal  mercy  had  been  extended, 
on  condition  of  transporting  themselves  to  America, 
having  neglected  to  perform  the  condition  of  their 
pardon,  but  returned  to  their  former  practices, 
came  at  length  to  an  ignominious  death ;  and  there 
being  in  many  of  the  American  colonies  a  great  want 
of  servants,  who,  by  their  labour  and  industry,  might 
be  the  means  of  improving,  and  making  them 
more  useful  to  the  mother  country,  a  statute  was 
passed,  (4  Geo.  J.  c.  11.)  by  which  persons,  convicted 
of  clergyable  offences,  were  directed  to  be  transported 
for  seven  years,  to  the  king's  plantations  and  colo- 
nies in  America:  persons  convicted  of  mitigatable 
offences,  to  whom  the  king  might  extend  his  pardon, 
and  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  were  transported  for 
seven  years.  Transported  persons,  returning  before 
the  expiration  of  the  time,  for  which  they  were  trans- 
ported, were  to  be  punished  capitally;  and,  with  a 
view  to  encourage  a  more  useful  class  of  emigrants, 
merchants  and  others  were  permitted  to  contract  with 
persons,  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-one, 
willing  to  be  transported,  and  enter  into  service,  in  any 
of  his  majesty's  colonies  and  plantations  in  America, 
for  their  services  during  the  period  of  eight  years. 

The  few  individuals  of  the  Tuscarora  nation,  who 
had  remained  with  king  Blunt,  on  the  migration  of  the 
main  body  of  the  nation  towards  the  lakes,  had  land 
allotted  to  them  on  Pamplico  riv(^r.  The  smallness  of 
their  number,  disabling  them  from  resisting  rhe  attacks 


280  CHAPTER  [1718 

of  the  southern  Indians,  governor  Eden  and  the 
council,  on  the  5th  of  June,  entered  into  a  treaty,  by 
which  the  land  on  PampHco  was  abandoned  by  the 
Indians,  and  another  tract  granted  to  them,  on  Ro- 
anoke river,  in  the  present  county  of  Bertie,  in  con- 
sideration of  which,  they  relinquished  all  claims  to 
any  other  land  in  the  province.  The  descendants  of 
these  Indians,  at  this  day,  though  removed  to  the 
northern  lakes,  still  retain  their  right  to  the  land,  thus 
granted  them,  and  have,  at  various  times,  sent  agents  to 
collect  the  rents  accruing  thereon,  in  which  they  have 
been  assisted  by  the  legislature. 

Merchants  and  masters  of  ships  had,  in  their  trade 
to  America  and  the  West  Indies,  suffered  much  from 
the  barbarity  and  depredations  of  pirates.  On  their 
complaint  to  the  king  in  council,  a  proclamation  had 
been  issued,  promising  a  pardon  to  all  pirates  who 
should  surrender  themselves  within  the  space  of  twelve 
months:  and  at  the  same  time  a  force  was  ordered  to 
sea,  to  suppress  them.  The  island  of  Providence 
being  their  common  place  of  resort,  captain  Wood 
Rogers  sailed  with  a  few  ships  of  war  against  the 
island,  and  took  possession  of  it  for  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land. It  will  be  recollected,  that  this  island,  with  the 
rest  of  the  Bahamas,  had,  in  1665,  been  granted  to 
the  lords  proprietors  of  Carolina,  who  had  made  efforts 
to  settle  a  colony  in  these  parts.  All  the  pirates,  ex- 
cept one  Vane,  with  about  ninety  others,  (who  made 
their  escape  in  a  sloop)  took  the  benefit  of  the  king's 
proclamation  and  surrendered.  Rogers,  who  was 
constituted  governor  of  the  island,  formed  a  council, 
appointed  civil  and  military  officers,  built  forts,  and 


1718]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  281 

from  this  time  the  trade  of  the  West  ladies  was  well 
protected  against  those  lawless  plunderers. 

They  were  not  yet,  however,  extirpated  from  the 
southern  shores  of  the  continent  About  thirty  of 
them  took  possession  of  the  land  at  the  mouth  of  cape 
Fear  river,  the  plantations  which  had  been,  about 
forty  years  before,  begun  in  this  part  of  the  province, 
having  been  long  since  abandoned.  They  infested 
the  coast  of  Carolina,  and  did  immense  injury  to  the 
commerce  of  Charleston.  Governor  Johnson  of 
South  Carolina,  resolving  to  check  this  alarming  evil^ 
sent  out  to  sea  a  ship  of  force,  which  captured  one  of 
their  sloops,  and  brought  Steed  Bennet,  the  com- 
mander, and  about  ihirty-nine  men,  to  Charles- 
ton. The  governor  soon  after  embarked  in  person, 
and  sailed  in  pursuit  of  an  armed  sloop,  which,  after  a 
desperate  engagement,  was  also  taken.  Two  pirates, 
who  alone  survived  the  action,  were  instantly  tried, 
condemned  and  executed.  Bennet,  and  his  crew, 
were  also  tried,  and  all,  excepting  one  man,  w^ere 
hanged. 

Edward  Teach,  commonly  called  Black  Beard, 
a  noted  freebooter,  still  made  the  coast  of  Carolina 
the  station  of  a  small  squadron,  which  he  commanded. 
His  flag  was  hoisted  on  board  of  a  forty  gurj  ship,  tiie 
crew  of  which  consisted  of  one  hundred  men.  He 
had  with  him  six  other  vessels.  Bennet,  before  his 
capture,  and  Vane  and  VVirley,  were  the  officers  next 
in  grade  to  him.  The  inlets  of  Ocracock  and  Top- 
sail and  the  river  of  cape  Fear,  were  the  places  from 
which  they  salhed  forth,  and  to  which  they  retreated 
for  safety.     In  the  month  of  May,  Tcacli  came  ic 

N..    CARO.      36 


2^  -  CHAPTER  0718 

cruize  before  the  bar  of  Charleston,  with  his  forty  gun 
ship.  Having  captured  a  ship,  on  board  of  which 
Samuel  Wragg,  a  member  of  the  council  of  the  pro- 
vince of  South  Carolina,  had  taken  his  passage,  he 
robbed  that  gentleman  of  six  thousand  dollars,  in 
specie,  and  taking  him  on  board  of  his  ship,  as  a  pri- 
soner, with  several  other  passengers,  sent  four  of  his 
men  to  Charleston,  to  demand  of  governor  Johnson, 
a  chest  of  medicine,  threatening  to  behead  Samuel 
Wragg,  and  the  other  passengers,  unless  the  chest  was 
sent.  The  pirates  staid  in  town  some  time,  walking 
publicly  along  Main  street,  while  they  waited  for  the 
governor's  answer.  At  last,  the  desire  of  saving  the 
life  of  the  prisoners  induced  a  compromise,  and  the 
pirates  w^ere  suffered  to  return  on  board,  unmolested, 
with  the  chest. 

Soon  after,  Vaughan,  one  of  Teaches  captains,  lying 
off  the  bar,  sent  in  a  like  insolent  message.  The  in- 
dignation of  the  people  was  raised,  and  some  ships 
were  fitted  out,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  him,  but 
Vaughan,  having  had  intimation  of  their  intention, 
escaped. 

Teach  came  into  North  Carolina,  where  he  intend- 
ed to  break  up  his  company,  and  secure  the  plunder 
he  had  collected,  and  proceeded  to  Eden's  house,  w^th 
twenty  of  his  men,  where,  pleading  the  king's  pardon, 
they  obtained  the  governor's  certificate.  A  court  of 
admiralty  being  soon  after  held  at  Bath,  Teach  ob- 
tained the  condemnation  of  a  sloop,  as  a  good  prize, 
although  he  never  had  a  commission.  He  now  mar- 
ried a  young  girl,  his  thirteenth  wife,  and  having  spent 
some  time  rioting  in  Pamplico,  he  sailed  on  a  cruize. 


niB)  -     THE  FOURTEENTH.  283 

and  shortly  after,  returned  with  a  valuable  prize,  a 
French  ship,  laden  with  sugar  and  cocoa.  Four 
men  swore  she  had  been  found  at  sea,  without  any 
person  on  board :  on  this  evidence,  the  court  of  ad- 
miralty adjudged  her,  as  a  lawful  prize,  to  the  captors. 
There  were  men,  unfriendly  to  governor  Eden,  and  to 
the  judge,  Tobias  Knight,  who  said,  that  the  governor 
had  received  sixty  hogsheads  of  sugar,  as  a  douceur, 
and  the  judge  twenty;  and  in  order  to  elude  every 
means  of  enquiry  into  the  affair,  the  ship,  on  a  sugges- 
tion, that  she  was  leaky  and  unseaworthy,  was  con- 
sumed by  fire. 

Teach  remained  in  the  river,  trading  with  the  small 
vessels  that  came  in,  and  with  the  planters,  for  provi- 
sions and  other  things,  in  exchange  for  his  part  of  the 
plunder.  They  complained  of  his  want  of  correctness 
in  the  application  of  the  rule  of  meum  et  tuum^  and 
imagining  that  the  governor  did  not  exert  his  autho- 
rity in  a  manner  sufficiently  energetic  to  afford  them 
ledress,  sent  a  message  to  governor  Spotswood,  to  so- 
licit his  influence  with  the  commodore  on  that  station, 
for  a  small  force,  to  subdue  the  pirate.  Accordingly 
two  sloops  were  fitted  out,  and  Robert  Maynard,  a 
lieutenant  of  the  royal  navy,  was  ordered  to  proceed 
with  them  to  North  Carolina.  A  proclamation  was, 
at  the  same  time  issued  by  governor  Spotswood,  offer- 
ing a  reward  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Teach,  fifteen  pounds  for  every  officer,  and 
ten  pounds  for  every  other  man,  taken  out  of  his 
sloops.  Lieutenant  Maynard  left  James  river  on  the 
17th  of  November,  and  four  days  after  passed  Ocra- 
cock  bar,  and  shortly  after  approached  tlie  pirate. 


284  CHAPTER  1718] 

Although  the  expedition  had  been  fitted  out  with  great 
caution  and  secresy,  yet  Teach  had  been  apprized  of 
the  Heutenant's  motions,  and  had  accordingly  put 
himself  in  a  posture  of  defence.  His  force  consisted 
of  twenty-five  men.  Lieutenant  Maynard,  on  disco- 
vering Teach's  vessel,  came  to  an  anchor,  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  channel  requiring  this  precaution.  In 
the  morning,  he  came  within  gun-shot  of  her,  and 
received  her  fire ;  whereupon  he  stood  directly  to- 
wards the  pirate,  endeavoring  to  make  a  running 
fight,  but  run  aground.  Teach  hailed  him,  with  hor- 
rid imprecations ;  boasting  he  neither  would  take  nor 
receive  quarter.  A  bloody  fight  immediately  ensued, 
and  the  lieutenant's  men  being  much  exposed,  he  lost 
twenty  of  them,  at  one  broadside ;  on  which  he  ordered 
all  the  others  below,  bidding  them  to  be  ready  for 
close  fighting  on  the  first  signal.  The  pirate  poured 
in  his  granadoes,  and  seeing  no  person  on  deck,  or- 
dered his  men  to  board  the  enemy.  The  lieutenant 
calling  his  men  on  deck,  fell  on  the  assailants.  The 
two  commanders  fired  first  at  each  other,  and  instantly 
drew  their  diriis,  while  their  men,  being  as  eagerly 
engaged,  the  deck  was  soon  covered  with  gore.  Teach 
fell,  exhausted  by  the  loss  of  blood  from  a  number  of 
wounds:  eight,  out  of  fourteen,  of  the  pirates  who  had 
boarded  the  king's  vessel  were  killed,  and  the  other 
six,  totally  disabled  by  their  wounds,  sued  for  mercy. 
The  men  who  had  remained  on  board  of  Teach's 
vessel  were  next  attacked,  with  the  same  bravery,  and 
surrendered.  Their  commander,  after  firing  the  first 
broadside,  seeing  but  litde  hope  of  an  escape,  had 
placed  a  desperate  negro,  with  a  firebrand,  at  the  ma- 


1718J  THE  FOURTEENTH.  ^1/ 

gazine,  with  orders  to  apply  it  the  moment  the  enemy 
boarded  the  sloop.  He  was  with  difficuhy  dis- 
suaded from  doing  so,  ahhough  informed  of  the  death 
of  his  master. 

Lieutenant  Maynard  caused  Teaches  head  to  be  se- 
vered from  the  body,  and  hung  from  the  end  of  his  bow- 
sprit, and  then  sailed  up  to  the  town  of  Bath,  where  he 
landed  his  men.  After  they  were  a  little  recovered,  he 
returned  with  the  pirate's  crew  to  James  river,  the  head 
still  hanging  from  the  bowsprit.  They  were  tried  in  the 
court  of  admiralty,  and  thirteen  of  them  were  hung. 

Edward  Teach  was  born  in  Bristol,  and  had  served 
several  years  during  the  last  war  on  board  of  a  privateer, 
fitted  out  in  Jamaica,  and  had  distinguished  himself  for 
his  intrepidity  and  boldness.  In  the  year  1706,  he 
joined  one  Hornsgold,  a  pirate,  with  whom  he  went  on 
a  cruize,  between  the  island  of  Providence  and  the  con- 
tinent. Having  captured  a  sloop,  of  which  Hornsgold 
gave  him  the  command,  he  took  with  her,  soon  after,  a 
French  Gurneaman,  bound  to  Martinico  :  he  put  forty 
guns  on  board,  and  called  her  Queen  Anne's  Revenge, 
and  went  on  a  cruize,  with  the  sloop  as  a«tender,  to  South 
America  and  the  Canary  islands,  where  he  heard  of  the 
king's  proclamation.  Having  collected  much  plunder, 
and  being  desirous  of  diminishing  the  number  of  those 
with  whom  it  was  to  be  shared,  he  ran  aground,  as  if  by 
accident,  and  abandoning  seventeen  men  on  a  desert 
island,  where  they  must  haye  perished,  if  they  had  not 
soon  after  been  taken  off  by  Steed  Bennet,  one  of  his 
captains :  he  had  come  to  Carolina. 

The  adherents  to  president  Carey  still  continued 
their  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  administration, 
and  on  Christmas  dav,  Maurice  Moore  and  Kdward 


!2S6  CHAPTER  [1718 

Moseley  possessed  themselves  of  all  the  papers  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  the  province,  in  the  custody  of 
John  Lovick,  the  deputy  secretary,  at  Sandy  point. 
The  governor  had  them  instantly  arrested,  and  called  a 
meeting  of  the  council,  who  approved  of  his  conduct, 
and  ordered  those  gentleman  to  remain  committed,  till 
they  gave  bail  to  stand  their  trial.  They  were  after- 
wards tried,  in  the  general  court,  and  Edward  Moseley 
was  convicted,  fined  one  hundred  pounds,  silenced  as 
an  attorney,  and  declared  incai)able  of  holding  any  place 
of  trust  or  profit,  under  the  government,  during  three 
years,  and  ordered  to  give  security  for  his  good  beha«» 
viour  for  a  year  and  a  day. 

Governor  Eden  laid  before  the  council  an  account  of 
his  proceedings,  on  the  surrender  of  Teach  and  his  men, 
of  some  disorder '  committed  by  them  in  Bath,  of 
the  means  by  which  he  put  a  stop  to  them,  of  Teach's 
clearing  out  for  St,  Thomas,  and  returning  soon  after 
with  a  wreck,  loaded  with  sugar  and  cocoa ;  and  a 
statement  of  his  conduct  towards  the  pirates,  till  Teach 
was  killed,  and  the  others  carried  to  Virginia.  The 
council  expressed  their  approbation  of  the  governor's 
conduct. 

Daring  the  trial  of  these  men  at^Williamsburg,  seve- 
ral witnesses  charged  Tobias  Knight,  who  exercised  the 
functions  of  chief  justice,  in  the  absence  of  chief  justice 
Gale,  with  having  been  accessray  to  their  piracies.  This 
induced  the  council  to  call  him  before  them  ;  but,  on 
examining  into  the  case,  they  found  no  cause  of  sus- 
pecting him. 

The  lords  proprietors  had  rendered  themselves  most 
obnoxious  to  their  tenants  in  Carolina.  Joseph  Boor 
had  returned  to  Charleston,  without  having  been  abfe 


17 19^  THE  FOURTEENTH.  ^^ 

to  obtain  9ny  redress.  An  association  was  formed,  with 
a  view  to  unite  the  whole  colony,  in  an  attempt  to  destroy 
the  proprietors'  government.  Governor  Johnson  had 
put  an  end  to  a  contest  between  him  and  the  assemby 
of  his  part  of  the  province,  by  a  dissolution  of  the  latter, 
and,  after  issuing  his  proclamation  for  that  purpose,  had 
retired  into  the  country.  The  house,  when  the  marshal 
attempted  to  read  the  proclamation,  ordered  it  to  be 
torn  from  his  hands.  This  measure  was  followed  by 
the  immediate  rise  of  the  standard  of  revolt.  The 
assembly  called  James  Moore,  (the  officer  who  liad 
headtd  the  succour  to  North  Carolina,  about  seven 
years  before)  to  the  supreme  magistracy,  as  governor 
for  the  king,  and  appointed  him  a  council,  and  the  new 
form  of  government  went  into  operation,  without  the 
least  confusion  or  struggle.  Governor  Johnston,  how- 
ever, having  unsuccessfully  attempted  to  thwart  these 
measures,  made  a  last  bold  effort  to  recover  his  au- 
thority. He  was  joined  by  the  commander  of  a  small 
naval  force,  that  was  then  in  the  province.  The  ships 
of  war  came,  and  laid  their  broadsides  towards  Charles- 
ton, and  threatened  the  destruction  of  it,  if  the  inhabitants 
persisted  in  refusing  obedience  to  legal  authority  :  but 
the  people,  having  anns  in  their  hands,  and  forts  in  their 
possession,  bid  defiance  to  the  governor,  and  he  relin- 
quished his  attempt  to  re-establish  the  proprietors' 
government. 

This  year,  the  town  of  Pensacola  was  taken  by  the 
French  from  the  Spaniards,  who  retook  it  a  few  months 
after. 

The  flame  of  revolution,  which  had  burst  out  in 
South  Carolina,  did  not  extend  to  the  north,  c  nd  on  the 
19th  of  February,  governor  Eden  and  his  council  ad- 


X 


S>88  CHAPTER  [1720 

dressed  the  lords  proprietors,  assuring  them  of  their  utter 
detestation  of  the  proceedings  by  the  people  at  Charleston, 
and  that  nothing  in  their  power  should  be  wanting  to 
promote  their  interest  in  the  northern  part  of  the  pro- 
vince ;  that  they  were  entirely  easy  and  satisfied  under 
their  lordships'  government,  and  would  always  use 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  maintain  it. 

In  the  month  of  August,  governor  Eden  met  the  le- 
gislature at  the  court  house  of  the  precinct  of  Chowan  ; 
it  sat  but  eighteen  days ;  no  very  important  act  w^as 
passed  during  this  session  ;  the  land  and  poll  taxes  were 
lessened,  an  evidence  of  the  tranquility  of  the  country. 
By  an  act  of  this  session,  it  appears,  a  town  had  some 
time  before  been  established  by  law  in  the  precinct  of 
Chowan,  which  in  honor  of  the  governor  was  called 
Edenton  ;  the  original  act  is  not  extant,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  establish  its  date. 

The  agent  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  during  the 
absence  of  the  king  at  Hanover,  obtained  a  hear- 
ing from  the  lords  of  the  regency  and  council  in  Eng- 
land, who  were  of  opinion,  that  the  lords  proprietors  had 
forfeited  their  charter.  In  conformity  to  this  decision, 
he  ordered  the  attorney  general  to  take  out  a  scire 
facias  against  it,  and  in  September,  Francis  Nicholson, 
who  had  lately  presided  over  the  provinces  of  Virginia, 
and  Marjdand,  received  the  king's  commission  as  gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina :  it  does  not  appear  that  his  au- 
thority was  ever  exercised  in  North  Carolina.  It  is  bcr 
lieved,  that  at  this  time,  the  authority  of  the  lords  pro- 
prietors ceased  to  be  acted  under  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  province.  In  the  northern,  the  acts  of  the  legisla- 
ture and  every  other  act  of  government,  till  the  arrival  of 
governor  Burrington,  with  a  royal  commission,  in  1730, 


1721]  THE  FOURTEENTH.  283 

appear  to  have  been  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  lords 
proprietors. 

Governor  Nicholson  arrived  in  Charleston  early  in 
the  following  year,  and  soon  after  convened  the  legisla- 
ture :  they  recognized  king  George  as  their  immediate 
lord,  and  proceeded  with  cheerfulness  and  harmony  to 
the  regulation  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  Before  go- 
vernor Nicholson  left  England,  a  suspension  of  arms 
between  Great  Britain  and  Spain  had  taken  place,  and  by 
the  treaty  of  peace  which  succeeded,  it  was  agreed  that 
all  subjects  and  Indians,  living  under  these  different  ju- 
risdictions, should  cease  all  acts  of  hostility  :  orders 
were  sent  out  to  the  governor  of  St.  Augustine,  to  for- 
bear molesting  the  people  of  Carolina,  and  governor 
Nicholson  was  instructed  to  cultivate  the  friendship  and 
good  will  of  the  Spanish  subjects  and  Indians  in  Florida. 
In  conformity  with  these  instructions,  governor  Nichol- 
son gave  his  first  attention  to  fix  the  limits  of  the  hunt- 
ing grounds  of  the  Indians,  and  forbid  any  encroach- 
ments  on  their  hunting  grounds.  With  this  view,  he 
sent  a  message  to  the  Cherokees,  inviting  their  chiefs 
to  a  general  congress :  he  met  them,  smoked  the  calu- 
met with  them,  marked  the  boundaries  of  their  lands, 
and  appointed  an  agent  to  regulate  their  affairs.  He 
then  held  a  treaty  with  the  Creeks,  appointed  an  agent 
to  reside  among  them,  and  fixed  on  Savannah  riwr,  as 
the  boundary  of  their  hunting  grounds,  beyond  which 
no  settlement  was  to  extend. 

By  a  statute  passed  this  year,  (8  Geo.  1.  c.  12.)  the 
premium  on  the  importation  of  hemp  from  America, 
was  continued ;  v/ood,  plank  and  timber,  wrought  or 
unwrought,  were  allowed  to  be  imported  from  the  colo- 
nies in  America,  free  from  duty  :  restrictions  were  im- 

N.  CAHLO.      37 


29a  CBfAPTER  [1721 

posed  on  the  cutting  or  falling  of  any  white  pine  trees 
in  the  northern  colonies. 

By  the  articles  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  ratified  this  year 
between  France  and  Spain,  Pensacola,  which  the  Frt- nch 
had  taken  a  second  time,  was  restored  to  his  Catholic 
majesty.  The  seat  of  government  of  the  province  of 
Louisiana  was  removed  from  Biloxi  to  New  Orleans, 
which  had  been  laid  out  since  1717,  but  which  did  not 
take  any  consistency  till  after  this  removal.  The  pro- 
vince was  reduced  to  such  a  distressed  state,  that  many 
of  the  colonists  came  over  to  Charleston :  the  number  of 
these  people  was  so  great,  that  governor  Nicholson  ad- 
vised monsieur  de  Bienville,  governor  of  Louisiana,  to 
take  measures  to  prevent  the  further  desertion  of  his 
people. 

The  endeavours  of  the  French,  to  confine  the  Eng- 
lish colonies  to  narrow  limits  along  the  sea  coast,  by  a 
chain  of  forts,  on  the  great  passes  from  Canada  to  Lou- 
isiana, were  now  so  apparent,  that  governor  Burnett,  of 
New  York,  concluded  it  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  get  the  command  of  Lake  Ontario,  to  secure  the  trade 
and  friendship  of  the  six  nations,  and  frustrate  the  de- 
signs of  the  French :  he  therefore  began  the  erection  of 
a  trading  house  at  Oswego,  in  the  country  of  the 
Senekas, 

Daniel  Coxe,  the  son  of  the  proprietor  of  the  province 
of  Carolana,  who  had  attempted,  during  the  reign  of 
queen  Anne,  to  induce  the  ministry  to  yield  to  the  set- 
tlement of  his  province  the  aid  which  had  been  promised 
him  in  the  former  reign,  without  success,  owing  to  the 
wary  which  occupied  their  attention,  now  made  a 
new  effort  to  draw  the  public  attention  to  his  views,  by 
the  publication  of  a  description  of  Carolana,  and  an  ex- 
tract  of  his  memorial  to  king  William. 


1722]  THE  FOURTEENTH,  291 

The  king  this  year  granted  to  John,  dake  of  Mon- 
tague,  liis  letters  patent,  constituting  him  captain  gene- 
ral of  St.  Lucia  and  St.  Vincent,  with  liberty  to  settle 
those  islands  with  British  subjects.  The  duke's  at- 
tempt being  opposed  by  the  French,  miscarried.  Three 
years  before,  monsieur  D'Estree  had  obtained  from 
the  regent  of  France  a  grant  of  St.  Lucia,  and  sent  s 
colony  to  possess  and  settle  it :  but  on  a  remonstrance 
of  the  British  ambassador  at  Paris,  he  had  orders  to  dis- 
continue his  settlement,  and  withdraw  the  people  from 
that  island.  St.  Lucia  was  at  this  time  evacuated  by 
both  French  and  English,  and  together  with  St.  Vincent 
remai.jed  a  neutral  island,  until  the  treaty  of  1763. 

On  the  26th  of  Vlarch,  governor  Eden  died :  his 
tomb  stone  at  Eden  house,  on  Salmon  creek,  in  the 
county  of  Chowan,  informs  posterity,  that  he  "  govern- 
ed the  province  eight  years,  to  the  greatest  satisfaction 
of  the  lords  proprietors,  and  the  ease  and  happiness  of 
the  people;  that  he  brought  the  country  into  a  flourish- 
ing condition,  and  died  much  lamented,  in  the  forty- 
ninth  year  of  his  life.*' 

During  the  war  between  France  and  Spain,  under  the 
regency  of  the  duke  of  Orleans,  the  French  of  Louisiana 
attacked  the  Spanish  mission  in  Texas,  from  Natchi- 
toches :  the  Spaniards  retreated  as  far  as  San  Antonio 
de  Bexar.  Li  1719,  the  marquis  de  Valero  advanced 
with  a  considerable  force,  and  drove  the  French  back  to 
ISfatchitoches. 


Chalmers — History  of  South  Carolina — Records, 


CHAPTER  XV. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  1722,  Thomas  Pollock,  the 
deputy  of  lord  Carteret,  qualified  as  president  and 
commander  in  chief,  under  a  commission  from  the  lords 
proprietors. 

Oil  the  8th  of  August,  the  precinct  of  Craven  was 
divided,  by  an  order  of  the  president  and  council  The 
eastern  part,  including  all  the  land  lying  on  Core  sound, 
Bogue  sound,  the  rivers  and  creeks  running  into 
them,  and  all  the  settlements  to  the  south,  was  erected 
into  a  new  precinct,  which,  in  compliment  to  one  of  the 
lords  proprietors,  was  called  Carteret.  Craven  precinct, 
consisted  of  all  the  settlements  on  Neuse  and  Trent 
rivers,  and  their  branches,  including  Bear  river. 

Nearly  about  this  time  the  Reverend  Mr.  Newman, 
whom,  at  the  repeated  solicitations  of  governor  Eden, 
the  society  for  propagating  the  gospel  in  foreign  parts, 
had  sent  to  North  Carolina,  arrived,  and  entered  on 
the  duties  of  his  appointment.  Like  those  of  his  pre- 
decessors, his  reports  to  the  society  deplored  the 
poverty  and  ignorance,  and  sometimes,  the  profligacy 
of  his  flock,  the  remote  situation  of  the  individuals  of 
it,  and  the  consequent  hardships  and  fatigue,  he  had  to 
endure.  These  brought  on  a  severe  illness,  to  which 
be  soon  after  fell  a  victim. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  the  president  died;  and  on 
the  7tb  of  September,  William  Reed  entered  on  the  du- 


[1723  CHAPTER.  293 

ties  of  the  office  of  president  and  commander  in  chief. 
This  gentleman  met  the  legislature,  in  the  new  town  of 
Edenton,  a  few  weeks  after  his  election.  The  country- 
was  in  the  calm  moment  of  peace.  The  settlements  on 
Neuse,  around  the  town  of  Ne  wbern,  had  considerably 
increased;  but  they  were  not  accessible,  with  facility  by 
land,  from  those  around  the  town  of  Bath,  on  Pamplico 
river ;  the  communication  by  water  was  tedious,  and  at 
times,  dangerous :  a  law  was  now  passed,  to  open  a 
road  from  Core  point,  between  the  two  settlements. 
A  sum  of  twelve  thousand  pounds,  in  bills  of  credit, 
was  emitted,  for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  those  which 
were  afloat.  The  measure  was  not  considered  as  de- 
structive of  the  credit  of  the  currency,  or  a  new  Hege- 
torides  encountered  the  penalties  denounced  by  the  act 
of  1715.     It  does  not  appear  that  any  was  exacted. 

Owing  to  the  great  charges  government  had  been  at, 
during  the  late  Indian  war,  the  preceding  legislature  had 
not  taken  care  of  establishing  the  precinct  courts,  in 
any  fixed  or  certain  places ;  but  they  had  hitherto  been 
held  at  private  houses,  liabble  to  be  removed  at  the  plea- 
sure of  the  owner.  This  inconvenience  was  now  reme- 
died; and  the  justices  were  ordered  to  have  a  court  house 
erected  in  every  precinct,  except  those  of  Hyde  and 
Beaufort,  for  which,  it  was  imagined,  one  would  suffice. 
.  The  court  house  of  the  precinct  of  Carteret  was  directed 
to  be  built  in  a  town  which,  about  this  time,  began  to  be 
erected,  which,  in  the  following  year,  was  etablished 
by  law  in  that  precinct,  and  in  honor  of  the  Duke 
of  Beaufort,  one  of  the  lords  proprietorss,  was  called 
Beaufort.  Those  of  the  precincts  of  Craven  and  Chowan, 
were  directed  to  be  built  in  the  towns  of  Newbern  and 
Edenton  ;  that  of  the  precincts  of  Beaufort  and  Hyde,  in 


294  CHAPTER  [1723 

the  town  of  Bath;  that  of  the  precinct  of  Perquimans,  at 
Felps  point,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Narrows  :  those  of  the 
precincts  of  Currituck  and  Pasquotank,  at  the  choice  of 
the  justices. 

That  part  of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  lying  to  the 
westward  of  Chowan  river,  was  erected  into  a  new  pre- 
cinct, which  was  called  Bertie,  in  honor  of  James  Bertie, 
who,  on  the  death  of  Seth  Sothel,  had  purchased  the 
share  in  the  province,  which  had  originally  been  held 
by  the  earl  of  Clarendon,  or  Henry  Bertie,  who  held, 
afterwards,  that  of  Sir  William  Berkely.  The  court 
house  of  this  precinct  was  directed  to  be  built  at 
Abotskey. 

Settlements  on  Cape  Fear  river  began,  it  is  said,  to 
be  made  this  year;  since  the  retreat  of  the  planters 
brought  there  by  Sir  John  Yeamans,  no  attempt  had 
been  made  at  agriculture  on  that  river.  There  are,  how- 
ever, no  documents  extant,  from  which  the  exact  time, 
when  the  permanent  settlement  on  that  river  began,  can 
be  ascertained ;  it  is,  however,  probable,  that  it  hap- 
pened about  this  time.  By  the  erection  of  the  precinct  of 
Carteret,  the  lands  on  Cape  Fear  river,  at  least,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  that  stream,  were  taken  in  as  part  of  the 
new  precinct,  and  regular  government  was  extended 
thereto. 

In  the  following  year,  a  fort  was  built  high  up  on 
Connecticut  river,  which  took  the  name  of  lieutenant 
Dummer,  under  whose  direction  it  was  built.  Around 
it,  a  setdement  began  soon  after,  which  was  the  origin  of 
the  present  state  of  Vermont. 

President  Reed  met  the  legislature  at  Edenton,  on 
the  23d  of  November.  Peace  continued  to  prevail,  and 
the  legislature  thought  themselves  justifiable,  in  giving 


1724]  THE  FIFTEENTH.  295 

another  direction  to  the  tonnage  duty,  which  had  been 
imposed  on  all  vessels,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
powder  and  ammunition,  in  1715.  The  duty  was  now 
to  be  paid  in  money,  to  be  employed  for  beaconing  out 
the  channels  of  Roanoke  and  Ocracock  inlets.  Provi- 
sion was  made  for  obtaining  impartial  jurymen,  for 
regulating  elections,  and  settling  the  bounds  and  titles  of 
land,  for  destroying  vermin,  and  restraining  the  too 
great  number  of  horses  and  mares,  and  improving  the 
breed. 

George  Burrington,  who  had  been  appointed  to  suc- 
ceed governor  Eden,  arrived  early  in  the  following  year, 
and  opened  his  commission  at  Edenton,  on  the  15th  of 
January. 

According  to  his  instructions,  twelve  counsellors 
were  to  compose  his  council,  and  the  upper  house  of 
the  legislature.  He  was  authorized  to  fill  vacancies  in 
that  body,  by  a  provisional  appointment ;  and  with  the 
majority  of  the  council,  empowered  to  suspend  any 
member  of  it.  He  was  authorized  to  assent  to  laws  not 
repugnant  to  those  of  England,  and  containing  a  clause, 
that  they  should  not  go  into  execution,  until  approved 
by  the  lords  proprietors.  This  was  a  sesious  restric- 
tion, when  we  consider  the  paucity  of  opportunities, 
which  the  colonists  had,  of  transmitting  their  laws  to 
England.  He  was  particularly  ordered  to  redeem  and 
cancel  the  paper  currency,  and  to  enforce  the  execution 
of  the  statute,  passed  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  late  queen's 
reign,  for  regulating  the  value  of  foreign  coins,  in  the 
A-merican  plantations. 

The  officers  of  government,  besides  governor  Bur- 
rington, were  Christopher  Gale,  chief  justice,  James 
Stanway,    attorney    general,   John   Lovick,    secretary 


236  CHAPTER  [17^4 

of  the  province,  Edward  Moseley,  surveyor  general, 
Arthur  GofFe,  receiver  general,  John  Dunstan,  naval 
officer,  and  Henry  Clayton,  provost  marshal. 

The  expenses  oi  government,  which  were  not  covered 
by  the  receipts,  were  only  six  hundred  pounds  sterling: 
three  hundred  were  paid  to  the  governor,  sixty  to  the 
chief  justice,  and  the  same  sum  to  the  secretary  of  the 
board  of  the  lords  proprietors,  in  England :  forty 
pounds  each,  to  the  attorney  general,  secretary,  surveyor 
general,  and  naval  officer,  and  twenty  pounds  to  the 
receiver  general. 

The  utmost  tranquility  continued  to  prevail  in  the 
settlement.  A  tract  of  land,  containing  eleven  thousand 
three  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  was  laid  out  for  the 
Chowan  Indians,  on  Bennet  and  Catherine  cieeks 

In  the  fall,  Thomas  Pollock,  a  son  of  the  late  presi- 
dent, was  appointed  chief  justice ;  and  William  Dun* 
ning  Cullen  Pollock,  Isaac  Hill,  John  Alston,  and 
Robert  Lloyd,  associate  justices. 

William  Little,  succeeded  James  Stanway,  as  attorney 
general. 

In  the  month  of  October,  governor  Burrington  went 
to  visit  the  incipient  settlements  on  Cape  Fear  river. 
Considering  this  journey  as  almost  an  absence  from  his 
government,  he  devolved  the  power  of  chief  magistrate, 
on  Edward  Moseley,  as  president  and  commander  in  chief. 

Governor  Burrington  presided  but  fifteen  months 
over  the  settlement.  If  any  legislature  was  in  session, 
during  his  administration,  no  record  of  any  of  their  pro- 
ceedings  has  been  preserved.  By  an  order  of  council, 
of  the  24th  of  April,  1724,  lands  are  directed  to  be  grant, 
ed,  in  the  county  of  Bath,  on  the  petition  of  the  lower 


1725X  THE  FIFTEENTH.  '  ^1 

house  of  the  legislature,  which  sat  under  president  Reed, 
in  the  month  of  November,  1723. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1725,  the  lords  proprietors  ap- 
pointed Sir  Richard  Everard,  as  successor  to  governor 
Burrington;  he  qualified  at  Edenton,  on  the  17th 
of  July.  With  him,  arrived  the  Reverend  W.  Back- 
nail,  a  missionary,  sent  over  by  the  society  for  propagat- 
ing the  gospel,  in  foreign  parts.  The  tranquility,  in 
which  he  found  the  northern  part  of  the  province,  did 
not  prevail  in  the  southern.  No  final  agreement  having 
yet  been  concluded,  with  respect  to  the  limits  of  Florida 
and  Carolina,  the  Indians,  who  were  in  alliance  with 
Spain,  particularly  the  Yamassees*  continued  to  harrass 
the  British  settlements.  Colonel  Palmer,  at  length,  to 
make  reprisals,  collected  a  party  of  militia  and  friendly 
Indians,  to  the  number  of  about  three  hundred;  he 
marched  into  Florida,  as  far  as  the  gates  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, and  compelled  the  inhabitants  to  take  refuge  iu  the 
castle.  He  destroyed  their  provisions  in  the  fields,  drove 
off  their  cattle,  killed  sonie  Indians,  and  made  others 
prisoners;  burning  almost  every  house  in  the  colony, 
and  leaving  the  Spaniards  but  little  property,  besides 
}vhat  was  protected  by  the  guns  of  the  fort. 

Richard  Fitzwilliams,  surveyor  general  of  the  cus- 
toms, for  the  southern  district  of  North  America,  vis- 
iting the  settlement,  took  his  seat  in  the  council  next 
to  the  governor. 

The  bishop  of  London,  as  patriarch  of  England,  ex- 
tended his  jurisdiction  to  the  Britibh  American  colonies. 

The  expenses  of  government  exceeded  the  receipts, 
by  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  thirteen  pounds  nine- 
teen shilings  and  seven  pence,  in  1726;  and  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  pounds,  nine  shillings,  in  1727. 

N.  CARO.      38 


298  CHAPTER  i;n26 

The  lords  proprietors  required  that  every  tract  of  land 
granted  should  be  improved,  by  having  thereon  a  house 
built,  fifteen  feet  by  ten,  tight  and  habitable,  of  clap 
boards,  or  squared  logs,  with  a  roof,  chimney  and  door 
place,  a  whole  acre  cleared,  and  the  major  part  broken 
up  and  planted  with  fruit  trees  and  grain. 

In  1726,  the  unhappy  contest,  began  under  Charles 
II.,  (1678)  between  the  parent  state  and  the  island  of 
Jamaica,  ended.  Matters  were  compromised,  by  agree- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  assembly,  to  settle  on  the  crown 
a  perpetual  revenue  of  eight  thousand  pounds  a  year, 
on  condition  that  the  quit  rents,  then  estimated  at  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  per  annum, 
should  form  a  part  of  that  sum.  2d.  That  the  body  of 
their  laws  should  receive  the  royal  assent.  3d.  That  all 
such  laws  and  statutes  of  England,  as  had  been  at  any 
time  esteemed,  introduced,  used,  accepted  or  received^ 
as  laws  of  the  island,  should  be  and  continue,  laws  of 
Jamaica,  forever.  This  was  implicitly  to  admit  that 
the  others  were  not,  and  a  tacit  renunciation  of  the 
power  of  parliament  over  the  island. 

During  the  fall  of  the  following  year,  accounts  reach- 
ed the  province  of  the  demise  of  George  I.,  which  had 
occurred  on  the  20th  of  May,  and  George  II.  was  pro- 
claimed. 

Sir  Richard  E verard  met  the  legislature,  at  Edenton^ 
on  the  6th  of  November.  The  acts  of  this  session  are 
few  and  unimportant.  Provision  was  made  for  prevent- 
ing suits  of  little  moment  being  brought  in  the  general 
court;  for  obtaining  different  jurymen;  for  regulating 
towns  and  the  election  of  members  of  assembly ;  for 
regulating  trade  and  facilitating  navigation;  for  the 
destruction  of  vermin  and  the  tanning  of  leather. 


1727]  THE  FIFTEENTH.  299 

The  house  of  commons,  in  1728,  addressed  the  king  A  •  ^'^'*^ 
praying  Kim  to  contract  with-  the  lords  proprietors  of  ^  *^ 
Catjlina,  for  the  purchase  and  surrender  of  their  title  to 
th<:  province,  promising  to  make  the  expense  good,  ou^ 
of  he  next  aid  granted  by  parliament.  An  unanimous 
ad<  ;ress  was  also  presented,  beseeching  the  king  to  use 
Jiis  utmost  endeavors  to  prevent  the  depredations  on  the 
English  trade  in  America ;  to  procure  satisfaction  for 
past  ones,  and  secure  a  free  commerce  and  navigation,  to 
and  from  the  British  provinces  in  that  quarter  of  the 
worid. 

This  year,  the  boundary  line  was  run,  between  the 
provinces  of  Virginia  and  Carolina,  by  the  commission- 
ers of  both,  from  the  sea  bhore  to  Peters  creek,  which 
falls  into  Dan  river,  a  lirrle  below  the  Saura  tovvns,  in 
the  present  county  of  R.ickinghara.  The  commission* 
€rs,  on  the  part  of  Virginia,  were  William  Byrd,  William 
Dandrige  and  Richard  Fitzwilliams :  those  on  the  part 
of  Carolina  were  Christopher  Gale,  Edward  Moseley 
and  Samuel  Swann. 

The  commissioners  met  on  the  5th  of  March,  1727, 
near  Old  Currituck  inlet,  which  was  then  so  shallow 
that  the  breakers  beat  over  it  with  a  horrible  noise.  On 
the  north  side,  the  land  terminated  in  a  bluff  point,  from 
which  a  spit  of  land  extended,  towards  the  south  east 
fall,  half  a  mile.  The  inlet  was  between  that  spit  and 
another  on  the  south,  leaving  an  opening  of  not  quite  a 
mile,  then  impracticable  for  any  vessel  whatever. 

At  two  o'clock  next  morning,  the  variation  was  tried 
by  a  meridian  taken  from  the  north  star,  and  found  to  be 
somewhgLt  less  than  three  degrees  west. 

The  commissioners  from  Virginia,  in  their  diary,  ob- 
serve, that  their  associates  from  Carolina,  "brought  not 


800  .  CHAPTER  [H^ 

^^•*  §•  above  two  men  with  them,  that  would  put  their  hands 
^  S  •  to  any  thin^  but  the  kettle  or  frying  pan ;  and  they  spent 
so  much  of  their  industry  that  way,  that  the\  had  but 
little  spirit  or  inclination  for  any  other  work. 

**  The  women  and  children  of  the  borderers  came  to 
stare  at  the  commissioners,  with  as  much  curiosity  as 
if  thev  had  lately  landed  from  Canton  or  Morocco.  The 
men  appeared  all  to  dread,  that  the  line  should  pass  to 
the  south  of  their  land,  as  in  that  case  they  must  sub- 
mit  to  some  kind  of  order  and  government,  while  in  Car- 
olina, every  one  did  what  was  best  in  his  own  eyt  s;  and 
none  paid  any  tribute  to  God  or  to  Caesar.  A  justice 
of  the  peace,  in  the  precinct  of  Currituck  having,  about 
this  time,  ordered  a  fellow  into  the  stocks,  for  being  dis- 
orderly  in  his  drink,  was,  for  his  intemperate  zeal,  car- 
ried thither,  and  narrowly  escaped  being  wlupped  by  the 
rabble." 

Many  women  brought  their  children  to  the  chaplain 
of  the  commissioners  of  Virginia,  to  be  baptized;  but 
the  gentleman  who  kept  their  dairy  adds,  "they  brou;^ht 
no  capon  along  with  them  to  make  the  solemnity 
cheerful."  ^ 

Although  the  reverend  gentleman  of  Virginia  christen^ 
ed  upwards  of  one  hundred  children,  during  the  running 
of  the  line,  he  did  not  marry  a  single  couple.  None 
were  attracted  by  the  novelty  of  having  their  hands 
joined  by  a  man  in  holy  order:  they  considered  mar- 
riage as  a  civil  contract  only,  and  its  knot  as  firmly  tied 
by  a  justice,  as  by  an  archbishop. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  the  weather  growing  warm,  and 
the  rattle  snakes  be^einning  to  crawl  out  of  their  winter 
quarters,  a  stop  was  put  to  the  running  of  the  line. 
During  one  month,  the  line  was  run  from  Currituck  to 


i72«]  THE  FIFTEENTH^  801 

the  plantation  of  a  Mr.  Kiiichen,  a  sjentleman  of  res- 
pcrtability  and  note,  w!to  dwelt  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Mthtrrin,  in  the  present  county  of  Hcrtfort,  a  distance 
of  s(.  vent  -three  miles  and  thirteen  chains.  This  place 
is  the  only  one  at  which  the  commissioners  saw  an 
orchard.  They  resumed  their  labor  on  the  20th  of 
Sri/tember. 

This  year  is  remarkable,  in  the  annals  of  agriculture, 
for  the  first  appearance  of  the  weavel;  an  insect  hitherto 
Unknown  in  British  America.  They  were  first  seen 
in  North  Carolina,  from  whence  these  mischievous  flies 
extended  gradually  to  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Dela- 
ware, 

The  last  legislature,  which  sat  under  the  authority  of 
the  lords  proprietors,  met  in  Edenton,  on  the  27th  of 
November  ot  the  following  year.  They  emitted  bills  of 
credit  to  the  amount  of  forty  thousand  pounds.  The 
precinct  of  Hyde  was  separated  from  that  of  Beaufort, 
and  the  court  house  directed  to  be  buili  on  the  spot  on 
which  the  present  town  of  Woodstock  stands.  A  new 
precinct  was  f  Tmed,  from  parts  of  those  of  Currituck, 
Pasquotank,  Chowan  and  Bertie,  which  was  called 
Tyrell,  in  memory  ol"  Sir  John  Tyrell,  a  gentleman  who 
now  owned  that  part  of  the  province,  which  had  been 
originally  granted  to  lord  Ashley  ;  and  the  precinct  of 
Carteret  was  divided,  and  the  lower  part  of  it  erected 
into  a  new  precinct,  which  was  called  New  Hanover, 
in  honor  of  the  reigning  family. 

Seven  of  the  lords  proprietors,  finding  that  the  ex- 
penses wliich  had  attended  the  settlement  of  Carolina 
were  hardly  productive  of  any  advantage;  the  frequent 
wars  which  ihey  had  to  sustain  against  the  Indians 


302  CHAPTER  [1726 

absorbing  the  revenues  of  the  province,  and  disabling 
the  settlers  from  paying  the  quit  rents  on  their  lands, 
the  arrears  of  which  now  amounted  to  above  ten  thou- 
sand pounds,  applied  to  the  new  monarch,  and  offered 
to  surrender  the  government  of  the  province,  and  all  the 
franchises  secured  to  them  by  the  charter  of  Charles  II. 
as  well  as  their  property  in  the  soil.  The  king  entered 
into  an  agreement  with  them,  which  was  this  year  rati- 
fied by  parliament.  (2  Geo.  II.  c.  — .)  Each  of  them 
received  from  the  crown  the  sum  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds  sterling,  as  the  consideration  of  the 
surrender,  and  a  further  sum  was  allowed  him,  for  his 
share  of  the  quit  rents  due  by  the  planters. 

The  share  of  lord  Clarendon,  under  the  original  char- 
ter, was,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender,  the  property  of 
James  Bertie;  that  of  the  duke  of  Albemarle,  the  pro- 
perty of  Henry  duke  of  Beaufort  and  Charles  Noel 
Somerset,  his  brother ;  that  of  the  earl  of  Craven  was 
still  in  the  holder  of  that  title ;  that  of  lord  Ashley  was 
held  in  trust  by  A.  Hutchinson,  for  John  Cotton;  that 
of  Sir  John  Colleton  by  one  of  his  descendants  of  the 
same  name ;  that  of  Sir  William  Berkley,  was  claimed 
by  three  persons,  Henry  Bertie,  Mary  Dawson,  and 
Elizabeth  Moore. 

John,  lord  Carteret,  baron  of  Hawnes,  as  heir  of  his 
father,  who  died  in  1696,  was  in  possession  of  the  share 
of  Sir  George  Carteret.     He  decUned  parting  with  it. 

Thus  ended  the  proprietary  government  in  Carolina, 
sixty-six  years  after  the  charter,  by  which  it  had  been 
established. 

At  its  close  the  whole  population  did  not  exceed  twen- 
ty-five thousand  persons,  of  all  sexes  and  colours,  i.  e.  ten 


1728]  THE  FlFfEENTH.  303 

thousand  in  the  northern,  and  fifteen  thousand  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  province. 

The  primary  division  of  the  northern  part  was  into 
three  counties;  Albemarle,  Bath  and  Clarendon. 

•Albemarle  was  subdivided  into  six  precincts,  Curri- 
tuck, Pasquotank,  Perquimans,  Chowan,  Bertie  and 
Tyrrel;  its  population  about  seven  thousand. 

Bath,  into  four  precincts,  Beaufort,  Hyde,  Craven 
and  Carteret;  its  population  two  thousand  five  hundred. 

Clarendon  had  but  one  precinct^  New  Hanover ;  its 
population  not  exceeding  five  hundred. 

Four  towns  only,  had  a  legal  establishment :  Eden- 
ton,  in  the  precinct  of  Chowan;  Bath,  in  that  of  Beau- 
fort, Newbem,  in  that  of  Craven,  and  Beaufort,  in  that 
of  Carteret :  they  were  all  extrremely  small. 

The  legislative  power,  resided  in  the  lords  proprietors 
and  the  general  assembly:  the  former  acted  by  their  go- 
vernor, and  a  deputy  from  each  of  their  lordships:  the 
general  assembly  was  composed  of  members  from  the 
precincts  and  towns. 

The  sessions  of  the  legislative  body  were  biennial : 
Edenton  was  the  only  town  in  which  it  sat. 

The  executive  power  resided  in  the  governor,  ap» 
pointed  by  the  lords  proprietors. 

The  judicial  power,  resided  in  a  general  and  precinct 
courts  and  justices  of  the  peace. 

The  general  court  held  semi-annual  sessions,  and 
Edenton  was  the  only  tow^n  in  which  it  sat.  The  pre- 
cinct  courts  held  quarterly  sessions :  they  were  com- 
posed of  the  justices  of  the  peace  of  each  precinct ;  but 
every  lord  proprietor's  deputy,  the  secretary  and  recei- 
ver of  the  province,  were  named  in  the  commission  of 
the  peace  of  each  precinct;  these  courts  sat  at  the  town 


3^04  CHAPTER  [172*9 

in  each  precinct,  that  had  one  ward  at  Felj)s*  point,  at  the  ' 
mouth  of  the  Narrows  ;  and  the  place  of  sitting,  in  the 
precincts  of  Currituck,  Pasquotank,  Hyde,  Bertie  and 
Tyrrel,  was  left  to  the  choice  of  the  justices. 

The  general  court  was  composed  of  a  chief  and  four 
associate  justices. 

The  governor  held  a  court  of  admiralty,  and  with  the 
lords  deputies,  one  of  chancery. 

Kdward  Moseley,  John  B.  Ashe  and  William  Swanut 
are  the  only  persons,  who  filled  the  chair  of  the  general 
assembly,  whose  names  appear  on  record. 

R.  Chevin,  Francis  Foster,  Christopher  Gale,  Ed- 
mund Gale,  Thomas  Lovick,  Maurice  Moore,  John 
Palin,  Thomas  Pollock,  William  Reed,  Richard  San- 
derson, Robert  West,  J.  Worley  and  Tobias  Knight^ 
are  the  proprietors'  deputies,  whose  names  have  reached 
us. 

The  tanning  of  leather,  is  the  only  species  of  manufac- 
lure  which  appears  to  have  obtained  the  notice  of  the 
legislature. 

An  act  for  the  preservation  of  a  library,  the  gift  of 
Doctor  Bray,  was  the  only  help  afforded  to  literature. 
Nothing  el^e  appears  to  have  been  thought  of,  to 
promote  education. 

Acts  had  been  passed,  for  the  election  of  vestrymen,^ 
and  church  wardens ;  but  it  is  not  known,  that  more 
than  two  houses  of  worship  had  been  erected. 

Quit  rents,  poll  and  land  taxt- s.  with  a  small  duty  on 
exports,  ar.d,  originally,  one  on  tobacco  exported,  were 
the  means  resorted  to,  to  fill  the  coffers  of  the  province. 

Though  the  congress  at  Soissons  proved  abortive, 
conferences  were  begun  at  Seville,  between  the  pleni- 
potentiaries ot  England,  France  and  Spain,  and  a  treaty 


T7l^]  '         THE  FIFTEENTH.  $05 

Was  concluded,  on  the  ninth  day  of  November,  not  only 
without  the  concurrence  of  the  emperor,  but  even  con- 
trary to  his  right,  as  established  by  the  quadruple 
alliance.  " 

(ft 

The  lords  in  the  opposition  excepted  to  the  article 
by  which  the  merchants  were  to  make  proof  of  their 
losses  at  the  court  of  Spain. 

At  the  time  the  crown  purchased  seven  eighths  of  the 
province  of  Carolina,  the  French,  the  Spanish  and  the 
British,  were  the  only  European  powers  that  had  colonial 
establishments  on  that  part  of  the  northern  continent  of 
America,  which  is  washed  by  the  Atlantic  ocean.  T;ie 
French  possessed  Canada  and  Louisiana,  and  the 
Spanish  Florida.  The  British  possessions  were  divided 
into  eleven  provinces  :  Nova  Scotia,  New  Hamr  s'lire, 
Massac 'iusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  the  counties  on  the 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia  and  Carolina. 

With  regard  to  their  internal  policy,  the  governments 
of  the  provinces  were  of  three  sorts:  1.  Provincial  go- 
vernments, the  constitutions  of  which  depended  on  the 
respective  commissions,  issued  by  the  crown  to  the 
governors,  and  the  instructions  which  usually  accom- 
panied these  commissions ;  under  the  authority  of  which, 
provincial  assemblies  were  constituted,  with  the  power 
of  making  laws,  not  repugnant  to  those  of  England  ;  as 
in  the  provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,*  New  Hampsliirc, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Virginia.  2.  Proprietary 
governments,  granted  out  by  the  crown  to  individuals, 
in  the  nature  of  feudatory  principalities,  with  all  the  in- 

*  Nova  Scotia    was,  however,    so  thiiily  settled;    that  no 
legislature  had  as  yet  been  called  in  it. 
N.  CAItO.      39 


306  CHAPTER  Ln29 

ferior  powers  of  legislation,  which  formerly  belonged  to 
the  owners  of  English  counties  palatine  ;  yet  stili  with 
the  express  condition,  that  the  ends  for  which  the 
grant  was  made  be  substantially  pursued,  and  that  no- 
thing be  attempted,  which  might  derogate  from  the 
sovereignty  of  the  mother  country ;  as  in  the  provinces 
of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  hitherto  those  of  New 
Jersey  and  Carolina.  3.  Charter  governments,  in  the 
nature  of  civil  corporations,  with  the  power  of  making 
bv-la\vs,  for  their  own  interior  governments,  not 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,  and  with  such  rights 
ar^d  authorities  as  were  specially  given  them,  in  their 
several  charters  of  incorporation ;  as  in  the  provinces  of 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  In  the 
first  of  these,  the  constitution  was  of  a  mixed  nature  : 
the  power  seemed  divided  between  tlie  king  and  the 
people,  but  the  latter  had,  by  far,  the  greatest  share : 
for,  they  chose  the  assembly,  and  the  assembly,  the 
council ;  and  the  governor  depended  upon  the  assembly 
for  his  annual  support,  which  frequently  laid  this  officer 
under  the  temptation  of  giving  up  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown  and  the  interest  of  Great  Britain.  In  the  two 
other  provinces,  almost  the  whole  power  of  the  crown 
was  delegated  to  the  people :  for  they  chose  the  assembly, 
the  council  and  the  governor;  and  held  little  or  no- 
correspondence  with  any  officer  in  the  mother  country. 
The  forms  of  government  in  the  eleven  provinces  ^ 
were  borrowed  from  that  of  England.  Each  had  a 
governor,  named  by  the  king,  the  proprietor  or  the 
people ;  they  had  courts  of  justice  of  their  own,  from 
whose  decisions  an  appeal,  in  certain  cases,  lay  to  the 
king  and  council  in  England.  Their  general  assemblies^ 
composed  of  a  house  of  representatives  and  the  council 


iT29]     ^  THE  FIFTEENTH.  .     307 

lis  an  upper  house,  made  laws  suited  to  their  own 
emergencies,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  king,  or  his 
representative,  the  governor.  In  all  the  provinces, 
except  those  of  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Mary. 
land,  copies  of  the  acts  of  assembly  were  forwarded  by 
the  governor,  immediately  after  the  rise  of  each  session, 
to  the  secretary  of  state  for  America,  by  whom  they 
were  laid  before  the  board  of  the  lords  commissioners  of 
trade  and  plantations.  One  of  the  king's  counsel,  spe- 
cially appointed  for  the  service  of  that  board,  (called  the 
reporting  counsel)  took  them  under  consideration,  and 
reported  his  opinion  on  each  act,  whether  the  king  should 
be  advised  to  approve  or  repeal  it.  On  the  report  of 
this  gentleman,  the  board  laid  the  act,  with  their  own 
observauons.  before  the  lords  of  the  king's  council,  on 
whose  report  the  fate  of  the  act  chiefly  depended. 

The  crown  was  confined  in  the  exercise  of  its  right 
an  repealing  the  laws  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts, 
to  a  period  of  three  years,  from  the  time  they  had  been 
presented  to  the  king,  and  those  of  Pennsylvania  within 
six  months. 

The  principal  objections  to  a  provincial  law,  which 
induced  its  repeal,  by  the  authority  of  the  crown,  were, 
that  it  lessened  the  prerogative  of  the  king,  or  the  de- 
pendence of  the  province  on  the  mother  country,  was 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England,  unnecessarily  at 
variance  with  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  neighboring 
provinces,  or  affected  the  trade,  manufactures  or  other 
real  or  fancied  right  of  the  king's  English  subjects. 

The  members  of  the  lower  house  were  more  fairly 
and  equally  chosen  by  their  constituents,  than  those  of 
the  British  house  of  commons,  by  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,     The  other  two   branches  of  the  legislature 


iStJa  CHAPTER  [172^ 

Were  necessarily  less  perfect  than  the  corresponding  ones 
of  the  British  parliament,  beini^  absolutely  dependent. 
The  advantages,  which  resulted  to  the  mother  country 
from  her  intercourse  with  the  American  colonies,  were 
alrtady  considerable.       Sir  William    Keith,   who  had 
resided  a  long  time  on  the  continent,  in  some  observa- 
tions,   which    he   submitted    to   Geor^Jje    II.    on    his 
coming  to  the  crown,  and  which  Were  referred  in  council 
to  the  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  ',<laatatio?is, 
state-:,  that  they  took  off,  and  consumed,  about  on    fii.h 
part  of  the  woollen  m  iuufactures,  exp  )rted  from  Brit  »in^ 
the  chief  staple  of  England  and  the  m  tin  support  of  her 
landed  interest.      They  took  off  >»ud  consumed  more 
tha.i  double  the  value  of  tbse  woollen  cc^mmodities,  in 
liJien  and  cahco,  partly  the  product  of  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, and  partly  the  profitable  return  made  for  that  pro- 
duct, when  carried  to  foreign  coumries.     The  luxury 
of  the  colonies,  which  increased  daily,  consumed  great 
quantities  of  English  manufactured  silks,  haberdasherv, 
household  furniture,   and  trinkets  of  all  sorts,  as  also, 
a  very  considerable  quantity  of  East  India  goods.     A 
great  revenue  was  raised  to  the  crown,  by  returns  made 
in  the  produce  of  the  colonies,  especially  tobacco,  which, 
at  the  same  time,  enabled  England  to  bring  nea*'er  fo  a 
balance  her  unprofitable  trade  with  France.     The  colo- 
nies promoted  the  interest  and  trade  of  the  mother  country, 
by  a  vast  increase  of  shipping  and  seamen,  which  enabled 
her  to  carry  great  quantities  oi  fish  to  Spain,  Portugal, 
Leghorn,  and  other  places ;  furs,  logwood  and  rice,    to 
Holland;    and   eminently  contributed  in  keeping   the 
balance   of  trade  with  these  countries  in  favor  of  Eng- 
land.  If  reasonably  encouraged,  the  American  provinces 
^vere  now  in  a  condition  to  furnish  Briton  with  as  much 


2729]  THE  FIFTEENTH,  80.9 

of  thqfollowinsj  commodities  as  it  could  demand :  masts 
for  the  navy,  all  sorts  ot  lumber,  hemp,  flax,  pitch,  tar, 
oil,  rosin,  copper  ore,  and  pig  and  bar  iron,  whereby  the 
balance  of  trade  with  Russia  and  the  Baltic  mighi  be 
verv  much  reduced  in  favor  of  Great  Britain.  The 
profits  arising  to  the  colonies  by  trade  were  returned  in 
bullion,  or  other  objects  useful  to  the  mothtr  country, 
where  th^  superfluous  cash,  and  other  riches  acquired 
in  America  continued,  which  was  one  of  the  best 
securities  of  the  due  subjection  of  the  colonies. 

The  province  of  Mova  Scoda,  had  been  an  important 
acquisition,  as  a  barrier  against  the  French  of  Canada, 
Oi)  the  score  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  it  was  of 
no  value;  the  former  was  insufficient  for  the  subsistence 
of  the  inhabitants  and  the  lattt^r  was  cuTifined  to  the  ex- 
portation of  timber  to  the  West  Indies;  the  quantity 
was  inconsiderable,  and  the  quality  much  inferior  to 
that  of  the  timber  in  the  southern  provinces. 

The  trade  of  the  province  of  New  Hampshire  princi- 
pally consisted  in  lumber,  fis  i  and  naval  stores  :  coarse 
woollen  cloths  were  manufactured  at  home,  by  some  of 
the  colonists,  for  the  use  of  their  own  families,  and  small 
quantities  of  linen  were  made  by  a  few  emigrants,  who 
had  lately  arrived  from  Ireland :  iron  works  had  been 
set  up  in  different  parts  of  the  province,  and  it  was  an 
object  of  complaint  in  England,  that,  with  a  view  to  en- 
courage those  establishments,  the  provincial  legislature 
had  prohibited  the  exportation  of  iron  ore. 

The  trade  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  dif^P.Ted 
from  that  of  New  Hampshire  only  in  its  extent,  being  by 
far  more  considerable ;  the  colonists  were  also  exten- 
sively engaged  in  ship  building  and  supplied  the  French 


310  CHAPTER  [1729 

and  Spanish  with  vessels,  in  return  for  rum,  molasses, 
wines  and  silk,  which  were  clandestinely  introduced. 
They  had  already  some  East  India  trade,  enjoying  an 
advantage  over  the  English  ports,  in  the  drawback  for 
all  India  and  other  goods  exported,  which  paid  a  duty 
in  Great  Britain,  while  no  duty  was  paid  upon  importing 
them  into  the  plantations.  In  some  parts  of  ttie  pro- 
vince, the  inhabitants  worked  up  their  wool  and  flax, 
and  made  an  ordinary  coarse  cloth  for  their  own  use ; 
small  quantities  of  cloth  were  also  made  of  linen  and 
cotton,  for  ordinary  shirting  and  sheeting,  'A  paper  mill 
had  lately  been  set  up,  nineteen  forges  for  making  bar 
iron,  and  six  furnaces  for  cast  iron  or  hollow  ware,  and 
one  slitting  mill,  (the  owner  of  which  carried  on  a  manu- 
facture of  nails)  were  counted  in  the  province.  Great 
quantities  of  hats  were  made,  and  some  were  exported 
to  Spain,  Portugal  and  the  West  India  islands,  and 
there  were  some  rum  distilleries  and  sugar  refineries. 
Copper  mines  had  been  discovered,  but  so  distant  from 
water  carriage,  and  the  ore  so  poor,  that  they  were  not 
thought  worth  the  digging.  The  greater  part  of  the  leather 
used  in  the  province,  was  of  its  own  manufacture.  Brown 
hoUands,  duck,  and  sail  cloth,  began  to  be  made,  and 
the  provincial  legislature  had  passed  laws  for  allowing  a 
bounty  on  every  piece  of  duck  or  canvass  made,  and  for 
encouraging  the  erection  of  paper  mills. 

The  province  of  Connecticut  exported  horses  and 
lumber  to  the  West  India  islands,  and  received  in  return, 
salt,  rum  and  molasses ;  their  maimfactures  were  incon- 
siderable; the  inhabitants  who  were  not  engaged  in 
tillage,  employed  their  time  in  tanning,  shoemaking  and 
other  handicraft  works.  * 


\ 


1729]  TH£i  FIFTEENTH.  311 

Considerable  iron  works  were  carried  on  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Rhode  Island,  but  the  other  manufactures,  and 
the  commerce  of  this  colony,  were  insignificant. 

The  trade  of  the  province  of  New  York,  consisted 
chiefly  in  furs,  whalebone,  oil,  pitch,  tar,  provisions, 
horses  and  lumber  :  they  exported  these  last  articles  to 
the  West  India  islands :  there  were  hardly  any  manu- 
factures in  this  colony  ;  some  hats  and  coarse  cloths 
were  however  made,  and  there  were  a  few  distilleries 
and  sugar  refineries. 

The  trade  of  the  province  of  New  Jersey,  consisted 
chiefly  in  the  same  articles  with  that  of  New  York, 
through  the  principal  port  of  which  it  was  almost  exclu- 
sively carried.  This  province  did  not  carry  on  any 
manufacture. 

In  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  brigantines  and 
sloops  were  built,  which  were  sold  to  the  people  of  the 
West  India  islands,  with  whom  the  trade  of  the  colony 
was  chiefly  carried  on :  its  exports,  consisting  of  pro- 
visions, principally  grain  and  lumber :  some  coarse 
woollens  being  all  the  articles  it  manufactured,  none  of 
which  were  exported,  and  a  few  only  for  sale,  in  a  small 
Indian  town,  where  a  German  palatine  had  lately  settled. 

In  the  southern  provinces,  Maryland,  Virginia  and 
Carolina,  tobacco,  naval  stores  and  rice,  were  the  great- 
est articles  of  exportation,  chiefly  for  the  European 
markets  :  large  quantities  of  provisions  and  lumber  were 
shipped  to  the  West  Indies.  There  were  no  manufac- 
tures ;  i\  few  hats,  however,  and  cotton  cloth,  were 
made,  but  none  for  exportation. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  more  trades  were  car- 
ried on,  and  more  manufactories  set  up,  in  the  northern 
provinces,  especially  in  New  England,  than  in  the  rest : 


Sl^  CHAPTER.  [1729 

for,  their  soil,  climate  and  produce,  beirig  nearly  the  same 
with  that  of  England,  they  had  no  staple  commodities 
to  exchange  for  British  manufactures,  which  laid  them 
under  greater  temptations  of  providing  for  themselves 
at  home.  In  the  chartered  governments,  the  little  de- 
pendence on  the  mother  country,  and  consequently  the 
small  restramts  they  were  under,  all  measures  detri» 
mental  to  her  interest,  were  additional  inducements. 


Chalmers — History  of  South  Carolina'^Records. 


% 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.— FROM  1512  TO  1586. 

Discovery  of  Florida;  Cabot's  voyage;  Ponce  de  Leon's 
second  voyage;  Veranzzani's  voyages;  French  navigators' 
voyages  to  Newfoundland  and  St.  Lawrence ;  first  British 
t^tatute  relating  to  the  colonies;  the  French  invade  Carthagena; 
Louis  de  Beluastro's  voyage  to  Florida;  Jean  Riband  takes 
possession  of  Caroline;  Laiidoniere  transports  a  colony  thither; 
tlie  Spaniards  destroy  it;  De  Goiirgues  revenges  it;  Armidasand 
Barlow  come  to  Ocracock;  Granganameo;  Wingina;  Wingado- 
cea;  Indians;  Roanoke  island;  the  English  entertained  by  Gran- 
ganameo's  wife;  return  to  England;  country  called  Virginia; 
sir  Richard  Grenville's  voyage;  colony  left  in  Virginia;  go- 
vernor Lane;  journey  up  Roanoke;  Granganameo's  death; 
Ensenore;  Wingina's  hatred  of  the  EngHsh;  King  of  Chowa- 
nocks  visits  governor  Lane;  recognizes  the  authority  of  the 
queen  of  England;  distress  of  the  colonists;  they  are  relieved 
by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  taken  back  to  England;  description 
of  the  aborigines  and  of  the  country;  notice  of  European  set- 
tlements on  the  main. 

CHAPTER  II.^FROM  1586  TO  1603. 


Succour  sent  to  governor  Lane;  Sir  Richard  Grenville^s  se- 
cond voyage;    a   colony  sent  under   governor  White;    they 
N.   CARD.      40 


314  TABLE  OF 

reach  Virginia ;  settle  on  Roanoke  island;  Indians  kill  George 
Howe;  expedition  to  cape  Look  Oat;  Governor  Lane  o;oes  to 
revenge  Howe's  death;  kills  by  mistake  some  friendly  Indians; 
first  child  of  British  parentage  born  in  America;  Governor 
White  returns  to  England;  his  efforts  to  procure  rehef  f->rthe 
colony;  Spanish  armament;  governor  Wnite  sets  sail  and  is 
obliged  to  return;  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  disposes  of  his  claim  to 
Virginia;  governor  White  sets  sail  again;  arrives  at  cape  Hat- 
teras;  vainly  seeks  for  the  colonists,  wanders  in  search  of  in- 
formation about  them  and  returns  to  England;  Newport  and 
Drake's  voyages ;  Sylvester  Wyatt's ;  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  sends 
a  ship  to  South  America;  attack  on  Trinidad;  Guiana;  Sir 
Francis  Drake  and  Sir  John  Hawkins'  voyages  to  South  Ame- 
rica; British  take  the  island  of  Portorico;  voj^age  to  Cape 
Breton;  the  French  attempt  to  settle  Canada ;  BartholomewGos- 
nold's  voyage  to  the  northern  part  of  the  continent;  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh's  frequent  attempts  to  discover  and  relieve  governor- 
White's  colonists;  notice  of  European  settlements  in  America. 

CHAPTER  IlI—FROM  1603  TO  1610. 

Martin  Pring's  voyage  to  North  Virginia;  Bartholomew  Gil-- 
bert's  attempt  to  seek  and  relieve  the  Virginia  colony;  Henry 
IV.'s  patent  to  Dumontz;  Champlain's  voyage;  Port  Royal; 
river  St.  Croix;  Peace  with  Spain;  Weymouth's  voyage;  Sir 
Richard  Hackluyt;  first  Virginia  charter;  instructions;  colo- 
nial councils;  their  powers;  king's  council  for  Virginia,  in 
England;  Christopher  Newport  carries  over  a  colony;  they 
reach  cape  Hatteras;  cape  Charles;  cape  Henry;  bay  of 
Chesapeake;  they  land;  president  Wingfield;  his  council; 
Jamestown;  party  sent  to  reconnoitre  the  bay;  security  of 
the  colonists;  Indians  kill  some  of  them;  sickness;  distress  of 
the  colony;  President  Radcliffe;   John  Smith;  provisions  ob- 


CONTENTS.  3l3 

tained  from  the  Indians;  conflagration;  colonists  and  succour 
from  England;  low  state  of  the  colony;  agriculture;  severe 
winter;  Indians;  Raleigh  Gilbert's  voyage  to  North  Virginia; 
John  Smith's  services  to  the  colony;  he  is  called  to  the  coun- 
cil; farther  migration;  pitch;  tar;  potash;  French  in  Canada; 
Hudson's  voyage;  Samuel  Argal;  second  charter;  lord  Dela- 
ware, governor  of  Virginia;  sir  Thomas  Gates,  lieu^nant  ge- 
neral; sir  George  Somers,  admiral;  their  departure;  storm; 
shipwreck;  Bermudas;  fleet  reaches  Jamestown;  provisional 
government;  Powhatan;  John  Smith;  distress  of  the  colony; 
arrival  of  sir  Thomas  Gates  and  sir  George  Somers  at  James- 
town; dearth  of  provisions;  determinaticfn  to  abandon  the 
colony;  c:>lonists  re-embark;  notice  of  European  settlement*: 
in  America. 

CHAPTER  IV.—FROM  1610  TO  1625. 

Lord  Delaware  arrives  in  James  river;  induces  the  colonist* 
to  return;  his  authority  and  administration;  the  colony  thrives; 
vessel  sent  to  Bermudas  for  hogs;  earl  of  Northumberland's 
patent;  lord  Delaware's  return;  president  Percy;  governor 
Dale;  governor  Gates;  Henrico;  Bermuda  Hundi^ed;  third 
charter;  first  hostihties  between  French  and  English  in  Ame- 
rica; captain  Argal;  Port  Royal  destroyed;  Dutch  settlement 
on  Manhattan  reduced;  industry  of  the  Virginians  encouraged; 
division  of  lands;  Bermudas;  governor  Dale;  Dutch  resimie 
possession  of  New  Netherlands;  John  Smith's  voyage  to  the 
northward;  grant  of  land  to  colonists;  governor  Yardley; 
Chickahomini  Indians;  culture  of  tobacco;  neglect  of  provi- 
sions; Indians;  governor  Argal;  lord  Delaware  sails  for  Vir- 
.ginia;  dies  on  his  passage;  governor  Argal's  rigorous  conduct; 
governor  Yardley;  great  mortality;  Puritans;  they  m-igrate 
to  Holland;  arrive  at  Cape  Cod;  New  England  patent;  great 


316  TABLE  OF 

migrations  to  Virginia;  girls  sent  thither;  convicts;  iron 
works;  first  importation  of  slaves;  governor  Wyatt;  college; 
Ferdinando  Gorges;  sir  William  Alexander's  patent;  lord 
Baltimore's  patent  for  Newfoundland;  pr«perity  of  Virginia; 
Indians  massacre  the  whites;  legislature;  quo  warranto;  char- 
ter annulled;  king  James's  demise;  state  of  the  English  and 
other  European  settlements  on  the  continent. 

CHAPTER  v.— FROM  1625  TO  1649. 

Charles  I.;  governor  Yardley;  despotic  government;  bill 
to  secure  navigation  and  fishery;  Swedish  colony  on  the  Dela- 
ware; province  of  Carliola,  in  the  West  Indies;  governor 
Harvey;  company  of  Massachusetts  bay;  capture  of  Quebec; 
Boston;  Nova  Scotia;  grant  of  Carolana  to  sir  Robert  Heathj 
peace  with  Spain;  Connecticut  patent;  license  to  Clayborne^ 
treaty  of  St.  Germain  enlarged;  Canada;  Acadia  and  New 
France  restored;  grant  of  Maryland;  Virginia  complaint  against 
it;  lord  Baltimore's  arrival;  commission  to  govern  the  colo- 
nies; mutiny  in  Boston;  determination  to  resist  council  of 
Plymouth;  surrender  their  charter;  quo  warranto  against  that 
of  Massachusetts;  settlement  of  Connecticut;  French  colony 
at  Cayenal;  Providence;  Virginians  send  governor  Harvey  to 
England;  the  king  orders  him  back;  sir  William  Berkeley; 
migration  to  America  restrained;  Plan  of  one  colonial  govern- 
ment; sir  Ferdinando  Gorges;  Martinico;  proclamation 
against  emigration;  province  of  Maine;  first  printing  press  in 
British  America;  change  of  government  resisted;  Surinam; 
Virginia  required  to  aid  the  settlement  of  Carolana;  Clayborne; 
Indian  war;  New  England  union;  earl  of  Warwick;  Provi- 
dence charter;  St.  Lucia;  rebellion  in  Maryland;  ordinance 
restraining  the  transportation  of  colonial  produce;  Iroquois; 
negotiations   with  Canada;   peace  of  Westphalia;    grant   to 


CONTENTS.  Sn 

Culpepper  and  others;  Charles  I.  beheaded;  condition  of  the 
colonies  at  this  period. 

CHAPTER  VI.— FROM  1649  TO  1656. 

Charles  II.'s  commission  to  sir  WilHam  Berkely;  Grenada 
andAnguilla;  house  of  commons  assume  government;  procla- 
mation for  the  reduction  of  the  colonies;  navigation  act;  sir 
George  Askew  reduces  Barbadoes;  sends  a  squadron  to  Vir- 
ginia; preparation  for  defence;  capitulation  and  surrender;  go- 
vernor Benaet;  tobacco  prohibited  being  planted  in  England; 
Maine  added  to  Massachusetts;  government  of  Maryland  ta- 
ken from  lord  Baltimore;  that  of  Rhode  Island  suspended; 
mint  at  Boston;  sir  William  Berkely;  governor  Digges; 
Western  country;  Ohio  river;  preparation  for  the  conquest  of 
Canada;  admiral  Penn's  attack  oii  Hispaxiiola;  Jamaica  taken; 
the  Dutch  drive  the  Swedes  from  the  Delaware;  add  their  settle- 
ment to  New  Netherlands;  New  Amsterdam;  governor  Mat- 
thews, settlement  on  Cape  Fear;  Nova  Scotia;  insurrection 
in  Maryland;  peace  with  France  and  Spain;  treaty  of  the  Py- 
renees; situation  of  the  colonies  at  the  end  of  the  protectorate. 

CHAPTER  VII.— FROM  1660  TO  1664. 

Navigation  act;  governor  Berkely;  legislature  under 
Charles  II. 's  authority;  common  law  and  statute  of  England 
introduced;  society  for  propagating  the  gospel;  Massachusetts; 
Connecticut  charter;  lord  Baltimore  resumes  his  province; 
church  of  England  estabUshed  in  Virginia;  great  earthquake 
in  Canada;  first  charter  of  Carolina  to  the  lords  proprietors ;«/ 
Indians;  proposals  to  settlers;  county  of  Albemarle;  gover- 
nor Berkely 's  visit  to  it;  expedition  from  Barbadoes  to  Cape 
Fear;  its  journal;  government  of  Albemarle;  governor  Drum- 


f 


31^  TABLE  OF 

mond;  charter  of  Rhode  Island;  grant  to  the  duke  of  York; 
New  Netherlands  possessed  by  the  EngHsh,  and  called  New- 
York;  Si.  Lucia;  the  French  claim  the  land  on  the  back  of  the 
British  settlements  in  America. 


CHAPTER  VIII.— FROM  1664  TO  1673. 


Second  charter;  lords   proprietors  publish  proposals  for  the 
.settlement  of  their  province;  sir  John  Yeamaus  leads  a  colony 
from  Barbadoes  to  Cape  Fear;  Charleston;  county  of  Claren- 
don;   legislature    of  Barbadoes    forbid    emigrations;  William 
Sayle  sent  to  survey  the  coast  of  Carolina;  is  shipwrecked  on 
the  Bahamas;  makes  a  chart   of  the  sea   coast  of  Carolina; 
grant  of  the   Bahamas  to  the   lords  proprietors   of  Carolina; 
peace  of  Breda;  treaty   of  commerce  with  Spain;  transporta- 
tion of  convicts;  governor    Stephens;    great    deed  of  grant; 
legislature;  peace  with    France;  St.   "Vincent    and  Dominico; 
charter  of  Hudson's  bay;  Locke's   fundamental  constitution; 
lord  Albemarle;  palatine;  people  of  Albemarle   county    averse 
to  the  new  system;  William  Sayle,  governor  of  South  Carohna; 
he  leads  a  colony  to  Port  Royal;  Indian  wars;  treaty  of  Ma- 
drid;   transportation  of  convicts;    temporary  agrarian    laws; 
sir  John  Yeamans  removes  his  colony  southerly;  made  gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina;  settlement  of  old  Charleston;  division 
of  South  Carolina  into   counties;  county  of  Albemarle  divided 
into  precincts;  Quaker  missionary's  visit;  Spanish   Schedule; 
Campeachy  wood;  complaints  in  parliament  of  the  trade  of  the 
colonists;    statute    to   retrieve    it;    war   against    the   Dutch; 
Spanish  party  invades   South  Carolina;  insurrection  in  New 
Jersey;  West  India  British  islands   divided  into   two    govern- 
ments; the  Dutch  take  New  York;  discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
by  the  French  from  Canada 


CONTENTS.  ^19 

CHAPTER  IX.— FROM  1673  TO  1685, 

Sir  John  Yeamans  returns  to  Barbadoes;  Governor  West's 
parliament  in  South  Carolina;  Governor  Cartright-,  culture  of 
the  vine;  peace  with  the  States  General;  New  Jersey;  Indian 
war;  jealousies   in  England  of  the  trade  of  the   colonies:  in- 
structions to  colonial  governors;  insurrection  in  Virginia;  af- 
fairs in  the  county  of  Albemarle;  governor  Eastchurch;  presi- 
dent Miller;  Culpepper's  insurrection;  manifesto;  new  system 
of  colonial  administration;  lord  Carhsle  sent  to    enforce  it  in 
Jamaica;  his  ineffectual  attempt;  Culpepper's  mission  to  Eng- 
land;   Miller    arrested  there,    tried    and  acquitted;    governor 
Harvey;  settlement  of  the  present  town  of  Charleston;  New 
Hampshire  separated  from  Massachusetts;  Lasalle  sails  up  the 
Mississippi;    Spaniards  invade    the  Bahama   islands;   logwood 
cutters;  Henry  Wilkinson,  governor  of  North  Carolina;  Penn- 
sylvania charter;  migration  thereto;  proprietor's  arrival;  La- 
salle  floats  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico;  lord 
Cardross  leads  a  colony  to  Port  Royal;  Governor  Sothel;  col- 
lection  of  duties  resisted  in   Massachusetts;     quo   warranto 
against  the  charter;  judgment   for  the  king;  Kirk  appointed 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  Maine  and  Ply- 
mouth; Lord  Effingham,  governor  of  Virginia;  parliament  of 
Carolina  raises  the  value  of  foreign  coins;  act    approved,   but 
afterwards  disapproved;    demise    of    Charles  II.;     notice   ol 
European  settlements  in  America. 

CHAPTER  X.— FROM  1G85  TO  1697. 

King  James  continues  the  attack  on  the  chartered  riglUs  of 
America;  Dudley  ai)pointed  President  of  New  England; 'the 
Spaniards  attack  lord  Cardross's  colony;  quo  warranto  against 
the  charter  of  Carolina;  of  New  Jersey;  New  Jersey  annexed 


820  TABLE  OF 

to  the  government  of  New  England;  printing  presses  disallow" 
ed  in  New  York;  general  assembly  abolished;  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dross;  government  of  Rhode  Island  assumed  in  the  king's 
hands;  Huguenots  migrate  to  Boston;  many  of  them  proceed 
to  the  southern  provinces;  insurrection  of  the  blacks  in  Vir- 
ginia; quo  warranto  against  the  province  of  Maryland;  go- 
vernment of  Connecticut  assumed  in  the  king's  hands;  Sir  Ro- 
bert Holmes  sent  to  suppress  pirates;  Monsieur  de  Lasalle 
leads  a  French  colony  to  the  northern  shore  of  the  gulf  of 
Mexico;  vainly  seeks  for  the  Mississippi;  travels  by  land  to- 
wards Canada;  is  murdered;  insurrection  in  North  Carolina;  go* 
vernor  Sothel  imprisoned;  Andross,  governor  of  New  England, 
New  York  and  New  Jersey;  discontents  in  New  England; 
clergy  advise  resistance;  King  James's  abdication;  insurrec- 
tion in  New  England;  charter  resumed;  Rhode  Island  follows 
the  example;  discontent  in  New  York;  Leisler  possesses  him- 
self of  the  fort  for  the  prince  of  Orange;  Governor  Slaughter, 
Governor  Ludwell;  Bishop  of  London's  commissary;  irruptions 
from  Canada;  French  privateers;  Sir  William  Phips  attacks 
and  takes  Port  Royal;  fruitless  attempt  on  Quebec  and  Mont- 
real; first  emission  of  American  paper  money;  French  emi- 
grants transported  at  the  royal  expense  to  America;  Doctor 
Cox  lays  his  claim  to  Carolana  before  the  king;  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  country;  Seth  Sothel  appears  in  Charleston;  as- 
sumes the  government;  lords  proprietors  establish  a  govern- 
ment in  the  Bahama  islands;  St.  Kitts;  French  irruptions  from 
Canada;  new  charter  of  Massachusetts;  governor  Phips; 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island;  fort  WilHam  Henry;  general 
post  office;  governor  Harvey;  Cherokees  solicit  the  aid  of  the 
EngHsh  against  the  Esaws  and  Congarees;  Locke's  system 
abrogated;  great  storm;  government  of  Pennsylvania  taken 
into  the  king  and  queen's  hands;  restored  to  the  proprietor; 
irruption  of  the  French;    commodore  Wheeler's  expedition: 


^CONTENTS.  3:21 

governor  Archdale:  his  arrival  and  conduct  in  NorthCarolina  : 
goes  to  South  Carolina;  rice;  commodore  Wilmot's  expedi- 
tion; French  hostilities;  small  pox  rages  in  PampUco;  gover- 
nor Harvej;  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations; 
parliamentary  restrictions;  pamphlets  on  taxing  the  colonies; 
Pointiz  plunders  Carthagena;  admiral  Morse's  expedition; 
peace  with  France. 

CHAPTER  XI.— FROM  1698  TO  1702, 

Misunderstanding  in  respect  to  American  boundaries;  Scotch 
colony  at  Darien;  it  gives  umbrage  to  the  French  and  Span- 
iards; proclamation  for  the  removal  of  the  Scotch;  president 
Walker;  change  in  the  general  court;  captain  Kidd;  rear 
admiral  Benlow's  expedition;  first  permanent  settlement  of 
Louisiana;  parliamentary  restrictions;  British  governors  or- 
dered to  cultivate  a  good  understanding  with  the  French;  pi- 
rates infest  the  coast  of  Carolina;  statute  relating  to  pirates; 
a  church  of  England's  missionary  resides  in  North  Carolina; 
state  of  the  colony;  society  for  propagating  the  gospel  in  fo- 
reign parts  incorporated;  king  James  dies;  Louis  XIV.  sup- 
ports the  pretender;  rupture  with  France;  governor  Moore, 
of  South  Carolina  marches  against  St.  Augustine;  is  unsuc- 
cessful, and  returns;  paper  currency  in  South  Carolina;  no- 
tice of  European  settlements  on  the  continent,  and  French  aad 
English  in  the  West  Indies. 

CHAPTER  XII.— FROM  1702  TO  1710. 

Queen  Anne  declares  war  against  France;    Sir   Nathaniel 
Johnston,  appointed   governor  of  Carolina;  hostilities  in  the 
West   Indies;    lord  Granville,  the  palatine,    instructs    gover- 
nor Johnston  to  promote  the  establishment  vf  the  Church  of 
N.    CARO.       41 


S22  TABLE  OF 

England,  by  law,  in  the  province:  act  passed  for  that  pur- 
pose: John  Ashe  sent  to  England  to  procure  its  repeal:  gover- 
nor attempts  to  prevent  his  departure:  he  goes  to  Virginia:  the 
people  of  Albemarle  send  Edmund  Porter  on  the  same  errand: 
the  palatine  receives  those  men  coldly:  Ashe  prepares  a  de- 
fence of  his  countrymen:  sickens  and  dies:  Porter's  unsuccess- 
ful efforts:  corporation  established  in  Charleston,  with  high 
ecclesiastical  powers:  colonists  send  new  representations  by 
Joseph  Boon:  petitions  to  the  house  of  lords,  from  Carolina: 
the  lords  proprietors  prayed  to  be  heard  by  counsel,  at  the 
bar  of  the  house:  the  lords  address  the  queen,  in  favor  of  the 
people  of  Carolina :  the  matter  referred  to  the  lords'  commis- 
sioners of  trade  and  plantations:  who  report  against  the  lords 
proprietors:  recommend  a  quo  warranto  against  the  charter: 
irruptions  from  Carolina:  colonel  Church's  expedition:  gover- 
nor Daniel:  he  procures  an  act,  establishing  the  Church  of 
England  in  North  Carolina:  queen  Anne's  proclamation  in  re- 
spect to  foreign  coins:  parhamentary  restrictions  modified: 
bounty  on  naval  stores:  first  American  newspaper:  bishop  of 
London's  commissary  in  Carolina:  Indian  treaty:  Sir  Nathaniel 
Johntson  appoints  Thomas  Carey  deputy  governor,  in  North 
Carolina:  act  relating  to  oaths:  lords  proprietors  disapprove 
of  Thomas  Carey:  direct  the  council  in  North  Carolina,  to 
appoint  a  president,  and  commander  in  chief:  president  Glover: 
Carey  possesses  himself  of  the  records  and  resumes  the  su- 
preme power:  Subercase's  expedition:  Lefebvre's  unsuccessful 
attack  on  Charleston:  earl  of  Craven  palatine:  election  of  two 
presidents  and  two  councils,  in  North  Carohna:  assembly  sup- 
ports Carey:  Glover's  message:  Quaker  members:  missionaries :r 
their  reports:  French  Huguenots:  statute  regulating  the  val- 
ue of  foreign  coins:  Palatines:  Swiss  emigrants:  baron  de 
GraafTenreidt:  Newbern:  feuds  and  dissentions  missionaries: 
governor  Hyde:   behaviour  of  Carey:   assembly  have  a  new 


CONTENTS.  323 

insurrection:  relief  sought  from  Virginia:  mediator,  and  con- 
duct of  governor  Hyde  and  Carey:  Quakers:  Carey's  party  re- 
pelled by  the  militia:  he  flies:  attempts  to  gain  the  Indians  to 
his  party:  fails:  goes  to  Vu-ginia:  he  is  arrested  and  sent 
to  England, 

CHAPTER  XIII.— FROM  1710  TO  1713. 

General   Nicholson  takes  Port  Royal:    general  post  office: 
missionaries:    Indian    massacre:    rehef  from   South  Carolina: 
governor  Spots  wood:  proceedings  in  Virginia,  on  the  relief  to 
be    sent  to  Carolina:   misintelligence:    dissolution    of  the  as- 
sembly:  governor's  representation:    colonel  Barnwell   arrives, 
with   forces   from  South   Carolina:    attacks   and  defeats    the 
Indians  capitulation  granted  to  them  reprobated:  communica- 
tions made  to  the  lords  proprietors  on  the  Indian  war:    gover- 
nor Hyde's  instructions:    officers  of  the  provinces:    Civil  list: 
meeting    of  the  legislature:    baron   de  GraafTenreidt  paroled: 
epidemic:    governor  Hyde   dies:    president  Pollock:    his  first 
communication  to  the  lords  proprietors:  relief   from  Virginia: 
Tom  Blunt,  a  Tuscarora  chief:  preliminaries  of  peace:   colonel 
Moore  marches  with  forces,  from  South  Carolina:  attacks  and 
conquers  the  Indians:  South  Carolina  Indians  move  away  with 
prisoners:  meeting  of  the  legislature:  Matchchapungos  Indians: 
emission  of  paper  money:    colonel  Moore  reduces  the  Match- 
chapungos and  Cores:    incipient  state  of  tranquility. 

CHAPTER  XIV.— FROM  1713  TO  1722. 

Peace  of  Utrecht:  Pado  del  assicnio:  Campe-chy  wood: 
governor  Eden:  receipts  at  the  treasury:  civil  list:  lord 
Craven, palatine :  Yamassee  Indians:  massacre  in  South  Caro- 
lina: Matchchapungos   hearing  of  it,  endeavor  to  rise,  but  ar« 


324  TABLE  OF 

suppressed:  meeting  of  the,  legislature:  revisal  of  the  laws: 
emission  of  paper  money:  resolves  of  the  assembly:  repro- 
bated by  the  council:  assembly  dissolved  by  proclamation: 
lords  proprietors  insist  on  payment  in  sterling  money:  wes- 
tern country:  project  of  a  western  land  company:  transporta- 
tion of  convicts:  lands  allotted  to  Tuscaroras:  pirates:  Ed- 
ward Teach:  he  comes  to  North  Carohna:  surrenders  himself 
to  governor  Eden,  with  his  associates:  they  go  to  sea:  bring 
in  a  French  ship:  obtain  her  condemnation:  vex  the  people  in 
Pamplico:  application  to  governor  Spotswood  for  relief:  he 
sends  a  naval  force:  Teach  is  attacked  and  killed:  his  compa- 
nions surrender:  are  carried  to  Virginia:  tried,  convicted,  and 
executed:  disturbances  in  North  Carolina:  Moseley  and  Moore 
seize  the  records  of  the  colony:*  Governor  Eden  commits  them: 
they  are  tried,  fined,  he:  governor  Eden  and  C.  J.  Knight, 
accused  of  having  favored  Teach:  exculpated:  revolution  in 
Carolina:  governor  Johnston  deposed:  a  new  government  es- 
tablished:  James  Moore,  governor:  Pensacola,  taken  and  re- 
taken: governor  and  council  in  North  Carolina,  declare  their 
attachment  and  fidelity  to  the  lords  proprietors:  meeting  of  thft 
legislature:  Edenton:  scire  facias  against  the  charter  of  Car- 
olina: Francis  Nicholson  comes  to  Charleston,  as  governor  for 
the  king:  end  of  proprietary  government  there:  calls  a  legis- 
lature: they  recognize  their  immediate  dependence  on  the 
crown:  instructions  to  governors  of  CaroHna  and  Florida: 
peace  with  the  Indians:  Pensacola  restored  to  the  Spaniards: 
New  Orleans:  French  attempt  to  hem  in  the  Enghsh,  between 
the  mountains  and  the  sea:  governor  Bennett:  St.  Lucia  and 
St.  Vincent:  governor  Eden  dies. 

CHAPTER  XV.~FROM  1722  TO  1729. 

President  Pollock:  Carteret  precinct:  missionary:  president 
Pollock  dies:  president  Reed:  road  from  Bath  to  Newborn: 


CONTENTS.  326 

emission  of  paper  money:  court  houses:  Bertie  precinct:  Cape 
Fear  settlement:  Vermont:  legislature:  governor  Burrington: 
his  instructions  and  powers:  officers  of  government:  re- 
ceipts and  expenditures:  Chowan  Indians:  chief  justice  and 
associates:  governor  Burrington  goes  to  Cape  Fear:  land 
granted  in  the  county  of  Bath:  governor  Everard:  state  of  the 
colony:  surveyor  general  of  the  customs,  for  the  southern  dis- 
trict of  North  America:  expenses:  requisites  to  save  land: 
demise  of  George  I.:  meeting  of  the  legislature:  house  of 
commons  recommend  the  purchase  of  CaroHna:  northern 
boundary  line  run:  last  legislature:  emission  of  paper  money: 
Hyde  precinct  separated  from  Beaufort:  Tyrrel  precinct: 
Wpodstock:  New  Hanover  precinct :  statute  authorizing  the 
tie  purchase  of  Carolina,  by  the  king:  seven  lords  proprietors 
sell  their  shares:  lord  Carteret  retains  his:  end  of  proprietary 
government:  a  view  of  the  British  provinces  on  the  continent. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


ERRATA. 

l?age    2,  line    6,  for  in,  read  before. 

6,  13,  highest — thirtieth. 

7,  21,  VII. —IX. 
49,  11,11.-111. 

52,  1 ,  colonies — colonists. 

55,  10,  dele  not. 

92,  2,  II.— I. 

95,  18  &  1^  Carolina — Carolana. 

98,  5,  after  archbishop,  add  of  Canterbury. 

100,  3,  John — William. 

128,  31,  metropolis — mother  country. 

140,  9,  they — the  lords  proprietors. 

144,  32,  returning — reserving. 

157,  20,  and — in. 

189,  31,  ever — even. 
210  l,by — on. 


APPENDIX 


North  Carolina,  ss« 
At  a  Council,  held  at  the  house  of  Frederick  Jones, 
Esq.  May  27th,  1719:  Present,  the  honorable 
Charles  Eden,  Esq.  governor,  captain  general  and 
admiral;  Thomas  Pollock,  William  Reed,  Ira 
Foster,  Frederick  Jones,  and  Richard  Sanderson, 
Esquires,  lords  proprietors'  deputies. 

In  pursuance  of  an  order  of  council,  dated  April 
1th,  1719,  Tobias  Knight,  esq.  secretary  of  this  pro- 
vince, and  a  member  of  the  council,  attended  this 
board,  to  make  answer  to  the  several  depositions,  and 
other  evidences,  mentioned  in  the  aforesaid  order  j 
which  said  depositions  and  evidences  were  read,  in 
the  following  words :  Copies  of  several  depositions, 
and  other  evidences,  given  before  the  court  of  admi- 
ralty, constituted  by  commission  under  the  great  seal, 
for  hearing  and  determining  cases  of  piracy,  for  the 
colony  of  Virginia,  the  12th  March,  for  the  trial  of 
James  Blake,  alias  Jemmy,  and  other  pirates,  late  of 
the  crew  of  Edward  Teache.  Hezekiah  Hand,  late 
master  of  the  sloop  Adventure,  commanded  by  Ed- 
ward Teache,  being  sworn  and  examined,  deposed, 
that  he  was  on  board  the  said  sloop  Adventure,  at  the 
taking  of  two  French  ships,  in  the  month  of  August 
last  past,  and  that  all  the  prisoners  at  die  bar  were  on 

board  the  said  sloop,  and  bore  arms  under  Teache  at 
1* 


n  APPENDIX. 

the  time  of  the  said  piracy;  that  Tcache  plnndered 
one  of  the  ship^  of  some  cocoa,  and  brought  the  other 
in  with  him  to  North  Carolina,  having  first  put  her 
crew  on   board  the  ship  first  mentioned ;  that,  soon 
after  Teache  arrived  at  Ocracock  inlet,  he  went  in  a 
pirogue,  with  some  of  the  prisoners,  by  names  James 
Blake,  Richard  Stiles,  James  White  and  Thomas 
Gates,  to   Mr.  Tobias  Knight,   secretaiT  of  North 
CaroHna,  carrying  with  him  a  present  of  chocolate^ 
loaf  sugar  and  sweetmeats,  being  a  part  of  what  was 
taken  on  board  the  French  ships  above  mentioned^ 
and  that,  upon  Teache's  return  from  Mr.  Knight's,  he^ 
the  deponent,  saw  divers  goods  brought  in  the  pirogue^ 
which  Teache  said  he  bought  in  the  country,  but  the 
deponent  afterwards  hearing  that  one  William  Bell 
had   been  robbed,    and    understanding,  as   well  by 
common  report  as  by  discourse  with  the  said  Bell,  of 
what  kind  of  goods  he  had  been  robbed,  the  deponent 
knew  them  to  be  the  same  which  Teache  had  brought 
on  board  his  sloop,  but  durst  not  discover  to  the  said 
Bell  who  had  robbed  him.     The  four  prisoners  being 
asked  whether  they  knew  of  die  robbery  of  Bell's 
pirogue,  acknowledged,  that,  some  time  in  September, 
they  went  from  Ocracock,  in  a  pirogue,  with  Edward 
Texhe,  to  the  house  of  Tobias  Knight,  secretary  of 
North  Carolina,  and  carried  in  the  said  pirogue  three 
or  four  kegs  of  sweetmeats,  some  loaf  sugar,  a  bag  of 
chocolate,  and  some  boxes,  the  contents  of  which  thev 
did  not  know;  that  they  got  to  the  said  Knight's 
house  about  twelve  or  one  o'clock  in  the  night,  and 
carried  up  the  kegs  and  boxes  aforesaid,  which  were 
all  left  there,  except  one  keg  of  sweetmeats,  which 
was  carried  back  in  the  pirogue ;  that  the  said  Knight 


APPENDIX.  Ill 

was  then  at  home,  and  the  said  Teache  staid  with  him 
until  about  an  hour  before  the  break  of  day,  and  then 
departed;  that,  about  three  miles  from  the  said 
Knight's  house,  at  a  place  called  Chester's  landing, 
ihey  saw  a  pirogue  lying  near  the  shore,  upon  which 
Teache  ordered  them  to  row  up  towards  her,  saying 
he  would  go  ashore,  to  Chester's  house,  but  when  he 
came  up  with  the  said  pirogue,  (in  which  were  a  white 
man,  a  boy  and  an  Indian,)  Teache  asked  them  for  a 
dram,  and  immediately  jumped  aboard  of  the  pirogue, 
and  after  some  dispute,  plundered  her,  carrying  away 
with  him  some  money,  one  cask  of  pipes,  a  cask  of 
rum  or  brandy,  some  linen,  and  other  things,  and  then 
the  said  Teache  commanded  the  said  prisoners  to 
row  away  for  Ocracock  inlet,  instead  of  going  ashore 
at  Chester's,  as  he  first  gave  out  he  intended. 

William  Bell,  of  the  precinct  of  Currituck,  being 
sworn  and  examined,  deposeth,  that  being  on  board 
his  pirogue,  at  die  landing  of  John  Chester,  on  Pan- 
chicough  river,  in  North  Carolina,  on  the  night  of  the 
15th  September  last,  a  large  pirogue  passed  by,  stand 
ing  up  the  river,  that  a  litUe  before  break  of  day,  the 
pirogue  returned,  and  came  on  board  the  deponent; 
that  a  white  man,  who,  he  since  understands,  was 
Edward  Teache,  entered  the  deponent's  pirogue,  and 
asked  him  if  he  had  any  thing  to  drink,  to  which  the 
deponent  answered,  it  was  so  dark  he  could  not  well 
see  to  draw  any,  whereupon,  the  said  Teache  called 
for  his  sword,  which  was  handed  him  from  his  own 
pirogue,  and  commanded  the  deponent  to  put  his 
hands  behind  him,  in  order  to  be  tied,  swearing, 
damnation  seize  him,  he  would  kill  the  deponent  if 
he  did  not  tell  him  truly  where  the  money  was;  that 


IV  APPENDIX. 

the  deponent  asked  him  who  he  was  and  whence  he 
came,  to  which  the  said  Teach e  rephed,  he  came 
from  hell,  where  he  w  ould  carry  him  presently ;  that 
the  said  deponent  laid  hold  of  the  said  Teache  and 
struggled  with  him,  upon  which  he  called  to  his  men 
to  come  on  board  to  his  assistance,  and  they  came  and 
laid  hold  of  the  deponent,  his  son  and  an  Indian  he 
had  with  him;  that  then  the  said  Teache  demanded 
his  pistols,  and  the  deponent  telling  him  they  were 
locked  up  in  his  chest,  he  was  going  to  break  it  open ; 
but  the  deponent  intreated  him  not  do  so,  saying  he 
would  unlock  it,  but  though  he  permitted  the  deponent 
to  open  the  chest,  he  would  not  suffer  him  to  put  his 
hands  therein,  but  took  his  pistols  out  himself;  that 
the  said  Teache  having  got  the  deponent's  pirogue 
out  into  the  middle  of  the  river,  rifled  her,  took  away 
£66  10  in  cash,  one  piece  of  crape,  containing  fifty- 
eight  yards,  a  box  of  pipes,  half  a  barrel  of  brandy, 
and  several  other  goods,  the  particulars  are  mentioned 
in  an  account  the  de{)onent  now  delivered  into  court: 
that,  particularly,  the  deponent  was  robbed  of  a  silver 
cup,  of  a  remarkable  fashion,  being  made  to  screw  in 
the  middle,  the  upper  part  resembling  a  chalice  the 
lower  a  tumbler,  which  cup,  the  deponent  is  informed, 
has  been  found  on  board  Teache's  sloop;  that  when 
the  said  Teache  and  his  crew  had  taken  what  they 
thought  fit  from  the  deponent,  they  tossed  his  sails  and 
oars  overboard,  and  then  rowed  down  the  river;  that 
the  said  Teache,  in  beating  the  deponent,  broke  his 
sword  about  a  quarter  of  a  yard  from  the  point,  which 
broken  piece  of  the  sword  the  deponent  found  in  the 
pirogue,  and  now  produces  in  court;  and  this  depo- 
nent verily  believes  Teache  had  intelligence  of  his 


APPENDIX.  V 

having  money,  otherwise  he  would  have  passed  by  in 
returning  from,  as  he  did  in  going  to,  Mr.  Knight's, 
withoutconcerning  himself  with  the  pirogue:  and  the 
deponent  further  saith,  that  within  two  hours  after  he 
had  been  thus  robbed,  he  went  to  complain  to  the 
governor  of  North  Carolina,  who  sent  him  to  Mr. 
Knight's,  then  chief  justice,  upon  which  the  said 
Knight  gave  him  the  warrant  of  hue  and  cry,  which 
he  now  produces  in  court,  and  that,  notwithstanding 
the  deponent  did  particularly  describe  the  pirogue, 
and  the  men  by  whom  he  had  been  robbed,  and  did 
repeat,  as  near  as  he  could,  the  language  the  white  man 
used  to  the  deponent,  and  declared  that  the  other  four 
were  negroes,  or  white  men  disguised  as  such,  and 
that  the  said  pirogue  had  passed  by  the  same  night 
towards  his  house,  or  Bath  town,  yet  the  said  Tobias 
Knight  did  not  discover  to  the  deponent  that  any 
such  pirogue  had  been  at  his  house,  or  that  he  knew 
of  Teache's  being  in  the  country.  There  was  pro- 
duced a  letter  from  the  before  named  Tobias  Knight, 
directed  to  captain  Edward  Teache,  on  board  the 
sloop  Adventure,  which  letter  was  proved  to  have 
been  found  among  Teache's  papers,  after  his  death, 
and  by  comparison  of  the  hand  with  other  papers, 
appears  to  be  the  writing  of  the  said  Tobias  Knight, 
which  said  letter  was  read,  and  is  as  follows: 

JSTovember  17,  1717. 
My  Friend:  If  this  finds  you  yei  in  harbour,  I 
would  have  you  make  the  best  of  your  way  up,  as 
soon  as  possible  your  affairs  will  let  you.  I  have 
something  more  to  say  to  you  than,  at  present  I  can 
write:  the  bearer  will  tell  vou  the  end  of  our  Indian 


VI  APPENDIX. 

war,  and  Ganet  can  tell  you,  in  part,  what  I  have  to 
say  to  you;  so  I  refer  you,  in  some  measure,  to  him. 
I  really  think  these  three  men  are  heartily  sorry  at 
their  difference  with  you,  and  will  be  very  willing  to 
ask  your  pardon.  If  I  may  advise,  be  friends  again; 
it  is  better  to,  than  falling  out  among  yourselves.  I 
expect  the  governor  this  night,  or  to-morrow,  vv^ho, 
I  believe,  would  be  glad  likewise  to  see  you,  before 
you  go.  I  have  not  time  to  add,  save  my  hearty  re- 
spects to  you,  and  am  your  real  friend  and  servant. 

T.  KNIGHT. 

After  which,  captain  Ellis  Brand,  commander  of 
his  majesty's  ship  tlie  Syren,  declared,  that,  having 
received  information  of  twenty  barrels  of  sugar  and 
two  bags  of  cotton,  lodged  by  Edward  Teache  at 
the  house  of  Tobias  Knight,  he  asked  the  said 
Knight  for  those  goods,  they  being  part  of  the  cargo 
piratically  taken  from  the  French  si  dp,  and  that  the 
said  Knight,  with  many  asseverations,  positively  de- 
nied that  any  such  goods  were  about  his  plantation; 
but  yet  the  next  day,  when  the  said  captain  Brand 
urged  the  matter  home  to  him,  and  told  him  of  the 
proofs  he  could  bring,  as  well  by  the  persons  con- 
cerned in  landing  the  said  goods,  as  by  memoran- 
dums in  Teache's  pocket-book,  he,  the  said  Knight, 
owned  the  whole  matter,  and  the  piratical  goods 
aforesaid  were  found  in  his  barn,  covered  with 
fodder. 

At  a  Court  of  Admiralty,  continued  and  held  at  the 
Capital,  the  13th  day  of  March,  1718. 

Whereas  it  has  appeared  to  this  court,  Mr.  Tobias 
Knight,  Secretary  of  North  Carolina,  hath  given  just 


APPENDIX.  Vir 

cause  to  saspect  his  being  privy  to  the  piracies,  com- 
mitted by  Edward  Teache  and  his  crew,  and  hath 
received  and  concealed  the  articles  by  them  pirati- 
caUy  taken,  whereby  he  has  become  an  accessory. 

It  is,  therefore,  the  opinion  of  this  court,  that  a 
copy  of  the  evidences  given  to  this  court,  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  the  said  Tobias  Knight's  behaviour, 
be  transmitted  to  the  governor  of  North  Carolina,  to 
the  end,  he  may  cause  the  said  Knight  to  be  appre- 
hended and  proceeded  against,  pursu  int  to  the  direc- 
tions of  the  act  of  parliament,  for  the  more  effectual 
suppression  of  piracy. 

And  then  the  said  Tobias  Knight  did  remonstrate 
to  this  board,  in  answer  thereto,  as  followeth: 

North  Carolina. 
To  the  honorable  Charles  Eden,  governor,  and  to 
the  rest  of    the  members    of   the   honorable  the 
council,  now  sitting: 

The  humble  remonstrance  of  Tobias  Knight,  esq, 
secretary  of  this  province,  and  a  member  of  this  board, 
in  answer  to  the  several  depositions,  and  other  pre- 
tended evidences,  taken  against  him,  at  a  court  of 
admiralty,  holden  at  the  capital,  in  Virginia,  on  the 
12th  day  of  March,  1718.  First,  The  said  Tobias 
Knight  doth  aver  for  truth,  and  doubts  not  to  make  it 
evidently  appear,  that  he  is  not,  in  anywise  whatso- 
ever, guilty  of  the  least  of  these  crimes,  which  are  so 
slyly,  maliciously  and  falsely  suggested  and  insinu- 
ated against  him,  by  the  said  pretended  evidence.  The 
which  to  make  more  apparent  to  your  honors,  the  said 
Tobias  Knight  doth  pray  your  honors,  first,  to  con- 
sider as  to  the  evidences  themselves;  they  being  such 
as  contradict  themselves;  or  as  not  to  be  taken  in  any 


VIII  APPENDIX. 

court  of  record,  or  elsewhere,  against  the  said  Tobias 
Knight,  or  any  other  white  man;  for,  first^  Hezekiah 
Hands,  master  of  captain  Teache's  sloop  Adventure, 
seems  to  swear  positively,   in  his  deposition,  that  the 
said  Teache  went  from  Ocracock  inlet,  on  his  return 
to  this  country,  from  his  last  voyage,  with  a  present 
to  the  said  Tobias  Knight's  house,  when,  by  the  same 
deposition,  he  acknowledgeth  that  to  be  out  of  the 
reach  of  his  knowledge,  he  being  all  the  time  at  the 
said  inlet,  wdiich  lies  at  above  thirty  leagues  distance 
h^om  his  house;  and,  further,  the  said  Tobias  Knight 
doth  pray  your  honors  to  observe,  that  the  aforesaid 
Hezekiah  Hands  was,  as  he  has  been  well  informed, 
for  some  time  before  the  giving  of  the  said  evidence, 
kept  in  prison,  under  the  terrors  of  death,  or  a  most 
severe  prosecution,  and  that  there  doth  apparently 
appear  throughout  the  whole  evidence,  more  of  art, 
malice  and  design   against  the  said  Tobias  Knight 
than  truth.     Secondly,  As  to  the  four  next  evidences 
pretended  to  be  given  against  the  said  Tobias  Knight, 
under    the    name    and   pretext  of   four  of   captain 
Teache' s  men,  is  utterly  false,  and  such  as  the  said 
Tobias  Knight  humbly  conceives  ought  not  to  be 
taken  against  him,  for  that  they  are,  though  cunningly 
couched  under  the  names  of  Christians,  no  other  than 
four  negro  slaves,  who,  by  the  laws  and  customs  of 
all  America,  ought  not  to  be  examined  as  evidence, 
neither  is  their  evidence  of  any  validity  against  any 
white  person  whatsoever;  and,  further,  that  the  said 
negroes,  at  the  time  of  their  giving  the  pretended  evi- 
dence aforesaid,  as  the  said  Tobias  Knight  is   in- 
formed, were  upon  trial  for  their  own  lives,  for  the 
supposed  piracies  by  them  committed  on  board  the 
said  Teache,  and  that  what  they  did  then  say  was  in 


APPENDIX.  IX 

liopes  of  obtaining  money,  though  they  were  then 
condemned,  and  since  executed,  so  that,  had  they 
heen  ever  so  lawful  evidences,  the  said  Tobias 
Knight  is  debarred  from  his  right  and  benefit  of  aa 
examination  of  them.  Thirdly,  as  to  tlie  deposition 
of  Wm.  Bell,l  shall  only  observe  to  your  honors  that 
there  is  nothing  in  it,  that  can  affect  the  said  Tobias 
Knight,  save  that  it  is  therein  cunningly  suggested 
that  Edward  Teache  was  at  the  said  Tobias  Knight's 
house,  the  night  in  which  he  was  robbed,  which  the 
said  Tobias  Knight  lias  good  reason  to  believe  was 
rather  an  artful  and  malicious  design  of  those  that 
drew  the  said  deposition;  for,  had  it  been  true,  it  was 
impossible  to  have  been  within  the  reach  of  his  know- 
ledge, and  besides  the  said  Bell,  upon  his  examina- 
tion, the  day  after  he  was  robbed,  had  in  suspicion 
one  Smith  Undy,  Tetery  Dick,  and  others,  and 
hath  since  the  date  of  that  deposition,  viz:  on  or 
about  tlie  25th  of  April  last  past,  declared,  that  he 
doth  verily  believe,  that  the  said  Teache  was  not  at 
that  time  at  the  said  Tobias  Knight's  house,  for  the 
truth  of  which,  the  said  Tobias  Knight  doth  humbly 
refer  to  the  examination  and  deposition  of  Mr.  Ed- 
mund Chamberlain.  Fourthly,  as  to  the  pretended 
evidence  of  captain  Ellis  Brand,  the  said  Tobias 
Knight  doth  liumbly  conceive  the  same  ought  not  to 
affect  him;  for  had  it  been  true,  it  should,  and  ought 
to  have,  been  upon  oath,  which  it  is  not,  though  the 
said  Tobias  Knight  doth,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
aver  that  the  said  pretended  evidence  is  every  word 
false^  and  that  the  said  Brand  never  did,  at  any 
time,  speak  one  word,  or  mention  to  the  said  Knight, 
in  any  manner  whatsoever,  touching  or  concerning 
2* 


X  APPEMDIX. 

the  sugBr  mentioned  in  the  said  evidence,  before  the 
said  Knight  first  mentioned  it  to  him,  neither  was 
the  said  sugar  ever  denied  by  the  said  Tobias  Knight 
to  be  in  his  custody,  for  the  truth  of  which  he  humbly 
refers  to  the  honorable  the  governor;  but  further  saith 
that,  when  the  said  Tobias  Knight  was  aj  prised ,  that 
the  said  Brand  had  been  informed,  thai  the  said  sugar 
had  been  connivingly  put  on  shore  for  the  said 
Knight's  use,  and  that  there  might  be  found  in  his 
custody  several  things  of  value,  belonging  to  the  said 
Teache,  and  that  the  said  Brand  did  intend  to  send 
his  people  to  search  his,  the  said  Knight's  house,  he 
did  then  speak  himself  to  the  said  Brand,  and  did 
acquaint  him  truly  how,  and  for  what  reason,  the  said 
sugar  was  there  lodged,  viz:  at  the  request  of  the 
said  Teache,  only,  till  a  more  convenient  store  could 
be  procured,  by  the  governor,  for  the  whole,  with 
assurance  that  the  said  Tobias  Knight  never  did 
present  any  claim  or  right  to  any  part  thereof,  and 
did,  also,  at  the  same  time  desire  the  said  Brand,  if 
he  had  any  other  information  against  him,  he  would 
be  so  civil  as  either  to  come  himself,  or  send  his  secre- 
tary, to  his  house,  and  every  lock  in  his  said  house 
should  be  opened  to  him,  to  which  he  only  replied, 
that,  though  he  had  some  spiteful  things  insinuated  to 
him  by  evil  minded  persons,  whose  names  he  need 
not  mention,  intimating  Mr.  Maurice  Moore,  Jere-- 
miah  Vail,  and  others  of  that  family,  yet  he  had  more 
honor  than  to  do  any  such  thing;  for,  that,  ever  since 
his  coming  into  this  government,  he  had  found  nothing 
in  the  said  Tobias  Knight,  but  a  great  deal  of  readi- 
nesss  to  assist  him  in  the  service  of  the  crown,  very 
much  becoming  a  gentleman,  and  one  in  his  post, 


APPENDIX.  XI 

which  character  he  should  give  of  him  in  Virginia,  in 
opposition  to  all  the  false  and  malicious  stories  diere 
suggested  against  him,  or  words  to  the  same  effect. 
Fifddy,  as  to  the  letter,  that  was  said  lo  he  found,  of 
the  said  Tobias  Knight's  writing,  on  board  the  said 
Teache's  sloop,  the  said  Knight  doth  believe  to  be 
true,  for  that  he  did  write  such  a  letter,  by  the  go- 
vernor's orders; he  having  advised  him  by  letter  that 
he  had  some  earnest  business  with  the  said  Teache; 
but  he  doth  utterly  deny  that  there  was  any  evil  intent 
in  writing  the  said  letter,  but  that  he  did  verily  believe, 
at  the  same  time,  that  the  said  Teache  was  as  free  a 
subject  of  our  lord  the  king,  as  any  person  in  the  go- 
%^ernment;  and  the  said  Tobias  Knight  doth  further 
say,  in  his  own  justification,  that  when  the  said 
Teache  and  his  crew  first  came  into  this  government 
and  surrendered  themselves,  pursuant  to  his  majesty's 
proclamation  of  indemnity,  the  said  Tobias  Knight 
then  was,  and  for  a  long  time  had  been,  confined  to 
his  bed  by  sickness,  and  that  during  his  whole  stay  in 
this  government  he  never  was  able  to  go  from  his 
plantation,  nor  did  either  the  said  Teache,  or  any  of 
his  crew,  frequent  the  said  Knight's  house,  unless 
when  they  had  business  at  his  office,  as  secretary  or 
collector  of  the  king's  customs;  neither  did  the  ^aid 
Tobias  Knight^  nor  any  of  his  ftimily,  contract  any 
acquaintance  with  the  said  Teache,  or  any  of  his 
crcAv,  nor  did  deal,  buy  or  sell  any  with,  or  of,  any  of 
them,  during  their  whole  stay,  save  only  two  negro 
slayes,  which  die  said  Knight  purchased  from  two 
men,  who  had  received  dieir  pardons,  and  since  are 
gone  lawfully  out  of  this  government,  and  still  continue 
In  their  s/ood  allesiancc.  and  the  said  Tobias  Kti'is^ht 


Xir  APPENDIX. 

doth  aver  for  a  truth,  that  from  the  time  the  saitJ 
Teaclie  took  his  departure  from  this  government, 
bound  to  St.  Thomas's,  he  did  never  see  the  said 
Teache,  or  any  of  his  people,  until  on  or  about  the 
24th  of  September  last  past;  when  he  came  and  re- 
ported to  the  governor,  that  he  had  brought  a  wreck 
into  this  government,  and  particularly,  that  the  said 
Teache  was  not,  to  the  said  Knight's  knowledge,  nor 
to' the  knowledge  of  any  of  his  family,  at  or  near  his 
,  house,  on  or  about  the  14tli  day  of  September  last 
past,  as  is  most  falsely  suggested  in  the  aforesaid  evi- 
dence, given  against  him  in  Virginia;  for  the  truth 
whereof,  he  refers  himself  to  the  examination  and 
deposition  of  Mr.  Edmund  Chamberlain,  aforesaid. 
All  of  which  is  most  humbly  submitted  by  your 
honors  most  dutiful  and  most  obedient  servant. 

T.  KNIGHT, 

Then,  Mr.  Edmund  Chamberlain  was  examined, 
and  his  deposition  was  read  and  sworn  to  before  this 
board,  in  the  following  words: 

North  Carolina,  ss. 

The  deposition  of  Edmund  Chamberlain,  gent. 
taken  upon  his  examination  before  the  honorable  the 
governor  and  council,  at  a  council  board,  holden  at 
Chowan,  ihe  27th  day  of  May,  1719,  who  being  sworn 
on  the  the  Holy  Evangelist,  saith:  that  he,  this  depo- 
nent, hath  been  for  some  considerable  time  past,  viz: 
ever  since  the  latter  end  of  August  last  past,  to  this 
time,  a  resident  at  tlie  house  of  Tobias  Knight,  esq.  in 
Bath  county,  and  that  particularly  on  or  about  the  14th 
of  September  last  past,  and  for  several  days  before 


,       APPENDIX.  XUl 

and  since,  he  never  was  absent  from  the  said  Tobias 
Knight's  house,  either  by  night  or  by  day,  nor  was 
there  any  passages  or  occurrences,  as  this  deponent; 
verily  beheves,  kept  a  secret  or  unknown  to  him,  and 
further,  saith  that  this  deponent  did  never  see  captain 
Edward  Teach e,  nor  any  of  his  crew ;  neither  was  any 
of  them  to  his  knowledge  at  the  said  Tobias  Knight's 
house,  either  by  night  or  by  day,  until  on  or  about  the 
24th  day  of  the  said  last  September,  when,  as  this  de- 
ponent is  informed,  he  came  up  to  the  governor,  and 
reported  to  him,  that  he  had  brought  a  wreck  into  this 
government;  and  diis  deponent  doth  verily  believe 
that  if  the  said  Teache,  or  any  of  his  crew,  had  come 
to  the  spjd  Tobias  Knight's,  at  any  time,  either  by 
night  or  by  day,  before  that  time,  and  especially  on  or 
about  the  14th  of  September,  the  said  deponent  must 
and  should  have  seen  them ;  because,  at  that  time, 
there  was  an  alarm  of  the  heathens  falling  upon  us, 
and  this  deponent  was,  at  that  time,  and  upon  that 
account,  very  watchful,  and  apprehensive  of  every 
thing  that  stirred  about  the  house,  and  the  said  Tobias 
Knight  was  also,  at  that  time,  in  saill  a  state  of  healthy 
that  this  deponent  verily  believes  he  could  not  possibly 
have  gone  out  of  his  house,  to  have  had  such  commu- 
nication with  any  person,  as  in  the  said  pretended 
evidence  is  suggested,  without  manifcvSt  danger  and 
hazard  of  his  life ;  neither  doth  die  deponent  believe  it 
was  possible  for  the  said  Tobias  Knight  to  have  had 
such  communication  with  any  person,  either  within 
or  without  his  said  house,  widiout  his  knowledge,  for 
that  his  lodging  room  was  so  near  to  this  deponent's, 
that  he  must  have  known  diereof ;  and  this  deponeiii 
further  saith,  that  he  was  at  the  said  Tobias  Knidit's 


XIV  APPENDIX. 

house,  on  the  14lhof  September,  when  William  Bell 
came  and  complained  that  he  was  robbed,  and  desired 
a  hue  and  cry  from  the  said  Tobias  Knight,  and  heard 
the  said  Tobias  Knight  examine  the  said  Beli,  whether 
he  could  describe  the  persons  to  him  that  robbed  him ; 
to  which  the  said  Bell  said  be  could  not,  but  said  he 
did  violendy  suspect  one  Thomas  Undy  and  one  Ri- 
chard Snelling,  commonly  called  Tettery  Dick,  to  be 
two  of  them,  and  the  others  to  be  negroes,  or  white 
men  disguised  as  such.  Some  time  afterwards,  he 
came  again  to  the  said  Tobias  Knight's,  and  had  in 
suspicion  one  William  Smith,  and  others:  and  this 
deponent  further  saith,  that  he  never  did  see,  or  know 
of  any  presents,  of  any  kind,  to  the  said  Tobias  Knight, 
nor  any  of  his  family,  from  the  said  Teache,  nor  any 
of  his  crew,  since  his  being  at'the  said  Tobias  Knight's 
house,  save  only  one  gun,  of  about  forty  shillings  value : 
and  this  deponent  further  saith,  that  some  time,  on  or 
about  the  25th  of  April  last,  he,  the  deponent  had  dis- 
course with  William  Bell,  of  Currituck,  merchant, 
concerning  his  being  robbed  of  some  money  and 
goods,  in  Pamlico  river,  on  or  about  the  14th  day  of 
September  last,  by  captain  Edward  Teache,  and 
among  other  things,  he,  the  deponent,  did  ask  the 
said  Bell  whether  he  thought  the  said  Teache  was  at 
the  said  Tof^ias  Knight's  house  the  night  he  was 
robbed,  or  whether  he  thought  he  knew  any  thing  of 
it,  to  which  the  said  Bell  replied,  that  the  said  Tobias 
Knight  was  a  very  civil  gendeman,  and  his  wife  a  very 
civil  gentlewoman,  and  he  did  not  think,  or  believe, 
that  the  said  Teache  was  there,  or  that  he  knew  auy 
thing  of  the  matter,  or  words  to  that  effect. 

ED3IUND  CHAMBERLAIN. 


APPENDIX.  '  XV 

And  this  board  having  taken  the  whole  into  consi- 
deration, and  it  appearing  to  them,  that  the  four 
evidences,  called  by  the  names  of  James  Blake,  Ri- 
chard Stiles,  James  White  and  Thomas  Gates,  were 
actually  no  other  than,  four  negro  slaves,  and  since 
executed,  as  in  the  remonstrance  is  set  forth,  and  that 
the  other  evidences,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  said 
Tobias  Knight,  are  false  and  malicious,  and  that  he 
hath  behaved  himself  in  that,  and  all  other  affairs 
wherein  he  hath  been  intrusted,  as  became  a  good 
and  faithful  officer;  and,  thereupon,  it  is  the  opinion 
of  this  board,  that  he  is  not  guilty,  and  ought  to  be 
acquitted  of  the  said  crimes,  and  every  of  them,  laid 
to  his  charge  as  aforesaid. 


A  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  the  commissioners 
for  running  the  boundary  Hne  between  Carohna 
and  Vircfinia. 

The  boundary  betwixt  the  two  governments  ha- 
ving been  long  contested,  it  being  uncertain  what  was 
meant  by  Currituck  river,  or  gullet,  in  the  king's 
charter,  and  many  disputing  which  was  Wyanoke 
creek,  the  line  being  to  begin  at  the  north  end  of  Cur-* 
ratuck  river  or  gullet,  but  there  was  no  river  known 
by  that  name;  Curratuck  being  a  large  bay,  extending 
northw^ardly  and  southwardly  of  the  inlet,  and  the 
north  end  of  it,  above  a  dozen  miles  to  the  northward 
of  the  inlet,  where  the  line  ought  to  have  begun,  if  by 
the  river,  or  gullet,  was  meant  the  bay;  but  that  not 
having  been  duly  insisted  on,  the  inlet  in  time  began  to 
he  reputed  the  boundary,  and  the  north-west  river,  and 
channel  up  to  it,  were  acquiesced  in  as  the  natural 
bounds,  which  left  all  Nott's  island  in  Virginia,  to  the 
southward  of  the  inlet;  but  the  governor  of  Virginia 
afterwards  granted  patents  to  the  southward  of  the  said 
river,  when  they  thought  it  was  to  the  northward  of  a 
Avest  line  from  the  inlet,  viz:  towards  the  head  of  the 
river,  up  to  the  dismal  or  great  Pocoson,  on  the  west 
of  which  Pocoson  the  bounds  remaining  unfixed,  and 
great  debates  being  about  Wyanoke  creek,  to  which 
the  line  was  to  run,  the  government  of  Virginia  pre- 
tending it  was  a  creek,  since  called  Wiccons,  and 
Carolina  claiming  it  to  be  a  place  called  Nottaway. 


APPENDIX.  XVIf 

Commissioners  were  appointe  1  by  both  governments 
to  settle  the  matter;  and  depositions  were  taken,  on 
both  sides,  concerning  the  Wyonoke  Jndians,  who,  at 
different  times,  lived  in  both  places,  but  no  satisfaction 
being  that  way  obtained,  and  the  observations  made  to 
find  the  latitude  differing  as  widely,  the  Virginia 
commissioners  making  the  latitude  of  Wiccons  to  be 
in  36  deg.  40  min.  and  Nottaway  to  be  in  37deg.  or  " 
37  deg.  16  min.;  this  egregious  error,  (as  it  is  since 
denrionstrated  to  be)  broke  off  the  conference  not 
without  some  warmth,  and  undue  reflections  made 
on  it  by  Virgi^iia;  and  some  time  after  the  two  go- 
vernors, viz:  colonel  Spotswood,  lieutenant  governor 
of  Virginia,  and  colonel  Eden,  governor  of  Carolina, 
had  an  interview  upon  it,  meeting  at  Nansemond,  and 
agreed  on  certain  pr  >po3als  about  the  boundaries 
which  were  interchangeably  signed. 

That  from  the  mouth  of  Currituck  river,  or  inlet, 
and  setting  the  compass  on  the  norih  shore  thereof,  a 
due  west  line  be  run,  and  fairly  marked,  and  if  it  hap- 
pen to  cut  Chowan  river,  between  the  mouth  of  Not- 
toway river  and  Wiccon's  creek,  then  shall  the  same 
direct  course  be  continued  towards  the  mountains, 
and  be  ever  deemed  the  dividing  line  between  Vir- 
ginia and  Carolina.  That  if  the  said  west  line  cuts 
Chowan  river  to  the  southward  of  Wiccon's  creek, 
then,  from  that  point  of  iiHerseciion,  the  hounds  shall 
be  allowed  to  continue  up  the  middle  of  e^aid  Chowan 
river  to  the  middle  of  the  entrance  into  the  said 
Wiccon's  creek,  and  from  thence  a  due  west  line  sludl 
divide  the  two  governments.  TJrat,  if  the  said  west 
lino  cuts  Black  water  river  to  ibe  northward  ol 
3#    .  ' 


XVIII  APPENDIX. 

Natioway  river,  then,  from  tliat  point  of  interseciioii, 
the  bounds  shall  he  allowed  to  continue  down  the 
middle  of  said  Black  water  river,  to  the  middle  of 
the  entrance  into  the  said  Nottaway  river,  and  from 
thence  a  due  west  line  shall  divide  the  said  two  go- 
vernments. 

That  if  a  due  west  line  shall  be  found  to  pass 
through  islands,  or  to  cut  out  slips  of  land,  which 
might  much  more  conveniently  be  included  in  the 
one  province  than  the  other,  by  natural  water  bounds^ 
in  such  cases,  the  persons  appointed  for  running  the 
lines  shall  have  power  to  settle  natural  bounds:  Pro- 
vided, the  commissioners  on  both  sides  agree  thereto, 
and  that  all  variations  from  the  west  line  be  punctually 
noted  in  the  maps  or  plats  which  they  shall  return, 
to  be  put  upon  the  records  of  both  governments. 

On  the  last  of  February,  1729,  the  commissioners 
set  off,  and  met  the  Virginia  commissioners  at  Cur- 
rituck, the  fifth  day  of  March,  at  the  inlet,  but  some  of 
ihem  being  delayed  by  the  weather,  nothing  was  done 
that  day.  At  night  the  variation  was  taken  by  the 
north  star,  viz:  when  the  north  star  and  the  fourth  in 
the  great  bear  came  on  the  meridian  together,  or  on 
a  perpendicular,  which  was  done  by  a  line  hanging 
perpendicular  from  the  end  of  a  pole,  and  a  moveable 
light,  at  some  distance  on  the  ground,  to  range  at  the 
same  lime  in  the  line;  and  afterwards  that  light  re- 
maining fixed,  and  the  perpendicular  line  set  by  the 
compass  and  the  variance  of  that  from  the  needle,  i^ 
the  variation  which  was  found,  about  3  degrees,  and 
the  sun's  altitude  the  next  morning  made  it  much  the 
same ;  and  so  again,  when  the  north  star  was  observed 


APPENDIX.  XIX 

the  second  night,  so  that  it  was  agreed  on  to  he  the 
variation  of  the  compass.  The  latitude,  too,  was 
observed,  and  foun9  to  he  about  36  degrees  and  31 
minutes. 

There  was  also  a  debate,  at  this  conference,  about 
the  first  station  to  set  out  from.  The  place  being  a 
little  altered  since  the  proposals  were  made,  deposi- 
tions were  taken  of  the  neighboring  people.  Thursday, 
March  7,  a  cedar  post  was  fixed  in  the  sand,  on  tbe 
north  side  of  the  inlet,  for  the  first  station,  and  a  due 
west  line  set  out  with,  viz:  by  ilie  compass  No.  87, 
west,  and  that  day  the  line  was  run  as  far  as  Nott's 
island,  about  twenty  rods  to  the  northward  of  Wicker's 
house,  and  so  across  the  island  to  the  marsh,  leaving 
about  tbree  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  upland  of  the 
island  in  Vu'ginia,  and  two  families;  the  rest  of  the 
island  taken  into  Carolina,  which  is  about  five  miles 
long,  and  also  Jones,  joining  to  it,  which  contains 
about  two  thousand  acres  and  about  half  a  score  of 
families,  tliercby  taken  into  Carolina,  that  before  were 
in  Virginia. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  line  was  run  from  Nott'S 
island  through  the  marsh  and  a  part  of  Back  bay,  to 
the  main,  leavinor  a  JiiiJe  of  tlie  marsh  to  the  north- 
"\vard;  but  the  greatest  part  taken  into  Carolina,  of 
wbich,  dioui;b  some  thousands  acres  partiaiivsurvevcd, 
as  could  be  learned  only  some  by  captain  AVhite,  and 
abotit  five  hundred  and  forty  acres  by  Mr.  Morse.  The 
main  end  is  a  point  of  land,  made  by  Back  bay  and 
North  river^  about  a  mile  and  a  half  over,  and  was 
cut  by  the  litie  near  two  miles  from  the  e?)d  of  the 
point,  leaving  a()out  five  or  six  fatnilics  to  the  south- 
ward (hat  \\:u]  been  reputed  Virginians. 


/ 


XX  APPENDIX.  / 

On  the  9th  of  March,  the  hne  was  continued  across 
the  point  of  Princess  Anne  county,  striking  North 
river  to  the  northward  of  Riclrard  Eisland's  house, 
crossed  the  river  and  a  great  body  of  marsh,  to  die 
upland,  near  three  miles  to  the  northward  of  the 
mouthof  Northwest  river,  which  had  been  the  reputed 
boundary. 

On  Sunday,  March  10th,  we  rested  at  our  camp  at 
Marchand's  plantation. 

On  the  11th,  the  line  was  continued  to  Northwest 
river,  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  creek,  running  east- 
wardly  towards  Notham's  house,  being  about  a  mile 
to  the  northward  of  Moyok  creek,  taking  into  Caro- 
lina, between  North  river  and  where  it  cutsNordiwest 
river,  about  five  or  six  thousand  acres  of  land  taken  up, 
besides  quantities  of  marsh  and  other  land^  including 
three  thousand  one  hundred  acres  formerly  belonging 
to  governor  Gibbs,  now  said  to  belong  to  the  honora- 
ble Mr.  Bladen,  one  of  the  lords  of  trade,  there  being 
five  or  six  families  in  that  space  taken  from  Virginia. 

On  the  12tli,  the  line  w^as  run  from  Northwest  river, 
two  Iiundred  and  thirteen  chains,  to  a  stooping  red 
oak,  by  a  path  side  that  leads  from  Jolm  Monk's  to 
Henry  Bright's,  being  about  tw^enty  miles  from  the 
inlet,  the  line  running  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
to  the  southward  of  a  bridge  of  Northwest  river,  leav- 
ing about  four  or  five  poor  families  and  small  tracts 
of  land  in  Virginia  that  before  were  reputed  in  Caro- 
lina, this  being  the  first  land  that  Virginia  gained. 

On  the  13th,  the  line  was  continued  to  the  edge  of 
the  Great  or  Dismal  swamp,  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  chains,  being  about  twenty-three  miles  and  a 


APPENDIX.  ^XXI 

Tialf from  sea;  the  line  this  day  running  a  few  rods  to 
southward  of  Richard  Bellamy, sen.'s,  leaving  Henry 
Everidge  to  the  southward  of  William  Bellamy  to  the 
northward  and  Richard  Lenton  to  the  southward; 
and  only  three  Carolina  families  were  this  day  left 
into  Virginia,  though  they  all  had  but  one  tract  of  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  among  them ;  a  few 
families,  to  the  southward  of  Northwest  river,  were 
left  in  Virginia,  who  had  Virginia  patents  before,  and 
belonged  tliereto. 

On  the  14th,  the  line  entered  the  Dismal,  and  it  was 
the  28th  before  it  was  finished,  though  being  found 
to  be  only  about  fifteen  miles  through  in  a  direct 
coarse,  and  came  out  to  the  nordiward  of  Coreapeck 
swamp,  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the  Virginians 
and  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  Carolina. 

On  the  29th,  the  line  was  run  near  the  main  road 
that  leads  from  Perquimans  to  the  White  marsh,  in 
Virginia,  cutting  the  said  road  about  seven  or  eight 
miles  to  the  northward  of  captain  Speight's,  and  a 
marked  post  was  put  up  by  the  road. 

On  the  30th,  the  line  was  run  five  hundred  and 
fifteen  chains,  nejir  to  Richard  Parker's,  whose  house 
was  left  about  one  hundred  rods  to  the  southward. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  the  line  was  run  nine  hundred 
and  thirteen  chains,  to  Sommerton  creek,  cutting 
Sommerton  road  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  so'.nh- 
ward  of  die  Capple  and  Meherring  ferry  road,  near 
William  Speight's,  whose  plantation  was  split  by  the 
line,  marked  posts  being  put  up  on  the  main  roads 
where  the  line  crosses  them. 

On  the  2d,  the  line  was  run  seventy-two  chains  and 
a  half,  to  Biackwater  river,  cutting  the  said  river  above 


XXII  APPENDIX. 

the  mouth  of  Nottaway,  going  south  on  a  straight  line 
forty-four  chains;  and  ihehne  was  continued  this  day 
to  the  upland  from  Nortavvay  river  to  an  Indian  old 
field.  It  now  appeared  how  the  government  of  Vir- 
ginia had  heen  mistaken,  and  how  exceedingly  their 
former  commissioners  and  surveyors  had  erred  in 
their  reports  and  observations  from  the  Great  or  Dis- 
mal swamp  to  Blackvvater  river,  being  twenty-one 
miles  and  a  half  that  were  taken  by  the  line  into  Caro- 
lina, a  very  great  quantity  of  land,  and  a  number  of 
families  that  before  had  beenunder  Virginia,  of  which 
the  time  would  not  admit  to  take  an  exact  account, 
but  computed  to  above  one  hundred  thousand  acres, 
and  above  three  hundred  titheables. 

On  the  3d,  the  variation  was  observed  in  the  night, 
and  found  to  be  here  2  1-2,  so  the  line  was  run  by 
the  compass  north  87  degrees  30  minutes  west,  and 
continued  one  thousand  and  twenty-two  chains  this 
day,  to  the  side  of  Meherring  river,  being  above  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  northward  of  the  line  run 
formerly  by  colonel  Allen,  by  order  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Virginia,  which  was  done  without  allowinij 
for  the  variation  of  the  compass,  by  which  means 
some  lands  and  two  or  three  families  were  this  day 
taken  into  Carolina  from  Virginia. 

On  the  4th,  a  conference  of  the  commissioners  was 
held,  and  it  was  proposed  by  those  of  Virginia,  that, 
as  the  hot  weather  and  the  season  for  snakes  and  ver- 
min, were  about  commencing,  a  continuation  of  the 
service  might  be  dangerous:  desiring  the  opinion  of 
the  commissioners,  whether  it  would  not  be  better  to 
defer  the  finishing  of  the  line  till  the  fall.  It  was 
answered  bv  the  commissioners  of  Carolina,  that  thev 


APPENDIX.  XXIII 

would  be  governed  in  it  by  ibe  gentlemen  commis- 
sioners of  Virginia,  being  willing  to  proceed  if  they 
would;  but  if  they  thought  fit  to  defer  it  to  the  fall,  it 
was  submitted  to.  After  some  debate,  it  was  agreed 
on  to  defer  the  matter  until  the  fall  for  finishing  the 
line,  and  the  commissioners  on  both  sides  agreed  to 
meet  again  on  the  10th  of  September  following,  only 
this  day  to  run  the  line  to  some  better  place  to  leave 
off  at;  and  accordingly  the  line  was  continued,  cross- 
ing the  river  Meherring  three  times,  to  a  red  oak  on 
the  west  side  thereof,  about  a  mile  above  Mrs.  Kin- 
chen's,  at  whose  house  the  commissioners  broke  up. 


Succinct  history  of  the  settienitnt  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrvm^  or  the  United  Brethren,  in  North 
Carolina. 

The  Unitas  Fratrwn,,  or  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  Brethren,  commonly  called 
Moravians,  made  the  beginning  of  its  settlement  in 
North  Carolina  in  the  year  1753. 

In  the  year  1735,  some  members  of  this  church 
came  from  Europe,  to  settle  in  Georgia,  on  a  piece  of 
land,  which  was  granted  unto  count  Zinzendorf  by 
the  trustees  of  this  province,  for  a  settlement  of  the 
United  Brethren.  One  of  the  principal  motives  for 
accepting  this  ofTer,  was  the  hope,  that  thereby  a  way 
might  be  opened  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the 
Indians,  especially  to  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees. 

The  first  colony  of  brethren  arrived  in  Georgia,  in 
the  spring  of  the  year  1735,  and  received  in  the  sum- 
mer of  the  same  year  a  considerable  increase.  They 
built  a  large  house  in  the  town  of  Savannah,  and  made 
a  settlement  in  the  country.  God  so  blessed  their 
industry,  that  in  three  years  they  were  able  to  pay  off 
all  the  money  advanced  to  them.  They  likewise  erect- 
ed a  school  house  for  the  children  of  the  Creek  In- 
dians, on  the  river  Savannah,  four  miles  above  the 
town.  Many  Indians,  and  with  them  their  king,  Tomo 
Tschatchi,  came  io  see  the  brethren,  and  to  liear  the 
^^ospel,  or,  as  they  expressed  it,  the  great  word. 


APPENDIX.  XXV 

There  was  a  fine  prospect,  that  this  settlement  of 
the  brethren  would  prosper,  and  they  would  find  en- 
trance with  the  gospel  anriong  the  Indians,  and  be 
blessed  with  success  in  the  instruction  of  their  chil- 
dren, as  some  of  them  had  already  learned  to  read 
English  pretty  well,  and  began  to  write;  but,  as  a 
war  broke  out  bet^^eea  the  British  and  the  Spaniards, 
in  1737,  and  was  renewed  in  1739,  the  brethren, 
who  were  conscientiously  scrupulous  to  take  arms, 
were  forced  to  do  it,  contrary  to  the  promise  made 
unto  them,  of  being  exempted  from  persohal  military 
service,  they  sa\>  themselves  necessitated  to  abandon 
their  well  cultivated  land  and  houses,  and  remove, 
after  having  defrayed  all  the  expenses  incurred  on 
their  account,  in  1738  and  1740,  to  Pennsylvania; 
where  they  began  the  settlements  at  Bethlehem  and 
Nazareth,  and  likewise  missions  among  the  Indians  in 
different  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  New- York.  God 
blessed  their  libor  among  these  savages,  in  so  emi- 
nent a  manner,  that  by  his  grace  many  of  them  turned 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
unto  God,  and  received  forgiveness  of  sin  and  inherit- 
ance among  those  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  in  Jesus. 
The  various  oppressions  which  the  brethren  and 
their  missionaries  among  the  heathen,  had  to  endure, 
by  ill  disposed  persons  and  other  circumstances,  gave 
occasion  to  the  negotiations  of  tlie  Unitas  Fratruni 
with  the  British  parliament.  The  result  of  them  Was, 
that  after  a  strict  examination  into  the  origin  and  tlie 
present  state  of  the  brethren's  church,  the  Unitns 
Fratrum  or  United  Brethren,  wore  declared  by  a 

public  act  of  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  to  wiiich 

4^ 


XXVI  APPENDIX. 

the  royal  assent  was  given  the  12ih  May,  1749^311(1 
which  is  entitled  '••  an  act  for  encouraging  the  people 
known  by  the  name  of  Unitas  Fratrvm  or  United 
Brethren,  to  settle  his  majesty's  colonies  in  America," 
to  be  an  ancient  Protestant  Episcopal  church ;  that 
those  who  were  settled  in  his  majesty's  colonies  in 
America,  had  demeaned  themselves  there  as  a  sober, 
quiet  and  industrious  people,  and  that  they  shall  be 
indulged  with  full  liberty  of  conscience,  and  be  ex- 
empted from  personal  military  service  for  a  reasona- 
ble compensation,  and  be  permitted,  instead  of  taking 
an  oath;  in  cases  where  the  laws  require  it,  to  make  a 
solemn  affirmation  or  declaration. 

While  these  negotiations  with  the  British  parlia- 
ment were  pending,  several  lords  and  gentlemen  be- 
came more  intimately  acquainted  with  the  brethren, 
and  made  offers  unto  them  of  settlements  on  the  con- 
tinent of  America  and  on  the  islands.  Among  all 
these  offers,  none  came  to  effect  but  the  purchase  of 
a  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  in  North  CaroHna, 
in  the  territory  of  the  earl  of  Granville,^  the  president 
of  the  privy  council.  The  view  of  this  colony  was^ 
to  give  to  such  of  the  brethren's  church  and  others 
as  should  desire  it,  an  opportunity  of  setding  at  a 
cheap  rate^  in  a  country  as  yet  but  little  cultivated,  to 
serve  both  in  a  temporal  and  spiritual  sense  the  inha- 
bitants, who  were  already  setded  there,  and  who 
should  setde  in  their  neighborhood,  and  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  Cherokees,  Creeks 
and  other  Indians.  The  purchase  of  the  land  was 
made  in  the  year  1751.  August  Gotdieb  Spangcn- 
berg,  one  of  the  bishops  oixh^Uniias  Fratrum^  who 


APPENDIX.  XXVII 

then  resided  at  Bethlehem,  and  had  the  superitend- 
ence  of  all  the  setdements  and  missions  of  the  bre- 
thren in  Pennsylvania,  was  commissioned  to  go  with 
some  brethren  to  North  Carolina,  in  order  to  seek 
out,  and  survey  the  land.  They  departed  in  August, 
1752,  from  Bethlehem  for  Edenion,  and  from  thence 
with  Mr.  Churton,  the  general  surveyor,  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  rivers  Catawba,  New  river  and  Yadkin, 
where  they  spent  several  months  before  they  could  ob« 
tain  their  aim ;  during  which  time  they  suffered  much 
by  sickness,  cold  and  hunger,  till  ihe  end  of  the 
month  of  December.  After  having  surveyed  several 
small  pieces  of  land  on  Catawba  and  New  rivers, 
and  at  the  Mulberry  fields,  on  the  Yadkin,  they  were 
led  by  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  to  a  large  tract  of 
land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Yadkin,  full  of  springs, 
rivulets  and  creeks,  well  timbered,  and,  for  the  greatest 
part,  good  for  agriculture  and  raising  catde. 

Bishop  Spangenberg  and  the  other  brethren  re- 
turned in  January,  1753,  to  Bethlehem,  having  finish- 
ed the  survey  of  73,037  acres,  in  fourteen  numbers: 
to  these,  an  additional  survey  was  made  by  Mr.  Chur- 
ton, of  25,9 18  acres,  in  five  numbers,  in  the  same 
tract;  making  the  total  sum  of  98,925  acres. 

In  conformity  to  an  agreement  made  heretofore, 
between  the  right  honorable  John,  earl  of  Granville, 
lord  president  of  his  majesty's  most  honorable  privy 
council,  sole  proprietor  of  a  certain  district,  territory 
or  parcel  of  land,  lying  in  the  province  of  North  Caro- 
lina, in  America,  on  one  part,  and  the  count  Zinzen- 
dorf,  lord  advocate,  chancellor  and  agent  of  die  IJnitas 
Fratriim^  or  United  Brethren,  on  their  behalf,  on  the 


XXVIII  APPENDIX. 

Other  part;  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land,  in  considera- 
tion of  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  him,  the  said  John, 
earl  Granville,  to  be  paid,  was  granted  and  conveyed 
to  Jamts  Huiton,  gentleman,  secretary  of  the  Unilas 
Fratrnm^  or  United  Brethren,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  in 
trust  and  for  the  use,  benefit  and  behoof  of  the  said 
TJnitas  Frntrum^  to  be  set  out  and  surveyed  in  con- 
venient tracts  and  parcels,  according  to  the  option  and 
direction  of  such  person  or  persons,  as  should  be  em- 
ployed for  that  purpose  by  the  lord  advocate,  chancellor 
and  agent  aforesaid,  to  hold  the  same  to  the  said 
James  Hutton,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  at  and  under  a 
yearly  rent  to  be  annually  paid  to  the  said  John,  earl 
Granville,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  &.c. 

The  general  deed  for  the  whole  tract  was  sealed 
and  signed  the  7th  August,  1753.  Besides  it,  nine- 
teen special  deeds  were  made  for  each  number  of  the 
said  tract.  As  count  Zinzendorf  had  also  the  tide  of 
lord  of  the  valley  Wachau,  in  Austria,  the  aforesaid 
tract  of  98,985  acres,  was  named  Wachau,  or 
Wachovia. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  improvement  of  the  land, 
to  furnish  a  part  of  the  purchase  money,  and  to  defray 
the  transport,  journey  and  other  expenses  of  the  first 
colonists,  a  society  was  formed,  under  the  name  of 
Tlie  Wachoma  Society^  consisting  of  members  of 
the  brethren's  church  and  other  friends.  The  di- 
rectors of  it  were  bishop  Spangenberg  and  Cornelius 
Van  Laer,  a  gendeman  residing  in  Holland.  The 
members  of  it,  who  were  about  twenty,  received  in 
consideration  for  the  money  which  they  advanced, 
two  thousand  acres  of  the  land.     This  society  was 


APPENDIX.  XXIX 

again  dissolved,  in  the  year  1763,  having  proved  very 
beneficial,  and  answered  the  intended  purpose.  In 
the  autumn  of  the  year  1753,  the  first  colonists,  twelve 
single  brethren,"^  or  unmarried  men,  came  from  Beth- 
lehem to  settle  upon  the  land.  They  had  a  waggon, 
six  horses,  cattle,  and  the  necessary  household  furni- 
ture and  utensils  for  husbandry  with  them.  After  a 
very  tedious  and  fatiguing  journey,  by  way  of  Win- 
chester, Evan's  Gap  and  Upper  Sauratown,  on  which 
they  spent  six  weeks,  they  arrived  on  the  land  the  17th 
of  November,  and  took  possession  of  it.  A  small  de- 
serted cabin,  which  they  found  near  the  Mill  creek, 
served  them  for  a  shelter,  or  dwelling  house,  the  first 
winter.!  They  imediately  began  to  clear  some  acres 
of  land,  and  to  sow  it  with  wheat.  In  the  year  1754, 
seven  new  colonists,  likewise  single  brethren,  came 
from  Bethlehem.  It  was  resolved,  that  on  the  same 
spot,  where  the  first  setders  had  made  already  a  small 
improvement,  a  town  should  be  built,  which  was  named 
Betliahara^  (the  house  of  passage)  as  it  was  meant 
only  for  a  place  of  sojourning  for  a  time,  till  the  prin- 
cipal town,  in  the  middle  of  the  whole  tract,  could  be 
built,  at  a  convenient  time.  Bishop  Bohler,  who  was 
here  on  a  visit  from  Bethlehem,  laid,  on  the  26th  of 
November  the  corner  stone  for  the  first  house  in  this 


*  Their  names  are  :  The  reverend  Rernhard  Adam  Griibe. 
minister,  Jacob  Lash,  warden,  Hans  Martin  Kalberlahn,  sur- 
geon, Jacob  Pfeil,  shoemaker,  Erich  Ingelretsen  and  Henry 
Feldhousen,  carpenters,  Hans  Petersen,  taylor,  Christoph 
Merkle,  baker,  Herrman  Lash,  miller,  Jacob  Lung,  John  Bcroth 
and  John  Lisher,  farmers. 

t  On  the  spot  where  this  cabin  stood  a  monument  was  erected 
in  the  year  ISOG,  with  the  inscription,  Wachovia  sctilcm'iifj  begun 
the,  nth  November y  1753. 


XXX  APPENDIX. 

town,  which  was  appointed  for  a  church  and  dwelling 
house  of  the  single  brethren,  with  prayer  and  suppli- 
cation to  our  Lord,  that  he  might  prosper  the  work. 
He  likew^ise  examined  more  accurately  the  greatest 
part  of  the  Wachovia  tract,  divided  it  into  proper  parts 
for  improvement,  and  gave  names  to  several  creeks, 
which  are  yet  sometimes  used,  and  are  to  be  found  in 
deeds  and  pubHc  records. 

The  Millcreek^  on  which  Bethabara,  or  Old  town, 
is  buih,  was  called  Johanna^  the  Muddy  creek,  or 
Gargales,  on  which  Bethany  was  afterwai^ds  built 
Dorothy^  the  Middlefork,  on  which  now  Salem,  the 
principal  town,  stands,  Wacli^  and  the  Southfork, 
which  waters  the  Fried  berg  and  Friedland  settlements. 
Ens.  In  the  year  1755,  a  mill  was  began  to  be  built, 
on  Mill  creek,  near  Bethabara,  which  proved  a  great 
benefit  to  the  setdement,  and  the  circumjacent  country, 
as  more  inhabitants  soon  settled  in  the  neighborhood. 
In  the  month  of  May,  bishop  David  Nitschmann  came 
on  a  visit  from  Bethlehem,  and  on  the  11th  of  the  same 
month,  the  first  meeting  house  was  consecrated,  which 
solemn  transaction  was  attended  with  a  gracious  feel- 
ing of  the  divine  presence.  Many  travellers  and 
neighbors  have  heard  afterwards,  in  this  house,  the 
word  of  life,  with  joy  and  gratitude.  The  physician, 
or  surgeon,  soon  acquired  an  extensive  practice,  which 
was  a  great  benefit  to  this  infant  settlement,  in  ihe 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  Wachovia  was  declared  by 
an  act  of  assembly  a  separate  parish,  and  after  the 
name  of  their  governor,  called  Dobb^s  parish.  The 
reverend  Christopher  Thomas  Benzien,  from  Bethle- 
hem, was  commissioned  to  transact  this  business  with 


APPENDIX.  XXXI 

the  assembly.  This  regulation  lasted  to  the  year  1756. 
The  reverend  Mr.  Jacob  Rodgers,  who  canie  in  the 
year,  1758  from  England,  was  the  first  minister,  or 
rector,  of  Dobb's  parish.  His  ministry,  as  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  by  the  brethren  in  general,  was  at- 
tended with  great  blessing  to  many  hearers  in  the 
different  places,  on  Muddy  creek,  Southfork,  ^c. 
where  they  used  to  preach,  and  particularly  to  a  great 
number  of  people,  who,  on  account  of  the  war  widi 
the  Shawanoes  and  Delaware  Indians,  in  1756,  and 
the  following  years,  sought,  and  found,  refuge  with  the 
brethren.  The  latter  enclosed  their  town,  Beihabara, 
and  the  adjacent  mill,  near  which  some  of  the  fugitives 
built  houses,  with  pallisadoes.  As  there  was  at  the 
same  time  a  great  scarcity  of  corn  in  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia ;  for  the  crop  of  Indian  corn,  which  is 
the  chief  support  of  the  inhabitants,  had  failed,  the 
brethren,  who  had  reaped  a  great  quantity  of  wheat 
and  rye,  were  enabled  to  supply  the  wants,  not  only 
of  these  fugitives,  but  also  of  many  other  people. 

In  the  year  1758,  the  Cherokees  and  Catawbas,  who 
went  to  war  against  the  Indians  on  the  Ohio,  often 
marched  through  Bethabara,  in  large  companies, 
sometimes  seyeral  hundreds  at  once,  and  the  brethren 
were  obliged  to  find  thom  quarters  and  provisions  for 
several  days.  The  Cherokees  were  much  pleased 
with  the  treatment  which  they  met,  and  gave  to  their 
nation  the  following  description  of  Bethabara:  The 
Dutch  fort ^  where  there  are  good  people  and  much 
bread. 

As  several  of  the  fugitives,  who  had  constantly  at* 
tended  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  felt  the  power 


XXXII  APPENDIX. 

of  it,  asked  leave  of  the  brethren  to  stay  with  them 
and  to  setde  on  their  land,  it  was  resolved  in  the  year 
1 759,  when  bishop  Spangenberg  and  the  reverend  Mr- 
John  Ettwein,  from  Bethlehem,  were  present,  to  lay 
out  another  town,  three  miles  to  the  north  from  Beth- 
abara,  on  Muddy  creek,  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
Wachovia  tract.  This  was  done  in  the  month  of  July, 
and  two  thousand  five  hundred  acres  of  land  assigned 
to  the  town  lot,  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
should  hold  for  a  certain  yearly  rent,  after  three  years 
rent  free,  for  the  first  settlers.  The  town  was  called 
Bethany,  it  was  laid  out  into  thirty  lots,  fifteen  of 
which  in  the  upper  part  were  assigned  to  the  fugitives, 
and  fifteen  in  the  lower  town  were  appointed  for  such 
families  in  Bethabara,  (which  setdement  of  late  had 
received  an  increase  often  families  from  Bethlehem,) 
who  might  be  inclined  to  begin  husbandry  and  house- 
keeping for  themselves;  for,  hitherto,  everything  at 
Bethabara  had  been  done  and  laid  out  for  the  common 
good,  as  was  the  case  in  Bethlehem,  in  the  first  be- 
sinnino:  of  (hat  setdement.  Bethabara  was  visited  in 
the  autumn  of  1759,  with  an  epidemical  disorder,  of 
which  eleven  persons  died,  and  among  them  the  Ger- 
man minister  of  the  place,  the  reverend  Christian 
Seidel,  and  the  surgeon,  Mr.  JTilberlahn. 

In  the  year  1780,  the  devastations  and  cruelties  of 
the  Cherokees,  who  had  now  joined  the  northern  In- 
dians in  the  war  against  the  white  people,  put  the  inha- 
bitants of  Bethabara  and  Bethany  under  the  necessity 
of  being  day  and  night  continually  upon  their  guard. 
Hostile  Indians  came  often  very  near  their  towns,  with 
an  intention  t»  destrov  them,  and  to  kill  the  inhabitants 


APPENDIX.  3;X|C1U 

or  making  ihem  prisoners,  but  never  ventured  to  make 
an  attack.  Often  times,  they  were  frightened  by  the 
ringing  of  the  beli  for  meeting  at  church,  which  meet- 
ings tiie  brethren  in  both  places  kept  regularly  on 
Sundays,  and  every  evening  in  the  w^eek.  Many  sol- 
diers, marching  against  the  Indians,  attended  divine 
service  in  both  places.  In  Bethany,  about  four  hun« 
dred  were  present  at  it,  on  Easter  Sunday.  Besides 
the  meeting  house,  ten  dwelling  houses  were,  in  ApriU 
1760,  already  built  and  inhabited,  in  this  new  town. 

When  peace  was  established,  in   the  year  1761, 
with  the  Cherckees,  die  setdenients  increased  in  the 
following  yeais  in  numbers,  by  new  colonists  from 
Pennsylvania,  atxl   trade   and  commerce   began    to 
iiourish.     At  the  end  of  the  year  1765,  the  number  of 
inhabitants  in  Bethabara  was  88,  and  in  Bethany  78. 
The  greatest  part  in  the  latter  place  were  farmers,  and 
in  the  former  tradesmen,  as  taylors,  shoemakers,  car- 
penters, potters,  tanners,  milwrights,  gunsmiths,  4*^, 
In  the  year  1766,  the  beginning  was  made  to  build 
Salern^  the  principal  setdenient  of  the  Unitas  Fratmm 
in  North  Carolina,  five  miles  to  the  south  east  from 
Bethabara.     Hitherto,  all  the  brethren  and  sisters  who 
settled  in  North  Carolina,  came  from  Pennsylvania. 
But,  in  this  year,  the  first  company,  consisting  of  ten 
persons,  came  from  Germany,  by  way  of  London  and 
Charleston.     As  bishop  Spangenberg,  who  with  unre- 
mitted zeal  and  diligence  had  superintended  the  affairs 
of  these  sctdements,  returned,  in  the  year  1763,  to 
Europe,  Frederick  William  von  Marshall,  senior  ci- 
vilis  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum^  wa$  appointed  in  hi& 
place,  in  the  year  1761.    He  laid  out,  in  1765,  tli^ 


5 


# 


XXXIV  APPENDIX. 

town  of  Salem,  went  in  1766  to  Europe,  to  transact 
there  the  necessary  business  concerning  this  new  set- 
tlement, and  returned  in  1768,  with  several  brethren 
and  sisters.  Jn  the  conferences,  which  he  had  during 
his  stay  in  Europe  with  the  elders  of  the  brethren's 
unity,  it  was  resolved,  that  Salem  should  be  built  in 
the  same  manner,  and  have  the  same  regulations  as 
Herrnhut,  Niesky,  Bethlehem,  and  other  setdements 
of  the  United  Brethren,  wherein  the  unmarried 
men  and  boys,  and  the  unmarried  women  and  girls, 
live  in  separate  houses,  by  themselves.  The  house 
for  the  unmarried  men,  or  single  brethren,  was  built 
in  the  years  1768  and  1769. 

In  this  and  the  following  years,  several  families^ 
chiefly  farmers,  from  different  parts  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  province  of  Maine,  in  Ne vv -England,  settled 
on  the  Wachovia  tract,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  it> 
with  a  desire,  that  they  and  their  children  might  be 
under  the  care  of  the  brethren's  church,  and  instructed 
by  them  in  their  way  of  life.     Most  of  them  were  be- 
fore in  the  connexion  of  the  brethren,  and  had  heard 
from  them  the  gospel  of  our  salvation  through  Christ^s 
atoning  blood  and  death,  with  a  blessing  for  their 
souls.     A  part  of  the  German  families,  who  came  from 
Pennsylvania,  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bethany, 
where  they  attended  regularly  the  meetings  on  Sunday: 
most  of  them  having  joined  in  the  following  time  the 
brethren's  church.    Another  part  of  said  German  fa- 
milies settled  on  the  waters  of  the  Southfork,  in  the 
southwest  part  of  Wachovia.     Several  of  these  new, 
and  some  of  the  old,  setders  in  these  parts,  to  whom 
the  brethren  had  preached  the  gospel,  since  the  ye^x 


APPENDIX.  XXXV 

1758,  m  the  house  of  Adam  Spach,  were  formed  into 
a  society  of  the  brethren,  and  put  themselves  under 
their  care  in  spiritual  things.  A  meeting  and  school 
house  was  buik  on  a  piece  of  ground,  consisting  of 
seventyseven  acres,  and  consecrated  for  divine  service 
on  the  l*2th  March,  1769,  This  settlement  received 
the  name  of  Friedberg,  Another  settlement  in  the 
^outh  east  part  of  Wachovia  land,  on  the  head  waters 
of  Southfork  and  on  the  Middlefork  was  begun  in 
1770,  by  about  fourteen  German  families,  who  in  this 
and  the  year  before  arrived  from  Broad  bay,  now  York 
county,  in  Maine,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  The 
first  company,  consisting  of  six  families,  was  ship- 
wrecked on  their  voyage  from  Broad  bay  to  Wilming- 
ton, in  North  Carolina,  near  the  island  of  Roanoke, 
but  no  lives  were  lost,  and  most  of  their  goods  saved. 
They  tound  for  the  first,  winter  quarters  and  provisions 
m  Salem,  and  assisted  in  building  several  houses  in 
the  new  town.  When  the  second  company,  consisting 
«f  eight  families,  accompanied  by  their  minister,  the 
reverend  Mr.  Soelie,  arrived,  the  farm  lots  of  the  new 
setdement  were  laid  out,  in  November,  1770,  and  the 
settlement  called  Friedland,  In  the  middle  of  it,  a  lot 
of  thirty  acres  was  reserved  for  a  meeting  and  school 
house.  In  the  year  1771,  the  inhabitants  in  all  the 
Wachovia  settlements,  and  especially  those  in  Betha- 
bara,  were  in  great  danger,  on  account  of  the  regula« 
tors,  who  were  very  numerous  in  these  parts,  and  se- 
veral times  threatened  to  destroy  tiie  settlements  of  the 
brethren,  as  they  would  not  join  tliem  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  government.  Governor  Tryon,  after  having 
^btainod  a  complete  victory  ovoi*  them,  and  re-esta- 


SXXVI  APPENDIX, 

blished  order  and  peace,  came  with  his  army  to  Beth- 
abara,  to  receive  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  take  tiic 
arms  of  all  people  in  the  neighborhood,  who  had  op- 
posed government.  He  and  his  army  were  highly 
gratified  by  the  treatment  they  met  from  the  brethren, 
and  by  their  improven^ientsand  progress  in  agriculture 
and  the  mechanical  arts.  The  brethren,  on  their  part, 
acknowledged,  with  heartfelt  gratitude,  the  mercy  of 
God,  in  averting  from  them  all  evi!  in  these  perilous^ 
times,  and  in  strengthening  the  arm  of  government  for 
their  protection. 

In  order  to  promote  the  internal  and  external  wel- 
fare of  the  settlements  of  the  brethren  in  North  Caro- 
lina in  general,  and  especially  to  assist  in  the  regula- 
tions concerning  the  principal  settlement  at  Salem, 
a  deputation  arrived  this  year  from  Europe,  which 
was  sent  in  conformity  to  a  resokition,  made  in  ther 
general  synod  of  the  Unitas  Fratriinij  which  wdts  held 
in  the  year  1769,  in  Marienburg,  in  Germany.  The 
deputies  were  two  members  of  the  elders'  conference 
of  the  Unitas  Fratrum^  Christian  Gregor  and  Joha 
Lorez,  the  first  of  whom  was  afterwards  consecrated 
a  bishop,  and  the  latter  a  senior  cimlis  of  the  bre- 
thren's church,  Ha^s  Christian  von  Schweiniz,  Mr. 
von  Marshall's  son  in  law,  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
brethren's  settlements  in  Pennsylvania,  also  assisted 
in  this  service.  They  arrived  m  September,  1771. 
from  Pennsylvania^  and  having  finished  the  work 
committed  to^  their  care,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the 
brethrea  and  sisters,  to  whom  this  visit  gave  much  joy 
and  encouragement,  they  returned  in  November  to 
Bethlehem.    On  the  13th  of  that  month,  the  eongre* 


APPENDIX.  XXXVIi 

gation  and  meeting  house  in  Salem,  to  which  the 
corner  stone  had  been  laid  on  the  17th  April,  1770, 
was  consecrated. 

In  the  year  1772,  several  English  families,  who 
lived  in  Carrolismanor,  in  Frederick  county,  Mary- 
land, and  had  been  many  years  in  connexion  with  the 
brethren's  church,  came  to  North  Carolina,  and  be- 
gan a  settlement  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Wacho- 
via tract,  on  the  waters  of  Muddy  creek.  This  settle- 
ment, which  in  the  following  year  was  increased  by 
several  other  families  from  Maryland,  received  after- 
wards the  name  of  Hope,  Anumber  of  English  fami- 
lies, living  on  the  Yadkin  river  and  Muddy  creek,  had 
the  gospel  preached  unto  them,  since  the  year  1758, 
by  the  Rev.  John  Ethvein,  Rogers,  Usley  and  Soelle, 
and  other  ministers  of  the  brethren's  church,  at  stated 
times,  in  the  houses  of  Christopher  EIrod  and  Isaac 
Douthil,  whereby  they  became  connected  with  the 
brethren's  church,  and  attended  several  years  the 
meetings  in  Bethabara,  Salem  and  Fried  berg.  Some 
of  them  became  members  of  the  latter  congregation, 
the  meeting  house  of  which  being  the  nearest  to  them. 
As  these  Ens^lish  families  had  a  desire  to  have  the 
gospel  regularly  preached  unto  them,  in  their  own 
language,  they,  in  conjunction  with  the  English  fami- 
lies arrived  from  Maryland^  formed  themselves  into  a 
society,  with  the  intent  to  become  in  time  a  settled 
conorregation  of  the  church  of  the  United  Brethren, 
and  to  build  a  meeting  house  in  the  new  settlemefif, 
wherein  divine  service  might  be  held,  and  the  holy 
sacraments  administered  unto  them  in  Uieir  own  lan- 
guage.   Salem  received  this  year  an  increase  of  above 


XXXVIll  APPENDIX. 

sixty  persons  from  Bethabara  and  Pennsylvania ;  and 
Fried  berg,  its  settlement  and  regulations  as  a  congre* 
gation  of  the  brethren's  church,  and  the  holy  commu- 
nion was  held  for  the  first  time  in  the  meeting  house, 
which  had  been  built  in  this  settlement  as  early  as  the 
year  1769. 

In  the  year  1773,  Wachovia,  formerly  a  part  of 
Anson,  and  afterwards  of  Rowan  county,  became  a 
part  of  Surry  county.  By  and  act  of  assembly,  made 
in  this  year,  it  was  confirmed  to  be  a  separate  parish. 
A  vestry  was  elected  in  April,  consisting  of  twelve- 
persons,  and  two  church  wardens  were  appointed. 
The  Rev.  John  Michael  Grafl^  minister  of  the  congre- 
gation  in  Salem,  to  whom  the  Rev.  Paul  Tiersch, 
who  came  last  year  from  Pennsylvania,  was  associa- 
ted in  this  office,  was  on  the  6th  June  consecrated  in 
Bethlehem,  a  bishop  of  the  TJnitas  Fratrvm,  He 
ordained,  on  the  17;h  October,  in  Salem,  Ludolph 
Gottlieb  Bachhoff*  and  John  Jacob  Ernst,  deacons  of 
the  brethren's  church:  this  was  the  first  act  of  ordina- 
tion performed  in  Wachovia.  The  general  direction 
of  all  the  settlements  and  congregations  of  the  bre- 
thren in  North  Carolina,  was  now  committed  to  Fre- 
derick William  von  Marshall,  senior  chilis^  and  John 
Michael  Graff,  ep.  for.^  to  whom  were  associated 
Paul  Tiersch,  presbyter,  and  Richard  Usley,  deacon. 
They  had  to  superintend  all  the  general  concerns,  as 
well  internal  as  external,  and  to  deliberate  on  them  in 
conference,  under  the  name  of  the  General  Helpers'^ 
Conference  for  Wachovia, 

The  special  direction  of  the  three  congregations  in 
Salem,  Bethabara  and  Beihania,  was  vested  in  an 


APPENDIX.  txXlK 

elders'  conference,  consisting  of  the  above  named  per- 
-sons  and  all  the  ministers  and  elders  of  said  congre- 
gations, who  met  regularly  once  a  week  in  Salem. 
Committees,  elected  by  the  church  members,  were 
anew  appointed  in  every  place  to  assist  the  elders' 
conference,  in  keeping  good  order,  and  in  transacting 
the  external  affairs  of  their  congregations.  Similar 
committees  were  afterwards  constituted  in  Friedberg, 
Friedland  and  Hope. 

In  the  years  1774  and  1775,  two  faithful  gospel 
ministers  entered  into  the  joy  of  their  Lord,  viz:  the 
Rev.  Paul  Tiersch  on  the  1 6th  October,  1774,  and 
the  Rev.  Richard  Usley  on  the  9th  October,  1775. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  latter,  Frederick  William  von 
Marshall  went  to  Europe,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
and  attended  the  general  synod  of  the  Unitas  Fra- 
trum  in  Barbey,  m  Saxony,  as  senior  civilis  and  de- 
puty of  all  the  brethren's  congregations  in  North 
Carolina.  He  took  his  way  through  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  visited  the  missionary  settlement  of 
the  brethren,  which  in  the  preceding  year  had  been 
commenced  on  general  Habersham's  estate,  in  Geor- 
gia, for  the  conversion  of  the  negroes,  and  conducted 
unto  the  missionaries  an  assistant  from  Salem. 

During  the  revolutionary  war,  which  commenced 
in  1776,  the  settlements  of  the  brethren  in  North 
Carolina,  suffered  great  hardships  and  losses,  but  ex- 
perienced at  the  same  time  many  signal  proofs  of  the 
gracious  providence  and  powerful  protection  of  the 
Lord,  to  whom  alone  they  ascribed  their  preservation 
in  these  perilous  times,  and  who  inclined  the  hearts  of 
superior  and  inferior  magistrates,  and  ofTicers  of  the 


XL  APPtNDIX. 

armies  on  both  sides,  to  interpose  in  their  favor,  often- 
times  when  they  found  themselves  in  the  greatest  dis^ 
tress  and  anxiety. 

In  1778,  several  brethren  were  drafted  for  military 
service  in  the  army,  and  each  of  them  had  to  pay 
£25  North  Carolina  currency  for  a  substitute:  ill  dis- 
posed persons  took  out  warrants  on  the  lands  of  the 
brethren.  The  system  of  parishes  being  abolished, 
the  name  of  Dobbs'  parish  ceased  of  course.  In  the 
new  county  of  Wilkes,  the  court  house  was  built  on  a 
tract  of  land  on  Yadkin  river,  near  the  Mulberry 
fields,  which  had  been  granted  in  die  year  1751  by 
lord  Granville  to  Henry  Cossart,  in  trust  for  the  UnU 
tas  Fratrum^  and  on  which  certain  persons  had  set- 
tled without  leave.  This  occasioned  in  the  following 
time  a  law  suit,  between  the  Uiiitas  Fratrum  on  one 
side,  as  plaintiffs,  and  the  persons  who  settled  on  the 
land,  as  defendants. 

In  January,  1779,  the  Rev.  Gottfried  Prsezel  and 
Christian  Heckweelder,  were  sent  to  the  general  as- 
sembly, then  sitting  at  Halifax,  with  a  petition,  signed 
by  the  greatest  part  of  the  brethren  in  Salem,  Betha- 
bara,  Bethania  and  Fried  berg,  praying  to  be  exempted 
from  taking  the  oath  of  abjuration,  and  for  protection 
in  the  quiet  possession  of  their  land,  as  several  persons 
had  entered  in  the  new  established  land  office  several 
parts  of  the  Wachovia  lands,  and  even  the  town  lots  of 
Salem,  Bethabara  and  Bethania.  Upon  this  petition, 
the  general  assembly  made  a  law,  that  the  brethren,  if 
they  should  take  the  affirmation  of  allegiance  and 
fidelity  to  the  state  of  Carolina,  and  the  United  States, 
should  remain  in  the  quiet  possession  of  their  proper- 


APPENDIX.  XLi 

ty,  and  be  exempted  from  all  personal  military  duties^ 
provided  they  pay  a  triple  tax.  In  conformity  to  this 
law,  the  brethren  took  the  affirmation  of  allegiance 
and  fidelity  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  remain- 
ed from  tliat  time  undisturbed  in  the  possession  of 
their  property,  and  of  those  privileges  granted  unto 
them  by  the  before  mentioned  act  of  the  British 
parliament  and  the  assembly  of  this  state. 

A  troop  of  light  horse,  belonging  to  general  Pu- 
laski's corps,  were  quartered  in  May  of  the  same 
year,  several  days  in  Salem,  and  attended  public  wor- 
ship, with  great  satisfaction.  Their  deportment  was 
very  civil,  and  they  paid  all  their  expenses.  As  one 
of  them  had  lately  recovered  from  the  small  pox,  the 
town  of  Salem  was  infected,  and  forty  persons  got  the 
disorder,  of  whom  two  died.  Frederick  William  von 
Marshall  returned,  with  his  wife,  from  Europe,  after 
an  absence  of  nearly  five  years,  being  there  so  long 
detained  on  account  of  the  war.  They  made  the  voy- 
age from  London  to  New- York  in  company  with 
bishop  John  Frederick  Reichel,  a  member  of  the 
Unity's  elder's  conference,  who  was  deputed  by  it  to 
hold  a  visitation  of  all  the  brethren's  setdements  and 
congregations  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
arrived,  with  his  wife,  in  Salem,  in  June  1780,  with 
some  assistants  for  the  service  of  the  congreorations  in 
North  Carolina.  During  his  stay,  fiom  the  15th  June 
to  the  5th  October,  he  published  the  resolutions  of  the 
last  general  synod  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum^  which  was 
held  in  Barby,  in  1755,  made  the  necessary  regulations 
in  conformity  to  them,  ordained  three  deacons,  bap- 
tised several  adult  persons,  and  strenfflhened  the  con- 


Xm  APPENDIX. 

gregations  and  iheir  divisions  according  to  the  different 
ages  and  sexes,  by  his  pubHc  and  private  discourses  to 
them,  in  faith,  love  and  hope,  Tlte  Lord  blessed  his 
labor  in  a  particular  manner. 

On  the  20th  August,  he  held  the  first  holy  commu- 
nion, in  Hope^  in  the  meeting  house  in  this  settlement, 
which  was  built  in  1779,  and  this  congregation  vvas^ 
now  settled  and  regulated  according  to  the  tenets, 
rules  and  rites  established  in  the  brethren's  church  • 
The  same  was  done  by  him  in  Friedland,  on  the  4th 
September,  in  which  setdement  the  nreeting  house  had 
been  built  already,  in  the  vear  1775.  These  trans- 
actions  were  blessed  in  borh  places  with  a  gracioui^ 
feelings  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  the  members 
of  the  new  formed  congregations  pledged  themselves 
mutually,  m  a  solemn  manner,  by  grace  to  walk 
wordiily  their  high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus,  in  truth ^ 
and  love.  As  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina  had 
Fesolved  to  meet  in  November,  in  Salem,  the  governor^ 
and  several  members  of  both  houses,  stayed  there  se- 
veral weeks,  but.no  quorum  was  formed.  These  gen- 
tlemen were  much  satisfied  with  the  reception  and 
treatment  which  they  met.  Salem  became  more 
known,  and  the  brethren  were  regarded  as  a  peace- 
able, industrious  and  benevolent  society.  In  the  year 
1782,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  general  assembly  of 
North  Carolina,  entitled,  "An  act  to  vest  in  Frederick 
William  Marshall,  esq.  of  Salem,  in  Surry  county,  the 
lands  of  the  Uititas  Fratrum^  in  this  state^  for  the 
use  of  the  said  United  Brethren,  and  for  other  pur- 
j>oses."* 

*  It  is  as  follows:    *' Whereas  Frederick  William  Marshall, 
e^.  of  Salem,  in  Suit^.  county,  hath  made  it  appear  to  this 


APPENDIX.  XLIIZ 

On  the  29th  of  August  of  the  same  year,  bishop 
John  Michael  Graff,  entered  into  eternal  rest,  and 
joy.  The  ministry  of  this  meek  and  humble  follower 
and  faithful  servant  of  Christ  was  blessed  by  his  Lcrrd 
in  a  particular  manner  to  the  congregation  in  Salem, 
and  to  all  the  brethren's  congregation  in  North  Caro- 
lina. The  4th  of  July  in  the  year  1783,  being  set 
apart  by  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina, 
as  a  day  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  on  account  of  the 

.<»eneral  assembly,  that  all  the  tracts  of  land  in  this  state,  be- 
longing to  the  lord  advocate,  the  chancellor  and  agent  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum,  or  United  Brethren,  have  been  transferred  to 
him  from  the  former  possessors,  in  trust  for  the  Unitas  Fratrwrif 
x)r  United  Brethren;  and  whereas  doubts  have  arisen  whether 
the  said  tracts  do  not  come  within  the  description  of  the  con- 
fiscation  act,  and  to  quiet  the  minds  of  (hose  to  whom  convey- 
ances  have  been,  or  are  to  be,  made,  or  any  part,  or  parts, 
thereof: 

"  Be  it,  therefore,  enacted,  by  the  general  assembly  of  the 
state  of  North  Carolina,  and  it  is   hereby  enacted   by  the  au* 
thority  of  the  same,   that  a  certain  deed  of  Jease  and  release, 
dated  the  27th  and  28th  of  October,  1773,  from  James  Hutton, 
conveying  the  tract  of  Wachovia,  in  Surry  county,  be  hereby 
declared  valid  in  law,   and  to  be  admitted  to  probate  in  the 
county  of  Surry,  and  registered  in  the  register's  office,  agreeable 
■to  the   testimonials   thereunto   pertaining;   and  that  all  land^ 
which,  by  a  deed  of  bargain  and  sale  of  the  20th  April,   1764, 
between  William  Churton  and   Charles  Medcalf,  registered  in 
the  county  of  Orange,  in  book  No.  1,  p.  106,   and  in  Rowan 
county,  in  book  8,  No.  5,  p.  4-52,  &c.   were  then  conveyed  to 
.said  Charles  Medcalf,  be  hereby  vested  in  the  said  Frederick 
W.  Marshall,  in  trust  as  aforesaid,  and  all  conveyances  of  the 
above  mentioned  lands,  or  any  of  them,  made,  or  which  shall 
be  made,  by  the  said  Frederick  W.  Marshall  shall  be  as  good 
and  valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  the  confiscatiou  act 
had  never  passed. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid:  that 
the  power  of  aftornoy  of  Christian  I'redeiick  Cossart,  dated 
the  3d  November,  1772,  empowering  said  P'rederick  W.  Mar- 
shall to  sell  his  lands,  be  admitted  to  probate  and  registry  in 
the  county  of  Wilkes,  and  be  as  good  and  valid  in  law,  as  it 
could  or  might  have  be^n,  bad  the  act  qf  conliscation  never 
passed." 


XUV  APPENDIX. 

treaty  of  peace  and  amity  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  was  celebrated  in  a  very  solemn 
inanner  in  all  the  brethren's  congregations  in  this 
state,  with  heartfelt  gratitude  towards  the  Lord,  for 
his  protecting  care  and  help  which  they  had  enjoyed 
during  the  Avar,  in  hours  of  dinger  and  affliction,  and 
with  fervent  prayers  for  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
the  United  States  in  general,  and  the  state  of  North 
Carolina  in  particular,  to  the  glorification  of  his  name, 
and  the  propagation  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  1781,  the  tavern  in  Salem 
took  fire  by  accident,  and  the  whole  building  was  re- 
duced to  ashes.  This,  and  a  similar  accident  in 
Bethabara,  where,  in  December,  1802,  the  distillery 
house  was  consumed  by  fire,  were  the  two  only  cases 
of  distress  by  fires  in  the  settlements  of  the  brethren 
in  North  Carolina.  Salem  received,  in  the  year  1785, 
two  fire  engines  from  Europe,  and  a  fire  regulation 
was  made  in  this  town.  Bishop  Johannes  von  Watte- 
wille,  a  member  of  the  Unity's  elders'  conference,  was 
deputed  by  the  synod  of  the  Unilas  Fratrum^  held  in 
the  year  1782,  in  Herrnhut,  on  a  visitation  of  all  the 
brethren's  congregations  in  North  America,  and  ar- 
rived, with  his  company,  in  May,  1784,  in  Bethlehem- 
They  had  a  very  tedious  and  dangerous  voyage,  and 
suflfered  shipwreck,  on  the  the  rocks  on  the  coast  of 
the  small  island  of  Barbuda,  near  Antigua.  The 
reverend  Daniel  Koehler,  appointed  minister  of  the 
congregadon  in  Salem,  in  the  place  of  the  late  bishop 
Graff,  was  in  his  company,  and  arrived,  with  his  wife, 
and  some  assistants,  in  the  month  of  October,  in 
Salem. 


APPENDIX.  XLV 

In  the  same  month  of  the  next  year,  bishop  Jo- 
hannes von  Watte  ^>  ille  came,  with  his  lady,  (daughter 
of  the  late  count  Zinzendorff,)  to  Salem,  and  returned 
to  Bethlehem  in  May,  1806.  His  visitation  of  this 
and  the  other  brethren's  congregations  in  North  Ca- 
rolina, was  attended  with  a  particular  blessing  of  the 
Lord.  During  his  stay,  the  general  helper's  confer- 
ence for  the  superintendence  of  all  the  brethren's  con- 
gregation in  North  Carolina,  was  anew  regulated  and 
the  baron  Frederick  W.  von  Marshall,  John  Daniel 
Koehler,  Godfrey  Prsezel  and  Christopher  Lewis  Ben- 
zien  became  members  of  it. 

In  the  year  1787,  a  society  was  formed,  under  the 
name  of  "A  society  of  the  United  Brethren,  for  pro- 
pagating the  gospel  among  the  heathen."  The  mem- 
bers of  this  society,  who  reside  in  Pennsylvania,  New- 
York,  New-Jersey,  Rhode  Island  and  Marylam],  had 
their  first  general  meeting  on  the  1st  November,  1787, 
in  Bethlehem,  end  those  who  reside  in  North  Cai  olina, 
on  the  19th  June,  1788,  in  Salem. 

In  the  synod  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum^  which  was 
held  in  the  year  1789,  in  Herrnhut,  and  which  the 
reverend  John  Ettwien  and  Jacob  van  Vleck  attended 
as  deputies  from  the  brethren's  congregations  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  adjacent  states,  and  the  reve- 
rend Christopher  Lewis  Benzien,  as  deputy  from  the 
brethren's  congregation  in  North  Carolina,  the  reve- 
rend John  Daniel  Koehler,  minister  of  the  congrega- 
tion in  Salem,  was  elected  a  bishop  of  the  brethren's 
church,  and  consecrated  to  this  office  on  the  9ih  of 
May,  1790,  in  Litiz. 

His  excellency,  general  Washington,  president  of 
the  United  States,  honored  Saleni;  in  the  year  1791 


XLVI  APPENDIX. 

on  his  tour  through  the  southern  states,  with  a  visit, 
where  he  stayed  two  days,  to  the  great  joy  and  satis- 
faction of  all  the  inhahitants,  who  paid  him  their  re- 
gard in  a  respectful  address,  which  he  answered  in  an 
affectionate  manner. 

In  the  year  1792,  Salem  was  afflicted  by  a  malig- 
nant fever,  of  which  fourteen  persons  died,  all  under 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  whereby,  for  a  time,  all  inter- 
course with  the  neighborhood  was  stopped.  On  the 
9th  of  November,  1800,  the  consecration  of  a  new 
church,  in  Salem,  the  corner  stone  of  which  was  laid 
in  1798,  was  performed,  in  a  very  solemn  manner. 
Most  all  of  the  brethren  and  sisters  from  the  other 
setUements  of  the  brethren  in  Wachovia,  and  a  great 
number  of  neighbors  and  strangers,  attended.  All  the 
transactions  were  accompanied  with  a  gracious  feeling 
of  the  divine  presence. 

On  the  11th  February,  1802,  Frederick  William 
von  Marshall,  senior  chilis^  was  called  into  the  eter- 
nal rest  and  joy,  after  a  very  laborious  and  useful  life, 
of  eighty-one  years,  of  which  he  had  spent  more  than 
fifty  in  the  service  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  and  more 
than  forty  years  in  the  service  of  the  brethren's  con- 
gregation in  North  Carolina,  with  great  zeal  and  faith- 
fulness, and  under  the  blessing  of  the  Lord,  who 
crowned  his  undertakings  with  good  success.  By  his 
last  will,  he  devised  to  the  reverend  Christian  Lewis 
Benzien  the  Wachovia  and  other  tracts  of  land,  which 
he  possessed  in  trust  for  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  As 
bishop  Koehler,  who  went,  with  his  wife,  at  the  end  of 
the  year  1800,  to  Europe,  and  attended  the  general 
synod  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum^  which  was  held  in  the 
year  1801,  in  Herrnhut,  as  deputy  of  the  brethren's 


APPENDIX.  XLVII 

congregations  in  North  Carolina,  received,  in  the 
synod,  another  appointment,  the  reverend  Charles 
Gottheld  Reichel,  from  Nazareth,  in  Pennsylvania 
was  called,  in  his  place,  to  be  minister  of  the  congre- 
gation in  Salem,  and  being  elected,  in  said  synod,  a 
bishop  of  the  brethren's  church,  he  was  consecrated 
to  this  office  on  the  6th  December,  1801,  in  Bethlehem. 
At  the  end  of  May,  1802,  became  with  his  family^ 
and  some  assistants,  to  Salem. 

In  the  year  1803,  the  general  direction  of  the  bre- 
thren's congregation  in  North  Carolina  was  committed 
by  the  Unity's  elders'  conference  to  the  brethren 
Charles  Gottheld  Reichel,  Christian  Lewis  Benzien 
and  Simon  Peter. 

On  the  17th  November  of  said  year,  fifty  years  were 
completed  since  the  arrival  of  the  first  twelve  brethren 
from  Bethlehem,  who  began  the  settlement  of  Wach- 
ovia. On  this  account,  the  day  was  celebrated  as  a 
jubilee  by  all  the  brethren's  congregations  in  North 
Carolina,  whose  members  met  in  Salem,  and  united  in 
solemn  praises  and  thanksgiving  to  our  gracious  Lord 
and  Saviour,  for  all  the  favors  and  blessings  which  he 
had  bestowed,  in  such  a  rich  measure,  during  this 
period  of  fifty  years,  and  in  fervent  prayers  and  sup- 
plications for  a  new  outpouring  of  the  spirit  of  grace, 
love  and  truth  upon  each  congregation. 

From  the  25th  October,  1806,  to  the  11th  February, 
1807,  the  reverend  John  Renatus  Vcrbeck  presb.,  and 
Charles  von  Forestier,  senior  civilis,  two  members  of 
the  Unity 'b  elders'  conference,  were  on  a  visitation  in 
Salem,  and  the  other  brethren's  congregations  in  North 
Carolina.  The  Lord  blessed  their  labor  abundantly^ 
and  strengthened  thereby  the  bond  of  love  and  union 


LX.VIII 


APPENDIX. 


between  the  brethren's  congregations  in  America  and 
Europe,  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  in  a  particular 
manner.  Having  visited  all  the  congregations  of 
the  brethren's  church  in  the  United  States,  and  like- 
wise the  mission  settlements  at  Goshen  and  Peitquat- 
tiiig,  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  at  Fairfield,  in  Upper 
Canada,  they  returned,  in  October,  1807,  to  Europe. 
On  their  voyag«3  from  Philadelphia  to  Hamburg,  they 
were  detained  in  Eiigland,  from  whence  they  went,  by 
way  of  Gottenburg  and  Copenhagen,  to  Hamburg, 
where  they  arrived  at  the  end  of  May,  1808,  safe  and 
well,  in  Berthelsdorf,  a  village  near  Herrnhut,  in 
Upper  Lusalia,  where  at  present  the  elders'  conference 
of  the  Unitas  Fratntm  doth  reside. 

i;he  following  table  shows  the  number  of  persons 
under  the  care  of  the  brethren's  church,  in  each  of 
their  seulements  in  North  Carolina,  children  included, 
at  tlie  end  of  every  decennium,  from  the  17th  Novem- 
ber, 1753,  to  the  31st  December,  1807. 


Settlements. 

be^un. 

1753  176311773  1783 

1793|1803  1807 

Salem, 

1766 

132 

185  241 

290 

316 

Bethabara, 

1753 

12 

77 

54 

73 

94 

81 

92 

Bethany, 

1759 

73 

108 

230 

187 

293 

306 

Friedberg, 

57 

232  280 

331 

346 

Friediand, 

32 

133 

173 

135 

183 

Hope, 

• 

21 

151  170 

175 

199 

Total,  I  I   12  [150  |404  |1004|1145|1305|1412 

The  beginning  of  the  first  setdement  was  made  on 
the  17th  November,  1753,  with  twelve  persons: 

Increase  in  the  1st  ten  years,  from  1753  to  1763,  138  persons 

1763  "   1773,254 
1773  "   1783,  600 


a 

2d 

a 

a 

<c 

3d 

i( 

u 

(( 

4th 

(( 

u 

i( 

5th 

iC 

(C 

1783  "   1792, 141 
1793  "   1803,  160 


a 


Increase  in  fifty  years,  from  1753  "   1803,  1305  persons 
"  four  years,  from  1803  "  1807,     137     " 


Increase  in  fifty-four  years,  from  1753  '*  1807.  1442  persons 


APPENDIX.  XLIX 

By  the  church  registers,  which  are  kept  regularly 
in  each  settlement,  it  appears,  that  in  the  period  of 
fifty  years,  from  the  17th  November,  1753,  to  the  17th 
November,  1803,  1357  births  and  baptisms  of  chil- 
dren, and  665  deaths,  vi^ere  entered ;  so  that  the  num- 
ber of  births  exceeds  that  of  deaths  by  692,  which  is 
more  than  one  half:  besides  about  1300  births  and 
baptisms  of  children,  whose  parents  do  not  belong  to 
the  brethren's  church,  are  entered  during  the  same 
period  in  the  register. 

Now  follows  a  description  of  each  settlement. 

Salem^  the  principal  setdement  of  the  United  Bre- 
thren in  North  Carolina,  is  situated  in  Stokes  county, 
eighteen  miles  to  the  south  from  Germantown,  the 
county  town,  and  110  miles  to  the  south-east  from 
Raleigh,  in  36  deg,  10  min.  north  lat.  and  3  deg.  15 
min.  Ion.  west  from  Washington.  The  town  was  laid 
out  in  1765,  after  a  regular  plan,  on  a  piece  of  ele- 
vated but  broken  ground,  near  the  Middlefork  or 
Wach,  over  which  a  bridge  was  built  in  1771.  The 
principal  street  in  it  is  sixty  feet  wide,  in  a  direction 
from  south  to  nordi,  leading  from  the  south-eastern 
parts  of  the  state  to  Virginia.  This  is  intersected  by 
a  street  56  feet  in  width,  from  east  to  west,  leading  to 
the  Shallowford  of  the  river  Yadkin,  which  is  at  a 
distance  of  18  miles.  The  other  streets  are  40 
feet  wide.  Nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  is  a 
s  juare,  300  by  170  feet^  surrounded  with  large  catal- 
ba,  sycamore,  poplar  and  other  trees.  On  the  west 
side  of  this  square,  adjoining  the  main  street,  is  a  neat 
brick  market  house,  which  was  built  in  1803,  and 
wherein  also  the  fire  engines  of  the  town  are  kept  in 


^  APPENDIX. 

a  separate  apartment.  The  town  lots  arc  96  in  num- 
ber, from  66  to  85  in  front,  and  from  170  to  280  in 
depth.     Some  are  larger.     The  public  buildings  are: 

1.  The  churchy  an  elegant  brick  building,  92  by 
45  feet^  on  the  north-east  corner  of  the  square.  It  was 
built  in  the  years  1798  to  1801,  and  consecrated  on 
the  9th  November,  1801,  for  divine  service^  which  is 
held  noi  only  on  Sundays,  but  every  evening  of  the 
other  days,  chiefly  in  the  German  language.  On  the 
gallery,  to  the  west  side  in  the  church,  is  a  beautiful 
organ  of  fourteen  stops:  it  is  supposed  to  be  at  present 
the  largest  organ  in  the  whole  state  of  North  Carolina^ 
In  the  steeple,  on  the  west  end  of  the  church,  is  the 
town  clock,  which  strikes  hours  and  quarters. 

2.  The  congregation  honse^  to  the  south  of  the 
church,  wherein  the  ministers  reside.  In  the  upper 
story  was  the  first  meeting  hall  of  die  congregation  at 
Salem,  which  is  now  used  for  children's  and  other 
private  meetings.     The  house  was  built  in  1771. 

3.  The  single  brethren"^ s  house ^  on  the  west  side  of 
the  square,  opposite  the  congregation  house,  wherein 
the  large  boys  and  unmarried  men  live  and  board- 
The  northern  part  of  this  spacious  house,  which  in 
front  is  two,  and  the  back  three  stories  high,  was  built 
in  1768,  and  the  southern  part,  wherein  apartments 
are  for  dining  and  sleeping,  and  for  family  worship, 
in  1786. 

4  The  smgle  sisters'*  house^  on  the  east  side  of 
the   square,   was    built  in  1785.    The    regulations 
are  the  same  as  in  the  single  brethren's  house.   Some 
of  the  unmarried  women  and  girls,  who  live  and 
board  in  this  house,  get  their  livelihood  by  needle* 


APPENDIX.  '  LI 

work,  spinning,  <Slc.  The  greater  part  of  them  are, 
in  tlie  day  time,  employed  in  the  famihes  with  washing 
and  other  work. 

5.  The  school  house  for  the  hoys,  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  square,  was  built  in  1791.  The 
male  children  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and  of 
other  members  of  the  congregation,  living  in  the 
neigborhood,  receive  from  their  sixth  to  their  twelfth 
or  fourteendi  year,  instruction  in  reading  and  writing 
German  and  English,  cyphering,  history,  geography 
and  some  of  tiiem  in  the  rudiments  of  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, drawing  and  music. 

6.  The  school  house  for  the  girls,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  square,  between  the  congregation  and  single 
sisters'  houses,  a  neat  and  elegant  brick  building,  62 
feet  long  and  4*2  feet  deep,  which  was  erected  in  the 
years  1803  and  1804.     In  the  lower  story  are,  be- 
sides a  spacious  entry,  two  large  and  some  smaller 
apartments.    In  one  of  the  first,  the  school  for  the 
female  children  in  town  is  kept;  the  other  is  a  dining 
room,  for  the  young  ladies  who  board  in  the  house. 
In  the  upper  story  are  three  large  apartmcBts;  in 
each  of  which,  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  joung  ladies 
have  room  to  live  under  the  care  of  two  tutoresses;  a 
fourth  apartment  in  this  story,  is  to  accommodate 
such  as  may  become  sick.     Over  and  above  these 
rooms,  is  a  large  hall,  60  feet  long,  30  feet  wide,  and 
14  feet  high,  wherein  the  young  ladies  sleep  with  their 
tutoresses.     This  seminary,  which  commenced  in  the 
year  1804,  is  under  the  direction  of  the  minister  and 
elders  of  the  congregation  in  Salem,  and  under  the- 
special  care  and  superintendence  of  an  inspector,  to 


til  APPENDIX. 

whom  all  parents  and  guardians,  who  intend  to  put 
young  ladies  into  this  school  for  education,  have  to 
apply.  The  branches  taught  are,  reading,  grammar, 
arithmetic,  history,  geography,  German  if  desired, 
plain  needlework,  &c.  Music  and  fine  needlework, 
such  as  tambour  and  embroidery,  including  drawing, 
are  two  extra  branches,  in  which  instruction  is  given, 
if  expressly  desired.  From  the  beginning  of  the  insti- 
tution, in  May,  1804,  to  the  end  of  the  year  1807, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  young  ladies  from 
North  and  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  Kentucky^  Ten- 
nessee and  Georgia,  received  their  education  in  it,  of 
whom,  at  the  end  of  1807,  forty-one  remained  in  the 
seminary. 

T  The  store^  contains  a  good  assortment  of 
merchandise.  The  goods  are  partly  imported  from 
Europe,  pardy  taken  from  the  merchants  in  Fayette, 
Petersburg,  and  chiefly  in  Philadelphia.  This  house 
was  built  in  1774,  on  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
square,  opposite  to  the  single  sisters'  house. 

8.  The  house  of  entertainment^  or  public  tavern^ 
at  the  south-west  end  of  the  principal  street,  was 
built  in  1772.  In  the  year  1784,  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  the  only  accident  of  this  kind  in  Salem,  and  re- 
built of  brick,  as  most  all  the  public  buildings  are. 

Besides  these  public  buildings,  the  following  are  to 
be  noted,  viz:  the  post-office;  the  house  of  the  doctor, 
with  an  apothecary  shop,  an  elegant  building  on  an 
eminence;  the  pottery;  toy  shop;  the  tannery  and 
leather  dressery:  a  great  quantity  of  doer  skins,  cured 
and  dressed  here,  are  annually  exported  by  way  of 
Philadelphia  to  Hamburg.   The  other  tradesmen  and 


APPENDIX.  LIII 

mechanics  in  the  town  are:  shoemaker,  taylor,  baker, 
carpenter,  cabinetmaker,  glover,  hatter,  saddler,  wheel- 
wright, turner,  tinner,  gunsmith,  blacksmith,  silver- 
smith, watch  and  clockmaker,  tobacconist,  &.c.  In 
the  neighborhood  of  the  town  are  several  mills,  built 
on  the  Middle  or  Brushy  fork  and  other  small 
branches,  as  paper,  oil,  saw,  grist  and  merchant  mills, 
and  a  cotton  machine.  The  whole  number  of  per- 
sons, belonging  to  the  Salem  congregation,  children 
included,  was  at  the  end  of  the  year  1807, 316,  where- 
of 233,  besides  41  young  ladies  in  the  boarding  school, 
lived  in  the  town,  and  83  in  the  neighborhood  on  their 
farms.;  the  greatest  part  of  them  are  of  German  ex- 
traction. The  number  of  dwelling  houses  in  the 
town  was  about  40;  the  town  lot  belonging  to  Salem, 
contains  3140  acres.  The  town  is  provided  with 
water  from  several  springs,  about  a  mile  distant  from 
it,  the  water  of  which  is  conducted  through  wooden 
pipes  into  the  town,  and  distributed  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  are  supplied 
with  it:  there  are  also  wells  of  good  vvater  in  the 
town. 

Bethahara^  the  first  settlement  of  the  United  Bre- 
thren in  North  Carolina,  was  begun  in  1753.  It  is 
situated  in  Stokes  county,  five  miles  to  the  north-west 
from  Salem,  near  the  Mill  creek.  It  has  a  handsome 
church,  with  a  steeple,  built  of  stone  in  1788;  a  store, 
tannery  and  distillery,  and  several  other  houses,  inha- 
bited by  tradesmen,  viz:  hatter,  shoemaker,  potter, 
turner,  &c.  The  street  on  which  the  houses  are  built, 
in  a  direction  from  south-east  to  north-west,  is  66  ^eeA 
wide.    On  the  Mill  creek  is  a  merchant  and  saw  mill 


LIV  APPENDIX. 

The  congregation  at  Bethabara  consisted,  at  the  end 
of  the  year  1807,  of  ninety-two  persons,  children  in- 
cluded, all  Germans;  thirty-nine  of  whom  lived  in 
the  town,  and  fifty-three  on  their  farms,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, from  a  half  to  four  miles  distant.  The  town 
lot,  belonging  to  Bethabara,  contains  2118  acres. 

Bethania^  or  Bethany^  is  situated  in  Stokes  county, 
near  Muddy  creek,  nine  miles  to  the  north-west  from 
Salem,  and  three  miles  from  Bethabara.  The  town 
which  was  laid  out  in  1759,  of  thirty  lots,  consists  of 
a  single  street,  56  feet  wide,  in  a  direction  from  south 
soutb-west  to  north  nortli-east.  The  houses  are  frame 
or  log  houses,  most  of  them  two  stories  high,  and  in- 
habited by  farmers  and  tradesmen,  viz:  blacksmith, 
gunsmith,  wheelwright,  hatter,  tanner,  taylor,  shoe- 
maker, &.C.  As  the  church,  or  meeting  house,  in  the 
middle  of  the  town,  which  was  built  in  1771,  began  to 
be  too  small  for  the  congregation,  a  new  neat  brick 
churcii,  62  feet  long  and  42  feet  deep,  witli  a  steeple 
on  it,  was  built  in  1807  and  1808.  There  is  also  a 
good  store,  tavern  and  apothecary  shop  in  the  town, 
and  near  it  a  saw  and  grist  mill.  The  congregation 
at  Bethania  consisted,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1807,  of 
306  persons,  children  included,  all  Germans;  of 
whom  130  lived  in  the  town  and  176  on  their  farms 
in  the  neighborhood,  from  a  half  to  ten  miles  distant. 
The  town  lot  contains  2500  acres. 

Friedberg  seitlemeM  is  situated  partly  in  Rowan 
and  partly  in  Stokes  county.  The  meeting  house, 
which  was  buil  in  1768,  is  in  Rowan  county,  near  the 
line  of  Stokes  county,  nine  miles  from  Salem  to  the 
south-west,  on  a  lot  of  seventy-seven  acres,  belonging 


APPENDIX.  LV 

to  it.  The  number  of  persons  under  the  care  of  the 
brethren's  church,  in  this  settlement,  children  included, 
were  at  the  end  of  the  year  1807,  346:  they  live  on 
their  farms,  from  one  quarter  to  ten  miles  distant  from 
the  meeting  house,  where  they  attend  divine  service 
on  Sundays,  which  is  held  in  the  German  language. 

Friedland^  or  Broad  bay  settlement,  is  situated  in 
Stokes  county.  The  meeting  house,  which  was  built 
in  1774,  on  a  lot  of  thirty  acres,  belonging  to  it,  is  five 
miles  from  Salem,  to  the  east.  At  the  end  of  1807, 
the  number  of  persons  in  this  setdement,  under  the 
care  of  the  brethren's  church,  was  183,  chddren  in- 
cluded. The  most  distant  live  five  to  six  miles  from 
the  meeting  house,  where  divine  service  is  held  every 
Sunday,  in  the  German  language. 

Hope^  or  Maryland  settlement,  is  situated  in  Stokes 
and  Rowan  counties.  The  meeting  house,  wherein 
divine  service  is  held  every  Sunday,  in  the  English 
language,  was  built  it  1779,  and  is  eight  miles  from 
Salem,  to  the  west,  near  Muddy  Creek,  on  a  lot  of 
thirty  acres,  belonging  to  it.  The  number  of  persons 
under  the  care  of  the  brethren's  church,  were,  at  the 
end  of  1807,  199,  children  included.  The  greatest 
part  live  on  Muddy  creek  and  its  branches,  and  some 
on  Yadkin  river,  into  which  Muddy  creek  empties  it- 
self about  eight  miles  below  the  meeting  house.  Near 
the  latter  is  a  merchant  mill,  on  said  creek,  and  a  toll 
bridge  over  it,  and  five  miles  from  this,  a  bridge  over 
Yadkin  river. 

About  eight  miles  above  the  Hope  meeting  house, 
and  ten  miles  from  Salem,  on  the  west  side  of  Muddy 
creek,  a  meeting  house  was  built  in  1782,  by  a  Ger- 


LVI  APPENDIX. 

man  Lutheran  and  Reformed  congregration,  wherein 
since  the  year  1797  divine  service  is  held,  by  one  of 
the  ministers  of  the  brethren's  church,  every  fourth 
Sunday,  in  the  German  language. 


The  foregoing  was  received  from  the  late  major 
R,  Williams^  of  Raleigh^  and  is  believed  to  have 
been  icritten  by  bishop  Reichei,. 


The\t4|^wing  piece,  wJuich  appeajred  in  iheVirgiuia 
Gazerani^f  November7^77l\was  written  by 
Maurice  MT5^s^;B,  then  one  of  the  asWiate  iusiiees 
of  the  sup^ior  coun>©«tr^rth  Carolina. 

To  his  Excellency  WILLIAM  TRYON,  Esquire. 

I  am  too  well  acquainted  with  your  character  to 
suppose  you  can  bear  to  be  told  of  your  faults  Avith 
temper.  You  are  too  much  of  the  soldier,  and  too 
little  of  the  philosopher,  for  reprehension.  With  this 
opinion  of  your  excellency,  I  have  more  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  this  letter  will  be  more  serviceable  to  the 
provhice  of  New- Yorkc  than  useful  or  entertaining  to 
its  govern  ;:r.  The  beginning  of  your  administration  in 
this  province  was  marked  with  oppression  and  dis- 
tress to  its  inhabitants.  These,  Sir,  I  do  not  place 
to  your  account:  they  are  derived  from  higher  author- 
ity than  yours.  You  were,  however,  a  dull,  yet  willing 
instrument,  in  the  hands  of  the  British  Ministry,  to 
promote  the  nieans  of  both.  You  called  together  some 
of  the  principal  inhabitants  <  f  your  neighborhood, 
and,  in  a  strange  inverted  self-affecting  speech,  told 
them  that  you  had  left  youi*  (native  country,  friends 
and  connections,  and  taken  upon  yourself  the  gov- 
ernment of  North  'Carolina  with  no  otlier  view 
than  to  serve  it.  In  the  next  breath,  Sir,  you  ad- 
vised them  to  submit  to  the  stamp  act,  and  become 
slaves.  How  could  you  reconcile  such  baneful  ad- 
vice with  such  friendly  professions?  But.  Sir.  ^elf 
8^ 


'k  v> 


I,VIII  APPENDIX. 

contradictions  with  you  have  not  been  confined  to 
words  only;  they  have  been  equally  extended  to  ac- 
tions.    On  other  occasions,  you  have  played  the  gov- 
ernor with  an  air  of  greater  dignity  and  importance 
than  any  of  your  predecessors;  on  this,  your  e^tcel- 
lency  was  meanly^conrent-^'o  solicit  the  c^Tency  of 
stamped  paper.ih  private  companies,    ^m^  aVdsl   mi- 
nisterial apptobation  is  the  iirst  -^wi^d  of  your  heart; 
it  is  the  best  security  you  have  for  your  ol!ice.     En- 
gaged as  you  were  in  this  disgraceful  ncgociation, 
the  more  important  duties    of  the  governor   v.f  re  for- 
gotten,  or  wilfully  neglected.      In  murmuriDg,  dis- 
content and  public  confusion,    you  left  the  colony 
committed  to  your  care,  for  near  eighteen  months  to- 
gether, without  casing  an  assembly.     The  stamp  act 
repealed,  you  called  one;  and  a  fatal  one  it  was!  un- 
der every  influence  your  character  afforded  you,  at 
this  assembly,  was  laid  the  foundation  of  all  the  mis- 
chief which  has  since  befalled  this  unhappy  province. 
A  grant  was  made  to  the  crown  of  live  thousand 
pounds,  to  erect  a  house  for  the  residence  of  a  gov- 
ernor; and  you.  Sir,  were  solely  intrusted  with  the 
management  of  it.     The   infant  and  impoverished 
state  of  this  country  could  not  afford  to  make  such  a 
grant,  and.  it  was  your  duty  to  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances  of  the  colony  you  governed. 
This  trust  proved  equally  fatal  to  the  interest  of  the 
province   and  to  your  excellency's   honour.      You 
made  use  of  it.  Sir,  to  gratify  your  vanity,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  both.     It  at  once  afforded  you  an  opportu- 
nity of  leaving  an  elegant  monument  of  your  taste  in 
building  behind  you,  and  giving  the  ministry  an  in- 
stance of  your  great  influence  and  address  in  your 


APPENDIX.  LIX 

new  government.  You,  therefore,  regardless  of  ev- 
ery moral^  as  well  sls  legal  obligation,  changed  the 
plan  of  a  province  house  for  that  of  a  palace,  worthy 
the  residence  of  a  prince  of  the  blood,  and  augment- 
ed the  expense  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds.  Here, 
Sir,  you  betrayed  your  trust,  disgracefully,  to  the 
governour,  and  dishonorably  to  the  man.  This  lib- 
eral and  ingenious  stroke  in  politics  may,  for  all  I 
know,  have  promoted  you  to  the  government  of  New- 
York.  Promotions  may  have  been  the  reward  of 
such  sort  of  merit.  Be  this  as  it  ma}",  you  reduced 
the  next  assembly  you  met  to  the  unjust  alternative 
of  granting  ten  thousand  jXHinds  more,  or  sinking  the 
five  thousand  they  had  already  granted.  They  chose 
the  former.  It  was  most  pleasing  to  th?  governour, 
but  directly  contrary  to  the  sense  of  their  constituents. 
This  public  imposition  upon  a  people,  who,  from 
poverty,  were  hardly  able  to  pay  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  government,  occasioned  general  discontent, 
which  your  excellency,  with  wonderful  address,  im^ 
proved  into  a  civil  war. 

In  a  colony  without  money,  and  among  a  people, 
almost  desperate  with  distress,  public  profusion 
should  have  been  carefully  avoided;  but,  unfortu- 
nately for  the  country,  you  were  bred  a  soldier,  and 
have  a  natural,  as  well  as  acquired  fondness  for  mi- 
litary parade.  You  were  intrusted  to  run  a  Cher- 
okee boundary  about  ninety  miles  in  length;  this  lit- 
tle service  at  once  aftijrdcd  you  an  opportunity  of 
exercising  your  milittry  talents,  and  making  a  splen- 
did exhibition  of  yourself  to  tlie  Indians.  To  a  gentle- 
man of  your  excellency's  turn  of  mind,  Uiis  was  no 
unpleasiiig  prospect:  you  marched  to  perform  it,  in  a 


LX  xlPPENDlX. 

lime  of  profound  peace,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of 
militia,  in  all  ihe  pomp  of  wa^*,  arid  returned  with  the 
honorable  title,  conf  rred  on  yon  l>y  the  Cherokees« 
of  Great  Wolf  of  JV^ovth  Carolitia,  This  line  or 
marked  trees,  and  your  xcelkncy's  prophetic  title, 
cost  the  province  a  greater  sum  thr^n  two  pence  a 
head,  on  all  the  taxable  persons  in  it  for  one  year^ 
would  pay. 

Your  next  expedition,^  Si^,  was  a  more  important 
one.  Four  or  five  hundred  ignorant  people,  who 
called  themselves  regulators,  took  it  into  their  head 
to  quarrel  with  their  representative,  a  gentleman  hon- 
ored with  your  excellency's  esteem,  The;y  foolish- 
ly charged  him  with  every  distress  they  felt;  and,  in 
revenge,  shot  two  or  three  musket  balls  through  liis 
house.  They  at  the  same  time  rescued  a  horse  which 
had  been  seized  for  the  public  tax.  These  crimes 
were  punishable  in  the  courts  oflaw,  and  at  that  time^ 
the  criminals  were  amenable  to  legal  process.  Youi? 
excellency  and  your  confidential  friends,  it  seems^ 
were  of  a  different  opinion.  All  your  duty  could 
possibly  require  of  you  on  this  occasion,  if  it  required 
any  thing  at  all,  was  to  direct  a  prosecution  against 
the  offenders.  You  should  have  carefully  avoided 
becoming  a  party  in  the  dispute.  But,  -^ir,  your  ge- 
Bins  could  not  lie  still;  you  enlisted  yourself  a  vol= 
unteer  in  this  service,  and  enter  d  into  a  negotiation 
with  the  regulators,  which  at  once  disgraced  you  and 
encouraged  them.  They  despised  the  governor 
who  had  degraded  his  own  character  by  taking  part 
in  a  private  quarrel,  and  insulted  the  man  whom  they 
considered,  as  personnally  their  enemy.  The  terms 
of  accommodation  your  excellency  had  offered  them 


APPENDIX  LXI 

were  treated  with  contempt      What  they  were  I 
never  knew;  they  could  not  have  related  to  public 
oftences;  these   belong  to  another  jurisdiction.     All 
hopes  of  settling  the  mighty  contest  by  treaty  ceasing, 
you  prepar'^d  to  decide  it  by  means  more  agree  ible 
to  your  martial  disposition,  an  appeal  to  the  sword. 
You  took  the  field  in  September  1768,  at  the  head  of 
ten  or  twelve  hundred  men,  and  published  an  oral 
manifesto,  the  substance  of  which  was,  that  you  had 
takeu  up  arms  to  protect  a  superiour  court  of  justice 
from  insult.     Permit  me  here  to  ask  you,   Sir,  why 
you  were  apprehensive  for  the  court?  Was  the  court 
apprehensive  for  itself?  Did  the  judges,  or  the  at- 
torney-general, address  your  excellency  for  protect 
tion?  So  far  from  it,  Sir,  if  these  gentlemen  are  to 
he  believed,  they  never  entertained  the  least  suspi- 
cion of  any  insult,  unless  it  was  that,  which  they  af- 
terwards experienced  from  the  undue  influence  you 
offered  to  extend  to  them,  and  the  military  display 
of  drums,  colours  and  guards,    with  which  they  were 
surrounded  and  disturbed.     How  fully  has  your  con- 
duct,  on  a  like  occasion  since,  testified,  that  you  acted 
in  this  instance  from  passion,  and  not  from  principle! 
In  September  1770,   the  regulators  forcibly  obstruct- 
ed the  proceedings  of  Hillsborough  superior  court, 
obliaied  the  officers  to  leave  it,  and  blotted  out  the  re- 
cords.     A  little  before  the  next  term,  when  their  con- 
tempt of  courts  was  sufficiently  proved,  you  wrote 
an  insolent  letter  to  the  judges,  and  attorney  general, 
commanding  them  to  attend  it.     Why  did  you  not 
protect  the  court  at  this  time  ?  You  will  blush  at  the 
answer,  Sir.     The  conduct  of  the  regulators,  at  the 
preceding  term,  made  it  more  than  probable  that  those 


LXIi  APPENDIX. 

gentlemen  >vould  be  insulted  at  this,  and  you  were 
not  unwilling  to  sacrifice  tliem  to  increase  the  guilt 
of  your  enemies. 

Your  excellency  said,  that  you  had  armed,  to  pro- 
tect a  court  Bad  you  said  to  revenge  the  iisult 
you  and  your  friends  had  received,  it  would  have 
been  more  generally  credited  in  this  country.  The 
men,  for  the  trial  of  whom  the  court  was  thus  extra- 
vagantly protected,  of  their  own  accord,  squeezed 
through  a  crowd  of  soldiers,  and  surrendered  them- 
selves, as  if  they  were  bound  to  do  so  by  their  recog- 
nizance. 

Some  of  these  people  were  convicted,  fined  and 
imprisoned;  which  put  a  end  to  a  piece  of  knight 
errantry,  equally  aggravating  to  the  populace  and 
burthensome  to  the  country.  On  this  occasion,  Sir, 
you  were  alike  successful  in  the  diffusion  of  a  mili- 
tary spirit  throtigh  the  colony  in  the  warlike  ex- 
hibition you  set  before  the  public;  you  at  once  dis- 
posed the  vulgar  to  hostilities,  and  proved  the  lega- 
lity of  arming,  in  cases  of  dispute,  by  example.  Thus 
warranted  by  precedent  and  tempered  by  sympathy, 
popular  discontent  soon  became  resentment  and  op- 
position; revenge  superceded  justice^  and  force  the 
lavv  s  of  the  country;  courts  of  law  were  treated  witii 
contempt,  and  government  itself  set  at  defiance.  For 
upwards  of  two  months  was  the  frontier  part  of  the 
country  left  in  a  state  of  perfect  anarchy.  Your  ex- 
cellency then  though  fit  to  consult  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  who  presented  you  a  bill  which  you 
passed  into  a  law.  The  design  of  this  act  was  to 
punish  past  riots  in  a  new  jurisdiction,  to  create  new 
offences  and  to  secure  the  collection  of  tlie  public 


-/ 


APPENDIX.  LXIII 

tax;  which,  ever  since  the  province  had  been  saddled 
with  a  palace,  the  regulators  had  refused  to  pay. 
The  jurisdiction  for  holding  pleas  of  all  capital  of- 
fences was,  by  a  former  law,  confined  to  the  particu- 
lar district  in  which  they  were  cominitted.  This 
act  did  not  cha?*ge  that  j.irisdiction;  yet  your  excel- 
lency, in  the  fulness  of  your  power,  established  a  new 
one  for  the  trial  of  such  crimes  in  a  different  district. 
Whether  you  did  this  through  ignorance  or  design 
can  only  be  determined  in  your  own  breast;  it  was 
equally  violative  of  a  sacred  right,  every  British  sub- 
ject is  entitled  to,  of  being  tried  by  his  neighbours, 
and  a  positive  law  of  the  province  you  yourself  iiad 
ratified.  In  this  foreign  jurisdiction,  bills  of  indict- 
ment were  preferred,  and  found,  as  well  for  felonies 
as  riots  against  a  number  of  regulators;  they  refused 
to  suirender  themselves  within  the  time  limited  by 
the  riot  act,  and  your  excellency  opened  your  third 
campaign.  These  indictments  charged  the  crimes  to 
have  been  committed  in  Orange  county  in  a  distinct 
district  from  that  in  which  the  court  was  held.  The 
superior  court  law  prohibits  prosecution  for  capital 
offences  in  any  other  district,  than  that  in  which  they 
were  committed.  What  distinctions  the  gentlemen 
of  the  long  robe  might  make  on  such  an  occasion  I 
do  not  know,  but  it  appears  to  me  those  indictments 
might  as  well  have  been  found  in  your  excellency's 
kitchen;  and  give  me  leave  to  tell  you.  Sir,  that  a 
man  is  not  bound  to  answer  'o  a  charge  that  a  court 
has  no  authority  to  make,  nor  doth  the  law  punish 
a  neglect  to  perform  that,  which  it  does  not  command. 
The  riot  act  declared  those  only  outlawed  who  re- 
fused to  answer  to  indictments  legally  found.     Those 


LXIV  APPENDIX. 

who  had  been  capitally  charged  were  illegally  indict- 
ed, and  could  not  be  outlaws;  yet^  your  excellency 
proceeded  against  them  as  such.  I  mean  to  expose 
your  blunders,  not  to  defend  their  conduct;  that  was 
as  insolent  and  daring  as  the  desperate  state  your  ad- 
ministration had  reduced  them  to  could  possibly  oc- 
casion. 1  am  willing  to  give  you  full  credit  for  ev- 
ery service  you  have  rendered  this  country.  Your 
active  and  gallant  behaviour,  in  extinguishing  the 
flame  you  yourself  had  kindled,  does  you  great  hon- 
our. For  once  your  military  talents  were  useful  to 
the  province:  you  bravely  met  in  the  field,  and  van- 
quished, an  hosi  of  scoundrels  whom  yon  had  made 
intrepid  by  abuse.  It  seems  difficult  to  determine, 
Sir,  whether  your  excellency  is  more  to  be  admired 
for  your  skill  in  creating  the  cause,  or  your  bravery 
in  suppressing  the  effect.  This  single  action  would 
have  blotted  out,  for  ever,  half  the  evils  of  your  ad- 
ministration; but  alas,  Sir!  the  conduct  of  the  gener- 
al after  his  victory,  was  more  disgraceful  to  the  hero 
who  obtained  it,  than  that,  of  the  man  l)efore  it  had 
been  to  the  governor.  AVhy  did  you  stain  so  great 
an  action  with  the  blood  of  a  prisoner  tvho  was  in  a 
stale  of  insanity?  The  execution  of  James  Few  was 
inhuman;  that  miserable  wretch  was  entitled  to  life 
till  nature,  or  the  laws  of  his  country,  deprived  him 
of  it.  The  battle  of  the  Alamance  was  over;  the 
soldier  was  crowned  with  success,  and  the  peace  of 
the  province  restored.  There  was  no  necessity  for 
the  infamous  example  of  an  arbitrary  execution,  with- 
out  judge  or  jury.  I  can  freely  forgive  you,  Sir, 
for  killing  Robert  Thompson,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
battle;  he  was  your  prisoner,  and  was  making  his 


APPENDIX.  LXV 

escape  to  light  against  you.  The  laws  of  self  pre- 
servadoQ  sanctified  the  action,  and  justly  entitle  your 
excellency  to  an  act  of  indemnity. 

The  sacrifice  of  Few,  under  its  criminal  circum- 
stances, could  neither  atone  for  his  crime  nor  abate 
your  rage;  this  task  was  reserved  for  his  unhappy 
parents.  Your  vengeance,  sir,  in  this  instance,  it 
seems  moved  in  a  retrograde  direction  to  that  pro- 
posed in  the  second  commandment  against  idolaters; 
you  visited  the  sins  of  the  child  upon  the  father,  and, 
for  want  of  the  third  and  fourth  generation  to  extend 
it  to,  collaterally  divided  it  between  brothers  and 
sisters.  The  heavy  affliction  with  which  the  untime- 
ly death  of  a  son  had  burthened  his  parents  was  suf- 
ficient to  have  cooled  the  resentment  of  any  man? 
whose  heart  was  susceptible  of  the  feelings  of  hu- 
manity; yours,  I  am  afraid,  is  not  a  heart  of  that 
kind?  If  it  is,  why  did  you  add  to  the  distresses  of 
that  family?  Why  refuse  the  petition  of  the  town  of 
Hillsborough  in  favour  of  them,  and  unresentingly 
destroy,  as  far  as  you  could,  the  means  of  their  future 
existence?  It  was  cruel,  sir,  and  unworthy  a  soldier. 
Your  conduct  to  others  after  your  success,  whether 
it  respected  person  or  property,  was  as  lawless  as  it 
was  unnecessarily  expensive  to  the  colony.  When 
your  excellency  liad  exemplified  the  power  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  death  of  a  hundred  regulators,  the 
survivors,  to  a  man,  became  proselytes  to  govern- 
ment; they  readily  swallowed  your  new  coined  oath, 
to  be  obedient  to  the  law  s  of  the  province,  and  to  pay 
the  public  taxes.  It  is  a  pity,  sir,  that  in  devising 
this  oath  you  had  not  attended  to  the  morals  of  those 
people.  You  might  easily  have  restrained  every  cri- 
V  9* 


tXVt  APPENDIX. 

liiinal  inclination,  and  have  made  theoi  good  men,  as. 
well  as  good  subjects.  The  battle  of  the  Alamance 
had  equally  disposed  them  to  moral  and  to  political- 
con,  ersion;  there  was  no  necessity,  sir,  when  the- 
peopl'^  were  reduced  to  obedience,  to  ravage  the  coun-  • 
try,  or  to  insult  individuals. 

Had  your  excellency  nothing  else  in  view  than  ta 
enforce  a  submission  to  the  laws  of  the  country,  you 
might  safely  have  disbanded  the  army  within  ten 
days  ifter  your  victory;  in  that  time  the  chiefs  of  the 
regulators  were  run  awpy,  and  thrir  deluded  follow- 
ers had  returned  to  their  homes.  Such  a  measure 
would  have  saved  the  province  twenty  thousand 
pounds  at  least.  But,  sir=  you  had  farther  employ- 
ment for  the  army;  you  were,  by  an  extr  ordinary 
bustle  in  administering  oaths,  and  disarming  the  coun- 
try,  to  give  a  serious  appearance  of  re  bell  ion  to  the 
outrage  of  a  mob;  you  were  to  aggravate  the  imp?  rt- 
ance  of  your  own  services  by  changing  a  general  dis- 
like of  your  administration  into  disaffection  to  his  ma- 
jesty's person  and  government,  and  the  riotous  con- 
duct that  dislike  had  occasioned  into  premeditated  re- 
bellion. This  scheme,  sir,  is  really  an  ingenious  one; 
if  it  succeeds,  you  may  possibly  be  rewarded  for  your 
services  with  the  honour  of  knighthood. 

From  the  16th  of  May  to  the  16th  of  June,  you  were 
busied  in  securing  the  allegiance  of  rioters,  and  levy- 
ing contributions  of  beef  and  flour.  You  occasion- 
ally amused  yourself  with  burning  a  few  houses,  tread- 
ing down  com,,  insulting  the  suspected,  and  holding 
courts  martial.  These  courts  took  cognizance  of  ci- 
vil as  well  as  military  offences,  and  even  extended 
*heir  jurisdiction  to  ill  breeding  and  want  of  good 


APPENDIX.  LXVl^^ 

manners.  One  Johnston,  who  was  a  reputed  regu- 
lator, but  whose  greatest  crime,  J  beHeve,  was  writ- 
ing an  impudent  letter  to  your  lady,  was  sentenced, 
in  one  of  these  inilitary  courts,  to  receive  five  hundred 
lashes,  and  received  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them 
accordingly.  But,  sir,  however  exceptionable  your 
Conduct  may  have  been  on  this  occasion,  it  bears  lit- 
tle proportion  to  that  which  you  adopted  on  the  trial 
of  the  prisoners  you  had  taken.  These  miserable 
wretches  were  to  be  tried  for  a  crime  made  capital 
by  a  temporary  act  of  assembly,  of  twelve  months 
duration.  That  act  had,  in  great  tenderness  to  his 
majesty's  subjects,  converted  riots  into  treasons.  A 
rigorous  and  punctual  execution  of  it  was  as  unjust, 
as  it  was  politically  unnecessary.  The  terror  of  the 
examples  now  proposed  to  be  made  under  it  was  to 
expire,  with  the  law,  in  less  than  nine  months  after 
The  sufferings  of  these  people  could  therefore  amount 
to  litde  more  than  mere  punishment  to  themselves. 
Their  offences  were  derived  from  public  and  from 
private  impositions;  and  they  were  the  followers,  no/t. 
the  leaders,  in  the  crimes  they  had  committed.  Nev- 
er were  criminals  more  justly  entided  to  every  lenity 
the  law  could  afford  them ;  but,  sir,  no  consideration 
could  abate  your  zeal  in  a  cause  you  had  transferred 
from  yourself  10  your  sovereign.  You  shamefully  ex- 
erted every  influence  of  your  character  against  the 
lives  of  these  people.  As  soon  as  you  were  told  that 
an  indulgence  of  one  day  had  been  granted  by  the 
court  to  two  men  to  send  for  witnesses,  who  actually 
established  their  innocence,  and  saved  their  lives,  you 
sent  an  aid-de-camp  to  the  judges,  and  attorney  gen- 
eral to  acquaint  them  that  you  were  dissatisfied  witJi 


LXVIU  APPENDIX. 

the  inactivilv  of  their  conduct,  and  threatened  to  re- 
present  them  unfavourably  in  England,  if  they  did  not 
proceed  with  more  spirit  and  despatch.  Had  the 
court  submitted  to  influence,  all  testimony,  on  the  part 
of  the  prisoners,  would  have  been  excluded;  they 
must  have  been  condemned,  to  a  man.  You  said  that 
your  solicitude  for  the  condemnation  of  these  people 
arose  from  your  desire  of  manifesting  the  lenity  of 
government,  in  their  pardon.  How  have  your  actions 
contradicted  your  words!  Out  of  twelve  that  were 
condemned,  the  lives  of  six  only  were  spared.  Do 
you  know,  sir,  that  your  lenity  on  this  occasion  was 
less  than  that  of  the  bloody  Jeffries  in  1685?  He  con- 
demned five  hundred  persons,  but  saved  the  lives  of 
two  hundred  and  seventy. 

In  the  execution  of  the  six  devoted  offenders,  your 
excellency  was  as  short  of  general  Kirk  in  form,  as 
you  were  of  judge  Jeffries  in  lenity.  That  general 
honoiared  the  execution  he  had  the  charge  of  with 
play  of  pipes,  sound  of  trumpets,  and  beat  of  drums; 
you  were  content  with  the  silent  display  of  colours 
only.  The  disgraceful  part  you  acted  in  this  cere- 
mony, of  pointing  out  the  spot  for  erecting  the  gal- 
lows, and  clearing  the  field  around  for  drawing  up 
the  army  in  form,  has  left  a  ridiculous  idea  of  your 
character  behind  you,  which  bears  a  strong  resemb- 
lance to  that  of  a  busy  undertaker  at  a  funeral.  This 
scene  closed  your  excellency's  administration  in  this 
country,  to  the  great  joy  of  every  man  in  it,  a  few  of 
y^iur  own  contemptible  tools  only  excepted. 

Where  I  personally  your  excellency's  enemy,  I 
would  follow  you  into  the  shade  of  life,  and  show 


APPENDIX,  LXIK 

you  equally  the  object  of  pity  and  contempt  to  the 
wise  and  serious,  and  of  jest  and  ridicule  to  the  lu- 
dicrous and  sarcastic.  Truly  pitiable,  sir,  is  the 
pale  and  trembling  impatience  of  your  temper.  No 
character,  however  distinguished  for  wisdom  and 
virtue,  can  sanctify  the  least  degree  of  contradiction 
to  your  political  opinions.  On  such  occasions,  sir, 
in  a  rage,  you  renounce  the  character  of  a  gentle- 
man, and  precipitately,  mark  the  most  exalted  merit 
with  every  disgrace  the  haughty  insolence  of  a  gov- 
ertior  can  inflict  upon  it.  To  this  unhappy  temper, 
sir,  may  be  ascribed  most  of  the  absurdities  of  your 
administration  in  this  country.  It  deprived  you  of 
every  assistance  men  of  spirit  and  abilities  could  have 
given  you,  and  left  you,  with  all  your  passions  and 
inexperience  about  you,  to  blunder  through  the  duties 
of  your  office,  supported  and  approved  by  the  most 
profound  ignorance  and  abject  servility. 

Your  pride  has  as  often  exposed  you  to  ridicule, 
as  the  rude  petulance  of  your  disposition  has  to  con- 
tempt. Your  solicitude  about  the  title  of  her  excel- 
lency for  Mrs.  Tryon,  and  the  arrogant  reception  you 
gave  to  a  respectable  company  at  an  enttjrtainment 
of  your  own  making,  seated  with  your  lacy  by  your 
side  on  elbow  chairs,  in  the  middle  of  the  ball  room, 
bespeak  a  littleness  of  miixl,  which,  believe  me,  sir, 
when  blended  with  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
your  office,  renders  you  truly  ridiculous. 

High  stations  have  often  proved  fatal  to  those  vv^ho 
have  been  promoted  to  them ;  yours,  sir,  has  proved 
so  to  you.  Had  you  been  contented  to  pass  through 
life  in  a  subordinate  military  character;  with  the  pri- 


LXX  APPENDIX. 

vate  virtues  you  have,  you  might  have  lived  ser- 
viceable to  your  country,  and  reputable  to  yourself; 
but  sir,  when,  with  every  disquahfying  circum- 
stance, you  took  upon  you  the  government  of  a 
province,  though  you  gratified  your  ambition,  yon 
made  a  sacrifice  of  yourself. 

Your's  &c.  ATTICUS. 


The  Fuiulamental  Constitutions  of  Carolina:  as  com- 
piled by  John  Locke. 

Our  sovereign  lord  the  king,  having,  out  of  his 
royal  grace  and  bounty,  granted  unto  us  the  province 
of  Carolina,  with  all  the  royalties,  properties,  juris- 
dictions and  privileges  of  a  county  palatine,  as  large 
and  ample  as  the  county  palatine  of  Durham,  with 
other  great  privileges;  for  the  better  settlement  of  the 
government  of  said  place,  and  establishing  the  inter- 
est of  the  lords  proprietors  with  equality,  and  with- 
out confusion;  and  that  the  government  of  this  pro- 
vince may  be  made  most  agreeable  to  the  monarchy 
under  which  we  live,  and  of  which  this  province  is  a 
part;  and  that  we  may  avoid  erecting  a  numerous  de- 
mocracy: we  the  lords  and  proprietors  of  the  pro- 
vince aforesaid,  have  agreed  to  this  following  form 
of  government,  to  be  perpetually  established  amongst 
us,  unto  which  we  do  oblige  ourselves,  our,  heirs 
and  successors,  in  the  most  binding  ways  that  can  be 
devised. 

1.  The  eldest  of  the  lotds  proprietors  sliall  be  pal- 
atine; and,  upon  the  decease  of  the  palatine,  the 
eldest  of  the  seven  surviving  proprietors  shall  always 
succeed  him. 

2.  There  shall  be  seven  oilier  chief  officers  erect- 
ed, viz.  the  admirals,  chamberlains,  chancellors,  con- 
stables, chief  justices,  high  stewards  and  treasurev^i; 

which  places  shall  be  enjoyed  by  none  but  the  lord^ 
10* 


LXXIV  APPENDIX. 

proprietors,  to  be  assigned  at  first  by  lot;  and,  upou 
the  vacancy  of  any  one  of  the  seven  great  offices  by 
death,  or  otherwise,  the  eldest  proprietor  shall  have 
his  choice  of  the  said  place. 

3.  The  whole  province  shall  be  divided  into  coun- 
ties: each  county  shall  consist  of  eight  signiories; 
eight  baronies,  and  four  precincts;  each  precinct  shall 
consist  of  six  colonies. 

4.  Each  signiory,  barony  and  colony,  shall  consist 
of  twelve  thousand  acres;  the  eight  signiories  being 
the  share  of  tiie  eight  proprietors,  and  the  eighi  ba- 
ronies of  nobility;  both  which  shares,  being  each  of 
them  one  fifth  part  of  the  whfde,  are  to  be  perpetu- 
ally annexed,  the  one  to  the  proprietors,  the  other  to 
the  hereditary  nobility,  leaving  the  colonies,  being 
three  fifths,  amongst  the  people;  so  that  in  setting  out 
and  planting  the  lands,  the  balance  of  the  government 
may  be  preserved. 

5.  At  any  time  before  the  year  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  one,  any  of  the  lords  proprietors  shall 
have  power  to  r  linqdsh,  alienate  and  dispose,  to 
any  other  person,  his  proprietorship,  and  all  the  sig- 
niories, powers  and  interest,  thereunto  belonging, 
wholly  and  entirely  together,  and  not  otherwise. 
But,  after  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred,  those 
who  are  then  lords  proprietors  shall  not  have  power 
to  alienateor  makeover  their  proprietorship,  with  the 
signiories  and  privileges  thereunto  belonging,  or  any 
part  thereof,  to  any  person  whatsoever,  otherwise 
than  as  in  §.  xviii;  but  it  shall  all  descend  unto  their 
heirs  male,  and,  for  want  of  heirs  male,  it  shall  all 


APPENDIX.  LXXV 

descend  on  that  landgrave  or  cassique  of  Carolina, 
who  is  descended  of  tiie  next  heirs  female  of  the  pro- 
prietor; and,  for  want  of  such  heirs,  it  shall  descend 
on  the  next  heir  general;  and,  for  want  of  such  heirs, 
the  remaining  seven  proprietors  shall,  upon  the  va- 
cancy, choose  a  landgrave  to  succeed  the  deceased 
proprietor,  who  being  chosen  hy  the  majority  of  the 
seven  surviving  proprietors,  he  and  his  heirs  success- 
ively, shall  be  proprietors,  as  fully  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  as  any  of  the  rest. 

6.  That  tlie  number  of  eight  proprietors  may  be 
constantly  kept;  if,  upon  the  vacancy  of  any  proprie- 
torship, the  seven  surviving  proprietors  shall  not 
choose  a  landgrave  to  be  a  proprietor,  before  the  se- 
cond biennial  parliament  after  the  vacancy;  then 
the  next  biennial  parliament  but  one,  after  such  va- 
cancy, shall  have  power  to  choose  any  landgrave  to 
be  a  proprietor. 

7.  Wfiosoever,  after  the  year  one  thousand  seven 
hundred,  eitiier  by  inheritance  or  choice,  shall  suc- 
ceed any  proprietor  in  his  proprietorship,  and  signo- 
ries  thereunto  belonging;  shall  be  obliged  to  take  the 
name  and  arms  of  that  proprietor  whom  he  succeeds; 
which  from  thenceforth  shall  be  the  name  and  arms 
of  his  family  and  their  posterity. 

8.  Whatsoever  landgrave  or  cassique  shall  any 
way  come  to  be  a  proprietor,  shall  take  the  signiories 
annexed  to  the  said  proprietorship;  but  his  former 
dignity,  with  the  baronnies  annexed,  shall  devolve 
into  the  hands  of  the  lords  proprietors. 


LXXVl  APPENDIX. 

9.  There  shaUbejast  as  rnanylnndgraves  as  there, 
are  counties,  and  twice  as  many  cassiques,  and  no 
more.  These  shall  be  the  hereditary  nobility  of 
the  province,  and  by  right  of  their  dignity  be  mem- 
bers of  parliament.  Each  landgrave  shall  have  four 
baronies,  and  each  cassique  two  baronies  hereditari- 
ly and  unalterably  annexed  to,  and  settled  upon,  th(i 
said  dignity. 

10.  The  iirst  landgraves  and  cassiques  of  the 
twelve  first  counties  to  be  planted,  shall  be  nominat- 
ed thus:  that  is  to  say,  of  the  twelve  landgraves,  the 
lords  proprietors  shall  each  of  them,  separately  for 
himself,  nominate  and  choose  one;  and  the  remain- 
ing four  landgraves,  of  the  first  twelve,  shall  be  nom- 
inated and  chosen  by  the  palatine's  court.  In  like 
manner  of  the  twenty -four  cassiques,  each  proprietor 
for  himself  shall  nominate  and  choose  two,  and  the 
remaining  eight  shall  be  nominated  and  chosen  by 
the  palatine's  court:  and  when  the  twelve  first  coun- 
ties shall  be  planted,  the  lords  proprietors  shall  again 
in  the  same  manner,  nominate  and  choose  twelve 
more  landgraves  and  twenty-four  cassiques,  for  the 
twelve  next  counties  to  be  planted;  that  is  to  say, 
two  thirds  of  each  number  by  the  single  nomination 
of  each  proprietor  for  himself,  and  the  remaining  one 
third  by  the  joint  election  of  the  palatine's  court,  and 
so  proceed  in  the  same  manner  till  the  Avhole  province 
of  Carolina  be  set  out  and  planted,  according  to  the 
proportions  in  these  Fundamental  Constitutions. 

11.  Any  landgrave  or  cassique  at  any  time  before 
the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  one,  shall 


APPENDIX.  LXXVII 

have  power  to  alienate,  sell,  or  niake  over,  to  any 
otlier  person,  liis  dignity,  with  the  baronies  therenulo 
belonging,  all  entirely  together.  But,  after  the  year 
one  thousand  seven  hundred,  no  landsirave  er  cas- 
s?que  shall  have  power  to  alienate,  sell,  make  over, 
or  let,  the  hereditary  baronies  of  his  dignity,  or  any 
part  thereof,  otherwise  than  as  in  §.  xviii;  but  they 
shall  all  entirely,  with  the  dignity  thereunto  belong- 
ing, descend  unto  his  heirs  male;  a;?d;  for  want  of 
lieirs  maV,  all  entirely  and  undivided,  to  the  next 
heir  general;  and  for  want  of  such  heirs,  shall  de- 
volve into  the  hands  of  the  lords  proprietors. 

11.  That  the  due  number  of  landgraves  and  cas- 
siques  may  be  always  kept  up;  if,  upon  the  devolu- 
Intion  of  any  landgraveshlp  or  cassiqueship,  the  pala- 
tine's court  sha^l  not  settle  the  devolved  dignity,  witli 
the  baronies  thereunto  annexed,  before  the  second 
biennial  parliament  after  such  devolution;  the  next 
biennial  parliament  but  one  after  such  devolution, 
shall  have  power  to  make  any  one  landgrave  or  cas- 
sique  in  the  room  of  him,  who,  dying  without  heirs, 
his  dignity  and  baronies  devolved. 

13.  No  one  person  shall  have  more  than  one  digni- 
fy, with  the  signiories  and  baronies  thereunto  belong- 
ing. But  whensoever  it  shall  happen  that  any  one, 
who  is  already  proprietor,  landgrave,  or  cassique, 
shall  have  any  of  these  dignities  descend  to  him  by 
inheritance,  it  shall  beat  his  choice  to  keep  which  of 
the  dignities,  with  the  land  annexed,  he  shall  like 
best;  but  shall  leave  the  other,  with  the  lands  annex- 
ed, to  be  enjoyed  by  him,  who,  not  being  his  heir  ap- 


LXXVIII  APPENDIX. 

parent  and  certain  successor  to  bis  present  dignity,  is 
next  of  blood. 

14.  Whosoever,  by  the  right  of  inheritance,  shall 
come  to  be  landgrave  or  cassique,  shall  take  the  name 
and  arms  of  his  predecessor  in  that  dignity,  to  b& 
from  thenceforth  the  name  and  arms  of  his  family  and 
theii'  posterity. 

15.  Since  the  dignity  of  proprietor,  landgrave,  or 
cassique,  cannot  be  divided,  and  the  signiories  or  ba- 
ronies thereunto  annexed,  must  forever  all  entirely 
descend  with,  and  accompany  that  dignity;  whenso- 
ever, for  want  of  heirs  male,  it  shall  descend  on  the 
issue  female,  the  eldest  daughter,  and  her  heirs  shall 
be  preferred,  and  the  inheritance  of  tho?e  dignities, 
and  the  signiories  or  baronies  annexed,  there  shall  be 
no  co-heirs. 

16.  In  every  signiory,  barony  and  manor,  the  res- 
pective lord  shall  have  power,  in  his  own  name,  to 
hold  court-leet  there,  for  trying  of  all  causes  both 
civil  and  criminal:  but  where  it  shall  concern  any 
person  being  no  inhabitant,  vassal,  or  leet-man  of  the 
said  signiory,  barony,  or  manor,  he,  upon  paying 
down  the  sum  of  40  shillings  to  the  lords  proprietor's 
use,  shall  have  an  appeal  from  the  signiory  or  barony 
court  to  the  county  court,  and  from  the  manor  court  to 
the  precinct  court. 

17.  Every  manor  shall  consist  of  not  less  than 
three  thousand  acres,  and  not  above  twelve  thousand 
acres,  iu  one  entire  piece  and  colony;  but  any  three 
thousand  acres  or  more  in  one  piece,  and  the  pos- 


APPENDIX.  LXXIX 

session  of  one  man,  shall  not  be  a  manor,  unless  it 
be  constituted  a  manor  by  the  grant  of  the  palatine's 
court, 

18.  The  lords  of  signiories  and  baronies  shall  have 
power  only  of  granting  estates  not  exceeding  three 

lives,  thirty-one  years,  in  two  thirds  of  said  signiories 
or  baronies^  and  the  remaining  third  shall  be  always 
demesne. 

19.  Any  lord  of  a  me  nor  may  alienate,  sell  or  dis- 
pose, to  any  other  person  and  his  heirs  forever,  his 
manor,  all  entirely  together,  with  all  the  privileges 
and  leet-men  thereunto  belonging,  so  far  forth  as  any 
colony  lands;  but  no  grant  of  any  part  thereof,  either 
in  fee,  for  any  longer  term  than  three  lives,  or  one 
and  twenty  years,  shall  stand  good  against  the  next 
heir. 

20.  No  manor^  for  want  of  issue  male,  shall  be  di- 
vided amongst  co-heirs;  but  the  minor,  if  there  be 
but  one,  shall  all  entirely  descend  to  (he  eldest  daugh- 
ter and  her  heirs.  If  there  be  more  minors  than  one, 
the  eldest  daughter  first  shall  have  her  choice,  the 
second  next,  and  so  on,  beginning  again  at  the  eldest, 
till  all  the  manors  be  taken  up;  that  so  the  privileges 
which  belong  to  manors  being  indivisible,  the  lands 
of  the  manors,  t<»  which  they  are  annexed,  may  be 
kept  entire,  and  the  manor  not  lose  those  privileges, 
which,  upon  parcelling  out  to  several  owners,  must 
necessarily  cease. 

21.  Every  lord  of  manor,  within  his  manor,  shall 
have  all  the  rights^  powers^  jurisdictions  and  privi- 


XC  APPENDIX. 

leges,  which  every  laiulgrave  or  cassique  hath  in  his 
barouies. 

22.  In  every  siguiory,  barony  and  manor,  all  the 
leet-men  shall  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  respec- 
tive lords  of  the  said  signiory,  barony,  or  manor, 
wiiliout  appeal  from  him.  JSor  shall  any  leet-mau 
or  leet- woman,  have  liberty  to  go  off  from  the  land 
of  their  particular  l<>rd,  and  live  any  where  else,  with- 
out license  obtained  from  their  said  lord,  under  hand 
and  seal. 

23.  All  the  children  of  leet-men  shall  be  leet-men, 
and  so  to  all  generations. 

24.  No  man  shall  be  capable  of  having  a  court-leet 
or  leet-men,  but  a  proprietor,  landgrave  cassique,  or 
lord  of  a  manoi^. 

25.  W  hoever  shall  volunfcai  ily  enter  himself  a  leet- 
man,  in  the  registry  of  a  county  court,  shall  be  a  leet- 
man. 

26.  Whoever  is  lord  of  leet-men^  shall,  upon  the 
marriage  of  a  leet-man  or  leet- woman,  of  his,  give 
them  ten  acres  of  land  for  (heir  lives;  they  paying 
to  him,  therefor,  not  more  than  one  eighth  part  of 
all  the  yearly  produce  and  growth  of  the  said  tQii 
acres, 

27.  No  landgrave  or  cassique  shall  be  tried  for  any 
criminal  cause,  in  any  but  the  chief  justice's  court, 
and  that  by  a  jury  of  his  peers. 

28.  There  shall  be  eight  supreme  courts.  The 
first  called  the  palatine's  court,  consisting  of  the  pal- 


APPENDIX.  XCI 

atiiie  and  the  other  seven  ])roprietors.  The  other  se- 
ven courts  of  the  otiier  seven  great  officers^  shall  con- 
sist each  of  them  of  a  proprietor^  and  six  counsellors 
added  to  him.  Under  each  of  these  latter  seven 
courts,  shall  be  a  college  of  twelve  assistants.  The 
twelve  assistants  of  the  several  colleges  shall  be  cho- 
sen, two  out  of  the  landgraves,  cassiques,  or  eldest 
sons  of  proprietors,  by  the  palatine's  court;  two  out 
of  the  landgraves,  by  the  landgraves'  chamber;  two 
out  of  the  cassiques,  by  the  cassiques'  chamber;  four 
more  of  the  twelve  shall  be  chosen  by  the  commons' 
chamber,  out  of  such  as  have  been,  or  are,  members 
of  parliament,  sheriffs,  or  justices  of  the  county  court, 
or  the  younger  sons  of  proprietors,  or  eldest  sons 
of  landgraves  or  cassiques;  the  two  others  shall  be 
chosen  by  the  palatine's  court,  out  of  the  same  sort 
of  persons,  out  of  which  the  commons'  chamber  is  to 
("hoose. 

29.  Out  of  these  colleges  shall  be  chosen  at  first, 
by- the  palatine's  court,  six  counsellors,  to  be  joined 
with  each  proprietor  in  his  court;  of  which  six,  one 
shall  be  of  those  who  were  chosen  in  any  of  the  colle- 
ges by  the  palatine's  court,  out  of  the  landgraves,  cas- 
siques, or  eldest  sons  of  proprietors;  one  out  of  those 
who  were  chosen  by  the  landgraves'  chamber;  and 
i)ne  out  of  those  who  were  chosen  by  the  cassiques' 
chamber;  two  out  of  those  who  were  chosen  by  the 
commons'  chamber;  and  one  out  of  those  who  were 
chosen  by  the  palatine's  court,  out  of  the  proprietors 
younger  sons,  or  eldest  sons  of  landgraves,  cassiques 
or  commons,  qualified  as  aforesaid. 


11 


# 


XCII  APPENDIX, 

30.  When  it  shall  happen  that  any  counsellor  (lies> 
and  thereby  there  is  a  vacancy,  the  grand  council  shall 
have  power  to  remove  any  counsellor  that  is  willing 
to  be  removed  out  of  any  of  the  proprietors  courts,  to 
fill  up  the  vacancy;  provided  they  take  a  man  ol  the 
same  degree  and  choice  the  other  was  of,  whose  va- 
cant place  is  to  be  filled  up.  But  if  no  counsellor 
consent  to  be  removed,  or  upon  such  remove,  the  last 
remaining  vacant  place,  iu  any  of  the  proprietor's 
courts,  shall  be  filled  up  by  the  choice  of  the  grand 
council,  who  shall  have  power  to  remove  out  of  any 
of  the  colleges,  any  assistant,  who  is  of  the  same  de- 
gree and  choice  that  that  counsellor  was  of,  into 
whose  vacant  place  he  is  to  succeed.  The  grand 
council  also  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  assistant, 
that  is  willing,  out  of  one  college  into  another,  provi- 
ded he  be  of  the  same  degree  andchoice.  But  the  last 
remaij'ing  vacant  place  in  any  college,  shall  be  filled 
up  by  the  same  choice,  and  out  of  the  same  degree 
of  nersons  the  assistant  was  of,  who  is  dead  or  remo- 
ved. No  place  shall  be  vacant  in  any  proprietor's 
court  above  six  months.  No  place  shall  be  vacant 
in  any  college  longer  than  the  next  session  of  parlia- 
ment. 

31.  No  man,  bejng  a  member  of  the  grand  council, 
or  of  any  of  the  seven  colleges,  shall  be  turned  out 

^for  misdemeanor,  of  which  the  grand  council  shall 
be  judge;  and  the  vacancy  of  the  person  so  put  out, 
shall  be  filled,  not  by  the  election  of  the  grand  coun- 
cil, but  by  those  who  first  chose  him,  aud  out  of  the 
same  degn^e  he  was  of  who  is  expelled.  But  it  is  not 
hereby  to  be  understood,  that  the  grand  council  hath 


APPENDIX.  XCIII 

any  power  to  turn  out  any  one  of  the  lords  proprie- 
tors or  their  deputies,  the  hrrds  proprietors  having  in 
themselves  an  inherent  original  right. 

32.  All  elections  in  the  parliament,  In  the  sever- 
al chambers  of  the  parliament,  and  in  the  grand 
council,  shall  be  passed  by  balloting. 

33.  The  palatine's  court  shall  consist  of  the  pal- 
atine and  seven  proprietors,  wherein  nothing  shall 
be  acted  without  the  presence  and  consent  of  the 
palatine  or  his  deputy,  and  three  others  of  the  pro- 
prietors or  their  deputies.  This  court  shall  have 
power  to  call  parliaments,  to  pardon  all  offences, 
to  make  elections  of  all  officers  in  the  proprietor's 
dispose,  and  to  nominate  and  appoint  port  towns; 
and  also  shall  have  power  by  their  order  to  the  trea- 
surer to  dispose  of  all  public  treasure,  excepting 
money  granted  by  the  parliament,  and  by  them 
directed  to  some  particular  public  use;  and  also 
s^hall  have  a  negative  upon  all  acts,  orders,  votes 
and  judgments,  of  the  grand  council  and  the  par- 
liament, except  only  as  in  5-  vi.  and  xn;  and  shall 
have  all  the  powers  granted  to  the  lords  proprie- 
tors, by  their  patent  from  our  sovereign  lord  the 
king,  except  in  such  things  as  are  limited  by  these 
fundamental  constitutions. 

34.  The  palatine  himself,  when  he  in  person  shall 
be  either  in  the  army  or  in  any  of  the  Y>roprietors 
courts,  shall  then  have  the  power  of  general,  or  of 
that  proprietor,    in    whose   court  he  is  then  pre 
^ent;  and  the  proprietor,  in  whose  court  the  pal- 


XCIV  APPENDIX. 

atine  then  presides,  shall  during  his  presence  there 
be  but  as  one  of  the  council. 

35.  The  chancellor's  court,  consisting  of  one  of 
the  proprietors,  and  his  six  counsellors,  who  shall 
be  called  vice-chancellors,  shall  have  the  custody 
of  the  seal  of  the  palatinate,  under  which  ail  char- 
ters of  lands,  or  otherwise,  commissions  and  grants 
of  the  palatine's  court,  shall  pass.  And  it  shall  not 
be  lawful  to  put  the  seal  of  the  palatinate  to  any  wTit- 
ing,  which  is  not  signed  by  the  palatine  or  his  de- 
puty, and  three  other  proprietors  or  their  deputies. 
To  this  court  also  belong  all  state  matters,  dis- 
patches, and  treaties  with  the  neighbour  Indians. 
To  this  court  also  belong  all  invasions  of  the  law, 
of  liberty  of  conscience,  and  all  disturbances  of  the 
public  peace,  upon  pretence  of  religion,  as  also  the 
licence  of  printing.  The  twelve  assistants  belong- 
ing to  this  court  shall  be  called  recorders. 

36.  Whatever  passes  under  the  seal  of  the  pala- 
tinate, shall  be  registered  in  that  proprietor's  court, 
to  which  the  matter  tberein  contained  belongs. 

37.  The  chancellor  or  his  deputy  shall  be  always 
speaker  in  parliament,  and  president  of  the  grand 
council,  and,  in  his  and  his  deputy's  absence,  one  of 
his  vice-chancellors. 

38.  The  chief  justice's  court,  consisting  of  one  of 
the  proprietors  and  his  six  counsellors,  who  shall 
be  called  justices  of  the  bench,  shall  judge  all  ap- 
peals in  cases  both  civil  and  criminal,  except  all 


APPENDIX.  XCV 

such  cases  as  shall  be  under  the  jurisdiction  and 
cognizance  of  any  other  of  the  proprietor's  courts, 
which  shall  be  tried  in  those  courts  respectively. 
The  government  and  regulation  of  the  registries  of 
writings  and  contracts,  shall  belong  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  this  court.  The  twelve  assistants  of  this 
court  shall  be  called  masters. 

39.  The  constable's  court,  consisting  of  one  of 
the  proprietors  and  his  six  counsellors,  who  shall 
be  called  marshals,  shall  order  and  determine  of  all 
military  affairs  by  land,  and  all  land-forces,  arms, 
ammunition,  artillery,  garrisons,  forts,  &c.  and  what- 
ever belongs  unto  war.  His  twelve  assistants  shall 
be  called  lieutenant-generals. 

40.  In  lime  of  actual  war,  the  constable,  whilst 
he  is  in  the  army,  shall  be  general  of  the  army,  and 
the  six  counsellors,  or  such  of  them  as  the  palatine's 
court  shall  for  that  time  or  service  appoint,  shall  be 
the  immediate  great  officers  under  him,  and  the 
lieutenant-generals  next  to  them. 

41.  The  admiral's  court,  consisting  of  one  of  the 
proprietors,  and  his  six  counsellors,  called  consuls, 
shall  have  the  care  and  inspection  over  all  ports, 
moles,  and  navigable  rivers,  so  far  as  the  tide  liows, 
and  also  all  the  public  shipping  of  Carolina,  and 
stores  thereunto  belonging,  and  all  maritime  affairs. 
This  court  also  shall  have  the  power  of  the  court  of 
admiralty;  and  shall  have  power  to  constitute  judges 
in  port-towns,  to  try  cases  belonging  to  law-mer- 
chant, as  shall  be  most  convenient  for  trade,     The 


XCVI  APPENDIX. 

twelv^e  assistants,  belonging  to  this  court,  shall  be 
called  proconsuls. 

42.  In  time  of  actual  war,  the  admiral,  whilst  he 
is  at  sea,  shall  command  in  chief,  and  his  six  coun- 
sellors, or  such  of  them  as  the  palatine's  court  sliall 
for  that  time  and  service  appoint,  shall  be  the  im- 
mediate great  officers  under  him,  and  the  procon- 
suls next  to  them. 

43.  The  treasurer's  court,  consisting  of  a  propri- 
etor and  his  six  counsellors,  called  under-treasurers, 
shall  take  care  of  all  matters  that  concern  the  pub- 
lic revenue  and  treasury.  The  twelve  assistants 
shall  be  called  auditors. 

44.  The  high-steward's  court,  consisting  of  a  pro- 
prietor and  his  six  counsellors,  called  comptrollers, 
shall  have  the  care  of  all  foreign  and  domestic  trade, 
manufactures,  public  buildings,^work-houses,  high- 
ways, passages  by  water  above  the  flood  of  the  tide, 
drains,  sewers,  and  banks  against  inundations, 
bridges,  post,  carriers,  fairs,  markets,  corruption  or 
infection  of  the  common  air  or  water,  and  all  things 
in  order  to  the  public  commerce  and  health;  also 
setting  out  and  surveying  of  lands;  and  also  setting 
out  and  appointing  places  for  towns  to  be  built  on  in 
the  precincts,  and  the  prescribing  and  determining 
the  figure  and  bigness  of  the  said  towns,  according 
to  such  models  as  the  said  court  shall  order;  con- 
trary or  differing  from  which  models  it  shall  not  be 
lawfiil  for  any  one  to  build  in  any  town.  This  court 
shall  have  power  also  to  make  any  public  building. 


APPENDIX.  XCVH 

or  any  new  high-way,  or  enlarge  any  old  high- way, 
upon  any  man's  land  whatsoever;  as  also  to  make 
cuts,  channels,  banks,  locks  and  bridges,  for  making 
rivers  navigable,  or  for  draining  feus,  or  any  other 
public  use.  The  damage  the  owner  of  such  lands 
(ori  or  through  which  any  such  public  things  shall 
be  made)  shall  receive  thereby,  shall  be  valued, 
and  satisfaction  made  by  such  ways  as  the  grand 
council  shall  appoint.  The  twelve  assistants,  be- 
longing to  this  court,  shall  be  called  surveyors. 

45.  The  chamberlain's  court,  consisting  of  a  pro- 
prietor and  his  six  counsellors,  called  vice-cham- 
berlains, shall  have  the  care  of  all  ceremonies,  pre-  ^ 
cedency,  heraldry,  reception  of  public  messengers, 
pedigrees,  the  registry  of  all  births,  burials,  mar- 
riages, legitimation,  and  all  cases  concerning  ma- 
trimony, or  arising  from  it;  and  shall  also  have 
power  to  regulate  all  fashions,  habits,  badges,  games 
and  sports.  To  this  court  also  it  shall  belong  to 
convocate  the  grand  coundil.  The  twelve  assist- 
ants, belonging  to  this  court,  shall  be  called  pro- 
vosts. 

46.  All  causes  belonging  to,  or  under  the  juris- 
diction of  any  of  the  proprietors  courts,  shall  in 
them  respectively  be  tried,  and  ultimately  deter- 
mined, without  any  farther  appeal. 

47.  The  proprietors  courts  shall  have  a  power  to 
mitigate  all  fines,  and  suspend  all  executions  in  cri- 
minal causes,  either  before  or  after  sentence,  in  any 
of  the  other  inferior  courts  repectively. 


XCVIII  APPENDIX. 

48.  In  all  debates,  hearings,  or  trials,  in  any  of 
the  proprietor's  courts,  the  twelve  assistants  be- 
longing to  the  said  courts  respectively,  shall  have 
liberty  to  be  present,  but  shall  not  interpose,  unless 
their  opinions  be  required,  nor  have  any  vote  at  all; 
but  their  business  shall  be,  by  the  direction  of  the 
respective  courts,  to  prepare  such  business  as  shall 
be  committed  to  them;  as  also  to  bear  such  offices, 
and  dispatch  such  affairs,  either  where  the  court  is 
kept  or  elsewhere,  as  the  court  shall  think  fit. 

49.  In  all  the  proprietor's  courts,  the  proprietor, 
and  any  three  of  his  counsellors,  shalh  make  a  quo- 
rum; provided  always,  that,  for  the  better  dispatch 
of  business,  it  shall  be  in  the  power  of  the  palatine's 
court,  to  direct  what  sort  of  causes  shall  be  heard 
and  determined  by  a  quorum  of  any  three. 

50.  The  grand  council  shall  consist  of  the  pal- 
atine and  seven  proprietors,  and  the  forty-two  coun- 
sellors of  the  several  proprietors  courts,  who  shall 
have  power  to  determine  any  controversies  that 
may  arise  between  any  of  the  proprietor's  courts, 
about  their  respective  jurisdictions,  or  between  the 
members  of  the  same  court,  about  their  manner  and 
methods  of  proceedings;  to  make  peace  and  war, 
leagues,  treaties,  &c.  with  any  of  the  neighbour  In- 
dians; to  issue  out  their  general  orders  to  the  con- 
stable's and  admiral's  courts,  for  the  raising,  dis- 
posing, or  disbanding  the  forces,  by  land  or  by  sea. 

51.  The  grand  council  shall  prepare  all  matters 
to  be  proposed  in  parliament,     Nor  shall  any  mat- 


APPENDIX.  XCrX 

ler  whatsoever  be  proposed  in  parliament,  but  what 
hath  first  passed  the  grand  Ci>uncil;  which,  after 
having  been  read  three  several  days  in  the  parlia- 
ment, shall  by  majority  of  votes  be  passed  or  re- 
jected. 

52.  The  grand  council  shall  always  be  judges  of 
all  causes  and  appeals  that  concern  the  palatine,  or 
any  of  the  lords  proprietors,  or  any  counsellor  of 
any  proprietor's  court,  in  any  cause,  which  other- 
wise  should  have  been  tried  in  the  court  in  which 
the  said  counsellor  is  judge  himself. 

53.  The  grand  council,  by  their  warrants  to  the 
treasurer's  court,  shall  dispose  of  all  the  money  giv- 
en by  the  parliament,  and  by  them  directed  to  any 
particular  public  use. 

54.  The  quorum  of  the  grand  council  shall  be 
thirteen,  whereof  a  proprietor  or  his  deputy  shall  be 
always  one. 

55.  The  grand  council  shall  meet  the  first  Tues- 
day in  every  month,  and  as  much  oftener  as  either  they 
shall  think  fit,  or  they  shall  be  convocated  by  the  cham- 
berlain's court. 

56.  The  palatine,  or  any  of  the  lords  proprietors, 
shall  have  power  under  hand  and  seal,  to  be  regis- 
tered in  the  grand  council,  to  make  a  deputy,  who 
shall  have  the  same  power  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
as  he  himself  who  deputes  him;  except  in  confirming 
acts  of  parliament,  as  in  §.  lxxvi,  and  except  also  in 
nominating  and  choosing  landgraves  and  cassiques,  as 

12* 


C  APPENDIX. 

in  §.x.  All  such  deputations  shall  cease  and  deter- 
mine at  the  end  of  four  year,  and  at  any  time  shall 
be  revocable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  deputator. 

57.  No  deputy  of  any  proprietor  shall  have  any  pow- 
er whilst  the  deputator  is  in  any  part  of  Carolina,  ex- 
cept the  proprietor,  whose  deputy  he  is,  be  a  minor. 

58.  During  the  minority  of  any  proprietor,  his  guar- 
dian shall  have  power  to  constitute  and  appoint  his 
deputy. 

59.  The  eldest  of  the  lords  proprietors,  who  shall 
be  personnally  in  Carolina,  shall  of  course  be  the  pal- 
atine's deputy,  and  if  no  proprietor  be  in  Carolina, 
he  shall  choose  his  deputy  out  of  the  heirs  apparent  of 
any  of  the  proprietors,  if  any  such  be  there;  and  if 
there  be  no  heir  apparent  of  any  of  the  lords  proprie- 
tors above  one  and  twenty  years  old  in  Carolina,  then 
he  shall  choose  for  deputy  any  one  of  the  landgraves  of 
the  grand  council ;  and  till  he  have  by  deputation  un- 
der hand  and  seal  chosen  any  one  of  the  foremention- 
ed  heirs  apparent  or  landgraves  to  be  his  deputy,  the 
eldest  man  of  the  landgraves,  and,  for  want  of  a  land- 
grave, the  eldest  man  of  the  cassiques,  who  shall  be 
personnally  in  Carolina,  shall  of  course  be  his  deputy. 

60.  Each  proprietor's  deputy  shall  be  always  one 
of  his  own  six  counsellors  respectively;  and  in  case 
any  of  the  proprietors  hath  not,  in  his  absence  out  of 
Carolina,  a  deputy,  commissioned  under  his  hand 
and  seal,  the  eldest  nobleman  of  his  court  shall  of 
course  be  his  deputy. 


APPENDIX.  CI 

61.  In  every  county  there  shall  be  a  court,  consist- 
ing of  a  sheriif,  and  four  justices  of  the  county,  for  ev- 
ery precinct  one.  The  sheriff  shall  be  an  inhabitant 
of  the  county,  and  have  at  least  five  hundred  acres  of 
freehold  within  the  said  county;  and  the  justices  shall 
be  inhabitants,  and  have  each  of  them  five  hundred 
acres  a-piece  freehold  within  the  precinct  for  which 
they  serve  respectively.  These  five  shall  be  chosen 
and  commissioned  from  time  to  time  by  the  palatine's 
court. 

62.  For  any  personal  causes  exceeding  the  value 
of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  or  in  tide  of  land,  or 
in  any  criminal  cause;  either  party,  upon  paying 
twenty  pounds  sterling  to  the  lords  proprietors  use, 
shall  have  liberty  of  appeal  from  the  county  court  unto 
the  respective  proprietor's  court. 

63.  In  every  precinct  there  shall  be  a  court,  con- 
sisting of  a  Stewart  and  four  justices  of  the  precinct, 
being  inhabitants,  and  having  three  hundred  acres  of 
freehold  widiin  the  said  precinct,  who  shall  judge  all 
criminal  causes;  except  for  treason,  murder,  and  any 
other  oifences  punishable  with  death,  and  except  all 
criminal  causes  of  the  nobility;  and  shall  juge  also  all 
civil  causes  whatsoever;  and  in  all  personal  actions  not 
exceeding  fifty  pounds  sterling,  without  appeal ;  but 
where  the  cause  shall  exceed  that  value,  or  concern  a 
title  of  land,  and  in  all  criminal  causes;  there  either 
party,  upon  paying  five  pounds  sterling  to  the  lords  pro- 
prietors use,  shall  have  liberty  of  appeal  to  the  county- 
court. 

6^1.  No  cause  shall  be  twice  tried  in  any  one  court, 
upon  anv  reason  or  pretence  whatsoever. 


en  APPENDIX, 

65.  For  treason  murder,  and  all  other  offences  pun- 
ishable with  death,  there  shall  be  a  commission,  twice 
a  year  at  least,  granted  unto  one  or  more  members  of 
the  grand  council  or  colleges ;  who  shall  come  as  itin- 
erant judges  to  the  several  counties,  and  with  the  sher, 
iff  and  four  justices  shall  hold  assizes  to  judge  all  such 
causes ;  but,  upon  paying  of  fifty  pounds  sterling  to  the 
lords  proprietors  use,  there  shall  be  liberty  of  appeal 
to  the  respective  proprietor's  court. 

66.  The  grand  jury  at  the  several  assizes,  shall, 
upon  their  oaths,  and  under  their  hands  and  seals, 
deliver  in  to  the  itinerant  judges  a  presentment  of 
such  grievances,  misdemeanors,  exigences,  or  de- 
fects, which  they  think  necessary  for  the  public 
good  of  the  county;  which  presentments  shall,  by 
the  itinerant  judges,  at  the  end  of  their  circuit,  be 
delivered  in  to  the  grand  council  at  their  next  sit- 
ting. And  whatsoever  therein  concerns  the  execu- 
tion of  laws  already  made;  the  several  proprietors 
courts,  in  the  matters  belonging  to  each  of  them  res- 
pectively, shall  take  cognizance  of  it,  and  give  such 
order  about  it,  as  shall  be  effectual  for  th«  due  exe- 
cution of  the  laws.  But  whatever  concerns  the 
making  of  any  new  law,  shall  be  referred  to  the  sev- 
eral respective  courts  to  which  that  matters  belong, 
and  be  by  them  prepared  and  brough  to  the  grand 
council, 

67.  For  terms,  there  shall  be  quarterly  such  a  cer- 
tain number  of  days,  not  exceeding  one  and  twenty 
at  any  one  time,  as  the  several  respective  courts 
shall  appoint.     The  time  for  the  beginning  of  the 


APPENDIX.  '  cm 

term,  in  the  precinct-court,  shall  be  the  first  Mon- 
day in  January,  April,  July,  and  October;  in  the 
county-court,  the  first  Monday  in  February,  May, 
August,  and  November;  and  in  the  proprietors 
courts,  the  first  Monday  in  March,  June,  September, 
and  December. 

68.  In  the  precinct-court  no  man  shall  be  a  jury- 
man under  fifty  acres  of  freehold.  In  the  county- 
court,  or  at  the  assizes,  no  man  shall  be  a  grand 
jury-man  under  three  hundred  acres  of  freehold; 
and  no  man  shall  be  a  petty  jury-man  under  two 
hundred  acres  of  freehold.  In  the  proprietors  courts 
no  man  shall  be  a  jury-man  under  five  hundred  acres 
of  freehold. 

69.  Every  jury  shall  consist  of  twelve  men;  and  it 
shall  not  be  necessary  they  should  all  agree,  but  the 
verdict  shall  be  according  to  the  consent  of  the  ma- 
jority. 

70.  It  shall  be  a  base  and  vile  thing  to  plead  for 
money  or  reward;  nor  shall  any  one  (except  he  be 
a  near  kinsman,  not  farther  off  than  cousin-german 
to  the  party  concerned)  be  permitted  to  plead  an- 
other man's  cause,  till,  before  the  judge  in  open 
court,  he  hath  taken  an  oath,  that  he  doth  not  plead 
for  money  or  reward,  nor  hath  nor  will  receive,  nor 
directly  nor  indirectly  bargained  with  the  party, 
whose  cause  he  is  goinsj  to  plead,  for  money  or  any 
other  reward  for  pleading  his  cause. 

71.  There  shall  be  a  parliament,  consisting  of 
the  proprietors  or  their  deputies,  the  landgraves 


CIV  APPENDIX. 

and  cassiques,  and  one  freeholder  out  of  every  pre* 
cinct,  to  be  chosen  bv  the  freeholders  of  the  said 
precinct  respectively.  They  shall  sit  all  together 
in  one  room,  and  have  every  member  one  vote. 

72.  No  man  shall  be  chosen  a  member  of  parlia- 
ment, who  hath  less  than  five  hundred  acres  of  free- 
hold within  the  precinct  for  which  he  is  chosen; 
nor  shall  any  have  a  vote  in  choosing  the  said  mem- 
ber that  hath  less  than  fiftv  acres  of  freehold  within 
the  said  precinct. 

73.  A  new  parliament  shall  be  assembled  the 
first  Monday  of  the  month  of  November  every  se- 
cond year,  and  shall  meet  and  sit  in  the  town  they 
last  sit  in,  without  any  summons,  unless  by  the  pal- 
atine's court  they  be  summoned  to  meet  at  any  oth- 
er place.  And  if  there  shall  be  any  occasion  of  a 
parliament  in  these  intervals,  it  shall  be  in  the  pow- 
er of  the  palatine's  court  to  assemble  them  in  forty 
days  notice,  and  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  said 
court  shall  think  fit;  and  the  palatine's  court  shall 
have  power  to  dissolve  the  said  parliament  when 
they  shall  think  fit. 

74.  At  the  opening  of  every  parliament,  the  first 
thing  that  shall  be  done,  shall  be  the  reading  of 
these  fundamental  constitutions,  which  the  palatine 
and  proprietors,  and  the  rest  of  the  members  then 
present,  shall  subscribe.  Nor  shall  any  person  what- 
soever sit  or  vole  in  the  parliament,  till  he  hath 
that  session  subscribed  these  fundamental  constitu- 
tions, in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose  by  the  clerk 
of  the  parliament. 


APPENDIX.  CV 

75.  In  order  to  the  due  election  of  members  for 
the  biennial  parliament,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
freeholders  of  the  respective  precincts  to  meet  the 
first  Tuesday  in  September  every  two  years,  in  the 
same  town  or  place  that  they  last  met  in,  to  choose 
parliament-men;  and  there  choose  those  members 
that  are  to  sit  the  next  November  following,  unless 
the  Stewart  of  the  precinct  shall,  by  sufficient  notice 
thirty  days  belore,  appoint  some  other  place  for 
their  meeting,  in  order  to  the  election. 

76.  No  act  or  order  of  parliament  shall  be  of  any 
force,  unless  it  be  ratified  in  open  parliament  during 
the  same  session,  by  the  palatine  or  his  deputy, 
and  three  more  of  the  lords  proprietors  or  their  de- 
puties ;  and  then  not  to  continue  longer  in  force  but 
until  the  next  biennial  parliament,  unless  in  the 
mean  time  it  be  ratified  under  the  hands  and  seals 
of  the  palatine  himself,  and  three  more  of  the  lords 
proprietors  themselves,  and  by  their  order  publish- 
ed at  the  next  biennial  parliament, 

77.  Any  proprietor  or  his  deputy  may  enter  his 
protestation  against  any  act  of  the  parliament,  be- 
fore the  palatine  or  his  deputy's  consent  be  given 
as  aforesaid ;  if  he  shall  conceive  the  said  act  to  be 
contrary  to  this  establishment,  or  any  of  these  fun- 
damental constitutions  of  the  government.  And  in 
such  case,  after  full  and  free  debate,  the  several  es- 
tates shall  retire  into  four  several  chambers;  the 
palatine  and  proprietors  into  one;  the  landgraves 
into  another;  the  cassiques  into  another;  and  those 
chosen  by  the  precincts  into  a  fourth :  and  if  the 


OVl  APPENDIX. 

major  part  of  any  of  the  four  estates  shall  vote  that 
the  law  is  not  agreeable  to  this  establishment,  and 
these  fundamental  constitutions  of  the  government, 
then  it  shall  pass  no  farther,  but  be  as  if  it  had  never 
been  proposed. 

78.  The  quorum  of  the  parliament  shall  be  one 
half  of  those  who  are  members,  and  capable  of  sit- 
ting in  the  house  that  present  session  of  parliament. 
The  quorum  of  each  of  the  chambers  of  parliament 
shall  be  one  half  of  the  members  of  that  chamber^ 

79.  To  avoid  multiplicity  of  laws,  which  by  de- 
grees always  change  the  right  foundations  of  the 
original  government,  all  acts  of  parliament  what- 
soever, in  whatsoever  form  passed  or  enacted,  shall, 
at  the  end  of  an  hundred  years  after  their  enacting, 
respectively  cease  and  determine  of  themselves, 
and  without  any  repeal  become  null  and  void,  as  if 
no  such  acts  of  laws  had  ever  been  made. 

80.  Since  multiplicity  of  comments,  as  well  as  of 
laws,  have  great  inconveniences,  and  serve  only  to 
obscure  and  perplex;  all  manner  of  comments  and 
expositions  on  any  part  of  these  fundamental  con- 
stitutions, or  any  part  of  the  common  or  statute  law 
of  Carolina,  are  absolutely  prohibited. 

81.  There  shall  be  a  registry  in  every  precinct, 
wherein  shall  be  enrolled  all  deeds,  leases,  judg- 
ments, mortgages,  and  other  conveyances,  which 
may  concern  any  of  the  land  within  the  said  pre- 
cinct; and  all  such  conveyances  not  so  entered  or 


APPENDIX.  CVri 

registered,  shall  not  be  of  force  against  any  person 
nor  party  to  the  said  contract  or  conveyance. 

82.  No  man  shall  be  register  of  any  precinct,  who 
hath  not  at  least  three  hundred  acres  of  freehold 
within  the  said  precinct. 

83.  The  freeholders  of  every  precinct  shall  nomi- 
nate three  men;  out  of  which  three,  the  chief  jus- 
tice's court  shall  choose  and  commission  one  to  be 
register  of  the  said  precinct,  whilst  he  shall  well 
behave  himself 

84.  There  shall  be  a  registry  in  every  signiory, 
barony  and  colony,  wherein  shall  be  recorded  all 
the  births,  marriages  and  deaths,  that  shall  happen 
within  the  respective  signiories,  baronies  and  col- 
onies. 

85.  No  man  shall  be  register  of  a  colony,  that 
hath  not  above  fxfty  acres  of  freehold  within  the  said 
colony. 

86.  The  time  of  every  one's  age,  that  is  born  in 
Carolina,  shall  be  reckoned  from  the  day  that  his 
birth  is  entered  in  the  registry,  and  not  before. 

87.  No  marriage  shall  be  lawful,  whatever  con- 
tract and  ceremony  they  have  used,  till  both  parties 
mutually  own  it  before  the  register  of  the  place 
where  they  were  married,  and  he  register  it,  with 
the  names  of  the  father  and  mother  of  each  party. 

88.  No  man  shall  administer  to  the  goods,  or  have 
right  to  them,  or  enter  upon  the  estate  of  any  per- 
son deceased,  till  his  death  be  registered  in  the  re- 
spective registry. 

13* 


CVIII  APPENDIX. 

89.  He  that  doth  not  enter  in  the  respective  re- 
gistry the  birth  or  death  of  any  person  that  is  born 
or  dies  in  his  house  or  ground,  shall  pay  to  the  said 
register  one  shilling  per  week  for  each  such  neglect, 
reckoning  from  the  time  of  each  birth  or  death  re- 
spectively, to  the  time  of  registering  it. 

90.  In  like  manner  the  births,  marriages  and 
deaths  of  the  lords  proprietors,  landgraves  and  cas- 
siques,  shall  be  registered  in  the  chamberlain's  court. 

91.  There  shall  be  in  every  colony  one  constable^ 
to  be  chosen  annually,  b}  ihe  freeholders  of  the  colo- 
ny; his  estate  shall  be  above  a  hundred  acres  of  free- 
hold within  the  said  colony,  and  such  subordinate  offi- 
cers appointed  for  his  assistance  as  the  county  court 
shall  find  requisite,  and  shall  be  established  by  the 
said  county  court.  The  election  of  the  subordinate 
annual  officers  shall  be  also  in  the  freeholders  of  the 
colony. 

92.  All  towns  incorporate  shall  be  governed  by  a 
mayor,  twelve  aldermen  and  twenty-four  of  the  com- 
mon council.  The  said  common  council  shall  be 
chosen  by  the  present  householders  of  the  said  town ; 
the  aldermen  shall  be  chosen  out  of  the  common  coun- 
cil; and  the  mayor  out  of  the  aldermen,  by  the  pala- 
tine's court. 

93.  It  being  of  great  consequence  to  the  planta- 
tion, that  port  towns  should  be  built  and  preserved; 
therefore,  whosoever  shall  lade  or  unlade  any  commo- 
dity at  any  other  place  but  a  port  town,  shall  forfeit 
to  the  lords  proprietors,  for  each  ton  so  laden  or  unla- 
den, the  sum  of  ten  pounds  sterling ;  except  only  such 


APPENDIX.  QIX 

goods  as  the  palatine's  court  shall  license  to  be  laden 
or  unladen  elsewhere. 

94.  The  first  port  town  upon  every  river  shall  be 
in  a  colony,  and  be  a  port  town  forever. 

95.  No  man  shall  be  permitted  to  be  a  freeman  of 
Carolina,  or  to  have  any  estate  or  habitation  within  it, 
that  dbth  not  acknowledge  a  God ;  and  that  God  is 
publicly  and  solemnly  to  be  worshipped. 

96.  [As  the  country  comes  to  be  sufficiently  plant- 
ed and  distributed  into  fit  divisions,  it  shall  belong  to 
the  parliament  to  take  care  for  the  building  of  church- 
es, and  the  public  maintenance  of  divines,  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the 
church  of  England;  which  being  the  only  true 
and  orthodox,  and  the  national  religion  of  all  the 
king's  dominions,  is  so  also  of  Carolina;  and,  there- 
fore, it  alone  shall  be  allowed  to  receive  public  main- 
tenance, by  grant  of  parliament,^] 

97.  But  since  the  natives  of  that  place,  who  will  be 
concerned  in  our  plantation,  are  utterly  strangers  to 
Christianity,  whose  idolatry,  ignorance,  or  mistake, 
gives  us  no  right  to  expel,  or  use  them  ill;  and  those 
who  remove  from  other  parts  to  plant  there,  will  una- 
voidably be  of  different  opinions  concerning  matters 
of  religion,  the  liberty  whereof  they  will  expect  to 
have  allowed  them,  and  it  will  not  be  reasonable  for 
us,  on  this  account,  to  keep  them  out;  that  civil  peace 
may  be  maintained  amidst  the  diversity  of  opinions, 

*This  article  was  not  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Locke;  but  inserted 
by  some  of  the  chief  of  tlie  proprietors,  a«;ainst  his  judgment; 
as  Mr.  Locke  himself  informed  one  of  his  friends,  to  whom  he 
presented  a  copy  of  these  constitutions. 


ex  APPENDIX. 

and  our  agreement  and  compact  with  all  men  may  he 
duly  and  faithfully  observed;  die  violation  whereof,, 
upon  what  pretence  soever,  cannot  be  without  great 
offence  to  almighty  God,  and  great  scandal  to  the  true 
religion,  which  we  profess;  and  also  that  Jews, 
Heathens,  and  other  dissenters  from  the  purity  of 
Christian  religion,  may  not  be  scared  and  kept  at  a 
distance  from  it,  but,  by  having  an  opportunity  of  ac- 
quainting thenlselves  with  the  truth  and  reasonable- 
ness of  its  doctrines,  and  the  peaceableness  and  inof- 
fensiveness  of  its  professors,  may,  by  good  usage  and 
persuasion,  and  all  those  convincing  methods  of  gen- 
tleness and  meekness,  suitable  to  the  rules  and  design 
of  the  gospel,  be  won  over  to  embrace  and  unfeign° 
edly  receive  the  truth ;  therefore  any  seven  or  more 
persons  agreeing  in  any  religion,  shall  constitute  a 
ehurch  or  profession,  to  which  they  shall  give  some 
name,  to  distinguish  it  from  others. 

98.  The  terms  of  admittance  and  communion  with 
any  church  or  profession,  shall  be  written  in  a  book^ 
and  therein  be  subscribed  by  all  the  members  of  the 
said  church  or  profession;  which  book  shall  be  kept 
by  the  public  register  of  the  precinct  wherein  they 
reside. 

99.  The  time  of  every  one's  subscription  and  ad- 
mittance shall  be  dated  in  the  said  book  of  religious 
record, 

100.  in  the  terms  of  communion  of  every  church 
or  profession,  these  following  shall  be  three ;  without 
which  no  agreement  or  assembly  of  men,  upon  pre- 
tence of  religion,  shall  be  accounted  a  church  or  pro- 
fession within  these  rules; 


APPENDIX.  CXI 

I.  "  That  there  is  a  God." 

II.  "  That  God  is  puhlicly  to  be  worshipped." 

III.  "  That  it  is  lawful  and  the  duty  of  every  man, 
being  thereunto  called  by  those  that  govern,  to  bear 
witness  to  truth;  and  that  every  church  or  profes- 
sion shall^  in  their  terms  of  communion,  Fet  down  the 
external  way  whereby  they  witness  a  truth  as  in  the 
presence  of  God,  whether  it  be  by  laying  hands  on 
or  kissing  the  bible,  as  in  the  church  of  England, 
or  by  holding  up  the  |hand,  or  in  any  other  sensible 
way." 

101.  No  person  above  seventeen  years  of  age  shall 
have  any  benefit  or  protection  of  the  law,  or  be  capa- 
ble of  any  place  of  profit  or  honor,  who  is  not  a 
member  of  some  church  or  profession,  having  his 
name  recorded  in  some  one,  and  but  one  religious  re- 
cord at  once. 

102.  No  person  of  any  other  church  or  profession 
shall  disturb  or  molest  any  religious  assembly. 

103.  No  person  whatsoever  shall  speak  any  thing 
in  their  religious  assembly  irreverently  or  seditiously 
of  the  government  or  governors,  or  state  matters, 

104.  Any  person  subscribing  the  terms  of  commu- 
nion, in  the  record  of  the  said  church  or  profession, 
before  the  precinct  register,  and  any  {i\e  members  of 
the  said  church  or  profession,  shall  be  thereby  made 
a  member  of  die  said  church  or  profession. 

105.  Any  person  striking  out  his  own  name  out  of 
any  religious  record,  or  his  name  being  struck  out  by 
any  oflicer  thereunto  authorised  by  each  ciiuroh  or 
profession  respectively,  shall  cease  to  be  a  member  of 
that  church  or  profession. 


CXll  APPENDIX. 

106.  No  man  shall  use  any  reproachful,  reviling  or 
abusive  language,  against  the  religion  of  any  church 
or  profession ;  that  being  the  certain  way  of  disturbing 
the  peace,  and  hindering  the  conversion  of  any  to  the 
truth,  by  engaging  them  in  quarrels  and  animosities, 
to  the  hatred  of  the  professors  and  that  profession, 
which  otherwise  they  might  be  brought  to  assent  to. 

107.  Since  charity  obliges  us  to  wish  well  to  the 
souls  of  all  men,  and  religion  ought  to  alter  nothing  in 
any  man's  civil  estate  or  right,  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
slaves,  as  well  as  others,  to  enter  themselves,  and  be 
of  what  church  or  profession  any  of  them  shall  think 
best,  and  therefore  be  as  fully  members  as  any  free- 
man. But  yet  no  slave  shall  hereby  be  exempted  from 
that  civil  dominion  his  master  hath  over  him,  but  be 
in  all  other  things  in  the  same  state  and  condition  he 
was  in  before. 

lOS.  Assemblies,  upon  what  pretence  soever  of  re- 
ligion, not  observing  and  performing  the  above  said 
rules,  shall  not  be  esteemed  as  churches,  but  unlawful 
meetings,  and  be  punished  as  other  riots. 

109.  No  person  whatsoever,  shall  disturb,  molest 
or  persecute  another  for  his  speculative  opinions  in  re- 
ligion, or  his  way  of  worship. 

110.  Every  freeman  of  Carolina  shall  have  absolute 
power  and  authority  over  his  negro  slaves,  of  what 
opinion  or  religion  soever. 

111.  No  cause,  whether  civil  or  criminal,  of  any 
freeman,  shall  be  tried  in  any  court  of  judicature,  with- 
out a  jury  of  his  peers. 

112.  No  person  whatsoever,  shall  hold  or  claim  any 
land  in  Carolina  by  purchase  or  gift;  or  otherwise,  front 


APPENDIX.  CXIII 

the  natives,  or  any  other  whatsoever:  but  merely  from 
and  under  the  lords  proprietors;  upon  pain  of  forfeit- 
ure of  all  his  estate,  moveable  or  immoveable,  and 
perpetual  banishment. 

113.  Whosoever  shall  possess  any  freehold  in  Ca- 
rolina, upon  what  title  or  grant  soever,  shall,  at  the 
farthest,  from  and  after  the  year  one  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine,  pay  yearly  unto  the  lords  pro- 
prietors, for  each  acre  of  land,  English  measure,  as 
much  fine  silver  as  is  at  this  present  in  one  English 
penny,  or  the  value  thereof,  to  be  as  a  chief  rent  and 
acknowledgment  to  the  lords  proprietors,  their  heirs 
and  successors,  forever.  And  it  shall  be  lawful  for 
the  palatine's  court,  by  their  officers  at  any  time,  to 
take  a  new  survey  of  any  man's  land,  not  to  out  him 
of  any  part  of  his  possession,  but  that  by  such  a  sur- 
vey, the  just  number  of  acres  he  possesseih  may 
be  known,  and  the  rent  thereupon  due  may  be  paid  by 
him. 

114.  All  wrecks,  mines,  minerals,  quarries  of  gems, 
and  precious  stones,  and  with  pearl-fishing,  whale- 
fishing,  and  one  half  of  all  ambergris,  by  whom- 
soever found,  shall  wholly  belong  to  the  lords  propri- 
etors. 

•  115.  All  revenues  and  profits  belonging  to  the  lords 
proprietors  in  common,  shall  be  divided  into  ten  parts, 
whereof  the  palatine  shall  have  three,  and  each  pro- 
prietor one;  but  if  the  palatine  shall  govern  by  a  de- 
puty, his  deputy  shall  have  one  of  those  three  tenths, 
and  the  palatine  the  other  two  tenths. 

116.  All  inhabitants  and  freemen  of  Carolina, 
above  seventeen  years  of  ago,  and  under  sixty,  shall 


CIV  APPENDIX. 

be  bound  to  bear  arms,  and  serve  as  soldiers,  whenever 
the  grand  council  shall  find  it  necessary. 

117.  A  true  copy  of  these  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions shall  be  kept  in  a  great  book,  by  the  register  of 
every  precinct,  to  be  subscribed  before  the  said  regis- 
ter. Nor  shall  any  person,  of  what  condition  or  de- 
gree soever,  above  seventeen  years  old,  have  any  es- 
tate or  possession  in  Carolina,  or  protection  or  benefit 
of  the  law  there,  who  hath  not,  before  a  precinct  regis- 
ter, subscribed  these  Fundamental  Constitutions  in  this 
form: 

"  I,  A.  B.  do  promise  to  bear  faith  and  true  allegi- 
ance to  our  sovereign  lord  king,  Charles  11.,  his 
heirs  and  successors ;  and  will  be  true  and  faithful  to 
the  palatine  and  lords  proprietors  of  Carolina,  their 
heirs  and  successors;  and  with  my  utmost  power  will 
defend  them,  and  maintain  the  government  according 

to  this  establishment  in  these  Fundamental  Constitu- 
tions." 

118.  Whatsoever  alien,  shall,  in  this  form,  befoi^ 
any  precinct  register,  subscribe  these  Fundamental 
Constitutions,  shall  be  thereby  naturalized. 

119.  In  the  same  manner  shall  every  person,  at  his 
admittance  into  any  office,  subscribe  these  Fundamen- 
tal Constitutions. 

120.  These  Fundamental  Constitutions,  in  num- 
ber a  hundred  and  twenty,  and  every  part  thereof, 
shall  be  and  remain  the  sacred  and  unalterable  form 
and  rule  of  government  of  Carolina  forever.  Wit- 
ness our  hands  and  seals,  the  first  day  of  March,  six- 
teen hundred  and  sixty-nine. 


♦  -f 


HISTORY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


THE 


HISTORY 


OF 


I^ORTH   CAROLINA, 


FROai  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD. 


BY  FRANCOIS-XAVIER  MARTIN. 


Colonic  autem  juruy  institutaque  popuH  Romania  non  sui 

arbitrii  habehant. 

Gel.  lib.  16,  cap.  23. 


VOLUME  II. 


UE'W-ORLEAN'S: 

PRIJVTED  BY  A.   T.  PEJ^JVIMAJV  !f  CO. 

Corner  of  Chartres  aud  Bienville  Street?. 

1829. 


Eastern  District  of  Louisiana^  ss. 

Be  it  remembered,  That  on  the  twentieth  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  the  fifty-third,  FRANCOIS-XAVIER 
MARTIN,  of  the  said  district,  hath  deposited  in  the  Clerk's  office  for  the 
District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Louisiana^ 
the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author,  to  wit; 

"  The  History  of  North  Carolina,  from  the  earliest  period.    By 

iPranQois-Xavier  Martin. 

ColonicB  autemjura,  institutaque  populi  Romania  nonsui 
arbitrii,  habebant. 

Gel.  lib.  16,  cap.  23. 

In  conformity  to  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled  *'  An 
act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts  and  books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during 
the  times  therein  mentioned;"  and  also,  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  sup- 
plementary to  an  act,  entitled  '  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning, 
by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts  and  books,  to  the  authors  and 
proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,'  and  ex- 
tending the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving  and  etching 
historical  and  other  prints.'* 

FRANKLIN  W.  LEA, 

Clerk  of  the  United  Court  for  the  Eastern  DisfriH 

of  Louisimin. 


THE 

HISTORY 

OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Carolina,  on  its  becoming  the  property  of  the 
crown,  was  divided  into  two  distinct  provinces,  and 
on  tiie  29th  of  April,  1730,  George  Burrington,  who 
a  few  years  before,  had  presided  over  the  northern 
part  of  the  province,  under  the  authority  of  the  lords 
proprietors,  was  appointed  governor  of  North  Car- 
olina. He  did  not  reach  his  government  till  the 
middle  of  the  month  of  February;  Sir  Richard  Eve- 
Fard  yielded  him  the  supreme  authority  without  any 
struggle,  and  he  qualified  at  Edenton  on  the  2.')th. 
None  of  the  former  officers  were  continued.  Wil- 
liam Smith  was  appointed  chief  justice,  Nathaniel 
Rice,  secretary,  Edmund  -^orter,  judge  of  the  ad- 
miralty, John  Montgomery,  attorney  general,  and 
Robert  Holton,  provost  marshal.  Those  officers 
were  named  as  councellors,  in  the  governor's  com- 
mission. John  Palin,  Joseph  Jenoure,  John  Bap- 
tist Ashe,  Cornelius  Harnett,  John  Lovick,  Edmund 
Gale  and  Mathew  Rowan  were  either  named  with 
them  in  the  same  instrument,  or  called  into  the 
king's  council,  during  Burring  ion's  administration. 

His  instructions  provided,  ;hat  three  members  of 
the  king's  council  should  constitute  a  quorum ;  they 
required  him,  in  case  of  a  vacancy,  to  forward  with 

N.  CARO.    ir,  1 


e  CHAPTER  [1730 

the  information  of  it,  the  names  of  a  number  of  res- 
pectable planters,  whom  he  might  deem  proper 
persons  to  fill  it;  but,  in  case  the  board  was  reduc- 
ed to  less  than  seven  members,  they  authorized 
him,  with  the  advice  of  the  council,  to  fill  vacancies, 
until  that  number  was  complete.  He  had  power  to 
suspend  any  member  of  the  council,  on  just  cause, 
from  his  seat  at  the  board,  until  the  king's  pleasure 
was  known ;  to  grant  reprieves  in  cases  of  treason, 
and  pardons  for  all  other  offences,  and  to  collate  to 

all  ecclesiastical  benefices. 

He  was  directed,  with  the  advice  of  the  council, 

to  call  assemblies  of  the  freeholders  of  the  prov- 
ince, according  to  former  usage,  and  authori- 
sed, with  their  consent  and  that  of  the  council,  ta 
exercise  legislative  powers:  but  the  provincial  acts 
were  to  be  transmitted  to  the  king  in  council  for 
his  revision,  and  on  his  disallowance  they  were  to 
cease  having  any  force. 

With  the  assent  of  the  council,  he  was  also  em- 
powered to  establish  courts  of  justice,  fairs  and 
markets,  and  to  dispose  of  vacant  lands. 

The  governor  and  council  were  authorized  to 
hold  a  court  of  error,  and  take  cognizance  of  all 
suits,  in  which  the  matter  in  dispute  exceeded  in 
value  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds,  and  from 
them  an  appeal  lay  to  the  king  in  council,  in  Eng- 
land- if  it  exceeded  three  hundred  pounds  sterling. 

The  lords  of  the  admiralty  had  granted  to  gov- 
ernor Burrington  a  commission  of  vice-admiral  in 
the  province. 

The    vice-admiral,    members    of  the    council, 
commanders  of  the  king's  ships  in  the  province, 


7730]  THE  FIRST.  $ 

^chief-justice,  judge  of  the  vice-admiralty,  secretary, 
receiver  and  surveyor-general,  were  constituted  a 
court  for  the  trial  of  pirates. 

The  prosperity  of  the  king's  new  acquisition 
depending;  in  a  great  degree  on  the  tranquility  of 
its  inhabitants,  it  had  been  judged  by  the  British 
ministry,  an  object  of  primary  impv>rtance  to  secure 
the  friendship  of  the  nations  of  Indians,  by  w^hom 
there  was  most  reason  to  apprehend  it  might  be 
disturbed.  For  this  purpose  Sir  Alexander  Cum- 
ming  was  sent  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  alliance  with 
the  Cherokees,  at  that  time  a  warlike  and  formida- 
ble nation.  They  occupied  the  land  on  the  back 
part  of  the  settlements  of  both  the  Carolinas,  to- 
wards the  Appalachean  mountains.  The  country 
th^y  claimed  as  their  hunting  grounds  was  of  im- 
mense extent,  and  the  boundaries  of  it  had  never 
been  ascertained.  The  inhabitants  of  their  differ- 
ent towns  were  computed  to  amount  to  more  than 
twenty  thousand,  six  thousand  of  w^hom  were  war- 
riors, fit  to  take  the  field  on  any  emergency.  Ah 
alliance,  with  this  nation,  was  an  object  of  impor- 
tance to  the  Carolinas,  and  likewise  to  the  mother 
country,  who  now  engaged  their  protection  and  de- 
fence. Sir  Alexander  arrived  at  Charleston  about 
the  same  time  that  governor  Burrington  reached 
Edenton.  He  lost  no  time,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
after  met  the  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee  lower  towns, 
at  Keowee;  they  received  him  with  marks  of 
f  riedship  and  esteem.  Messengers  were  immedi- 
ately sent  to  the  towns  in  the  middle,  valley  and 
over  hill  settlements  to  summon  a  general  meeting 
of  the  chiefs,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  congress 


4  ,        CHAPTER  i^m} 

with    Sfr  Alexander,  in  the   month   of  April,  at 
Requassee. 

Immediately  after  his  qualification,  governor  Bur- 
rington   issued  a  proclamation  for   convening  tcve 
first  legislative  assembly  of  the  province,  under  the 
immediate   authority  of  the  crown.     They   were 
called  at   Edenton,  and  required    to  meet  on    the 
13th  of  April,  1731.     With  a   view  to  secure  the 
friendship  of  the  Indians,  who  were  immediately  on 
the   western  frontier  of  his    government,  he    sent 
John  Brikell,  a  physician,  to  meet  them.     The  doc- 
tor sat  offin  the  latter  part  of  February  from  Eden- 
ton,  attended  by  a  company  of  ten  men  and   two 
Indians  as  huntsmen  and  interpreters.     The  detail 
of  his  journey  affords  an  accurate  idea  of  the  state 
of  the  country,  at  that  time.     He  had  provided  him* 
self  with  fire  arms,  ammunition,  horses,  two  mari- 
ners compasses,  rum,  salt,  pepper,  Indian  corn,  and 
other  necessaries.     After  they  had  passed  the  plan- 
tations of  the  whites,  they  camped  every  evening 
an  hour  before  sunset,  tied  their  horses  to  trees, 
which  they  made  the  Indians  climb  up  to  procure  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  moss  for  the  horses,  and  to 
make  beds  for  the  men.     They  then  sent  the  Indians 
to   hunt,    and,  in  the  mean   while,  made  a  large 
fire  of  broken  limbs   of  trees,  which  they  found 
plentifully   scattered    through    the    woods;     they 
piled  them  up,  in  order  to  continue  burning  all  night, 
to  prevent  wild  beasts  or  pernicious  insects  from 
approaching  them  or  their  horses. 

As  soon  as  the  Indians  had  discharged  one  or  two 
shots,  and  jL>;iven  signal  of  their  success  by  hallow- 
ing, some  of  the  party  were  despatched  to  their  as- 


i730j  THE  FIKST.  5 

sistance  to  bring  to  the  camp  the  game  they  had 
killed:  and  they  seldom  returned  vvithout  more  than 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  venis'"»n,  wild  turkeys  and 
other  game,  for  the  support  of  the  whole  company. 
When  thus  supplied  with  meat,  they  roast'^d  and 
boiled  a  portion  of  it  for  supper,  parched  some 
Indian  corn  to  serve  instead  of  bread,  and  sat  down 
to  their  meal  with  good  appetite,  whetted  by  the 
keen  air;  their  tables,  dishes  and  plates  beini^  the 
bark  of  trees.  Sapper  bein.^  oyer  they  made  a 
large  gourdful  of  punch,  and,  when  disposed  to 
rest,  lay  on  beds  of  moss  near  the  fire,  the  company 
keeping  a  constant  watch  by  turns,  every  four  hours. 
After  a  journey  of  fifteen  days,  they  reached  the 
foot  of  the  mountains,  without  having  met  any  hu- 
man being  on  their  way,  since  they  hnd  left  the  set- 
tlements of  the  white  people.  On  their  approach, 
they  were  discovered  by  a  party  of  the  Iroquois 
Indians,  a  powerful  nation,  continually  at  war,  and 
wandering  between  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
river  St.  Lawrence.  As  soon  as  they  perceived 
the  doctor's  party  they  disappeared,  and  gave  no- 
tice to  their  chief,  who  despatched  one  of  his  cap- 
tains, painted  as  red  as  vermillion,  with  a  strong 
guard,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows.  When  the 
party  came  in  sight  of  the  doctor's  camp,  which 
was  in  the  middle  of  a  large  savannah,  they  halted, 
and  the  leader,  attended  by  one  Indian,  advanced, 
holding  a  green  bough  in  his  hand.  He  gave  the 
doctor  to  understand  that  he  was  sent  by  his  chief, 
who  desired  to  know  whether  the  white  people 
came  for  peace  or  war,  or  what  other  business  had 
brought  them  hither.    The  doctor  informed  him, 


0  CHAPTER  [1730 

througli  one  of  his  interpreters,  that  his  views  were 
friendly,  that  he  had  no  other  object  than  to  cnlti- 
vate  a  good  understanding  and  view  the  country. 
On  receiving  this  answer  he  sat  down  and  despatch- 
ed the  Indian,  who  had  approached  with  him,  to 
convey  the  doctor's  answer  to  the  chief.  The 
doctor  regaled  his  guest  with  punch,  and  made  him 
a  present  of  a  few  toys,  with  which  he  appeared 
much  pleased.  On  the  return  of  the  Indian,  his 
messenger,  he  went  to  meet  him  at  a  small  distantie, 
and  receiving  his  message,  returned  to  inform  the 
doctor,  that  it  was  the  wish  of  the  chief  that  his 
party  would  pay  him  a  visit,  assuring  them  of  his 
friendship.  The  doctor  and  his  men  were  at  first 
unwilling  to  comply,  fearing  some  untoward  conse- 
quence might  attend  the  acceptance  of  this  invita- 
tion :  at  length,  encouraged  by  the  assurances  their 
guest  gave  them  of  the  sincerity  of  the  chiePs  friend- 
ship, they  consented  to  visit  him,  determined  on  de- 
fending themselves  to  the  last  extremity,  in  case  any 
violence  was  offered.  They  marched,  attended  by 
all  the  Indians  that  had  come  out,  and  towards  six 
o'clock  reached  the  Indian  town,  and  were  con- 
ducted to  the  state  house,  where  the  chief  and  his 
war  captains  were  met  to  receive  them.  On  their 
entering  they  all  rose,  and  the  chief  placed  the 
doctor  near  him :  he  enquired  into  the  motives  of 
the  journey  of  his  party,  and  after  the  health  of  his 
brother,  meaning  the  governor  of  the  whites.  On 
receiving  the  doctor's  answer,  he  welcomed  him 
and  his  companions,  shaking  every  one  of  them  by 
the  hand,  assuring  them  of  his  great  regard,  and  of 
the  friendship  he    entertained   for  their   natiouy 


1730]  ,    '        THE  FIRST.  7 

Some  punch  was  made  for  the  chief  and  his  cap- 
tains, and  a  few  knives  and  glass  beads  were  pre- 
sented him,  which  proved  so  highly  acceptable 
that  he  gave  orders  to  all  his  people  to  treat  his 
guests  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  and  supply  them 
with  whatever  they  had  occasion  for,  while  they 
chose  to  tarry  among  them:  they  were  conducted 
to  one  of  the  chief's  houses,  which  had  been  pre- 
pared for  their  reception,  where  they  lay  upon 
benches,  covered  with  bear-skins.  The  Indians 
took  particular  care  of  their  horses,  and  supplied 
the  doctor  and  his  men,  with  venison,  wild  fowls, 
fish,  various  kinds  of  dried  fruit,  pulse  and  water, 
no  stronger  liquor  being  to  be  met  among  these 
people. 

The  chief's  houses  were  in  the  center  of  the 
town;  the  rest  of  the  buildings  being  erected  in  a 
confused  order,  without  any  regular  streets,  shops, 
or  any  handicraft  trade  being  found  among  men. 

The  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  doctor,  brought 
a  number  of  men  and  women  around  him,  and, 
also^  boys  and  girls,  who  were  stark  naked.  These 
would  come  to  the  white  people,  touch  their 
clothes  and  gaze  on  them,  with  admiration  and 
wonder. 

The  chief  endeavored  to  amuse  his  guests,  by 
making  men  and  women  dance  before  them,  and 
the  lads  shoot  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  perform 
their  warlike  exercises.  The  doctor  finding  him- 
self in  favor  with  liis  host,  requested  a  sight  of  h\^ 
quiogoson,  or  chtunelhou^e^  and  was  indulged;  hr 
observed  it  was  the  lar2;est  he  had  over  beheld. 


g  CHAFTEE  [ITSO 

Having  spent  two  days  in  town,  the  doctor  beg- 
ged the  chief  to  permit  him  to  depart,  uhich  was 
reluctantly  granted;  he  presented  him  with  a  bot- 
tle of  rum,  and  was  forced  to  accept,  in  return, 
some  venison,  Indian  corn  and  dried  fruit.  The 
Indians  accompanied  their  visitors  about  half  a 
mile  out,  and  *ook  leavf ,  wishing  them  health,  and 
entreating  them  to  call  again,  on  their  return.  The 
party  proceeded  west  ward  ly,  and  at  eve,  reached  the 
top  of  a  high  mountain,  where  they  halted.  They 
found  it  difficult  to  provide,  for  their  horses,  the  moss, 
which  had,  hitherto,  nourished  them,  not  being  to  be 
found  on  the  mountains.  They  made  a  large  fire, 
and  gathering  the  withered  leaves  together  for  their 
beds,  went  to  sleep.  The  next  morning,  they  started 
very  early,  and  setting  forward,  they  reached,  at  eve, 
the  western  side  of  the  first  ridge  of  mountains,  and 
got  into  an  even  beautiful  valley,  adorned  with  woods 
and  savannahs,  of  a  very  rich  soil.  Here  they  en- 
camped that  night,  after  having  made  the  longest  day's 
journey,  since  their  first  setting  out;  for  the  country 
they  had  traversed  was  barren,  and  destitute  of  run- 
ning water,  having  met  none  but  what  was  found  by 
chance,  in  the  hollow  narts  of  the  rocks,  which  was^ 
so  bad  that  the  horses  would  not  drink  it.  The  next 
morning,  they  set  forward,  with  great  cheerfulness, 
having  plenty  of  water  and  all  kinds  of  provisions. 
Th^y  met  with  an  Indian  in  the  woods,  who,  as  soon 
as  he  espied  the  party,  fled,  and,  notwithstanding  they 
endeavored,  by  calling  him,  and  making  signs,  to  in* 
to  induce  him  to  stop,  he  soon  disappeared.    After 


1730]  THE  FIRST.  b 

two  days'  journey,  they  reached  another  ridge  of 
rocky  mountains,  with  large  trees  in  several  places, 
and  little  or  no  pasture,  like  the  former;  much  higher, 
and  having  a  beautiful  prospect  of  large  woods  and 
forests,  as  far  as  the  sight  could  extend :  hence,  they 
returned  eastwardly  and,  in  thirty  two  days,  reached 
the  setdements  of  the  white  people. 

Early  in  the  month  of  April,  the  chief  warriors  of 
the  Cherokee  towns  met  Sir  Alexander  Cumming,  at 
the  place  appointed,  and  acknowledged  king  George, 
for  their  sovereign  lord,  and,  on  their  knees,  promised 
fidelity  and  obedience  to  him.  Sir  Alexander,  by 
their  unanimous  consent,  appointed  Moytoy,  comman- 
der in  chief  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  the  warriors 
of  the  different  tribes,  acknowledgea  him  for  their 
king,  and  promised  to  be  accountable  to  him,  for  their 
conduct.  Sir  Alexander  made  several  useful  presents 
to  the  Indians,  and  the  congress  broke  up  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  all.  The  crown,  or  diadem  of  the  nation, 
which  consisted  of  five  eagle-tails  and  four  scalps  of 
their  enemies,  was  brought  from  Tennessee,  their  chief 
town,  and  Moytoy  presented  it  to  Sir  Alexander,  de- 
siring him,  on  his  return,  to  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  his 
sovereign ;  but  at  his  request,  the  Indian  king  deputed 
six  of  his  warriors  to  carry  it  to  England,  and  there 
do  homage  with  it  to  the  king.  They  accompanied 
Sir  Alexander  to  Charleston  and  embarked  on  board 
the  Fox  ship  of  war. 

GoveriTor  Burrington  met  the  legislature,  according 
to  his  proclamation,  at  Edenton,  on  the  13th  of  April. 
In  his  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  he  inform- 
ed the  house,  he  had  the  king's  commands  to  recom- 

N.    CARO.    II.  2 


•    \ 


10  CHAPTER  ,  [1730 

mend  it  to  them,  to  settle  an  adequate  and  permanent 
revenue  on  the  king  and  his  heirs,  for  defraying  the 
necessary  charges  of  government  in  the  province ;  to 
allow  a  salary  to  his  governor,  suitable  to  the  dignity 
of  his  office ;  to  make  provision  for  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  members  of  the  king's  council  and  the 
house  of  assemblv,  and  the  emoluments  and  fees  of 
the  officers  employed  in  the  administration  of  justice. 
The  lower  house  did  not  recognize,  in  this  catalogue 
of  requisitions,  any  of  the  advantages,  which  the 
people  had  been  taught  would  attend  the  change  of 
ownership:  they  were  not  prepared  to  receive  it 
with  complacency,  and  but  litde  attention  was  paid 

thereto. 

Justice  now  began  to  be  administered  in  the  king^s 

name,  and  Cullen  Pollock,  George  Martin  and  Isaac 
Hill,  were  appointed  assistant  justices  of  the  supreme 
court.  Chief  justice  Smith  did  not  recognize  his 
American  brethren,  as  persons  whose  opinions  were 
to  have  nuich  influence  in  forming  the  judgment  of 
the  court.  He  contended  that,  as  his  commission 
gave  him  "full  power  to  hold  the  supreme  court  of 
the  province,"  he  needed  no  assistant  in  the  exercise 
of  that  power.  He  was  willing  to  allow  them  to  sit 
on  the  bench,  provided  they  would  confine  themselves 
to  yielding  their  advice,  as  the  master  of  the  rolls 
and  sometimes  the  chief  justice  of  England  assist  the 
lord  chancellor.  Perhaps,  his  displeasure  arose  from 
their  being  persons  appointed  by  governor  B  urrington 
between  whom  and  himself,  a  considerable  misunder- 
standing subsisted.  The  chief  justice  charged  the 
governor  with  attempts  to  screen  from  punishment, 
several  officers,  who  had  been  guilty  of  great  abuse 


17301  THE  FIRST.  li 

and  oppression,  tinder  the  late  administration,  and  he 
even  insinuated  that  the  governor  had  shared  the 
profits  of  their  ill  practices. 

O' '  the  31)th  of  June,  the  Fox  ship  of  war,  on  hoard 
of  which  Sir  Alexander  Cumming  and  ihe  six  Che- 
rokof?  chiefs  had  emlarked,  arrived  at  Dover.  They 
proceeded  to  London,  were  introduced  to  the  king, 
ani  laid  the  regalia  of  their  nation  at  the  foot  of 
the  ihroiie.  Considerable  presents  were  made  to 
them,  of  cloth,  guns,  shot,  vermillion,  flints,  hatchets, 
knives,  &:.c.  They  entered  into  a  treaty,  by  which 
they  submitted  themselves  and  their  people,  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  king  and  his  successors:  they  en- 
gaged not  to  suffer  their  people  to  trade  with  any 
other  nation  than  the  English,  nor  to  permit  white 
men  of  any  other  nation  to  build  forts  or  cabins,  or 
p'ant<"orri  among  the  n ;  and,  in  case  any  such  attempt 
was  made,  to  give  information  of  it,  to  the  king's  gov- 
ernor, and  do  whatever  he  would  direct,  for  the  main- 
tenance and  defenceof  the  king's  right  to  the  country. 
They  engag^ni  to  apprehend  runaway  negroes  and 
deliver  them  to  their  owners  or  the  governor;  a 
gun  and  watch-coat  were  agreed  to  be  given  them, 
for  every  negro  they  apprehended  and  brought  back. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  punishment  of  any  Eng- 
lishman killing  an  Indian,  and  the  surrender  of  any 
Indian  killing  an  Englishman,  was  stipulated.  They 
were  sent  back,  in  the  ship  which  had  brought  them, 
and  met  their  ccuntrymcn,  with  the  highest  idea  of 
the  power  and  greatness  of  the  English  nation,  and 
not  a  little  pleavSed  with  the  kind  and  generous  treat- 
zneui  they  received. 


Ifi  CHAPTER  [1731 

The  animosity  which  subsisted  between  chief  jus- 
tice Smith  and  governor  Burrington,  continuing  to 
increase,  the  former,  fearing  hkely  at  the  meeting  of 
the  council  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  that 
the  latter  would  exercise  the  power  he  had,  of  sus- 
pending him  from  his  seat  at  that  board,  sailed 
for  England,  with  private  instructions  from  the  coun- 
cil, and  laid  their  complaints  against  the  governor,  at 
the  foot  of  the  throne. 

At  the  third  session  of  the  parliament,  which  was 
convened  on  the  accession  of  George  II.  to  the  crown, 
a  statute,  of  importance  to  the  Carolinas,  was  passed. 
Rice  having  become  the  principal  staple  commodity  of 
the  southern  province,  ai>d  of  that  part  of  the  northern 
which  borders  on  the  river  Cape  Fear,  the  regulation 
which  required  that  species  of  produce  to  be  landt^d  in 
Great  Briiaii  ,  before  it  could  be  shipped  to  any  other 
part  of  Europe,  had  been  found  extremely  burden- 
some. This  commodity,  being  bulky,  could  not  well 
bear  a  double  freight,  and  the  circuitous  route  to  which 
it  was  confined,  before  it  could  reach  the  countries,  in 
which  there  was  the  greatest  demand  for  it,  often  pre- 
vented its  arrival  at  market,  in  as  seasonable  time,  and 
in  as  good  condition,  as  that  from  other  places,  less 
distant,  and  from  wi'ich,  it  was  more  immediately  ship- 
ped. To  remedy  this  evil,  permission  was  granted  to 
the  king's  subjects,  of  transporting  rice  from  the  Car- 
olinas, to  the  ports  of  E^urope,  to  the  southward  of 
cape  Finisterre,  in  vessels  built  in  Great  Britain,  or 
owned  by  the  king's  subjects,  residing  there,  navi- 
gated according  to  law,  and  clearing  out,  in  any  port 
of  Great  Britain,  for  the  Carolinas.  Persons  avail- 
ing themselves  of  tliis  facility,  were  compelled  to  give 


1731]  THE  FIRST.  13 

bonds  that  no  tobacco,  sugar,  cotton,  wool,  indigo,  dye 
woods,  molasses,  tar,  turpentine,  hemp,  masts,  yards, 
bowsprits,  copper  ore,  skins  or  fur,  would  be  exported 
with  the  rice. 

During  the  summer,  governor  Burrington  visited 
the  settlements  of  cap*-  Fear,  which  began  to  extend  to 
some  distance  along  the  stream  and  its  branches;  he 
returned  to  meet  the  legislature,  in  t'le  town  of  Eden- 
ton,  where  he  arrived  on  the  3d  of  NovembT,  He 
repeated  his  requisitions,  and  found  the  lower  house 
totall}-  unwilling  to  grant  them.  He,  shortly  after  their 
meeting,  prorogued  them,  observing  he  refrained  from 
laviniJ^  anv  business  before  them,  on  account  of  the 
indisposition,  which  they  manifested,  to  comply  with  the 
king's  wishes;  that  he  judged  it  improper  to  proceed 
upon  business  with  them,  until  he  received  the  king's 
cominands,  having  laid  before  him  the  undutiful  beha- 
viour of  the  lower  house  last  year,  and  concluded  by 
assuring  them  that,  in  the  mean  while,  he  would  take 
good  care  that  the  business  of  the  province  should  be 
faithfully  conducted,  and  good  order  preserved. 
,  The  Irish,  obtained  this  year,  a  statute  of  the  British 
parliament,  allowing  the  exportation  of  non-enumerated 
commodities,  from  the  king's  American  colonies  to 
Ireland. 

Rope-walks,  having  been  established  in  some  of  the 
northern  provinces,  and  most  of  their  shipping  being 
supplied  with  cordage  of  their  manufacture,  measures 
were  taken  in  parliament,  to  depress  th.se  rising  estab- 
lishments, and  it  was  enacted,  'hat  no  drawback  should 
be  allowed  on  foreign  unwrought  hemp,  exported  to 
the  American  colonies. 


14  CHAPTER  11732 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  November,  the 
precinct  of  Carteret,  was  divided  by  an  act  of  the  gov-^ 
ernor  in  council,  and  the  vi^estern  part  of  it  was  erected 
into  a  new  precinct,  called  Onslow,  in  honor  of  Arthur 
Onslow,  speaker  of  the  British  house  of  commons. 

With  a  view  to  the  farther  security  of  ti:e  province  of 
South  Carolina,  and  the  relief  of  indigent  people  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  settlement  of  a  ntw  pro- 
vince, between  the  rivers  Savannah  and  Alatamaha,  was 
projected  in  England.  Public  spirit  and  private  com- 
passion conspired  in  the  promotion  of  this  excellent 
design;  several  persons  of  humanity  and  opulerice 
united  and  formed  a  plan  for  raising  mont-v  for  trans- 
porting poor  families,  to  this  part  of  America,  and  on 
the  9th  of  June,  obtained  a  charter  of  incorporation: 
the  new  province  was  called  Georgia,  in  honor  of  tlie 
king,  who  greatly  favored  the  undertaking.  The  cor- 
poration, which  consisted  of  twenty -one  persons,  was 
styled  the  trustees  for  settling  and  establishing  the  colony 
of  Georgia. 

In  the  month  of  November,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
settlers,  led  by  James  Oglethorpe,  one  of  the  trustees, 
embarked,  at  Gravesend,  for  Georgia. 

The  facility  with  which  furs  were  procured  in  most 
of  the  American  provinces,  the  trifling  stock,  the  cheap 
apparatus,  which  are  required  in  the  manufacture  of  hats, 
had  induced  some  of  the  colonists  to  employ  their  time 
and  industry  in  this  branch  of  business.  Its  success 
had  been  considerable,  and  the  exportation  of  American 
made  hats,  to  the  West  India  islands,  Portugal  and 
Spain,  became  so  extensive  as  to  give  great  uneasiness 
to,  and  consequently  excite  the  clamours  of  the  com- 
pany of  hatters  in  London.     In  order  ^^to  check  the 


1733]  THE  FIRST.  -    15 

enterprising  spirit  of  the  Americans,  in  this  respectp 
parliament  forbade  the  exportation  of  hats  from  the  conti- 
nental provinces,  to  the  West  India  islands  and  from  one 
province  to  the  other,  and  made  other  severe  regulations: 
no  person  was  allowed  to  work  at,  or  carry  on,  this 
kind  of  manufacture,  without  having  served  an  appren- 
ticeship of  seven  years;  no  master  was  allowed  more 
than  two  apprentices  at  the  same  time,  or  to  employ 
any  negro.  The  statute  had  the  intended  effect,  it  consi- 
derably prevented  the  estabhshment  or  employment  of  hat 
manufactures  for  distant  sale,  and  confined  the  industry 
of  the  colonists,  in  this  respect,  to  very  narrow  limits. 
To  guard  against  the  partiality  of  a  jury  of  the  vicinage, 
the  heavy  penalties,  by  which  these  regulations  were 
enforced,  were  made  recoverable  in  any  of  the  provinces, 
or  in  any  part  of  Great  Britain,  in  which  the  defendant 
might  be  convicted,  or  the  goods  brought  and  seized. 

For  assisting  British  creditors,  in  the  recovery  of  the 
debts  due  them  in  America,  a  statute  was  passed  this 
year,  authorizing  the  admission  of  ex  parte  testimony, 
taken  before  t(  e  mayor,  or  chief  magistrate  of  any  city, 
borough,  or  town  corporate,  in  Great  Britain,  and  lands 
andjhouses  were  made  liable  to  seizure  and  sale,  as  goods 
and  chattels. 

Frederick  V.  of  Denmark,  purchased  the  island  of 
St  Croix,  from  Spain,  in  1733. 

In  the  month  of  April,  a  new  precinct  was  established, 
by  a  resolution  of  the  governor  and  council,  and  called 
Edgecombe,  and  in  the  month  of  October,  the  precinct 
of  New  Hanover  was  divided,  and  the  western  part  of 
it  erected  into  a  new  one,  by  the  name  of  Bladen, 
in  compliment  to  Martin  Bladen,  one  of  the  lords  com- 
missioners of  trade  and  plantations. 


16  CHAPTER  [1734 

In  the  spring,  chief  jubtice  Smith  returned  from 
England,  and  hoon  aitcr,  the  governor  took  his  depar- 
ture, under  the  pretence  of  a  visit  to  South  Carolina, 
from  whence  he  sailed  for  London,  in  the  month  of 
April.  The  administration  of  government  devolved  on 
Nathanial  Rice,  the  secretary  of  the  province,  who  was 
the  councillor,  first  named  in  the  kins^'s  instructions, 
as  president  and  commander  in  chief;  he  qualified  at 
Edenton,  on  the  17th  of  April. 

During  the  absence  of  the  chief  justice,  John  Palin, 
presided,  for  some  time,  in  the  supreme  court  of  the 
province,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  Little,  with 
whom,  John  Worley,  William  Owen,  Mackara  Scarbo- 
rough and  William  Badham,  sat  as  associate  justices. 

Great  Britain  took  no  part  in  the  war,  that  began  in 
1733,  between  France  and  Austria.  The  minister,  de- 
pending on  the  |)acific  temper  of  Cardinal  de  Fleury, 
whom  war  too  much  perplexed  by  the  difficulties  of  the 
time,  to  reap  too  great  an  advantage,  from  the  first 
succeess  of  the  French  arms. 


Chalmers — Brickie — History  qfS.  C.-^-Records. 


CHAPTER  II. 

President  Rice's  administration  was  of  very  short 
duration,  for,  during  the  summer,  Gabriel  Johnston  v/as 
appointed  governor  of  the  province. 

This  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  had  re- 
ceived his  education  in  the  universitv  of  St.  Andrews  : 

m 

he  had  spent  a  few  years  in  the  acquisition  of  medical 
knowledge,  and  soon  after  his  reachin.^  manhood,  was 
appointed  professor  of  the  oriental  languages,  in  the 
seminary  in  which  he  had  been  reared.  This  office  be- 
ing a  mere  sinecure,  he  removed  to  London,  where  he 
was  employed  in  writing  some  numbers  of  *'  The  Crafts- 
man," a  periodical  paper,  supported  by  the  ablest  po- 
litical writers  of  the  day,  (lord  Bollingbroke  and  Mr. 
Pultney  being  of  the  number,)  in  which  the  measures 
of  the  administration  were  attacked  with  equal  animosity 
and  argument.  On  the  succeeding  change  in  the  mi- 
nistry, governor  Johnston  had  obtained  his  appointment 
principally  through  the  recommendation  of  Spence 
Compton,  baron  of  Wilmington. 

He  arrived  in  the  river  of  Cupe  Fear  late  in  October ; 
on  the  second  day  of  November  he  took  the  oaths  of 
office,  at  the  court  house  of  the  precinct  ofNew  Hano- 
ver, in  the  town  of  Brunswick,  and  shortly  after  met 
the  legislature  at  Edcnton.  He  communicated  to  them, 
in  his  speech,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  king's  de- 

N.  CARO.    II.  3 


itr  CHAPITER  [1734 

sire,  that  provision  should  be  made  for  an  adequate 
and  permanent  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province,  and  for  a  fixed  salary  for  the  chief 
mnijistrate,  for  the  time  being. 

The  bills  of  ci  edit  which  had  been  emitted  in  1729, 
under  the  authority  of  the  lords  proprietors,  were  stamp- 
ed  and  exchanged,  and  their  future  circulation  limited  to 
a  period  of  ten  years ;  a  duty  on  liquors  was  laid,  for 
the  support  of  government ;  and  the  poll  tax,  on  the 
poorer  inhabitants  of  the  province,  was  lessened ;  the 
qualifications  of  the  electors  and  of  the  members  of  the 
lowtr  house  were  defined ;  new  regulations  were  made 
for  the  improvement  and  extension  of  roads ;  the  pre- 
cincts of  Onslow  and  Bliiden,  which  had  been  established 
by  an  order  of  the  late  governor  in  council,  were  con- 
firmed, and  a  grant  of  fourteen  thousand  pounds  was 
made  to  the  king,  for  the  service  of  the  province,  and 
for  the  more  immediate  payment  of  part  of  it,  an  emis- 
sion of  bills  of  credit,  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand 
pounds,  was  directed ;  provision  was  made  for  defray- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  council  and  assembly,  but  none 
for  the  support  of  the  chief  magistrate. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year,  a  court  of  ex- 
chequer was  established  :  it  held  its  first  session  at  New- 
ton, a  small  village  lately  built  on  Cape  Fear  river,  on 
the  13th  of  May  :  chief  justice  Smith  was  appointed 
chief  baron,  and  James  Innes  and  William  Forbes, 
baronso 

It  does  not  appear,  that  there  was  any  meeting  of  the 
legislature,  in  the  course  of  the  year  1735. 

The  war,  which  had  lately  commenced,  and  was  now 
carried  on  with  great  fury,  by  the  united  powers  of 
France,   Spain  and    Sardinia^    against    the   emperor, 


1735]  THE  SECOND.  19 

threatened  tlie  tranquility  of  the  other  Eurrpean  powers ; 
and  althoLi.ojh  the  king  of  Great  Britain  was  in  no  ways 
engas^ed  in  it,  his  subjects  could  not  be  regardless  of  the 
passing  events,  or  unconcerned  for  the  future  con^^e- 
quences  of  a  war,  undertaken  and  supported  by  so  pow- 
erful an  alliance.     The  situation  of  the  southern  British 
provinces  in  America,  excited  a  lively  degree  of  alarm; 
to  tlie  south  and  south-west  was  situated  the  strong 
castle  of  St.  Augustine,  garrisoned  by  four  hundred- 
soldiers,  who  had  several  nations  of  Indians  in  their  sub- 
jection, besides  several  other  settlements  or  garrisons, 
some  of  which  were  not  eighty  miles  distant  from  the 
l>rovince  of  Georgia.     To  the  south-west  and  west,  the 
French  had    erected  a   considerable  town,    near  fort 
Conde,  on  the  river  Mobile,  and  other  forts  and  garri- 
sons, some  not  above  three  hundred  miles  distant  from 
the  settlements  in  the  province  of  South  CaroUna,  and  at 
New  Orleans.     Since  the  conclusion  of  the  war  under 
queen  Anne,  they  had  increased  their  trade  and  traffic, 
and  had  now  many  forts  and  garrisons  on  both  sides  of 
the  Mississippi,  for  several  miles  up  that  river ;  and  since 
the  king  of  France  had  taken   the  government  of  the 
country  from  the  Mississippi  company,  the  French  from 
Canada  came  daily  down  in  shoals  to  settle  along  the 
river,   where   regular   forces  had   lately  been  sent    to 
strengthen  the  garrisons  ;  they  had  five  hundred  men  in 
pay,  constantly  employed  as  wood  rangers,  to  keep  their 
neighboring  Indians  m  subjection,  and  to  prevent  those 
at  a  distance  from  coming  on  and  destroying  their  settle- 
ments ;  they  had  been  so  successful  in  their  intrigues, 
that  they  had  completely  under  their  control  and  influ- 
ence the  numerous  nations  of  Indians  tliat  dwelt  near  the 
Mississippi;  one  of  them,  the  Choctaws,  who  were  al^ 


20  CHAPTER  [1735 

ways  deemed  a  very  warlike  people,  and  who  were  able 
to  bring  into  the  the  field  five  thousand  warriors,  was  at 
the  distance  of  four  hundred  miles  only  from  the  back 
settlements  in  the  province  of  South  Carolina ;  among 
them,  as  among  several  other  nations  of  Indians,  many 
French  Europeans  had  been  sent  to  settle,  and  were  en- 
couraged by  their  priests  and  missionaries  to  take  Indian 
wives,  and  other  alluring  means  were  used,  the  better 
to  attach  the  Indians  to  the  French  alliance.  Thus  the 
French  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  In- 
dian mode  of  living,  warring  and  dwelling  in  the  woods ; 
and  a  great  number  of  them  were  among  the  Indians, 
able  to  perform  a  long  march  with  an  army  of  those 
people,  upon  any  expedition. 

There  was  room  to  apprehend,  that,  in  case  the  mea- 
sures of  France  should  provoke  Great  Britain  to  a  state 
of  hostility  in  Europe,  the  French  and  Indians  on  the 
Mississippi  settlements,  would  invade  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia. 

They  had  already  paved  the  way  for  a  design  of  this 
nature,  by  erecting  a  fort,  called  the  Alabama  Fort,  or 
Fort  Toulouse,  in  the  middle  of  the  upper  Creek  Indians, 
upon  a  navigable  river  leading  to  Mobile,  which  they 
kept  well  garrisoned  and  mounted  with  fourteen  pieces 
of  cannon  ;  they  had  lately  attempted  to  build  one  nearer 
the  British  settlements.  The  upper  Creeks  were  a 
bold  and  active  nation,  and  had  about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred warriors ;  they  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  distant  from  the  Cherokees,  and  although  the  Bri- 
tish had  heretofore  traded  with,  and  looked  upon  them 
as  in  their  alliance,  yet  the  French,  on  account  of  the  fort, 
and  a  superior  ability  to  make  them  fiberal  presents,  had 
been  for  some  time  too  successfully  striving  to  draw 


1735]  THE  SECOND.  21 

them  to  their  interest,  and  had  effected  their  purpose 
with  some  of  the  towns  :  they  were  the  only  nation 
which  the  soutliern  provinces  could  consider  as  a  barrier 
against  tlie  attempts  of  the  French,  or  their  confederate 
Indians. 

Hitherto  the  French  at  Mobile,  unable  to  gain  the 
Indians  to  their  interest,  without  buying  their  deer  skins, 
the  only  commodity  which  the  Indians  had  to  procure  ne- 
cessities with,  and  having  no  means  of  disposing  of  them 
in  France,  had  found  means  to  encourage  vessels  from 
the  British  provinces,  particularly  from  New  York,  to 
truck  the  skins  with  them  for  Indian  trading  goods, 
especially  the  British  woollen  manufactures,  which  they 
disposed  of  to  the  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  other  Indians, 
by  this  means  alienating  them  more  easily  from  the  Bri- 
tish interest. 

Besides  the  many  dangers  to  which  the  southern  pro- 
vinces were  exposed,  from  so  many  enemies  in  rear 
of  their  settlements,  their  sea  coast  was  in  the  most 
defenceless  condition,  their  ports  and  harbors,  lying  open 
to  the  invasion  of  any  enemy  by  sea,  there  not  being  in 
any  of  them  a  fortification,  capable  of  making  much 
resistance. 

Governor  Oglethorpe,  having  brought  a  number  of 
heavy  guns  with  him,  began  to  fortify  the  province  of 
Georgia,  at  the  place  which  is  now  known  as  the  town 
of  Augusta,  he  erected  a  fort  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
Savannah,  excellently  situated  for  protecting  the  Indian 
trade,  and  holding  treaties  with  several  of  the  nations  of 
the  Indians ;  on  an  island,  near  the  river  Alatamaha,  ano- 
ther fort  with  four  bastions  was  erected,  and  several 
pieces  of  cannon  mounted  in  it ;  the  place  was  called 
Fredcrica ;  ten  miles  nearer  the  sea,  a  battery  was  raised, 


CHAPTER  [1736 

commanding  the  entrance  of  the  sound,  through  which 
all  armed  vessels  must  come,  that  might  be  sent  against 
Frederica.  To  keep  garrisons  in  these  forts,  and  reim- 
burse the  expenses  of  their  erection,  parliament  made  a 
grant  of  ten  thousand  pounds. 

While  governor  Oglethorpe  was  thus  employed  in 
fortifying  the  province  under  his  command,  he  received 
a  mes«iage  from  the  Spanish  governor  at  St.  Augustine, 
acquainting  him  that  a  commission  from  the  king  of 
Spain  had  arrived  there  from  Spain,  in  order  to  make 
certain  demands  of  him,  and  would  meet  him  at  Fre- 
derica, for  that  purpose.  A  few  days  after,  the  com- 
missioner came  to  Georgia  by  water,  and  governor 
Oglethorpe,  unwilling  to  permit  him  to  proceed  to 
Frederica,  sent  a  sloop  to  convey  him  to  Jekyl  sound. 
Here  he  unfolded  the  object  of  his  mission;  it  was  to 
summon  the  governor,  in  the  name  of  the  king  of 
Spain,  to  evacuate  the  country,  to  the  thirty-third  de- 
gree of  north  latitude,  which  his  master  claimed,  and  to 
which  he  was  determined  to  maintain  his  right.  The 
governor  endeavored  to  convince  him  that  the  king  had 
been  misinformed,  but  to  no  purpose:  the  instructions 
of  the  commissioner  were  peremptory,  and  the  confer- 
ance  broke  up  without  their  coming  to  any  agreement. 

Governor  Johnston  met  the  legislature  on  the  21st 
day  of  September,  in  the  town  of  Edenton.  In  ad- 
dressing the  houses,  he  began  by  bewailing  the  deplora- 
ble situation  of  the  province,  in  which  no  provision  ex- 
isted for  keeping  up  the  sense  and  awe  of  the  Deity  on 
the  minds  of  the  people,  nor  any  care  was  taken  to  in- 
spire the  youth  with  generous  sentiments,  worthy 
principles,  or  the  least  tincture  of  literature — in  which 
the  laws  were  diffused  up  and  down,  in  different  places, 


1736]  THE  SECOND.  23 

on  loose  papers,  many  of  them  contradictory,  others 
unintelligible,  appearing  under  ridiculous  titles,  couch- 
ed in  a  childish  style,  and  offending  the  common  rules 
of  grammar.  He  observed,  that  from  the  best  and 
plainest  of  these  laws,  the  vilest  malefactors,  not  only- 
might,  but  did  actually  escape,  with  impunity,  on  ac- 
count of  the  insufficiency  of  the  jails.  He  besought 
the  members  of  both  houses,  to  consider  themselves 
as  the  representatives  of  such  a  country,  possess- 
ing the  power  and  means,  and  earnestly  solicited  to 
remedy  these  calamities,  an'd  then  laying  their  hands  on 
their  hearts,  think  how  they  could  answer  it  to  God  and 
their  own  consciences,  if  they  neglected  the  opportunity 
of  relieving  the  province,  or  suffered  themselves  to  be 
diverted  from  it  by  the  arts  of  designing  men.  He 
complained  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  militia  law,  and 
recommended  to  the  consideration  of  the  houses,  the 
propriety  of  giving  encouragement  to  a  direct  trade  with 
Great  Britain. 

He  complained  of  notorious  untruths  and  impudent 
falsehoods,  which,  with  a  design  of  keeping  the  country 
in  confusion,  had  been  industriously  propagated  by  a 
party,  remarkable  for  nothing  more  than  their  indefatiga- 
ble efforts  in  spreading  the  basest  calumnies,  and  for  their 
want  of  shame  when  detected.  He  flattered  himself,  he 
had  no  occasion  to  say  much  on  this  subject,  because 
it  was  pretty  well  known,  that  if  those  men  had  been 
permitted,  as  in  former  times,  to  injure  the  king's  reve- 
nue, and  oppress  their  fellow  subjects,  the  province 
would  not  have  been  troubled  with  their  complaints. 
He  wished  every  planter  would  bring  the  matter  home 
to  himself,  make  the  case  his  own,  and  suppose  that  in 
the  kte  times,  when  no  Jegal  title  could  be  obtained? 


24  CHAPTER  V  inSG 

he  had  sat  down  widi  his  family  on  a  vacant  tract  of  land, 
and  with  great  expense  and  labor,  built  upon  and  culti- 
i^oted  it  for  several  years,  and  after  all  a  person  (unac- 
quainted, perhaps,  with  the  bounds  of  the  tract,  but  by 
the  survey  the  occupant  had  paid  for)  and  with  an  inso- 
lent air,  by  virtue  of  a  patent,  which,  likely,  a  few  hours 
before  was  a  blank  sheet  of  paper,  rob  him  of  his  land, 
and  of  the  fruit  of  his  labor  of  so  many  years.     After 
asking  whether  there  would  not  be  just  and  real  cause 
of  complaint,  against  a  government  which  would  con- 
nive at  proceedings  like  these ;  he  observed,  that  the  case 
he  had  put,  was  not  an  hypothesis,  but  had  actually 
happened  several  times,  and  no  one  could  tell  how  often 
it  would  have  happened,  if  a  seasonable  stop  had  not 
been  put  to  it.    He  said  that,  for  his  own  part,  he  thought 
he  might  say,  without  vanity  or  ostentation,  that  he  had 
been  at  great  expense,  and  even  risked  his  health,  to  do 
justice  to  the  people,  by  going  on  the  spot  to  hear  their 
different  pretentions,  and,  on  all  occasions,  relieving  the 
poor  industiious  planter,  from   the  oppression  of  his 
more  powerful  and  crafty  neighbor;  and  as  he  heartily 
despised  the  poor,  trifling  efforts  of  those  men,  to  his  pre- 
judice, as   well  as  the   scandalous  method  they   took 
to  make  them  effectual,    if  any    artifice  should  pre- 
vail with  the  houses,  to  lose  this  favorable  opportu- 
nity of  settling  the  country,  he  would  still  have  the 
satisfaction  of  reflecting,  that  he  had  performed  his  duty. 
He  conciu.led  by  observing,  that  as  he  had  been  obliged 
by  his  instructions,  vigorously  to  maintain  the  rights 
and  just  revenue  of  the  crown,  he  should  be  glad,  on 
all  occasions,  to  show  a  tender  re^c^ard  for  the  privileges, 
happiness  and  liberties  of  the  people,  not  being  appre- 
hensive, that  they  were  in  the  least  inconsistent  with  one 


1737]  THE  SECOND.  25 

N. 

another.  The  address  of  the  upper  house  echoed  the 
sentiments  in  the  speech;  the  members  did  not,  how 
ever,  all  approve  of  it;  two  out  of  six,  Cullen  Pol- 
lock and  Edward  Moseley,  prayed  leave  to  enter  their 
protest  against  the  address,  but  the  house  did  not  allow 
it.  The  address  of  the  lower  house  has  not  reached  us, 
it  is  believed  to  have  been  of  a  different  complexion; 
both  houses  continued  in  session  during  three  weeks, 
withoutany  bill  of  importance  being  introduced.  On  the 
12th  of  October,  the  governor  came  to  the  upper  house, 
and  sent  a  message  to  command  the  attendance  of  the 
lower;  they  declined  coming  up,  and  the  message  was 
reiterated,  without  success.  The  governor  then  pro- 
rogued the  legislative  body,  without  having  had  any 
bill  presented  for  his  assent. 

A  considerable  contraband  trade  was  carried  on  by 
the  British  American  colonies,  with  the  Spanish  do- 
minions; remonstrance  having  been  often  made,  with- 
out success,  the  court  of  Madrid  increased  their  guar- 
das  costas,  and  the  most  rigorous  orders  were  given  to 
the  officers  commanding  tliem.  In  consequence  of 
these,  British  vessels  were  often  stopped,  carried  into 
Spanish  ports,  sometimes  detained  for  examination, 
and  at  others  condemned.  A  committee  of  the  mer- 
chants of  London,  trading  to  America,  presented  a  pe- 
tition to  the  king,  beseeching  his  interference  in  this 
respect. 

With  a  view  to  give  encouragement  to  British  man- 
ufactures, parliament  passed  a  statute  requiring  every 
vessel,  built  in  America,  to  be  supplied,  on  her  first 
sailing  out,  with  a  complete  suit  of  sails,  made  of  Bri- 
tish sail  cloth 

N.    CARO.    II.  4 


26  CHAPTER  [1738 

This  year,  commissioners  appointed  by  the  legisla- 
tures of  North  and  South  Carolina,  began  to  run  the 
dividing  line  between  the  two  provinces.  The  king 
had  fixed  its  beginning  at  the  north-east  end  of  Long 
bay,  and  directed  it  to  run  thence,  north- west wardly,  to 
the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  thence, 
west  wardly,  to  the  south  sea.  It  was  run  to  the  dis- 
tance of  sixty -four  miles,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  eas- 
tern and  northwestern  frontiers  of  the  lands  of  the  Ca- 
tawbas  and  Cherokees,  should,  till  the  line  was  further 
extended,  be  considered  as  the  dividing  line  of  the  pro- 
vinces. 

The  extension  of  the  population  of  the  province,  to* 
wards  its  southern  boundary,  and  the  width  of  Albe- 
marle sound,  rendering  the  attendance  of  the  members 
of  the  legislature  at  Edenton,  inconvenient,  the  general 
assembly  was  convened  at  Newbern,  on  the  sixth  of 
March. 

A  poll  tax  of  five  shillings  per  head  on  all  the  tithe- 
able  inhabitants  of  the  province  was  granted  to  the 
king,  and  regulations  were  adopted  to  prevent  frauds  in 
the  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes.  Two  thousand 
pounds  sterling  were  appropriated  for  the  building  of  a 
jail  and  also,  an  office,  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  records 
of  the  general  court,  in  the  town  of  Edenton,  and  for 
the  repairing  the  court-house;  circuit  courts  were  ap- 
pointed to  be  holden  in  the  town  of  Newbern  and 
village  of  Newton,  on  the  river  of  Cape  Fear.  An  act 
was  passed  for  providing  a  rent  roll  and  securing  the 
king's  rents,  for  the  remission  of  the  arrears  of  quit 
rents,  for  quieting  the  inhabitants  in  their  possessions, 
and  for  promoting  the  better  settlement  of  the  province; 
k  was,  however,  repealed  by  the  king's  order  in  council. 


i738]  THE  SECOND.  2.T 

The  population  of  the  province  having  much  increased, 
and  btm^  spread  through  a  vast  territory,  often  in  dis- 
tinct settlements,  scattered  at  a  great  distance  from  each 
other,  and  sometimes  separated  by  a  trackless  wild,  the 
inconvenience  of  having  the  fiscal  affairs,  and  the  minis- 
terial duties  in  the  judicial  department,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  single  individual,  began  to  be  severely   felt. 
His  deputies  not  only  often  neglected,  but  at  times  ab- 
solutely refused,   to  perform  their  duties;    their  con- 
duct in  many  other  respects,  occasioned  great  murmurs, 
discontents    and  a  delay  of  justice,  greatly  injurious 
to  the  tranquility  and  prosperity  of  the  province.     This 
evil  was  remedied  by  the  abolition  of  the  office  of  pro- 
vost marshal  of  the  province,  which  Robert  Helton,  a 
member  of  the  king's  council,  had  held  since  the  arrival 
of  governor  Burrington:  the  loss  which  this  gentleman 
was  to  sustain,  by  the  abolition  of  his  office,  was  com- 
pensated by  a  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds  sterhng. 
The  primary  division  of  the  province,  into  the  three 
counties,    Albemarle,  Bath  and   Clarendon,  was  abo- 
lished, and  the  precincts  were  denominated  counties; 
a  sheriff  was  directed  to  be  appointed  in  each,  chosen  by 
the  governor  out  of  three   persons,  recommended  by 
the  county  court,  out  of  their  own  body;  the  office 
was  made  biennial.     Provision  was  made  for  facilitating 
the  navigation  of  the  principal  rivers,  for  placing  buoys 
and  beacons  in  the  main  channels,  and  procuring  skilful 
pilots;  regulations  were  adopted   for  the  preservation 
of  game,  and  the  destruction  of  vermin;  a  town  was 
established  on  the  west  side  of  Matchapungo  river,  in 
the  county  of  Hyde  and  called  Woodstock. 

As  the  sovereigns  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  were 
both  anxious  lor  peace,  their  differences  were  soon  ad- 


2a  CHAPTER.  [1739 

justed,  and  a  preliminary  treaty  was  signed  in  London, 
on  the  9th  of  September,  Spain  agreeing  to  pay  ninety- 
live  thousand  pounds  sterling,  as  a  compensation  for 
the  depredations,  committed  by  her  subjects  on  the  com- 
merce of  Great  Britain  in  America.  Whether  the  Span- 
ish minister  had  deviated  from  his  instructions,  or  whe- 
ther, as  is  more  likely,  the  cabinet  of  Madrid,  seeing  the 
facility  with  which  that  of  London  had  yielded  to  an  ac- 
commodation, repented  of  its  too  easy  concession,  and 
sought  to  obtain  better  terms,  Philip,  in  ratifying  the 
treaty,  insisted,  as  an  indispensable  condition  of  his  sig-* 
nature,  that  the  sum  of  sixty-eight  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  which  were  due  him  by  the  British  company 
of  the  Assiento,  should  be  accepted  in  part  of  that,  stipu- 
lated by  the  treaty. 

The  court  of  London  complained  of  this  condition, 
as  an  infidelity  ;  and  after  the  reproaches  usual  on  such 
a  circumstance,  a  new  negotiation  was  begun  on  the 
10th  of  January  :  it  concluded  by  a  vague  agreement, 
that  in  case  the  companv  of  the  Assiento  should  not  sa- 
tisfy the  Catholic  king,  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  sus- 
pend their  privilege,  and  four  days  after,  a  treaty  was 
signed  at  the  Pardo,  by  which  it  was  agreed,  that  until 
measures  could  be  taken  to  conciliate  the  interest  of  the 
two  nations,  and  ascertain  the  true  boundary  between 
the  provinces  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  that 
of  Florida,  all  acts  of  hostility  should  cease  in  America, 
and  that  neither  the  Spanish  nor  the  English  would  erect 
any  fortification  on,  or  occupy  any  new  part  of  the  dis- 
puted ground :  the  king  of  Spain  promised  to  pay  eighty- 
five  thousand  pounds  within  four  months,  and  the  king 
of  Great  Britain  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  his  subjects  on 
Spain,  for  spoliation.    These  terms  excited  a  genera! 


1739]  THE  SECOND.  29 

indignation  in  England ;  the  merchants  exclaimed  against 
the  smallness  of  the  sum,  and  the  nation,  trusting  on  her 
strength,  hoped  to  be  able  to  reduce  Spain  to  allow  a 
continuance  of  what  she  called  an  illicit  trade.  Parlia- 
ment, biassed  by  the  general  wish,  seemed  disposed  to 
contest  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  in  making  peace 
or  war. 

The  ministry,  intimidated,  discovered  no  other  means 
of  calming  the  public  mind,  than  a  seeming  dereliction  of 
the  treaty  of  the  Pardo  :  they  suffered  to  remain  in  the 
Mediterranean,  the  fleet  which  had  been  agreed  to  be 
withdrawn,  and  instead  of  giving  orders  for  the  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities  in  America,  dispositions  were  made 
for  sending  new  forces  thither.  As  every  thing  announced 
an  approaching  war,  Philip  was  in  no  hurry  in  making 
the  stipulated  payment,  and  George,  pleased  with  a  pre- 
tence to  gratify  his  subjects,  complained  of  an  infraction 
which  was  so  welcome  to  him,  and  pretending  great 
anger,  granted  letters  of  marque  against  Spain. 

No  business  of  importance  came  before  the  general 
assembly,  which  was  convened  at  Newbern,  earlv  in  the 
year.  Newton,  a  small  village,  conveniently  situated 
near  the  confluence  of  the  two  branches  of  Cape  Fear 
river,  where  several  merchants  and  tradesmen  had  set- 
tled, invited  by  the  depth  of  the  water,  which  allowed 
the  approach  of  vessels  of  considerable  burden,  was 
now  established  as  a  town,  and  the  name  of  it  altered  to 
that  of  Wilmington,  in  compliment  to  the  earl  of  Wil- 
mington, the  nobleman  to  whose  protection,  it  has  been 
observed,  governor  Johnston  was  chiefly  indebted  for 
his  office.  The  privilege  of  sending  a  member  to  the 
lower  house  of  the  legislature  was  extended  to  the  new 
town :  the  collector  and  naval  officers  of  Port  Bruns- 


30  CHAPTER  [1740 

wick,  the  clerk  of  the  court,  and  the  register  of  the 
county  of  New  Hanover,  were  directed  to  remove  their 
offices  thither. 

A  formal  declaration  of  war  against  Spain,  was  signed 
by  the  king  on  the  19th  of  October,  and  four  days  after 
was  proclaimed  with  great  solemnity  throughout  the 
city  of  London.  Admiral  Vernon  was  sent  to  take  the 
command  of  a  squadron  on  the  West  India  station, 
with  orders  to  act  offensively  against  the  Spanish  do- 
minions in  that  quarter,  and  governor  O.^iethorpe  was 
directed  to  annoy  the  subjects  of  Spain  in  Florida,  by 
every  means  in  his  power  :  he  immediately  determined 
on  an  expedition  against  St.  Augustine,  and  communi- 
cated his  design  to  lieutenant  governor  Bull  of  South 
Carolina,  and  governor  Johnston.  The  former  laid 
the  plan  before  the  legislature  of  his  province,  which  was 
then  in  session :  they  voted  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  for  the  service  of  the  war,  and  a  regi- 
ment of  four  hundred  men  was  raised,  partly  by  gover- 
nor Bull  in  that  province,  recruits  being  made  in  North 
Carolina  under  the  auspices  of  governor  Johnston,  and 
in  the  province  of  Virginia  under  those  of  governor 
Gooch;  colonel  Vanderdussen  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  this  regiment.  Indians  were  sent  for  from 
the  different  tribes  in  alliance  with  the  British,  and  Vin- 
cent Price,  who  commanded  the  ships  of  war  on  this 
station,  furnished  four  twenty  gun  ships  and  two  sloops. 
Governor  Oglethorpe,  having  appointed  the  mouth  of 
St.  John's  river  for  the  place  of  general  rendezvous,  re- 
turned to  Georgia,  and,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  own  regiment,  on  the  9th  of  May  passed  over  to 
Florida ;  on  the  following  day  he  infested  fort  Diego, 
at  the  distance  of  twenty. five  miles  from  St.  Augustine ; 


1740]  THE  SECOND.  ^1 

after  a  short  resistance,  the  commanding  officer  capitu- 
lated, and  lieutenant  Dunbar,  being  left  in  the  fort  with  a 
small  garrison,  the  governor  proceeded  to  the  place  of 
rendezvous,  where  he  was  joined  by  colonel  Vander- 
dussen's  regiment,  and  a  company  of  Highlanders  under 
captain  Mlntosh :  but,  before  this  time,  six  Spanish  half 
galleys  with  long  brass  nine  pounders,  and  two  sloops 
laden  with  provisions,  had  arrived  at  St.  Augustine,  and 
the  army,  now  consisting  of  a  little  more  than  two  thou- 
sand men,  regulars,  provincials  and  Indians,  mov^ed  to  fort 
Moosa,  within  two  miles  of  St.  Augustine.     On  its 
approach,  the  garrison  abandoned  the  fort  and  retreated 
into  the  town  ;  the  goveanor  burnt  the  gates  of  the  fort, 
made  three  breaches  in  its  walls,  and  advanced  towards 
the  town  and  castle  ;  he  soon  discovered  that  an  attack 
by  land  upon  the  town  was  impracticable,  and  that  an 
attempt  to  storm  the  castle  would  be  precarious  and 
dangerous  ;  the  enemy  was  too  well  prepared  to  receive 
him ;  during  his  stay  at  Fort  Diego,  they  had  drove  all 
the  cattle  from  the  woods  around  the  place,  into  the 
town  ;  the  garrison  consisted  of  seven  hundred  regulars, 
two  troops  of  horse,  besides  the  militia  of  the  province, 
two  companies  of  armed  negroes  and  some  Indians. 
The  castle,  built  of  soft  stone,  had  four  bastions,  a  cur- 
tain sixty  yards  long,  and  a  parapet  nine  feet  thick  ;  the 
rampart,  which  was  twenty  feet  high,  was  casemated  un- 
derneath for  lodgings,  arched  over,  and  newly  made 
bomb  proof;  fifty  pieces  of  cannon,  a  number  of  them 
twenty-four   pounders,  were  mounted  ;  the  town  was, 
besides,  entrencl)ed  with  ten  salient  angles,  on  each  of 
which  some  small  cannon  were  placed. 

In  these  circumstances,  it  was  resolved,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  ships,  to  turn  the  siege  into  si  blockade. 


32  CHAPTER  [1740 

and  shut  up  every  channel  by  which  provisions  could 
reach  the  garrison.     Accordingly,  colonel  Palmer,  with 
ninety-five  Highlanders  and  forty-two  Indians,  was  left 
at  fort  Moosa,  and  directed  to  scour  the  woods  and  in- 
tercept all  supplies  from  the  country  by  land ;    colonel 
Vanderdussen,  with  the  Carolina  regiment,  was  sent  to 
take  possession  of  point  Quarsel,  about  a  mile  distant 
from  the  town,  and  erect  a  battery  ;  while  the  governor, 
^vith  his  party  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  Indians,  land- 
ed  on  the   island  of  Anastasia  ;  hence  he  resolved  on 
storming   the  town  ;  captain   Green,  with  one  of  the 
ships,  guarded  the  passage  by  the  way  of  the  Matanzas, 
and  with  ihe  rest  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  so  as  to  cut 
off  all  supplies  by  sea;  batteries  were  erected  on   the 
island,  and  cannon  mounted.     These  dispositions  being 
made,  the  governor  thought  himself  in  a  situation  to 
summon  the  place  to  surrender,  but  the  Spanish  com- 
mander returned   for  answ^er,   he  would  gladly  shake 
hands  with  him  in  the  castle.     On  this,  the  governor 
opened  his  batteries  against  the  castle,  throwing  at  the 
same  time  a  number  of  shells  into  the  town :  his  fire 
was  spiritedly  returned  from  the  castle  and  half  galleys, 
but  the  distance  wsls  so  great,   that  though  the  cannon- 
ade was  continued  on  both  sides  for  several  days,  very 
little  execution  was  done.     It  ^vas  thought  of  destroy- 
ing the  half  galleys  by  a  nightly  attack,  but  on  sounding 
the  bar,  it  appeared  impracticable  to  employ  the  large 
ships,  and  the  galleys  being  covered  by  tha  cannon  of  the 
castle,  to  send  small  vessels  on  this  service  appeared  too 
rash.     A  detachment  of  three  hundred  Spaniards  sallied 
out  and  surprised  colonel  Palmer's  party  at  fort  Moosa, 
and  cut    them  almost  entirely  to  pieces :  some  of  the 
Chickasaw  Indians,  in  escaping,  met  with  a  Spaniard, 


8740]  THE  SECOND,  S3 

and  according  to  their  mode  of  warfare,  cut  off  his  head, 
brought  it  to  the  camp  and  presented  it  to  governor 
OiTlethorpe :  he  called  them  barbarous  dogs,  and  angrily 
bid  them  be  gone.  This  treatment,  more  humane  thaa 
politic,  exasperated  the  Indians,  who  loudly  complained 
of  it,  observing,  that  if  one  of  them  had  carried  the  head 
of  an  Englishman  to  the  Spanish  commander,  he  would 
have  been  differently  received.  The  vessels  stationed 
at  Matanzas  being  ordered  off,  some  small  vessels 
from  Havana,  with  troops  and  provisions,  passed 
through  that  small  channel  to  the  relief  of  the  garrison  : 
some  Spanish  prisoners,  taken  soon  after,  reported,  that 
this  reinforcement  consisted  of  seven  hundred  men,  and 
the  supply  of  provisions  was  ample. 

The  governor  now  despaired  of  forcing  the  place  to 
surr^rrler:  his  men  were  dispirited  by  sickness,  enfee» 
bled  by  heat  and  fatigued ;  his  Indians  grew  trouble- 
some, the  navy  was  short  of  provisions,  and  the  season 
cf  hurricanes  was  approaching.  Any  farther  attempt 
appearing  hopeless,  the  siege  was  raised,  and  the  gover- 
nor reached  Frederica  on  the  10th  of  July, 

At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  on  the  21st  of  Au- 
gust,  in  the  town  of  Edenton,  governor  Johnston  com- 
municated to  the  two  houses  the  instructions  which  he 
had  lately  received,  to  enlist  men  in  the  king's  servicCp 
and  to  apply  to  the  legislature  for  aid,  it  being  expect- 
ed that  the  troops,  thus  raised,  would  be  at  the  expense 
of  the  province,  transported  to  the  West  Indies,  to  join 
other  troops  sent  thitlier,  on  an  intended  expedition 
against  the  Spaniards,  and  pressed  them  to  manifest 
their  loyalty  and  duty  to  their  sovereign,  by  a  cheerful 
compliance  with  his  desire :  he  added,  that  in  compli- 

N.  CARO.  lu      5 


34  CHAPTER  [1740 

ance  with  his  instructions,  he  had  already  enlisted  four 
hundred  men. 

The  lower  house  readily  consented  to  the  measure, 
and  early  entered  on  the  consideration  of  the  means  by 
which  a  fund  could  be  raised  for  this  service.  The  po- 
verty of  the  people  and  the  great  scarcity  of  a  circula- 
ting medium  rendered  it  impossible  to  collect  a  sum  of 
m.oney,  sufficient  for  this  purpose  :  a  levy  in  the  com- 
modities of  the  country  appeared  to  be  the  only  effec- 
tual expedient :  accordingly,  a  poll  tax  of  three  shillings 
proclamation  money  was  laid,  to  bfe  paid  in  tobacco, 
rice,  Indian  dressed  skins,  beeswax,  tallow,  pork  and 
beef:  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  province,  hereto- 
fore called  Albemarle  county^  were  allowed  to  discharge 
it  at  their  option,  in  bills  of  credit,  at  the  rate  of  seven 
pounds  ten  shillings  for  one  pound  in  proclamation 
money. 

As  the  extreme  scarcity  of  money  rendered  it  diffi- 
cult to  pay  taxes,  and  as  the  bills  of  credit  in  circulation 
were  to  cease  to  be  current  within  four  years,  the  facili- 
ty of  paying  in  the  same  commodities  was  extended  to 
the  discharge  of  taxes,  fines  and  forfeitures.  Ware- 
houses, for  receiving  the  commodities  were  directed  to 
be  built  in  each  county. 

With  a  view  to  give  greater  encouragement  to  settlers 
in  the  American  provinces,  an  act  of  parliament  was  this 
year  passed,  extending  all  the  privileges  of  natural  sub- 
jects, in  the  colonies,  to  such  aliens,  who,  after  a  resi- 
dence of  seven  years,  should  take  the  oaths  of  abjuration^ 
and  fidelity  and  receive  the  sacrament,  in  some  protest- 
ant  or  reformed  congregation.  The  statute  excuses 
Quakers  and  Jews  from  the  last  formalitv. 


17411  ,        THE  SECOND.  35 

The  statute,  allowing  bounties  on  the  importation  into 
Great  Britain  of  naval  stores,  masts,  &c.  from  the  Ame- 
rican provinces,  which  was  about  to  expire,  was  con- 
tinued for  the  further  period  of  ten  years. 

In  April,  1740,  the  merchants  of  Great  Britain, 
trading  to  America,  complained  to  the  house  of 
commons,  of  the  inconvenience  and  discouragement 
brought  on  the  British  commerce,  in  America,  by 
the  excessive  quantities  of  paper  money  then  issued, 
and  the  depreciated  condition  thereof,  for  want  of 
proper  funds  to  support  its  credit.  The  house,  by 
way  of  palliation,  addressed  the  throne,  to  put  a 
temporary  stop  to  the  evil,  by  instructing  the  gover- 
nors not  to  give  their  assent  to  any  further  laws  of 
that  nature,  without  an  express  proviso,  that  it 
should  not  take  effect,  until  the  king's  approbation 
was  first  obtained. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  the  four  hundred  men  en- 
listed in  the  province  were  transported  to  Jamaica  : 
they  were  embarked  there  on  board  of  the  fleet,  under 
the  orders  of  admiral  Vernon.  This  expedition  had  not 
the  success  w^hich  was  expected,  and  which  the  superi- 
ority of  the  forces,  employed,  seemed  to  promise.  In 
the  month  of  March,  the  British  troops  possessed  them- 
selves of  near  all  the  forts  and  batteries  which  defended 
the  harbor  of  Carthugena,  and  on  the  9th  of  April,  a 
grand  attack  was  made  on  fort  St.  Lazarus  :  it  however 
proved  unsuccessful.  This  misfortune,  being  followed 
by  a  great  mortalitv  among  the  officers  and  soldiers,  the 
siege  was  raised  and  the  troops  re -embarked  on  die  16th. 
However,  all  the  castles  and  forts  which  guarded  the 
harbor  were  demolished  ;  six  ships  of  war,  as  many  gal- 
Icons,  and  all  the  other  ships  in  the  harbor,  were  burnt 


m  CHAPTER  '  [174$ 

or  destroyed,  and  many  hundred  guns  carried  away  or 
rendered  useless. 

The  legislature  met  at  Edenton  early  in  the  spring ; 
its  attention  was  taken  up  by  objects  of  internal  policy. 
The  county  of  Edgecombe,  which  had  been  erected  by 
an  order  of  governor  Burrington  in  council,  was  con- 
firmed by  law  ;  a  town  was  established  on  Mittam  point, 
on  the  south  side  of  New  river,  in  the  county  of  Ons- 
low, to  which,  in  compliment  to  the  governor,  the  name 
of  Johnston  was  eiven  ;  an  ecclesiastical  division  of  the 
province  into  fourteen  parishes  took  place,  and  the  elec- 
tion of  churchwardens  and  vestrymen  was  regulated ;  pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  erection  of  churches  and  procu- 
ring ministers ;  an  act  was  passed,  accurately  defining 
the  rights  and  duties  of  master  and  servant,  for  the  ap- 
prehension of  fugitives,  and  the  trial  and  punishment  of 
slaves,  and  some  restraint  was  laid  on  the  emancipation 
of  them. 

Few  sessions  of  the  legislature  had  ever  been  pro- 
ductive of  so  many  useful  acts ;  laws  were  made  con- 
cerning marriages ;  to  prevent  usury  ;  to  ascertain  the 
damages  on  foreign  bills ;  for  the  suppression  of  immo- 
rality :  jvthe  improvement  of  roads  and  inland  navigation  ; 
to  prevent  the  stealing  of  cattle,  boats  and  canoes ;  the 
regulation  of  weights  and  measures ;  the  speedy  and 
cheap  trial  of  small  causes ;  the  regulation  of  taverns 
and  restraint  of  tipphng  houses ;  and  the  relief  of  pri- 
soners. 

The  setdements  on  Cape  Fear  river  had  become 
so  considerable,  that  in  the  latter  part  of  this  year, 
the  legislature  was  convened  at  Wilmington  :  the  ses- 
aon  was  but  of  short  duration :  the  county  of  Bertie 
was  divided,  and  the  upper  part  of  it  established  as  a 


1742]  THE  SECOND.  37 

new  county,  to  which  the  name  of  North  Hampton  was 
given  ;  an  agt  was  passed  for  establishing  ports,  or  places 
of  delivery  and  shipping  of  merchandize,  imported  or 
exported;  and  to  prevent  the  clandestine  running  of 
goods,  which  was  soon  after  repealed,  experience  having 
shown,  that  its  effect  was  to  drive  a  considerable  part  of 
the  trade  from  the  province  to  Virginia. 

Disturbances  occasioned,  in  Massachusetts,  by  the 
abuses  introduced  by  a  banking  company,  in  that  pro- 
vince, induced  parliament  to  pass  a  statute,  prohibiting 
the  establishment  of  banks,  in  the  British  colonies,  on 
the  continent. 

Although  the  territory  granted,  by  the  second  charter 
of  Charles  II.,  to  the  proprietors  of  Carolina,  extended 
far  to  the  south  west  of  the  river  Alatamaha,  the  Span- 
iards had  never  relinquished  'heir  claim  to  the  province 
of  Georgia  :  their  embassador  at  the  British  court,  had 
even  declared,  thai  his  master  would  as  soon  part  with 
Madrid.  Admiral  Vernon  had  so  much  occupied  their 
attention,  in  the  West  Indies,  that  they  had  not  been 
able  to  bestow  much  of  it  on  the  recovery  of  that  pro- 
vince. But,  as  soon  as  the  admiral  returned  home,  they 
began  their  preparations  for  dislodging  governor  Ogle- 
thorpe, With  this  view,  don  Antonio  de  Rodondo, 
embarked  at  Havana,  with  two  thousand  men,  under 
the  convoy  of  a  strong  squadron:  the  expedition  reached 
St.  Augustine  in  the  month  of  May. 

Governor  0;^lethorpe,  having  had  early  information 
of  their  approach,  sent  to  governor  Glen,  of  South  Ca'*- 
ollna  :  in  the  meanwhile,  he  made  every  preparation  at 
Frederica,  for  a  vigorous  defence;  and  his  Indian  allies, 
who  were  greatly  attached  to  him,  soon  crowded  to  his 
camp  ;  and  a  com[any  of  Highlaiidcrs  joined  him,  at  the 


38  CHAPTER  [1742 

first  notice.  The  inhabitants  of  the  southern  part  of 
the  province  of  South  Carolina,  deserted  their  habita- 
tions, and,  instead  of  joining  the  forces  in  North  Car- 
olina, flocked  to  Charleston,  with  their  families, 
slaves,  and  most  valuable  effects.  It  was  then  de- 
termined to  fortify  the  town,  and  abide  in  a  posture  of 
defence.  A  want  of  confidence,  in  governor  Ogle- 
thorpe's military  talents,  produced  by  his  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  St.  Augustine,  recommended  this 
measure.  It  was  not  thought,  that,  on  the  event  of  the 
governor  being  crushed,  the  reduction  of  Georgia  would 
open  an  easy  access  to  the  enemy,  into  the  heart  of  South 
Carulina,  the  force  of  the  two  provinces,  becoming,  by 
its  division,  unequal  to  the  defence  of  either. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  thirty-two  sail,  under  the 
orders  of  do  a  Manuel  de  Montanio,  brought  don  An- 
tonio de  Redondo,  and  his  two  thousand  men,  rein- 
forced with  one  thousand  more  from  St.  Augustine. 
The  fleet  anchored  off"  Simore's  bar  and  came  in  with 
the  tide,  into  Jekyl  sound.  Governor  Oglethorpe,  who 
was  at  Simore's  Fort  fired  at  them  as  they  passed :  they 
returned  his  fire,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  Alatamaha, 
out  of  the  reach  of  his  guns.  Among  their  forces,  was 
a  regiment  of  negroes,  the  officers  of  which,  decked  in 
lace,  bore  the  same  rank  as  the  white  officers,  and,  with 
equal  freedom  and  familiarity,  walked  and  conversed 
with  the  commander  in  chief.  This  circumstance  was 
calculated  to  alarm  the  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina, 
where,  there  being  so  many  negroes,  this  regiment  would 
soon  have  acquired  such  a  force,  as  might  have  baffled 
every  opposition.  Unable  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
enemy,  the  governor  spiked  the  guns,  burst  the  bombs 
and  cohorns,  destroyed  his  stores,  and  retreated  to  Fred- 


1742J  THE  SECOND,  39 

erica.  The  enemy  was  too  strong  to  warrant  his  acting 
otherwise,  than  on  the  defensive.  He  sent  out  strolling 
parties,  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  Spaniards,  while  he 
employed  his  main  body  on  the  fortifications.  At  night, 
his  Indians  were  employed,  ranging  through  the  woods, 
and  harrassing  the  Spanish  outposts.  They  brought 
him  five  prisoners,  by  whom,  he  became  acquainted 
with  the  extent  of  the  force  against  him.  Stiil  expecting 
assistance  from  South  Carolina,  he  exerted  all  his  ad- 
dress in  gaining  time,  and  keeping  up  the  spirits  of  his 
garrison.  For  this  purpose,  the  Highlanders  were  de- 
spatched to  reinforce  the  Indians,  and  assist  them  in  ob- 
structing the  approach  of  the  enemy.  His  principal 
force  did  not  amount  to  seven  hundred  men. 

The  enemy  made  several  attempts  to  pierce  through 
the  woods,  but  met  with  such  opposition  from  deep  mo- 
rasses and  dark  thickets,  lined  with  fierce  Indians  and 
wild  Highlanders,  that  they  honestly  confessed,  the  devil 
himself  could  not  pass  through  them,  to  Frederica. 
Don  Manuel,  however,  had  no  other  prospect  left :  one 
party  was  sent  after  another,  to  explore  the  thickets,  and 
occupy  every  advantageous  situation.  In  two  skir- 
mishes, with  the  Highlanders  and  Indians,  the  enemy 
had  one  captain  and  two  lieutenants  killed,  and  one  hun- 
dred men  taken  prisoners.  The  Spanish  commander 
now  altered  his  plan,  and,  keeping  his  meii  under  cover 
of  his  cannon,  proceeded,  with  some  galleys,  up  the  river, 
with  the  tide,  to  reconnoitre  the  fort,  and  draw  the  go- 
vernor's attention  elsewhere.  A  party  of  Indians  was 
sent  to  lie  in  ambuscade  and  prevent  the  landing  of  the 
Spaniards.  Governor  Oglethorpe,  having  learned  from 
an  English  prisoner,  who  eflfected  his  escape,  that  differ- 
ences had  arisen  to  such  a  height  in  the  Spanish  army, 


40  CHAPTER  [1142 

that  the  forces  from  Cuba,  and  those  from  St.  Ausjus^ 
tine,  encamped  in  different  places,  determined  on  a  sur- 
prise of  one  of  the  camps ;  and,  availing  himself  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  woods,  marched  out  in  the  night,  with 
three  hundred  chosen  men,  the  Highland  company  and 
some  rangers :  he  halted  at  the  distance  of  two  miles, 
and  taking  with  him  a  small  party,  drew  closer,  to  ob- 
serve the  position  of  the  enemy.  At  this  moment,  while 
every  thing  depended  on  the  concealment  of  his  ap- 
proach, one  of  his  party  fired  his  musket,  ran  off 
and  alarmed  the  Spaniards.  This  treachery  disconcert- 
ing his  plan,  the  governor  brought  back  his  party  to 
Fredt-rica.  With  a  view  to  prevent  any  credit  to  the 
report  of  the  deserter,  by  whom  he  apprehended  his 
weakness  would  be  made  known  to  the  Spanish  com- 
mander, he  wrote  a  letter  to  this  man,  desiring  him  to 
represent  Frederica  to  the  Spaniards,  as  a  weak  and  de- 
fenceless port,  and  induce  them  to  come  and  attack  it; 
but,  if  he  could  not  persuade  them  to  this,  to  use  every 
possible  artifice,  to  induce  them  to  stay  at  least  three 
days  more  where  they  were,  as  advices  were  received, 
that,  within  that  time,  two  thousand  men  would  arrive 
to  the  refief  orG:orgia,  from  South  Carolina,  with  six 
ships  oi  the  line;  and,  above  all,  urged  him  to  conceal 
from  the  Spaniards,  the  approach  of  the  British  fleet  to 
St.  Augustine,,  promising  him  the  highest  reward,  if  he 
acted  his  part  well.  This  letter  he  gave  to  one  of  the 
Spanish  prisoners  in  his  camp,  who,  for  the  sake  of  ob- 
taining his  liberty,  undertook  to  give  it  to  the  deserter, 
instead  of  which,  agreeable  to  the  governor's  expecta- 
tion, he  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  his  commander. 

This  letter  gave  rise  to  various   conjectures:    the 
Spanish  general  had  the  deserter  put  in  irons,  and  called 


1742]  THE  SECOND.  41 

a  council  of  war,  to  determine  on  the  proper  steps  to 
be  pursued.  Some  of  the  officers  were  of  opinion,  the 
letter  was  written  with  a  view  to  its  being  intercepted 
and  to  prevent  the  attack  on  Frederica:  others,  on  the 
contrary,  thought  tlie  contents  of  the  letter  very  pro- 
bable, and  recommended  the  dropping  of  a  plan,  which 
was  attended  with  so  many  difficulties,  and  the  issue  of 
which  hazarded,  not  only  the  loss  of  the  army  and  the 
fleet,  but  that  of  the  whole  province  of  Florida.  Du- 
ring this  deliberation,  three  ships  of  war,  which  gover- 
nor Glen  had  sent  out,  came  in  sight.  This  accident, 
corresponding  with  the  letter,  convinced  the  Spanish 
commander  that  it  was  no  fiction ;  and  the  army  was 
struck  with  such  a  panic,  that  they  immediately  set  fire 
to  their  works,  and  embarked  in  great  hurry  and  con- 
fusion, leaving  behind  several  cannon  and  a  quantity  of 
military  stores.  The  wind  prevented  the  British  ships 
from  beating  up  the  river,  and,  before  the  morning,  the 
invaders  passed  them  and  escaped  to  St.  Augustine. 

This  attack  on  a  neighboring  province,  notwithstand- 
ing its  faikire,  manifebttd  the  necessity  which  there  was, 
for  the  rest  of  the  provinces  to  place  themselves  in  a 
situation  to  repel  invasion.  France  could  not  be  ex- 
pected, much  longer,  to  retain  her  neutrality.  The 
natural  alliance,  which  subbisted  between  the  princes 
who  filled  the  French  and  the  Spanish  thrones,  forbade 
the  belief,  that  Great  Britain  micr^it  lone;  carrv  on  the 
war  against  one  of  them,  without  his  being  openly 
supported  by  the  other.  Indeed,  Great  Britain  and 
France  observed  each  other,  and  each  expected,  ihat  the 
other  would  soon  begin  the  contest.  The  northern 
provinces  were  prepared  to  meet  the  foe.  Every  forti- 
fied pluce  had  been  repaired  and  improved:  the  militia 

N.  CARO.    II.       6 


42        ,  CHAPTER  ^  [1743 

were  training,  and  no  measures  were  neglected,  to  place 
the  country  in  a  state  of  defence.  In  Europe,  great  pre- 
parations were  made  every  where.  The  arsenals  of  both 
nations  were  full  of  workmen,  and,  although  each  sove- 
reign  held  out,  as  the  ostensible  object  of  his  move- 
ments, the  support  of  one  of  the  personages,  who  was 
contending  for  the  imperial  diadem,  each  contemplated 
the  probability  of  soon  using  the  means,  which  were 
providing,  in  a  different  undertaking. 

In  opening  the  next  session  of  the  legislature,  on  the 
2d  day  of  April,  in  the  town  of  Edenton,  governor 
Johnston  endeavored  to  impress  upon  the  house  the  ne- 
cessity of  making  preparations,  against  the  impending 
danger.  His  representations,  however,  were  not  of 
much  avail:  they  intended,  only  to  procure  an  act  for 
erecting  magazines,  in  the  several  counties. 

The  election  of  members  of  the  legislature,  was  regu- 
lated at  this  session:  the  qualifications,  required  from  the 
electors,  were  a  freehold  of  fifty  acres,  and  six  months' 
residence  in  the  county.  Those  of  the  elected  were  a 
freehold  of  one  hundred  acres,  and  twelve  months'  resi- 
dence.    The  suffrages  were  to  be  given  by  ballot. 

The  statute,  allowing  a  bounty  on  the  importation  of 
naval  stores,  from  the  American  provinces,  being  nearly 
expired,  was,  this  year,  continued  for  the  term  of  seven 
years. 

Tliree  thousand  families,  at  an  immense  charge  to 
government,  were  transported  into  Nova  Scotia  at  once, 
and  three  regiments  stationed  there,  to  protect  them 
from  the  Indians. 

In  the  following  year,  John,  lord  Carteret,  afterwards 
earl  of  Granville,  presented  a  petition  to  the  king,  pray- 
ing that  the  eighth  part  of  the  original  province  of  Caro-_ 


i744]  THE  SECOND.  4?5 

lina,  reserved  to  him  by  the  act  of  parliament,  establish- 
ing an  agreement  with  the  other  seven  lords  proprietors, 
for  the  surrender  of  their  interest  to  the  crown,  mip-ht 
be  set  apart,  offering  to  resign  his  interest  in  the  govern- 
ment and  his  title  to  the  other  seven  eighths.  The  pro- 
position being  accepted  by  the  crown,  five  commission- 
ers were  appointed  by  each  party,  for  making  the  divi- 
sion. The  territory  allotted  to  him  was  bounded  on 
the  north,  by  the  line  separating  the  provinces  of  Virgi- 
nia and  North  Carolina;  on  the  east,  by  the  Atlantic 
ocean;  and  on  the  south,  by  a  line,  drawn  westward, 
to  a  point  on  the  sea  shore,  in  latitude  thirty-five  de- 
grees and  thirty -four  minutes,  and,  agreeably  to  the 
charter,  on  the  west,  by  the  Pacific  ocean.  Shortly 
after,  a  grant  of  the  eighth  part  of  Carolina,  together 
with  all  yearly  rents  and  profits  arising  from  it,  to  John, 
lord  Carteret,  and  his  heirs,  passed  the  great  seal ;  but 
the  power  of  making  laws,  calling  and  holding  assem- 
blies, erecting  courts  of  justice,  appointing  judges  and 
justices,  pardoning  criminals,  granting  titles  of  honor, 
making  ports  and  havens,  taking  customs  and  duties  on 
goods,  executing  martial  law,  exercising  the  royal 
rights  of  a  palatine,  or  any  other  prerogatives  relating  to 
the  administration  of  government,  v/ere  excepted,  out 
of  the  grant;  the  whole  was  to  be  holden  on  the  payment 
of  thirty-three  shillings,  and  four  pence,  yearly,  forever, 
with  one  fourth  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  ore. 

With  a  view  to  encourage  the  colonists,  to  fit  out 
privateers,  the  provincial  courts  of  vice  admiralty  were 
authorized  to  take  cognizance  of  prize  causes,  and  con- 
demn vessels,  by  a  statute  of  this  year. 

Chalmers — History  of  South  Carolina — Records. 


CHAPTER  III 

In  the  summer  of  1744,  account?  were  received 
that  France  had  formally  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain.  This  was  only  the  addition  of  a 
ceremony,  and  the  French  governor,  at  cape  Bre- 
ton, having  received  previous  information  of  the 
intention  of  his  sovereigii,  look  early  measures  to 
attack  the  British  fishery  at  Canseau.  The  island 
was  taken,  and  its  garrison  and  in  jabitants  made 
prisoners  of  war,  on  the  13th  of  May.  This  suc- 
cess encouraged  an  attempt  on  A-  napolis,  but  a 
timely  reinforcement,  from  the  province  of  Massa- 
chusetts, occasioned  its  failure. 

An  avowed  state  of  war  drew  the  attention  of 
the  legislature  to  the  unprotected  and  defenceless 
condition  of  the  ports.  The  river  of  Cape  Fear, 
from  its  known  depth  of  water,  seemed  to  invite 
insult  and  invasion.  This  induced  the  legislature, 
which  sat  in  Nevvbern,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1745,  to 
order  the  erection  of  a  fortification  on  the  south 
bank  of  that  river,  near  its  mouth,  sufficiently  large 
to  contain  twenty-four  pieces  of  cannon,  with  bar- 
racks and  other  conveniencies.  This  was  soon  af- 
ter effected,  and  the  work  was  called  Fort  Johnston, 
in  honor  of  the  chief  magistrate,  with  whom  the 
proposition  had  originated. 


1746]  CH'APTER.  45 

The  protection  thus  aflfortled  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  ami  the  trnde  of  the  river,  which  consisted 
chiefly  in  rice,  naval  stores  and  lumber,  commodi- 
ties of  great  bulk,  requiring  larger  vessels  than 
could  conveniently  reach  the  wharves  of  Wilming- 
ton, the  village  of  Brunswick,  which  lay  nearer  to 
the  sea,  was  believed  to  be  a  spot,  which  in  time, 
would  become  the  site  of  a  an  Important  maritime 
town;  with  the  view  to  aid  its  further  settlement,  it 
was  by  law,  established  as  a  town.  The  experi- 
ence of  nearly  half  a  century  has  not  added  its 
sanction,  to  the  idea  of  its  future  sjrandeur. 

In  the  meanwhile,  prince  Charles  Edward,  grand- 
son of  James  II.,  made  an  attempt  to  ascend  the 
throne  of  his  a?icestors.  He  embarked  on  the  12th 
of  June,  on  board  of  an  eighteen  gun  frigate,  with- 
out hiving  acquainted  the  court  of  France,  with 
his  views,  with  no  other  preparations  to  conquer 
three  kingdoms,  than  seven  officers,  eighteen  hun- 
dr 'd  sabres,  twelve  hundred  firelocks  and  twelve 
thousand  louis  d'or,  which  he  had  borrowed,  and 
not  one  private  soldier.  He  landed  in  the  south- 
west of  Scotland,  where  the  inhabitants  rose  in  his 
favor,  and  a  piece  of  laffeta,  which  he  had  brought 
from  France,  serving  for  their  royal  standard,  was 
shortly  surrounded  by  fifteen  hundred  men.  He 
led  them  to  the  town  of  Perth,  of  which  he  took 
possession:  here  a  fev/  Scotch  lords  joined  him;  and 
the  army,  a  few  days  after,  entered  Edinburgh; 
from  thence  he  proceeded  to  Pressonpans,  where  lie 
obtained  a  signal  victory  over  an  army  of  English- 
men and  made  as  many  prisoners  as  he  had  sol- 
diers.    Carrying  all  before  him,  as  far  as  Carlisle. 


46  CHAPTER  [1745 

he  advanced  within  ninety  miles  of  London,  his 
force  being  swollen  to  eight  thousand:  meeting  a 
second  British  army  at  Falkirk,  he  gained  a  second 
victory,  and  a  third  on  the  next  day:  but  at  last  he 
received  a  total  overtlirow  at  the  battle  of  Cullo- 
den,  within  a  few  leagues  of  Inverness,  and  his 
whole  army  was  dispersed.  His  subsequent  adven- 
tures resembled  those  of  his  great  grand  father, 
Charles  II.  after  his  defeat  at  Worcester;  wander- 
ing from  place  to  place,  destitute  of  all  succour, 
skulking  in  forests,  shifting  from  cavern  to  cavern, 
flying  to  desert  islands,  distressed  for  want  of  food 
and  raiment,  and  closely  pursued  by  those  who 
thirsted  after  hia  blood,  for  the  sake  of  a  pecuniary 
reward,  offered  by  the  person  who  occupied  his 
father's  throne.  He  at  last  eluded  their  pursuits  by 
a  flight  which  added  to  his  ^lory. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year,  a  trader  of  New  Eng- 
land {>roposed  to  his  countrymen,  a  plan  for  taking 
Louisburg,  the  chief  city  of  the  island  of  cape  Bre- 
ton. Tne  proposal  was  generally  approved,  and 
money  was  raised  by  a  lottery,  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  four  thousand  men.  This  force  was  armed, 
provisions  and  transports  were  obtained  by  volun- 
tary contributions;  the  command  of  it  was  given  to 
colonel  Pepperel,  a  merchant  of  Boston.  The  ex- 
pedition embarked  on  the  24th  of  March,  and  arriv- 
ed at  Canseau  on  the  4th  of  April,  where  they  were 
joined  by  a  small  reinforcement  from  JNew  Hamp- 
shire. On  the  23d,  commodore  Warren  arrived 
with  a  small  squadron;  soon  after,  the  troops  em- 
barked, and  the  naval  force  went  to  cruise  off  Lou- 
isburg.    The  landing  was  effected  with  some  loss, 


1746]  THE  THIRD.  41; 

and  in  the  course  of  the  night,  Vaughan,  with  a  bo- 
dy of  four  hundred  men,  marched  round  to  the 
northwest  part  of  the  harbor,  and  set  fire  to  a  num- 
ber of  warehouses,  containing  spiritous  liquors  and 
naval  stores.  The  thick  smoke,  driven  by  the  wind 
on  the  principal  battery,  disabling  the  defenders  of 
it  to  distinguish  objects,  even  at  a  small  distance, 
favored  the  idea  which  they  entertained,  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  assailant  force,  induced  them  to 
abandon  the  fort,  and  seek  refuge  in  the  town.  In 
the  morning  Vaughan,  with  thirteen  men  only,  en- 
tering the  battery,  defended  it  until  a  reinforcement 
came  to  his  support.  While  these  approaches 
were  making  by  land,  the  ships  cruised  off  the  har- 
bor, and  captured  a  ship  of  war,  having  on  board  a 
reinforcement  of  men  and  stores,  for  the  besieged 
garrison.  Soon  after,  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was 
made  on  the  island  battery,  in  which  sixty  men  were 
killed  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  made  prisoners. 
Works  were  erected  on  a  high  cliff,  at  the  light- 
house, which  much  annoyed  the  island  battery: 
preparation  were  making  for  a  general  assault, 
w^hen  the  town  surrendered  on  the  forty- ninth  day 
of  the  siege.  On  the  IGth  of  June,  the  whole  island 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  besiegers. 

The  legislature,  in  the  course  of  this  year,  sat  at 
Ncwbern  in  June,  and  at  Wilmington  in  December; 
both  sessions  were  short.  Attempts  were  made  to 
put  the  militia  in  a  situation  to  be  of  some  service; 
the  counties  of  Craven  and  Edo'ecombe  were  divid- 
ed,  the  western  part  of  the  former  was  erected  into 
a  new  county,  to  which  the  governor's  name  was 
given,  and  the  northern  part  of  the  latter,  into  ano- 


48  CHAPTER  [1746 

ther,  which,  in  compliment  to  the  nobleman,  owner 
of  the  soil,  was  called  Granville.  Hitherto,  the 
northern  counties  had  claimed  and  enjoyed  the  pri- 
vilege of  sending  five  members  to  the  lower  house 
of  assembly,  while  those  of  the  other  parts  of  the 
province,  all  of  which  were  much  larger,  and  many 
of  them  of  a  much  greater  population,  sent  but  two. 
This  distinction  was  abolished;  every  county  was 
declared  entitled  to  the  latter  number  and  no  more. 
The  right  of  the  towns  of  Edenton,  Bath,  Newbern 
and  Wilmington  to  one  representative  each,  was  re- 
cognized. The  speaker  and  fourteen  members 
were  declared  a  quorum. 

The  extension  of  population,  towards  the  south- 
ern and  weste  n  parts  of  the  provincf,  leaving  the 
town  of  Edenton  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  center  of  the  settled  part  of  the  province,  the 
supreme  court  of  judicature,  was  removed  from 
thence  to  the  town  of  Newhern.  A  new  court  law 
was  passed:  the  general  court  was  comr  osed  of  a 
chief  and  three  associate  justices.  Courts  of  oyer 
and  terminer,  assizes  and  nisi  prius  were  to  be  hol- 
den  at  Edenton,  Newbern,  Wilmington  and  at  the 
court  house  of  the  county  of  Edgecombe.  The 
court  of  chancery  was  also  directed  to  be  holden 
at  Newbern,  and  the  secretary  of  the  province  to 
remove  his  office  thither. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  the  leaders  of  the 
adherents  of  the  unfortunate  prince  Charles  Ed- 
ward, having  perished  on  the  scaffold,  a  general 
pardon  passf  d  the  great  seal,  exempting  from  trial 
and  punishment  nineteen  individuals  out  of  twenty 
among  the  rest,  on  their  being  transported  to  Ame- 


17471  THE  THIRD.  49 

rica:  th^y  drew  lots  for  this  purpose.  They  were  ac- 
companied by  a  number  of  others,  who,  though  they 
had  not  taken  up  arms,  favored  the  prince's  cause, 
and  voluntarily  shared  the  exile  of  their  countrymen. 
A  cons  derable  number  of  them  came  to  North  Car- 
olina, settled  on  Cape  Fear  river  and  formed  the 
settlement  in  the  middle  of  which  the  present  town 
of  Fayetteville  now  stands. 

The  provincial  laws  were  in  the  hands  of  the  in- 
habitants, on  loose  manuscript  sheets,  forming  a 
chaos,  from  which  information  could  only  be  obtain- 
ed at  the  expense  of  much  time  and  drudgery.  To 
remedy  this  evil,  the  legislature,  at  their  next  ses- 
sion, appointed  four  commissioners  to  revise  the 
code  and  print  such  acts,  as  were  in  form  and  use. 
This  measure  had  been  hitherto  recommended  in 
vain  by  governor  Johnston,  since  his  arrival,  and 
had  been  long  and  earnestly  desired  by  the  friends 
of  order.  The  commissioners,  appointed,  were 
chief  justice  Hall,  Edward  Moseley,  Samuel  Swann, 
the  speaker  of  assembly  and  Thomas  Barker,  an 
eminent  attorney.  The  contingent  fund  being  in- 
sufficient to  meet  the  expense  of  this  publication, 
a  duty  of  three  pence  was  laid  on  every  gallon  of 
wine  and  distilled  liquor,  and  four  pence  on  every 
hundred  weij,h  of  rice,  imported  from  any  place 
out  of  Great  Britain,  and  so  scarce  was  the  circu- 
lating medium,  that,  although  bills  of  credit  were 
receivable  in  payment  of  this  duty,  it  was  thought 
necessary  for  the  colh^clion  of  it,  to  authorize  the 
receipt  of  the  articles  on  which  it  was  laid,  in  pay 
ment. 

N.    CARO.  II.  7 

/ 


50  CHAPTER  [1747 

The  statute  for  the  encouragement  of  the  manu- 
facture of  British  sail  cloth,  and  that  allowing  the 
direct  exportation  of  rice  from  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia,  to  the  ports  to  the  southward  of  cape  Finis- 
terre,  which  were  now  expiring,  were  continued  for 
seven  years  longer. 

The  importation  of  tea  into  the  American  pro- 
vince, without  paying  the  inland  duty,  was  allowed; 
and  it  being  judged,  that  the  cultivation  of  indigo, 
in  the  colonies,  might  be  greatly  advantageous  to 
the  trade  of  the  nation,  as  great  quantities  w^ere 
used  in  dying  the  manufactures  of  the  kingdom,  the 
supply  of  which,  being  obtained  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, was  at  all  times  uncertain  and  the  price  fre- 
quently exorbitant, and  the  plant  appearing  to  thrive 
in  the  Carolinas,  there  was  room  to  hope  the  raising 
of  it  might,  by  proper  encouragement,  be  increased 
and  improved  to  such  a  degree,  as  not  only  to  an- 
sw^er  all  the  demands  of  the  kins^'s  subjects,  but 
considerable  quantities  might  also  be  exported  to 
foreign  markets;  a  bounty  of  six  pence  per  pound 
was  granted  on  all  indigo,  exported  therefrom  to 
Great  Britain. 

The  attention  of  the  legislature,  at  their  next  session, 
on  the  6th  of  April,  at  Newbern,  was  directed  to  some 
depredations  and  insults,  committed  by  the  privateers  of 
the  enemy,  in  the  inlets  and  such  ports  of  the  province, 
as  were  of  easy  access:  sometimes  cutting  out  vessels 
and  carryingjthem  away,  at  others,  running  up  the  rivers, 
landing  and  plundering  the  plantations.  A  law  was 
passed  for  erecting  fortifications  at  Ocracock,  Topsail 
and  Bear  inletl  and  for  finishing  fort  Johnston.  To 
defray  the  expenses  of  their  construction,  a  grant  of 


:748]  THE  THIRD.  51 

twenty-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  was 
made  to  the  king,  and  an  emission  of  bills  of  credit,  to 
the  same  amount,  was  directed.  The  paper  currency 
in  circulation,  denominated  Old  Proc.  was  so  depreci- 
ated, that  it  passed  at  the  rate  of  seven  and  a  half  for  one; 
it  was  directed  to  be  exchanged  on  these  terms,  and 
the  exchange  between  proclamation  money  and  sterling- 
was  fixed  at  four  for  three.  A  poll  tax  of  one  shilling 
was  laid  for  the  redemption  of  the  bills  issued,  to  con- 
tinue until  they  were  absorbed.  Hitherto,  the  sheriffs 
and  ail  collectors  of  the  public  money  accounted  and 
paid  the  balances  in  their  hands,  to  a  committee  of  the 
legislature:  during  the  bustle  of  the  session,  there  was 
seldom  time  for  a  minute  investigation  of  the  accounts 
of  the  officers  who  attended;  never  any  to  send  for  those 
who  kept  away.  The  consequence  of  so  loose  a  prac- 
tice, caused  the  utmost  confusion  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of 
of  the  colony;  a  remedy  was  now  attempted  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  growing  evil.  The  province  was  divided 
into  two  districts,  treasurers  were  appointed,  before 
whom,  it  was  made  the  duty  of  holders  of  public  money, 
semi-annually  to  appear,  exhibit  their  vouchers  and  close 
their  accounts. 

The  casual  emoluments  of  officers  were  fixed  by  a 
new  fee-bill. 

With  a  view  to  give  some  encouragement  to  the  tan- 
ning of  leather,  which  was  attempted  in  several  parts  of 
the  province,  a  law  was  passed,  proliibiting  the  exporta- 
tion of  raw  hides  and  skins. 

At  the  request  of  the  Tuscarora  Indians,  who  had  re- 
mained behind,  when  the  mam  body  of  the  nation,  early 
in  the  century,  emigrated  towards  the  northern  lakes, 
the  lands  allotted  them  by  the  treaty  of  1719  were  laid 


52  CHAPTER  [1748 

out  and  marked  off.  All  persons  were  prohibited  from 
purchasing  any  part  of  them,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the 
rights  of  the  white  owners  was  postponed  until  the 
lands  were  abandoned  by  the  Lidiansj  settlers  were  re- 
moved and  all  persons  inhibited  from  rangin;^  stock  oq 
these  lands. 

A  rent  roll  was  directed  to  be  made  of  all  the  lands, 
holden  in  the  province :  such  persons,  whose  convey- 
ances were  not  already  recorded,  were  required  to  regis- 
ter them  within  twelve  months,  in  the  office  of  lord 
Granville,  at  Edenton,  for  the  northern  part  of  the  pro- 
vince, and  in  that  of  the  auditor  general,  in  the  rest  of  the 
province,  or  in  the  office  of  the  register  of  the  county  in 
which  the  land  lay ;  and  all  conveyances,  in  regard  to 
which  this  formality  was  neglected,  wire  declared  void. 
But  all  persons  who  had  lost  the  evidence  of  their  titles, 
having  had  possession  for  twenty-one  years,  on  due 
proof,  were  declared  to  have  a  good  title  against  the  king 
or  earl,  paying  the  highest  quit  rent  in  the  country  :  in- 
digo and  tobacco  were  declared  a  tender,  in  payment  of 
quit  rents. 

The  fate  of  the  provincial  laws,  after  copies  of  them 
were  transmitted  by  the  governor  to  England,  depending 
much  on  the  report  of  the  king's  counsel,  appointed  for 
the  special  service  of  the  board  of  the  lords  commis- 
sioners of  trade  and  plantation,  and  the  opinion  of  this 
gentleman  being  naturally  much  influenced  by  the  idea 
and  information  he  received  of  the  reasons,  circumstances 
and  views,  with  which  the  act  had  been  passed,  most  of 
the  provinces  had  found  it  their  interest  to  have  an  agent 
in  London,  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  the  reporting 
council,  make  such  explanations  and   give  such  in- 


1748]  ,         THE  THIRD.  5S 

formation,  as  would  lead  his  opinion  to  a  favorable  re- 
port, and  wait  on  the  board  after  it  was  delivered. 

The  success  of  the  affairs  of  a  province  often  materi- 
ally depended  on  the  ability  and  industry  of  this  agent, 
for  the  great  officers  of  state  would  not  take  the  vague 
information  of  individuals,  but  transacted  all  business 
with  the  provinces,  by  asking  and  knowino^  their  senti- 
ments, through  the  means  of  their  agents.  Without  some 
person  of  this  character  in  England,  their  business 
there  slept :  memorials,  addresses  and  petitions  passed 
through  his  hands :  it  was  his  duty  to  improve  every 
opening  for  the  encouragement  of  the  trade  of  the  pro- 
vince that  employed  him,  and  to  obviate  any  scheme 
that  might  hurt  it.  For  this  purpose,  he  was  to  watch 
the  intentions  of  parliament  and  transmit  early  and  accu- 
rate information  of  them  to  his  constituents.  The  pro- 
vince havins:  hitherto  suffered  from  the  want  of  an  offi- 
cer  of  this  kind,  the  trust  was  now  committed  to  James 
Abercrombie  of  London. 

Towards  the  middle  of  April,  the  preliminary  articles 
of  a  treaty  for  a  general  pacification  were  signed  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  by  the  British,  French  and  Dutch  plenipo- 
tentiaries ;  m  the  following  month,  the  empress  queen, 
king  of  Sardinia,  and  duke  of  Modena  acceded  to  them, 
and  soon  after,  the  king  of  Spain,  the  republic  of  Genoa^ 
and  the  rest  of  the  contending  powers.  The  definitive 
treaty  was  signed  in  the  month  of  October :  by  this  in- 
strument the  island  of  cape  Breton  was  restored  to 
France. 

Early  in  November,  a  number  of  Spanish  privateers 
came  up  a  considerable  distance  in  Cape  Fear  river, 
and  committed  great  depredations ;  one  of  them 
was  blown  up,  and  a  number  of  negroes  and  some  valu- 


64  CHAPTER  [1749 

able  effects  were  taken  out  of  the  wreck  :  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  this  property  were  afterwards  applied  to 
the  building  or  repair  of  the  churches  in  the  towns  of 
Brunswick  and  Wilmington,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
which  the  injury  had  been  sustained. 

The  people,  known  by  the  appellation  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum,  or  the  United  Brethren,  obtained  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  a  statute  of  the  British  parliament,  authorizing 
them  to  establish  settlements  in  the  American  pro- 
vinces. 

A  printing  press  was  this  year  imported  into  the  pro- 
vince and  set  up  at  Newbern,  by  James  Davis,  from 
Virginia :  this  was  a  valuable  acquisition,  for,  hitherto 
the  want  of  an  establishment  of  this  kind  was  severely 
felt:  the  copies  of  the  laws,  being  all  manuscript,  were 
necessarily  very  scarce  and  it  is  likely  faulty  and  inac- 
curate. 

With  a  view  to  offer  employment  and  an  asylum  to 
the  great  number  of  soldiers  and  seamen,  who  were 
discharged  from  the  king's  service  at  the  peace,  and  to 
promote  the  settlement  of  the  province  of  Nova  jScotia, 
the  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations  offered 
land  to  them,  free  from  quit  rent  for  ten  years,  and  sub- 
ject afterwards  to  a  yearly  rent  of  one  shilling  on  every 
fifty  acres:  those  who  availed  themselves  of  this  offer, 
were  offered  their  subsistence  during  the  passage  and  one 
year  after  their  arrival.  The  same  offers  were  also  held 
out  to  artificers,  useful  in  building  and  husbandry.  A 
number  of  people,  impelled  by  this  encouragement,  emi- 
grated and  the  town  of  Halifax  was  established. 

The  legislature,  which  sat  at  Newbern  this  year,  held 
three  sessions :  the  calm  of  peace  was  improved  and 
several  important  laws  were  passed :  the  revisal  of  the 


IT49]  THE  THIRD.  55 

acts  of  the  general  assembly,  completed  by  Samuel 
Svvann,  was  offered  to  the  legislature,  examined  and  ap- 
proved. The  judges  having  hitherto  often  differed  in 
opinion,  w^ith  regard  to  such  acts  of  the  parliament  of 
the  mother  country,  which  were  in  force  in  the  colony, 
the  question  was  settled  by  the  authority  of  the  legisla- 
ture, who  passed  an  act  containing  the  title  of  every 
statute  that  was  recognized  as  in  force  and  use,  and  all 
others  were  declared  of  no  validity  ;  but,  as  the  mother 
country  was  not  prepared  to  allow  the  colonies  to  shake 
the  authority  of  her  parliament  over  them,  the  law  re- 
ceived the  royal  disallowance.  Provision  was  made  for 
the  relief  of  insolvent  debtors,  for  docking  entails  of 
small  estates. 

The  counties  of  New  Hanover  and  Bladen  were  di- 
vided, and  the  western  part  of  the  former  was  erected' 
into  a  new  county  by  the  name  of  Duplin,  and  that  of 
the  latter  into  another  called  Ansa,  in  honor  of  the  late 
circumnavigator  of  the  world. 

A  town  was  established  on  the  north  side  of  Roanoke 
river,  in  the  county  of  North  Hampton,  to  which  the 
name  of  Hawns  was  given,  from  an  English  barony  of 
that  name,  owned  by  lord  Granville  ;  the  law,  authori- 
zing the  first  erection  of  a  toll  bridge,  was  passed  this 
session,  and  the  bridge  was  soon  after  built  over  the 
river  Trent ;  the  grantee's  interest  was  extended  to 
twenty -five  years. 

The  culture  of  raw  silk,  in  the  British  American  colo- 
nies, was  encouraged  by  an  exemption  from  duly  on  its 
importation  into  Great  Britain  ;  the  same  immunity  was 
extended  to  bar  iron,  imported  into  the  port  of  London, 
and  pig  iron  into  any  port  of  Great  Britain.     These  ad- 


^  CHAPTER  [1749 

vantages  were,  however,  far  from  being  gratuitous ;  they 
were  more  than  counterbalanced  bv  severe  restrictions. 
The  erection  of  slit  mills  and  iron  furnaces,  in  any 
part  of  the  provinces,  was  strictly  prohibited  ;  they  were 
declared  public  nuisances,  and  the  governors  were  spe- 
cially charged  to  cause  them  to  be  destroyed  ;  the  colo- 
nists were  not  suffered  to  extend  their  works  in  these 
manufactures  even  for  their  own  use  ;  slit  mills  and  steel 
furnaces,  heretofore  erected,  were  however  permitted  to 
stand  and  be  employed. 

The  boundary  line  between  the  provinces  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  had  been  run  from  the  sea  shore  to 
Peter's  creek,  which  falls  into  Dan  river,  a  little  belt)W 
the  Saura  towns  :  it  was  now  continued,  by  commission- 
ers  appointed  by  the  legislatures  of  the  respective  pro- 
vinces, to  Holstein  river,  directly  opposite  to  a  place 
called  the  Steep  Rock,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles  and  two 
hundred  and  eighty  poles.  The  commissioners  of  Vir- 
ginia were  Joshua  Fay  and  Peter  Jefferson  ;  those  of 
North  Carolina,  William  Churton  and  Daniel  Weldon. 

The  greatest  injury  which  France  had  sustained  du- 
ring the  war,  had  fallen  on  her  navy  ;  she  applied  herself 
in  the  calm  of  peace  to  repair  her  loss  ;  her  activity  ex- 
cited the  apprehension  of  Great  Britain  for  her  com- 
merce and  her  colonies.  There  existed,  however,  be- 
tween these  powers,  differences  in  regard  to  their  Ame- 
rican possessions,  to  which  the  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle 
had  not  put  an  end :  the  boundaries  of  Nova  Sco- 
tia, which  the  British  extended  far  into  Canada,  and 
the  French  restricted  to  the  peninsula  between  New- 
foundland and  New  England,  and  the  islands  of  St.  Lu- 
cia, Dominique,  St.  Vincent  and  Tobago,  of  which  the 
two  nations  claimed  the  property. 


IK 50]  THE  THIRD.  ^     5*. 

Commissioners  were  appointed  on  both  sides,  who 
met  at  Paris  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  1750. 

The  Moravians  or  United  Brethren,  purchased  from 
lord  Granville  a  tract  of  one  hundred  thousand  acres, 
between  Dan  and  Yadkin  river,  about  ten  miles  to  the 
east  of  the  Gold  mountain :  they  gave  it  the  name  of 
Wachovia,  after  an  estate  of  count  Zizendorff,  in 
Austria. 

The  lep:islature  met  in  the  town  of  Newbern,  in  the 
month  of  June.  Objects  of  improvement,  in  the  inter- 
nal polity  of  the  province,  appear  to  have  engrossed  their 
w^hole  aitention  :  inspectors  of  commodities  intended  for 
exportation,  were  now  first  appointed  for  the  ports  of 
Brunswick  and  VVilminjiton  :  rice,  beef,  pork  and  naval 
stores,  were  the  articles  made  liable  to  inspection.  The 
pilotage  of  Cape  Fear,  which  was  not  yet  under  any  re- 
gulation by  law, .became  this  session  an  object  of  legis- 
lative improvemvjnt. 

A  duty  was  laid  on  wine  and  spirituous  liquor,  im- 
ported from  South  Carolina  by  land  into  the  county  of 
Anson  :  this  is  the  first  instance  that  occurs,  of  an  inland 
duty  ;  the  legislature  were  ii\duced  to  lay  it,  through  the 
desire  of  checking  the  growing  trade  of  the  province  of 
South  Carolina  with  the  western  country,  which  dt  priv- 
ed  the  ports  on  Cape  Fear  river  of  almost  all  the  produce 
from  the  upper  parts  of  the  province. 

By  a  statute  of  the  parliameni,  the  new  style  was  in- 
troduced into  all  the  king's  dominions  ;  the  old  compu- 
tation of  time  was  declared  to  be  abolished,  aFterthe  last 
day  of  December  of  this  year,  and  the  new  year  to  begin 
on  the  first  of  January  ;  it  hitherto  began  in  March ; 
the  day  following  the  2d  of  September,  1752,  was  reck- 
oned tht  i4'h.  omitting  eleven  days. 

N,  CARO.   II,  8 


5«  CHAPTER  [1751 

The  attention'of  the  British  legislature  was  drawn  to 
the  advantages  which  the  nation  was  likely  to  reap,  from 
the  importation  of  pot  and  pearl  ashes  from  the  Ameri- 
can provinces :  great  quantities  of  these  articles  vi^ere 
con=. limed  at  home,  in  making  soap  and  other  manufac- 
tures ',  the  colonies  were  encouraged  to  supply  the  mo- 
ther  country  with  these  articles,  by  their  exemption  from 

duty. 

The  statutes,  allowing  a  bounty  on  the  importation  of 
naval  stores,  masts,  &c.  weie  continued,  and  new  regu- 
lations introduced. 

The  provincial  general  assembly  met  in  the  town  of 
Bath,,on  the  first  of  March  :  this  is  tne  only  session  of 
the  legislative  body  which  appears  to  have  been  holden 
ihcie. 

A  duty  was  laid  on  goods  sold  by  pedlars.  C(jnside- 
rable  injuries  having  arisen  to  vessels,  from  the  bvidness 
ol  the  channels,  leading  to  the  ports  of  Edenton,  Bath 
and  Newbern,  and  the  insufficiency  and  neglect  of  pilots . 
commissioners  were  established  in  those  ports,  whose 
duty  it  was  made  to  examine  and  license  pilots,  to  cause  , 
the  channels  to  be  staked  out  and  to  suj^erintend  the  na- 
vigation. Parts  of  the  counties  of  Granville,  Johnston 
and  Bladen,  were  erected  into  a  new  county,  which  was 
called  Orange  ;  and  a  town  was  established  on  the  west 
side  of  Cashie  river,  in  the  county  of  Bertie,  to  which 
the  name  of  Wimberly  was  given,  from  the  owner  of 
the  ground. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  was  completed  the  printing 
of  the  first  revisal  of  the  acts  of  assembly  :  the  multipfi- 
cation  of  the  copies  of  them,  by  means  of  the  press, 
was  a  valuable  advantage  :  it  tended  to  introduce  order 
and  uniformity  in  the  decisions  of  courts,  and  by  defi  • 


1752]  THE  THIRD.  59 

nlng  the  rights  of  the  people,  in  a  degree,  put  an  end  to 
the  great  anarchy  and  confusion  which  had  hitherio  pre- 
vailed, from  the  ignorance  of  the  people  and  the  magis- 
trates in  this  respect.  The  work  was  handsomely  print- 
ed and  bound  in  a  small  folio  volume  :  a  yellowish  hue 
of  the  leather  widi  which  it  was  covered,  proceeding 
from  the  unskilfulness  of  the  tanner,  procured  it  the 
homely  appellation  of  the  Yellow  Jacket,  which  it  retains 
to  this  day. 

The  trustees  for  the  province  of  Georgia  surrendered 
their  charter  to  the  king  on  the  second  of  July,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  regal  government  was  estabhshed  in 
that  colony.  The  provinces  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ma- 
ryland were  nov/  the  only  remaining  ones,  in  which  a 
proprietary  government  existed. 

Governor  Johnston  now  died,  having  presided  over 
the  province  during  a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years.  Un- 
der his  administration,  William  Smith,  Nathaniel  Rice, 
R  )bertHolton,  Matthew  Rowan,  Edward  Moseley,  Cul- 
len  Pollock,  Edmund  Porter,  Eleazer  Allen,  James  Mur- 
ray and  Roger  Moore  sat  in  council.  The  chief  judi- 
cial seat  was  successively  filled  by  William  Smith,  John 
Montgomery,  PLdward  Moseley,  Enoch  Hall,  Eleazer 
Allen  and  James  Hasell. 

The  province  increased  considerably :  the  white  popu- 
k\tion,  which,  at  the  purchase  of  it  by  the  crown  did  not 
exceed  thirteen  thousand,  was  upwards  of  forty-five 
thousand ;  an  increase  of  above  three  and  one  half  for  one, 
during  a  period  of  twenty-three  years. 

The  exports  of  the  province  were  already  considera- 
ble :  it  appears,  that  in  the  following  year  there  were  ex- 
ported 61,528  barrels  of  tar,  12,055  barrels  of  pitch, 
10,429  barrels  of  turpentine,   762,000  staves,  61,580 


60  '  CHAPTER  [-1752 

bushels  of  corn,  10,000  bushels  of  peas,  3,300  barrels 
of  pork  and  beef,  100  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  30,000 
pounds  of  deer  skins,  besides  wheat,  rice,  bread,  pota- 
toes, beeswax,  tallow,  bacon,  lard,  lumber,  indigo, 
and  tanned  leather. 


Chalmers — Brickie — History  of  S,  C-^Jiecordsy 


CHAPTER  IV. 

On  the  death  of  governor  Johnston,  the  administra- 
tion of  government  devolved  on  Nathaniel  Rice,  the 
councillor  first  named  in  the  king's  instructions. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1752,  a  hurricane  rava- 
ged the  southern  provinces;  the  town  of  Charleston  was 
overflowed  and  the  inhabitants  took  refuge  in  the  upper 
stories,  or  on  the  roofs  of  their  houses;  the  impetuosity 
of  the  wind  was  more  severely  felt  in  North  Carolina; 
the  court  house  oi  the  county  of  Onslow,  in  the  town  of 
Johnston,  with  the  dwelling  house  of  Edward  Black,  the 
clerk,  and  almost  every  building,  were  blown  down  and 
destroyed  ;  the  county  lost  all  its  records,  and  the  town 
was  so  materially  injured  that  it  was  abandoned. 

On  the  28th  of  January,  president  Rice  died,  at  an 
advanced  age,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mathew  Rowan, 
the  next  councillor. 

This  gentleman  qualified,  at  Wilmington  on,  on  the 
first  of  February,  and  met  the  legislature,  at  Newbern, 
on  the  23d  of  March. 

The  calm  of  peace  allowed  them  to  bestow  their  un- , 
divided  attention  on  the  internal  concerns  of  the  pro- 
vince :  the  trade  of  the  most  considerable  part  of  it  being 
jTjreatly  obstructed,  by  the  large  shoals  that  lie  within 
Ocracock  inlet,  so  as  to  render  small  vessels  necessary, 
to  lighten  ships  of  burden  over  the  bar  ;  the  heavy  ex- 
pense, thus  occasioned,  and  the  great  danger  to  whicli 


m  CHAPTER  [1753 

the  ships  and  lighters  were,  in  the  mean  while,  exposed, 
were  sensible  injuries  to  the  commerce,  to  come  into 
Ocracock  inlet,  and  commodiously,  to  ride  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor  of  Core  sound  ;  experience  had  shown, 
that  the  merchants  trading  to  Albemarle  sound,  Pam- 
plico  and  Neuse  rivers,  were  compelled  to  send  to  Oc- 
racock inlet,  or  Core  banks;  somttimes  the  whole,  and 
almost  always,  one  half  of  the  cargoes  of  vessels,  of  any 
burden,  so  as  to  require  wharves  and  warehouses,  near 
the  harbor  or  on  the  banks,  for  the  reception  and  safe 
keeping  of  the  commodities,  they  were  obliged  to  send 
down.  It  was  imagined  that  these  evils  would  be  reme- 
died, by  establishing  a  town  on  the  Core  banks :  a  law 
was  passed  therefor,  and  the  town  was  called  Ports- 
mouth ;  but,  as  the  spot  on  which  it  was  to  be  erected, 
was  far  distant  from  any  inhabited  part  of  the  province  and 
open  to  the  depredations  of  the  enemy,  in  time  of  war, 
even  to  the  insults  of  pirates  at  all  times,  an  appropria- 
tion of  two  thousand  ])ounds  was  made,  for  erecting  a 
fort  for  its  protection,  to  which  the  name  of  fort  Gran- 
ville was  given. 

The  upper  part  of  the  county  of  Anson,  was  erected 
into  a  new  and  distinct  county,  which,  in  compliment  to 
the  president,  was  called  Rowan. 

The  French  now  began  to  carry  into  execution,  their 
long  concerted  plan  of  connecting,  by  a  chain  of  forts 
and  continued  settlem.ents,  their  possessions  in  Canada 
and  Louisiana,  and  as  part  of  it,  to  endeavor  to  debar  the 
English  from  all  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  nations 
of  Indians,  dwelling  along  the  Mississippi,  even  those  on 
the  back  settlements  of  the  British  provinces.  Early  in 
January,  they  had  taken  possession  of  an  English  truck- 
house,  in  the  Twigtees  nation,  and  carried  several  of 


1753]  THE  FOURTH.  es 

the  traders  prisoners  into  Canada,  and  soon  after,  they 
sent  down  a  party   of  their  Indians  from  Louisbourg, 
to  harrass  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia.     On  the  receipt 
of  the  information  of  these  particulars,  lord  Holderness 
addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  governors  of  the  south- 
ern provinces,  to  require  them,  with  the  utmost  dili- 
gence, to  put  their  respective  provinces  in  the  best  pos- 
ture of  defence  ;   to  watch  the  motion  of  the  subjects  of 
France,  and,  in  case  any  of  them,  or  those  of  any  other 
foreign  power,  should  presume  to  encroach  on  any  part 
of  their  governments,  to  erect  forts  or  commit  any  act 
of  hostility,  immediately   to  represent  the  injustice  of 
such  proceedings  and  require  them  immediately  to  de- 
sist,   and,  on  refusal,    to  draw    forth  the  strength  of 
the  province,  and  repel  force  by  force. 

As  circumstances  required  that  the  several  pro- 
vinces should  assist  each  other,  in  case  of  invasion,  the 
governors  were  required  to  correspond  together,  and  on 
the  first  information  of  any  hostile  attempt,  immediately 
to  convene  the  legislature,  and  lay  before  them  the  ne- 
cessity of  mutual  assistance,  and  engage  them  to  furnish 
such  supjilies  as  the  circumstances  might  call  for. 

Lord  Holderness  concluded,  by  observing,  that  he 
had  the  kingS  express  command,  more  strictly  to  en- 
join, that  no  use  might  be  made  of  the  armed  force,  ex- 
cept within  the  undoubted  limits  of  the  British  domi- 
nions. The  misfortune  w^as,  that  these  undoubted  lim- 
its were  far  from  being  easily  discernible.  The  French 
minister  of  the  marine,  Monsieur  Rcuille,  to  whose 
department  the  concerns  of  the  plantations  belonged, 
was  at  the  same  time  writing  to  the  marcjuis  de  Jon- 
quiere,  governor  of  Canada,  with  the  same  apparent  de- 
sire of  justice,  when  he  gave  the  orders,  in  consequence 


64  CHAPTER  [1753 

of  which,  the  British  government  conceived  its  rights 
were  invaded.  "  The  king  commands  me,"  said  he, 
"  to  recal  to  your  mind  the  instructions  which  have  been 
often  given  to  you,  in  regard  to  your  conduct  towards 
the  British,  particularly  on  the  subject  of  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  dominions  of  the  two  crowns,  until  they  be 
finally  ascertained.  In  supporting  his  rights  against 
any  encroachment,  you  are  not  to  undertake  any  thing 
that  may  violate  those  of  the  British  king.  See  that  Jhe 
officers  whom  you  may  station  in  the  posts  near  the  Bri- 
tish colonies,  act  on  the  same  principle  ;  avoid  whatever 
may  give  room  to  just  ccmplaints  against  you." 

Vainly  were  the  officers  of  the  two  nations  required 
to  act  towards  each  other,  with  all  the  moderation,  com- 
patible with  the  honor  of  their  respective  nations,  and 
the  security  of  their  possessions  ;  neither  could  prevent 
a  rival  power,  with  a  different  idea  of  its  own  rights  and 
possessions  in  America,  from  viewing  even  that  mode- 
ration, as  an  overt  act  of  hostility. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  the  assembly  of  Jamaica  re- 
rolved,  "  That  it  is  the  interest  and  undoubted  right  of 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  to  raise  and  appl  v  mo- 
neys, for  the  services  and  exigencies  of  government; 
and  to  appoint  such  person  or  persons,  for  the  receiving 
and  issuing  thereof,  as  they  shall  think  proper;  which 
rights  this  house  has  exerted,  and  will  always  exert,  in 
such  manner  as  they  shall  judge  most  conducive  to  the 
service  of  his  majesty  and  the  interest  of  the  people." 

Early  in  January,  an  express  from  governor  Din-^ 
widdie  of  Virginia  reached  president  Rowan.  The 
governor,  alarmed  at  a  rumor  of  the  movements  of  the 
French  on  the  Ohio,  had  sent  thither  major  Washing- 
ton (the  man  who,  a  few  years  after,  became  one  of  the 


J  754]  THE  FOURTH.  OS 

most  oonspicnoiis  characters  of  his  a^e)  who  reported 
thai  the  French  had  taken  post  on  one  of  the  branches  of 
that  river,  and  bnilt  a  fort,  in  which  they  had  mounted 
eiijht  six  pounders:  they  had  materials  in  readiness 
for  other  forts,  which  they  declared  their  intention 
of  building  on  the  river,  and  particularly  at  Logs- 
town,  the  place  destined  for  their  future  residence^ 
as  soon  as  the  season  would  permit  them  to  embark*. 
For  this  purpose,  they  had  upwards  of  two  hundred 
canoes  finished,  besides  a  great  number  of  others 
blocked  out.  To  the  representations  of  the  major,  the 
commanding  officer  at  the  post  had  answered,  that  the 
country  belonged  to  the  French ;  that  no  Englishman 
had  a  right  to  trade  upon  those  waters ;  and  he  had 
orders  to  make  any  of  them  prisoners,  who  attempted 
it  on  the  Ohio  or  its  branches. 

Governor  Dinwiddle,  in  giving  the  information  to 
president  R  )wan,  observed,  that  the  force  of  the  enemy 
was  far  from  being  contemptible  :  they  had  already  en- 
gaged three  nations  of  Indians,  the  Chippeways,  Otta- 
wavs  and  the  Orendakes,  to  join  them:  they  had  four 
other  forts  on  the  Mississippi,  besides  a  garrison  of  one 
thousand  men  at  New  Orleans.  By  the  means  of  the 
Wabash,  they  had  a  communication  between  Canada  and 
the  Mississippi;  and  before  they  sent  their  troops  into 
w^inter  quarters  last  fall,  they  had  called  the  several  tribes 
of  Indians  together  at  the  fort,  and  told  them  they  might 
rely  on  seeing  them  early  in  the  spring,  with  a  very  con- 
siderable reinforcement;  that  they  would  take  posses- 
sion of  the  Ohio,  if  they  were  not  entirely  passive.  The 
letter  concluded,  by  soliciting  an  aid  of  men  from  the 
province,  to  join  the  troops,  that  were  raising  in  V  irginia 
and  Maryland,  and  march  against  the  French. 

N.  CARO.    II.       9 


66  CHAPTER      '  [1754 

President  Rowan  immediately  issued  his  proclama- 
tion, for  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Wilmington, 
on  the  19th  of  February. 

In  his  speech,  at  the  openin.sj  of  the  session,  he  com- 
municated to  the  houses,  the  despatches  he  had  received 
from  lord  Holderness  and  governor  Dinwiddie,  and 
pressed  them  to  improve  the  opportunity  of  manifesting 
their  loyalty  to  the  king,  their  zeal  for  his  service  and 
their  affection  for  a  sister  province.  The  lower  house 
put  a  price  on  their  compliance,  and  insisted,  as  a  sine 
qua  nortj  on  obtaining  the  president's  assent  to  a  bill  for 
issuing  a  considerable  sum  in  paper  currency.  This 
was  easier  to  be  obtaintd  from  a  temporary  chief  magis- 
trate than  from  a  governor,  who,  by  yielding  the  point, 
might  incur  the  risk  of  losing  his  office.  President 
Rowan  did  not  make  much  difficulty.  Various  plans 
xvere  accordingly  introduced ;  the  most  prominent  of 
which  was  a  scheme  for  a  .general  loan  office,  to  be 
managed  by  four  trustees,  chosen  by  the  chief  magis- 
trate out  of  tight  persons  named  by  the  asembly,  one 
of  whom  should  go  out  yearly,  and  be  replaced  by  a 
similar  mode  of  re-appointment.  A  sum  of  eighty  thou- 
sand pounds  was  proposed  to  be  emitted,  in  bills  of  dif- 
ferent denominations,  from  fifty  to  one  shilling,  and  pro- 
clamation money,  of  the  value  of  four  shillings  to  three 
shillings  sterling.  One  half  of  the  emission  was  to  be 
in  bills  of  twenty  shillings  and  under,  and  to  be  loaned 
by  the  trustees  on  security,  in  sums  from  three  hundred 
to  twelve  hundred  pounds,  with  a  proviso,  that  on  the  in- 
terest being  paid  within  two  months  after  the  day  of 
payment  yearly,  five  per  cent,  only  should  betaken,  other- 
wise six.  The  rest  of  the  etuission,  being  in  targe  bills, 
was  to  be  loaned  on  the  same  terms;  but,  with  a  view  to 


1754]  THE  FOURTH.  6? 

keep  the  credit  of  those  bills  in  circulation,  it  was  pro- 
vided, that  one  per  cent,  interest  should  be  allowed 
thereon,  from  the  time  the  bill  was  lent  out  till  returned, 
and  paid  into  the  office  in  discha^e  of  some  money,  there 
borrowed.  These  bills  were  to  be  loaned  in  sums  from 
five  hundrtd  to  twenty  pounds.  All  the  bills  were  to  be 
a  tender  in  all  payments.  The  friends  of  this  plan  con- 
tended, that  no  beneficial  commerce  could  be  carried  on, 
without  some  kind  of  a  circulating  medium,  and  that  the 
mode  hitherto  pursut^d,  when  paper  was  emitted,  to  lay 
a  tax  for  the  redemption  of  it,  by  instalments,  within 
a  limited  number  of  years,  and  cancelling  and  burning 
yearly  the  produce  of  the  tax,  did  not  fully  answer  the 
intended  end;  for,  the  circulating  medium  was  thus  gra- 
dually lessened,  the  remainder  being  still  sooner  absorb- 
ed by  the  tax,  and,  at  the  end  of  this  operation,  the  ne- 
nessity  of  a  circulating  medium,  was  as  equally  pressing 
as  before  the  emission:  as  a  bufficient  quantity  of  coin  or 
bulhon  could  not  be  brought  into,  and  retained  in  the 
province,  without  an  increase  of  trade,  and  a  proper  econ- 
omy to  procure  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  prov  ince,  bv  in- 
creasing the  amount  of  exports  and  diminishing  that  of 
imports,  whi  h  couid  not  be  eifectfd  in  an  infant  and 
growing  province,  where  all  nt-cessaries  are  to  be  pro- 
vided for,  to  improve  the  lands  and  purchase  slaves; 
that  the  circulating  medium  ought  to  be  mther  increased 
than  lessened,  a^  the  population  of  the  province  advan- 
ced. Even  if  the  president's  assent  could  have  been 
had  to  this  plan,  it  was  not  hkely  a  mtijority  of  the  coun- 
cil would  have  hazarded  their  seats  by  sanctioning  the 
measure:  emissions  of  paper  in  the  colonies  being 
highly  disapproved  of  at  home,  and  exciting  the  com- 
plaints of  the  merchants,  who,  as  the  currency  fell  in 


m  CHAPTER  [1754 

value,  by  the  accession  of  a  greater  quantity,  were  obli-- 
gtd  to  receive  it  in  payrrent  from  the  planters,  or  take 
produce  at  the  iidvanced  price  to  which  it  naturally  rose, 
with  the  increase  of  the  medium  witli  which  it  was  to  be 
exchanged.  The  plan  failed.  The  grant  of  supplies 
and  ihe  emission  of  monev  were  made  ihc  object  of  one 
bill. 

The  sum  of  one  thousand  pounds  was  appropriated 
to  the  raising,  subsisting  and  payinij:  such  troops  at*  the 
president  might  see  proper  to  st-nd  to  tlie  assistance  of 
the  provinc('  of  Virginia.  Two  thousand  were  also 
appropriated  for  the  repairs  of  Fort  Johnston,  and  a 
like  sum  for  those  of  Fort  Granville.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  frontier  counties  of  Anson  and  Rowan,  being 
judged  too  poor  to  support,  unaided,  the  expenses 
attending  the  defence  of  the  back  settlements  against  the 
Indians,  one  thousand  poimds  were  appropriated  to  the 
purchase  of  arms  for  thtir  use. 

Forty  thousand  pounds,  in  bills  of  credit,  were  emit- 
ted to  meet  these  expenditures,  and  another  appropria- 
tion was  made  of  twenty  thousand  pounds,  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  glebe  in  every  county,  for  the  establishment 
of  a  public  seminary  and  the  repairs  of  the  public  build- 
ings of  the  province.  This  last  appropriation  was  made 
under  a  suspending  clause,  till  the  king's  pleasure  was 
signified.      It  does  not  appear  that  it  ever  was  obtained. 

An  annual  poll  tax  of  one  shilling  and  a  duty  of  four 
pence  on  every  s^fallon  of  wine  or  spirituous  liquors, 
were  the  means  provided  for  the  redemption  of  the  pa- 
per ncyW  emitted,  and  to  continue  till  it  was  in  this  way 
all  bought  in  and  cancelled.  It  will  appear  in  the  course 
of  this  history,  that  the  tax  and  duty  were  continued 
until  the  abolition  of  the  regal  government.     The  appro- 


1754]  THE  FOURTH.  69 

priation  for  the  seminary,  which,  however,  proved  inef- 
fectual, is  the  first  evidence  of  a  desire  to  encourage 
literature,  manifcsttd  by  the  legislature  of  the  province: 
it  did  not  happen  till  nearly  ninety  years  after  the  settle- 
nient  of  the  country. 

The  upper  part  of  the  county  of  Bladen  was  erected 
into  a  distinct  couiUy,  and  called  Cumberland. 

The  town  of  Exeter,  in  the  county  of  New  Haven, 
and  that  ot  Gloucester,  in  the  county  of  Anson,  were 
established. 

President  Rowan  lost  no  time  in  raising  the  troops, 
voted  l^y  the  legiblature  for  the  assistance  of  the  province 
of  Virginia.  Colonel  James  Imiis  of  New  Hanover, 
marched,  at  the  head  of  this  succour,  and  joined  the 
forces  of  Virginia,  swelled  by  those  of  Maryland. 

Without  considering  much  the  strength  or  composi- 
tion of  this  small  army,  governor  Dinwidie,  following 
the  advice  of  the  kmg's  council,  directed  its  march  to 
the  Allegheny  mountains,  with  directions  either  to  dis- 
possess the  French  of  their  forts  or  erect  one  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  who'e  force  was  placed  under  the, 
order  of  the  officer  who  commanded  the  detachment  of 
North  Carolina.  The  total  number  was  not  equal  to 
one  half  of  that  of  the  tnemv,  and  no  care  had  been  taken 
to  provide  for  the  troops  any  of  the  necessary  su[»|)lies 
or  convcniencies,  which  the  season  and  the  part  of  the 
country  for  which  they  were  intended  required.  In 
giving  orders  for  procuring  recruits  for  the  Virginia  re- 
giment, it  had  been  unaccountably  forgotten  to  pro- 
vide any  money  for  that  purpose.  The  legislature  of 
that  province  soon  after  rose,  and  there  being  no  provis* 
ion  made  for  the  probcculion  of  the  war,  the  expedition 


70  CHAPTER  [1754 

was  countermanded,  and  colonel  Innis  marched  back  his 
men  to  North  Carolina. 

The  provinces  were  much  exposed  to  the  depreda- 
tions of  the  Indians,  more  particularly  during  a  war  be- 
tween England  and  France,  and,  individually,  either  too 
weak  to  take  efficient  measures  for  their  own  defence, 
or  unwilling  to  take  upon  themselves  the  charge  of 
erecting  forts,  and  maintaining  garrisons,  while  their 
neighbors,  who  partook  equally  with  them  in  the  advan- 
tage, contributed  nothing.  Some  times  also,  the  de- 
fects which  existed  between  the  governor  and  the  as- 
semblies, prevented  the  adoption  of  measures  of  dif- 
ference. To  avoid  the  evils  attending  this  immediate 
difference  of  interest,  and  the  better  to  combine  the 
forces  of  the  provinces,  it  was  recommended  to  them  by 
the  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations,  to  de- 
vise a  plan  of  union  between  the  colonies,  to  regulate  all 
measures  of  general  interest.  To  accomplish  this  end, 
the  former  were  invited  to  send  commissioners  to  Al- 
bany, in  the  province  of  New- York.  All,  however, 
did  not  attend  this  call:  commivssioners  from  the  prov- 
inces of  New-Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
New- Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  attended;  a 
plan  proposed  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  one  of  the  com- 
missioners from  Pennsylvania,  a  gentleman  famous  in 
the  republic  of  letters  and  in  the  American  history, 
was  adopted,  to  be  recommended,  which  has  ever  since 
been  known  by  the  appellation  of  the  * 'Albany  plan  of 


union.'* 


Application  was  proposed  to  be  made  for  an  act  of 
parliament  to  establish,  in  the  American  provinces,  a 
general  government,  to  be  administered  by  a  president 


1754]  THE  FOURTH.  71 

general,  appointed  by  the  crown,  on  the  nomination  of  a 
grand  council,  chosen  by  the  legislatures  of  the  differ- 
ent provinces.  The  number  of  members  to  be  chosen 
in  each,  to  be  in  direct  proportion  to  die  sum  paid  by  it 
into  the  general  treasury:  but  no  province  was  to  chose 
more  than  seven,  nor  less  than  two  members.  At  first, 
the  provinces  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  were  to 
have  seven  members  each;  that  of  Pennsylvania  six,  that 
of  Connecticut  five,  those  of  New-York,  North  Caro- 
lina and  South  Carolina  four  each,  that  of  New- Jersey 
three,  and  those  of  New-Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island 
two  each.  The  whole  executive  power  was  vested  in 
the  president  general;  the  legislative  power  was  vested 
in  the  grand  council  and  the  president  general;  his  assent 
being  necessary  to  the  passage  of  a  bill  into  a  law.  The 
general  legislature  was  empowered  to  declare  war,  con- 
clude treaties  and  make  peace  with  the  different  nations 
of  Indians;  to  regulate  trade  with,  and  make  acquisitions 
of  land  from,  them;  in  the  name  of  the  king  or  of  the 
union,  to  settle  new  colonies,  and  make  laws  for  their 
government,  till  their  erection  into  distinct  provinces;  to 
raise  troops,  build  forts,  fit  out  and  arm  vessels  and  use 
all  other  means  for  the  general  defence.  To  carry  these 
powers  into  effect,  they  were  empowered  to  lay  duties, 
taxes  and  imposts.  All  laws  were  to  be  transmitted 
over  for  the  king's  approbation,  and,  unless  disapproved 
within  three  years,  were  to  remain  in  full  force.  Mili- 
tary officers  were  to  be  nominated  by  the  president  gen- 
eral and  appointed  by  the  council,  and  those  in  the  civil 
department  were  to  be  nominated  by  the  council  and 
appointed  by  the  president  general. 

The  French,  still  persisting  in  their  endeavors  to  oc- 
cupy the  borders  of  Ohio,  the  province  of  Virginia 


n  CHAPTER.  [1754 

raised  a  regiment  to  check  their  advances.  Miijor 
Wabhington,  on  whom  the  command  of  this  corps  hdd 
devolved,  on  the  death  of  colonel  Frv,  advanced  towards 
thi'.t  river  early  in  the  sprinjj^.  H^  met  with,  and  defeat- 
ed a  small  French  party,  under  the  orders  of  captain  de 
Jumonville,  and  directed  his  march  to  the  confluence  of 
the  Monoiigahela  and  Allegheny  rivers,  where  the  Ohio 
company  had  sent  a  number  of  men  to  erect  ^  fort. 
But,  on  the  4th  of  July,  he  was  attacked  and  defeated  by 
a  party  of  French  and  Indians,  with  the  loss  of  150 
killed  and  70  wounded. 

The  plan  proposed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  pro- 
vince was  submitted  to  their  respective  legislatures  and 
rejected  by  all,  as  giving  the  president  general,  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  crown,  an  influence  greater  than  ap- 
peared to  them  proper,  in  a  plain  government  formed  for 
freemen.  The  British  ministry  disapproved  of  it;  be- 
cause it  gave  too  much  power  to  tlie  representatives  of 
the  people.  Perhaps  these  objections,  from  each  party, 
are  the  strongest  proof  that  can  be  adduced  of  its  excel* 
lence,  as  directed  to  the  situation  of  Great  Britain  and 
America,  at  that  time.  It  appears  to  have  steered,  ex- 
actly in  the  middle,  between  the  interest  of  both. 


ChalmerS'-'Marshall — Records. 


CHAPTER  V. 

In  the  fall  of  1754,  Arthur  Dobbs,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed governor  of  the  province,  arrivjed  at  Nevvbern^ 
This  gentleman  was  an  Irishman,  and  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Irish  parliament:  he  was  a  man  of  letters 
and  enterprise.  It  was[at  his  solicitation,  that  the  board 
of  admiralty,  in  England,  had  been  prevailed  upon,  in 
1741,  to  cause  a  new  attempt  to  be  made,  under  the 
orders  of  Christopher  Middleton,  a  captain  of  the  Hud- 
son bay  company,  to  find  a  northwest  passage  to 
Japan,  China,  and  India.  The  expedition  sailed  in  the 
month  of  May,  of  that  year;  but  it  was  unsuccessful. 
The  plan  of  governor  Dobbs  was  complained  of  by 
Monsieur  Durand,  one  of  the  French  commissioners, 
(1742)  as  tending  to  encroach  upon  the  trade  which  the 
French  carried  on  with  the  Indians  towards  the  north  of 
Canada,  and  to  extend  the  British  settlementss  in  these 
parts  to  the  prejudice  of  those  of  the  French^ 

Governor  Dobbs  brought  a  few  pieces  of  cannon  and 
one  thousand  firelocks,  a  present  from  the  crown  to  the 
province.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  number  of  his  re- 
lations and  countrymen,  who  had  followed  him  with  the 
hope  of  being  promoted  to  lucrative  offices,  and  the  in- 
habitants of  the  province  were  not  long  without  com- 
plaining of  his  too  great  fidelity  in  gratifying  the  desires 
of  his  followers, 

N.  CARO.    II.       10 


14  CHAPTER  [1754 

He  qualified  at  Newbern,  on  the  1st  of  November, 
and  met  the  legislature  six  weeks  after,  in  that  town. 
He  recommended  the  fixing"  of  a  permanent  and  adequate 
revenue  on  the  crown,  to  meet  the  expenses  of  govern- 
ment, and  a  ]  'roper  salary  for  the  governor  for  the  time 
being:  he  drew  the  attention  of  the  lower  house  to  the 
necessity  of  making  an  early  appropriation  for  the  repairs 
of  fort  Johnston  and  the  other  fortifications,  and  the  sup- 
port of  a  few  soldiers;  and  ofmakuig  provision  for  the 
support  of  a  minister  of  the  established  church,  in  each 
county;  for  the  regulation  of  trade,  and  the  preser- 
vation of  a  good  understanding,  with  the  neighboring 
Indian  tribes.     The  revision  of  the  court   svstem  and 

m 

the  inspection  laws  were  mentioned  by  him,  as  proper 
objects  for  the  deliberation  of  the  legislature,  and  he  de- 
sired that  some  remedy  might  be  applied  to  an  alarming 
and  sjrowinf^  evil,  the  great  circulation  of  counterfeited 
bills  of  credit. 

The  assembly  were  ready  to  enter  on  the  business  re- 
commended, if  we  except  the  allowance  of  a  salary  for 
the  chief  magistrate.  An  aid  of  eight  thousand  pounds 
was  granted  to  the  king  for  the  defence  of  the  province: 
a  duty  was  laid  on  every  ton  of  shipping  of  one  fourth 
of  a  pound  of  powder  and  one  pound  of  lead,  and  a 
bounty  was  allowed  for  facilitating  enlistments.  Means 
of  defence  being  thus  provided,  the  legislature  turned 
their  attention  to  the  internal  concerns  of  the  province, 
A  new  judicial  system  was  formed;  a  supreme  court 
was  established  in  different  districts  of  the  province;  and 
provision  was  made  for  holding  courts  of  oyer  and  ter- 
miner and  general  jail  delivery,  defining  the  jurisdiction 
of  county  courts  and  settling  the  mode  of  proceeding 
therein.     Inspections  of  tobacco  were  established  and 


n55]  THE  FIFTH.  -5^ 

the  exportation  of  that  article,  before  it  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  home  test,  was  forbidden.  Inspectors'  notes 
were  made  a  tender  at  the  public  treasury,  at  the  rate  of 
one  penny  a  pound.  The  cultivation  of  this  commo- 
dity, it  seems,  was  as  yet  confined  to  the  northern  part  of 
"the  province,  the  act  making  no  provision  for  the  in- 
spection of  it,  to  the  southward  of  Tar  river. 

In  their  address  to  the  governor,  the  lower  house  la- 
mented the  repeal  of  the  act,  establishing  several  towns 
and  counties. 

The  ministry,  judging  that  the  provincial  forces  were 
unequal  to  a  conflict  against  the  French,  despatched 
commodore  Reppel,  with  a  squadron  of  ships  of  war, 
conveying  major  general  Braddock  and  a  reputable 
body  of  troops. 

After  a  long  and  tedious  passage,  general]  Braddock 
reached  Williamsburg,  early  in  the  following  year.  In 
the  letter,  announcing  his  arrival  to  Henry  Fox,  the 
secretary  of  war,  on  the  4th  of  February,  he  said,  *'I 
have  found  every  thing  in  great  confusion,  as  I  expected: 
much  money  has  already  been  spent,  though  very  little 
is  done.  The  governor  here  is  of  opinion,  th  .t  the  peo- 
ple of  the  province  are  well  inclined  to  give  all  the 
assistance  in  thtir  power,  to  an  affair  that  concerns  them 
so  nearly.  Governor  Dobbs  is  well  enough  satisfied 
with  those  of  his  province,  and  hopes  to  be  more  so 
hereafter;  Pennsyivania  will  do  nothing,  and  supplies 
the  French  with  every  thing  they  want." 

His  first  step  was  to  address  a  circular  Iplter  to 
the  governors  of  the  several  provinces,  to  prevail  on 
them  to  exert  themselves  in  their  respective  gov- 
ernments, to  obtain  supplies  of  men  and  money; 
he  recommended  them  to  lock  up  their  ports,  so  aa 


l^S  CHAPTER  ino5 

to  render  it  impossible  for  the  enemy  lo  draw  any 
provisions  from  the  provinces,  and  expressed  a 
wish  tliat  a  common  fund  might  be  establishe«l  out 
of  the  money,  granted  by  the  several  legislatures. 
In  a  letter  of  the  18th  of  March,  to  Sir  Thomas  Ro- 
binson, secretary  of  state,  he  complained  of  the  dif- 
ficalties  he  had  to  encounter,  in  the  following  terms: 
"The  jealousy  of  the  people  and  the  disunion  of 
many  of  the  colonies  are  such,  that  I  almost  despair 
of  succeeding.  I  am  indeed  very  sorry  to  teli  you^ 
that  in  all  appearance,  I  shall  meet  with  great  diffi- 
culties in  obtaining  from  those  colonies,  the  Fupplies 
v^^hich  the  king  expects  from  them  and  the  general 
interest  requires.  Governor  Dinwiddie  has  already 
obtained  from  his  province  twenty  thousand  pounds 
currency,  and  he  hopes  to  obtain  a  still  larger  sunj, 
North  Carolina  had  granted  eight  thousand  pounds 
and  Maryland  six  thousand,  each  of  the  current  coin 
of  their  respective  governments.  Although  Penn- 
sylvania is,  without  contradiction,  the  richest  and 
the  most  concerned  in  this  expedition;  yet,  it  has 
supplied  nothing  hitherto."  And  in  a  letter  of  a 
later  date  to  the  earl  of  Halifax,  the  general  writes: 
"I  am  sorry  to  have  been  under  the  necessity  of 
saying,  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  colonies  have 
all  shown  a  great  indifference  for  the  king's  service, 
and  their  own  interests.  However,  they  do  not  all 
fall  under  this  censure,  and  particularly  those  of  the 
province  I  am  now  in,  (Virginia,)  are  not  to  be 
compared  with  their  neighbors,  and  may  not  have 
deserved  reproaches.  But  I  cannot  sufficiently  ex^ 
press  my  indignation  against  the  provinces  of  Pcnn- 


1755]  THE  FIFTH.  77 

sylvania  and  Maryland,  which,  being  qu'te  as  much 
concerned  in  this  expedition  as  their  neighbors,  and 
much  more  so  than  any  other  on  this  continent,  re- 
fuse to  contribute  in  any  shape  towards  the  support 
of  this  project,  and  even  what  they  propose,  they 
do  only  on  such  terms,  as  are  entirely  contrary  to 
the  prerogative  of  the  king  and  his  instructions  to 
the  governors." 

Early  in  April,  governor  Dobbs  left  the  province 
in  order  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  governors  of  the 
provinces,  which  general  Braddock  had  requested, 
with  a  view  of  consulting  them  on  the  most  proper 
mode  of  operation.  They  met  him  at  Alexandria, 
on  the  14th  of  April.  The  result  of  their  delibera- 
tions was  a  recommendation  of  three  expeditions. 

The  object  of  the  first  and  principal  one,  was  the 
reduction  of  fort  Duquesne,  which  stood  on  the 
spot  on  which  the  present  town  of  Pittsburg  now 
stands,  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  General  Brad- 
dock  was  to  command  it  in  person,  and  his  forces 
were  to  consist  of  the  troops  he  had  brought  from 
England,  and  such  reinforcements,  as  might  be  ob- 
tained from  the  southern  provinces. 

The  second,  which  was  to  be  under  the  com- 
mand of  governor  Sliirley  of  the  province  of  Mas- 
sacltusetts,  was  intended  against  Niagara  and  fort 
Frontignac.  Two  regiments  raised  in  that  colony, 
were  to  be  the  main  force  employed  in  it. 

The  lust  had  Crownpoint  f  r  its  object.  For  this, 
provincial  troojis  were  to  be  raised  from  the  pro- 
vince of  New-York,  and  those  of  New  England; 
major  g«*neral  William  Johnston  of  New-York,  was 
designated  as  the  leader  of  it. 


75  CHAPTER  [1755 

General  Braddock  lost  no  time  in  making  the  ne- 
cessary arrangements  for  the  expedition  which  he 
was  to  head.  He  formed  two  companies  of  carpen- 
ters, each  composed  of  a  captain,  two  subalterns, 
two,  sergeants  and  thirty  men.  One  of  them  was 
to  be  employed  in  making  roads  and  boats,  and  the 
other  in  repairing  carriages:  he  also  raised  a  com- 
pany of  guides,  composed  of  a  captain,  two  aids  and 
ten  men.  He  established  forts  from  the  head  quar* 
lers  to  Philadelphia,  Annapolis  and  Williamsburg, 
His  difficulties  were  increased  by  the  great  num- 
ber of  horses,  waggons  and  batteaux,  necessary  for 
transporting  the  artillery,  baggage  and  provisions, 
and  the  scarcity  oi  laborers  and  the  excessive  price 
they  required;  the  provisions  were  to  be  drawn 
from  many  provinces,  distant  from  each  other;  the 
want  of  fora^^e  was  severely  felt,  and  the  expedition 
w  as  detained  a  considerable  time  waiting  for  the  ar- 
tillery. He  set  off!  on  the  20th  of  April,  on  his  way 
to  tort  Frederick,  in  order  to  go  by  the  way  of  Wills 
creek,  where  a  post  was  established,  on  the  spot 
since  known  as  fort  Cumberland,  near  the  source 
of  tlie  Potomac,  then  the  most  western  post,  held 
in  those  parts  by  the  English. 

,  General  Braddock  was  detained  on  the  road  at  this 
post,  by  a  coincidence  of  untoward  circumstances, 
until  the  middle  of  June,  when  apprehensions  were  en- 
tertained, that  this  inauspicious  delay  would  afford  the 
enemy  the  opportunity  of  strengthening  the  post  against 
which  the  expedition  was  aimed,  so  as  to  occasion  its 
miscarriage.  It  was  thought  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  guard  against  this  contingency,  and  the  general,  ta- 
king with  him  a  chosen  corps  of  twelve  hundred  men, 


1755]  THE  FIFTH.  7^ 

began  a  rapid  march :  the  baggage  of  the  detachment 
was  packed  on  horses,  and  as  few  waggons  were  taken 
with  it  as  were  sufficient  for  the  removal  of  the  military 
stores.  Colonel  Dunbar  was  left  with  the  rest  of  the 
army,  and  directed  to  follow  by  slower  and  easier 
marches. 

General  Braddock  was  not,  however,  able  to  reach  the 
Monongahela  till  the  eighth  of  July  ;  the  rugged  state  of 
the  country  did  not  allow  a  speedier  progress,  though  the 
corps  was  disencumbered  from  every  article  that  could 
be  left  behind. 

After  having  crossed  the  stream,  the  general  disposed 
his  forces  for  battle :  he  placed  in  front  three  hundred 
British  regulars,  among  whom  were  his  grenadiers  and 
light  infintry,  and  followed,  at  some  distance,  with  the  ar- 
tillery and  the  main  body  of  the  army,  divided  into  small 
columns.  This  was  a  most  unfortunate  arrangement, 
and  the  general  had  determined  on  it,  notwithstanding 
the  representations  of  all  the  American  officers  near  him, 
who  recommended,  that  the  provincial  companies  should 
be  made  to  advance  in  front,  scour  the  woods,  discover, 
and  give  alarm  in  case  of  any  ambuscade.  This  recom- 
mendation was  disregarded,  the  general  having  too  con- 
temptuous an  opinion  of  the  enemy  against  whom  he 
was  advancing,  and  of  the  capacity  of  American  soldiers. 
In  the  midst  of  a  wide,  open  piece  of  ground,  covered 
with  grass  to  a  man's  height,  the  unseen  foe  fired  on, 
and  threw  into  confusion,  the  unsuspecting  ranks  in  the 
van  of  the  British  forces  :  but  the  prompt  advance  of  the 
main  body,  and  the  fall  of  the  French  commanding  offi- 
cer, put  a  momentary  stop  to  the  attack :  but  the  assail- 
ants soon  resumed  it  with  great  fury»  and  the  van  falling 
back  on  the  main  body,  a  general  confusion  followed. 


8«  CHAPTER,  [1755 

Every  officer  on  horseback,  except  George  Washing, 
ton,  who  was  near  the  general  as  one  of  his  aids,  was 
killed  or  wounded,  and  the  commander  himself  received 
a  deadlv  wound  :  at  this  moment,  his  dismayed  British 
soldiers  ran  in  various  directions,  in  disorder  and  confu- 
sion :  the  provincial  forces  kept  the  field  a  considerable 
time  longer.  Great  was  the  carnage  that  ensued,  till  the 
Indians,  who  constituted  a  good  portion  of  the  enemy's 
army,  diverted  by  the  hope  of  plunder,  gave  up  the  pur- 
suit. Sixty-four  out  of  eighty-five  officers,  and  one  half 
of  the  men  were  either  killed  or  wounded  ;  the  artillery, 
stores  and  baggage  were  all  taken.  The  portion  of  the 
army  that  escaped,  reached  colonel  Dunbar's  camp, 
where  the  general  breathed  his  last.  The  colonel,  alarm- 
ed for  the  safety  of  his  men,  sought  their  safety  in  a  pre- 
cipitate retreat,  and,  after  burning  most  of  his  stores, 
marched  to  Philadelphia. 

By  the  unfortunate  issue  of  this  expedition,  the  west- 
ern settlements  of  the  southern  provinces  were  left  open 
to  the  attacks  of  the  Indians,  and  most  of  the  planters 
sought  an  asylum  in  the  more  thickly  inhabited  parts  of 
the  country. 

The  expeditions,  under  governor  Shirley  and  general 
Johnston,  were  not  so  disastrous,  but  neither  of  them 
was  successful.  The  army  of  the  latter,  during  the 
summer,  lay  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a  little 
south  of  the  city  of  Albany.  In  the  early  part  of  June, 
the  troops  of  the  eastern  provinces  began  to  pour  in, 
company  after  company,  and  such  a  motley  assemblage 
of  men  never  before  thronged  together,  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, unless  an  example  may  be  found  in  the  ragged  re- 
giment of  Sir  John  Falstaff.  It  would  have  relaxed  the 
gravity  of  an  anachorite,  to  have  seen  the  descendants  of 


1755]  THE  FIFTH.  gl 

the  Puritans,  marching  through  the  streets  of  our  an- 
cient city,  take  their  situation  to  the  left  of  the  British 
army,  some  with  long  coats,  some  with  short  coats,  and 
others  with  no  coat  at  all,  with  colors  as  varied  as  the 
rainbow  ;  some  with  their  hair  cropped  like  the  army  of 
Cromwell,  and  others  with   wig-,  the   locks  of  which 
floated  with  grace  around  their  shoulders.     Their  march, 
their  accoutrements  and  the  whole  arrangement  of  the 
troops,  furnished  matter  of  amusement  to  the  rest  of  the 
British  army.     The  music  played  the  airs  of  two  centu- 
ries ago,  and  the  tout  ensemble ^  upon  the  whole,  exhi- 
bited a  sight  to  the  wondering  strangers,  to  which  they 
had  been  unaccustomed.     Among  the  club  of  wits  that 
belonged  to  the  British  army,  there  was  a  Doctor  Shack- 
burg,  attached  to  the  staff,   who  combined  with  the 
science  of  a  surgeon  the  skill  and  talents  of  a  musician  : 
to  please  the  new  comers,  he  composed  a  tune,  and  with 
much  gravity  recommended  it  to  the  officers  as  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  airs  of  martial  music.     The  joke 
took,  to  the  no  ^mall  amusement  of  the  British  :  brother 
Jonathan  exclaimed  it  was  nation  fine^  and  in  a  few  days 
nothing  was  heard  in  the  provincial  camp,  but  the  air  of 
Yankee  Doodle.     Little  did  the  author,  in  his  composi- 
tions, then  suppose,  that  an  air  made  for  the  purpose  of 
levity  and  ridicule,  should  ever  be  marked  for  such  high 
destinies.     In  twenty  years  from  that  time,  the  national 
march  inspired  the  heroes  of  Bunker's  hill,  and  in  less 
than  thirty,  lord  Cornwallis  and  his  army  marched  into 
the  American  lines  to  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle. 

Governor  Dobbs,  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  visit- 
ed the  western  counties  of  the  province,  and  the  towns 
on  the  sea  shore,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  on  what  spots 
fortifications  might  be  erected  with  the  greatest  pros- 

N.    CARO.   II.  11 


B2  CHAPTER  [1755 

pect  of  utility.  He  met  the  legislature  on  the  25th  of 
September,  at  Newbern :  in  addressing  the  houses,  he 
observed,  that  the  situation  of  aiFairs  in  the  province, 
being  much  altered  since  their  last  meeting,  and  the  dan- 
ger increased  of  the  French  being  able  to  accomplish 
the  scheme  they  had  formed,  of  confining  the  British 
provinces  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains,  by  a 
chain  of  forts  from  Canada  to  Louisiana ;  of  gaining 
most  of  the  nations  of  Indians  to  their  alliance,  and  of 
preventing  those  who  were  friendly  to  the  En;;lish  from 
appearing  in  their  defence,  he  was  compelled  to  solicit 
them,  in  the  king's  name,  to  grant  as  large  supplies  as 
the  situation  of  the  province  could  allow,  not  only  to 
defend  the  frontier  counties,  but  also  to  co-operate  ia 
offensive  measures  ^vith  the  other  provinces,  against  the 
common  enemy :  he  recommended  the  erection  of  a 
fort,  between  Third  and  Fourth  creeks,  near  the  South 
Yadkin,  in  the  county  of  Rowan,  near  that  of  Iredell,  a 
central  spot  between  the  northern  and  southern  bounda- 
ries oi"  the  province. 

T!ie  legislature  granted  a  supply  of  ten  thousand 
pounds,  for  the  erection  of  this  fort  and  for  raising, 
equipping  and  paying  three  companies  of  fifty  men  each, 
exclusive  of  commissioned  officers  ;  and  with  a  view  to 
facilitate  the  approvisionment  of  the  king's  forces,  an 
act  was  passed  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  provisions 
or  live  stock,  to  any  of  the  enemy's  or  neutral  ports. 

Pork,  beet,  rice,  indigo,  naval  stores  and  lumber, 
were  this  year  made  subjects  of  the  laws  of  inspection, 
winch  hitherto  related  to  tobacco  only. 

The  people  known  by  the  appellation  of  Unitas  Fra- 
trum  or  United  Brethren,  though  more  generally  by  that 
of  the  Moravians,  having  formed  considerable  settle- 


1756]  THE  FIFTH.  83 

ments  in  Wachovia,  a  large  tract  of  land,  which  they 
owned  in  the  county  of  Rowan,  now  in  that  of  Stokes, 
xvere  erected  into  a  separate  parish,  that  they  mipjht  dis- 
charge their  parochial  duties  with  more  convenience  and 
case :  the  new  parish  was  called  Dobbs'  Parish. 

To  the  distresses  of  the  war,  was  now  added  the  ca- 
lamity of  one  of  those  epidemical  diseases,  which  at  dif- 
ferent periods  have  scoured  the  continental  provinces,  in 
autumnal  visitations. 

In  the  following  year,  the  fortification  which  the  gover- 
nor had  recommended,  was  raised  :  it  was  an  oblong 
square,  fifty- three  feet  long  and  forty- three  wide  :  the 
opposite  angles  were  twenty-two  by  twenty. four :  it 
was  twenty-four  feet  higii,  and  had  three  floors,  from 
each  of  which  above  one  hundred  muskets  might  be 
discharged  at  the  same  time. 

The  British  now  began  to  retaliate  on  their  rivals,  by 
captures  at  st-a,  and  early  in  the  following  year,  on  the 
application  of  the  French  court  for  restitution  of  the  ves- 
sels seized,  the  British  cabinet  required  a  previous  satis- 
faction for  the  invasion  of  the  king's  territories  and  the 
hostilities  committed  on  his  American  subjects.  On 
receiving  this  cUiswer,  the  French  king  granted  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisals.  On  the  18th  of  May,  war  was 
formally  declared  by  the  court  of  Great  Britain  ;  an  ex- 
ample which  was  followed  by  France  on  the  18th  of 
June. 

The  earl  of  Loudon,  who  had  been  appointed  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  king's  troops  in  America,  and 
governor  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  came  over  in  the 
spring.  Nothing  of  importance  was,  however,  attempt- 
e-d  during  the  year. 


i-/ 


84  >      CHAPTER  [175^ 

In  the  month  of  September,  the  marquis  of  Mont- 
calm made  himself  master  of  the  important  post  of 
Oswego,  on  lake  Ontario :  the  British  garrison,  con- 
sisting of  sixteen  hundred  men,  were  made  prisoners  of 
war.  This  fortification,  having  been  erected  in  the 
country  of  the  Five  Nations,  was  not  viewed  bv  them 
without  jealousy :  the  marquis  wisely  destroj^ed  it  in 
presence  of  the  Indians,  telling  them  that  the  French 
wished  to  enable  their  red  brethren  to  preserve  their  neu- 
trality, and  would  not  make  any  other  use  of  victory 
than  to  demolish  the  forts  built  by  tlie  English  on  the 
lands  of  the  Indians,  with  the  design  of  overawing  and 
keeping  them  in  subjection. 

The  general  assembly  of  the  province  sat  at  Newbern 
on  the  last  dav  of  December.  The  attention  of  the 
houses  was  drawn  by  governor  Dobbs  to  the  change 
which  had  taken  place  since  their  last  session :  he  said 
that  the  measures  which  the  king  had  taken  to  preserve 
the  rights  and  possessions  of  his  American  provinces, 
and  compel  the  French  to  restore  the  territories  they  had 
taken  possession  of,  had  encouraged  the  hope  of  a  speedy 
determination  of  all  differences ;  but  it  now  appeared^ 
that  the  king  of  France,  not  only  persisted  in  the  deter- 
mination of  hemming  in  the  British  colonies,  securing 
the  Indian  trade,  engaging  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  fron- 
tiers in  his  cause,  and  with  their  assistance  expelling  the 
English  from  the  continent  of  America,  but  had  invaded, 
previous  to  any  declaration  of  war,  the  king's  domin- 
ions in  that  of  Europe,  and  threatened  an  invasion  and 
the  total  destruction  of  the  British  empire,  outrages 
which  had  compelled  the  king  to  declare  war  against 
France. 


17561  THE  FIFTH.  S5 

After  observing  that  the  whole  British  empire,  ia 
America,  was  at  a  stake,  and  the  religion,  liberties  and 
possessions  of  the  nation  in  the  utmost  danger,  unless 
her  whole,  united  strength  was  exerted  to  repel  those 
faithless  neighbors  and  merciless  enemies,  he  added,  that 
the  great  weight  of  a  war  against  the  exorbitant  power 
of  France,  without  the  assistance  of  any  ally,  under  the 
pressure  of  a  heavy  debt,  contracted  for  securing  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  territory  of  the  American  provinces,  re- 
quired, that  they  should  yield  assistance  to  the  mother 
country  to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  and  recommended 
that,  by  an  efficient  aid,  the  province  might  be  prevented 
from  becoming  th*e  seat  of  war. 

He  informed  the  houses,  he  had  received  the  king's 
instructions  to  recommend  to  them  the  passage  of  a  bill 
for  preventing  desertions,  and  to  encourage  the  recruit- 
ing service,  and  to  request,  that  such  sums  as  might 
be  raised  for  the  public  service  of  the  colonies,  might  be 
placed  under  the  directions  of  his  commander  in  chief, 
over  all  the  colonies,  and  in  compliance  with  the  address 
of  the  assembly,  at  their  last  session,  to  re-enact  the 
twelve  laws,  which  had  been  repealed  by  the  king  in 
council,  in  1754.  for  erecting  counties  and  towns,  re- 
serving to  the  king  his  right  to  create  members  to  serve 
in  the  assembly,  and  also  to  agree  to  the  repeal  of  such 
subie-iuent  laws  for  erecting  counties  which  had  not 
been  laid  before  the  kin^  in  council,  before  the  month 
of  April,  1754,  and  to  re-enact  them  with  the  same 
rest-rvaliou. 

He  recommended  the  passage  of  a  militia  law,  and  the 
revision  r.f  those  for  the  support  of  the  clergy  and  for 
the  inspection  uf  conimodiiies. 


UQ  CHAPTER  [1756 

The  legislature  granted  a  small  aid  only  of  three  thou- 
sand four  hundred  pounds,  which  were  appropriated  to 
the  defence  of  the  western  country;  and,  in  compliance 
with  the  recommendation  of  the  governor,  passed  a 
law  to  prevent  desertion.  The  acts  establishing 
the  counties  of  Orange,  Rowan  and  Cumberland, 
and  those  allowing  the  towns  of  Wilmington  and 
Brunswick,  the  right  of  being  represented  in  the  lower 
house,  were  repealed,  as  containing  clauses  injurious  to 
the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  and  acts  were  passed,  for 
re-establishing  those  three  counties,  and  all  those,  the 
erection  of  which  had  been  disallowed  by  the  king  in 
council,  by  his  orders  of  the  8th  of  April,  1754.  A 
clause  was  inserted,  declaring  t*iat  the  establishment  of 
these  counties  was  not  to  be  construed  as  alhjwinij  the 
royal  prerogative  of  granting  letters  of  incorporation, 
ordering  and  regulating  elections,  and  establishing  fairs 
and  markets. 

More  extensive  regulations  were  made  for  the  im- 
provement  and  establishment  of  roads  and  ferries.  Pro- 
per amendments  were  introduced  in  the  inspection  laws, 
and  measures  were  taken  to  secure  the  collection  of  the 
powder  duty. 

The  governor  now  informed  the  upper  house,  that 
the  fortifications  on  Cape  Fear  river,  at  Core  sound  and 
Topsail  inlet,  would  soon  be  in  a  state  of  defence,  and 
that  he  had  information,  that  the  artillery  and  ordnance 
for  Fort  Johnston  would  soon  arrive,  and  that  he  had 
applied  for  artillery  and  ordnance  stores  for  the  other 
forts,  and  for  a  company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men,  to  be  fixed  on  the  British  establishment;  where- 
upon the  house,  at  his  recommendation,  addressed  the 
king,  imploring  his  protection  for  the  province,  and  resol- 


1756]  THE  FIFTH".  ST 

I 

ved,  that  they  would  cheerfully  concur  with  the  other 
house,  in  making  provision  for  the  support  of  such  men 
as  he  might  send  to  garrison  the  forts. 

The  governor  communicated  the  instructions  he  had 
received  from  the  king,  to  fix  on  a  proper  spot  for  the 
seat  of  government,  and  the  representations  of  the  lords 
commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations ;  that  it  should 
be  in  a  healthy  situation,  the  most  central,,  and  their  in- 
tention to  advise  the  king,  that  it  should  be  somewhere 
on  the  river  Neuse ;  a  committee  of  both  houses  was 
appointed,  to  view  the  country  and  report  the  most 
advantageous  spot. 

A  post,  established  between  Suffolk  and  Wilming- 
ton (once  a  fortnight)  was  continued  for  one  year. 

The  governor  was  authorized  to  apply  the  surplus  of 
the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  pounds,  appropriated  at  the 
September  session  of  the  legislature,  in  1754,  to  the 
raising  and  subsistence  of  the  troops,  destined  for  the 
service  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  and  out  of  the  sum 
of  eight  thousand  pounds,  granted  at  the  follow^ing  ses- 
sion, for  the  defence  of  the  frontiers,  to  make  up  any  de- 
ficiency that  might  happen  in  the  sum  of  ten  thosand 
pounds,  granted  at  the  last  session,  and  promised  to 
make  further  provision,  at  the  next  meeting,  if  necessary. 

Governor  Glen,  of  South  Carolina,  began  to  establish 
forts  in  the  country  lately  acquired  from  the  Cherokees, 
On  the  banks  of  the  river  Savannah,  and  at  the  distance 
of  about  three  hundred  miles  from  Charleston,  he  erect- 
ed Fort  Prince  George,  within  gun  shot  of  an  Indian 
town  called  Keoovee.  It  was  square,  and  had  an  earth- 
en rampart  about  six  feet  high,  on  which  stockades  were 
fixed,  a  ditch  and  a  natural  glacis  on  two  sides,  with 
bastions  at  the  angles,  on  each  of  which  four  cannons 


S8  CHAPTER  [175a 

were  mounted :  It  contained  barracks  for  four  hundred 
men.  About  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  down  the 
river,  was  built  Fort  Moore,  on  a  much  smaller  scale. 
Andrew  Lewis  was  sent,  by  the  earl  of  Loudon,  to  build 
another  fort  on  Tennessee  river,  on  the  southern  bank, 
at  the  highest  point  of  the  navigation,  opposite  to  the 
spot,  on  which  Tellico  block  house  has  since  been  pla- 
ced, about  thirty  miles  from  the  present  town  of  Knox- 
ville:  the  fort  was  called  Fort  Loudon.  These  strong 
holds,  with  those  of  Frederica  and  Augusta,  formed  a 
strong  barrier  against  the  Indians,  and  the  protection 
they  afforded,  induced  the  inhabitants  to  advance  to- 
wards the  western  parts  of  the  provinces  of  North  and 
Souti)  Carolina. 

Andrew  Lewis  informed  governor  Dobbs  that,  on  his 
arrival  at  Chota,  he  had  received  the  kindest  usage  from 
Old  Hop,  the  little  carpenter,  and  that  the  Indians  in 
general  expressed  their  readiness  to  comply  with  the 
late  treaty  with  the  Virginia  commissioners  (Byrd  and 
Randolph).  They  manifested  these  disposition  while 
the  fort  was  building  ;  but,  when  it  was  finished,  and 
they  were  pressed  to  fulfil  their  engagements  and  send 
warriors  to  Virginia,  they  equivocated.  Andrew  Lewis 
observed,  that  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies,  the 
Savannahs,  kept  a  regular  correspondence  with  the 
Cherokees,  especially  those  of  the  great  town  of  Tellico. 
He  expressed  his  opinion,  that  some  scheme  was  on 
foot  for  the  distress  of  the  English  back  settlers,  and  that 
the  Cherokees  greatly  inclined  to  join  the  French. 
While  he  was  at  Chota,  messages  had  come  to  the  little 
carpenter,  from  the  Nantovves,  the  Savannahs,  and  the 
'  French,  at  the  Alabama  Fort.  He  took  notice  that  the 
ebjects  of  the  communications  were  industriously  con- 


1 757 J  THE  FIFTH.  89 

cealed  from  him,  and  diat  a  great  alteration,  in  that  chief's 
behaviour  towards  him,  had  ensueil.  In  return,  towards 
the  latter  part  of  September,  a  Frenchman  who  had  lived 
for  a  considerable  time  among  the  Cherokees,  accompa- 
nied by  a  Cherokee  wench  who  understood  the  Shawa- 
nees  tongue,  went  from  Chota  to  the  Alabama  Fort,  and 
to  the  Savannah  Indians.  The  object  of  his  visit  to  the 
French,  was  to  press  them  for  the  accomplishment  of  a 
promise  the  commander  of  the  fort  had  made,  to  send 
and  have  a  fort  built  among  the  Cherokees,  near  the  town 
oi  Great  Tellico.  The  communication  concluded  by- 
observing,  that  the  Indians  had  expressed  a  wish  that 
captain  Dennie,  sent  by  the  earl  of  Loudon,  with  a  corps 
of  two  hundred  men  to  garrison  the  fort,  might  return 
to  Virginia,  the  Indians  being  displeased  at  seeing  such 
a  large  number  of  white  people,  well  armed,  among 
them,  expressing  a  belief,  that  their  intention  was  to  de- 
stroy any  small  force  that  might  be  sent,  in  order  to  take 
the  fort  and  surrender  it  to  the  French. 

On  this  information,  captain  Hugh  Waddle  was  sent 
with  a  small  force  to  reinforce  captain  Dennie. 

In  the  month  of  January,  governor  Dobbs  went  to 
Philadelphia  to  attend  a  council,  composed  of  the  gover- 
nors of  the  southern  provinces,  called  thither  by  the  earl 
of  Loudon,  in  order  to  concert  measures  for  their  pro- 
tection while  the  commander  in  chief  would  carry  on. 
more  important  operations  in  the  northern  provinces. 

Preparations  had  been  early  made,  for  an  expedition 
against  Louisbourg.  A  general  embargo  was  laid  in 
the  beginning  of  March,  on  all  vessels  throughout  the 
provinces,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  North  Carolina  :  it  con- 
tinued until  June.  The  object  of  it  was  to  procure 
shipping  for  the  transportation  of  soldiers,  provisions, 

N.  CARO.    II.      12 


go  CHAPTER  [ITot 

stores,  artillery,  &c.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  of 
of  the  first  battalion  of  Amtrican  royalists,  were  ordered 
to  South  Carolina,  under  colonel  Bouquet. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  transports  sailed  from 
the  different  provinces  to  Halifax :  they  carried  about 
six  hundred  regular  troops.  In  their  passage,  they  es- 
caped bL'ing  taken  by  a  French  fleet,  which  had  been 
cruising  about  five  days  before,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
harbor.  Five  weeks  were  spent,  at  Halifax,  in  holding 
councils.  The  result  of  these  deiibt  rations  was  the 
determination  of  laying  aside  the  expedition  against 
Louisbourg.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  marquis  de  Mont- 
calm, availing  himself  of  lord  London's  absf^nce,  pro- 
ceeded to  Crown  Point,  with  about  ten  thousand  men, 
consisting  of  regular  troops,  Canadians  and  Indians, 
from  whence  he  marched  to  Fort  William.  Having, 
after  a  siege  of  five  or  six  days,  taken  and  demolished  it, 
he  made  the  garrison,  which  consisted  of  about  two 
thousand  men,  prisoners  of  war,  made  himself  master  of 
a  large  quantity  of  provisions  and  stores,  and  secured 
the  entire  possession  of  the  lakes. 

Some  time  after  his  return  from  Philadelphia,  gover- 
nor Dobbs  received  an  application  for  succour,  from  the 
province  of  South  Carolina.  Governor  Lyttleton  in- 
formed him  that  the  neighboring  Indians,  excited  by 
the  French,  grew  daily  more  troublesome,  and  the  colo- 
ny found  itself  unable  to  resist  them  without  aid.  The 
legislature  was,  thereupon,  convened :  they  held  their 
fourth  session  at  Newbern,  on  the  16th  of  Ma  v.  An  aid 
was  granted  to  the  king,  for  the  relief  of  the  sister  pro- 
vinces and  for  the  defence  of  the  frontiers. 

Parliament,  this  year,  at  the  king's  recommendation, 
granted  a  s-um  of  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  to  the 


1757]  THE  FIFTH.  9j 

provinces  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  as  an 
indemnification  from  the  expenses  of  war.  The  pro- 
portion of  North  Carolina  was  three  fourths  of  fifteen, 
thon.^and  dollars. 

The  general  assembly  held  its  fifth  session  at  New- 
bern,  on  the  20th  of  November.  Governor  Dobbs  ob- 
served, that  the  affairs  of  Europe,  Great  Britain  and  the 
American  provinces,  were  now  in  a  most  critical  situa- 
tion, by  means  of  a  most  unnatural  alliance,  entered  into 
between  the  houses  of  Austria  and  France,  into  which 
they  had  drawn  the  empress  of  Russia,  against  the  only 
protestant  power  of  Germany,  who  could  support  its 
civil  and  religious  liberties  ;  he  said  the  king's  German 
dominions  were  overrun  by  a  superior  French  army, 
and,  consequently,  the  protestant  interest  of  Germany 
and  the  rest  of  Europe  was  in  the  greatest  danger;  and 
all  the  forces  the  king  had  been  able  to  spare,  for 
the  relief  of  his  American  provinces,  had  not  been  suffi- 
cient to  dislodge  the  French,  from  their  encroachments 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  British  dominions,  in  America, 

He  informed  the  houses  of  the  late  parliamentary 
grant,  and  of  the  arrival  of  the  artillery  and  ordnance 
stores  for  Fort  Johnston,  and  hoped  that  these  instances 
of  the  king's  paternal  goodness  might  animate  them  to 
contribute  with  zeal,  to  the  support  of  the  expenses  of 
the  war. 

He  drew  their  attention  to  an  evasion  of  the  clergy 
law,  common  in  many  counties.  The  inhabitants 
combining  to  elect  such  vestrymen  as  they  knew  would 
refuse  to  act;  he  noticed  the  great  defects  in  the  inspec- 
tion laws. 

An  act  was  passed,  granting  an  aid  to  the  king,  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  troops,  necessary  to  be  kept  for  the 


Chapter  [1758 

defence  of  the  province,  and  for  keeping  up  the  fortifi- 
cations on  the  sea  shore.  Authority  was  ^iven  to  Ed- 
mund Atkins,  who  had  lately  been  appointed  by  the 
king,  superintendant  of  Indian  aiTairs,  to  regulate  the  In- 
dian trade,  with  a  view  to  unite  the  tribes  in  alliance  with 
the  British,  and  strengthen  their  attachment,  some  trif- 
ling amendments  were  made  in  the  inspection  laws  ;  but 
the  governor's  recommendations  in  regard  to  the  vestry 
act  was  entirely  disregarded. 

At  the  close  of  this  year,  the  affairs  of  Great  Britain 
in  America,  bore  a  gloomier  aspect  than  at  any  other  pe- 
riod. The  siiccess  of  the  French  arms  on  the  lakes, 
and  the  untoward  issue  of  the  late  ex[)edition  against 
Fort  Duquesne,  left  them  the  almost  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  Indian  country,  and  consequently,  an 
absolute  influence  over  most  of  the  tribes.  The  British, 
on  the  contrary,  were  confined  to  a  relatively  nar- 
row  slip  of  land,  between  the  Allegheny  and  the 
Atlantic. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  a  circular  letter  from  the 
new  minister,  William  Pitt,  assured  the  governors  of 
the  American  provinces,  that,  in  order  to  repair  the 
losses  and  disappointments  of  tlie  late  inactive  campaign, 
it  had  been  determined  to  send  a  formidable  force,  by 
sea  and  land,  against  the  French  in  America ;  and  he 
called  on  them  to  raise  and  procure  as  large  bodies  of 
men,  within  their  respective  governments,  as  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  might  allow.  Arms,  ammunition, 
tents,  provisions  and  boats,  would,  he  said,  be  furnished 
by  the  crown;  but  it  was  expected  the  provinces  would 
clothe  and  pay  their  men.  Assurances  were  held 
out  of  a  recommendation  to  parliament,  to  indemnify 
the  colonies. 


i758j  THE  FIFTH.  93 

Accordingly,  admiral  Bopcawen  arrived  early  in 
the  spring  at  Halifax,  with  a  formidable  fleet  and 
about  twelve  thousand  chosen  troops,  under  the  or- 
der of  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst.  The  command  of  the 
Britisl>  forces  in  America,  on  the  departure  of  lord 
Loudon,  had  devolved  on  general  Abercrombie, 
who  when  joined  by  Sir  Jeffrey,  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  most  powerful  army  ever  seen  in 
the  new  world.  His  whole  number,  comprehend- 
ir)g  troops  of  every  description,  was  fifty-two  thou- 
sand, two  thirds  of  whom  were  Americans. 

Three  expeditions  were  proposed  for  this  year, 
one  a£;ainst  Louisburg,  another  against  Ticondero- 
ga  and  the  last  against  fort  Duquesne. 

This  was  the  one  in  which  the  southern  provin- 
ces felt  a  principal,  because  of  a  more  immediate 
interest.  Their  exertions  were  commensurate 
with  it. 

The  legislature  that  sat  at  Newbern  on  the 
28th  of  April,  granted  an  aid  to  the  king,  for  aug- 
menting the  troops,  then  in  the  pay  of  the  province, 
to  he  sent  to  reinforce  the  army  which  was  under 
the  command  of  general  Forbes,  to  march  against 
fort  Duquesne,  to  pay  them  while  in  that  service, and 
for  placing  garrisons  in  the  forts  of  the  province. 

The  town  of  Hartford,  in  the  county  of  Perqui- 
mans, was  established  this  year. 

The  season  requiring  the  labors  of  the  husband- 
man, the  legislature  rose  soon  after  passing  the  aid 
bilL 

On  the  8th  of  July,  general  Abercrombie  attack- 
ed the  French  entrenchment  at  Ticonderoga,  near 
lake  George,  but  after  a  desperate  push,  he  was 


94  CHAPTER  [1758 

obliged  to  retire  with  great  loss  to  bis  old  camp  on 
lake  George,  to  avoid  a  total  defeat. 

Admiral  BoRcawen  and  Sir  Jeffrey  Amberst  were 
more  fortunate,  and  about  tbe  same  time  reduced 
the  fortress  of  Louisbourg  and  soon  after  conquered 
the  whole  island  of  Cape  Breton. 

On  tbe  27th  of  August,  colonel  Bradstreet  took 
fort  Frontenac  and  destroyed  provisions  and  am- 
munition to  a  vast  amount.  He  sunk  seven  vessels 
on  the  lake,  took  two  and  burnt  the  fort  to  the 
ground. 

The  general  assembly  beld  its  seventb  session  in 
tbe  town  of  Edenton,  on  the  23d  of  November. 
After  acquainting  them  with  tbe  late  successes  of 
the  king's  arms,  governor  Dobbs  impressed  on  their 
attention  tbe  necessity  of  protecting  tbe  sea  coast; 
privateers  often  coming  in,  cutting  out  vessels  from 
their  moorings  and  sometimes  even  insulting  the 
plantations  near  the  shore;  be  also  recommended 
objects  of  domestic  concerns. 

In  compliance  with  the  2:overnor's  recommenda- 
tion, an  aid  was  granted  to  the  king  for  tbe  support 
of  the  establishments  of  fort  Johnson  and  fort  Gran- 
ville. 

On  tbe  report  of  a  committee  of  tbe  two  bouses, 
appointed  to  view  the  country  near  Neuse  riven 
and  report  the  most  elligiblespot  for  tbe  seat  of  the 
government  of  the  province,  an  act  was  passed  for 
establishing  a  city  to  be  called  Tower  Hill,  on  a 
plantation  belonging  to  governor  Dobbs,  on  Coten- 
ney  creek,  near  the  spot  on  which  the  court  house 
of  the  county  of  Greene  now  stands.  A  governor's 
bouse  and  such  buildings  as  the  service  of  the  pro- 


1758]  THE  FIFTH.  95 

vince  required  were  directed  to  be  built  there. 
The  new  city  was  declared  the  seat  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province;  but  the  operation  of  the  act 
was  suspended  till  the  king's  pleasure  was  known. 

The  superior  court  for  the  couiities  of  Edge- 
combe. Granvilleand  North  Hampton  was  removed 
from  Enfield  to  the  town  of  Halifax. 

The  counties  of  Ldgecombe  and  Johnston  were  di- 
vided, and  the  western  part  of  the  latter  was  erected 
into  a  new  county,  which,  in  honor  of  the  governor, 
was  called  Dobbs;  and  the  northern  part  of  the  for- 
mer into  another,  to  which  the  name  of  Halifax  was 
given;  and  a  town  was  erected  on  the  east  side  of 
Little  river,  in  the  county  of  Pasquotank,  which  was 
named  Nixonton,  after  the  owner  of  the  soil. 

Soon  after  the  rise  of  the  legislative  body,  ac- 
counts reached  the  province  from  general  Forbes, 
to  whom  the  conduct  of  the  expedition  against  fort 
Duquesne  had  been  entrusted,  that  he  had  march- 
ed as  early  as  the  month  of  July,  with  the  main  bo- 
dy of  his  army.  The  delays  in  procuring  the  rein- 
forcements from  the  different  provicices,  and  the  dif- 
ficulties, opposed  by  the  ruggedness  of  the  country, 
were  so  great,  that  the  general  did  not  reach  fort 
Duquesne  untill  the  month  of  November.  His  force 
was  eight  thousand  men.  Alarmed  at  the  ap- 
proacii  of  so  formidable  an  army,  t!ie  garrison,  de- 
serted by  the  Indians,  abandoned  the  fort  the  even- 
ing before  the  general  reached  it,  and  escaped 
down  the  Ohio. 

The  British  changed  its  name,  calling  it  fort  Pitt, 
in  honor  of  a  tavorite  minister.  Tiie  occupation  of 
this  post  was  an  object  of  vast  moment  to  the  Brit- 


96  CHAPTER  [1755 

ish,  and  the  southern  provinces  contemplated  in  it 
the  guarantee  of  their  future  security.  It  had  ena- 
bled the  enemy  to  command  the  numerous  nations 
of  Indians,  dweUing  along  the  Mississippi,  and  with 
them  they  made  frequent  incursions  on  the  western 
settlements  of  the  colonies.  The  Indians,  who  gen- 
erally side  with  the  stronger  party,  observing  the 
defection  of  their  former  allies,  were  found  ready  to 
accept  the  protection  of  the  combined  forces;  the 
opportunity  was  improved  and  a  treaty  entered  into 
with  the  nations  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes. 

The  joy,  which  the  reduction  of  fort  Duquesne 
excited  in  North  Carolina,  was  not.  however,  of  long 
duration:  the  flight  of  the  French  southwardly  dis- 
appointed the  hopes  of  security,  which  the  success 
of  general  Forbes  had  created.  The  scene  of  ac- 
tion was  only  changed  and  brought  nearer;  and 
while  danger  ceased  to  be  apprehended  from  the 
northern  Indians,  theCherokeesand  their  neighbors 
began  to  excite  the  fears  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
western  counties. 

These  Indians  had  uniformly  assisted  the  British 
in  their  different  attempts  against  the  French,  in 
compliance  with  the  stipulations  of  treaties.  The 
horses,  in  this  part  of  America,  running  wild  in  the 
woods,  were  considered  as  the  property  of  the  first 
captor:  and  while  the  Cherokees  returned  home,  af- 
ter having  left  the  army  of  general  Forbes,  a  num- 
ber of  them,  having  been  dismounted,  seized  such  of 
those  animals  as  they  found  on  their  way  through 
the  back  settlements  of  Virginia.  The  injury  was 
vindicated  by  arms,  before  any  attempt  was  made  to 
redress  it  bv  less  violent  means.     Twelve  or  four- 


!758]  THE  FIFTH.  -  97 

teen  of  the  Indian  warriors  were  killed  and  a  greater 
number  made  prisoners.     It  is  not  surprising  that  the- 
Cherokees,  among  whom  rules  of  property  are  not  very 
accurately  defined,  should  liave  bten  greatly  provoked  by 
a  treatment  which,  cruel  as  it  would  have  been  under 
different  circumstances,  was  aggravated  by  that  of  its 
being  committed  against  men,  mnny  of  whom  had  suf- 
fered, b  'en  wounded,  and  lost  several  of  their  relations 
and  friends  in  the  defence  of  the  aggressors.     Some  of 
the  Indiana  reached  their  towns,  besmeared  with  blood, 
and  when  they  informed  their  friends   they  had  been 
wounded  by  their  white  allies,   who  had  murdered  their 
companions,  indignation  rose  to  its  highest  pitch.     The 
relations  of  the  dead  and  the  wounded  ran  furiously 
about,  supplicating  their  countrymen  to  follow  and  as- 
sist them  in  avenging  their  wrongs.     In  vain  the  aged 
chiefs  endeavored  to  prevail  on  the  young  warriors  to 
delay  the  hour  of  satisfaction,  till  it  could  be  ascertained 
whether  the  governor  of  Virginia  would  not  afford  it,  at 
their  solicitation.     The  nation  excited  to  hostihty  by  the 
arrival  of  a  number  of  French  soldiers,  who  were  plen- 
tifully supplied  with  spirituous  liquors  and  who  eagerly 
iniproved  this  golden  op|)ortunity  of  spurring  on  the  In- 
dians to  vengeance,  prevented  the  old  chiefs'  advice 
from  being  listened  to;  supplied  with  arms  and  ammu- 
nition by  their  new  guests,  scattered  parties  of  Indians 
marched  10  the  frontiers  of  Virginia,  North  and  South 
Carolina. 

The  first  blow  was  struck  in  the  neighborhood  of  fort 
Loudon.  Soldiers  of  thdt  garrison,  who  had  been  se- 
curely huntini>;  in  the  Wf)ods  around  the  fort,  were  found 
murdered.  The  unrelenting  foe  proceeded  along  the 
border  of  the  back  settlements  of  the  whites,  dealing, 

N.    CARO.  II.  13 


98  CHAPTER.  ftTS^ 

indiscriminately,  destruction  and  death  among  the  old 
and  young,  the  softer  sex,  the  innocent  and  p:uilty. 

Scenes  of  disorder,  though  of  a  less  bloody  kind,  dis- 
turbed the  interior  part  of  North  Carolina.  Some  of 
the  inliabitants  of  that  portion  of  the  province,  the  lands 
of  which  had  been  allotted  to  lord  Granville,  believing 
themselves  injured  by  the  conduct  of  Francis  Corbin^ 
his  agent,  embodied  themselves,  and  marched  in  great 
disorder  and  tumult  through  several  counties,  ill  treat- 
ing those  who  refused  to  join  or  supply  them  with  pro- 
visions, came  to  the  town  of  Edenton  and  forcibly  took 
the  man  from  his  house,  and,  in  spite  of  the  representa- 
tions of  the  decent  and  orderly  part  of  their  fellow -citi- 
zens, triunrphanlly  led  their  prisoner  away.  After  a 
march  of  about  sevent}^  miles,  they  permitted  him  to  re- 
turn, on  his  giviug  bond  for  his  future  better  behavior. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  the  legislature  met  at  Newbern: 
no  business  of  a  public  nature  was  completed,  and  the 
houses  were  prorogued  after  passing  two  private  acts. 

In  the  month  of  July,  Sir  William  Johnston  took  the 
fort  at  Niagara,  having  defeated  a  large  body  of  French 
troops,  who  had  came  to  its  relief,  and  soon  after  Sir 
Jeffrey  Amherst  possessed  himself  of  Ticonderoga;  the 
enemy  having  abandoned  their  lines  on  bis  approach 
and  set  fire  to  the  fort.  Crown  Point  also  fell  into  his 
hands. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  the  city  of  Quebec  surren- 
dered to  the  British  arms,  after  a  very  obstinate  siege, 
during  which,  \general  Wolfe  and  Monsieur  de  Mont- 
calm, the  commanders  of  the  two  armies,  lost  their 
lives. 

In  the  month  of  August,  the  court  laws,  passed  in 
December  1754,  were  repealed  by  proclamation. 


i759]  THE  FIFTH.  ^2> 

The  ninth  session  of  the  assembly,  called  by  governor 
Dobbs  on  his  arrival  in  the  province,  was  held  in  the 
town  of  Wilmington,  on  the  20th  of  November.  la 
meeting  the  houses  governor  Dobbs  observed,  that  the 
late  success  of  the  king's  arms  rendered  any  supply  for 
the  aid  of  the  northern  provinces  unnecessary,  but  as 
the  war  would  probably  be  continued,  until  a  safe  and 
honorable  peace  was  obtained,  by  driving  the  French^ 
from  the  continent  and  ruining  their  marine,  forces 
were  necessary  to  check  the  unruly  behaviour  of  the 
Cherokees;  he  recommended  that  the  two  companies  of 
foot,  in  p  ly  of  the  province,  should  be  placed  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  fortifications. 

He  lamented  the  great  deprecietion  of  the  currency, 
which  was  received  at  a  nominal  discount  of  33  1-3  per 
cent,  while  the  real  one  wis  from  70  to  90  per  cent,  in 
stcrlinj2:  money.  This  evil,  if  not  early  remedied,  he 
said,  would  soon  put  an  end  to  the  credit  of  the  province 
and  be  the  ruin  of  its  trade. 

He  recommended  the  passage  of  a  court  law;  those 
which  had  be«^^n  in  force  since  his  arrival  in  the  pro- 
vince having  lately  been  repealed  by  order  of  the  king 
in  council. 

By  a  subsequent  message,  he  drew  their  attention  to 
a  defect  in  the  militia  law,  which  had  lately  proved  of 
great  inconvenience:  the  detachment  of  the  militiar 
which  had  been  ordered  against  the  Cherokees,  unde, 
colonel  Waddle,  having  refused  to  proceed  against  them, 
on  the  pretext  that  the  colonel  was  leading  them  out  of 
the  limits  of  the  province. 

A  new  court  system  was  introduced  :  it  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  a  court  of  kino-'s  bench  and  com- 
mon  pleas :  the  bill  passed  the  lower  house,  on  its  third 


100  CHAPTER  ^    [1759 

reading :  in  the  upper,  several  amendments  were  insist- 
ed  on ;  it  was  required,  that  a  clause,  which  forbade 
the  chief  justice  to  receive  any  part  of  the  fees  of  the 
clerks,  be  expunged,  as  derogatory  of  the  honor  of  that 
officer,  as  well  as  a  clause  for  borrowing  from  the  sink- 
ing fund  a  sufficient  sum  to  discharge  the  salaries  of  the 
associate  justices  and  attorney  general.  This  produced  a 
message  from  the  lower  house,  in  which  they  observed 
that  the  practice  which  had  hitherto  prevailed,  of  the  chief 
justice  exacting  from  the  clerks  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  their  legal  fees,  had  been  the  cause  of  their  being 
guilty  of  great  extortions,  whereby  the  superior  courts 
had  become  scenes  of  oppression,  and  the  conduct  of 
the  chief  justice  and  clerks  a  subject  of  universal  com- 
plaint:  they  admitted,  that  the  late  chief  justice,  Peter 
Henly  (whose  death  was  lamented  by  all  who  wished 
to  see  the  hand  of  government  strengthened,  the  laws 
duly  executed,  and  justice  impartially  administered) 
from  a  pious  sc^nse  of  the  obligations  ox  his  oath,  had  con- 
formed to  the  act  of  1748,  for  regulating  officers'  fees, 
but  they  thought  themselves  bound  in  duty  to  their  con- 
stituents to  provide  against  the  pernicious  effects  of  a 
contrary  conduct:  they  expressed  their  hope,  that  the 
new  chief  justice  (Charles  Berry)  would  think  his  pre- 
decessor's laudable  conduct  in  this  respect  worthy  of 
imitation,  arid,  in  that  expectation,  were  willing  to  leave 
him,  in  this  regard,  in  the  same  situation  as  chief  justice 
Henly  had  been.  As  to  the  money  proposed  to  be  bor- 
rowed out  of  the  sinking  fund,  they  observed,  that  the 
contingent  fund  was  upwards  of  two  tl.ousand  pounds 
in  arrears,  and  as  no  method  appeared  more  eligible, 
they  offered  to  advance  the  sum  upon  the  tax  by  which 
the  money  was  to  be  replaced.     The  upper  house  per- 


1759]  THE  FIFTH.  ,501 


sisted  in  their  proposition  to  strike  out  the  clause  for  the 
loan,  and  that  the  salaries  should  be  paid  by  a  tax,  to 
commence  in  the  following  year.  The  lower  house  re- 
plied, that  the  salaries  were  not  the  only  object  of  the 
loan ;  that  to  oblige  the  creditors  of  the  province  to 
wait  until  money  was -collected  by  a  tax,  would  be  an 
injurious  treatment,  which  would  sensibly  affect  its 
credit :  they  added,  that  the  measure  was  adopted  in 
conformity  to  several  precedents  on  similar  occasions,  par- 
ticularly the  one  first  proposed  and  afterwards  insisted  on 
by  the  upper  house,  where  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
pounds  were  applied  to  the  chief  justice's  salary,  that  of 
the  attorney  general  and  other  contingencies,  to  be  re- 
placed in  four  years  by  a  tax,  when  the  very  law  under 
whicb  the  money  was  signed,  expressly  provided  it 
should  not  circulate  for  any  use  whatever,  until  the 
king's  pleasure  was  known :  notwithstanding  which, 
the  lower  house  had  been  so  careful,  to  avoid  every  valid 
objection  against  a  bill  of  such  importance  to  the  pro- 
vince, that  they  had  forborne  to  insert  the  clause,  rela- 
ting to  the  application  from  the  sinking  fund,  until  they 
had  ascertained,  that  it  was  not  contrary  to  the  king's  in- 
structions. They  lamented  being  reduced  to  the  disa- 
greeable necessity  of  framing  bills  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  valuable  laws  which  had  been  lately  repealed,  through 
misrepresentations,  originating  in  interested  views,  ever 
incompatible  with  the  public  good :  they  reminded  the 
upper  house,  that  the  salaries  of  the  chief  justice  and 
attorney  general  were  at  first  intended  by  the  legislature, 
as  matters  of  meie  compliment,  at  a  time,  when  the  pro- 
vince was  in  a  prosperous  situation  :  they  added,  that  as 
no  other  expedient  could  be  found  at  ihe  present  junc-^ 


202  CHAPTER  [1759 

ture  to  defray  that  expense,  should  the  upper  house  re- 
ject the  bill  on  that  account,  care  must  be  taken  in  fra- 
ming another  court  bill,  not  to  insert  any  clause,  how- 
ever necessary,  that  may  introduce  the  least  charge  on 
the  province  ;  and  concluded  with  a  hope,  that  if  the  bill 
miscarried,  the  most  sincere  endeavors  of  the  lower 
house  would  be  accepted,  by  their  unhappy  constituents, 
in  lieu  of  the^  valuable  advantages  which  the  bill  was 
calculated  to  produce. 

The  upper  house  continued  to  insist  on  the  clause  be- 
ing struck  out,  as  the  breaking  in  upon  the  sinking  fund 
would  give  a  deadly  blow  to  public  faith,  and  pressed 
the  assembly  to  weigh  the  fatal  consequences  that  would 
attend  the  rejection  of  the  bill.  • 

In  their  second  message,  tfie  lower  house  admitted  the 
impropriety  of  an  application  from  the  sinking  fund, 
which  necessity  did  not  imperiously  call  for,  but  they  de- 
clared it  impracticable,  without  it,  to  pay  the  debts  of  the 
province,  or  to  attain  the  valuable  ends,  intended  by  the 
bill.  As  the  sum,  intended  to  be  borrowed,  did  not  ex- 
ceed two  thousand  five  hundred  poimds,  and  was  to  be 
replaced  by  a  tax  which  would  commence  in  1763,  the 
currency  of  the  province  would  not  be  depreciated,  nor 
any  individual  prejudiced.  They  concluded  by  observ- 
ing, that  on  the  most  mature  consideration  of  the  mes- 
sage of  the  upper  house,  such  were  the  sentiments  of 
the  lower,  from  which  they  could  not  depart,  and  refer- 
red it  to  the  consideration  of  that  body,  whether  the  pub- 
lic good  would  not  be  better  promoted  by  the  passage, 
than  by  the  rejection  of  the  bill. 

The  upper  house  voted  that  the  bill  be  rejected,  un- 
less the  lower  house  would  on  the  next  day  signify  their 
consent,  that  the  clause  should  be  stricken  ouU 


17591  THE  FIFTH.  103 

On  being  informed  of  the  provisional  fate  of  the  bill, 
the  lower  house  replied,  that  rather  than  to  see  the  pro- 
vince  reduced  to  the  confusion  and  disorder  which  the 
want  of  courts  must  necessarily  introduce,  they  would 
agree  to  expunge  the  clause,  and  with  it  such  parts  of 
the  bill  as  allowed  salaries  to  the  chief  justice,  his  asso- 
ciates and  the  attorney  general,  which  appeared  to  them 
a  necessary  consequence  of  the  clause,  objected  to. 

On  reading  this  last  message,  the  upper  house  reject- 
ed the  bill  absolutely. 

An  attempt  was  m^de  in  the  lower  house  to  pass  a 
bill  for  an  emission  of  paper  money,  but  the  governor 
communicated  to  them  an  article  of  his  instructions, 
which  required  him  to  withhold  his  assent  from  any  bill 
for  the  emission  of  paper  money,  unless  it  contained  a 
clause,  that  neither  the  bills  proposed  to  be  emitted,  nor 
those  hitherto  issued,  should  be  a  legal  tender. 

An  aid  was  granted  to  the  king  for  the  subsistence  of 
the  troops  and  militia  now  in  the  pay  of  the  province  ;  it 
was  directed  to  be  paid  out  of  the  fund,  heretofore  appro- 
priated for  the  purchase  of  glebes  and  the  establishment 
of  schools,  the  king  not  having  signified  his  pleasure  on 
that  appropriation. 

Parts  of  the  counties  of  North  Hampton  and  Chowan 
were  erected  into  a  separate  county,  to  which  the  name 
of  Hereford  was  given. 

The  province  rapidly  increased  in  population,  and  al- 
though its  prosperity  was  considerably  checked  by  the 
great  exertions  which  were  required  from  it  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  war ;  yet,  as  it  was  exempt  from  the  ravages 
of  the  enemy  within  its  own  limits,  except  on  its  west- 
ern border,  it  extended  its  agriculture  and  i.icreased  its 
trade.     The  culture^of  tobacco  had  been  successfully  at- 


i04  CHAPTER  [1759 

f 

tended  to  in  the  middle  counties,  and  inspection  and 
ware  houses  for  that  commodity  were  now  established 
on  the  river  Neuse  and  its  branches. 

The  commerce  of  the  ports  on  Neuse  and  Pamplico, 
having  more  to  apprehend  from  the  difficult  navigation 
of  those  rivers,  than  from  any  immediate  attack  from  the 
enemy,  against  which  it  was  protected  by  a  kind  of  natu- 
ral fortification,  the  powder  and  lead  duty,  hitherto  col- 
lected in  kind,  was  directed  to  be  received  in  money, 
and  the  proceeds  of  it  applied  to  the  erection  of  beacons 
and  the  stak-^age  of  the  channels  of  those  streams.  A 
similar  provision  was  soon  after  made  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigation  from  Howard's  bay  to  Bear  in- 
let, in  the  county  of  Onslow.  Extensive  new  roads 
were  laid  out  in  the  interior  part  of  the  province,  and  at- 
tention paid  to  the  erection  and  improvement  of  the 
public  buildings  in  the  counties. 

A  tract  of  land,  in  the  county  of  Orange,  one  of  the 
westermost,  had  been  laid  off  by  an  individual,  W. 
Churton,  on  Enoe,  one  of  the  branches  of  Neuse  river, 
on  which  a  number  of  houses  had  been  built.  The 
healthiness  of  the  spot  and  its  convenient  situation  for 
an  inland  trade,  induced  the  legislature  to  give  to  the 
establishment,  the  saction  of  its  authority.  It  was  call- 
ed Childsburg,  in  honor  of  Thomas  Childs,  the  attorney 
general  of  the  province,  a  gentleman  of  considerable 
ability  and  influence.  The  name  was  afterwards  altered 
to  Hillsborough,  either  from  the  hilliness  of  the  ground, 
or  in  compliment  to  Wells,  earl  of  Hillsborough,  the 
secretary  of  state  for  America. 

A  bill  passed  both  houses  for  the  appointment  of  an 
agent,  to  solicit  the  affairs  of  the  province  in  England; 
the  governor  withheld  his  assent  from  it. 


neOj  THE  FIFTH.  105 

On  the  9th  of  January,  governor  Dobbs  dissolved  the 
assembly,  complaining,  in  a  speech  of  which  a  copy  was 
refused  to  the  speaker  of  the  lower  house,  of  their  back- 
wardness in  framing  an  acceptable  court  system,  and 
laws  to  compel  sheriffs  to  account  for  public  moneys, 
und  assisrninsj:  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  dissolution, 
the   long  time  the  assembly  had  existed;    nearly   six 

vears. 

•I 

Governor  Lyttleton,  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  first 
account  of  the  irruptions  of  the  Cherokees,  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  southern  provinces,  had  embodied  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  militia  of  his  province,  and  de- 
termined on  marching  into  the  Indian  towns  and  chas- 
tising the  savages.  While  he  was  making  his  prepara- 
tions for  that  purpose,  thirty-two  Cherokee  chiefs  came 
to  Charleston,  with  a  view  to  represent  to  the  governor, 
that  the  nation  did  not  support  the  warriors  who  had 
committt'd  acts  of  violence  upon  the  whites ;  that  the 
chiefs  had  in  vain  attempted  to  restrain  their  young  men, 
and  were  willing  that  satisfaction  should  be  made,  for 
these  outrages,  which  the  body  of  their  nation  reproved. 
The  governor  refused  to  listen  to  these  overtures  of 
peace  and  set  out  for  Congaree,  a  place  at  the  distance 
of  about  forty  miles  from  Charleston,  which  he  had  ap- 
pointed for  the  general  rendezvous  of  the  militia.  The 
Cherokee  chiefs  were  induced  to  accompany  the  gover- 
nor thither.  He  had  represented  to  them,  that,  although 
he  was  determined  on  marching  into  their  country,  as 
they  had  come  to  him  as  embassadors  of  peace,  he  would 
see  that  they  returned  unhurt,  into  their  towns ;  but, 
as  the  whites  were  much  exasperated,  he  could  not  an- 
swer for  the  treatment  the  chiefs  might  receive,  if  they 
exposed  themselves  alone  to  their  resentment.     The 

N.  CARO.    n.      14  \ 


IG^  CHAPTER  it1lB9 

Indians  marched  to  Congaree,  apparently  satisfied ;  but 
in  reality,  chagrined  and  vexed,  at  the  manner  in  which 
their  unfeigned  attempts  to  conciliate  differences,  had 
been  received.  On  his  arrival  at  Congaree,  governor 
Lyttleton  confined  the  thirty-two  Indian  chiefs,  as  pris- 
oners of  war;  and  when  the  army  marched,  a  cap- 
tain's guard  was  mounted  over  them,  on  the  way ; 
they  were  made  to  accompany  the  army  to  Fort  Prince 
George,  and  on  their  arrival  there,  were  confined  in  a 
miserable  hut,  scarcely  sufficient  for  the  accommodation 
of  six  soldiers.  Shortly  after,  the  governor  concluded 
a  treaty  of  peace,  with  six  of  the  headmen  of  the  Chero- 
kee nation,  by  which  it  was  agreed,  that  the  Indians,  in 
his  possession,  should  be  kept  as  hostages,  confined  in 
the  fort,  until  an  equal  number  of  the  Indians,  guilty 
of  murder,  should  be  delivered  up  to  him;  that  trade 
should,  in  the  meanwhile,  be  opened  and  carried  on  as 
usual:  that  the  Cherokees  should  kill  or  make  every 
Frenchman  prisoner,  who  should  presume  to  come  into 
their  nation,  during  the  continuance  of  the  war ;  and 
that  they  should  hold  no  intercourse  with  any  of  the  en- 
emies of  Great  Britain,  but  should  apprehend  any  per- 
son, white  or  red,  found  among  them,  that  might  be  en- 
deavoring to  set  the  English  and  Cherokees  at  variance. 

Early  in  the  year,  governor  Dobbs  received  de- 
spatches from  Mr.  Pitt,  informing  him,  that  the  king 
had  resolved  to  exert  the  whole  force  of  Great  Britain 
and  her  colonies,  to  finish  the  war  in  the  ensuing  cam- 
paign, and  instructing  him  to  use  his  utmost  influence 
with  the  legislature,  to  induce  them  to  raise,  with  the 
utmost  despatch,  as  many  men  as  the  province  could 
spare. 

Writs  of  election  were  accordingly  issued,  and  the 
legislative  body  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Newbern, 


neOj  THE  FIFTH.  107 

on  the  24th  of  April.  In  the  county  of  Orange,  a  num- 
ber of  disorderly  persons  rose  in  arms,  and,  in  a  violent 
and  riotous  manner,  prevented  the  sheriff  from  holding 
an  election.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Halifax, 
claiming  the  right  of  being  represented  in  the  lower 
house,  under  the  act  of  1715,  and  governor  Dobbs  re- 
fusing to  grant  them  a  charter,  prevailed  on  the  sheriff  of 
the  county  to  hold  an  election,  and  to  return  Stephen 
Dewey,  the  person  whom  they  chose.  He  was  suffered 
to  take  his  seat. 

In  opening  the  session,  the  governor  expressed  the 
pleasure  he  felt  in  meeting  a  new  assembly,  and  his 
hope,  that  the  great  and  surprising  success  of  the  king's 
arms,  and  the  distress  and  ruin  of  the  trade  and  marine 
of  France,  in  which  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence, 
was  eminently  dis[)layed  in  the  defence  of  the  Protestant 
religion  and  the  cause  of  liberty,  would  induce  them  to 
use  their  utmost  power,  in  coiij unction  with  the  king's 
forces  from  Europe,  to  drive  the  French  from  all  unjust 
acquisitions  on  the  continent,  and  procure  ample  secu- 
rity, from  the  invasions  and  depredations  of  the  French 
and  Indians; 

He  recommended  the  earliest  attention  to  a  court  sys- 
tem, and  the  appointment  of  an  agent  in  England,  by  a 
special  bill. 

The  lower  house,  in  their  answer,  animadverted  on 
the  speeches  of  the  governor  to  th^'  last  assembly,  at  the 
prorogation  and  dissolution.  They  observed,  that  the 
bill  framed  by  the  house  had  no  other  object,  than  the 
grant  of  an  aid  to  the  king,  and  the  appointment  of  an 
agent,  as  recommended  by  Mr.  Pitt;  and  in  no  other 
instance,  had  he,  or  any  of  his  prcd»ccssors,  taken 
any  exception  at  the  manner  in  which  a  bill  of  supplies 


103  CHAPTER  [1760 

was  framed.  In  reply  to  the  speech  at  the  dissolution, 
they  took  notice,  that  the  treasurers  were,  by  law.  to  ac- 
count wiih  the  assembly :  and  the  constant  practice  had 
been,  for  them  to  do  so  before  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  house,  who  re-examined  the  accDunts  on  the  report 
of  their  committee.  With  regard  to  the  sheriffs,  they 
admitted  that  they  had  observed  several  deficiencies  in 
their  collections;  but,  they  added,  that,  in  the  con- 
fused state  of  the  province,  from  the  turbulent  disposi- 
tion of  factions,  cabals  and  dangerous  insurrections,  it 
could  not,  with  reason,  be  supposed,  that  sheriffs,  more 
than  magistrates  or  other  officers,  could  fully  discharge 
their  functions;  an  inconvenience  which  they  hoped 
would  be  removed,  by  the  establishment  of  courts  of 
justice  on  a  respectable  footing.  They  concluded,  by 
assuring  him,  that  those  observations  were  dictated  by 
their  duty  to  their  constituents,  and  not  by  a  desire  of 
raising  disputes  with  him. 

The  governor  replied,  that  he  had  laid  before  the 
house  the  accounts  lately  forwarded  from  New  York,  of 
the  sums,  issued  for  the  troops  sent  to  that  province, 
and  ihe  officers  who  served  on  the  Ohio  were  ready  to 
account  for  the  sums  they  had  received.  He  said  no 
money  had  passed  through  his  hands ;  he  had  only  is- 
sued orders,  which  the  persons  in  whose  favor  they  were 
had  to  account  for. 

He  said  the  loss  of  the  aid  bill  was  to  be  attributed  to 
the  clause,  foreign  to  the  object  of  it,  which  the  house  had 
insisted  on  inserting. 

.  He  added,  that  in  regard  to  the  accounts  of  the  trea- 
surers, he  had  strictly  pursued  his  instructions,  which 
required  him  to  see  them  properly  audited,  laid  before 
the  legislature,  and  afterwards  transmitted  to  England : 


1760]  THE  FIFTH.  109 

that,  if  the  king  thought  proper  to  withdraw  his  instruc- 
tion, he  would  gladly  acquiesce  :  but  he  had  thought  it 
liis  duty  to  inform  the  house,  that  the  accounts  were  ir- 
regular, as  no  list  of  taxables  were  produced  by  the 
treasurer  for  the  northern  district,  nor  any  arrcar  return- 
ed, so  that  it  could  not  appear  what  was  the  amount  of 
the  tax,  nor  whether  the  deficiency  was  occasioned  by 
the  sheriffs,  or  the  neglect  of  the  treasurers. 

The  house  passed  a  resolve,  asserting  their  indubita- 
ble right  to  frame  and  model  every  bill  wherein  an  aid  is 
granted  to  the  king,  in  such  a  manner,  as  they  believe 
most  conducive  to  his  service,  honor  and  interest,  and 
declaring  every  attempt  to  deprive  them  of  the  enjoy- 
ment of  that  right,  an  infringement  on  their  rights  and 
privileges. 

By  another  resolution,  they  declared  the  mode,  ob- 
served by  the  treasurers  in  statins:  the  accounts  exhi- 
bited  at  the  last  session,  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  the  pro- 
vince and  conformable  lo  constant  and  uninterrupted 
usage,  and  the  method  proposed  by  the  governor,  unpre- 
cedented and  repugnant  to  law. 

The  houses  gave  their  first  attention  to  the  passage  of 
bills  for  establishing  courts  of  law,  which  had  three 
readings  in  each. 

By  these  acts,  the  courts  of  judicature,  constituted 
and  the  regulations  made  for  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, by  the  acts  of  1754-5,  which  were  repealed  by  the 
late  order  of  the  king  in  council,  were  re-established  with 
some  alterations  and  additions,  in  respect  to  the  qualifi- 
cations of  the  judges  of  the  superior  court,  the  duration 
of  their  commissions  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  inferior 
or  county  court. 


no  CHAPTER  [1760 

The  superior  court  act  divided  the  province  into  five 
districts,  and  apponited  courts  to  be  held  in  each  of  them 
semi-annually,  by  the  chief  justice  and  his  associate 
judges,  to  whom  j  urisdiction  was  given  in  all  civil  cases, 
where  the  demand  exceeded  ten  pounds,  and  also  in  all 
criminal  cases,  from  the  highest  treason  to  the  lowest 
trespass. 

It  was  provided,  that  no  person  should  be  appointed 
an  associate  justice  of  the  superior  court,  unless  he  had 
been  regularly  called  to  the  degree  of  an  outer  barrister, 
in  some  of  the  English  inns  of  courts,  be  of  five 
years'  standing,  and  had  practiced  law  in  the  princi- 
pal courts  of  judicature  of  the  province:  the  commis- 
sions of  the  judges  were  to  be  during  good  behaviour. 

The  county  court  act  gave  the  justices  jurisdiction  of 
all  civil  actions  to  the  extent  of  fifry  pounds,  and  in  cases 
of  filial  portion,  legacies,  distribution  of  intestates'  estates, 
guardianship,  the  care  of  orphans  and  their  estates,  to 
any  amount. 

The  acts  varied  in  so  little  a  degree  from  those  which 
had  lately  been  repealed,  that  the  lower  house  were  un- 
der just  apprehensions,  that  the  governor's  assent  to 
them  would  not  be  easily  obtained :  they  therefore  re- 
presented to  him  in  an  address,  that  as  the  bills  for  re- 
storing the  courts  of  judicature,  and,  through  them,  life 
to  government  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people, 
appeared  to  be  of  such  vast  importance,  they  had  thought 
it  their  duty  to  give  them  the  preference  over  all  other 
objects,  and  they  had  been  despatched  with  unex- 
ampled unanimity  and  concurrence  in  both  houses,  and 
hoped  their  operation  and  excellence  would  distinguish 
the  wisdom  and  justice  of  the  legislature. 


1760]  THE  FIFTH.  Ill 

They  urged,  that  the  extreme  solicitude  of  the  people- 
for  such  laws,  and  their  own  experience  of  the  great 
mischiefs  which  had  resulted  from  a  long  interval  of  li- 
centiousness, called  on  them  to  beseech  him  to  give  the 
acts  his  immediate  assent,  not  only  that  a  proper  founda- 
tion might  be  laid  for  rendering  so  great  a  satisfaction  to 
the  people,  but  to  warrant  the  house  in  proceeding  to  the 
despatch  of  other  important  matters. 

They  added,  they  were  thus  eager  to  obtain  his  early 
assent  to  those  laws,  from  a  desire  to  proceed  to  frame  a 
further  remonstrance  to  the  king,  to  show  the  expedien- 
cy of  their  deviation,  in  some  articles,  from  what  may 
have  been  considered  his  directions  in  framing  the  bills. 

The  house  strengthened  their  importunity  by  an  as- 
surance, that  they  would  exert  every  practicable  endea- 
vour to  demonstrate  the  strictness  of  their  attention  to 
the  general  objects  which  he  had,  so  powerfully,  recom- 
mended at  the  opening  of  tlie  session. 

When  this  address  v/as  presented  to  the  governor,  he 
replied,  that  it  was  of  an  unusual  and  unprecedented  na- 
ture, and  he  would  consult  gentlemen  more  con- 
versant than  himself  in  those  affairs. 

The  governor  discovered,  by  the  manner  in  which  he 
was  pressed  to  give  his  assent  to  these  bills,  that  the 
house  intended  to  regulate  their  conduct  by  his,  and  if 
he  rejected  the  bills,  there  was  little  probability  of  their 
paying  much  attention  to  his  other  recommendations. 
The  bills  were  liable  to  all  the  objections,  which  had 
caused  the  repeal  of  those  they  were  intended  to  replace  ; 
nay,  they  were  more  at  variance  with  the  instructions 
of  the  crown. 

The  clause,  defining  the  qualifications  of  the  judges, 
was  an  unconstitutional^  restraint  on  the  king's  preroga- 


i!2  CHAPTER  [1760 

tive,  almost  precluding  the  appointment  of  any  person 
from  England ;  and  he  had  reason  to  believe,  it  was  in- 
tended to  compel  him  to  appoint  three  particular  per- 
sons, to  whom  the  qualifications  were  peculiarly  adapted. 
The  clause,  defining  the  nature  of  the  tenure  by  which 
the  associate  judges  were  to  hold  their  offices,  consider- 
ed abstractl}^  was  at  variance  with  the  principle  of  keep- 
ing all  great  colonial  officers  under  a  strict  subordination 
to  and  dependence  on  the  crown :  but  the  irregularity 
of  it  was  the  more  striking,  in  relation  to  the  tenure  by 
which  the  chief  justice,  who  was  to  preside  in  those 
courts,  held  his  office  ;  this  officer,  chosen  by  the  king, 
being  only  appointed  during  the  king's  pleasure. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  county  courts  was  extended 
to  fifty  pounds,  while  it  had  been  complained,  that  in  the 
repealed  bill  it  had  been  raised  to  forty.  When  the 
ability  of  the  colonists  was  considered,  causes  of  that 
value  were  viewed  in  England  as  of  too  great  conse- 
quence and  importance  to  be  determined  in  those  courts, 
in  regard  to  the  qualification  and  abilities  of  the  persons 
who  composed  them.  There  was  a  still  greater  absurdi- 
ty, in  restraining  the  jurisdiction  of  these  courts,  in 
common  actions  at  law  to  a  limited  value,  and  giving 
them  unlimited  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  a  more  delicate 
nature. 

The  governors  of  the  American  provinces,  by  a  stand- 
ing article  of  their  instructions,  were  inhibited  from  giv- 
ing their  assent  to  any  bill  of  an  extraordinary  nature, 
affecting  the  property  of  the  king's  subjects  or  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  the  colonies,  without  having  first  trans- 
mitted a  copy  of  it  for  the  king's  consideration,  unless 
with  a  clause,  suspending  the  operation  of  the  bill  till  the 
king's  pleasure  was  known :  and  the  ministers  in  Eng- 


neo]  ,  THE  FIFTH.  118 

land  were  inclined  to  extend,  rather  than  restrain,  the 
sense  of  this  instruction. 

Perplexed  at  his  situation,  governor  Dobbs  sought  a 
cloak  for  his  conduct,  in  procuring  the  sanction  of  the 
advice  of  the  chief  justice  and  attorney  general,  who 
were  required  to  declare  in  writing,  whether  it  was  ex- 
pedient to  assent  to  these  bills. 

Chief  justice  Berry,  who  was  in  England  and  had 
been  spoken  to,  when  the  repealed  laws  were  before  the 
king's  council,  answered,  that  as  the  superior  court  bill 
provided  competent  salaries  for  the  associate  justices, 
so  as  to  make  it  worth  the  attention  of  persons  of  skilland 
learning  in  the  law  to  accept  the  offices,  whereby,  not- 
withstanding the  expettsiveness  of  the  circuits,  the  causes 
depending  in  the  superior  courts  might  now,  without 
delay,  receive  proper  determinations,  the  chief  reason 
for  repealing  the  superior  court  act,  passed  in  1754, 
was  thereby  obviated ;  and  the  attorney  general,  Tho- 
mas Childs,  contented  himself  with  observing,  that  the 
desperate  situation  of  affairs  required  the  governor's 
assent. 

The  general  expressions,  in  which  those  gentlemen 
couched  their  advice,  did  not  authorize  the  belief  that 
it  would  sanction  the  step,  and  the  governor  determined 
on  temporising,  at  least  till  the  passage  of  the  aid  bill. 

In  a  message  to  the  lower  house,  on  the  following 
day,  he  expressed  the  greatest  concern  that,  at  any  time, 
he  should  be  compelled  to  resist  the  request  of  the 
house,  and  more  particularly,  at  the  present  important 
juncture,  when  they  were  summoned  to  meet,  by  the 
king's  order,  to  give  him  an  aid  of  men.  He  lamented, 
that  the  consideration  of  the  king's  request,  which 
ought  to  have  been  the  first  object  of  the  attention  of 

N.  CARO.  !!•  15 


114  CHAPTER  [1160 

the  legislature,  had  been  postponed  for  above  three 
weeks,  to  give  way  to  laws  relating  only  to  the  interior 
concerns  of  the  province. 

He  observed  that  it  was  his  duty,  in  common  decen- 
cy and  respect  to  the  crown,  to  give  the  precedency  to 
an  aid  bill,  over  any  other;  that  it  had  been  the  uninter- 
rupted usage  of  the  houses  of  commons  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  since  the  happy  establishment  of  their  con- 
stitutions and  liberties,  by  the  revolution  in  1688,  to 
offer  the  aid  bill  to  the  royal  assent  before  any  other; 
and  he  found  this  to  be  the  practice  in  the  province, 
where  all  the  bills  were  offered  together,  except  in  a  single 
instance,  at  the  last  session,  in  passing  the  militia  bill, 
which  might  be  considered  as  an  aid  bill,  since  it  author- 
ized the  king  to  march  the  militia  out  of  the  province. 

He  concludtd  by  saying,  it  could  not  be  very  material 
if  the  bills,  now  waiting  for  his  assent,  were  postponed 
for  a  day  or  more,  and  expressed  his  hope,  from  the 
zeal  which  the  house  had  always  manifested  to  enable 
the  king  to  drive  a  cruel  enemy  from  the  continent;  that 
if  the  aid  bill  was  not  passed  before,  it  would  at  least  go 
hand  in  hand  with  the  others,  especially  as  a  delay  in 
raising  and  discipUning  the  forces  might  defeat  the  king's 
views. 

The  house  replied,  that  they  could  not  concur  with 
him  in  the  idea  that  the  court  bills,  though  relating  to 
the  interior  concerns  of  the  province,  were  of  so  light 
importance.  When  they  considered  how  many  licen- 
tious, disaffected  and  evil  disposed  persons  had,  for  ma- 
ny months  past,  assembled  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  entered  into  mutinous  and  dangerous  conspira- 
cies, broken  open  the  jails,  and  while  they  forcibly  rescu- 
ed malefactors,  restrained  the  liberty  of  innocent  persons, 


1760]  THE  FIFTH.  115 

without  any  measure  being  taken  to  suppress  these  out- 
rages; they  deemed  it  a  matter  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance, that  couri  laws  might  be  immediately  passed,  to 
su'engthen  tim  hands  of  government  and  enable  it  to 
check  these  disorders. 

They  added,  that  they  apprehended  that,  according  to 
the  usage  and  custom  of  the  British  parliament,  the 
commons  were  at  liberty  to  ofter  the  bills  they  passed 
for  the  royal  assent,  at  any  time  they  thought  proper, 
and  were  governed  in  this  respect  by  particular  circum- 
stances and  the  emergency  of  the  times. 

Having  at  all  periods  manifested  their  loyalty  to 
the  kin^  and  their  zeal  for  his  service,  by  granting 
every  aid  of  money  and  men  which  the  governor 
had  asked,  even  to  the  impoverishment  of  their  con- 
stituents, and  being  still  ready  to  risk  their  lives  and 
properties,  to  join  in  defence  of  the  king's  rights 
and  possessions,  they  had  now  an  aid  bill  before 
them,  which,  as  well  as  several  others  under  con- 
sideration, had  such  an  intimate  connexion  with, 
and  dependence  on,  the  court  bills,  that  they  could 
not  operate  ti'l  the  latter  were  passed  into  laws, 
they  felt  it  their  indispensable  duty  to  give  them  the 
precedency. 

They  concluded  with  a  hope,  that  the  governor 
would  immediately  give  his  assent,  and  thereby  af- 
ford protection  and  security  to  the  lives  and  pro- 
perty of  their  constituents. 

The  governor  replied,  that  finding  the  house,  mis- 
led by  some  of  the  king's  servants,  were  determin- 
ed to  proceed  on  no  business  until  they  knew  the 
fate  of  the  court  bills,  it  became  his  duty  to  inform 


lie  CHAPTER  Lneo 

them,  that  those  self  interested  gentlemen,  who  had 
procured  the  repeal  of  the  former  court  laws  and 
had  carried  the  present  bills  through  the  houses, 
were  the  cause  of  the  delay  in  their  passage,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  aid  bill;  having  procured  to  be  insert- 
ed, an  unnecessary  clause,  diminishing  the  king's 
prerogative,  and,  with  a  view  to.  serve  their  own 
ends,  placed  the  chief  magistpate  in  the  unpleasant 
dilemma  of  betraying  his  trust  and  disobeying  the 
king's  orders  and  instructions,  by  granting  his  assent, 
or  seeing  a  flame  raised  against  his  administration, 
if  he  withheld  k:  a  flame  which,  one  of  those  gen- 
tlemen had  already  raised,  contrary  to  his  duty  t© 
the  crown,  in  order  to  throw  off"  the  merited  blame 
of  having  procured  the  repeal  of  the  former  bills,  by 
his  artful  recommendations  and  representations; 
while  he  now  sought  to  have  them  re-enacted  with 
supplementary  clauses,  contrary  to  the  king's  in- 
structions. 

As  to  the  great  tumults  and  riots,  which  w^re 
mentioned,  as  causes  for  the  immediate  passage  of 
the  bills,  he  observed,  that  during  the  period  of 
eight  months,  since  which,  the  repeal  of  the  court 
laws  had  been  promulgated,  no  application  had 
been  made  to  him  for  a  commission  of  oyer  and 
terminer,  which  would  have  answered  the  pre- 
tended purpose;  if  the  court  laws  were  indis- 
pensable, unexceptionable  bills  should  have  been 
offered  him;  and  the  house  might  have  known  on 
application  in  what  parts  they  were  repugnant  to 
the   king's  orders  and  instructions,   which    might 

have  been  done,  and  the  bills  ratified  early  in  the 

•it       »' 

session. 


J  7601  THE  FIFTH.  117 

He  informed  the  house  that  he  could  not  pass  the 
bills,  unless  the  exceptionable  clauses  were  expung- 
ed, or  a  clause  was  inserted  suspending  the  opera- 
tions of  the  laws  until  the  king's  pleasure  was  known. 
He  laid  before  them  the  clauses  in  the  king's  in- 
structions which  forbade  his  assent,  in  their  present 
shape,  to  the  bills,  and  concluded  by  observing,  that 
after  the  aid  bill  and  such  other  bills  as  were  ready, 
were  passed,  he  would  prorogue  the  legislature  for 
a  day,  to  give  them  the  opportunity,  in  a  new  ses- 
sion, to  model  the  bills  in  such  a  manner,  as  might 
allow  him  to  pass  them  into  laws. 

The  house  went  into  a  committee  of  the  whole 
on  the  distressed  state  of  the  province  and  the 
governor's  last  message.  They  closed  their  doors 
and  laid  themselves  under  an  injunction*  of  secresy, 
under  pain  of  expulsion.  The  committee  reported 
a  string  of  resolutions,  containing  thei'r  complaints 
against  governor  Dobbs;  they  were  recapitulated 
in  an  address  to  the  king,  which  the  house  approv- 
ed of. 

After  the  usual  expressions  of  loyalty  and  fidelity 
to  the  person'  and  family  of  the  king,  this  paper 
states,  that  no  consideration  less  than  the  prospect 
of  total  ruin,  from  undue  exertions  of  power  and  in- 
ternal commotion  in  his  distressed  province,  could 
have  induced  the  house  to  trouble  his  royal  ear: 
but  that,  when  by  the  injudicious  and  partial  a^p- 
pointment  of  justices,  unqualified  for  the  trust,  and 
the  removal  of  others,  liable  to  no  objection,  magis- 
tracy had  fallen  into  contempt,  and  courts  lost  their 
influence  and  dignity;  when  rioters  were  permitted 
to  assemble  in  several  parts  of  the  province,  erect 


118  CHAPTER  [176^ 

sham  judicatures,  imprison  the  peacable  subjects  of 
the  king,  break  open  jails,  release  malefactors  with 
impunity;  when  the  authors  of  these  outrages  were 
countenanced  by  the  governor  and  honored  with 
commissions  as  justices  and  militia  officers;  when 
citizens  had  received  corporal  punishment  by  the 
arbitrary  mandates  and  private  orders  of  judges  still 
continued  in  office;  when  illegal  and  arbitrary  pe- 
cuniary claims  were  enforced  for  the  use  of  the  gov- 
ernor and  secretary;  when  the  forms  of  writs  of 
elections  had  been  arbitrarily  altered  and  diversi- 
fied, to  have  particular  men  chosen  and  defeat  the 
elections  of  others:  some  writs  directing  the  freehol- 
ders, other  the  inhabitants  generally,  to  choose;  by 
which  last  form,  servants  and  even  convicts  might 
be  admitted  to  the  polls,  whereas,  by  king  Charles' 
charter,  laws  were  directed  to  be  made  by  the  as- 
sent of  freemen  and  their  delegates;  when  a  writ 
had  been  issued  to  one  county  for  fewer  members, 
than  they  had  used  and  ought  to  send,  and  to  an- 
other none  at  all,  till  several  bills  had  passed:  by 
which  practices  it  remained  no  longer  a  secret,  that 
the  governor  intended  to  model  the  assembly  for 
his  own  particular  purposes,  as  he  had  before  re- 
formed the  council  b}'  suspensions  and  new  appoint- 
ments; when  insulted  by  blood  thirsty  savages  on 
the  exterior  settlements,  and  in  no  less  danger  of 
falling  a  prey  to  niternal  enemies,  the  people  of  the 
province  could  only  resort  to  their  sovereign  for 
succour,  as  the  fountain  from  whence  justice  and 
protection  flow  to  his  most  distant  subjects. 

The  facts  thus  enumerated,  are  represented  as  far 
from  forming  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  sufferings 


J 

1760]  THE  FIFTH.  119 

of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  who,  nevertheless, 
have,  vi'ith  great  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  embrac- 
ed every  opportunity  of  testifying  their  zeal  and 
loyalty  to  the  king,  and  exerted  their  utmost  efforts 
in  the  maintenance  of  his  rights. 

The  house  expressed  their  concern,  that  in  the  ap- 
plication of  the  several  aids,  which  had  been  under 
the  governors  directions,  less  regard  had  been  paid 
to  the  usef  ]1  purposes,  intended  by  the  legislature, 
than  to  enriching  his  particular  friends  and  favor- 
ites; military  commissions  having  been  granted  to 
persons  of  little  or  no  weight  in  the  province, 
whereby  the  raising  of  recruits  had  been  delayed 
and  the  service  injured. 

They  lamented,  that  it  had  been  the  particular  mis- 
fortune of  the  province,  that,  by  the  governor's  decisive 
influence  on  the  council,  the  assembly  had  hitherto  been 
prevented  from  appointing  an  agent,  to  represent  their 
dutiful  affection  to  the  king  and  solicit  the  provincial 
affairs  at  the  public  boards  in  England  ;  and  that,  at  the 
session  of  the  legislature,  in  May,  1759,  provision  had 
been  made  for  such  an  appointment ;  but  the  bill  was 
peremptorily  rejected  by  the  upper  house,  who  assigned 
no  reason  ;  and  the  governor,  thereupon,  prorogued 
the  legislature,  bitterly  reproving  the  lower  house,  for 
presuming  to  insert  a  clause  for  the  appointment  of  an 
agent,  in  an  aid  bill,  although  such  bills,  with  clauses 
as  little  analagous  to  the  aid,  had,  without  the  least  ex- 
ception, been  before  passed  in  his  administration  ;  and  it 
was  notorious,  that  the  trne  reason  for  the  rejection  of  the 
bill  by  the  upper  house,  and  the  governor's  displeasure, 
Avas,  the  agency  had  not  been  given,  by  the  lower  house,  to 
one  Smith;  his  attorney  m  London.     So  that  the  aid^ 


120  CHAPTER  (1760 

intended  by  the  king's  dutiful  subjects,  recommended 
by  the  minister,  had  been  postponed  to  gratify  partial 
views  and  private  interest,  while  the  motive  was  veiled 
with  feigned  objections  and  subtile  refinement,  never 
before  offered  to  an  assembly. 

In  concluding,  the  house  observed,  that  they  refrained 
from  mentioning  many  abuses  of  power  and  acts  of 
oppression,  other  than  those  which,  constrained  by  the 
necessity  of  the  times  and  the  despondent  situation  of 
the  province,  they  had  related ;  and  that  nothing  less, 
,  than  the  impending  prospect  of  desolation  and  ruin, 
could  have  induced  them  to  remonstrate  against  the 
conduct  of  a  governor,  to  the  ease  and  happiness  of 
whose  administration,  they  had  vainly  endeavored  to 
contribute ;  that,  for  some  time,  they  had  remained  pas- 
sive, under  the  yoke  of  oppression,  unwilling  to  inter- 
rupt the  important  avocations  which  necessarily  engage 
their  sovereign's  attention  ;  but,  perceiving  themselves 
on  the  brink  of  anarchy  and  ruin,  they,  with  humility 
and  duty,  supplicated  his  justice  for  relief. 

They  charged  Anthony  Bacon  to  deliver  the  address 
to  Mr.  Pitt,  to  be  presented  to  the  king,  and  the  spea- 
ker was  requested  to  write  and  send  copies  of  it,  to  the 
earls  of  Granville  and  Halifax,  and  the  secretary  of 
state. 

The  thanks  of  the  house  were  given  to  the  attorney 
general,  for  the  candid  advice  he  had  given  the  governor 
to  pass  the  bills. 

The  house  addressed  the  governor  again :  they  be- 
wailed, that  he  had  suffered  his  ear  to  be  assailed  by  de- 
signing men,  and  the  evils  that  flowed  from  the  incom- 
petency of  some  of  the  judges  he  had  appointed  ;  and 
added,  that   the  delays,  occasioned    by  advisari's  ^  in 


1760]  THE  FIFTH.  121 

causes  plain  and  easy  to  be  understood  by  lawyers,  and 
the  erroneous  judgments  given  by  those  lay  judges, 
abundantly  showed,  the  necessity  of  the  qualifications 
required  by  the  upper  court  bill :  they  observed,  that, 
not  to  mention  other  instances,  the  corporal  punishment, 
inflicted  by  order  of  his  nephew,  Richard  Spaight,  one 
of  the  judges,  on  an  innocent  person,  without  a  trial  by 
jury,  contrary  to  all  law,  and  in  violation  of  the  great 
charter  of  English  liberties,  was  an  unanswerable  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  the  proposed  amendment,  and  the  per- 
tinacious adherence  to  the  letter  of  an  instruction,  in  a 
matter  that  could  not  have  been  in  contemplation,  at  the 
time  it  was  given,  manifested  an  unreasonable  desire  to 
retain  the  power  of  appointing  judges,  for  private  views 
and  partial  ends. 

They  expressed  their  concern,  that  they  should  differ 
in  sentiment  from  him,  having  made  it  their  study  to 
render  him  easy  and  happy,  and,  when  their  best  endea- 
vors for  the  king's  service,  and  the  interest  of  his  sub- 
jects, were  represented  in  the  most  disagreeable  light, 
they  could  only  say,  they  had  the  comfort  of  a  good 
conscience. 

In  regard  to  the  commissions  of  oyer  and  terminer, 
for  the  trial  of  the  licentious  rioters,  who,  by  their  dan- 
gerous practices,  had  disturbed,  with  impunity,  the 
tranquility  of  the  province,  the  house  apprehended, 
that,  from  the  general  defection  in  the  part  of  the 
country  in  which  they  committed  their  outrages,  the 
commissions  would  have  no  other  effect,  than  to 
bring  the  rage  of  unruly  mobs  on  those  who  should 
act  under  them ;  and  they  expressed  their  concern, 
that  these  mobs  increased  in  number  and  influence, 

N.    CARO.  II.  16 


122  CHAPTER  n  [nm 

by  several  of  their  ringleaders  being  countenanced  by 
the  governor,  and  honored  with  commissions,  as  justices 
of  the  peace  and  militia  officers. 

They  concluded,  by  lamenting,  that  the  chief  justice 
and  attorney  general  should  have  incurred  his  displea- 
sure, by  giving  their  candid  sentiments,  in  consequence 
of  his  command,  on  some  insnaring  questions  proposed 
on  extracts  of  his  instructions. 

The  governor  rejected  the  superior  court  bill. 

An  act  was  passed,  establishing  county  courts,  and 
provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  an  orthodox 
clergy. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  the  the  legislature  was  prorogued 
by  proclamation,  till  the  26th  of  the  same  month. 

On  opening  the  second  session,  governor  Dobbs  in- 
formed the  houses  he  had  called  them  together  with  the 
view  of  affording  them  the  opportunity  of  re- consider- 
ing the  superior  court  bill,  and  determining  whether  any 
aid  was  to  be  granted  to  the  king. 

The  su{)erior  court  bill  being  offered  to  the  governor, 
with  a  clause  providing,  that,  if  the  king  did  not  con- 
firm it  within  two  years  from  the  10th  of  November  fol- 
lowing, it  should,  from  thenceforth,  be  null  and  void, 
received  his  assent. 

The  upper  house  having  made  an  amendment  to  the 
aid  bill,  on  its  second  reading,  the  lower  house  resolved, 
that  this  was  an  invasion  of  their  privileges,  and  an  evi 
dence  of  an  intention  to  disturb  the  harmony,  which  ought 
to  subsist  between  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature, 
tending  to  dcieai  their  dutiful  endeavors  in  granting  the 
aid ;  but,  protesting  that  the  amendment  should  not, 
he  rcaftf r,  be  drawn  into  a  precedent,  they  resolved,  that 
desirous  of  evincing  their  loyalty  to  the  king,  they  would 


1760]  THE  FIFTH.  123 

not  reject  the  bill,  and  would  proceed  on  it,  notwith- 
standing the  unparliamentary  proceeiling  of  the  upper 
house. 

On  the  third  reading  of  the  bill  for  appointing  an 
agent,  the  upper  house  opposed  the  appointment  of 
Anthony  Bacon,  and  insisted  on  the  name  of  some  other 
person  being  inserted.  On  the  disagreement  of  the 
lower  house,  t^ie  bill  was  rejected. 

The  lower  house  then,  by  a  resolve  appointed  this 
gentleman,  agent  of  the  province  for  two  years,  with  a 
salary  of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  per  year. 

The  aid  bill  passed  both  houses,  with  a  clause,  pro- 
viding for  the  emission  of  paper  money:  it  was  re- 
jected by  the  governor,  and  the  legislative  body  was 
prorogued. 


Chalmers-^  Marshall — Records. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  tranquility  which  followed  the  treaty  con- 
cluded by  governor  l.yttleton  with  theCberokees^  w^as 
of  very  short  duration  :  the  Indians  had  been  awed 
into  it  by  the  presence  of  a  large  force  in  the  middle 
of  their  country:  the  effect  subsided  with  the  cause. 
The  treatment  which  their  embassadors  of  peace  had 
received  in  Charleston,  their  cruel  imprisonment  in 
fort  Prince  George  and  their  subsequent  detention, 
unauthorized  by  the  late  tieaiy,  were  circumstances 
whicli  the  spirit  of  the  nation  could  not  brook  Oco- 
noota,  an  influential  chief,  heading  a  small  party  of 
choice  warrior?;,  advanced  towards  fort  Prince  George 
to  create  or  improve  an  Oi)portunity  of  relieving  his 
companions  from  bondage,  or  wreaking  his  revenge  on 
those  who  detained  them.  Governor  Lyttleton,  at  his 
departure,  had  left  the  command  of  the  fort  to  captain 
Coytmere,  an  officer  who  was  peculiarly  obnoxious 
to  Oconoota.  This  circumstance  contributed  greatly 
to  inflame  the  mind  of  the  Indian,  offering  the  double 
incitement  of  succouring  his  friends  and  destroying 
his  enemy.  For  a  Lumber  of  days,  his  endeavours 
had  no  other  effect,  than  to  compel  the  gariison  to 
keep  within  their  fort.  Stratagem  soon  effected 
what  the  force  Oconoota  could  command  was  unable 
to  execute  :  he  withdrew  his  men  for  a  few  days,  to 


1760]  CHAPTER.  125 

create  the  de«ultory  hope  of  security,  and  some  time 
after  brought  them   back,   placing  them  iti   a  dark 
thicket  by  the  river  side  :  this  bping  effected,  he  sent 
a  sq  jaw  to  Coytmere  to  inform  him,  h  ^  had  a  mes ' 
sage  to  deliver  him  f  om  the  chiefs  of  his  nation,  de- 
sir  ng  lie  wo  ild  com^*  and  speak  to  him  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river  ;  in  the  mean  Vhile,  he  crossed 
the  stream.     Coytmere,  accompanied  by  his  two  lieu- 
tenants, walked  to  the  river,  and  the  Indian  from  the 
opposite  sliore  toM  him,  that,   being  on   his  way  to 
Charles-on  to  procure   the   release  of  the  chiefs,  he 
wished  one  of  the  soldiers  might  accompany  him  as  a 
safeguard  ;  he  held  a  bridle  in  one  of  his  hands  and 
pretended  he  was  going  to  look  for  a  horse»     Coyt- 
mere answered  in  the  aflBrmativ^e  ;  some  desultory  con- 
vers  tion  followed,  and  Oconoota,   turning  towards 
the  woods,  swung  the  bridle  twice  over  his  head,  the 
concerted  signal,  at  which   the  Indians  in  ambush 
rose  from  the  thickets,  and  tiring,  killed  Coytmere 
and  wounded  his  two  officers.     On  hearins:  the  re- 
port,  the  officer  in  command  at  the  fort  ordered  the 
chiefs   in   his   possession  to    b*.  put  in   irons ;    the 
Indian  on  whom  this  order  was  first  attempted  to  be 
executed,  stabbed  the  soldier  who  took  hold  of  him, 
and  wounded  two  others  ;  the  garriso  i,  exasperated, 
fell  on  the  others  and  slaughtered  them. 

The  chieftains  in  every  town  alarmed  their  coun- 
trymen and  called  on  them  to  revenge  the  spirits  of 
their  murdt  red  brethren,  hovering  around  their  huts  : 
the  song  of  war  was  begun,  and  the  yoiths  of  the  na- 
tion, impatient  of  vengeance,  rushed  on  the  innocent, 
defenceless  and  lyisuspecting  families  of  the  planters 


126  CHAPTER  [1760 

on  the  back  settlements  of  the  whites^  and  regardless 
of  the  claim  of  age,  childhood,  or  the  softer  sex, 
spread  death,  desolation  and  waste;  few  escaped  the 
knife,  many  of  those  few  perished  with  hunger  and 
distress  in  the  wilderness,  others  were  carried  off 
for  more  cruel,  because  more  protracted  torments. 
The  bearers  of  the  first  tidings  of  this  massacre  found 
the  city  of  Charleston  desolated  by  the  small  pox, 
which  raged  with  so  much  violence,  that  few  of  the 
militia  could  be  prevailed  on  to  leave  their  sickening 
or  frightened  families,  to  march  to  the  relief  of  the 
frontiers.  The  distress  of  the  province  was  however 
relieved,  by  the  arrival  of  colonel  Montgomery  with  a 
detachment  of  regular  troops  :  his  force  beiug  in- 
creased by  as  many  of  the  militia  of  South  Carolina 
as  could  be  raised,  and  a  part  of  that  of  North  Caro- 
lina under  the  orders  of  Hugh  Waddle.  Colonel 
Montgomery  marched  towards  the  Cherokee  towns ; 
he  destroyed  all  the  lower  ones,  but  approaching  that 
of  Etchoe,  the  first  of  the  middle  settlements,  he  met 
in  a  thick  wood  a  considerable  body  of  Indians,  and 
in  the  battle  which  followed,  an  equal  slaughter  left 
victory  undecided ;  and  the  leader  of  the  whites,  from 
this  specimen  of  Indian  t  ictics,  apprehending  danger 
in  penetrating  farther  into  the  country  of  the  enemy, 
marched  back  to  fort  Prince  George. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  May,  lieutenant 
governor  Bull,  on  whom  the  government  of  the  pro- 
vince of  South  Carolina  devolved,  at  the  departure 
of  governor  Lyttleton,  received  information  from  the 
officer  commanding  at  Augusta,  that  on  the  14th  the 
uppper  Creeks  had  murdered  above  twenty  English 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  127 

traders,  the  rest  having,  on  previous  notice  by  their 
women,  fled  to  Pensacola.  The  lower  Creeks,  ou 
receiving  the  information,  doubted  of  its  correctness, 
and  despatched  runners,  who  brought  the  confirma- 
tion of  it :  they  told  the  English  traders  among  them, 
that  the  upper  Creeks  would  soon  be  down,  with  the 
intention  of  acting  the  same  tragedy  on  them;  that 
they  could  not  fight  against  their  own  countrymen, 
and  therefore,  supplying  the  English  with  arms,  ad- 
vised them  to  unite  in  one  of  their  towns  and  make 
the  best  defence  they  could.  On  the  next  morning, 
however,  the  Indians  escorted  them  to  Savannah. 

Lieutenant  governor  Bull,  on  this  occasion,  solicit- 
ed assistance  from  governor  Dobbs  :  he  represented 
to  him,  that  there  was  much  room  to  believe,  that  the 
French  had  excited  the  upper  Creeks  to  war,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  would  render  the  united  efforts  of 
the  southern  provinces  necessary  ;  he  stated  the  for- 
midable number  of  warriors  which  the  Indians  might 
bring  into  the  field ;  according  to  his  accounts,  the 
Cherokees  and  Creeks  had  two  thousand  each,  and 
the  Choctaws  five  thousand,  and  there  were  other  na- 
tions under  the  influence  of  the  French,  towards  the 
Mississippi;  the  Chickasaws  could  not  be  well  count- 
ed in  the  number  of  Knglish  allies,  as  their  situation 
and  small  number  were  likely  to  make  them  either 
join,  or  be  cut  off  by  the  general  alliance  against  the 
English. 

In  consequence  of  this  information,  the  legislative 
body  held  its  third  session  at  Wilmington,  on  the  30th 
of  June.  The  letter  of  the  executive  of  South  Caro- 
lina was  laid  before  them,  and  governor  Dobbs  soli- 


128  CHAPTER  [1760 

cited  them  to  grant  a  proper  aid  to  the  king,  and 
make  such  amendments  to  the  militia  law,  as  the 
emergency  required. 

The  lower  house,  in  whom  the  feelings  excited  by 
the  violent  altercations  between  them  and  the  gover- 
nor, at  the  last  session,  did  not  appear  to  have  sub- 
sided, were  at  first  unwilling  to  proceed  to  business, 
a  majority  of  the  members  not  being  present,  many 
having  declined  coming,  on  account  of  a  rumor  of 
the  small  pox  raging  in  the  town  of  \V  ilmington. 

They  began  their  address,  by  bewailing  the  thin- 
ness of  their  house,  and  observed,  that  nothing  but 
the  particular  and  critical  situation  of  the  country 
could  have  induced  them  to  depart  from  the  establish- 
ed rule,  and  proceed  on  business  with  a  less  number 
than  a  full  majority  of  all  the  members. 

They  next  animadverted  on  the  governor's  speech, 
at  the  prorogation,  and  observed,  that  the  aid  bill, 
which  he  h^sd  been  pleased  to  reject,  greatly  varied 
from  that  on  which  his  observations  had  been  found- 
ed. They  said,  the  slow  progress  in  levying  the 
forces,  to  serve  under  general  Forbes,  was,  in  their 
apprehension,  occasioned  by  the  unlucky  choice  of 
oificers,  made  by  the  governor,  who  were  strangers 
to  the  generality  of  the  peop.e;  a  misfortune  against 
which  the  last  aid  bill  was  attempted  to  be  guarded. 
They  admitted,  that  the  bounty  was  small,  but  a  re- 
ward of  five  pounds  was  offered  for  every  scalp,  and 
the  Indians  taken  alive  were  to  become  the  property 
of  the  captors,  inducements,  which,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  house,  were  likely  to  be  equal  to  that  of  a 
larger  bounty. 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  129 

^  With  regard  to  the  disposition  made  of  the  twelve 
thousand  pounds  proposed  to  be  emitted,  thev  observed, 
the  treasurers  could  have  derived  little  advantage  from 
it,  the  province  being  six  thousand  pounds  in  arrears, 
and  the  bill  made  application  of  the  greatest  part  of  what 
might  rem  jn,  after  the  men  were  raised  ;  and  that  if  the 
house  had  acted  as  the  governor  suggested  they  ought 
to  do,  and  invested  him  and  the  council  with  the  power  of 
applying  the  money,  their  conduct  would  have  been  in- 
consistent with  their  duty,  and  contrary  to  the  constant 
and  approved  method. 

They  expressed  their  desire  of  joining  him 'in  every 
measure  that  mij^ht  redound  to  the  king's  honor  and  ad- 
vantage and  the  true  interest  of  the  province. 

The  governor,  after  the  customary  expressions  of 
thanks,  replic  d,  that  he  must  inform  the  house,  that  their 
quorum  to  proceed  to  business  was  by  the  king's  in- 
structions fixed  at  fifteen,  to  which  number  the  house 
must  now  adhere. 

He  added,  he  would  not  enter  into  any  disquisition  in 
regard  to  former  bills  ;  but,  he  had  to  inform  them,  that 
as  to  future  bills,  he  would  pass  none  that  restrained  the 
executive  power,  which  was  the  king's  prerogative ;  the 
only  power,  delegated  to  the  assembly,  being  as  to  the 
quantum  of  the  supply,  the  mode  of  raising  it,  and  the 
pay  of  the  troops,  all  other  considerations  being  incon- 
sistent with  the  prerogative  of  the  crown. 

A  bill  for  the  appointment  of  an  agent  passed  the 
lower,  but  was  laid  over  in  the  upper  house. 

Two  bills  only  were  offered  for  the  governor's  assent, 
the  militia  and  aid  bills:  both  received  it.  Seven  thou- 
sand pounds  were  granted  to  the  king,  for  the  protection 
of  the  province  and  the  relief  of  that  of  South  Carolina, 

N.  CARO.    IT.       17 


150  CHAPTER.  [176^ 

and  an  emission  of  paper  money,  to  the  amount  of  twelve 
thousand  pounds,  was  directed  ;  the  surplus  was  order- 
ed to  be  applied  to  the  contingent  charges  of  govern- 
ment already,  or  that  might  be  allowed  by  the  general 
assembly.  A  poll  tax  of  one  shilling  per  annum  was 
laid,  to  commence  in  the  year  1763  and  continue  till 
the  money  emitted  was  collected  and  burnt. 

A.  premium  of  five  pounds  for  the  scalp  of  every  In- 
dian killed  in  the  war  was  allowed,  and  the  soldiers  were 
allowed  to  retain  all  Indians  taken  alive  as  slaves,  with  all 
the  plunder  that  might  be  taken  from  the  enemy. 

The  distant  garrison  of  fort  Loudon,  found  itself  this 
summer  reduced  to  tlie  dreadful  alternative  of  perishing 
with  hunger,  or  throwing  themselves  on  the  mercy  of 
the  Cherokees  ;  for  a  whole  month  they  had  subsisted 
on  the  flesh  of  lean  horses  and  dogs,  and  a  small  supply 
of  Indian  beans,  which  friendly  squaws  procured  for 
them.  In  this  deplorable  situation,  it  was  determined 
to  surrender  the  fort :  captain  Stewart  was  therefore 
sent  to  Chota,  one  of  the  principal  Indian  towns  in  the 
neighborhood,  where  he  met  the  chiefs  of  the  Cherokees, 
and  agreed  on  the  outlines  of  a  capitulation,  which  were 
afterwaids  confirmed  and  signed  by  the  commandant. 
The  men  were  allowed  their  arms,  and  as  much  ammu- 
nition as  the  officers  should  think  they  wanted  on  their 
return  ;  the  garrison  was  permitted  to  proceed  to  Vir- 
ginia, or  fort  Prince  George,  and  Indians  were  to  be  al- 
lowed to  escort  them  and  search  for  provisions  ;  the  sick 
and  lame  were  to  be  received  into  the  Indian  towns  and 
protected  until  they  recovered  ;  horses  were  to  be  fur- 
nished to  the  garrison,  at  a  fair  price ;  the  heavy  artillery, 
powder,  ball  and  spare  arms,  were  to  be  delivered  to  the 


i760]  THE  SIXTH.  131 

Indians,  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  march  of  the 
troops. 

When  they  abandoned  the  fort,  the  British  troops 
were  escorted  by  a  number  of  Indians,  headed  by  Oco- 
nootota ;  they  marched  on  that  day  fifteen  miles,  towards 
fort  Prince  George.  At  night,  they  encamped  on  a 
plain,  about  two  miles  from  Tellico,  an  Indian  town, 
where  the  Indians,  one  after  another,  disappeared ;  they 
remained  the  whole  night  ujimolested ;  but,  at  the  break 
of  day,  a  soldier  from  one  of  the  outposts  ran  in  and  in- 
formed, that  he  saw  a  vast  number  of  Indians,  armed 
and  painted,  creeping  among  the  bushes  and  advancing 
to  surround  the  English.  Time  \vas  hardly  given  for 
the  soldiers  to  stand  to  their  arms,  when  the  Indians 
poured  in  a  heavy  fire,  from  different  quarters,  accom- 
panied with  horrid  yells  and  screams.  Captain  Dennie, 
three  of  his  officers  and  twenty- six  men  fell ;  the  rest 
fied  into  the  woods,  were  soon  overtaken  and  led 
captives  to  the  towns  of  the  valley. 

These  disastrous  events  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  British  empire  in  America,  were,  however,  great- 
ly counterbalanced  by  the  great  success  of  the 
king's  arms  in  the  north;  the  whole  province  of 
Canada  having  been  conquered  in  the  course  of  the 
summer. 

The  fourth  session  of  the  legislature  was  held  at 
Wilmington,  in  the  month  of  November.  On  the 
seventh  of  that  month  a  majority  of  the  whole  lower 
house  not  appearing,  those  on  the  floor  refused  to 
proceed  with  the  number  of  members  present,  con- 
stituting a  quorum  by  the  king's  instructions,  and 
came  to  a  resolution,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  mem- 


im  CHAPTER  [17G0 

bers  present,  thej  could  not  consistently  with  the 
charter  of  Charles  IL  and  the  usages  and  approved 
customs  of  the  assemblies  of  the  province,  proceed 
to  business,  unless  a  majority  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people  were  present.  The  warrant  of  the 
speaker  was  directed  to  the  sergeant  at  arms,  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  the  absent  members,  by 
taking  them  into  his  custody.  By  this  means  a  ma- 
jority was  procured  a  few  days  after. 

Governor  Dobbs  began  his  speech  by  congratula- 
ting the  houses  on  the  reduction  of  Canada,  and 
added  he  had  great  reason  to  hope,  that  the  Che- 
rokees,  intimidated  by  the  great  success  of  the 
king's  forces,  and  the  opportunity  it  woukl  afford  to 
the  commander  in  chief  to  detach  a  considerable 
number  of  men  to  chastise  them,  appeared  inclined 
to  accept  the  overtures  of  peace,  lately  made  them 
by  governor  Fauquier  of  Virginia,  and  lieutenant 
governor  Bull. 

He  recommended  the  continuance  of  the  forces 
already  in  the  pay  of  the  province,  until  peace  was 
finally  concluded  with  the  Cherokees,  and  as  both 
the  neighboring  provinces  had  determined  on  exert- 
ing their  whole  forces  to  reduce  the  enemy  to  such 
terms  as  would,  for  the  future,  avert  the  dread  of  an 
Indian  war;  he  expressed  his  hope  that  North  Car- 
olina would  act  in  conjunction  with  them. 

After  expressing  his  reluctance  to  load  the  peo- 
with  taxes,  or  to  depreciate  the  currency  by  issuing 
paper  money,  he  declares  his  readiness  to  enter  into 
any  reasonable  measure,  so  that  so  much  of  the  mo- 
ney paid  to  the  agent  of  the  province  in  London. 


1760J  THE  SIXTH.  13S 

from  the  parliamentary  grant,  of  which  he  had  re- 
ceived a  part,  might  be  employed  to  pay  the  forces 
hitherto  raised,  as  well  as  those  that  might  be  levi- 
ed, ■  y  drawing  bills  on  the  agent,  until  peace  was 
obtained  or  the  Indian  commotions  subsided. 

He  recommended,  that  they  would  think  of  the 
propriety  of  allowing  a  premium  to  encourage  the 
culture  and  exportation  of  hemp  and  flax:  and,  as 
flour  and  tobacco  had  of  late  become  considerable 
articles  of  export  from  the  river  Cape  Fear,  that 
the  inspection  laws,  relating  to  those  commodities, 
migiit  be  extended  to  the  southern  part  of  the  pro- 
vince. 

The  lower  house  in  their  address  observed,  that, 
although  the  province  was  one  of  the  least  in  trade 
and  riches,  it  had  already  emulated  the  most  opu- 
lent in  their  zeal  for  the  king's  service,  having,  du- 
ring the  war,  granted  in  several  aids  for  the  support 
of  the  common  cause,  not  less  than  £80,001,  and^ 
thereby  anticipated  their  funds  and  contracted  a 
large  debt;  yet,  they  would  at  this  crisis,  hoping  it 
might  be  the  last,  join  with  the  forces  of  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina  as  many  men,  as  the  indigent 
and  almost  exhausted  circumstances  of  the  province 
would  allow. 

They  praised  the  governor's  moderation  and 
wish  to  avoid  burdening  their  constituents,  but  ex- 
pressed their  inability  to  conceive,  that  the  propos- 
ed plan  of  drawing  bills  co'dd  be  executed,  as  the 
money  already,  allotted  to  the  province  out  of  the 
first  parliamerUary  grant,  was  by  law  appropriated 
towards  erecting  public  building  and  the  residue  lo 


i34  CHAPTER  [1760 

other  purposes,  by  various  orders  and  resolves. 
They  flattered  themselves,  that  had  they  been  so 
fortunate,  as  to  have  had  the  concurrence  of  the 
other  branches  of  the  legislature,  in  passing  a  law, 
more  than  once  attempted,  for  appointing  an  agent, 
in  London,  who  might  have  produced  proper  docu- 
ments of  the  disbursements  of  the  province,  and 
represented  the  duty  and  loyalty  of  the  people, 
considering  their  circumstances,  in  their  true  and 
proper  lights  to  the  king's  ministers,  the  province 
might  have  participated  in  the  first  grant  of  £200,- 
000  to  the  American  provinces,  out  of  which,  the 
province  of  Virginia  had  received  £20,546,  exclu- 
sive of  £32,268  19,  her  proportion  of  the  second 
grant  of  £50,000,  while  the  whole  sum,  coming  to 
the  province,  was  no  more  than  £7,789  11,  and 
even  out  of  this  sum  the  house  was  now  informed  of 
a  demand  of  one  thousand  pound  sterling,  advanc- 
ed by  lord  Loudon  and  governor  Shirley,  to  pay  the 
troops  of  the  province,  at  New-York,  notwithstand- 
ing the  assembly  had  raised  a  fund,  sufficient  for 
that  service:  the  house  could  not  therefore  withhold 
their  opinion  that  the  small  part  of  the  royal  bounty, 
coming  to  the  province,  was  apparently  owing  to 
the  absence  of  an  agent  to  represent  their  dutiful 
behavior  to  the  king  and  his  ministers. 

They  lamented  the  indispensable  necessity  in  which 
they  found  themselves,  the  extraordinary  charges  of  the 
war  having  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  province,  to 
postpone  the  consideration  of  premiums  on  hemp  and 
flax,  to  a  more  favorable  day. 

They  declared  their  conviction,  that  the  prerogative  of 
the  crown  and  the  just  rights  of  the  assembly  could 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  '  135 

well,  and  ought  to  subsist,  inseparably  together,  and  that 
whoever  would  attempt  to  divide  them  ought  to  be 
deemed  an  enemy  to  both,  the  prerogative  of  the  crown 
being,  in  thdr  apprehension,  exerted  solely  for  the  ease 
and  benefit  of  the  people;  they  were  unconscious  of  hav- 
ing ever  attempted  to  invade  it,  although  the  governor 
in  his  speech,  at  the  last  sessions,  and  his  reference  to  the 
resolution  of  parliament,  which  he  had  sent  to  them, 
seemed  to  charge  the  house  with  it.  They  were  sorry 
to  say  that,  they  had  been  unfairly  and  unkindly  repre- 
sented at  home,  as  the  assembly  had  never  arrogated 
to  themselves  the  powers,  stated  in  the  resolution  of 
parliament  to  have  been  claimed  by  the  assembly  of 
Jamaica. 

In  his  answer  to  this  address,  governor  Dobbs  saidj 
he  must  differ  from  the  house,  either  as  to  the  province 
having  no  proper  agents  in  London,  the  lords  of  the 
treasury  having  accepted  of  the  nomination  both  of  the 
council  and  assembly,  though  of  a  distinct  person,  or 
as  to  the  disposal  of  the  balance  of  the  £7,000,  after 
Mr.  Abercrombie  had  paid  himself  the  sum  that  the 
house  had  allowed  him,  and  they  had  it  in  their  power 
to  have  a  proper  aid  bill  to  repeal  any  former  application 
and  to  apply  it,  for  the  future,  to  the  use  of  the  province, 
when  no  part  had  been  applied  in  pursuance  of  their 
former  resolutions. 

He  expressed  his  hope  that  the  house,  adhering  to  their 
loyal  professions  of  uniting  the  king's  prerogatives  and 
the  rights  of  the  assemby,  would  put  no  tack  to  the  aid 
bill,  as  had  been  formerly  attempted,  and  thus  disabhng 
him  from  the  power  of  assenting  to  it. 

An  act  was  passed  to  regulate  the  elections  of  mem- 
bers of  assembly.     The  freeholders,  to  whom  the  right 


13G  CHAPTER  [1760 

of  suffrage  was  exclusively  granted,  were  required  to 
exercise  it  viva  voce. 

The  county  of  Beaufort  was  divided,  and  the  upper 
part  of  it  was  erected  into  a  separate  county,  to  which 
the  name  of  Pitt  was  given,  in  compliment  to  a  minister, 
dear  to  the  x\merican  people.  The  late  division  of  the 
county  of  Edgecombe  having  left  Enfield  the  place  at 
which  the  public  business  of  that  county  was  transacted, 
in  a  remote  corner  of  it,  a  more  central  spot  was  cho- 
sen and  a  town  erected  on  it,  to  which  the  name  of  Tar- 
borough  was  given,  from  the  river  which  washts  it. 
With  a  view  to  forward  the  erection  of  churches  in  the 
towns  of  Wilmin^^ton  and  Brunswick,  th  •  legislature  at 
this  session,  first  countenanced  the  mode  of  raising  mo- 
ney by  a  lottery. 

In  framing  the  aid  bill,  the  lower  house  again  inserted 
a  clause,  appointing  Anthony  Bacon  agent  of  the  pro- 
vince, for  the  purpose  of  representing  to  the  king  and 
his  ministers  their  dutiful  and  loyal  behavior,  and  to  lay 
before  them  proper  documents  of  the  expenses  the 
province  had  been  at  in  carrying  on  the  war  ag'iinst  the 
king's  enemies  in  America,  the  upper  house,  on  read- 
ing the  bill  for  the  third  time,  made  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  obtain  the  striking  of  that  clause  out  of  the 
bill.  As  soon  as  it  had  passed  the  houses,  the  i  s  embly 
addressed  the  governor  for  his  assent,  representing  the 
bill  as  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  province  and 
the  adjacent  ones,  in  the  reduction  of  the  Cherokees, 
whom  they  had  reason  to  believe  were  encouraged  in 
their  depredations  by  the  artful  insinuations  of  the 
French,  who,  drove  out  of  their  possessions  in  Canada, 
were,  as  their  last  efiijrt,  making  an  attempt  on  the  sou- 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  137 

thern  provinces,  the  most  vulnerable  part  of  the  British 
empire  in  America. 

No  answer  was  given  to  this  address;  the  governor  re- 
jected the  bill  and  prorogued  the  legislature  for  a  day. 

In  meeting  them  again,  the  governor  addressed  him» 
self  to  the  lower  house  only.  He  said  he  had  prorogu- 
ed the  legislature  with  a  view  of  giving  the  house  an  op- 
port  unity,  in  a  new  session  to  reconsider  the  rejccied 
aid  bill,  that,  if  they  chose  to  rid  it  from  the  exceptiona- 
ble and  foreign  clause,  they  might  perfect  and  render  it 
serviceable  to  their  king  and  country;  but,  in  case  they 
persisted,  he  might  put  an  end  to  their  further  attend- 
ance, and  their  constituents  might  see,  that  their  real  in- 
tention was  not  to  pass  an  aid  bill,  but  to  force  an  agent 
upon  him  and  the  upper  house,  whom  that  body  had 
twice  rt-jected,  after  he  had  publicly  declared  he  would 
concur  in  the  appointment  of  any  other  person. 

The  house,  on  their  return,  entered  into  resolutions, 
asserting  their  inherent  and  undoubted  right,  to  no- 
minate an  agent  for  the  province:  and  that  the  ap- 
pointment is  not  inconsistent  with  the  king's  service, 
although  made  in  an  aid  bill. 

In  their  address  they  bewailed,  that  the  king's  service, 
in  the  intended  expedition  against  the  Cherokees,  should 
be  frustrated,  by  what  appeared  to  be  only  some  private 
resentment  of  the  governor  against  Anthony  Bacon: 
they  observed,  it  was  a  matter  of  small  concern  to  the 
king  or  his  ministers,  whether  Anthony  Bacon,  or  any 
other  man,  was  appointed  agent  of  the  province,  provi* 
ded  the  house  granted  such  assistance  to  the  common 
cause,  as  the  indigent  circumstances  of  their  constitu- 
ents admitted.  This  had  been  attempted  to  be  done,  by 
the  bill  which  he  hud  rejected.     Five  hundred  men,  the 

N.  CARO.    II.       18 


138  CHAPTER  [1760 

largest  number  during  his  administration,  had  been 
granted,  and  the  pecuniary  aid  exceeded,  also,  an}^  voted 
during  the  war,  because  the  house  conceived  the  present 
the  most  critical  juncture. 

They  concluded  by  assuring  the  governor,  that  ^their 
adherence  to  the  person  they  had  chosen,  proceeded  only 
from  a  desire  of  avoiding  inconsistency  :  having,  hith- 
erto, displaced  James  Abercormbe,  on  the  intimation, 
that  he  was  not  pleasing  to  the  other  house,  and,  if 
they  now  abandoned  Anthony  Bacon,  who  had  been 
nominated  by  the  solemn  resolution  of  the  fullest  house 
ever  known  in  the  province,  no  gentleman  of  charac- 
ter would  ever  accept  an  appointment  from  a  body  of 
men,  so  inconsistent  and  trifling. 

The  house  next  came  to  a  resolution,  that,  on  the  fai- 
lure of  the  aid,  the  governor  might  have  power  to  raise  a 
company,  for  the  garrisoning  of  the  forts  of  the  pro- 
vince, and  made  provision  for  their  enlistment ,  pay  and 
support. 

Governor  Dobbs  received  the  address  of  the  house, 
in  sullen  silence. 

A  curious  expedient  was  resortedto,  with  a  view  of 
holding  out  to  the  governor  the  o]>portunity  of  accept- 
ing the  aid,  with  some  appearance  of  persisting  in  his 
determination  of  rejecting  an  aid  bill,  with  any  clause 
not  strictly  relating  to  the  aid.  A  bill  was  framed  for 
the  appointment  of  an  agent,  and  to  it,  a  clause  was 
tacked,  granting  an  aid.  The  old  bill  was  inverted,  and 
in  this  form  passed  both  houses,  and  the  upper  house 
concurred  with  the  provisional  resolve. 

The  governor,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  bill  having 
passed  both  houses,  issued  his  proclamation  dissolving 
the  assembly. 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  139 

Apprehensive  that  this  exercise  of  the  royal  preroga- 
tive, might  be  attributed  to  a  desire  of  revenge,  excited 
by  the  complaints  against  his  administration,  which  the 
assembly  had  transmitted  to  their  agent,  in  order  to 
their  being  laid  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  governor 
Dobbs  entered,  on  the  journal  of  the  council,  the  mo- 
tives that  had  governed,  or  the  pretences  by  which  he 
wished  to  palliate,  his  conduct. 

These  were,  the  admission  of  a  member  to  sit  and 
vote,  without  his  having  been  chosen  in  pursuance  of 
the  king's  writ;  the  expulsion  of  another  without  a 
hearing  ;  the  refusal  of  opening  the  door  of  the  house  to 
receive  a  message  from  him,  while  tho  committee  of  se- 
crecy was  sitting  ;  the  concealment,  for  several  days,  of 
the  proceedings  of  that  committee ;  the  appointment  of 
Anthony  Bacon  as  agent,  with  a  salary,  by  the  lower 
house ;  their  refusal  to  proceed  to  business,  with  the 
number  of  members  prescribed  by  the  king's  instruc- 
tions ;  the  great  influence  of  the  speaker,  S.  Swann, 
improperly  exerted,  in  debating,  from  the  chair,  often? 
after  a  division,  putting  the  question  again,  in  a  different 
manner,  and  thus,  sometimes  obtaining  a  different  deter- 
mination. 

Stephen  Dewey,  the  member  of  the  town  of  Halifax, 
was  the  person  alluded  to  in  the  first  motive.  His  towns- 
men claimed  the  right  of  being  represented,  under  the 
act  of  1715,  and  insisted  that  they  needed  not  the  gover- 
nor's writ  to  exercise  it.  Francis  Brown,  one  of  the 
members  of  the  county  of  Perquimans,  was  the  person 
alluded  to  as  expelled,  without  a  hearing.  The  house, 
on  the  report  of  the  committee  of  elections,  had  deter- 
mined that  he  was  inelisrible. 


140  CHAPTER  [11  GO 

The  conduct  of  governor  Dobbs,  in  rejecting  the  aid 
bill,  was  highly  disapproved  of,  and  the  lords  commis- 
sioners of  trade  and  plantations,  expressed  to  him  the 
great  concern  which  they  felt,  that  the  king's  ser- 
vice had  been  so  greatly  obstructed,  and  the  province 
of  South  Carolina  deprived  of  the  assistance  which,  in 
her  distressful  sit ua- ion,  she  had  a  right  to  expect  from 
her  neighbors,  by  unfortunate  and  ill-timed  dispute*^,  be- 
tween the  branches  of  the  legislature,  upon  questions  of 
mere  speculative  polity,  too  taivial,  at  almost  any  time, 
to  deserve  consideration,  and  improj)erly  drawn  into 
discussion,  at  a  time  when  the  unitf^d  efforts  of  the  kijig's 
subjects  were  so  essential  to  their  own  security,  and 
the  general  interest  of  the  community. 

They  said  it  was  not  the  part  of  the  crown,  either  in 
point  of  right  or  propriety,  to  interfere  in  the  nomina- 
tion  of  an  agent,  su  far  as  to  t^^e  choice  of  the  person;  and 
the  representatives  were  free  to  choose  whom  they 
thought  fit,  to  act  in  what  concerns  the  affairs  of  the  pro- 
vince, with  whom  they  and  the  council  alone  could  cor- 
respond; the  governor  being  restri.ined  by  his  instruc- 
tions, from  cortesponding  upon  matters  of  a  public  na- 
ture, relating  to  his  government,  with  any  other  persons 
than  the  servants  of  the  crown,  in  whose  department 
the  affairs  of  America  were  placed. 

They  added,  that  the  only  point  in  which  a  governor 
might  interfere  with  propriety,  was  on  the  mode  of  the 
appointment,  and  although  they  deemed  the  attempt  of 
the  lower  house,  to  name  the  agent  in  the  aid  bill,  was 
irregular  and  improper;  yet,  considering  the  necessity 
there  was  of  some  supply  to  answer  jhe  exigency  of  the 
service,  in  the  calamitous  state  of  the  southern  provinces, 


1760]  THE  SIXTH.  141 

the  objection  appeared  too  trivial,  to  have  been  admitted 
as  a  reason  for  rejecting  the  supply  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  rejecting  the  mutual  benefit,  which  both  the 
crown  and  the  subject  in  North  Carolina,  would  derive 
from  the  province,  having  an  agent  in  England,  duly 
authorized  to  answer  upon  all  such  matters  as  might 
occur,  relative  to  her  affairs. 

The  refusal  of  the  lower  house  to  proceed,  without  a 
majority  of  the  whole,  was  considered,  in  England,  as 
an  unreasonable  and  indecent  opposition  to  the  will  of 
the  crown,  communicated,  in  the  king's  instructions,  to 
the  governor.  The  practice  was  considered  as  incon- 
sistent,  with  that  which  prevailed  in  the  mother  coun- 
try, and  as  affording  a  favorable  opportunity  to  design- 
ing men,  to  obstruct  the  king's  service;  audit  was  deem- 
ed preposterous  to  defend  it,  on  principles  laid  down 
in  charters,  granted  in  times  to  which,  of  all  others,  one 
would  least  of  all  appeal  for  their  constitutional  principles. 

The  pretentions  of  the  house,  as  to  the  mode  of  pass- 
ing the  public  accounts,  was  deemed,  not  only  highly 
derogatory  to  the  honor  of  the  crown,  but  subversive  of 
every  principle  of  policy  which  the  wisdom  of  parlia- 
ment, at  home,  had  prescribed,  by  numberless  laws,  for 
the  security  of  the  subject.  The  king's  instructions, 
by  which  the  mode  of  passing  public  accounts  was  di- 
rected, were  said  to  be  founded  upon  the  principles  and 
practice  of  the  mother  country,  to  which  the  constitu- 
tions of  the  colonies  were  to  assimilate,  as  nearly  as  their 
different  circumstances  would  admit ;  and  no  part  of  the 
British  constitution,  was  thought  more  closely  adapted 
to  the  situation  of  the  colonies,  than  those  forms  which 
took  place  in  granting  and  issuing  public  money,  and 
passing  the  public  accounts ;  under  the  observance  of 


142  CHAPTER  [1761 

which,  the  subject  was  deemed  to  have  that  security, 
which  he  could  not  have  under  any  other,  that  the  taxes 
levied  upon  him  by  the  authority  of  the  legislature,  were 
equally  and  justly  laid,  and  the  money  fluthfully  ap- 
plied 10  the  service  for  which  it  was  granted  ;  while,  if 
forms  and  checks  attendant  upon  them,  were  set  aside, 
that  security  would  cease,  and  a  door  would  be  opened 
to  every  species  of  fraud  and  corruption,  in  the  persons 
intrusted  with  public  money. 

It  was  said  to  be  a  subject  of  concern,  that  the  colo- 
nies had  been  so  long  indulged  in  methods  of  granting, 
issuing  and  accounting  for  public  money,  very  different 
from  the  practice  of  the  mother  country  ;  and,  it  was 
hoped,  that  the  lower  house,  convinced  of  the  unreason- 
ableness of  their  claim  in  these  two  instances,  might,  in 
future,  show  more  proper  regard  to  those  determinations 
of  the  royal  will,  so  apparently  founded  on  considerations 
of  public  benefit  and  convenience,  and  the  tenderest  re- 
gard to  the  rights,  interest  and  welfare  of  the  subject. 

In  the  beginning  of  February,  accounts  reached  the 
province  of  the  demise  of  the  king,  which  had  happened 
at  Kensington,  on  the  5th  of  October.  On  the  6th  of 
that  month,  George  III.  was  proclaimed  at  Brunswick, 
in  presence  of  governor  Dobbs,  the  members  of  the 
council,  and  a  number  of  the  principal  inhabitants  and 
planters,  as  ''the  person  to  whom  the  supreme  dominion 
and  the  sovereign  right  of  the  province  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  all  the  other  provinces  of  his  late  majesty,  in 
America,  were  solely  and  rightfully  come." 

The  assembly,  which  had  been  elected  soon  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  legislative  body,  being  itself  dissolved 
by  the  king's  demise,  new  writs  of  election  were  issued 
immediately  after  the  proclamation  of  the  new  sovereign. 


17611  THE  SIXTH.  143 

Governor  Dobbs  received  information  from  Sir  JefFry 
Amherst,  that  the  minister  had  apprised  him  of  the 
king's  intention  of  continuing  the  war  vi^ith  vigour 
in  America,  to  drive  the  French  from  the  continent,  and 
that  he  had  room  to  believe  the  governor  would 
soon  receive  orders,  as  well  as  the  chief  magistrates  of 
the  other  provinces,  to  raise  forces  to  finish  the  plan  of 
the  war. 

The  legislature  met  at  Wilmington,  on  the  last  day 
of  March.  After  announcing  to  the  houses  the  demise 
of  their  late  monarch,  the  accession  of  his  grandson, 
and  the  object  for  which  they  were  called  together,  the 
governor  informed  them  he  had  not  received  any  des- 
patch from  the  minister,  but  he  had  within  a  few  hours 
been  apprised,  that  Sir  Jtffry  had  received  orders  about 
the  operations  intended  to  be  undertaken  during  the 
next  campaign  ;  and  as  it  was  then  too  late  to  raise  any 
forces  to  march  against  the  Cherokees,  he  had  only  to 
recommend  to  their  attention  the  internal  concerns  and 
improvement  of  the  province,  and  would  communicate 
any  order  he  might  receive  during  the  session. 

After  the  complimentary  expressions  of  condolence 
and  congratulation  which  circumstances  called  for,  the 
lower  house  observed,  that  the  aid  for  which  they  were 
likely  to  be  called  upon,  would  have  been  happily  anti- 
cipated, had  the  aid  bill  which  the  two  houses  had  passed 
at  the  last  session,  been  honored  with  his  assent,  as  the 
forces  then  granted  might  have  contributed  to  the  more 
speedy  reduction  of  the  enemy. 

They  added,  that  if  he  had  been  obliging  enough  to 
have  called  them  together  to  a  more  central  part  of  the 
province,  he  would  htivc  saved  a  considerable  expense  to 
the  public,  and  greatly  contributed  to  the  ease  of  the 


144  CHAPTER  [1761 

greatest  part  of  the  members  and  saved  himself  the 
trouble  of  frequent  prorogations  ;  they  expressed  them- 
selves fully  aware  of  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  in 
fixing  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  of  the  legislature  ; 
but  they  could  only  hope  for  some  indulgence  and  at- 
tention to  the  ease  and  conveniency  of  the  subject. 

The  governor  replied,  that  since  the  house  were 
pleased  to  take  notice  of  the  transactions  of  another  as- 
sembly,  he  was  under  a  necessity  of  informing  them, 
that  if  the  aid  bill  they  had  offered  had  not  been  clogged 
with  clauses  inconsistent  with  the  king's  prerogative,  he 
would  heartily  have  given  his  assent  to  it ;  he  informed 
them,  that  on  the  contingency  of  an  aid  being  required, 
he  would  not  pass  the  bill  granting  it,  if  the  house  per- 
sisted in  clogging  it  with  clauses  foreign  to  the  aid. 

He  added,  that  a  former  assembly  had  voted,  that  the 
town  of  Newbern,  the  most  central  in  the  province, 
was  not  a  proper  place  for  the  meetings  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  he  thought  Wilmington  was  the  most  proper 
place,  while  the  operations  of  the  war  were  carried  on 
in  the  south,  to  obtain  early  intelligence  of  occurrences 
that  might  require  immediate  attention  ;  and  no  proro- 
gation would  have  been  necessary,  if  the  members  had 
thought  fit  to  obey  the  king's  instructions,  as  to  the 
quorum. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  the  governor  communicated 
letters  from  Sir  Jeffry  Amherst,  and  governor  Fauquier 
of  Virginia,  mentioning  their  expectation  of  an  aid  from 
the  province  ;  and  although  he  had  not  yet  received  the 
king's  command,  for  the  raising  of  any  particular  number 
of  men,  or  any  requisition  in  money,  he  was  advised  by 
the  council  to  lay  the  letters  before  the  houses,  and  re- 
commend that  they  might  consider  of  the  most  proper 


1761]  "JHE  SIXTH.  14.5 

fund  to  answer  the  immediate  call,  so  that,  on  the  arri- 
val of  the  king's  orders,  which  were  hourly  looked  for, 
no  time  might  be  lost  and  the  bill  be  perfected  with 
expedition. 

The  house  came  to  a  resolution,  that  it  was  too  late 
to  raise  any  force  to  march  against  the  Cherokees. 

They  informed  the  governor,  that  the  provincial  funds 
were  exhausted,  and  a  large  debt  had  been  incurred  by 
the  zeal  the  colony  had  already  manifested  for  the  king's 
service,  and  the  only  means  of  affording  further  aid, 
would  be  to  issue  bills  of  credit,  to  be  sunk  by  a  poll 
tax. 

The  governor  replied,  that  there  were  several  sums  of 
money  unappropriated,  in  the  hands  of  the  collectors  of 
the  powder  duty,  which  might  be  applied  to  present  con- 
tingencies, and  be  replaced  by  a  tax  to  be  laid  to  answer 
future  contingencies  ;  but  the  house  informed  him,  that 
the  moneys  arising  from  the  powder  duty,  had  been 
appropriated  to  the  finishing  of  forts  Johnston  and 
Granville,  and  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the 
ports  of  Beaufort,  Bath,  Roanoke,  Currituck  and  Bruns- 
wick ;  that  the  receivers  had  been  directed  to  account 
with  the  commissioners  of  navigation,  and  it  appear- 
ed, from  the  returns  of  the  commissioners,  tbtt  there 
will  remain  but  a  trifling  sum,  after  the  intended  pur- 
posey  are  answered. 

A  bill  was  introduced,  for  granting  an  aid  to  the  king 
of  sixteen  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-four 
pounds,  for  raising  clothing  and  pay  for  five  hundred 
men,  exclusive  of  officers,  and  for  appointing  an  agent 
for  the  province  ;  after  its  second  reading,  the  governor 
informed  the  house,  by  message,  that  he  could  not  assent 
to  any  aid  bill  to  which  any  clause,  foreign  to  it,  was 

N.  CARD.  II,  19 


146  ^  CHAPTER.  (1761 

tacked,  such  bills  being  unconstitutional ;  that  it  was 
contrary  to  his  insti  actions,  derogatory  to  the  preroga- 
tive of  the  crown  and  indecent  in  the  assembly,  to 
oblige  the  king  to  withhold  his  negative  from  a  clause 
disagreeable  to  him,  or  lose  the  benefit  of  the  proffered 
offer  of  an  aid. 

He  added,  that  as  he  had  often  declared  that  he  never 
had  any  objection  to  the  house  appointing  an  agent,  in 
concurrence  with  the  council,  whom  he  could  approve 
of,  so  he  never  would  allow  of  any  person  to  be  imposed 
upon  him  or  the  council,  after  repeated  refusals  ;  but  as 
he  had  no  objection  to  the  person  named  in  the  bill, 
Couchet  Jouveniel,  if  they  would  make  the  appointment, 
by  a  separate  bill,  and  the  council  concurred,  he  would 
pass  it  immediately  after  the  aid  bill,  to  which  he  would 
always  give  the  preference. 

He  recommended,  for  the  good  of  the  province  and 
the  batihfaction  of  their  constituents,  that  a  poll  tax  be 
kid  for  the  redemption  of  the  bills  intended  to  be  emitted, 
to  commence  as  early  as  possible,  to  avoid  a  further  de- 
preciation of  the  currency. 

The  house,  in  answer,  declared  themselves  unable  to 
comprehend  how  the  appointment  of  an  agent,  in  the 
mode  intended  by  the  house,  was  unconstitutional,  or 
at  variance  with  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  or  any 
instruction  of  the  king  of  which  they  had  any  know- 
ledge, or  that  it  could  be  either  disagreeable  to  the  king 
or  take  away  his  negative  on  bills.  They  added,  that  in 
the  present  case,  the  appointment  was  far  from  being 
absolutely  foreign  to  the  object  of  the  bill ;  that  even  if 
the  purpose  of  the  clause  to  which  the  governor  ob- 
jected, was  not  specially  stated  in  it,  the  passage 
of  the  bill  could  not  be  fairly  construed  to  be  forbidden 


1761]  THE  SIXTH.  147 

by  any  of  the  king's  instructions  against  passing  bills 
with  clauses  foreign  to  the  title. 

After  the  third  reading  of  the  bill,  the  house,  with  a 
view  to  avoid  any  appearance  of  inconsistency  in  re- 
moving Anthrny  Bacon,  resolved,  that  their  principal 
motive  was  a  sincere  desire  to  show  their  zeal  and  loy- 
alty to  the  king,  in  granting  an  aid,  so  forcibly  and  ear- 
nestly recommended  by  the  commander  in  chief  of  his 
forces  in  America,  which  they  deemed  their  bounden 
duty  to  do,  as  the  governor  had  declared  his  determina- 
tion to  pass  no  bill  with  the  name  of  Anthony  Bacon  in 
it,  but  would  assent  to  the  appointment  of  any  other 
person. 

It  was  thought  necessary  to  borrow  the  remainder  of 
the  glebe  and  school  moneys,  after  the  payment  of  the 
judges,  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  legislature,  the  claims 
of  scouting  parties  on  the  frontier  and  other  public  de- 
mands :  this  was  done  by  a  resolve  of  the  houses,  di- 
recting the  reimbursement  of  the  loan  out  of  the  tax  for 
the  contingent  fund. 

The  aid  bill,  besides  the  appointment  of  the  agent, 
provided  for  an  emission  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  of 
bills  of  credit,  made  a  tender  in  all  payments ;  the  In- 
dians, taken  in  the  war,  were  declared  the  absolute  pro- 
perty of  the  captors ;  rewards  were  offered  for  the  scalps 
of  those  killed  in  battle ;  a  poll  tax  of  two  shillings  was 
laid,  for  the  redemption  of  the  paper  emitted,  to  com- 
mence in  the  year  1764  and  continue  till  the  whole 
emission  was  thus  paid  in  and  burnt. 

A  lottery  was  granted  for  the  improvement  of  New 
river,  in  the  county  of  Onslow ;  and  the  powder  duty, 
in  the  port  of  Currituck,  was  converted  into  a  pecuniary 


14^  CHAPTER  [1761 

levy  for  the  improvement  of  navigation  between  the  inlet 
of  that  name  and  Albemarle  sound. 

In  assenting  to  the  aid  bill,  the  governor  testified  his 
gratitude  for  a  supply,  in  the  critical  state  of  affairs  and 
distressed  state  of  the  province,  as  large  as  the  most  san- 
guine expectation  could  have  anticipated,  but  added,  it 
w'ould  have  given  him  a  double  pleasure,  if  the  house 
had  allowed  him  the  satisfaction  of  signing  it,  unmixed 
with  the  regret  of  departing  from  the  instructions  of  his 
sovereign,  and  becoming  an  accomplice  in  the  encroach- 
ment upon  the  prerogative  of  the  crow^n,  of  which  the 
house   had  been  guilty ;  he  said  he  would  not  have 
yielded,  if  a  combination  of  circumstances  had  not  con- 
tributed  to  influence  his  mind ;  a  majority  of  his  consti- 
tutional advisers  had  recommended  his  compliance,  and 
when  sitting  as  an  upper  house,  had  relaxed  from  their, 
undoubted  right ;  the  assembly  had  formally  disclaimed 
that  of  adding  clauses  to  an  aid  bill,  that  might  encroach 
on  the  prerogative  of  the  crown,  or  place  the  king  in  the 
humiliating  dilemma  to  lose  his  negative  voice  in  the  prof- 
fered aid  ;  and  he  had  agreed  to  concur  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  houses  in  a  separate  bill ;  to  these  all  pow- 
erful considerations  was  added  the  pressing  one  to  pre- 
vent w^asting  in  debate  the  precious  time,  which  every 
thing  demanded  to  be  employed  in  a  co-operation  with 
the  king's  forces,  securing  the  possessions  of  France, 
and  ensuring  the  peace  and  safety  of  those  of  Great  Bri- 
tain in  America. 

On  his  return  from  the  council  chamber,  he  issued 
his  proclamation  for  the  dissolution  of  the  legislative 
body. 

The  reduction  of  Canada  having  enabled  Sir  Jeffry 
Amherst  to  send  back  the  Highlanders  to  the  relief  of 


1761]  THE  SIXTH,  14^ 

the  southern  provinces,  colonel  James  Grant,  who  had 
succeeded  coloaei  Montgomery  in  the  command  of 
his  corps,  had  arrived  with  it  in  Charleston,  early  in  the 
year.  The  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  had  determin- 
ed to  exert  the  strength  of  the  province  to  the  utmost,  be- 
lieving that,  in  conjunction  with  the  regular  troops,  and 
aided  by  the  neighboring  provinces,  so  severe  a  blow 
mi8:ht  be  struck,  as  would  deter  the  Cherokees  from  anv 
further  attempt  to  molesi  the  white  people  on  the  frontiers. 
Several  parties  of  the  Chickasaws  were  engaged  as  aux- 
ilaries;  and,  although  messengers  were  sent  among  the 
Creeks  to  induce  them  to  co-operate  with  the  British, 
no  aid  could  be  procured  from  that  quarter,  the  warri- 
ors playing  an  artful  game,  and  exciting,  alternately,  the 
hopes  of  the  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina,  and  those  of 
the  French,  on  the  Mobile  and  Mii-sissippi. 

Early  in  the  spring,  colonel  G  i  ant  had  begun  his  march 
towards  the  Cherokees :  his  force  in  regulars,  provin- 
cials and  Indians,  was  about  two  thousand  six  hundred 
men. 

He  reached  Fort  Prince  George,  on  the  27th  of  May. 
A  fortnight  after  he  began  his  march,  a  party  of  ninety 
Indians  and  thirty  woodsmen,  painted  like  savages,  ad- 
vanced in  front  to  scour  the  woods.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  light  infantry  and  fifty  rangers,  preceded  the  main 
body.  The  army  had  provisions  for  one  month. 
Forced  marches  were  made  during  the  three  first  days, 
with  a  view  to  meet  the  open  country.  On  the  fourth 
day,  on  the  occasional  appearance  of  Indians  on  different 
sides,  orders  were  given,  for  the  first  time,  to  load  and 
prepare  for  action,  and  the  guards  were  directed  to  march 
slowly  on,  and  to  double  their  vigilance  and  circumspec- 
tion.    The  more  frequent  meetings  of  Indians,   an- 


150  CHAPTER  [1761 

nounced  the  approach  of  a  decisive  moment,  as  the 
army  reached  the  spot  on  which  colonel  Montgomery 
had  been  attacked,  the  preceding  year.  The  Indians  in 
the  van,  about  eight  in  the  morning,  spied  a  large  body^ 
of  Cherokees,  posted  on  a  hill,  on  the  right  flank  of  the 
armv:  thev  hardly  had  time  to  ffive  the  alarm,  when  the 
enemy  rushed  down  and  fired  on  the  advanced  guard ; 
but,  the  main  body  rapidly  advancing  to  their  support, 
the  Cherokees  retreated  to  the  hill.  The  army  had  to 
march  for  a  considerable  distance,  between  the  hill  and 
a  river,  from  the  opposite  side  of  which,  another  party 
of  the  enemy  kept  up  a  brisk  fire:  sending  a  detachment  to 
divide  the  party  on  the  hill,  colonel  Grant  made  his  army 
face  about,  and  fire  across  the  river :  the  engagement 
soon  became  general,  and  the  Indinns  over  the  stream, 
keeping  their  ground  and  pouring  in  a  heavy  fire,  the 
party  on  the  hill,  who  retreated  into  the  woods  on  the 
approach  of  the  detachment  sent  to  dislodge  them,  soon 
returned  with  increased  numbers  ;  and  colonel  Grant's 
troops,  exhausted  by  fatigue,  soon  found  themselves 
surrounded  by  the  foe,  ;2jaUing  them  with  a  scattered  fire. 
The  Indians,  when  pressed,  kept  aloof,  and  rallying 
elsewhere,  returned  to  the  charge,  always  in  a  different 
direction.  The  battle  continued  in  this  desultory  mode 
of  w^arfare  for  two  hours,  when  the  van  of  the  army 
was  attacked  by  a  fresh  body  of  Indians,  boldly  en- 
deavoring to  seize  on  the  provisions.  Colonel  Grant,  at 
this  distressful  moment,  was  obliged  to  detach  a  part  of 
his  men  to  this  vulnerable  point.  The  apparent  oppor- 
tunity, which  this  division  of  the  forces  gave  to  the  Che- 
rokees, of  reducing  the  main  body,  redoubled  their  fury: 
they  made  the  woods  resound  with  their  yells  and 
screams ;  but,  the  troops  keeping  close  and  continuing 


1761]  THE  SIXTH.  151 

their  steady  fire,  the  savages,  towards  eleven,  gave  way: 
they  were  pursued  for  some  time;  but  towards  two 
o'clock  not  an  Indian  was  to  be  seen.  Colonel  Grant 
had  sixty  of  his  men  killed  or  wounded :  he  could  not 
ascertain  the  loss  of  the  enemy.  After  sinking  the  bo- 
dies of  the  dead  in  the  river,  to  prevent  their  being  dug 
up  and  scalped,  and  destroying  several  bags  of  flour  to 
procure  horses  for  the  wounded,  the  army  proceeded  to 
Etchoe,  a  large  Indian  town,  which  they  reached  about 
midnight.  On  the  following  day,  they  reduced  it  to 
ashes ;  and,  proceeding  into  the  middle  settlements, 
fourteen  other  towns  shared  the  same  fate.  Their  pro- 
visions were  destroyed,  and  corn  fields  laid  waste ;  and 
after  remaining  thirty  days  in  the  neighborhood,  spread- 
ing desolation  and  fire,  the  troops  marched  back  to  Fort 
Prince  George,  leaving  the  Indians  to  seek  shelter  and 
food  on  the  barren  mountains. 

Soon  after  the  troops  returned  to  the  fort,  a  number 
of  Cherokee  chiefs  came  and  sued  for  peace.  Colonel 
Grant,  willing  they  should  believe  it  was  not  to  be  ob- 
tained on  any  terms,  insisted  on,  as  one  of  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  treaty,  that  four  Cherokee  Indians  should 
be  delivered  up  at  Fort  George,  to  be  put  to  death  in 
front  of  his  camp,  or  that  four  green  scalps  should  be 
brought  to  him  within  twelve  nights.  The  chiefs  de- 
clared their  inability  to  assent  to  this  stipulation,  not  be- 
ing authorized  by  their  nation,  to  accept  peace  on  such 
terms  as  these;  and  the  colonel  sent  them  to  Charleston, 
to  see,  whether  lieutenant  governor  Bull  would  mitigate 
the  rigor  of  it :  a  safeguard  was  given  them.  The  chiefs 
met  that  officer  at  Ashley  ferry,  where  he  came  to  meet 
them,  accompanied  by  the  council  of  the  province,  and 
in  a  short  time,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded, 


J  5^  CHAPTER  [1761 

In  the  month  of  December,  the  lords  commissioners 
of  trade  and  plantations  laid  the  court  laws,  passed  in 
May,  1760,  before  the  king  and  council,  for  the  royal 
disallowance  and  repeal :  they  severely  animadverted  on 
governor  Dobbs'  conduct,  in  suffering  these  laws  to 
have  immediate  operation,  before  the  king's  pleasure 
was  known,  thereby  setting  aside  one  of  the  fundamen- 
tal privileges  of  the  constitution  of  the  British  colonies  : 
they  stated,  that  the  governor  alleged  in  his  justification, 
that  he  had  given  his  assent  to  the  iavvs  upon  the  advice 
of  the  chief  justice  and  the  attorney  general,  and  had  pro- 
cured a  clause  to  be  inserted  in  one  of  them,  that,  if  the 
king  did  not  confirm  it  withia  a  certain  time,  it  should, 
thenceforth,  be  null  and  void.  The  lords  observed,  that 
the  measure  itself,  independent  of  the  mode,  was,  in  their 
opinion,  so  far  from  alleviating  the  governor's  improper 
conduct,  that  it  was  a  heavy  aggravation  of  it.  In  cases 
of  this  nature,  they  added,  it  was  the  duty  of  every  go- 
vernor to  act  upon  his  own  judgment,  and  if  it  were  ad- 
mitted that  he  could  be  absolved  by  the  opinion  of  others 
from  the  obligations  of  obedience,  to  the  instructions  of 
the  crown,  by  which  the  negative  voice  in  the  passing  of 
lav/s,  was  regulated  and  restrained,  the  interest  of  the 
crown  and  mother  country  would  depend  solely,  for 
security,  upon  the  uncertain  wills,  interest  and  opinions, 
of  any  person  the  governor  might  think  proper  to 
consult. 

The  clause  mentioned  by  the  governor,  to  have  been 
inserted  at  his  instance,  in  one  of  the  laws,  was  consider- 
ed as  so  far  from  answering  the  intention  of  the  suspend- 
ing clause,  that  it  was  deemed,  in  construction  and  ef- 
fect, the  very  reverse. 


1762]        #  THE  SIXTH.  153 

The  representation  of  the  lords  commissioners  con- 
cluded by  suggesting,  that,  if  the  governors  of  ihe  colo- 
nies were  suffered  to  go  on  in  such  repeated  acts  of  dis- 
obedience to  the  king's  instructions,  upon  points,  so  es- 
sential to  the  constitution,  the  dependence  of  the  colo- 
nies upon  the  authority  of  the  crown  and  the  just  gov- 
ernment of  the  mother  country,  already  too  much  re- 
laxed, would  stand  on  a  very  precarious  footing. 

The  laws  were  repealed  by  the  king  in  council,  and 
the  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantations  were 
directed  to  signify,  to  governor  Dobbs,  the  king's  high 
displeasure  at  his  conduct,  and  to  request  him,  for  the 
future,  to  adhere  more  strictly  to  the  king's  instruc- 
tions, relative  to  the  passage  of  laws. 

A  stage,  at  this  time,  began  to  ply  between  Ports- 
mouth and  Charlestown,  (Mass.)  which  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  first  established  in  the  British  provinces. 
'  Early  in  1762,  governor  Dobbs  received  a  circular 
letter  from  lord  Egremont,  acquainting  him,  that  the 
king,  having  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  to  secure  and 
improve  the  ^reat  and  important  advantages  gained  since 
the  commencement  of  the  war  in  North  America,  and 
having  seen  his  good  disposition,  to  restore  the  public 
tranquility,  entirely  frustrated  by  the  insincerity  and 
chicane  of  the  court  of  Versailles,  in  a  late  negociation, 
and  as  nothing  could  so  effectually  contribute  to  the 
great  and  essential  object  of  reducing  the  enemy  to  the 
necessity  of  accepting  a  peace,  on  terms  of  glory  and  ad- 
vantage to  the  king's  crown  and  beneficial,  in  particular, 
to  his  subjects  in  America,  as  the  king  being  enabled 
to  employ,  as  early  as  possible,  such  part  of  the  re- 
gular troops  in  North  America,  as  might  be  equal  to  a 

N.    CARO.  II.  20 


T54  CHAPTER.  "^       [1762^ 

great  and  important  enterprise,  he  was  directed  to  signl= 
fy  to  him  the  king's  pleasure,  that  the  better  to  provide 
for  the  full  and  entire  security  of  the  American  provin- 
ces, and  particularly  of  the  territories  lately  conquered, 
during  the  absence  of  part  of  the  regular  forces,  he 
would  use  his  utmost  endeavors  and  influence  with  the 
council  and  assembly,  to  induce  them  to  raise,  with  all 
possible  despatch,  as  large  a  body  of  men  as  the  popu- 
lation of  the  province  might  allow;  as  far  as  should  be 
found  convenient,  to  form  them  into  regiments  and  direct 
them  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness,  as  much  ear- 
lier than  in  former  years  as  might  be,  to  march  to 
such  places  in  North  Anicrica,  as  the  commander  in 
chief,  or  such  ofiicer  as  might  be  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  king's  forces  there,  would  direct;  and  the 
better  to  facilitate  this  important  service,  the  king  was 
pleased  to  leave  it  to  him,  to  issue  commissions  to  such 
gentlemen,  in  North  Carolina,  as  he  might  judge,  from 
their  weight  and  credit  with  the  people  and  their  zeal  for 
the  public  service,  to  be  best  disposed  and  enabled  to 
quicken  and  effectuate  the  speedy  levying  of  the  greatest 
number  of  men. 

The  men,  to  be  thus  raised,  were  to  be  supplied  by  the 
crown  with  arms,  ammunition  and  tents,  and  provis' 
ions  were  to  be  issued  by  the  commissary  of  the  troops, 
in  the  same  proportion  and  manner,  as  to  the  rest  of  the 
king's  forces.  All  that  was  required  from  the  pro° 
vince  was  to  levy,  clothe  and  pay  the  men;  and,  in  or- 
der that  no  encouragement  might  be  wanting  to  the 
fullest  exertion  of  their  strength,  lord  Egremont  men- 
tioned, that  the  king  had  permitted  him  to  acquaint  the 
governor,  that  strong  recommendation  would  be  made 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  155 

at  the  next  session  of  parliament,  to  grant  a  compensa- 
tion proportionate  to  the  active  vigor  and  strenuous  ef- 
forts of  the  respective  provinces. 

The  governor  was  directed  to  collect  and  put  into  the 
best  condition,  all  the  arms,  issued  during  the  last  cam- 
paign, which  could,  by  any  means,  be  rendered  ser- 
viceable. 

Similar  orders  were  given  to  the  governors  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  Virginia  and  South  Carolina. 

Sir  JefFry  Amherst,  having  been  directed  to  complete 
the  regular  corps  serving  in  America,  by  recruits  to  be 
raised  by  the  several  provinces,  made  application  to  go- 
vernor Dobbs  for  the  quota  to  be  furnished  by  North 
CaroUna,  which,  agreeably  to  the  proportions  of  the 
other  provinces,  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four.  Sir  Jeffry  added,  with  a  view  to  render  the  ser- 
vice effectual,  it  would  be  required,  that  each  province 
should  provide  for  replacing  such  of  their  men  as  would 
desert,  a  circumstance  which,  when  known,  would  pre- 
vent any  of  them  from  leaving  their  corps,  since  they 
could  expect  no  protection  at  home. 

Governor  Dobbs  lost  no  time  in  summoning  the 
legislative  body.  It  held  its  first  session  at  Wil- 
mington, on  the  13th  of  April.  After  announcing 
the  late  nuptials  of  the  sovereign,  the  success  of  the 
British  arms  in  the  West  Indies  and  the  capture  of 
the  island  of  Martinico,  and  laying  before  them,  the 
despatches*,  which  had  induced  him  to  issue  his 
proclamation  for  an  early  session,  he  recommended 
to  the  lower  house,  as  Ihey  should  answer  it  to  their 
constituents  and  posterity,  to  testify  their  zeal^ 
with  unanimity  and  despatch,  by  raising  as  large  a 
quota  of  troops  as  the  province  could  bear,  and  as- 


156  CHAPTER  <  [1762 

sist  the  king  to  terminate  with  honor,  a  war  under- 
taken at  great  expense,  to  defend,  and  procure  a 
lasting  peace  and  future  safety  to,  his  American 
provinces. 

He  expressed  his  hope,  that  the  supply  might  be 
levied  without  a  heavy  tax,  or  issuing  notes  to  de- 
preciate the  currency,  and  advised  that  a  loan  might 
be  raised  by  subscription,  and  that  the  people  might 
not  be  more  burdened  than  by  a  small  tax,  sufficient 
to  discharge  such  reasonable  interest,  as  might  in- 
sure the  loan,  till  the  money,  arising  from  the  late 
or  future  parliamentary  grant,  might  discharge  it. 

He  recommended  a  strict  ifjvestigation  of  all 
public  accounts,  a  revision  of  the  inspection  laws 
and  the  allowance  of  premiums  on  valuable  objects 
of  imports;  and  as  the  distresses  of  the  time  had  re- 
tarded the  establishment  of  public  schools,  he  pro- 
posed, that  the  vestry  in  each  parish  might  be  au- 
thorized to  raise  a  limited  sum,  sufficient  to  pay  a 
parish  clerk  and  register,  qualified  to  act  as  a 
schoolmaster  and  reader,  where  clergymen  could 
not  be  had,  to  prevent  the  increase  of  sectaries, 
idleness  and  profaneness. 

The  lower  house  replied,  that  they  should  ever  look, 
upon  the  interest  of  their  constituents,  as  the  object  of 
their  unwearied  attention,  and  would  always  have  the 
most  tender  regard  for  the  welfare  of  their  posterity  ;  but 
they  were  obliged  to  acquaint  him,  that  they  thought  the 
raising  of  troops,  further  than  for  the  defence  of  the  sea 
coast,  a  measure  in  nowise  calculated  to  please  the  one, 
or  benefit  the  other :  for,  although  they  had  the  greatest 
veneration  for  the  best  of  kings,  and  trusted  the  province 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  157 

had  already  given  the  most  convincing  proofs  of  attach- 
ment, to  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  crown,  during  the 
prosecution  of  the  war;  yet,  they  were  sorry  to  observe, 
they  could  not,  without  reducing  the  people  to  the  ut- 
most distress,  add  to  the  accumulated  and  intolerable 
load  of  tax  they  groaned  under :  they  added,  that  the 
statement  of  this  circumstance,  singly  and  of  itself, 
would  justify  them  in  declining  a  compliance  with 
his  requisition;  but,  with  concern,  they  were  obliged 
to  say,  that,  if  they  might  form  a  judgment  from 
Mie  past,  they  had  but  little  encouragement  to  hope, 
that  any  supply  they  might  grant  would  much  contri- 
bute to  the  service  of  the  king,  or  the  advantage  of  the 
province. 

For  these  reasons,  they  flattered  themselves  with  the 
hope  of  his  concurrence  in  the  belief,  that  to  raise  troops 
under  the  actual  debility  of  the  province,  would  have 
fatal  effects,  and  drive  the  people,  already  impatient  of 
their  sufferings,  to  the  brink  of  despair,  and  hoped  he 
would  have  so  good  an  opinion  of  them,  as  to  attribute 
their  refusal,  to  these  and  no  other  motives. 

They  said  they  had  been  sensible  of  the  necessity,  at 
all  times,  to  take  care  that  the  public  accounts  should 
be  critically  examined,  and  assured  him  nothing  in  their 
power  would  be  wanting,  that  might  tend  to  give  the 
utmost  satisfaction  on  that  head ;  and  that  nothing 
could  add  to  the  sense  they  had,  of  the  necessity  of  sup- 
porting schools,  and  giving  every  possible  encourage- 
ment to  trade. 

Soon  after  receiving  this  address,  the  governor  issued 
his  proclamation,  for  proroguing  the  legislature  to  the 
following  day. 


158  CHAPTER  [1762 

His  speech,  at  this  meeting,  was  directed  to  the  lower 
house  only,  the  upper  house  having,  in  their  address, 
promised  to  concur  with  the  other  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature, in  a  bill  for  carrying  the  intentions  of  the  king 
into  effect. 

He  observed,  that  the  house  had  gone  too  far  in  the 
expressions  of  their  sentiments,  to  allow  him  to  hope, 
that  they  might  retract  them  easily,  at  the  same  meeting; 
and  he  had  prorogued  them,  with  the  view  of  affording 
them  a  better  opportunity  of  re-considering  them  in  a 
second. 

He  laid  before  them  two  authentic  gazettes,  from 
'  Virginia,  by  which  it  appeared,  that  the  legislature  of 
that  province  had  complied  with  the  requisitions  of 
lord  Egrement  and  Sir  JefFry  Amherst,  with  unanim- 
ity, alacrity  and  despatch.  He  added,  that,  as  he 
found  all  the  other  provinces  willingly  submitted 
to  the  king's  demand,  it  grieved  him,  and  it  would 
every  loyal  breast  in  the  province,  that  they  alone  should 
prove  refractory. 

He  hoped,  that  when  they  would  seriously  consider 
the  situation  of  affairs,  in  Europe  and  America,  and  that 
a  powerful  enemy,  the  king  of  Spain,  was  raised  against 
Great  Britain,  who  endeavored  not  only  to  prevent  the 
king's  further  acquisitions,  from  a  deceitful  and  per- 
fidious enemy,  but  also  to  deprive  him  of  all  the 
conquests  he  had  made,  and  of  the  laurels  and  tro- 
phies, gained  by  his  armies,  with  an  expense  of  eighty 
millions,  they  would  think,  that  their  obstinacy  would 
lessen  them  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  king's  subjects,  and 
they  would  forfeit  the  honor  they  had  already  obtained, 
in  hitherto  assisting  their  sovereign,  to  the  utmost  of 
their  abilities. 


1762J  THE  SIXTH.  159 

He  corxluded,  by  conjuring  them  to  preserve  the 
good  opinion  and  esteem,  the  king  had  for  them,  and, 
forthwith,  to  repair  to  their  house,  and  reconsidering  the 
letters  and  papers  laid  before  them,  come  to  an  imme- 
diate resolution,  whether  they  would  comply  with  the 
king's  request,  so  that  they  might  proceed  to  other  bu- 
siness with  despatch,  or,  in  case  they  refused,  that  he 
might  dismiss  them  to  their  private  affairs,  which,  in 
that  case,  they  would  seem  to  have  more  at  heart,  than 
the  public  service. 

The  house  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole,  and,  after  sitting  a  considerable  time,  the  com- 
mittee reported,  and  the  house  voted,  that,  the  province 
being  already  burdened  with  u  heavy  debt,  incurred  by 
several  grants  for  the  king's  service,  during  the  war,  and 
the  inhabitants  impoverished  thereby,  it  was  impossible 
to  comply  with  the  demands  on  them,  communicated  in 
the  governor's  speech. 

The  committee,  appointed  to  correspond  with  the 
agent  of  the  province,  communicated  letters  from  that 
gentleman,  announcing  the  repeal  of  several  late  laws  of 
the  general  assembly :  among  others,  the  court  laws 
and  those  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  province. 
This  information  excited  considerable  uneasiness  ;  and 
governor  Dobbs  improved  the  opportunity,  which  he 
thought  this  dissatisfaction  would  create,  to  impress  on 
the  house,  with  some  success,  the  necessity  of  avoiding 
to  excite  the  resentment  of  the  crown,  by  persisting  in 
the  determination  of  refusing  the  required  aid.  He  ac- 
cordingly, issued  a  proclamation  for  proroguing  the  as- 
sembly to  the  next  day.  He  again  addressed  the  lower 
house  only,  telling  them  he  had  once  more,  by  a  short 
prorogation,  afforded  them  the  opportunity  of  re-con- 


160  CHAPTER  [1762 

sidcring,  in  a  third  meeting,  the  king's  demand  of  an  aid 
of  men,  since  the  house  might  be  sensible,  from  the  late 
communication  from  the  agent  in  London,  that  the  king 
could  and  would  confer,  or  withhold  favors  from  them, 
as  they  refused  or  complied  with  his  requests. 

The  house  expressed  their  sorrow  at  the  the  trouble 
the  governor  had  twice  taken,  of  giving  them  the  oppor- 
tunity of  re-considering  the  requisitions  he  had  made, 
when  he  first  met  them.  They  begged  his  leave  to  as- 
sure him,  that  what  he  had  then  said,  had  been  most 
maturely  considered,  and  the  consequent  determination 
taken,  after  great  deliberation ;  and  they  were  to  ac- 
quaint him,  that  the  motives,  which  induced  that  de- 
term/mation,  still  prevailed  with  them,  to  adhere  to  it. 

They  declared  themselves  sensible,  that  the  king 
could,  and  no  doubt  would,  confer  favors  on  those  who, 
to  the  utmost  of  their  ability,  supported  his  government; 
and  ility  entertained  no  doubt,  that  he  would  hear  of  the 
many  and  large  grants  made  by  the  province,  particu- 
larly, of  the  last  twenty  thousand  pounds,  and  of  the  im- 
poverished state  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  and 
would  think  that  they,  in  some  measure,  merited  his 
favor. 

The  governor  was  authorized,  by  a  resolve  of  the  two 
houses,  to  raise  twenty -five  men,  including  officers,  for 
each  of  the  forts  at  Ocracock  and  Cape  Fear,  and  to 
draw  warrants  on  the  treasurer  for  the  expenses  attend- 
ing their  service,  payable  out  of  the  fund  apprJ(|Driated 
to  founding  schools,  and  to  be  replaced  by  a  tax  to  be 
laid  for  that  purpose. 

The  upper  house  manifested  a  disposition  to  show 
their  displeasure  against  the  lower  house.  Contrary  to 
their  accustomed  practice,  they  appointed  committees 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  161 

of  claims  and  accounts,  of  their  own  house,  instead  of 
appointing  gentlemen,  out  of  their  body  to  form  these 
committees  with  those  appointed  by  the  lower  house. 
The  lower  house  complained  of  this  innovation,  and, 
were  informed  by  message,  that  the  upper  house  looked 
upon  it  as  their  undoubted  and  constitutional  right,  to 
pass  upon  public  accounts  and  claims,  and  to  appoint 
committees  on  their  behalf;  it  was  observed,  that  although 
it  had  been  customary,  and  found  convenient,  for  the 
ease  and  despatch  of  public  business,  for  their  commit- 
tees to  sit  at  the  same  rime  and  place,  and  with  the  com- 
mittees of  the  lower  house,  it  couid  not  be,  hence 
inferred,  that  their  committees  were  not  separate  from, 
nor  equal  in  rights  to,  those  of  the  other  house,  and 
bad  not  authority  to  meet,  debate,  and  report  sepa- 
rately. This  message  and  another  that  followed  it,  were 
signed  by  the  clerk  of  the  upper  house,  instead  of  bfing 
signed  by  the  president,  and  countersigned  by  the  clerk. 

The  lower  house  desired,  that  for  the  future,  all  mes- 
sages from  the  other  house  to  them  might  be  signed  by 
the  president,  agreeable  to  the  old  accustomed  practice, 
otherwise  they  could  not  receive  them ;  they  said,  the 
separate  committees  were  not  only  new  and  unconstitu- 
tional, but  impracticable  ;  for  neither  the  money  paid  in 
to  be  burnt,  nor  the  vouchers  of  accountants  could  with 
safety  be  transmitted  from  the  committee  of  one  house 
to  that  of  the  other. 

The  upper  house  forbore  sending  any  further  mes- 
sage to  the  other,  during  the  rest  of  the  meeting. 

The  upper  house,  the  other,  although  invited,  decli- 
ning to  join  or  say  they  would  not,  addressed  the  king* 

They  began  by  expressing  their  joy  at  the  remarka- 
ble success  of  the  king's  arms,  and  giving  assurance  of 

N.  CARO.    II.      21 


162  CHAPTER  [176^ 

their  firm  and  loyal  attachment  to  the  sovereign,  his  fami- 
ly and  government ;  they  begged  leave  to  represent,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province  had,  for  several  years  past, 
been  subjected  to  great  difficulty  and  distress,  for  want 
of  a  proper  place  established  as  the  seat  of  government. 

They  observed,  that  Tower  Hill,  the  place  chosen  for 
that  purpose  in  1758,  was  found  of  difficult  access  to 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  and  no  proba- 
bility appeared  of  its  being  inhabited  by  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  families  to  accommodate,  with  any  degree  of  con- 
veniency,  the  officers  of  government,  the  members  of  the 
legislature,  or  the  persons  who  had  business  to  transact 
with  them. 

Receiving  it  in  charge  from  their  constituents,  to  use 
their  endeavours  to  obtain  a  redress  of  this  inconve- 
nience, and  having  examined  the  situation  and  extent  of 
the  province,  and  the  people  who  were  settled  in  the  dif- 
ferent counties,  they  suggested  the  propriety  of  fixing 
the  seat  of  government  in  the  town  of  Newbern,  and  im- 
plored the  king  to  repeal  the  act  for  fixing  it  at  Tower 
Hill,  and  signify  his  approb^ition  of  its  being  fixed  at 
Newbern,  promising  to  erect  a  governor's  house  there, 
and  such  suitable  public  buildings  as  the  king's  service 
might  require. 

On  the  29th  of  April,  governor  Dobbs  addressed  the 
two  houses ;  he  thanked  the  upper  one,  for  the  zeal 
thev  had  manifested,  and  their  readiness  to  concur  in 
every  measure  calculated  to  promote  the  king's  service. 

He  expressed  to  the  other  the  great  concern  he  felt  in 
being  obliged  to  represent  to  the  king,  the  little  regard 
they  had  shown  for  his  warm  and  pressing  demand  for  an 
aid ;  he  added,  he  should  animadvert  on^his  irregular 
conduct,  and  on  the  little  attention  ihey  had  paid  to  his 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  163 

recommendation  of  passing  laws  to  promote  trade  and 
the  education,  of  youth,  and  he  would  then  leave  it  to 
their  constituents  to  determine,  whether  they  had  acted 
for  the  welfare,  safety  and  honor  of  the  province. 

He  observed,  that  on  their  first  meeting,  when  no 
time  was  to  be  lost  in  taking  the  king's  orders  into  con- 
sideration, they  had  acted  in  opposition  to  his  preroga- 
tive and  instructions,  by  refusing  to  proceed  to  business, 
until  a  mcjjority  of  the  whole  appeared,  thus  not  only  de- 
nying the  king's  right,  but  putting  it  in  the  power  of  a 
few  members  combining  together  to  dissolve  the  as- 
sembly. 

He  said,  that  by  the  great  opposition  they  had  made, 
and  refusing  the  aid  to  the  king,  they  had,  as  far  as  was 
in  their  power,  delayed  and  prevented  their  country  from 
having  a  speedy  and  honorable  peace,  and  well  deserved, 
by  their  ill  judged  parsimony,  the  censure  of  their  con- 
stituents. 

He  took  notice  of  the  letters  of  the  committee  of  cor- 
respondence to  the  agent  and  his  answers,  about  which, 
it  appeared,  that  the  members  named  by  the  upper 
house  had  not  been  consulted,  and  from  which  it 
seemed,  that  the  principal  object  was  to  complain  against 
him,  for  the  frequent  meetings,  prorogations  and  disso 
lutions  of  the  assembly,  which  had  exhausted  the  public 
chest,  in  the  payment  of  the  members  and  officers  of  the 
legislature. 

He  complained  that,  contrary  to  the  accustomed 
usage,  the  agent  had  been  onlered  to  direct  his  letters 
to  the  late  speaker,  instead  of  addressing  them  to  the 
committee  of  correspondence,  enclosed  under  cover  to 
the  governor,  so  that  the  speaker  might  suppress  any 


164  CHAPTER  '  [n6S> 

letter  disagreeable  to  him,  and  thus  become  the  sole  di- 
rector of  the  committee. 

He  said,  that  it  became  his  duty,  that  he  might  avert 
^ny  future  cause  of  complaint,  to  forbear  passing  any 
bill,  and  put  an  end  to  their  meeting,  without  making  it 
a  session,  which  would  save  to  the  piiblic  the  expense  of 
their  attendance,  so  much  complained  of. 

He  concluded,  that  on  account  of  the  disrespect  they 
had  shown  to  the  king,  and  the  little  care  they  had  taken 
to  defend  their  country,  he  could  not  think  of  meeting 
them  again,  but  must  appeal  to  their  constituents  to 
judge  of  and  censure  their  behaviour;  he  accordingly 
dissolved  the  assembly.  * 

The  governor,  in  the  mean  time,  directed  the  one 
hundred  recruits,  required  by  Sir  Jeffrey,  to  be  raised 
and  marched  to  New  York.  To  meet  the  necessary 
expense  of  this  service,  he  drew  on  the  agents  for 
two  hundred  pounds  sterling. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer,  official  accounts  of 
the  repeal  of  the  court  laws  reached  the  province,  passed 
in  1760,  and  of  the  act  for  the  improvement  of  the  navi- 
gation from  Currituck  inlet ;  the  causes  of  the  repeal 
of  the  former  laws  have  been  already  stated  ;  the  latter 
was  objected  to,  as  it  altered  and  repealed,  as  far  as  re- 
garded the  port  of  Currituck,  an  act  passed  in  1754, 
laying  a  tonnage  duty  of  powder  and  lead,  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  province,  on  every  vessel  entering  any  of  its 
ports,  to  which  it  substituted  a  duty  of  two  shillings  and 
six  pence  per  ton,  in  money  ;  the  alteration  was  deemed 
not  only  improper  and  impolitic  in  itself,  but  inconsist- 
ent with  the  instructions,  given  from  time  to  time  to  the 
governors  of  the  several  colonies  in  America,  requiring 


1762r]  THE  SIXTH.  165 

them  to  endeavour  to  procure  laws  for  imposing  a  ton- 
nage duty  in  powder,  on  all  vessels  trading  there,  paya- 
ble in  kind,  without  any  commutation. 

The  lords  commissioners  of  trade  and  plantation,  ex- 
pressed their  disapprobation  of  an  act,  which  had  been 
assented  to  by  the  governor,  and  had  already  had  its  ef- 
fect, authorizing  a  lottery  for  the  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  New  river ;  a  mode  of  raising  money, 
which,  they  observed,  ought  never  to  be  countenanced 
nor  admitted  in  the  British  colonies,  where  the  nature  of 
the  constitution  did  not  embrace  the  regulations  and 
checks,  necessary  to  prevent  fraud  and  abuse,  in  a  matter 
so  peculiarly  liable  to  them.     The  lords  also  expressed 
the  great  concern  they  felt,  in  observing,  that  the  lower 
house  had  availed  themselves  of  the  necessity  of  raising 
money,  in  the  month  of  April,    1761,  for   the  public 
service,   to  tack  a  clause,  for  the  appointment  of  an 
agent,  to  the  aid  bill ;  they  said,  the  irregularity  of  this 
practice,  and  the  many  evils  and  inconveniencies  which 
must  necessarily  flow  from  it,  were  too  obvious  to  need 
any-animadversion,  and  they  desired  governor  Dobbs, 
when  the  appointment  of  CouchetJouvencel  should  ex- 
pire, to  recommend  to  the  houses  to  pass  a  separate  bill 
for  the  appointment   of  an  agent,  and  not  to  consent, 
upon  any  pretence  whatever,  to  an  appointment  made 
in  any  other  manner. 

The  necessity  there  was  for  the  immediate  establish- 
ment of  courts  of  justice,  induced  the  governor  to  issue 
WTits  of  election,  and  the  legislative  body  was  convened 
at  Newbern  in  the  first  days  of  November. 

The  governor  congratulated  the  houses  on  the  late 
success  of  the  British  forces  in  the  West  Indies,  by  the 
capture  of  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Grenada,  which  in- 


166  CHAPTER  [1762 

sured  to  the  king  all  the  trade  of  the  northern  coast  of 
Spanish  America,  and  was  the  earnest  of  a  speedy  and 
honorable  peace.  He  observed,  that  the  immediate  ob- 
ject he  had  in  view,  in  calling  them  together,  was  to  lay- 
before  them  the  repeal  of  the  court  laws,  which  he 
was  about  promulgating  by  proclamation,  and  of  the 
other  minor  acts,  which  had  also  received  the  royal 
disallowance. 

He  said,  he  would  lay  before  them  the  reasons  which 
had  induced  this  exertion  of  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown,  and  he  hoped  they  would  be  convinced,  they 
could  not  promise  to  themselves  any  advantage,  by  an 
opposition  to  the  king's  just  rights  and  a  disobedience 
to  his  instructions ;  he  alluded  to  the  severe  reprimand, 
his  too  ready  compliance  with  their  solicitations  had 
brought  on  him,  and  assured  them,  that  for  the  future,  if 
any  clause  contrary  to  any  of  the  king's  instructions  was 
introduced  in  any  bill,  he  should  certainly  reject  it,  how- 
ever important  and  proper  it  might  appear  in  other 
respects. 

He  besou2:ht  them  to  bestow  their  immediate  atten- 
tion  on  theestablishmentof  courts  .of  justice,  to  promote 
the  establishment  of  schools,  amend  the  inspection  laws, 
and  allow  premiums  on  the  exportation  of  hemp  and 
flax. 

He  concluded  by  observing,  that  as  he  had  not  the 
king's  command  to  require  any  aid,  it  v/ould  suffice  to 
lay  a  small  tax,  to  meet  the  contingent  expenses  of  the 
province,  and  support  the  garrisons  or  forts,  for  the 
security  of  commerce  and  the  protection  of  the  king's 
stores,  at  the  approaching  end  of  the  war. 

A  bill  was  introduced  in  the  lower  house,  dividing 
the   province  into  five  districts,  Edenton,   Newbern, 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  167 

Wilmington,  Halifax  and  Salisbury,  establishing  a  su- 
perior court  of  law  in  each,  to  be  held  in  the  four  first 
districts  by  the  chief  justice,  and  in  the  latter  by  an  as- 
sistant judge. 

The  upper  house,  on  the  second  reading,  expunged 
the  clause  for  the  appointment  of  the  assistant  judge  for 
the  district  of  Salisbury,  and  introduced  one  for  that  of 
two  associate  justices  for  the  whole  province;  and  ano- 
ther, providing  for  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer,  to  be 
held  by  such  commissioners  as  the  governor  might  from 
time  to  lime  appoint.  These  alterations  were  nega- 
tived in  the  lower  house.  On  the  third  reading,  the 
upper  house  insisted  on  their  amendments ;  they  ob- 
served, it  was  highly  improbable,  that  the  chief  justice 
could  attend  the  courts  of  four  districts  with  regularity, 
even  if  no  accident  happened  that  might  detain  him  at 
home ;  that  the  moderate  provision  made  for  the  assistant 
judge  of  the  district  of  Salisbury,  and  the  hberty  allowed 
him  to  practice  as  an  attorney  in  the  courts  of  other  dis- 
tricts, were  liable  lo  many  and  palpable  objections ;  that 
the  king  had,  by  his  prerogative,  the  right  to  appoint 
at  pleasure  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer,  and  direct 
commissions  to  any  person  he  pleased ;  a  right  which 
had  never  been  contested  as  productive  of  any  bad  effect 
to  the  subject,  and  although  he  needed  not  the  authority 
of  an  act  to  exercise  this  prerogative,  it  was  doubted 
wlK:ther  such  courts  could  enforce  the  attendance  of 
jurors. 

The  lower  house  admitted  the  advantage  which  the 
province  would  derive  from  having  associate  justices, 
and  would  rejoice  to  obtain  such  officers,  if  it  could  be 
done  on  a  footing  that  would  allow  the  probability  of 
their  answering  the  end  of  theii'  appointment ;  but  they 


168  CHAPTER  .  [1762 

believed  it  better  to  submit  to  all  the  inconveniences 
mentioned  in  the  message  of  the  upper  house,  than  to 
run  the  risk  of  having  men  obtruded  upon  them, 
strangers  to  their  laws,  holding  their  offices  on  the  pre- 
carious tenure  of  the  pleasure  of  the  commander  in  chief. 
They  offered  to  concur  with  the  amendment  relating  to 
courts  of  oyer  and  terminer,  provided  the  governor 
should  be  authorized  to  grant  commissions  for  holding 
those  courts  to  the  chief  justice  and  assistant  judge ; 
they  declared  themselves  willing  to  increase  the  salary  of 
the  assistant  judge,  and  saw  no  inconveniency  in  allow- 
ing him  to  act  as  an  attorney  out  of  his  court,  a  practice 
not  uncommon  in  the  mother  country. 

The  upper  house  next  proposed  to  pass  the  bill,  if 
to  the  clause  appointing  the  assistant  judge  of  the  dis- 
trict of  Salisbury,  one  was  substituted,  providing  for  the 
appointment  of  an  associate  justice  for  the  whole  pro- 
vince, with  as  handsome  salary  and  equal  powers  as  those 
of  the  chief  justice  ;  and  on  the  refusal  of  the  upper  house 
to  concur  with  this  proposition,  the  bill  was  rejected. 

Another  was  then  introduced,  passed  both  houses 
and  received  tiie  governor's  assent,  establishing  a 
court,  to  be  stiled  the  superior  court  of  justice,  in 
the  districts  of  Edenton,  Newbern,  Wilmington,  Hal- 
ifax and  Salisbury,  to  be  composed,  in  the  first  four 
districts,  of  the  chief  justice  and  one  associate, 
appointed  for  each  district,  and  in  the  latter  dis- 
trict, of  the  chief  justice  and  an  assistant  judge. 
The  sessions  of  the  court  were  to  be  semi-annual; 
the  chief  justice  was  allowed  twenty-six  pounds  for 
each  court  he  held,  besides  fees,  and  the  assistant 
judge  twenty-five  pounds,  the  associate  justices 
were  to  receive  neither  salary  nor   fees,  except 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  169 

when  holding  the  court  in  the  absense  of  the 
chief  justice,  when  they  were  to  receive  twenty-six 
pounds.  No  suit  was  allowed  to  be  brought  in  the 
superior  court  in  cases  in  which  the  sum  in  dispute 
was  less  than  ten  pounds.  The  act  was  to  be  in 
force  for  two  years. 

An  inferior  court  was  establishmed  in  each  coun- 
ty, composed  of  justices  of  the  peace;  it  was  to 
be  held  quarterly,  and  its  jurisdiction  was  confined 
to  personal  actions,  wherein  the  sum  claimed  was 
more  than  four  and  less  than  twenty  pounds.  The 
act  establishing  it  was  limited  in  its  duration  to  the 
same  period  as  the  superior  court  act. 

While  the  bill  was  on  its  second  reading  in  the 
upper  house,  it  was  amended  by  the  insertion  of  a 
,  clause,  providing,  that  a  part  of  it,  inflicting  apenal- 
ty,  in  a  certain  case,  shouldn  ot  be  construed  to  ex- 
tend to  persons,  qualifying  under  a  general  commis- 
sion of  the  peace.  This  amendment  was  stricken 
out  in  the  lower  house,  and  when  it  was  on  the  third 
reading  in  the  upper,  the  reinstatement  of  the 
amendment  \vas  insisted  on.  The  lower  house  re- 
plied, that  the  amendment  was  unnecessary,  as  they 
knew  of  no  such  commissions  in  use  in  the  pro- 
vince, the  introduction  of  them  could  have  perni- 
cious consequences,  and  they  were  of  opinion,  that 
they  were  against  law. 

The  upper  house,  in  a  second  message  said,  they, 
saw,  with  surprise  and  concern,  a  manifest  want  of 
decorum  and  decency  in  the  language  of  the  lower 
house,  in  taxing  them,  as  a  branch  of  the  legislature, 
with  insisting  upon  the  introduction  of  commissions 

N.  CAKO.   II.  22 


170  CHAPTER'  [1762 

unknown,  contrary  to  law  and  pernicious  in  their 
consequences,  charges,  which  they  could  not  pass 
over  in  silence,  while  they  were  convinced,  that  the 
house  could  not  be  ignorant,  that  general  commis- 
sions, to  enable  the  members  of  the  king's  council 
and  the  officers  of  the  crown,  to  act  as  conservators 
of  the  peace,  in  the  several  counties  of  the  province- 
were  neither  unknown,  contrary  to  law  nor  pernicious 
in  their  consequences:  they  insisted  on  their  amend- 
ment. 

The  lower  house  expressed  their  sorrow,  that 
their  message  should  have  been  so  misunderstood, 
as  to  be  thought  void  of  decency  and  decorum;  and 
if  the  mode  of  expression  alone  v.  as  to  justify  the 
singular  complexion  of  the  message  of  the  upper 
house,  they  despaired  of  ever  being  able  to  avoid  the 
imputation  of  a  want  of  decency  or  decorum. 

They  expressed  their  full  satisfaction,  that  gen- 
eral commissions,  to  enable  the  members  of  the 
king's  council  and  the  officers  of  the  crown  to  sit 
as  judges  of  the  inferior  courts,  were  not  only  alto- 
gether unnecessary,  but  as  they  could  be  of  little 
benefit,  and  might  be  prejudicial  to  the  public;  they 
thought  the  introduction  of  them  ought  to  he  avoid- 
ed. It  was  needless  to  make  it  a  question,  whether 
they  were  against  law,  no  part  of  the  bill  tending  to 
invalidate  them,  and,  if  they  should  be  against  the 
constitution  (and  the  house  thought  they  were)  it 
would  be  improper  to  give  a  sanction  to  them:  they 
therefore,  declined  reinstating  the  clause. 

The  upper  house  disclaimed  any  intention  of  ob- 
taining any  sanction  for  general  commissions,  or  of 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  171 

sitting  as  judges  of  any  inferior  court,  without  first 
qualifying  in  the  mode  prescribed  by  the  bill;  they 
said,  that  such  commissions  had  been  in  use  in  the 
province  as  well  as  in  many  others,  and  required 
no  sanction,  but  that  of  the  prerogative  from  which 
they  flowed:  they  only  insisted  that  the  persons,  act- 
ing under  them,  should  not  be  liable  to  the  penalty. 
They  proposed,  that  the  expression  should  be  vari- 
ed and  the  clause  declared  not  to  be  construed  to 
extend  to  members  of  the  king's  council,  secretary, 
attorney  general,  &c.,  qualifying  in  council  under  a 
general  commission  of  the  peace. 

They  added,  that  they  had  been  induced  to  send 
this  second  message,  solely  from  a  consideration  of 
the  utility  of  the  bill,  and,  if  the  house  did  not  choose 
to  concur,  after  this  explanation,  they  hoped  they 
would  not,  in  the  judgment  of  unprejudiced  persons, 
be  blamed  for  the  fatal  efTects  that  might  flow  from 
an  ill  judged  obstinacy. 

The  lower  house  proposed,  that,  the  section,  to 
which  the  clause  was  proposed  to  be  added,  should 
be  wholly  stricken  out,  or  be  confined  to  justices  of 
the  inferior  courts,  or  justices  of  the  peace  for  any 
county  in  the  province. 

They  observed,  that,  as  either  of  these  alterna- 
tives would  clearly  and  fully  exempt  general  com- 
missioners of  the  peace,  when  properly  established, 
from  the  penalty  to  which  ordinary  justices  of  the 
peace,  misbehaving  themselves  might  be  subjected; 
they  hoped  the  upper  house,  if  they  did  not  accede 
to  one  of  the  propositions,  would  offer  some  other 
mode,   M'hich  did  not  obliquely   ratify   a  commis- 


172  CHAPTER  [1762 

sion,  which,  it  was  believed,  had  not,  and  for  any 
thing  that  was  known,  would  never  have  an  exis- 
tence. 

They  concluded,  that  whatever  might  be  the  con- 
sequence of  the  dispute,  they  would  have  the  satis- 
faction to  think  it  had  not  its  rise  with  them,  and 
doubted  not,  that,  if  the  bill  miscarried,  every  unpre- 
judiced person  would  easily  distinguish  between 
abetting  and  opposing  a  measure,  that  must  be  con. 
fessed  a  novelty  in  the  constitution. 

The  altercation  ended  by  an  acceptance,  on  the 
part  of  the  upper  house,  of  the  second  alternative. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  an 
orthodox  clergy,  and  encouragement  held  out  to 
pious  and  learned  ministers  to  settle  in  the  pro- 
vince. An  act  was  passed,  introducing  valuable 
improvements  in  the  management  of  the  estates  of 
orphans  and  the  care  of  their  persons;  the  negocia- 
bility  of  promissory  notes,  the  relief  of  poor  debtors, 
the  extension  of  public  roads  and  the  destruction  of 
vermin. 

The  county  of  Anson  was  divided,  and  the  upper 
part  of  it  erected  into  a  distinct  county,  to  which  the 
name  of  Mecklenburg  was  given,  in  honor  of  the 
new  queen. 

A  number  of  stores  had  been  established  at  a 
commodious  landing,  on  the  north  side  of  Neuse 
river,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  county  of  Dobbs;  and, 
at  the  request  of  individuals  who  had  removed 
thither,  a  town  was  established  on  this  convenient 
spot;  it  was  called  Kingston,  a  name  which,  after 
the  revolution,  was  imagined  would  be  rendered 


1762]  THE  SIXTH.  17 


more   agreeable,  by  being  deprived  of  its  fourth 
letter. 

The  trade  of  the  counties  of  Anson  and  Rowan, 
which  began  to  increase,  was  observed  to  center 
in  Charleston,  with  a  view  to  prevent  a  division  of 
the  wealth  of  this  part  of  the  province,  and  cause  it 
to  flow  down  towards  Wihnington,  a  town  was  es- 
tahhshed  on  the  north  west  side  of  Cape  Fear  riverj 
it  was  called  Campbelton.  This  is  one  of  the  very 
few  instances,  in  which  the  expectations  of  the  legis- 
lature, in  establishing  a  town,  were  not  deceived. 
The  spot  afforded  a  convenient  landing,  the  stores, 
however,  were  chiefly  built  at  the  distance  of  one 
milfc  from  the  river,  at  a  place  called  Cross  creek. 
In  the  year  1784,  the  place  was  called  Fayetteville, 
in  compliment  to  a  French  nobleman,  who  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  zeal  for  the  American  cause, 
during  the  revolutionary  war. 

The  houses  united  in  an  address  to  the  king,  for 
the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from  Tower 
Hill  to  Newbern,  a  measure  in  which,  however, 
they  were  far  from  being  unanimous.  In  the  upper 
house  John  Rutherford,  Lewis  Henry,  de  Rosset  and 
John  Sampson,  protested  against  the  resolution  for 
concurring  with  the  other  house. 

The  protest  admitted  the  propriety  of  removing 
the  seat  of  government  from  Tower  Hill;  but  deni- 
ed the  expediency  of  fixing  it,  for  the  present,  at 
any  place,  more  particularly  at  Newbern;  for,  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  province  being,  as  ye\, 
unascertained,  and  the  territorial  controversy  with 
South  Carolina  not  likely  to  be  soon  terminated,  the 


174  CHAPTER  [1763 

step  appeared  precipitate,  and  perhaps  indecent, 
"while  the  contested  points  were  soon  to  be  laid  be- 
fore the  throne,  for  the  royal  determination.  The 
impropriety  of  fixing  the  seat  of  government  was  in 
their  judgment  giaring,  the  town  of  Newbern,  being 
neither  central  nor  on  the  best  navigation,  and  de  \ 
ficientin  good  water. 

The  measure  was  carried  in  the  lower  house  by 
a  very  small  majority,  and  in  the  other  by  the  cast- 
ing vote  of  the  president,  James  Hasel.  The  mem- 
bers who  voted  for  it,  were  Richard  Spaight,  Henry 
E.  M'CuUough  and  Alexander  M'Cullough. 

The  definitive  treatv  between  their  Britannic, 
most  Christian  and  Catholic  majesties,  was  signed  at 
Paris,  on  the  10th  of  February. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the 
town  of  Wilmington,  its  precincts  and  liberties,  con- 
stituting a  borough,  with  a  mayor  and  aldermen's 
court,  having  a  limited  jurisdiction  of  suits  between 
the  inhabitants  and  transient  persons,  not  residing  in 
the  province,  with  other  privileges.  The  same  favor 
was  afterwards  granted  to  the  towns  of  Newbern,  Eden- 
ton  and  Halifax. 

As  the  removal  of  the  French  and  Spaniards  from 
the  vast  extent  of  country  which  extended  between 
the  province  of  Georgia  and  the  river  Mississippi,  which 
were  now  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  caused  an  alarm  and  in- 
creased the  jealousy  of  the  neighboring  tribes  of  Indians, 
the  ministry  thought  it  indispensably  necessary  to  take 
the  earliest  steps  to  prevent  their  receiving  any  unfavora- 
ble impression,  to  gain  their  confidence  and  good  will, 
without  which,  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  nation  to 
reap  the  full  benefit  of  its  acquisitions  in  that  part  of  the 


1763]  THE  SIXTH.  175 

world.  It  was  believed  the  French  and  Spaniards,  in 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  had  long,  and  too  successfull}^, 
inculcated  an  idea  among  the  Indians,  that  the  English 
entertained  a  settled  design  of  extirpating  the  whole  In- 
dian race,  with  a  view  to  possess  their  lands;  and  that  the 
first  step  towards  carrying  this  design  into  execution, 
would  be  to  expel  the  French  and  Spaniards,  the  real 
friends  and  protectors  of  the  Indians.  With  a  view  of 
preventing  the  ill  effects  of  those  suggestions,  the  gov- 
ernors of  Virginia,  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  were  di- 
rected, without  loss  of  time,  to  invite  the  chiefs  of  the 
Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Cherokees  and  Cataw- 
bas,  to  a  meeting  with  them  and  the  superintendant  of 
Indian  affaires,  for  the  southern  department  at  Augusta, 
in  the  province  of  Georgia,  to  apprise  the  Indians,  in  the 
most  prudent  and  delicate  manner,  of  the  change  which 
was  about  to  take  place.  It  was  recommended  in  doing 
this,  not  only  to  avoid  every  expression  which  might 
awake  the  fears,  or  point  out  the  dependence  of  the  In- 
dians upon  the  British,  but  to  use  every  means  to  quiet 
their  apprehensions  and  gain  their  good  opinion. 

For  this  purpose,  the  governors  were  directed  to  recur 
to  the  original  causes  of  the  war  with  the  French,  to 
mention  and  dwell  upon  the  several  cruelties  they  exer- 
cised during  the  course  of  it,  the  arts  they  employed,  the 
groundless  stories  they  propagated  among  the  Indians, 
in  order  to  excite  their  jealousies,  to  alienate  their  affec- 
tions from  the  English  and  to  provoke  them  to  commit 
such  violences,  as  the  king  was  at  last  compelled  to  re- 
sent: that,  by  the  same  insidious  arts,  they  had  so  far 
wrought  upon  the  credulity  of  the  Spaniards,  as  to  in- 
volve them  in  their  quarrel  and  its  consequences;  that, 
through  the  special  favor  of  providence,   the  wisdom  of 


1 70  CHAPTER  [1763 

the  king  and  the  courage  of  his  troops,  all  their  mischiev- 
ous practices  had  been  discovered  and  defeated. 

They  were  advised  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  the  In- 
dians, that  in  order  to  prevent  the  revival  of  such  distur- 
bances and  troubles,  by  repetitions  of  the  same  danger- 
ous proceedings,  the  king  had  found  himself  obliged  to 
insist,  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  that  the  French  and  Span- 
iards sh<  )kid  be  removed  beyond  the  river  Mississippi,  to 
the  end,  that  the  Indians  and  his  people  might,  hereafter, 
live  in  peace  and  brotherly  friendship  together;  and  that 
the  English  felt  a  particular  satisfaction  in  the  opportu- 
nity, which  their  successes  afforded  them,  of  giving  to 
the  Indians  the  most  uncontrovertible  and  substantial 
proofs  of  their  good  intentions  and  cordial  desire  to 
maintain  a  sincere  and  friendly  correspondence  with 
them:  that  those  proofs  would  consist,  first,  of  a  total 
forgiveness  and  oblivion  of  all  past  offences,  fully  per- 
suaded that  they  were  entirely  owing  to  the  deceiving 
arts  of  the  French  and  no  ways  to  be  attributed  to  any 
ill  will  in  them ;  secondly,  of  opening  and  carrying  on 
as  large  a  traffic  with  them  as  would  supply  all  their 
wants:  thirdly,  of  a  constant  attention  to  their  interests 
and  a  readiness,  upon  all  occasions,  to  do  them  com- 
plete justice,  and  lastly,  of  the  most  solemn  assurances, 
that  those  forte,  now  ceded  to  the  king,  by  means  of 
which  the  French  really  did  intend  to  subvert  their  lib- 
erty, and  accomplish  these  evil  designs  which  they 
imputed  to  the  English,  should  never  be  employed,  but 
to  protect  and  assist  them  and  to  serve  for  the  better 
convenience  of  commerce  and  Jhe  cultivation  of  friend- 
ship and  good  will  between  them  and  the  king's  sub- 
jects. 


n€3J  THE  SIXTH.         '  177 

The  minister  added,  that  should  the  Indians  retain  any 
jealousy  or  suspicion,  that  the  forts,  situated  in  the  heart 
of  their  country,  such  as  Alabama,  Tombigbee  and  fort 
Loudon,  might  be  made  use  of  for  purposes  unfavora- 
ble to  them,  and  expressed  a  desire,  that  they  should  be 
demolished,  he  made  no  doubt,  but  that  their  represen- 
tations, on  that  head  would  be  most  graciously  received 
-  and  that  the  king  would  readily  comply  with  any  rea- 
sonable request  of  theirs,  in  order  to  give  the  most  satis- 
factory proofs  of  his  intention  to  fulfil  the  friendly  de- 
clarations which  his  governors  were  instructed  to  make, 
in  his  name,  to  the  Indians,  of  the  sincerity  of  which,  it 
was  highly  important,  they  should  be  convinced,  in  or- 
der to  prevent  those  evils,  which  would  necessarily 
happen,  if  their  thorough  confidence  in  the  king's  go- 
vernment was  not  established  on  a  solid  and  secure 
footing. 

In  order  to  try  every  possible  method  which  might 
contribute  towards  this  object,  goods,  to  the  amount 
of  five  thousand  pounds  sterling,  were  purchased  and 
shipped  towards  Charleston,  to  be  distributed  in  pre- 
sents among  the  Indians,  at  the  intended  meeting  at 
Augusta. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  spring,  the  king's  proclama- 
tion was  published  in  America,  for  the  establishment 
of  the  provinces  of  Quebec,  East  and  West  Florida. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  a  resolution  was  introduced  into 
parliament,  fo^  a  stamp  act  in  America.  The  minister, 
however,  withdrew  tl.e  resolution,  to  allow  time  for  the 
colonists  to  petition  against  it,  when  brought  forward  at 
the  next  session. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  lord  Egremont  addressed  a  cir- 
cular letter  to  the  governors  of  the  American  provinces, 

N.  CARO.    H.       23 


178  CHAPTER  [1763 

informing  them,  that  it  appearing,  that  the  public  reve- 
nue had  been  greatly  diminished  and  the  fair  trader 
much  prejudiced,  by  the  fraudulent  method,  used  to 
introduce,  into  the  king's  dominions,  on  the  continent 
of  America,  contrary  to  several  statutes  of  the  British 
parliament,  commodities  of  foreign  growth,  in  national 
as  well  as  foreign  bottoms,  by  means  of  small  vessels, 
hovering  on  the  coast,  and  that  this  iniquitous  practice 
had  been  carried  on  to  such  an  extent  in  America,  it 
had  been  found  necessary,  at  the  last  session  of  parlia- 
ment, to  pass  a  statute  for  the  improvement  of  the 
king's  customs,  the  encouragement  of  officers  making 
seizures  and  the  prevention  of  the  contraband  trade, 
by  which  the  former  statutes,  on  these  subjects,  were 
enforced  and  extended  to  the  British  dominions  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  the  king  having  it  extremely  at 
heart  to  put  an  end  to  all  practices  of  this  nature,  by  a 
punctual  and  vigorous  execution  of  the  laws,  made  for 
this  salutary  purpose,  and  having  ordered,  that  the  most 
effectual  steps  should  be  taken  for  obtaining  that  end, 
the  commanders  of  his  ships,  stationed  in  America, 
would  be  vested,  for  the  future,  with  the  necessary  and 
legal  powers,  from  the  commissioners  of  the  customs, 
to  carry  into  execution  the  several  statutes,  relating  to 
the  seizure  and  condemnation  of  any  ship  that  should 
be  found  transgressing  against  them.  The  governors 
were  requested,  not  only  to  co-operate  with,  and  assist 
to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  the  commanders  of  the 
king's  ships,  in  the  execution  of  the  powers  and  in- 
structions^ given  them  by  the  commissioners  of  the  cus- 
toms, but  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors,  by  the  most 
assiduous  and  impartial  execution  of  the  laws,  to  put 


17631  THE  SIXTH.  179 

an  effectual  stop  to  the  clandestine  running  of  goods 
into  any  part  of  their  respective  governments. 

In  the  conclusion  of  this  circular,  lord  Egremont  ob- 
served, that  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  say,  that  the 
king  would  not  pass  over,  unnoticed,  any  negligence  or 
relaxation,  on  the  part  of  any  person  employed  in  his 
service,  on  a  matter  on  which  he  laid  so  much  stress, 
and  in  which  the  fair  trade  of  all  his  subjects  was  so  es- 
pecially entrusted. 

After  the  peace,  the  Reverend  Joseph  Alexander,  D. 
D.,  a  minister  of  the  presbyterian  church,  removed  from 
Pennsylvania  to  South  Ca^'olina,  and  was  eminently  in- 
strumental  in  planting  churches,  both  in  this  province 
and  in  North  Carolina,  at  that  early  period  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  back  country,  when  both  provinces  were 
in  a  ver\^  destitute  condition,  with  respect  to  religious 
instruction. 

In  the  fall,  governor  Dobbs  sat  off  for  Augusta,  in 
order  to  attend  a  congress  of  the  governors  of  the  south- 
ern provinces.  During  his  absence,  the  government  of 
the  province  devolved  on  James  Hasell,  the  counsellor 
first  named  in  the  king's  instructions.  This  gentleman 
qualified  as  commander  in  chief,  on  the  15th  of  October. 

The  Creek,  Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  Upper  and  Lower 
Creek,  and  Catawba  nations  of  Indians,  sent  some  of 
their  chiefs  to  Augusta,  where  a  treaty  was  concluded, 
and  their  respective  territorial  claims  adjusted,  the  boun- 
daries of  their  lands  ascertained,  and  regulations  adopted 
to  secure  the  trade  and  good  understanding,  between 
the  red  and  white  people. 

Governor  Dobbs,  on  his  return  to  the  province,  met 
a  new  legislative  body,  on  the  3d  of  February,  at  Wil- 
mington.     After  communicating  to  the  houses,   the 


180  CHAPTER  [1764 

success  of  his  journey  to  the  province  of  Georgia,  he  in- 
formed thena,  that  having  no  orders  to  require  any  aid, 
he  had  only  to  recommend,  that  the  men  raised  for  Fort 
Johnston  and  Fort  Granville,  might  be  kept  in  pay,  to 
take  care  of  the  forts  and  stores,  until  the  king  gave  or- 
ders for  tlieir  being  garrisoned  by  regular  troops.  He 
drew  the  attention  of  the  legislature,  to  the  great  quantity 
of  worn  out,  defaced  and  counterfeited  bills  in  circulation: 
and  recommended  an  emission  of  paper  money,  by  which 
the  former  bills  might  be  taken  out  of  circulation  and 
replaced.  He  deplored  the  great  want  of  clergy- 
men in  the  parishes;  twenty-four  out  of  thirty,  be- 
ing without  a  minister,  and  recommended,  that  the 
salary  of  clergymen  might  be  levied  in  all,  even  those 
that  were  unprovided  with  one,  in  which  the  money  thus 
raised,  might  be  appropriated  to  the  purchase  of  glebes 
and  the  erection  of  churches.  He  again  urged  the  al- 
lowance of  a  bounty,  on  the  exportation  of  hemp  and 
flax. 

The  lower  house  replied,  that  an  emission  of  paper 
money  would  be  attended  with  a  considerable  expense, 
and  it  would  suffice,  if  the  sheriffs  and  treasurers  were  to 
exchange  such  ragged  and  torn  bills  as  might  be  offered 
to  them,  and  these  were  burnt  at  the  meeting  of 
the  legislature.  They  admitted  the  great  want  of  cler- 
gymen; but  added,  sufficient  provision  was  already 
made,  in  proportion  to  the  ability  of  the  people ;  and 
there  v^ere  large  sums  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of 
glebes  and  the  establishment  of  schools,  under  a  sus- 
pending clause,  until  the  king's  pleasure  was  known, 
which  had  been  borrowed  for  the  service  of  the  late  war, 
and  since,  in  part,  for  contingencies. 


1764]  THE  SIXTH.     ^  181 

The  governor  laid  before  the  house  a  letter  from  lord 
Egremont,  of  the  27th  of  November,  1762,  directing 
him  to  express  to  the  assembly,  his  high  disapprobation 
of  their  conduct,  and  undutiful  behaviour  in  obstinately 
persisting  to  refuse  any  aid,  or  to  raise  men  for  recruit- 
ing the  troops,  whereby  they  had  incurred  the  king's 
displeasure.  The  letter  concluded,  by  communicating 
the  king's  approbation  of  governor  Dobbs'  resolution, 
to  raise  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  recruits  requi- 
red by  Sir  JefFry  Amherst,  notwithstanding  the  assembly 
had  refused  to  concur  in  any  measure  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  message,  by  which  this  letter  was  communica- 
ted, the  governor  expressed  his  hope,  the  house  would 
approve  of  his  having  advanced  his  money,  for  a  service 
which  was  so  agreeable  to  the  king,  and  the  drafts  for 
four  hundred  pounds  sterling,  which  he  had  drawn  upon 
the  asfents  in  London,  for  his  own  reimbursment.  The 
house  resolved,  viva  voce^  that  they  could  not  approve 
of  the  governor's  drafts. 

On  the  third  reading  of  a  bill,  for  defraying  the  expen- 
ses of  the  members  of  the  legislature,  the  lower  house 
substituted  the  word  board,  for  the  word  housCy 
as  applied  to  the  upper  house.  The  members  of 
the  latter  were  much  nettled  at  the  alteration,  and  a 
preliminary  message  was  sent,  to  know  whether  the 
house  would  adhere  to  it.  It  was  answered,  that  the 
words  board  and  house,  appeared,  on  examination,  to 
have  been  indiscriminately  used  in  reference  to  the  upper 
house;  but,  to  prevent  misunderstanding,  the  lower 
house  were  willing,  if  the  word  board  was  disagreeable 
to  the  members  of  the  other,  to  sul)stitute  for  it,  the 
word  council. 


182  CHAPTER  [1764 

The  upper  house  replied,  that  to  debate  about  words 
would  be  frivolous,  if  they  did  not  tend  to  introduce  a 
dispute  about  things  and  powers,  and  as  the  house  was 
determined  to  maintain  and  support  firmly,  the  powers 
and  authorities  with  which  the  king  had  invested  them, 
they  should  not  permit  the  lower  house  to  call  them  by 
any  other  name,  less  respectable  than  that  of  house;  and 
if  the  bill  was  not  amended  by  reinstating  that  word,  they 
would  not  pass  that,  or  any  other  bill,  nor  act  on  any  re- 
solve or  estimate. 

The  lower  house  expressed  their  concern,  that  a 
name,  in  every  respect  dignified  and  honorable,  imply- 
ing wisdom  and  defiberation,  and  which  his  majesty  had 
been  pleased  to  confer,  should  become  so  strangely  dis- 
agreeable, as  to  produce  a  message  threatening  destruc- 
tion to  all  bills,  however  serviceable  they  might  be  to  the 
public,  unless  the  lower  house  agreed  to  the  alteration  of 
the  name  so  anxiouslv  desired  to  be  rid  of.  Thev  add- 
ed,  they  could  not  help  considering  the  message  as  in- 
flammatory in  its  tendency,  and  obstructive  of  the  public 
service  in  its  consequences,  and  quite  inconsistent  with 
those  professions  of  regard  to  the  public,  made  on  seve- 
ral other  occasions,  and  the  duty  of  each  branch  of  the 
legislature,  to  the  king's  subjects  inhabiting  the  pro- 
vince. They  observed,  it  was  very  immaterial  to  the 
king  or  his  subjects,  whether  laws  were  enacted  by  the 
governor,  council  and  assembly,  or  by  the  governor, 
the  upper  and  lower  houses :  the  advantages  derived 
from  them,  being  always  in  proportion  to  the  wisdom  of 
their  formation  :  they  concluded  that,  more  attentive  to 
the  interest  of  the  public  than  to  things  and  powers, 
which,  they  persuaded  themselves,  would  neither  be 
changed  nor  increased,  by  the  proposed  alteration,  than 


1764]  THE  SIXTH.  18.1 

to  sounds,  they  would,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  har- 
mony, readily  agree  to  the  word  house. 

'  The  upper  house  rejoined,  that  if  they  were  to  con- 
sider their  feelings,  in  preference  to  the  desire  they  had  of 
preferring  the  public  good  to  all  other  considerations, 
they  should  think  themselves  well  justified  in  animad- 
verting on  the  spirit  of  aggravation  manifested  by  the 
lower  house ;  but,  as  they  had  received  that  public  satis- 
faction, which  they  were  unanimously  of  opinion,  their 
duty  to  the  crown,  the  public  and  themselves,  laid  them 
under  the  necessity  of  insisting  upon,  they  would  pro- 
ceed to  give  the  bill  all  the  despatch  in  their  power.  But, 
at  the  same  time,  they  were  to  observe,  that  their  ob- 
jection to  the  word  council^  did  not  proceed  from  an 
opinion,  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  lower  house,  to 
give  them  a  more  honorable  appellation;  but,  from  a 
resolution  of  being  addressed  in  their  different  capacities 
by  proper  and  adequate  titles.  They  flattered  them- 
selves the  resolution  they  had  taken  upon  this  dispute, 
would  never  appear  improper  in  the  eyes  of  unprejudi- 
ced persons;  and  their  proceedings  would  evince,  that 
their  desire  of  promoting  the  public  good  was  as  sin- 
cere, as  that  of  those  wlio  were  clothed  with  the  spe- 
cious title  of  representatives  of  the  people. 

A  bill  having  been  introduced,  and  passed  the  lower 
house,  for  appointing  Couchet  Jouvencel  agent  of  the 
province,  the  upper  house  insisted  on  a  proviso,  making 
one  of  the  members  of  that  body  one  of  the  quorum  of 
the  committee  of  correspondence,  and  the  lower  house 
refusing  to  concur,  the  bill  was  rejected :  whereupon, 
the  lower  house,  by  a  resolve,  appointed  that  gentleman 
agent  of  the  province  for  eighteen  months,  with  a  salary 


184  CHAPTER  [1764 

of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling  per  annum,  and  ap- 
pointed five  of  their  members  a  committee  of  corres- 
pondence. 

A  chart  of  the  sea  coast,  having  been  made  by  Daniel 
Dunbibbin,  was  this  year  pubhshed  by  his  widow,  to 
whom  the  legislature  allowed  a  small  premium. 

The  distance  of  Newbern,  where  the  only  printing  of- 
fice in  the  province  was  established,  from  Wilmington, 
which  had  become  the  seat  of  government,  impeding 
public  business,  a  committee  of  the  legislature  were  di- 
rected to  procure  a  printer  to  settle  at  Wilmington. 

One  commissioned  officer  and  ten  men,  and  one  offi- 
cer and  four  men,  were  kept  in  pay  for  fort  Johnston  and 
fort  Granville. 

A  bounty  of  sixteen  shillings  and  four  pence  on  eve- 
ry hundred  weight  of  hemp  raised  in,  and  exported  out 
of,  the  province,  and  of  thirteen  shillings  and  four  pence 
on  every  hundred  weight  of  flax,  were  allowed.  The 
militia  and  vestry  acts  were  revised;  in  the  former, 
Presbyterian  ministers  were  exempted  from  militia  duty, 
which  is  the  first  instance  of  any  indulgence  granted  by 
law  to  non-conformists.  A  new  county  was  establish- 
ed, out  of  part  of  those  of  New  Hanover  and  Bladen,  to 
which  the  name  of  Brunswick  was  given,  in  compliment 
to  the  hereditary  prince  of  Brunswick,  who  married,  this 
year,  princess  Augusta,  the  king's  eldestsis  ter ;  and  a 
part  of  the  county  of  Granville  was  erected  into  another, 
called  Bute,  in  honor  of  the  earl  of  Bute.  An  act  was 
passed  for  the  erection  of  a  school  house  in  the  town  of 
Newbern,  which  is  the  first  effectual  act  for  the  encou- 
ragement of  literature. 

Great  Britain,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war,  in 
which  her  flas:  had  been  that  of  victorv  on   every  sea, 


1764]  THE  SIXTH.  185 

found  her  already  too  great  dominions  enlarp;'ed  by  the 
accession  of  vast  territories  in  both  the  Indies ;  heavy, 
however,  was  the  burden  of  such  triumphs  and  con- 
quests ;  she  groaned  under  the  weiyjht  of  a  debt,  the  in- 
terest of  which  was  alone  above  her  resources  ;  the  in- 
genuity of  her  ministers  had  been  exhausted  in  quest 
of  new  objects  of  taxation,  or  in  search  among  the 
old,  for  any  that  might  bear  a  heavier  pressure.  On 
the  contrary,  new  objects  of  expenditure  daily  presented 
themselves ;  treasures  were  wanted  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  her  new  acquisitions  into  value  and  to  retain 
France  in  awe,  who  was  soured  by  the  humiliations  of 
the  war  and  the  sacrifices  of  peace  ;  the  security  of  the 
present,  and  the  felicity  of  the  future,  loudly  called  for 
new  and  prompt  pecuniary  supplies. 

In  this  dilemma,  the  mother  country  cast  her  eyes  to- 
wards her  colonies  ;  as  members  of  the  empire,  it  was 
just  they  should  contribute  to  its  defence  and  splendor ; 
this  position  the  provinces  of  the  new  world  were  not 
inclined  to  controvert;  but  they  had  always  asserted  the 
right  of  determining  on  the  expediency  and  extent  of  the 
contribution.  It  was  imagined  in  Great  Britain,  that 
the  moment  of  a  glorious  peace  might  afford  a  favorable 
opportunity  of  obtaining  the  acquiescence  of  the  colo- 
nists to  a  tax  imposed  by  parliament;  accordingly,  on 
the  tenth  of  March,  the  British  house  of  commons  re- 
solved upon  several  duties  on  imports  and  exports,  to 
and  from  the  British  colonies  and  plantations  in  America, 
the  whole  amounting,  however,  but  to  an  inconsiderable 
sum  ;  among  the  other  resolutions,  one  was,  that  it  was 
proper  to  charge  certain  stamp  duties  in  the  colonies 
and  plantations ;  it  was  a  mere  abstract   proposition, 

N.  CARO.    II.      24 


186  CHAPtER.  [1764 

which  was  not  accompanied  by  any  bill  or  resolution  to 
carry  it  into  practice. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer,  the  committee  of  the 
legislature  having  contracted  with  Andrew  Stewart  for 
the  printing  of  the  laws  of  the  province,  he  set  up  a  press 
in  the  town  of  Wilmington.  The  leisure  which  this 
measure  afforded  to  James  Davis,  the  printer  at  New- 
bern,  induced  him  to  employ  his  time  in  the  publication 
of  a  periodical  p?per ;  the  first  number  of  it  made  its 
appearance  towards  the  first  of  June,  under  the  title  of 
the  North  Carolina  Magazine,  or  Universal  Intelligencer; 
it  was  printed  on  a  demy  sheet,  in  quarto  pages,  with  a 
view  to  its  being  bound  ;  this  was  the  first  publication 
of  the  kind  attempted  in  the  province  since  its  first  set- 
tlement, almost  a  century  after  the  date  of  the  original 
charter ;  it  was  for  a  great  number  of  years  a  very  jejune 
and  vapid  paper,  filled  with  lon,^  extracts  from  the  works 
of  theological  writers,  or  selections  from  British  maga- 
zines, the  want  of  a  regular  post  office  establishment  ren- 
dering the  news  department  quite  insignificant. 

Andrew  Stewart  was  not  long  in  the  province,  with- 
out imitating  Davis's  example  in  this  respect ;  towards 
the  first  of  September,  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
North  Carolina  Gazette  and  Weekly  Post  Boy ;  the 
town  of  Wilmington  having  the  advantage  of  a  good  na- 
vigation, being  often  visited  by  European  vessels,  and 
having  already  a  regular  trade  with  Charleston,  the  latter 
paper  contained  the  earlier  and  more  general  intelli- 
gence. 

Governor  Dobbs  having  obtained  leave  of  absence, 
William  Tryon,  a  colonel  in  the  queen's  guards,  was 
sent  over  as  lieutenant  governor  of  the  province ;  he 


1764]  THE  SIXTH.  m 

reached  it  late  in  October,  and  was  qualified  at  Wilming- 
ton on  the  27th  of  that  month. 

The  legislative  body  held  its  second  session  at  Wil- 
mington, on  the  25th  ;  governor  Dobbs,  in  opening  it, 
recommended  to  the  houses  to  employ  the  calm  mo- 
meats  of  peace  in  the  improvement  of  the  domestic  polity 
of  the  province,  particularly  to  lay  a  small  tonnage  duty 
for  the  improvement  of  its  navigation  ;  and  raise  a  small 
fund  for  the  contingent  expenses  of  government,  and 
the  premium  allowed  on  the  exportation  of  hemp  and 
flax  ;  he  advised,  that  this  might  be  done  by  increasing 
the  duty  on  wines  and  spirituous  liquors. 

The  lower  house  expressed  their  grateful  sense  of  the 
goodness  of  the  Divine  Providence,  manifested  during 
a  long  and  expensive  war,  now  terminated  by  a  safe, 
glorious  and  honorable  peace. 

They  observed,  that  as  the  tax  on  trade,  lately  im- 
posed by  parliament,  must  tend  greatly  to  the  hindrance 
of  commerce,  and  be  severely  felt  bv  the  industrious  in- 
habitants  of  the  province,  they  hoped  the  bounty  grant- 
ed by  parliament  on  the  culture  of  flax  and  hemp,  would 
be  thought  a  sufficient  encouragement  for  those  who 
export  those  articles,  and  it  would  be  more  for  the 
interest  of  the  province,  to  apply  the  premium  granted 
by  the  late  act  of  assembly,  as  an  encc  uragement  to  the 
manufacture  of  those  commodities ;  they  thanked  the 
governor  for  the  concern  he  expressed  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  navigation  of  the  province,  and  assured  him 
that  although  they  saw  with  regret,  their  commerce  cir- 
cumscribed in  its  most  beneficial  branches,  diverted  from 
its  natural  channel  and  burdened  with  new  taxes   and 


|g8  CHAPTER  [1764 

impositions,  laid  upon  thetn  without  their  privity  or  con- 
sent, and  against  what  they  esteemed  their  inherent  right 
and  exclusive  privilege,  nothing  should  be  wanted  on 
their  part  to  ease  the  trader,  as  far  as  in  their  power,  of 
the  heavy  expenses  attending  the  exportation  oi  their 
commodities,  and  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  every 
incumbrance  with  which  the  commercial  interest  was 
clogged.  The  governor  thanked  them  for  this  ac- 
knowledgment •  of  the  goodness  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, in  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  but  thought  them 
very  remiss  in  their  duty  in  not  returning  thanks  to  the 
king,  the  happy  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  that  Provi- 
dence, in  accomplishing  so  happy  an  event ;  he  added, 
that  as  the  rest  of  their  address  had  no  reference  to,  or 
was  inconsistent  wiih,  what  he  had  recommended  to  their 
consideration,  he  would  return  no  answer  to  it,  but  he 
knew  of  no  heavy  expense  attending  the  exportation  of 
the  commodities  of  the  province. 

The  house  of  representatives  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts,  addressed  a  representation  to  the  speak- 
ers of  the  assemblies  of  all  the  provinces,  on  the  subject 
of  the  late  proceedings  of  parliament,  in  regard  to  the 
restriction  on  their  trade,  the  stamp  duties,  &c.,  on 
which  the  lower  house  appointed  a  committee,  consist- 
ing  of  their  own  speaker  and  four  other  members,  to 
express  their  concurrence  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts. 

A  sum  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds,  six 
shillings,  was  appropriated  for  an  allowance  to  the  post 
master  general,  for  establishing  a  mail  for  one  year,  from 
Suffolk  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  province. 


1764]  THE  SIXTH.  189 

The  establishment  of  Fort  Granville  was  discontinu- 
ed ;  that  of  Fort  Johnston  was  continued  for  one  year. 

At  the  request  of  the  governor,  the  lower  house  cau- 
sed a  statement  to  be  made,  of  the  different  emissions 
of  bills  of  credit  and  treasury  notes,  thrown  into  circula- 
tion since  the  year  1748,  and  of  the  currency  called  in 
by  duties  and  taxes,  and  burnt,  and  it  appcfared,  that  the 
amount  in  circulation  was  seventy-five  thousand  and 
thirty -two  pounds,  four  shillings,  for  the  redemption  of 
which  an  annual  poll  tax  of  four  shillings,  and  a  duty  of 
four  pence  on  liquors,  were  laid. 

A  bill,  which  had  been  introduced  into  the  upper 
house,  for  the  appointment  of  a  printer  to  the  province, 
having  been  rejected  in  the  other,  the  governor  commu- 
nicated this  circumstance  in  a  message,  announcing  to 
the  lower  house,  that  he  had  appointed  Andrew  Stewart 
printer  to  the  king,  and  required  them  to  make  provi- 
sion for  his  salary  ;  the  house  refused  to  comply  and  en- 
tered into  a  resolution,  that  they  knew  of  no  such  office, 
and  of  no  duty,  fees  or  emoluments  incident  thereto, 
and  the  appointment  was  of  a  new  and  unusual  na- 
ture, unknown  to  the  laws,  and  a  violent  stretch  of 
power. 

The  governor  informed  the  house,  by  a  message, 
that  it  was  the  king's  undoubted  prerogative,  to  ap- 
point a  printer  to  print  his  proclamations,  the  orders  of 
government,  and  his  laws;  that,  in  England,  the  house 
of  commons  appointed  a  printer,  to  print  their  votes  and 
resolutions  only;  that  when  the  printing  of  the  kii\g's 
orders,  proclamations  and  laws,  was  attended  with  an 
expense,  it  was  the  duty  and  privilege  of  the  lower 


/ 


190  CHAPTER  [1764 

house,  to  raise  and  provide  an  adequate  sum.  He, 
therefore,  repeated  his  request.  The  house  answered, 
they  did  not  deny  the  king's  prerogative;  but  they 
were  of  opinion,  the  appointment  of  a  printer  to  the  pro- 
vince, was  the  inherent  right  of  the  people  they  repre- 
sented ;  and,  although  they  deemed  it  inconsistent  with 
their  duty  to  their  constituents,  to  burden  them  with 
the  salary  of  an  officer,  in  whose  appointment  their  con- 
currence was  unnecessary,  they  would  allow  to  Andrew 
Stewart,  one  hundred  pounds,  as  a  compensation  for 
his  trouble  and  expense  in  coming  to  the  province,  out 
of  the  contingent  fund. 

Very  few  acts  were  passed  at  this  session :  the  court 
laws,  which  were  about  expiring,  were  continued:  some 
amendments  were  made  to  the  pilotage  and  inspection 
laws. 

In  closing  the  session,  governor  Dobbs  observed, 
that,  it  being  probable  he  should  meet  them  again  be- 
fore his  departure,  he  would  prorogue  them  for  a  short 
time  ;  and  that,  in  case  he  received  any  command  from 
the  king,  he  might  call  them  again.  He  added,  it  was  his 
duty  to  inform  the  lower  house,  that  by  hasty  and  in- 
considerate resolutions,  suffering  themselves  to  be  over- 
ruled by  young  members,  not  rightly  acquainted  with 
the  constitution  of  the  mother  country,  or  the  colonies, 
they  had  interfered  in  the  exercise  of  the  executive  pow- 
ers, which  the  king  had  delegated  to  the  governor,  by 
attempting  to  dispose  of  moneys,  already  raised  and  un- 
appropriated, arising  from  the  surplus  of  certain  funds, 
and  the  service  for  which  they  were  granted.  He 
concluded,  that  in  what  manner  soever  this  advice  was 
received,  he  should  ever  think  it  his  duty,  to  lay  the  loy- 


1765]  THE  SIXTH.  ISl 

alty  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  provirxe  before  the  king, 
in  the  most  favorable  light. 

In  the  complimentary  addresses,  which  the  announced 
departure  of  the  chief  magistrate  called  from  the  houses, 
the  upper  house  testified  their  high  sense  of  the  many 
and  im[)ortant  services  derived  to  the  province,  during 
his  administration,  while  the  other  spoke  only  of  his 
zeal  in  promoting  the  rights  of  the  crown  :  they  said 
that  his  faithful  representation  of  their  loyalty,  and  known 
attachment  to  their  sovereign,  was  an  office  of  right,  to 
which  they  hoped  they  were  entitled,  and  from  thence 
doubted  not  of  its  being  faithfully  performed. 

On  the  rise  of  the  legislature,  accounts  reached  the 
town  of  Wilmington,  of  some  serious  disturbances  in 
the  county  of  Orange,  the  cause  or  pretence  of  which, 
was  stated  to  be,  the  exactions  of  the  clerks,  registers, 
and  some  of  the  attorneys,  in  requiring  illegal  and  exor- 
bitant fees.  Governor  Dobbs,  with  a  view  to  remedy 
this  evil,  issued  his  proclamation,  forbidding  such  illegal 
practices. 

He  did  not  live  to  perform  his  intended  voyage  ;  but 
died  at  his  seat  on  Town  creek,  in  the  countv  of  Bruns- 
wick,  near  the  town  of  that  name,  on  the  28th  of  March, 
in  the  82d  year  of  his  age. 

The  gentlemen,  who  sat  in  council  during  governor 
Dobbs'  administration,  were  James  Hasell,  Mathew 
Rowan,  James  Murray,  Francis  Corbin,  John  Daw- 
son, Lewis  H.  de  Rossett,  John  Rieusett,  James 
Jones,  John  Swann,  John  Rutherfurd,  Richard  Spaight, 
Edward  B.  Dobbs,  Charles  Berry,  John  Sampson, 
Henry  E.  M'Cullough,  Alexander  M'Cullough,  Wil- 
liam Dry,  I^obert  Palmer  and  Benjamin  Herron. 


192  CHAPTER.  [1765 

The  chief  judicial  seat  was  successively  filled  by 
James  Hasell,  Peter  Henley,  and  Charles  Berry. 
George  Nicholas,  Joseph  Anderson,  Charles  Elliot, 
and  Thomas  Childs,  served  in  the  office  of  attorney 
general. 


Chalmers — Marshall— Records* 


CHAPTER  VII. 

William  Try  on  was  qualified,  as  commander  in 
chief  of  the  province,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1765,  in  the 
town  of  Wilmington. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  George  Whitfield,  a 
celebrated  Methodist  preacher,  visited  this  province,  on 
his  way  from  Charleston  to  Boston.  He  preached  in 
several  of  the  principal  towns,  and,  generally,  to  a  large 
audience. 

Great  riots  happened  in  the  county  of  Mecklenburg, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  May.  Henry  E. 
M'Cullough,  a  member  of  the  council,  who  acted  as 
attorney  of  George  A.  Selwyn,  who  possessed  large 
tracts  of  land  in  that  county,  having  employed  JohnFro- 
h6ck  to  survey  them,  a  number  of  armed  men,  in  dis- 
guise, with  their  faces  blackened,  forcibly  compelled  him 
to  desist. 

The  lieutenant  governor  met  the  legislative  body,  on 
its  third  session,  in  the  town  of  Wilmington,  on  the  3d 
of  May. 

After  a  short  encomium  on  his  predecessor's  ad- 
ministration, he  advised  the  houses  to  improve  the 
hour  of  tranquility  in  promoting  the  internal  pol- 
ity v>f  the  province:  as  one  of  the  best  means  of 
doing  so,  he  recommended  a  strict  inquiry  into  the 
state  of  the  public  funds  and  an  inviolable  observ- 

N.  CARD.   II.  25 


194  OHAPTER  '  [1765^ 

-   ance  of  public  engagements.     He  added,  he  was 
instructed  to  request  the  passage  of  a  bill,  making 
a  better  provision  for  an  orthodox  clergy  and  point- 
ed out  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  clergyman  m 
each  parish,  whose  salary  suould  be  paid  out  of  the 
public  treasury.     He  advised  such  gentlemen,  as 
were  members  of  the  church  of  England,  to  reflect 
on  the  present  state  of  that  church  in  the  province, 
and  the  little  prospect  there  was  of  its  ever  being 
properly  established,  if  they  any  longer  suffered 
the  clergy  of  their  profession,  to  lie  under  so  general 
neglect.     He  further  added,  he  grounded  his  asser- 
tion on  the  increasing  number  of  sectaries,  who,  in 
a  short  time,  might  find  themsslves  the  majority  of 
public  assemblies;  each  of  Nvhom,  might  then  possi- 
bly incline  to  establish  his  own  persuasion,  in  pre- 
ference to  the  established  religion  at  home:  he  ex- 
pressed his  hopes  that,  from  these  observations,  it 
would  not  be  concluded  he  was  an  enemy  to  tolera- 
tion; he  professed  himself  its  advocate,  but  observ- 
ed, he  had  never  heard  toleration   urged  in  any 
country,  as  an  argument  to  exempt  dissenters  from 
their  share  of  the  support  of  the  established  church. 

He  recommended  to  the  lower  house,  to  make 
some  provision  to  enable  the  postmaster  general  to 
establish  a  line  of  post  roads  through  the  province 
of  North  Carolina. 

A  committee  of  the  legislature  was  appointed  to 
contract  with  the  postmaster  general,  for  conveying 
the  mail  from  Suffolk  to  South  Carolina,  and  an  ap- 
propriation was  made  for  that  purpose.  A  clergy 
act  was  passed,  directing  the  church  wardens   to 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  iS5 

provide  a  sufficient  glebe  and  allow  a  salary  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-thrse  poucids  eighteen  shillings 
to  a  minister  in  eacii  parish. 

Rumours  vvere  prevailing  through  the  continent, 
that  the  stamp  act  was  passed  by  parliament,  al- 
though it  did  not  receive  the  king's  assent  till  the 
22d  of  March;  a  great  ferment  ensued;  information 
reached  the  province,  of  great  murmurs  among  the 
people,  principally  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia; 
the  lieutenant  governor,  appn^iensive  that  the  low- 
er house  were  about  o  enter  into  some  resolutions, 
expressive  of  their  sentiments  on  that  subject,  sud- 
denly prorogued  the  legislature  on  the  1 8th  of  May, 
until  the  30th  of  November,  to  meet  at  Newbern. 

A  general  consternation  now  pervaded  the  Amer- 
ican provinces.  In  the  city  of  New-York,  the  act 
was  printed  and  hawked  about  the  streets,  under 
the  title  of  The  folly  of  England  and  the  ruin  of 
America:  in  that  of  Philadelphia,  the  guns  at  the 
fort  and  the  barracks  were  found  spiked,  to  the 
great  surprise  and  uneasiness  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  legislature  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  being  in 
session  when  accounts  of  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
reached  Williamsburg,  the  house  of  burgesses  took 
this  fatal  measure  into  consideration.  After  pre- 
mising that  the  British  house  of  commons  had 
drawn  into  question,  the  power  of  the  general  as- 
sembly of  the  province,  to  enact  laws  for  laying 
taxes  and  imposing  duties  on  the  inhabitants,  they 
resolved,  (in  order  to  fix  the  true  principle  of  the 
constitution)  that  the  first  settlers  of  the  colony  of 
Virginia  brought   with   them,   and   transmitted  to 


.* 


196  CHAPTER  [1765 

their  posterity  and  all  other  subjects  of  the  king, 
residing  in  the  colony,  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  their 
rights,  in  this  very  important  respect,  were  after- 
wards acknowledged  by  two  royal  charters;  that 
the  colonists  had  enjoyed  the  right  of  being  govern- 
ed by  their  own  legislature,  in  the  article  of  taxes 
and  internal  polity,  a  right  which  they  never  had 
forfeited  or  yielded  up,  but  which  had  been  con- 
stantly recognized  by  the  king  and  people  of  Great 
Britain;  that  the  general  assem>  ly  of  the  colony, 
together  with  the  king's  representative,  had  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  levy  taxes  and  impositions  upon  the 
inhabitants,  and  that  every  attempt  to  vest  such  a 
power  in  any  other  person  or  body  of  men,  was  ille- 
gal, unconstitutional  and  unjust,  and  had  a  tendency 
to  destroy  British,  as  well  as  American  freedom. 

Meetings  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  of  Eden- 
ton,  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  were  called,  and  in 
each, resolutions  were  entered, expressing  their  utter 
abhorence  of  the  late  measures  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment and  a  hearty  concurrence  with  the  sentiments 
expressed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  provin- 
ces. The  consternation,  thus  excited,  was  increas- 
ed by  a  renewal  of  the  disturbances,  in  the  county 
of  Orange,  which  had  now  spread  into  the  adjacent 
county  of  Granville.  The  great  scarcity  of  a  circu- 
lating medium  was  now  severely  felt  in  those  parts 
of  the  province,  distant  from  the  commercial  towns, 
and  the  distresses  attending  the  recovery  of  com- 
paratively small  sums,  by  the  expensive  process  of 
a  suit  in  the  superior  court,  enhanced  perhaps  by 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  197 

the  misconduct  of  some  of  the  officers,  had  ex- 
cited murmurs,  which  were  now  succeeded  by  com- 
binations to  seek  reHef  and  redress.  On  ihe  6th  of 
June,  a  paper  was  circulated  at  Nutbusli,  in  the 
county  of  Granville,  entitled  '*a  serious  address  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  the  county  of  Granville,  con- 
taining a  brief  narrative  of  our  deplorable  situation 
and  the  wrongs  we  suffer  and  some  necessary  hints 
with  respect  to  a  reformation."  It  had  for  epigraph, 
this  line  of  Pope,  save  my  country^  heavens^  shall  be 
my  last,  the  writer  was  an  illiterate  man,  but  the 
sentiments  were  expressed  with  clearness,  force  and 
energy. 

In  the  month  of  June,  the  house  of  representa- 
tives of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  unanimous- 
ly agreed  to  propose  a  meeting  of  committees  of  the 
houses  of  representatives  or  burgesses  of  the  sever- 
al British  provinces,  to  consult  together,  on  the 
circumstances  of  the  colonies  and  the  difficulties  to 
which  they  were,  or  must  be  reduced,  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  acts  of  parliament,  for  levying  duties  and 
taxes  on  the  colonies,  and  to  consider  of  a  general 
united,  dutiful,  loyal  and  humble  representation  of 
their  condition  to  the  king,  and  to  implore  relief. 
The  speaker  was  directed  to  address  the  speakers 
of  the  respective  assemblies  and  to  inform  them 
that  the  house  proposed  such  a  meeting  to  be  held 
in  the  city  of  New-York,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  Oc- 
tober, and  had  appointed  their  members  to  attend 
that  service. 

In  tlic  town  of  Providence,  a  meeting  of  the  free- 
men [was  called  early  in  August,  "to  confer  on  such 


198  CHAPTER  •       [1765 

measures,  as  should  appear  to  them,  necessary,  relative 
to  the  stamp  act,  whereby  the  darling  boast  of  the  British 
North  American  subjects,  which  were  once  deemed  in- 
defeasible, must  be  greatly  abridged,  if  not  totally  anni- 
hilated." At  this  meeting,  their  representatives  were 
instructed,  strenuously  to  resist  the  incroachment. 

Similar  steps  were,  at  the  same  time,  taken  in  the  pro. 
vince  of  South  Carolina. 

In  the  town  of  Boston,  two  effigies  were  found  hang- 
ing, on  a  limb  of  a  great  tree,  at  the  southern  extrem- 
ity of  the  town,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  Au- 
gust.    By  the  label,  fastened  to  one  of  them,  it  appear- 
ed designed  to  represent  a  stamp  officer,  the  other  was  a 
jack  boot,  with  a  head  and  horns,  peeping  out  at  the  top. 
A  great  concourse  of  people  soon  assembled,  whose  ar- 
dor was  much  inflamed  by  that  sight.     The  images  were 
taken  down,  placed  on  a  bier,  supported  by  six  men 
and  carried  in  procession,   through  the  town,  followed 
by  a  multitude  of  people  of  all  ranks,  in  regular  order, 
crying  liberty,  property,  no  stamp.     They  marched  to 
a  building,  lately  erected,  which  was  suj)posed  to  be  in- 
tended for  a  stamp  office  and  razed  it  to  the  ground; 
then  taking  up  the  wood  work  of  it,  they  carried  it  in 
procession,  with  the  images,  to  Tree  Hill,  where  they 
demolished  the  barn  and  fences:  they  were  about  return- 
ing, when  the  indiscretion  of  a  person  within    inflamed 
them  to  such  a  degree  that  they  entered  the  house  and 
did  considerable  mischief. 

On  the  following  day,  the  person,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed stamp  master,  resigned  his  office.  The  popu- 
lace assembled  again,  intending  further  mischief,  but 
bearing  of  this  circumstance,  proceeded  to  his  gate,  gave 
three  cheers  and  dispersed  quietly. 


17655  THE  SEVENTH.  19.9 

In  the  province  of  Connecticut,  Jared  Ingersol,  the 
stamp  master,  was  compelled  to  resign  his  office. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  the  people  of  the  town  of 
Newport,  in  the  province  of  Rhode  Island,  brought 
forth  three  effigies  in  a  cart,  with  halters  about  their 
necks,  to  a  gallows,  about  twenty  feet  high,  erected  near 
the  town  house,  where  they  were  hanged,  cut  down  and 
burnt,  at  the  acclamations  of  thousand.  On  the  next 
evening,  they  assembled  again  and  beset  the  houses  of 
Martin  Howard  and  Thomas  Mossat,  which  they  burnt 
and  destroyed,  with  the  furniture,  leaving  them  mere 
shells.  They  proceeded  down  to  the  house  of  Augus- 
tin  Johnson,  the  stamp  master,  with  the  intention  of  de- 
stroying it  also,  but  it  being  represented  to  them  that  it 
was  the  property  of  another  person,  they  insisted  on  his 
furniture  being  surrendered  to  them:  they  were,  how- 
ever, pacified  on  his  resigning  his  office,  Martin  How- 
ard and  Thomas  Mossat,  finding  the  resentment  of  the 
people  highly  risen  against  them,  thought  their  persons 
in  danger  and  sought  shelter  on  board  the  Syren  ship  of 
war,  in  which  they  sailed  for  England. 

Early  in  the  month  of  September,  the  stamp  paper, 
for  the  use  of  the  provinces  of  New  England,  arrived 
at  Boston,  but  governor  Barnard,  by  the  advice  of  the 
council,  lodged  them  in  Castle  William.  This  mea- 
sure averted  fresh  tumults,  for  the  populace  had  deter- 
mijied  on  making  a  bonfire  of  them;  and  some  individ- 
uals expressed  great  chagrin  at  the  disappointment. 

On  the  20th,  the  lawyers,  attending  the  supreme  court 
of  New  Jersey,  at  South  Amboy,  had  a  meeting,  at  the 
request  of  the  chief  justice,  and,  after  protesting  against 
all  kinds  of  riotous  or  indecent  behavior,  uhich  they 
resolved  to  discountenance,  by  all  means  in  their  power. 


0    0  CHAPTER      ^  [1765 

determined,  by  an  absolute  refusal  to  make  use  of  the 
stamps  and  other  quiet  methods,  to  endeavor  to  procure 
the  repeal  of  the  act. 

'  The  legislature  of  the  province  of  Maryland  met  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  September,  but  the  con- 
fused situation  of  the  country  prevented  ihem  from  en- 
tering on  business.  The  lower  house  appointed  a  com- 
mittee, according  to  the  recommendation  of  the  house  of 
representatives  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  and 
entered  into  a  number  of  resolutions,  nearly  in  the  same 
spirit  as  those  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  of  the  province 
of  Virginia. 

On  the  5th  of  October,  the  stamps,  for  the  use  of  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania,  reached  the  port  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  ship  which  brought  them,  had  stopped  for  a 
while  at  New  Castle,  under  the  protection  of  a  ship  of 
war,  which  came  up  with  her.  As  soon  as  these  ships 
appeared  round  Gloucester  point,  all  the  vessels  in  the 
harbor  hoisted  their  colors  half  staff  high;  the  bells  were 
muffled  and  kept  tolling  till  the  evening;  every  counte- 
nance  adding  to  the  appearance  of  sincere  mourning. 
At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  several  thousand  citi- 
zens met  round  the  state  house,  to  consult  on  the  means 
of  preventing  the  execution  of  the  stamp  act.  It  was 
agreed  to  send  a  deputation  of  five  persons,  to  John 
Hughes,  the  stamp  master,  who  was  confined  to  bed  by 
sickness,  to  request  he  would  resign  his  office.  He  rea- 
dily declared,  that  no  act  of  his  would  assist  in  carrying 
the  act  into  effect,  till  it  was  generally  complied  with. 
When  the  committee  returned  to  the  state  house  and 
made  their  report,  the  citizens  were  enraged  and  could, 
with  great  difficult} ,  be  prevailed  on  not  to  proceed 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  201 

to  violent  measures,  notwithstanding  the  committee 
represented  the  stamp  master,  as  at  the  point  of 
death.  However,  yielding  to  the  compassion  which 
this  circumstance  excited,  they  determined  on  mak- 
ing their  application  in  writing  and  giving  their 
townsman  some  time  to  determine  on  his  reply. 
Accordingly,  on  the  Monday  following,  the  commit- 
tee,  who  had  again  called  on  him,  brought  his  WTit- 
ten  declaration,  that  he  had  not  hitherto,  taken  any 
step,  tending  to  put  the  late  act  of  parliament  into 
effect  within  the  province,  or  in  any  of  the  coun- 
ties of  New  Castle,  Kent  and  Sussex,  fo  which  his 
commission  extended,  and  that  he  would  not,  either 
by  himself  or  his  deputies,  do  any  thing,  that  should 
have  the  least  tendency  to  put  the  act  into  execu, 
tion,  unless  it  was  generally  carried  into  effect  in 
the  neighboring  colonies.  On  this,  the  people  qui- 
etly dispersed. 

A  cono:ress,  formed  of  a  committee  from  the  dif- 
ferent  provinces,  except  those  of  New  Hampshire, 
Rhode  Island,  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  met,  ac- 
cording to  the  recommendation  of  the  house  of  re- 
presentatives of  the  province  of  Massachusetts:  that 
of  North  Carolina  was  not  represented,  the  lower 
house  not  having  had  an  opportunity  of  choosing 
members;  and,  most  likely,  the  absence  of  gentle- 
men from  the  other  provinces,  unrepresented,  was 
owing  to  the  same  cause. 

The  congress,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  mem- 
bers, prepared  and  forwarded  addresses  to  the  king 
and  each  of  the  houses  of  parliament,  and  formed 
and  subscribed  an  instrument,  which  they  dignified 

N.    CARD.   II.  26 


2(B        .  CHAPTER  [1765 

with  the  appellation  of  "a  declaration  of  the  rights 
and  grievances  of  their. constituents." 

In  the  preamble,  the  congress  stated,  that,  sin- 
cerely devoted,  with  the  warmest  sentiments  of  af- 
fection and  duty,  to  the  king's  person  and  govern- 
ment and  inviolably  attached  to  the  actual  estab- 
lishment of  the  protestant  succession,  and,  with 
minds,  deeply  impressed  by  a  sense  of  the  present 
and  impending  misfortunes  of  the  British  colonies 
on  the  continent,  having  considered  as  maturely  as 
time  would  permit,  the  circumstance  of  the  colonies, 
they  esteemed  it  their  indispensable  duty,  to  make  a 
humble  declaration  of  their  opinions,  respecting  the 
most  essential  rights  and  liberties  of  the  colonists 
and  of  the  grievances  they  labored  under,  by  reason 
of  several  late  acts  of  parliament. 

They  declared,  that  the  colonists  owed  allegiance  to 
the  crown,  and  all  due  submission  to  the  two  houses  of 
parliament,  and  were  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  sub» 
jects  born  within  the  realm  ;  that  it  was  essential  to  the 
freedom  of  a  people,  to  be  taxed  only  with  their  own  con« 
sent ;  that  the  colonies  neither  were,  nor  could,  from 
their  local  circumstances,  be  represented  in  the  British 
house  of  commons,  and,  consequently,  their  only  repre- 
sentatives were  in  the  colony  legislatures  ;  and,  except 
hy  them,  no  tax  had  ever  been,  nor  ever  could  be  impo- 
sed on  them;  that  supplies  being  gifts,  the  commons  of 
Great  Britain  could  not,  constitutionally,  grant  away  the 
property  of  the  colonists ;  that  the  trial  by  jury,  was 
a  right  of  the  subject ;  that  the  stamp  act,  and  the  other 
late  acts  of  parliament,  tended  to  subvert  that  right;  that 
the  duties  lately  imposed  were  grievances,  and  the  pay- 


1165]  THE  SEVENTH.  203 

ment  of  them  impracticable ;  that  the  profits  of  the 
commerce  of  the  colonies  centering  in  Great  Britain, 
they,  thereby,  largely  contributed  to  all  supplies ;  that 
the  late  parliamentary  restrictions,  prevented  them  from 
purchasing  the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain  ;  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  colonies  depended  on  the  enjoyment 
of  their  rights,  and  a  mutual  beneficial  intercourse,  with 
the  mother  country;  that  it  was  the  right  of  the  subject, 
to  petition  king,  lords  and  commons,  and  the  duty  of 
the  congress,  by  a  loyal  and  dutiful  address  to  the  king^ 
and  a  humble  application  to  both  houses  of  parliament, 
to  procure  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  and  others  re- 
stricting trade,  and  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
admiralty. 

On  the  2-2d  of  October,  the  stamp  paper,  for  the  pro- 
vince of  New  York,  was  received :  the  same  demon- 
strations of  grief  and  mourning  were  exhibited  on  this 
occasion,  as  in  the  other  provinces.  Lieutenant  gover- 
nor Golden  sent  to  Mr.  M'Ever,  to  take  care  of  the 
papers;  but  he  declined  having  any  thing  to  do  with 
them:  they  were  lodged  in  Fort  George. 

In  the  last  week  of  October,  George  Mercer,  distri- 
buter of  the  stamps,  for  the  province  of  Virginia,  landed 
at  Hampton.  He  met  with  some  rude  treatment  from 
the  mob,  who,  by  the  interposition  of  some  influential 
gentlemen,  were  prevailed  on  to  disperse  without  any  ill 
consequences  following.  When  he  arrived  in  Wil- 
liamsburg, as  he  was  waking  towards  the  capitol,  on 
his  way  to  the  governor's,  he  was  accosted  by  a  number 
of  gentlemen  from  different  parts  of  the  province,  (the 
general  court  being  then  sitting)  who  insisted  on  his 
immediately  satisfying  the  company,  which  was  con- 
stantly increasing,  whether  he  intended  to  enter  on  the 


^04  CHAPTER  [176.5 

duties  of  his  office.  Seeing  himself  completely  sur- 
rounded, he  answered,  that  any  reply  he  might  then 
make  would  be  attributed  to  fear,  and  begged  to  be  al- 
lowed to  wait  on  the  governor  and  council,  in  order  to 
obtain  correct  information  of  the  sentiments  of  the  col- 
ony, and  afterwards  meet  his  countrymen  and  give  them 
an  answer.  This  seemed  to  give  satisfaction,  and  he 
was  accompanied  to  the  coffee-house,  where  the  gover- 
nor, most  of  the  council  and  a  great  number  of  other 
gentlemen,  were  assembled.  The  crowd,  in  the  mean 
while,  increased,  and  growing  impatient,  insisted  on  a 
more  speedy  and  satisfactory  answer,  declaring  they 
would  not  disperse  till  it  was  obtained  :  upon  which, 
George  Mercer  coming  forward,  and  promising  a  cate- 
gorical answer,  by  five  o'clock  the  next  evening :  he 
met  with  no  further  molestation. 

At  the  time  appointed,  he  was  met  at  the  capitol  by 
a  vast  concourse  of  people,  among  whom  were  the 
principal  merchants  in  the  colony,  when  a  committee, 
chosen  for  the  purpose,  informed  him,  he  was  then  to 
look  upon  himself  as  in  the  presence  of  the  colony,  and 
demanded  the  answer  he  had,  on  the  preceding  day,  pro- 
mised them.  He  then  addressed  the  meeting,  in  a 
speech  of  considerable  length,  and  concluded  he  would 
have  been  glad,  to  have  had  it  in  his  power  to  have  acted 
in  such  a  manner,  as  would  have  justified  him  to  his 
friends  and  countrymen,  in  the  province,  and  to  the  per- 
sons from  whom  he  derived  his  appointment ;  but  the 
time  allowed  to  him  was  so  short,  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  discover  that  happy  medium.  He  therefore,  en- 
treated the  gentlemen  present,  to  be  referred  to  his  fu- 
ture conduct,  with  this  assurance,  that  he  would  not, 
directly  or  indirectly,  by  himself  or  his  deputies,  pro- 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  20b 

ceed  in  the  execution  of  the  act,  until  he  received  fur- 
ther orders  from  England,  and  not  then,  without  the  as- 
sent of  the  general  assembly  of  the  province.  This  de- 
claration gave  so  general  a  satisfaction,  that  he  was  im- 
mediately born  out  of  the  capitol  gate,  amid  the  accla- 
mations of  all  persons  present,  and  carried  to  the  coffee- 
house, where  an  elegant  entertainment  was  provided. 
On  his  arrival,  the  acclamations  redoubled,  drums  beat, 
French  horns  and  other  musical  instruments  sounding. 
At  nio-ht  the  bells  were  set  a  rinscinsr,  and  the  whole  town 
illuminated. 

In  the  despatches  of  general  Conway,  the  secretary 
of  state  to  governor  Fanquin,  in  answer  to  the  commu- 
nication which  caused  the  resolutions,  of  the  29th  of 
May,  the  general  observed,  that  the  nature  of  the  thing 
induced  a  persuasion,  that  these  ill  advised  resolutions, 
owed  their  birth  to  the  violence  of  some  individuals, 
who,  taking  advantage  of  a  thin  assembly,  so  far  pre- 
vailed, as  to  publish  their  own  uninformed  opinion  to 
the  world,  as  the  sentiments  of  the  colony  :  and  the 
king's  servants  persuaded  themselves,  that,  when  a  full 
assembly  should  calmly  and  maturely  deliberate  upon 
these  resolutions,  they  would  see,  and  be  themselves 
alarmed  at  the  dangerous  tendency  and  mischievous  con- 
sequences, both  to  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies. 

In  the  province  of  North  Carolina,  the  people,  at  all 
their  public  meetings,  manifested  their  high  approbation 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  pro- 
vinces;  and  lieutenant  governor  Tryon,  judging  from 
the  temper  of  the  people  that  it  would  be  unsafe  and 
dangerous,  to  allow  them  the  opportunity  of  expressing 
their  feelings,  by  allowing  a  session  of  the  legislative 
body,  in  these  days  of  ferment,  on  the  25th  of  October, 


^06  CHAPTER  [1705 

issued  bis  proclamation  to  prorogue  the  general  assem- 
bly, which  was  to  have  met  on  the  30th  of  November,  till 
the  12th  of  March,  assigning  as  a  reason  for  this  stop, 
that  there  appeared  to  be  no  immediate  necessity  for  their 
meetins:  at  that  time. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  the  merchants  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  came  to  a  resolution,  that  in  all  the  orders 
they  should  send  to  Great  Britain,  for  any  goods  what- 
ever, they  would  direct  them  not  to  be  shipped,  unless 
the  stamp  act  was  repealed  :  to  countermand  all  orders 
already  sent  out,  except  on  the  above  contingency:  not 
to  sell  any  goods,  sent  on  commission,  alter  the  1st  of 
January,  1766,  except  on  the  same  contingency. 
These  resolutions  were  to  be  binding,  until  abrogated 
at  a  future  general  meeting.  Two  hundred  of  the  prin- 
cipal persons  in  trade  subscribed  them.  In  conse- 
quence of  this,  the  shop  keepers  and  retailers,  subscri- 
bed an  obligation,  not  to  purchase  any  goods  shipped 
from  Great  Britain,  after  the  first  day  of  January,  1766, 
unless  the  stamp  act  was  repealed. 

At  Portsmouth,  in  the  province  of  New  Hampshire, 
the  inhabitants  being  informed,  that  Messerne,  the 
stamp  master,  intended,  notwithstanding  a  verbal  resig- 
nation of  the  office,  to  proceed  to  the  distribution  of  the 
stamps,  went  to  him  to  the  plains,  a  place  at  the  distance 
of  about  two  miles  from  the  town,  where  he  had  met 
the  king's  council,  and  there  judge  Warren,  one  of  the 
council,  administered  an  oath  to  him,  that  he  would  not 
execute  his  office  in  any  part  of  the  province.  This 
measure,  and  the  assurances,  given  by  the  council,  that 
the  stamps  would  remain  unopened,  satisfied  the  peo- 
ple, who  dispersed  quietly. 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  207 

On  the  1st  of  November,  the  day  on  which  the 
stamp  act  was  to  be  in  operation,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  of  New -York,  observing  unusual  movements  in 
the  fort,  were  much  displeased  and  alarmed.  In  the 
evening  they  assembled  in  great  numbers,  and,  preceded 
by  men  bearing  lighted  torches,  marched  to  the  fort, 
where  they  broke  open  the  stables  and  took  out  lieuten- 
ant governor  Colden's  carriage,  and  drove  it  through 
the  city  in  triumph,  to  the  commons,  where  a  gallows 
had  been  erected ;  and  an  effigy  of  the  lieutenant  go- 
vernor, with  a  label  on  its  breast  and  a  drum  on  its 
back,  was  hung  at  one  end,  and  a  figure  of  the  devil  at 
the  other.  They  then  marched  with  the  carriage,  gal- 
lows and  effigies,  in  grand  procession,  to  the  gate  of  the 
fort,  and  thence  to  the  bowling  green,  under  the  muzzle 
of  the  cannons,  where  all  was  consumed  in  a  bonfire, 
amidst  the  acclamations  of  several  thousands. 

On  the  next  evening,  it  being  reported  that  the  lieu- 
tenant  governor  had  qualified  as  stamp  master,  the  peo- 
ple assembled  again,  determined  to  march  to  the  fort  and 
obtain,  either  a  declaration,  that  he  would  not  distribute 
the  stamps,  or  that  they  should  be  delivered  into  their 
hands.  Lieutenant  governor  Golden,  having  received 
information  of  this,  published  a  declaration,  that  he  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  stamps;  but  leave  it  to  Sir 
Henry  Moore,  who  had  lately  been  appointed  governor 
of  the  province,  to  act  as  he  pleased,  on  his  arrival.  Still 
the  people  remained  unsatisfied,  and^  gathering  before 
the  lieutenant  governor's  house,  insisted  on  the  stamps 
being  delivered  out  of  the  fort,  threatening,  in  case  of 
his  refusal,  to  go  and  take  them  out  by  force.  On  this, 
captain  Kennedy,  of  the  king's  ship  Coventry,  was  ap- 
plied  to,  on  tlie  part  of  the  lieutenant  governor,  to  re- 


^08  CHAPTER  [17B5 

ceive  them  on  board;  but  he  absolutely  refused.  At 
length,  after  much  negotiation,  on  the  5th,  they  were  de- 
livered to  the  corporation,  and  lodged  in  the  city  hall,  to 
the  great  joy  of  the  people,  During  this  commotion, 
which  lasted  for  several  days,  all  the  cannons  on  Copsey 
battery,  the  king's  yard,  and  all  others  belonging  to 
the  merchants,  were  spiked,  to  prevent  the  populace 
making  use  of  them  to  obtain  the  stamps. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  the  merchants  and  shop- 
keepers, of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  entered  into  an  as- 
sociation, with  regard  to  a  commercial  non  intercourse, 
as  had  been  done  a  few  days  before  at  New- York. 
The  example  of  the  two  principal  trading  cities  was 
pretty  generally  followed  throughout  the  provinces. 

During  the  months  of  November  and  December, 
days  of  general  thanksgiving  and  prayer  for  the  success 
of  the  opposition  to  the  stamp  act,  through  the  colonies, 
wTre  observed  in  most  of  the  provinces. 

Towards  Christmas,  lieutenant  governor  Tryon  re- 
ceived a  commission  of  governor,  captain  general  and 
commander  in  chief.  This  circumstance  afforded  an 
opportunity  of  preventing  an  early  meeting  of  the  legis- 
lative body.  This  was  done  by  a  dissolution  of  the 
general  assembly,  by  proclamation  on  the  21st.  The 
qualification  of  the  chief  magistrate,  under  his  new 
commission,  was  laid  in  this  instrument,  to  make  it  ne- 
cessary that  the  present  assembly  should  be  dissolved. 

The  governor  received,  with  the  testimonial  of  his 
promotion,  a  circular  despatch  from  general  Conway, 
in  which  the  secretary,  after  expressing  the  great  con- 
cern with  which  government  had  heard  of  the  distur- 
bances in  America,  expressed  his  hope,  that  the  want 
of  confidence  in  the  justice  and  tenderness  of  the  mother 


1765]  THE  SEVENTH.  20S 

country,  manifested  by  the  colonies  in  their  open  re- 
sistance to  her  authority,  could  only  have  found  place 
among  the  lower  and  more  ignorant  part  of  the  people, 
and  the  better  and  wiser  would  know,  that  decency 
and  submission  might  prevail,  not  only  to  redress  griev- 
ances, but  to  obtain  grace  and  favor,  while  the  out- 
rage of  public  violence  could  expect  nothing  but  severity 
and  chastisement.  These  sentiments,  the  governor  and 
other  servants  of  the  king,  were  instructed  to  excite  and 
encourage.  They  were  directed  to  call  on  the  people, 
not  to  render  their  case  desperate,  and,  in  the  strongest 
colours,  to  represent  to  them  thf^  dreadful  consequences 
that  must  inevitably  attend  the  forcible  and  violent  re- 
sistance to  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  and  the  scenes 
of  calamity  among  th^^mselvesandof  mutual  weakness 
and  dissatisfaction  to  both  countries,  inseparable  from 
such  a  conduct.  The  secretary  added,  that  if  by  lenient 
and  persuasive  methods,  the  governors  could  contribute 
to  restore  peace  and  tranquility  to  the  provinces  over 
which  they  presided,  they  would  do  an  acceptable  ser- 
vice to  their  country;  but,, having  taken  every  step, which 
the  utmost  prudence  and  lenity  could  dictate,  in  com- 
passion to  the  folly  and  ignorance  of  some  misguided 
people,  they  ought  not  to  fail,  on  the  other  hand,  iu  using 
their  utmost  power  for  repelling  all  acts  of  violence  and 
outrage,  and  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  good  order  in  the  province,  by  such  timely  exertion 
of  force,  as  the  occasion  might  require.  For  that  pur- 
pose the  secretary  added,  that  early  application  should 
be  made  to  general  Gage  or  lord  Colvillc,  the  comman- 
ders in  chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  in  North  Ame- 
rica. 

\.  CARO.   ii.      27 


^10  CHAPTER  [1765 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  the  British  empire,  on 
the  American  continent,  was  divided  into  two  districts, 
jiorthern  and  southern,  bv  the  river  Potomac  and  a  due 
west  line  drawn  from  the  head  of  that  river.  A  sur- 
veyor general  was  appointed  in  each  district,  who  was 
desired  to  make  several  surveys  of  the  coast  and  rivers, 
in  order  to  facilitate  the  navigation  and  promote  the 
speedy  settlement  of  the  newly  acquired  territory. 
William  de  Brahm  was  appointed  in  the  southern  dis- 
trict. 

At  the  meeting  of  parliament,  in  January,  1766,  Wm. 
Pitt,  afterwards  lord  Chatham,  expressed  his  opinion, 
that  the  stamp  act  be  repealed  absolutely,  totally  and 
immediately,  and  the  reason  for  the  repeal  he  assigned 
was,  because  it  was  founded  on  an  erroneous  principle;  at 
the  same  time  that  the  sovereign  authority  of  Great  Brit- 
ain over  the  colonies  be  asserted,  in  as  strong  terms  as 
can  be  devised,  and  be  made  to  extend  to  every  point  of 
legislation  whatever,  that  parliament  may  bind  their 
trade,  confine  their  manufactures  and  exercise  every 
power,  but  that  of  taking  their  money,  out  of  their 
pockets,  without  their  consent. 

Early  in  the  year,  the  sloop  of  war,  the  Diligence,  ar- 
rived in  the  river  Cape  Fear,  having  on  board  the 
stamp  paper,  destined  for  the  use  of  the  province,  and  on 
the  6th  of  January,  the  governor  issued  a  proclamation, 
announcing  this  circumstance  and  calling  on  all  persons, 
authorized  to  act  as  distributors  of  the  stamps,  to  make 
application  therefor,  to  the  commander  of  the  sloop. 
But  on  the  first  notice  of  the  approach  of  this  vessel, 
colonel  John  Ashe,  of  the  county  of  New  Hanover  and 
colonel  Waddle,  of  the  county  of  Brunswick,  having 
embodied  the  militia  of  those  counties,  marched  at  the 


n66]  THE  SEVENTH.  211 

head  of  them  to  the  town  of  Brunswick,  before  which 
she  was  anchored  and  notified  the  commander  of  their 
determination  to  resist  the  landing  of  their  stamps.  It 
was  judged  best  not  to  make  the  attempt.  A  partv  was 
left  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  sloop  and  the  rest  of  the 
small  army  marched  to  the  town  of  Wilmington,  car- 
rying with  them  one  of  her  boats.  Having  fixed  a  mast 
in  her  with  a  flag,  they  hoibted  her  on  a  cart  and  drove 
triumphantly  through  the  strei:ts;  the  inhabitants  all 
joining  in  the  procession:  at  night  the  town  was  illumi- 
nated. On  the  next  day,  a  great  concourse  of  people, 
headed  by  colonel  Ashe,  proceeded  to  the  governor's 
house  and  demanded  to  speak  with  James  Houston,  one 
of  the  council,  who  had  been  appointed  stamp  master 
for  the  province.  The  governor,  at  first,  declared  his 
intention  not  to  allow  it,  unless  Houston  would  come 
willingly:  but  the  people  threatened  to  set  fire  to  the 
house  and  proceeded  to  make  preparations  therefor* 
The  governor  desired  the  colonel  to  step  in  a'nd  talk 
with  the  stamp  master,  who,  finding,  that  he  could  not 
act  in  his  office,  without  rendering  himself  obnoxious  to 
the  people,  voluntarily  accompanied  the  colonel  to  the 
street  and,  followed  by  a  great  concourse  of  people,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  market  place,  where  he  took  a  solemn 
oath  not  to  proceed  on  the  duties  of  his  office.  On 
which,  the  people  gave  three  cheers,  and  conducted  him 
back  to  the  governor's. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  February,  there  be- 
ing a  general  muster  in  the  town  of  Wilmington,  the 
governor,  with  a  view  to  please  the  militia,  caused  an  ox 
to  be  barbecued  and  had  a  few  barrels  of  beer  unheaded; 
but  the  people,  displeased  with  his  endeavors  to  coun- 
teract their  opposition  to  the  stamp  act,  threw  the  roast- 


'^12  CHAPTER  [1766 

ed  ox  into  the  river  and  spilled  the  beer  on  the  ground. 
^.  ^f^7jL  vjThis  behaviour  excited  the  resentment  of  the  officers  and 
JtT-rh  v^  i^^J^  of  the  sloop  of  v\^ar,  and  a  general  fight  ensued,  the 
,^>^t^^tt^Tioi  vi^as  continued  for  several  days  and  one  of  the  offi- 
.  ft  U^t^"    cers  was  killed  in  a  duel.     The  governor  caused  the 
V>>-  *^W-offender  to  be  apprehended  and  gave  orders  for  his  pro- 
</^v,  ^   secution.     He  was  acquitted  by  the  jury.     Chagrined 
'C*  n.  l7iX  ^t  this  disappointment,  the  governor  charged  chief  jus- 
'-  i^u*4^  ^^^^  Berry,  who  had  presided  at  tlie  trial,  with  having  fa- 
vvr-^ff*i,7  voured  the  defendant;  and,  although  the  chief  justice 
f-twJlt'l),  stooped  so  far  as  to  send  him  liis  notes  of  the  testimony, 
^  /,[;/p^.  the  governor  persisted  in  declaring  that  the  trial  had  not 
^^  /j^)^.  been  fairly  conducted.     The  chief  justice  soon  after 
Wx.  ^y  went  to  Edenton,  where  he  received  a  summons  to  at- 
f-m!  1^      tend  on  the  council  boards     He  had  been  so   much 
vT/j       affected  by  the  governor's  repioof,  that  he  took  it  for 
granted,  that  the  council  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
suspending  him.     He  called  on  a  gentleman  of  the  bar, 
and  imparting  his  fear,  begged  him  to  accompany  him 
to  the  council,  but  other  avocations  prohibiting  a  com- 
pliance,  he  set  off  alone.     On   his  arrival  in  town,  he 
waited  on  the  governor,  as  was  customary  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  council  to  do,  and  was  received  with  coldness. 
Confirmed  by  this  reception,  in  the  idea  he  had  formed, 
he  refused  to  yield  to  the  opinions  his  colleagues  gave 
him  that  the  council  was  called  on  the  ordinary  business 
of  the  province,  and  returning  to  his  lodgings,  fired  a 
pistol  in  his  own  mouth;  the  fire  not  proving  mortal,  he 
took  out  his  pen-knife  and,  ripping  open  his  belly,  drew 
out  part  of  his  entrails  and  soon  after  expired. 

Writs  of  election  had  been  issued,  soon  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  general  assembly,  in  December,  and  the 
m\Y  legislative  body   was  to  assemble  on  the  22d  of 


1766]  THE  SEVENTH.  213 

April,  the  governor,  apprehending  danger  from  their 
convening^  while  the  public  mind  was  in  irritation,  on 
the  26th  of  February  prorogued  the  general  assembly  to 
the  30th  of  October. 

In  the  month  of  March,  the  British  parliament  yield- 
ing to  the  voice  the  nation,  the  stamp  act  was  repeal- 
ed. 

That  the  ministry  might  not  seem  wanting  in  their  en- 
deavors to  preserve  the  authority  of  the  parent  country, 
with  tiie  repealing  act,  another  was  passed  to  indemnify 
those  who,  on  its  account,  had  incurred  penalties,  and 
the  American  provinces  were  required  to  compensate 
the  individuals,  wiio  had  suffered  from  their  obedience  to 
government,  during  the  commotions,  which  the  attempt 
to  carry  the  act  into  effect  had  excited.  A  statute  was 
also  passed  for  a  formal  declaration  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  parent  state  and  the  dependence  of  the  colonies.  The 
resolutions,  orders  and  votes  of  the  colonial  assemblies 
denying  this  supremacy  and  dependence,  and  the  power 
of  the  British  parliament  to  lay  taxes  in  the  colonies, 
were  declared  null  and  void,  illegal,  derogatary  to  the 
legislative  authority  of  the  mother  country  and  the  de- 
pendence of  the  provinces  upon  the  crown. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  the  governor  received  a  des- 
patch from  general  Conway,  of  the  21st  of  March, 
with  copies  of  two  acts  of  parliament;  the  first  for 
securing  the  due  dependency  of  the  colonies  on  the 
mother  country,  the  other  for  the  repeal  of  the  act  of 
last  session,  granting  certain  stamp  duties  in  America, 
expressing  a  hope  to  have  soon  to  forward  a  third, 
ibr  the  indemnity  of  such  persons,  as  had  incurred  tlie 
penalties  impoosed  by  the  repealed  act. 


514  CHAPTER  [1766 

The  secretary  observed  that,  the  moderation,  the  for- 
bearance and  the  unexampled  lenity  and  tenderness  of 
parliament  towards  the  colonies,  which  were  so  signally 
displayed  in  those  acts,  could  but  dispose  the  pro- 
vince, committed  to  the  governor's  care,  to  a  return 
of  cheerful  obedience  to  the  laws  and  legislative  author- 
ity of  Great  Britain,  and  to  those  sentiments  of  respect- 
ful gratitude  to  the  mother  country,  which  were  natural, 
and  which  the  secretary  expected  would  be  the  entire 
effect  of  so  much  grace  and  condescension,  so  recently 
manifested  on  the  part  of  his  majesty's  parliament. 

He  added,  that  the  future  happiness  and  prosperity 
of  the  colonies  would  very  much  depend  on  the  testi- 
monies they  would  give  of  these  dispositions;  for,  as  a 
dutiful  and  affectionate  return  for  these  peculiar  proofs  of 
indulgence  and  affection,  might,  at  tl^is  great  crisis,  be  a 
means  of  fixing  the  mutual  interest  and  melioration  of 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  on  the  most  firm  founda- 
tion; it  could  not  but  appear  visible,  that  the  coolness  or 
unthankfulness,  the  least  murmuring  or  dissatisfaction 
on  any  ground  whatever,  too  much  heat  or  too  much 
prevailing  prejudice,  might  totally  endanger  the  union, 
and  give  the  most  severe  and  affecting  blow  to  the  fu- 
ture interests  of  both  countries. 

He  said  that,  so  full  of  true  magnanimity  %vere  the 
sentiments  of  the  king  and  of  parliament,  so  free  from  the 
smallest  colour  of  passion  or  prejudice,  that  they  seem- 
ed disposed  not  only  to  forgive,  but  to  forget  those  ve- 
ry unjustifiable  marks  of  an'  undutiful  disposition,  too 
frequent  in  the  late  transactions  of  the  colonies;  and 
consequently  a  revision  of  the  late  American  trade 
laws  was  to  be  the  immediate  object  of  the  attention 
of  parliament,  so  as  to  give  to  the  trade  and  interest  of 


1766 J  THE  SEVENTH.  215 

the  colonies  every  relief  which  the  true  state  of  their 
circumstances  demanded  or  admitted. 

He  added,  that  nothing  would  tend  more  effectually 
to  every  conciliatory  purpose,  and  there  was  nothing 
which  he  had  in  command  more  earnestly  to  request 
from  the  governor,  than  that  he  would  exert  himself 
in  recommeding  it  strongly  to  the  assembly,  that  a 
full  and  ample  compensation  be  made  to  those  w^ho  from 
the  madness  of  the  people  had  suffered  for  their  obedience 
to  acts  of  the  British  legislature,  and  to  request  that 
the  governor  might  be  particularly  attentive  that  such 
persons  be  effectually  secured  from  any  further  in- 
sult, and  that  he  should  take  care,  by  his  example  and 
influence,  that  they  might  be  treated  with  that  respect  to 
their  persons,  and  that  justice  in  regard  to  all  their  pre- 
tentions, which  their  merits  and  sufferings  claimed. 

In  performance  of  the  directions  of  the  minister,  on 
the  governor's  report  of  the  disturbances  in  the  county 
of  Granville,  which  now  began  to  spread  into  those  of 
Orange  and  Anson,  a  proclamation  was  issued,  in  the 
king's  name,  on  the  25th  of  June,  stating  that  great  com- 
plaints had  been  received,  and  exorbitant  fees  were 
demanded  in  several  offices  in  the  province,  to  the  great 
dishonor  of  the  king's  services  and  the  prejudice  of  his 
subjects,  strictly  charging  all  public  officers  whatever, 
to  restrain  themselves  to  the  fees  authorized  by  law, 
and  the  same  day,  the  governor,  by  proclamation,  an- 
nounced the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  expressing  his  hope 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  would  return  to  a 
cheerful  obedience  to  the  legislative  authority  of  Great 
Britain,  on  which  the  future  prosperity  of  the  colonies 
greatly  depended. 


2i6  CHAPTER.  [176S 

On  the  26th  of  June,  the  mayor,  recorder  and  alder- 
men of  Wihuington,  presented  an  address  to  .governor 
Tryon,  congratulating  him  on  the  repeal  of  the  stamp 
act  and  on  the  happy  prospect  of  the  union  and  har- 
mony, thereby  established  between  the  colonies  and  the 
mother  country.  They  expressed  their  most  respect- 
ful acknowledgments  to  the  supreme  legislature  of 
Great  Britain  for  their  care  and  attention  in  protecting 
the  inhabitants  of  his  majesty's  extensive  American  do- 
minions, in  the  enjoyment  of  that  inestimable  blessing, 
liberty,  and  releasing  them  from  a  burden  they  were  un- 
able to  bear. 

The  address  concluded  by  expressing  great  concern, 
on  the  many  misrepresentations  that  had  been  made  to 
the  governor  of  the  transactions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Wilmington  and  several  of  the  adjacent  counties,  since 
the  arrival  of  the  stamps. 

The  governor  expressed  himself  at  a  loss  how  to 
answer  the  latter  part  of  the  address,  and  declared  that 
the  impression,  he  had  received  of  the  conduct  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  borough,  arose  from  a  behaviour  that 
came,   immediately,  under  his  own  observation. 

This  produced  a  letter  from  the  mayor,  John  De 
Rosset  and  several  gentlemen  of  the  borough,  nine- 
teen in  number,  who  expressed  the  extreme  sorrow 
they  felt  at  some  expressions  in  the  governor's  answer, 
which  might  be  construed  to  charge  the  borough,  with 
some  marks  of  intentional  disrespect,  which  they  dis- 
claimed, and  should  sincerely  condemn,  as  inconsistent 
with  the  dutiful  affection  towards  the  king's  represen- 
tative, which  they  should  always  cultivate,  with  the 
grateful  return  of  sentiment  which  his  personal  merit 
justly  claimed. 


1T66]  THE  SEVENTH.  217 

They  concluded  that  if,  oppressed  by  the  late  act, 
some  commotions  of  the  country  seemed  to  threaten  a 
departure  from  moderation,  the  governor,  they  hoped, 
would  not  impute  those  transactions  to  any  other  motive, 
than  a  conviction  that  moderation  ceases  to  be  a  virtue, 
when  the  liberty  of  the  British  subject  is  in  danger; 
but  the  greater  the  danger  was,  the  more  reason  they 
had  to  applaud  the  honest  justice  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment, whose  prudent  resolutions  had  relieved  them  from 
the  melancholy  dilemma  to  which  they  were  reduced. 

The  governor  replied,  that,  as  this  letter  had  removed 
those  aspersions,  he  felt  they  had  thrown  on  his  character 
in  the  late  address,  he  was  now  willing  to  forget  every 
impropriety  of  conduct,  any  of  the  subscribers  and  the 
town  of  Wilmington  had  shown  personally  towards  him, 
in  the  late  commotion. 

During  the  session  of  the  court  of  the  county  of  Or- 
ange, in  the  month  of  August,  a  number  of  persons 
came  into  the  court  house  and  presented  to  the  justices 
a  paper  which  they  directed  the  clerk  to  read.  It  stated, 
that  "great  good  might  come  out  of  the  great  designed 
evil,  the  stamp  law,  and  that,  whilst  the  sons  of  freedom 
withstood  the  lords  of  parliament,  in  behalf  of  true  liber- 
ty, the  officers  under  them  ought  not  carry  on  an  unjust 
oppression  in  the  province;  that  in  order  thereto,  as 
there  were  many  evils  complained  of  in  the  county  of 
Orange,  they  ought  to  be  redressed,  and,  if  there  were 
none,  jealousy  ought  to  be  removed  from  the  minds  of 
the  people.''  The  writer  then  proposed  that,  **there 
should  be  a  meeting  of  the  people,  in  each  captain's  com- 
pany, for  the  purpose  of  appointing  one  or  more  persons 
to  attend  a  general  meeting  on  the  Monday  before  the 
next  court  of  the  county,  at  a  suitable  place,  where  there 

N.  CARO.  II.  28 


218  CHAPTER  \^1U& 

should  be  no  liquor;  in  order  judiciously  to  enquire 
whether  the  freemen  of  the  county  labored  under  any 
abuse  of  power,  that  the  opini.  >n  of  the  deputies  should 
be  committed  to  writing,  freely  conversed  upon  and 
measures  taken  for  amendment." 

The  proposition  was  deemed  reasonable  and  a  gen« 
eral  meeting  was  directed  to  be  held  on  the  10th  of  Oc- 
tober at  Maddock's  mills. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  the  compaiiy  on  Deep  river, 
after  having  appointed  their  deputies,  entered  inta  a  res- 
olution, *'that  the  representatives  of  the  county  in  the 
general  assembly,  vestrymen,  sheriff  and  other  officers 
be  requested  to  attend  the  meeting  at  Maddock's  mill  to 
afford  them  all  the  information  in  their  power,  as  they 
valued  the  good  will  of  every  honest  freeholder,  and  the 
executing  of  a  public  office  pleasant  and  delightsome." 

On  the  10th  of  October,  delegates  from  the  different 
captains'  companies  met  at  tlie  mill,  but  none  of  the  offi- 
cers of  the  county  attended.  Towards  the  evening, 
James  Watson,  one  of  the  representatives  in  the  general 
assembly,  appeared:  he  brought  a  message  from  Ed- 
mund Fanning,  his  colleague,  by  which  he  informed 
the  meeting,  **it  had  been  his  intention  of  attending 
them,  till  a  day  or  two  ago,  when  he  observed  in  the 
notice  from  the  meeting  at  Deep  river,  the  word  judi- 
ciouslt/,  which  signified  the  authority  of  a  court, 
concluding,  after  some  other  objection,  particularly  on 
the  impropriety  of  the  place,  he  considered  their  assem- 
blage as  an  insurrection." 

The  meeting  then  came  to  a  resolution,  expressive  of 
the  advantage  that  would  accrue  to  the  county,  ii  the 
representatives^  vestrymen,  church  wardens^  sheriff  and 
other  officers  would  yearly  attend  the  delegates,  chosen  by 


j^ 


nesj  THE  SEVENTH.  219 

the  people,  in  different  sections  of  the  country,  in  order 
to  make  tliemselves  acquainted  with  the  wishes  and  opin- 
ions of  the  pec  pie,  in  matters  of  weight  and  importance; 
lamentin^j  that  oiie  of  the  representatives  only,  had  at- 
tended, and  concluding,  that  if  they  were  inclined  to  con- 
fer with  the  delegates  chosen,  they  would  be  attended  on, 
at  any  place  and  time  they  might  desire. 

A  subscription  was  set  on  foot,  and  fifty  pounds  were 
collected  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  such  suits,  as  it 
might  be  necessary  to  bring,  for  the  purpose  of  redress- 
ing the  grievances  of  the  people. 

The  new  legisl  itive  body  begran  its  first  session, 
at  Newbern,  on  the  3d  day  of  November.  In  ad- 7*^^'  ^ 
dressmg  the  houses,  the  governor  attributed  the 
long  chasm  in  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature,  to 
many  evident  reasons;  none  of  which,  he  chose  par- 
ticularly to  state.  He  laid  before  them,  the  late 
acts  of  the  British  parliament,  which  related  to  the 
colonies,  and  the  votes  of  the  house  of  commons,  or 
the  proceedings  of  the  colonial  assemblies,  on  the 
subject  of  the  stamp  act:  he  expressed  his  hope, 
that  the  moderation  and  paternal  care  of  the  king 
and  the  ifnbounded  lenity  of  parliament,  signally  dis- 
played in  those  acts,  would  dispose  the  inhabitants 
of  the  province  to  a  most  cheerful  obedience  to  the 
legislative  authority  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  senti- 
ments of  the  most  respectful  gratitude:  he  added, 
he  was  authorized  to  say,  that  so  truly  magnanimous 
were  the  sentiments  of  the  king  and  parliament,  and 
so  free  from  the  smallest  spark  of  passion  or  preju- 
dice,thatthey  appeared  disposed,  not  only  to  forgive, 
but  to  forget  the  marks  of  an  undutiful  disposition^ 


iso  CHAPTER  [ne^ 

manifested  in  the  late  transactions  of  the  colonies. 
Animated  by  these  glorious  sentiments,  he  was  hap- 
py to  follow  examples  so  shining,  in  regard  to 
the  late  distractions  he  had  witnessed;  he  drew  the 
attention  of  the  legislature  to  the  inadequacy  of  the 
emoluments  of  sheriffs  and  the  disproportion  be- 
tween them  and  the  services  they  were  expected 
to  render,  and  recommended  to  their  consideration 
the  state  of  the  public  funds,  and  that  some  mode 
might  be  devised  to  obtain,  from  the  treasurers, 
accounts,  specifying  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
for  the  ordinary  and  contingent  services,  the  balan- 
ces in  their  hands  and  a  statement  of  those,  due 
from  the  collectors  of  public  moneys;  that  order  and 
certainty  might  be  introduced  into  the  fiscal  depart- 
ment and  an  injustice  prevented  to  some  counties, 
which  were  compelled  to  share  the  deficiencies  of 
others,  in  which  taxes  were  but  partially  collected 
or  accounted  for. 

He  informed  them,  that  their  resolution  for  the  es- 
tabhshment  of  Fort  Johnson,  having  expired,  he  had 
ordered  a  continuance  of  the  establishment,  and 
some  necessary  repairs  to  the  work,  upon  the  credit 
of  the  province:  the  artillery  and  stores,  being  too 
valuable  not  to  claim  attention;  he  advised  an  in- 
crease of  the  establishment. 

He  observed,  that  the  court  system  had,  on  experi- 
ence, proved  a  valuable  one,  and  seemed  to  want  noth- 
ing but  a  greater  degree  of  permanency  and  handsome 
salaries  to  the  associate  justices. 

The  lower  house  replied,  they  were  truly  sorry,  that 
any  reason  whatever  should  have  prevented  him  from 


1766]  THE  SEVENTH.  >  221 

meetingthe  legislature  sooner;  the  alarming  tendency 
of  the  stamp  act  and  the  reproachful  terms  of  rioters  and 
rebels,  which  had  been  liberally  bestowed  on  the  king's 
faithful  American  subjects,  rendering  it,  in  their  opinion, 
highly  expedient,  that  the  house  should  have  been  con- 
vened sooner.  In  tinics  of  public  calamity  and  dis- 
tress, when  the  loyalty  and  attachment  of  a  whole  pro- 
vince, to  the  king's  person  and  government,  were  ques- 
tioned, no  measure  could  be  more  particularly  necessary 
to  its  honor  and  interest,  than  to  afford  it  the  opportunity 
of  testifying  its  duty  and  allegiance  to  the  crown  and  im- 
ploring a  redress  of  the  grievances,  with  which  it  was 
oppressed. 

They  gratefully  acknowledged  the  tender  and  paternal 
care  of  the  king  and  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  parlia- 
ment, to  which  they  attributed  the  repeal  of  the  stamp 
act,  a  measure  which  had  restored  peace  and  tranquility 
to  the  continent,  and  effectually  secured  its  warmest 
affection  to  the  mother  country. 

They  assured  the  governor,  that  they  would  esteem 
it  a  great  happiness  to  have  it  in  their  power  to  concur 
with  their  sister  colonies,  in  testifying  an  inviolable  at- 
tachment to  the  person  of  their  sovereign  and  a  just  and 
dutiful  dependence  on  his  government;  but  they  said  it 
was  the  peculiar  misfortune  of  the  province  of  North 
Carolina,  to  be  deprived  of  those  means  to  which  it 
had  an  unquestionable  right,  and  which  the  other  pro- 
vinces peaceably  enjoyed,  of  making  known  their  dutiful 
dispositions;  and,  if  they  were  wanting  in  the  general 
suffrage,  they  hoped  censure  would  fall  on  those  whose 
indiscretion  was  the  cause  of  it.  They  observed,  that 
in  every  other  part  of  the  king's  American  dominions, 
where  the  constitution  was  similar  to  that  of  the  pro- 


i22  CHAPTER  [1766 

vince,  the  representatives  of  the  people  enjoyed  the  priv- 
ilege of  naming  an  agent,  to  represent  their  loyalty  to 
the  king  and  to  implore  his  protection:  the  concurrence 
of  the  other  two  branches  of  the  legislature  being  con- 
sidered as  necessary  only  to  give  a  sanction  to  the  nom- 
ination; a  privilege  which,  with  that  of  naming  the 
treasurers  by  the  people  of  the  province,  was  deemed, 
by  the  members  of  the  king's  council,  a  circumstance 
which  they  greatly  feared,  might  be  followed  by  conse- 
quences fatal  to  public  tranquility,  They  expressed  a 
hope,  that  the  governor  would  exert  every  practicable 
endeavor  to  restore  the  people  to  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges in  this  respect. 

They  expressed  their  deep  concern  to  hear  the  colo- 
nies charged  with  marks  of  an  undutiful  disposition  and 
persuaded  themselves,  that  the  conduct  of  the  colonies 
and  the  province,  had  been  influenced  by  nothing  but 
their  loyalty  to  the  king,  their  attachment  to  the  consti- 
tion  and  tender  regard  for  the  liberty  it  was  made  to  se- 
cure, and  that  their  conduct  would  have  been  viewed 
in  this  light,  had  not  those  who  were  strangers  to  the  true 
interest  of  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  ingenuously 
represented  it,  in  England,  as  resulting  from  disaffection 
to  the  crown  and  a  desire  of  independence  on  the  mother 
country 

They  declared  they  had  nothing  more  at  heart  than 
to  see  the  seat  of  justice  and  every  office  in  the  province 
filled  with  able  men:  for  such,  they  had  ever  been  ready 
to  provide  adequate  salaries;  but,  for  the  present,  they 
were  fearful  the  scarcity  of  currency  and  the  heavy  taxes 
with  which  their  constituents  were  burdened,  would 
put  it  out  of  their  power  to  make  that  provision  which 
was  recommended  to  them. 


1766]  THE  SEVENTH.  223 

The  governor  replied,  he  would  forbear  entering  into 
all  the  parts  of  their  address,  lest  he  should  be  thought  to 
deviate  from  the  principles  of  generosity  he  had  profess- 
ed  to  pattern  from  the  king  and  parliament.  He  declar- 
ed himself  an  utter  stranger  to  the  reproachful  and  de- 
testable appellation  of  rebels,  which  was  said  to  have  been 
liberally  given  to  the  king's  subjects  on  the  continent, 
and  the  ingenuous  misrepresentations  made  in  England, 
to  which  the  house  referred. 

He  observed,  that  the  irregularity  in  the  choice  of  an 
agent,  for  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony, 
had  long  been  a  matter  of  complaint  and  difficulty,  both 
in  the  province  and  in  England;  and,  althougli  he  could 
not  agree  with  the  house  that  the  appointment  of  the  two 
other  branches  of  the  legislature  was  merely  by  way  of 
sanction,  with  the  view  of  manifesting  his  desire  to  pre- 
serve the  tranc|uility  of  the  province,  until  the  king's 
pleasure  in  this  respect  was  known,  he  would  be  found 
ready  to  concur  with  the  houses  in  the  appointment  of 
an  agent  and  treasurer,  and  he  trusted  the  council  would 
act  with  the  same  liberality.  He  added,  he  could  wish 
the  province,  and  the  house  in  particular,  might  con- 
consider  him  as  their  agent,  in  every  laudable  action  or 
beneficial  measure,  which  circumstances  required  or 
admitted. 

The  upper  house  took  into  consideration  the  address 
of  the  lower  house  to  the  governor,  and  voted,  that  the 
assertion,  that  the  want  of  a  treasurer  and  agent,  was  ow- 
ing to  the  indiscretion  of  the  upper  house,  was  indecent, 
unjustifiable,  and  highly  derogatory  of  the  honor  of  the 
house. 

That  the  approbation  of  the  upper  house,  to  a  colo- 
ny agent,  was  necessary  and  proper;  but  that  the  fai- 


224  CHAPTER  [1766 

lure  of  the  late  agent  bill,  was  owing  to  the  refusal  of  al- 
lowing the  upper  house  its  proper  weight  and  influ- 
ence, in  the  committee  of  correspondence. 

They  asserted  their  right  to  the  nomination  and  ap- 
pointment of  treasurers. 

When  sitting  at  the  council  board,  the  members  ex- 
pressed their  o:>inioii,  that  the  charges  in  the  address  of 
the  lower  house,  relating  to  the  governor's  conduct, 
were  altogether  indecent,  without  foundation,  and  un- 
merited; and  that  the  governor,  in  his  answer,  had  con- 
ducted himself  wiiii  great  propriety,  and  the  coolest 
dictates  of  moderation. 

A  bill  being  introduced,  for  the  appointment  of  a  trea- 
surer for  the  southern  district,  the  upper  house  substi- 
tuted the  ;v\>Tie  of  one  of  their  members  (L.  H.  de  Ros- 
set)  for  that  of  the  former  speaker  of  the  lower  house, 
John  Ashe,  who  had  been  nominated  there.  When  the 
bill  returned,  the  lower  house  reinstated  the  latter  name: 
the  upper  house  insisted  on  their  amendment,  observing, 
that  their  passing  of  the  bill  as  it  was  sent  up,  might  be 
considered  as  a  relincjuishment  of  the  joint  right  of  nomi- 
nation: the  lower  house  replied,  they  could  not  consent  to 
the  proposal,  neither  could  they  recede  from  the  opi- 
nion, that  the  right  of  nominating  the  treasurer  was  in 
them;  but  they  were  willing  that  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
should  not  be  considered,  as  a  precedent  invalidating 
the  claim  of  the  upper  house,  if  they  had  any:  the  up- 
per house  replied,  that  as  the  sole  right  of  nomination, 
was  insisted  on  in  the  late  message,  they  could  not  re- 
cede; but  proposed  to  pass  the  bill,  if  the  lower  house 
would  agree  to  consider  the  nomination  as  joint;  but, 
on  the  lower  house  praying  that  this  point  of  modern 
controversy,  might  be  left  to  be  disputed  at  some  future 


i76TT  THE  SEVENTH.  2^ 

period,  when  there  should  be  greater  need  of,  and 
stronger  inclination  to  debate  between  the  houses,  on 
qiiestions  of  privilege:  the  upper  house  answered,  that, 
as  their  right  of  nomination  was  not  denied,  and  it  was 
conceded  the  step  would  not  be  drawn  into  a  precedent, 
they  would  pass  the  bill,  with  a  view  of  testifying  their 
desire  to  advance  the  public  good,  and  promote  harmony 
and  good  understanding  between  the  houses. 

The  two  houses  joined  in  an  address  to  the  king,  on 
the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act.  This  paper  begins  by  sta- 
ting, that  the  very  considerable  part  which  the  king's 
American  subjects  had  taken  in  the  late  transactions^ 
made  it  necessary,  they  should  take  the  earhest  oppor- 
tunity of  manifesting  their  unshaken  loyalty,  and  making 
every  return  of  du^'<  and  gratitude,  for  the  paternal 
good !^ess  .which  ha  1  relieved  them;  they  begged  leave 
to  assure  him,  that,  in  the  time  of  their  utmost  appre- 
hensions, their  breasts  were  filled  with  the  purest  sen- 
timents of  love,  and  loyalty  for  the  best  of  kings;  neither 
had  they  ever  doubted,  that  his  tender  care  over  all  his 
subjects,  would,  as  soon  as  their  grievances  were  known, 
relieve  them  from  a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne:  they 
added,  it  was  the  glory  and  happiness  of  the  people  of 
the  province,  to  look  upon  themselves  as  a  part  of  the 
British  empire,  and,  as  such,  to  testify  and  acknowledge, 
upon  all  occasions,  not  only  the  love  and  duty  of  their 
hearts,  to  the  king's  person,  family  and  government, 
but,  offer  their  cordial  and  !\atural  attachment  to  tiie 
mother  country;  and  they  doubted  not,  but  the  wisdom 
and  justice  with  which  the  parliament  had  of  late,  assis- 
ted the  king  in  his  most  gracious  purposes,  not  only  in 
relieving  his  American  subjects,  from  their  late  unhap- 
py situation,  but  in  opening  new  channels  of  trade  and 

N,    CARO.  II.  29 


226  CHAPTER  [r76t 

commerce,  would  produce  in  them,  every  proper  sen- 
timent of  love  and  gratitude. 

A  sum  of  ore  hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds,  six 
shillings  and  eight  pence,  was  appropriated  to  the  sup- 
port ot  the  post  office  establishment. 

At  the  recommendation  of  the  governor,  on  the  ap- 
plication of  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indian"^,  an  appropri- 
ation was  made  for  running  a  dividing  line,  between  the 
western  settlements  of  the  province  and  their  hunting 
grounds;  and  the  governor  was  authorized  to  appoint 
three  commissioners  for  that  purpose.  Five  thousand 
pounds  were  appropriated,  for  building  a  house  for  the 
residence  of  the  governor:  the  sum  was  to  be  borrowed 
out  of  the  moneys  hitherto  appropriated,  for  providing 
public  school  houses  and  glebes,  and  a  poll  tax  and 
duty  on  liquors  were  imposed. 

The  Presbyterian  clergy  increasing,  especially  in  the 
western  parts  of  the  province,  were  authorized  to  cel- 
ebrate the  rites  of  matrimony.  The  trustees  of  the 
Newbern  academy  were  incorporated.  This  is  the  first 
instance  of  this  kind  of  legislative  patronage,  which  oc- 
curs in  the  statute  book.  The  navigation  of  the  river 
Neuse  appearing  insufficient  for  vessels  of  great  burden, 
on  account  of  the  small  depth  of  water,  through  the 
swash,  leading  from  Ocracock  bar  into  the  sound,  and 
the  inlet  of  Old  Topsail  being  very  safe  and  navigable, 
for  vessels  of  great  burden,  leading  to  a  safe  and  com- 
modious harbor,  an  attempt  was  made  to  cut  a  canal 
from  Clubfoot  to  Harlowe  creek,  whereby,  the  navi- 
gation of  Neuse  river  and  Old  Topsail  inlet  might 
be  joined;  and  an  act  was  passed,  appointing  commis- 
sioners to  receive  subscriptions  and  cut  the  canal.  The 
facility  of  attaining  the  desired  object,  if  proper  means 


1767]  THE  SEVENTH.  227 

were  adopted,  has  never  been  questioned;  yet,  though 
several  laws  have  since  been  passed,  and  some  trouble 
taken  to  accomplish  it,  after  a  period  of  nearly  half  a 
century,  the  measure  has  not  yet  ripened  into  effect. 

The  lease,  granted  by  the  Tuscarora  chiefs,  to  Robert 
Jones,  William  Williams  and  Thomas  Pugh,  during 
the  summer,  did  not  receive  the  sanction  of  the  legis- 
lature. 

Ten  men  were  allowed  for  the  garrison  of  Fort  John- 
ston. 

Jonathan  Carver,  of  Connecticut,  left  Boston  in  1766, 
with  the  view  of  exploring  the  most  interior  parts  of 
America,  and  even  of  penetrating  to  the  Pacific  ocean, 
over  the  broad  face  of  the  continent,  which  lies  between 
the  forty-second  and  forty-sixth  degrees  of  north  lati- 
tude. As  the  English  had  come  into  possession  of  a  vast 
territory,  by  the  conquest  of  Canada,  he  hoped  to  ren- 
der the  acquisition  more  profitable  to  his  country,  whilst 
he  gratified  his  taste  for  adventures. 

On  the  rise  of  the  legislature,  governor  Tryon  lost 
no  time,  in  carrying  into  effect,  his  darling  sc'ieme  of 
building  a  palace.  He  had  exerted  all  his  influence  to 
obtain  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  the  members  of  the 
king's  council  had  been  officially  instructed,  to  give  it 
all  their  support,  in  their  legislative  capacity.  This  mea- 
sure was  thought,  by  many,  to  have  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  series  of  disorders  and  commotions,  which  termina- 
nated  in  the  battle  of  the  Alamance.  The  grant  of  five 
thousand  pounds  was  above  the  means  of  the  province, 
in  its  infant  and  impoverished  state;  and  the  governor 
was  intrusted,  solely,  with  the  disposition  of  the  fund. 
The  trust  proved  fatal  to  the  interest  of  the  province,  and 
to  the  reputation  of  the    trustee.     It   was    made    to 


228  CHAPTER  '         [1761 

gratify  his  vanity  at  the  expense  of  both.  It  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  of  leaving  behind,  an  elegant  monu- 
ment of  his  taste  in  building,  and  giving  the  minister  an 
instance  of  his  great  influence  and  address,  in  his  new 
government.  The  temptation  was  not  resisted;  and 
to  the  plan  of  a  governor's  house,  was  substituted  fer 
that  of  a  palace,  worthy  the  residence  of  a  prince  of  the 
blood.  The  purchase  of  the  ground  and  the  erection  of 
the  foundation,  absorbed  the  sum  v/hich  the  legislature 
had  been  pleased  to  bestow,  which  was  an  ample  appro- 
priation for  the  completion  of  the  building. 

The  marks  of  an  approaching  disorder  in  the  political 
body,  became  apparent  in  the  open  refusal  of  a  number 
of  individuals  to  pay  the  tax  which  had  been  laid  for  de- 
fraying the  expenses  of  rearing  so  costly  an  edifice  ;  the 
disturbances,  which  had  hitherto  been  confined  to  the 
counties  of  Orange  and  Granville,  had  spread  into  those 
of  Anson,  Bladen  and  Mecklenburg. 

Another  circumstance  contributed,  in  the  summer,  to 
fan  the  coals  of  distraction  into  a  flame. 

In  a  colony  without  money,  and  among  a  people  al- 
most desperate  with  distress,  public  profusion  should 
have  been  carefully  avoided  ;  but  unfortunately  for  the 
province,  governor  Tryon  had  been  bred  a  soldier,  and 
had  an  acquired,  as  well  as  a  natural  fondness  for  military 
parade;  the  legislature  had  instructed  him  to  run  the 
boundary  line  between  the  hunting  grouads  of  the  Che- 
rokees  and  the  back  settlements  of  the  province,  about 
ninety  miles  in  length ;  this  little  service  afforded  him  an 
opportunity  of  displaying  his  military  talents,  and  making 
a  splendid  exhibition  of  himself  to  the  Indians  ;  it  was 
not  neglected.  He  marched  to  perform  it,  in  a  time  of 
profound  peace,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  militia,  in 


i767j  THE  SEVENTH. '  22^ 

all  the  pomp  of  war,  and  returned  with  the  honorable  title, 
conferred  on  him  by  the  Cherokees,  of  the  Great  Wolf 
of  North  Carolina.  The  marking  of  a  few  trees,  and 
the  acquisition  to  the  governor  of  the  title,  perhaps  pro- 
phetic, caused  an  increase  of  taxes,  which  the  province 
was  not  well  able  to  bear. 

The  legislature  met  at  Newbern,  the  fifth  of  Decerm 
ber ;  the  governor,  in  his  address,  spoke  of  the  approba- 
tion and  acknowledgments  due  to  the  good  condact  and 
regular  behaviour,  both  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  that 
had  formed  his  escort,  as  a  victorious  general,  and  to  the 
bravery  of  those  who  gained  him  laurels ;  he  men- 
tioned the  Cherokees'  faithful  conduct,  ia  the  strict  ful- 
filment of  their  engagements  at  ihe  treaty  at  Augusta, 
and  his  belief  that  he  had  left  them  in  so  good  a  disposi- 
tion towards  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  that  by  ex- 
periencing a  continuance  of  encouragement  and  protec- 
tion from  the  legislature,  they  would  not  only  show  them- 
selves fast  friends  in  any  future  Indian  war,  but  also  bring 
a  great  part  of  their  trade  into  the  province.  He  laid 
before  the  houses  a  plan  of  what  he  called  the  edifice, 
which  soon  with  propriety  received  the  appellation  of 
the  palace,  and  the  estimate  of  the  future  charges  of  its 
construction,  and  pressed  them  to  make  at  once  an  ade- 
quate appropriation,  to  prevent  the  disadvantages  that 
must  arise  from  a  deficiency  of  materials,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  soon  discharging  the  present  artificers  and  work- 
men, whose  skill  and  dilig-nce  might  not  easily  be  re- 
placed; circumstances  which  he  represented  as  likely  not 
only  to  stop  the  present  undertaking,  but  to  create  an 
additional  expense  to  the  country,  when  resumed. 

The  court  laws  which  had  been  passed  in  the  year 
1762  and  continued  in  1764,  being  about  to  expire,  the 


230  CHAPTER  [1767 

governor  observed,  that  the  system  in  use  had  proved 
highly  beneficial,  and  recommended  that  a  greater  degree 
of  permanency  might  be  granted,  and  that  it  might  be 
improved  by  the  addition  of  handsome  salaries  to  the 
assistant  justices. 

He  bewailed  the  large  quantity  of  counterfeited  bills 
that  were  in  circulation,  evidently  depreciating  the  small 
remainder  of  the  present  currency  ;  he  recommended  to 
the  attention  of  the  house  the  establishment  of  Fort 
Johnston,  and  that  a  small  tonnage  duty,  chargeable  in 
powder  and  lead,  might  be  imposed;  he  urged  the  ne- 
cessity of  making,  as  well  the  public  funds  as  the  em- 
bezzlements and  irregularities  practised  by  several  col- 
lectors of  the  public  revenue  for  some  time  past,  a  prin- 
cipal object  of  enquiry  ;  he  thought  no  provision,  in  this 
respect,  would  be  found  effectual,  as  long  as  a  jealousy 
existed  of  the  chief  magistrate's  being  particularly  in- 
formed of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  public 
moneys. 

In  examining  the  estimate  laid  before  them,  of  the 
probable  costs  of  the   palace,  the  house  found   them^ 
si  ves  placed  in  the  unpleasant   alternative   of  grant- 
ing ten  thousand  pounds   more,   or  sinking  the   five 
thousand  granted  at  the  last  session  ;  the  governor  was 
successful  in  his  strenuous  endeavors  to  induce  them  to 
114^  4^nj  adopt  the  former,  perhaps  contrary  to  the  sense  of  their 
--^•^  i7  constituents,  and  the  imposition  on  a  people,  who,  from 
1*.^$'  poverty,  were  hardly  able  to  bear  the  necessary  expenses 
^-i*"'      of  government,  tended  in  a  great  degree  to  raise  the  ge- 
'^•^'      neral  discontent  to  such  a  pitch,  that  it  matured  into  a 
,  ^^       civil  war. 

A  new  court  system  was  adopted ;  the  province  was 
divided  into  five  judicial  districts,  a  new  one,   called 


1767]  THE  SEVENTH.  231 

Hillsborough  district,  being  erected ;  in  each  was  esta- 
blished a  court,  held  by  the  chief  justice  and  two  asso- 
ciates, which  was  denominated  the  superior  court  of 
justice  ;  the  associate  justices  were  to  be  appointed  \  j 
the  governor,  and  had  an  allowance  of  about  live  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum,  for  the  payment  of  which  a  tax 
was  laid  on  law  suits  and  carriages;  jurisdiction  of 
all  civil  causes  of  the  value  of  twenty  pounds,  when  the 
parties  resided  in  the  same,  and  ten  pounds,  when  in  dif- 
ferent districts,  was  given  to  the  superior  court,  and 
criminal  jurisdiction  in  all  cases.  The  act  was  made 
temporary,  and  to  be  in  force  during  five  years.  The 
county  court  law  was,  with  some  trifling  alteration,  con- 
tinued for  the  same  period  of  time. 

Richard  Henderson  and  Maurice  Moore  were  ap- 
pointed associate  justices. 

A  road  was  directed  to  be  laid  off  from  the  wes- 
tern frontier  of  the  province  to  the  town  of  Bruns- 
wick, near  the  sea  shore,  and  a  town  was  establish- 
ed on  the  south  side  of  Cashie  river,  in  the  county 
of  Bertie,  to  which  the  name  of  Windsor  was  given. 
The  house  petitioned  the  king  to  allow  the  gov- 
ernor to  give  his  assent  to  an  act  for  an  emission  of 
paper  money. 

Parliament  passed  a  statute  for  establishing  a 
custom  house  and  board  of  commissioners  in  Am  ri- 
ca.  John  Temple  and  James  Robinson,  who  were 
already  on  the  continent,  and  Henry  Hutton,  Wil- 
liam Burch  and  Charles  Paxlon,  who  arri\ed  soon 
after,  were  to  compose  it.  The  duties  were  to  be 
collected  after  the  20tli  of  November:  the  colonies 
believing,  that  this  board  was  appointed  to  enforce 
the  new  duties,  were  again  inflamed  and  pronounc- 


232  CHAPTER  [1761 

ed  the  appointment  unconstitutional  and  oppressive. 
The  discussions,  occasioned  by  the  stamp  act,  had 
at  once  convinced  the  colonists  of  their  exemption 
from  parliamentary  taxation,  and  excited  their  jea- 
lousy of  the  designs  of  Great  Britain.  This  new 
occasion  brought  forth  additional  essays  on  colonial 
rights,  and  novv  were  written  the  celebrated  "letters 
from  a  farmer  of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  British  colonies,"  which  had  a  rapid  and  exten- 
sive circulation  through  North  America:  they  de- 
monstrated the  danger  of  a  small  tax,  as  establishing 
a  bad  precedent. 

In  the  spring  a  new  association  was  formed,  on 
the  west  side  of  Haw  river,  in  the  county  of  Or- 
ange, and  a  paper  subscribed, entitled  "therequestof 
the  inhabitants  of  the  west  side  of  Haw  river,  to  the 
assemblymen  and  vestrymen  of  the  county  of  Or- 
ange." After  noticing  in  the  preamble,  the  ill  suc- 
cess of  the  meeting  at  Maddock's  mill,  it  was  stated, 
that  the  subscribers  found  themselves  obliged  to 
seek  redress,  by  paying  no  more  taxes  till  they  had 
a  settlement  for  what  was  paid,  and  some  regula- 
tions were  entered  into,  providing  against  future  pe- 
culation. They  desired  to  be  indulged  with  a  gen- 
eral meeting  at  the  court  house,  on  some  day,  previ- 
ous to  the  meeting  of  the  next  court. 

Articles  of  association  were  entered  into,  by 
which  the  subscribers  bound  themselves  to  each 
other,  not  to  pay  any  more  taxes,  till  they  could  be 
satisfied  of  the  proper  application  of  their  money,  to 
resist  the  exactionof  illegal  contributions  and  to  bear 
open  testimony  against  acts  of  extortion  practiced 


1-768]  THE  SEVENTH.  sm 

by  the  officers  of  the  county;  to  attend  all  meetings 
and  conferences  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  their 
representatives  and  petitioning  the  governor,  coun- 
cil and  assembly,  or  the  king  and  parliament,  for 
the  redress  of  their  grievances;  to  contribute,  ac- 
cordins:  to  their  abilities,  to  collections  to  be  made 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  design  of  the  as- 
sociation. The  individuals  present,  added  the 
sanction  of  an  oath  to  that  of  their  signatures.  They 
were  afterwards  joined  by  the  inhabitants  of  Sandy 
creek  and  all  those  wlio  had  attended  the  meeting 
at  Maddock's  mill. 

Hitherto  the  persons  who  had  taken  part  in  those 
popular  proceedings,  were  designated  by  the  appel- 
lation of  the  mob,  and  seemed  to  have  adopted  it 
themselves:  at  their  next  meeting,  on  the  4th  of  ^^  ''^ 
April,  they  changed  it  to  that  of  regulators.  They 
made  choice  of  two  persons  who  were  directed  to 
call  on  the  two  late  sherifTs  and  the  vestrymen  and 
desire  them  to  meet  twelve  deputies  from  the  general 
meeting,  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  next  county  court 
and  produce  to  them  their  accounts. 

Before  those  two  men  could  attend  to  the  service 
required  of  them,  some  of  the  sheriff's  officers,  either 
to  try  the  temper  of,  or  exasperate  the  populace, 
to  k,  by  way  of  distress,  a  mare,  saddle  and  bri- 
dle, for  one  levy,  and  carried  them  to  Hillsborough; 
they  were  followed  by  a  party  of  sixty  or  seventy 
men,  who  rescued  the  mare;  then,  marching  to  the 
house  of  Edward  Fanning,  an  attorney  and  one  of 
the  representatives  of  the  county,  tliey  fired  a  few 

N.  CARO.    II.      30  , 


254  CHAPTER  L^*^^ 

shots  at  the  roof  of  it,  to  give  him  to  understand, 
they  considered  him,  the  principal  cause  of  the  dis- 
turbance. 

The  minister  of  the  parish  undertook  to  perform 
the  services  which  had  been  allotted  to  two  of  their 
body,  and  soon  after  brought  for  answer,  that  the 
sheriffs  and  vestrymen  would  attend,  as  requested,  on 
the  20th  of  May.     The  regulators,  in  pursuance  of 
this  information,  met  on  the  30th  of  April  and  twelve 
deputies  were  chosen.     In  the  meanwhile,  before 
the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting,   the  governor 
having  had  information  of  the  disturbances,  sent 
David  Edwards  with  a  proclamation,  summoning  the 
regulators  to  disperse,  and  calling  on  the  officers 
of  the  province    to  assist  the   sheriff  in   quelling 
the  insurrection.     Although,  after  their  late  meet- 
ings, the  regulators  had  quietly  returned  to  their 
respective  abodes,    the  sheriff  of  Orange  county 
took  with  him  a  party  of  thirty  horsemen,  well  arm- 
ed, and  riding  through  the  county  to  the  distance  of 
about  fifty  miles,  took  two  of  the  principal  regula- 
"-^       tors,  Herman  Husband  and  William  Hunter,  whom 
he  brought  to  Hillsborough  and  confined  in  jail. 
These  men  were,  however,  shortly  after  released 
on  bail.     The  regulators,  hearing  of  the  capture  of 
two  of  their  chiefs,  gathered  into  large  parties,  in 
different  parts  of  the  county,  and  marched  to  Hills- 
borough.    On  the  3d  of  May,  their  number  amount- 
ing to  upwards  of  seven  hundred,  they  took  their 
stand  at  a  short  distance  from  town,  and  were  join- 
ed by    Herman  Husband    and    William    Hunter^ 


176S]  THE  SEVENTH.  233 

Isaac  Edwards,  who  had  not  yet  returned,  rode  on 
towards  them;  after  reading  the  governor's  procla- 
mation, he  informed  them,  that  he  had  command, 
if  the  regulators  continued  embodied  while  he  was 
up,  to  go  to,  and  assure,  them,  on  behalf  of  the  go- 
vernor, that  on  application  to  him,  he  would  re- 
dress their  grievances  and  protect  them  from  the 
extortion  and  oppression  of  any  officer,  provided  they 
would  disperse  and  go  home:  the  multitude  cried 
out,  agreed,  agreed,  and  soon  after  separated. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  the  regulators  held  another 
general  meeting  and  appointed  a  committee  to  wait 
on  the  governor, and  lay  their  grievances  before  him. 
On  this  occasion,  a  short  address  was  drawn  up,  in 
which  they  made  solemn  professions  of  loyalty  to 
the  king  and  strong  attachment  to  the  government, 
established  in  the  province,  and  the  committee 
were  directed  to  implore,  in  the  most  submissive 
manner,  the  forgiveness  of  the  governor  for  any 
error  of  theirs,  which  might  be  construed  to  dero- 
gate from  the  honor  of  the  king's  crown,  or  tend  to 
the  obstruction  of  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
government. 

For  the  information  of  the  governor,  the  commit- 
tee were  furnished  with  copies  of  the  proceedings, 
at  the  different  meetings,  which  had  been  held. 

An  association  having  been  also  formed  in  the  coun- 
ty of  Anson,  on  the  same  principles  as  that  in  the  coun- 
ty of  Orange,  a  communication  was  received  at  this 
meeting,  from  the  regulators  in  the  former  county,  offer- 
ing their  co-operation  in  such  measures  as  would  be 
judged  proper  to  be  adopted,  in  order  to  procure  relief, 


ise  CHAPTER  Li76S 

and  praying  information,  as  to  the  manner,  in  which  the 
proceedings  of  the  regulators  had  been  carried  on  in  the 
latter  county.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  return  a 
suitable  answer  and  supply  the  desired  information. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  June,  James  Hunter 
and  Rednap  Howell,  two  of  t  je  regulators,  on  behalf  of 
the  committee,  waited  on  governor  Tryon,  at  Bruns- 
wick, with  the  address  of  the  general  meeting,  and  the 
copies  of  the  proceedings  at  that,  and  all  preceding 
meetings.  These  papers  were  laid  before  the  council, 
and,  in  pursuance  of  the  advice  of  that  body,  he  answered, 
that  the  grievances,  of  which  the  regulators  were  com- 
plaining, did  not,  by  any  means,  warrant  the  measures 
to  which  they  had  resorted:  measures,  which,  he  obser- 
ved, if  they  had  been  carried  but  a  little  farther,  would 
have  been  denominated,  and  must  have  been  treated  as 
high  treason,  and  involved  the  abettors  of  them  and  their 
families,  m  rum  and  destruction,  while  they  were  endea- 
voring to  extricate  themselves  from  evils,  within  the 
remedy  of  the  laws ;  that  these  calamities  were  now, 
he  trusted,  averted  by  his  timely  proclamation,  and  their 
own  prudent  determination,  to  petition  for  the  redress 
of  their  grievances;  that  the  decent  behaviour  of  colonel 
Fanning,  and  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command, 
would  entitle  them  to  the  entire  approbation  of  the  go- 
vernor and  council,  and  would  ever  be  acknowledged 
with  praise,  by  every  unprejudiced  man,  and  wellwisher 
of  th^  province.  He  wished  all  those,  whose  under- 
standings had  been  run  away  with,  or  whose  passions 
had  been  led  into  captivity,  by  evil  designing  men,  who, 
actuated  by  cowardice,  and  a  sense  of  the  justice  due  to 
their  crimes,  had  secreted  themselves  from  public  view, 


1768]  THE  SEVENTH.  23T 

to  be  made  aequainted,  that,  in  consideration  of  the  de- 
termination, they  had  expressed  of  abiding  his  determi- 
nation in  council,  it  was  the  unanimous  advice  of  the 
board,  that  they  should,  henceforward,  desist  from  any 
further  meetings,  that  all  titles  of  regulators  or  associa- 
tors,  should  cease  among  them;  that  the  sheriffs  or  other 
officers  of  government  should  be  permitted,  without 
molestation,  to  execute  the  duties  of  their  respective  of- 
fices; and  that  all  breaches  of  the  peace,  or  other  offences 
against  the  government,  should  be  proceeded  against, 
and  determined  by  due  course  of  law  only.  He  added, 
it  was  only  by  a  strict  adherence  to  these  directions,  that 
any  act  of  future  clemency,  on  his  part,  might  be  looked 
for;  that,  always  willing  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  distress, 
he  should  ever  be  found  ready  to  remove  any  hardships 
the  king's  subjects  might  be  under;  that  he  would  di- 
rect the  attorney  general  to  prosecute  every  officer,  who 
had  been  guilty  of  mal- practice  or  extortion,  on  infor- 
mation being  lodged  by  the  person  injured;  that,  early 
in  the  next  month,  he  would  proceed  to  Hillsborough, 
and,  on  his  arrival,  issue  a  proclamation,  forbidding  so  '^.^ 
dishonorable  and  shameful  practices.  *^ 

The  regulators  having,  as  yet,  proceeded  to  no  very 
great  excess,  two  of  their  chiefs  having  been  taken  and 
bound  over,  and  the  rabble  being  now  quietly  dispersed: 
the  governor  was  blamed  by  many  considerate  men  in 
the  province,  for  the  early  part  he  took  in  these  distur- 
bances: they  thought,  as  the  offences  committed  were 
properly  punishable,  within  the  limits  of  law,  and  as  the 
offenders  were  accountable  to  legal  process,  all  that  his 
duty  could  possibly  require  of  him,  on  this  occasion, 
if  it  required  any  thing  at  all,  was  to  direct  prosecution 


238  CHAPTER,  [1768 

against  the  offenders,  and  he  ought  carefully  to  have 
avoided  becoming  a  party  in  the  dispute.  While,  by 
enlisting  himself  a  volunteer  in  this  service  and  enter- 
ing into  a  negotiation  with  the  regulators,  he  came  down 
to  their  level,  and  gave  dignity  to  their  emissaries. 

Having  directed  the  members  of  the  council  to  meet 
at  Hillsborough,  early  in  the  month  of  August,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  that  town,  which  he  reached  in  the  first  days 
of  July. 

On  his  arrival,  he  issued  the  proclamation  which  he 
had  promised.  The  whole  month  of  July  elapsed, 
without  his  hearing  any  thing  of  the  regulators.  At 
length,  these  people  however,  animated  by  his  presence 
in  their  neighborhood,  resumed  their  former  practice  of 
gathering  in  numbers,  enlisting  men,  training  them  to 
arms  and  holding  up  a  determination  of  obstructing  the 
execution  of  the  laws.  He  directed  Tyree  Harris,  the 
sheriff  of  Orange,  to  attend  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
regulators,  in  order  to  claim  the  public  tax,  and  endea- 
vor to  dispose  the  people  cheerfully  to  pay  it,  and  sub- 
mit to  the  laws.  The  sheriff  was  made  the  bearer  of  a 
letter,  informing  the  persons  to  whom  he  was  sent,  that 
the  governor  had,  according  to  his  promise,  come  up  to 
Hillsborough,  issued  his  proclamation,  and  given  strict 
charge  to  the  attorney  general,  to  commence  prosecu- 
tions, against  such  officers  as  were  charged  with  extor- 
tion or  mal-practice;  that  it  was  by  his  advice,  that  the 
sheriff  called  on  them  to  collect  the  public,  county  and 
poor  taxes,  for  the  preceding  year,  expressing  his  full 
confidence,  that,  according  to  the  directions  of  his  letter 
to  them,  from  Brunswick,  and,  in  justice  to  their  engage- 
ment, to  submit  to  his  decision  in  council;  thev  would 


1768]  THE  SEVENTH.  239 

make  it  a  matter  of  honor  and  conscience,  .that  no  obsta- 
cle should  be  put  to  the  discharge  of  the  duty,  which 
the  sheriff  called  upon  them  to  fulfil,  in  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  their  country.  . 

The  sheriff,   however,  returned  without  having  col-  3  */T< 
lectedany  part  of  the  taxes,  the  regulators  unanimously 
bid  him  retire,  and  threatened  to  take  his  life,  if  he  pro- 
ceeded to  distrain. 

A  few  days  after,  the  regulators  sent  two  deputies  to 
the  governor,  at  Hillsborough,  with  an  answer  to  his 
letter,  framed  at  one  of  their  meetings.  The  object  of 
it  was  to  complain,  that  their  application  had  not  been 
submitted  to  a  full  board,  to  treat  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
governor's  late  proclamation,  and  to  express  their  inten- 
tion of  applying  for  redress  to  the  legislature,  at  their 
next  meeting. 

The  governor  answered  the  deputies,  that,  as  he 
expected  a  meeting  of  ihe  council  shortly,  he  would 
lay  the  communication  they  had  brought,  before  them, 
and  would  apprise  them  in  time  of  the  result  of  their 
deliberation. 

On  the  11th,  at  night,  information  was  brought  at 
Hillsborough  tliat  a  large  body  of  the  regulators,  said 
toconsistof  upwards  of  one  thousand  men,  was  under 
arms  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  with  Iiostfle  inten- 
tions against  it.  The  nearest  companies  of  militia 
were  called  in,  but  it  soon  appeared,  that  the  regula- 
tors had  embodied  themselves  on  llie  false  alarm  of 
an  intention  to  attack  ihcm,  and  had  returned  to  their 
respective  abodes.  Before  the  militia  were  dismissed, 
tiie  governor  caused  an  oath  to  be  administered  to 
them  "with  hearts  and  hands,  life  and  goods,  to  main- 


240  CHAPTER  [176« 

tain  and  defend  the  king's  government  in  the  province, 
against  all  persons  whatever,  who  should  attempt  to 
obstruct  or  prevent  the  due  administration  of  the  laws, 
or  the  public  peace  or  tranquility."  Upwards  of  four 
hundred  officers  and  men  took  the  oath  with  alac- 
rity. 

On  the  meeting  of  the  council,  the  governor  laid 
before  them  the  last  message  from  the  regulators,  and 
with  the  advice  of  the  board,  replied,  that  he  had  en* 
tertained  every  reasonable  expectation  that  his  letter 
from  Brunswick  would  not  only  have  given  them  the 
most  cordial  ^-satisfaction,  but  prompted  them  with  the 
most  ardent  zeal  to  have  immediately  subscribed  to 
the  directions  it  contained  in  conformity  to  the  reso- 
lution, declared  in  their  address,  and  it  was  wiih  sin- 
cere regret  he  now  reflected  on  their  disobedience 
and  ungrateful  return,  by  the  total  disregard  of  his 
directions  and  their  unlawful  refusal  of  paying  the 
taxes  which  the  sheriff  had,  at  his  request,  called  on 
them  to  collect.  He  added,  that  the  candour  with 
which  he  had  treated  their  rash  and  precipitate  con- 
duct, and  the  just  means  and  effectual  measures  he 
had  pointed  out  for  the  removal  of  the  causes  of  their 
complaints,  would  have  given  ample  satisfaction  to 
any  person,  who  had  addressed  him  with  an  intention 
of  being  content  with  receiving  justice.  He  lamented 
that  he  had  the  mortification  to  find,  by  their  last 
letter,  that  every  lenient  measure  of  his  had  been  pre- 
vented, and  the  friendly  aid  he  had  offered  to  correct 
the  abuses  complained  of,  considered  as  insufficient, 
and  he  observed,  that  die  object  of  the  proclamation 


17168]  THE  SEVENTH.  24  i 

was  to  caution  public  officers  against,  and  to  prevent 
extortion,  which  it  was  the  exclusive  province  of  the 
courts  of  law  to  judge  and  punish. 

He  showed,  that  the  dissatisfaction  they  expressed 
in  their  address,  and  papers  not  being  laid  before  all 
the  meml)ers  of  the  council,  was  equally  groundless ; 
for,  by  the  king's  instructions,  three  councillors  con- 
stituted a  board,  and  the  presence  of  five  was  suffi- 
cient to  the  despatch  of  business  of  the  highest  mo- 
ment, while  there  were  six  members  of  the  board 
present,  when  their  address  had  been  acted  upon. 

He  expressed  his  great  satisfaction  at  the  resolution 
they  had  taken  of  petitioning  the  legislature,  and  he 
assured  them,  his  services,  on  that  occasion,  would 
not  be  wanting,  for  the  redress  of  any  real  grievance. 

In  humanity  to  their  misguided  passions  and  injus- 
tice to  his  own  integrity,  he  thought  it  necessary  to 
represent  to  them,  thai  they  were  pursuing  measures, 
highly  illegal  and  criminal,  and  acting  on  principles, 
not  less  void  of  faith  and  honor  than,  inconsistent  with 
every  moral  and  religious  duty;  that  they  had  given 
occasion  to  every  man  of  honor  and  property,  by  the 
open  and  unreserved  threats  they  had  thrown  out 
against  the  lives  and  property  of  many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  province,  to  look  upon  their  designs,  as 
bent,  rather  upon  destroying  the  peace  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  security  of  the  king's  subjects,  than  as 
waiting  for  any  legal  process  against  those  they  "^ 
imagined  to  have  abused  their  public  trusts.  He  con- 
cluded by  acquainting  them  that  upon  those  alarming 
prospects,  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  ])rovidc  for  the 
safety  of  government,  aiid  to  take  care  that  the  public 

N.  CARO.    II.      31 


24^2  CHAPTER  [176^ 

received  no  damage.  To  prevent,  therefore,  as  much 
as  possible,  the  heavy  expense  that  must  acciue  to  the 
province,  by  guarding  against  the  insuhs  that  were  in- 
tended to  be  offered  to  the  superior  court  of  justice, 
he  peremptorily  required,  on  their  part,  that  twelve 
of  the  principal  and  wealthiest  of  them,  should  wait 
on  him  at  Salisbury,  on  the  25ih  of  the  month,  and  in 
his  presence,  execute  a  bond  in  the  penalty  of  one 
thousand  pounds,  as  a  security,  that  no  rescue  would 
be  made  of  William  Butler  and  Hermon  Husband,  at 
the  next  district  court  for  the  district  of  Hillsborough^ 
to  which  they  were  recognised. 

A  reply  was  sent,  subscribed,  on  behalf  of  the  regu- 
lators, by  James  Hunter,  Peter  Julian  and  Thomas 
Wellborn.  They  bewailed  their  misfortune,  in  hav- 
ing incurred  the  governor's  displeasure,  and  that 
their  conduct  had  given  him  reason  to  view  them,  as 
bent  rather  upon  mischief  than  waiting  for  justice.  As 
to  his  demand  of  security,  that  Butler  and  Husband, 
should  not  be  rescued,  they  observed,  that  the  late 
alarms,  the  raising  of  troops,  the  threats  held  out  of 
bringing  down  the  Indians  to  cut  off  the  inhabitants* 
of  the  county,  had  been  considered  by  the  principal 
and  most  considerate  men  among  the  regulators,  as 
being  without  ground  ;  that  they  had,  however,  exer- 
ted their  utmost  influence  in  moderating  and  pacify- 
uvr  the  resentment  of  their  neighbors:  that  these  men 
would  ever  use  the  same  care  and  would  ever,  it  was 
hoped,  be  able  to  govern  the  multitude  by  reason ;  yet 
none  of  them  were  willing  to  enter  into  a  bond ;  and, 
if  they  were,  they  would  likely  lose,  by  such  a  step,  all 
the  influence  they  possessed  before. 


!768]  THE  SEVENTH.  245 

On  the  22d  of  September,  the  day  of  the  meeting 
of  the  superior  court,  for  the  district  of  Hillsborough, 
the  regulators  appeared  and  took  their  stand  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  town. 

They  gave  the  most  positive  assurance,  that  no  de- 
sign was  entertained  of  releasing  the  persons  bound 
over,  and  beseeched  the  governor  to  dissolve  the  pre- 
sent, and  call  a  new  assembly. 

They  were  about  3700  in  number.  After  a  short 
lialt,  a  messenger  was  sent  to  the  governor,  assuring 
him,  that  if  he  would  let  them  come  in,  peaceably,  to 
complain  of  their  grievances  against  the  officers,  par- 
don all  past  breaches  of  the  peace,  except  as  to  But- 
ler and  Husband,  they  would  disperse  and  pay  their 
taxes. 

The  governor,  in  reply,  required  the  surrender  of  all 
their  arms  in  pledge,  till  the  persons  charged  were  tried. 
About  tnirty  men  complied,  but  the  rest  returned  home. 

Four  bills  of  indictment,  for  a  riot,  against  Hermon 
and  Husband,  were  sent  to  the  grand  jury  ;  one  only  was 
found  a  true  bill,  but  he  was  acquitted  on  it  by  the  tra- 
verse jury.  ,^ 

William  Hunter  and  two  others  were  indicted,  tried 
and  found  gTiHty  of  a  riot,  for  which  they  were  con- 
demned to  pay  a  heavy  fine  and  suffer  a  long  imprison- 
ment ;  two  of  these  individuals  broke  jail,  and  the  third 
remained  in  prison,  though  the  door  was  broken  open  ; 
but  the  governor  pardoned  him,  as  well  as  those  who  had 
escaped. 

A  number  of  indictments  for  extortion  were  found 
against  Edmund  Fanning ;  he  was  found  guilty  on  all  of 
them  and  fined  one  penny  in  each  case. 


jf 


"7 


244  CHAPTER  [17S8 

On  the  rise  of  the  superior  court,  the  governor  issued 
his  proclamation  for  pardonin,^  all  persons  concerned  in 
the  late  insurrection,  except  James  Hunter,  Ninian  Ha- 
milton, Peter  Craven,  Isaac  Jackson,  Hermon  Hus- 
band, Matthew  Hamilton,  William  Payne,  Ninian  Bell 
Hamilton,  Malachv  Fyke,  William  Mofluit,  Christopher 
Nation,  Solomon  Goif  and  John  O'Neal. 


Chalmers — Marshall — -Records. 


1 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Ie.2:islature  held  its  third  session  at  Newbern,  on 
the  third  ofNovember,  1768.  After  stating  the  measures 
which  had  been  pursued  in  quelling  the  late  commo- 
tions, the  governor  recommended  to  the  attention  of  the 
houses  an  enquiry  into  the  causes  of  it,  with  a  view  to 
redress  all  real  grievances  ;  and  the  necessity  of  making 
provision  for  the  expenses  which  had  been  incurred. 
He  acquainted  them,  that  the  address  transmitted  by 
their  committee  to  the  king,  praying  him  to  allow  a  new 
emission  of  paper  money,  had  been  received,  and  he  was 
instructed  to  say,  that,  as  the  power  of  creating  a  paper 
currency,  to  be  a  legal  tender,  it  was  restrained  by  an  act 
of  parliament,  and  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  crown  to 
exercise  any  discretion  on  that  subject.  He  again  urged 
the  necessity  of  providing  a  stock  of  powder  and  lead, 
which  the  situation  of  the  province  rendered  necessary. 

The  speaker  laid  before  the  lower  house  a  circular 
letter,  of  the  11th  of  February,  addressed  by  the  house 
of  representatives  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  to 
the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives  and  burgesses 
of  the  respective  provinces. 

It  began  by  stating,  that  the  house  having  taken  into 
their  serious  consideration  the  2:reat  difiiculties  that  must 
accrue  to  their  constituents,  by  the  operation  of  several 
acts  of  parliament,  imposing  duties  and  taxes  on  the 


M^  CHAPTER  [1768 

American  colonies,  and  considering  the  subject,  as  one, 
with  which  every  colony  was  deeply  interested,  they 
doubted  not,  the  respective  bodies  which  they  addressed 
would  be  duly  imj  tressed  with  its  importance,  so  that 
such  constitutional  measures  would  be  adopted,  as  cir- 
cumstances rendered  proper  :  and  fully  persuaded  of  the 
necessity  there  was  of  the  several  provinces  harmonising 
with  each  other  on  so  delicate  a  point,  they  expressed  a 
hope,  that  their  application  would  be  considered  in  no 
other  point  of  view,  than  as  expressing  a  ready  disposition 
freely  to  communicate  their  ideas  to  the  sister  colonies, 
upon  a  common  concern,  in  the  same  manner  as  they 
would  gladly  receive  the  sentiments  of  any  other  house 
of  assembly  on  the  continent. 

They  adverted  to  the  humble  representation  of  the 
sentiments,  which  they  had  made  to  the  king's  ministry  : 
that  parliament  was  the  supreme  legislative  power  over 
the  whole  empire  ;  that  in  all  free  states,  the  constitution 
was  fixed,  and,  as  the  supreme  legislature  derived  its 
power  and  authority  therefrom,  it  could  not  overleap  the 
boundaries  of  it,  without  destroying  the  foundation  on 
which  its  existence  rested  ;  that  the  constitution,  main- 
taining and  boasting  both  sovereignty  and  allegiance,  the 
colonies,  who  acknowledged  themselves  under  the  tie  of 
allegiance,  had  an  equitable  claim  to  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  fundamental  rules  of  the  British  constitution  ;  that 
it  was  an  essential,  unalterable  right  of  nature,  engrafted 
in  the  British  constitution,  as  a  fundamental  law,  ever 
held  sacred  and  irrevocable  by  the  king's  subjects  within 
the  realm,  that  whatever  a  man  had  honestly  acquired 
was  absolutely  his  own,  which  he  might  freely  dispose 
of,  and  which  could  not  be  taken  from  him  without  his 
consent ;  that  the  colonists  might,  therefore,  exclusively 


1768]  THE  EIGHTH.  .         >     247 

of  any  charter  rights,  with  a  decent  firmness  adapted  to 
the  character  of  freemen  and  subjects,  assert  this  natural 
and  constitutional  right. 

They  expressed  their  opinion,  with  the  greatest  de- 
ference to  the  wisdom  of  parliament,  that  the  acts  of 
that  body,  imposing  duties  on  the  people  of  America, 
for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue, 
were  infringements  of  their  natural  and  constitutional 
rights  ;  because,  as  they  were  not  represented  in  parlia- 
ment, the  commons  of  Great  Britain  granted  their  pro- 
perty, without  their  consent. 

They  avowed  the  opinion,  that  their  constituents,  con- 
sidering their  local  circumstances,  could  not,  by  any  pos- 
sibility, be  efFfctually  represented  in  parliament,  being 
separated  by  an  ocean  one  thousand  leagues  wide  ;  that 
for  this  reason,  the  king's  predecessors  had  formed  sub- 
ordinate legislatures  in  the  colonies,  that  the  people 
might  enjoy  there  the  unalienable  right  of  representation  j 
that  under  the  impression  of  the  impracticability  of  a 
full  and  equal  representation  of  the  colonists  in  parlia- 
ment, and  the  great  expense  that  would  attend  even  a 
partial  representation,  they  judged  the  taxation  of  their 
constituents,  even  without  their  consent,  grievous  as  it 
was,  preferable  to  such  a  representation,  as  they  could 
enjoy. 

Upon  these  principles,  and  even  if  the  right  of  parlia- 
meut  was  ever  so  clear,  they  judged,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons, it  would  be  beyond  the  rule  of  equity,  that  their 
constituents  should  be  taxed  on  the  manufactures  of 
Gre^T  Britain,  in  the  colonies,  in  addition  to  the  duties 
they  paid  for  them  in  Europe,  and  the  advantages  arising; 
to  the  mother  countrv  from  the  acts  of  trade. 


5248  CHAPTER  [1768 

The  house  then  informed  the  assemblies,  that  they 
had  presented  a  humble,  dutiful  and  loyal  petition  to 
the  king,  and  made  such  representations  to  his  minis- 
ters, as  thev  apprehended  would  tend  to  obtain  redress ; 
that  they  had  submitted  to  consideration,  whether  any 
people  could  be  said  to  enjoy  any  de,^ree  of  freedom,  if 
the  crown,  in  addition  to  its  undoubted  authority  of 
constituting  a  governor,  should  appoint  him  ^uch  a  sti- 
pend, as  it  should  judge  proper,  withoui  the  consent  of 
the  people,  and  at  their  expense ;  and  whether,  while  the 
judges  of  the  land  and  other  civil  officers  held  not  their 
commission  during  good  behaviour,  their  having  salaries 
appointed  to  them  by  the  crown,  independent  of  the 
people,  had  not  a  tendency  to  subvert  the  principles  of 
equity  and  endanger  the  happiness  and  security  of  the 
people  ;  that,  in  addition  to  these  measures,  they  had  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  their  agent  in  England,  the  sentiments 
of  which  he  was  directed  to  lay  before  the  ministry, 
wherein  they  took  notice  of  the  hardships  of  the  act  for 
preventing  mutiny  and  desertion,  which  required  the 
governor  and  council  to  provide  enumerated  articles  for 
the  king's  marching  troops,  and  the  people  to  pay  the 
expense  ;  and  also  the  commission  of  the  gentlemen, 
appointed  commissioners  of  the  customs  to  reside  in 
America,  which  authorizes  them  to  make  as  many  ap- 
pointments as  they  think  fit  and  pay  the  appointees 
what  sums  they  please,  without  being  accountable  for 
their  misconduct,  from  whence  it  might  happen,  that 
officers  of  the  crown  might  be  multiplied  to  such  a 
degree,  as  to  become  dangerous  to  the  people,  by  virtue 
of  a  commission,  which  did  not  appear  to  offi?r  to  trade- 
such  advantages,  as  many  had  been  led  to  expect. 


1768]  THE  EIGHTH.  S49 

They  expressed  their  belief,  that,  on  account  of  these 
their  sentiments  and  proceeding's,  they  had  too  much 
reason  to  think,  the  enemies  of  the  colonies  had  repre- 
sented them  to  the  king's  ministers  and  parliament,  as 
factious  and  disloyal,  and  having  a  disposition  to  make 
thtmselves  independent  of  the  mother  country ;  and  pro- 
tested, as  they  had  taken  occasion  to  assure  the  king  and 
his  ministers,  that,  with  regard  to  the  people  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Massachusetts,  and  in  their  belief,  as  to  all 
others  on  the  continent,  the  charges  were  unjust. 

They  concluded,  by  expressing  their  full  satisfaction, 
that  the  assemblies  of  the  provinces  were  too  generous 
and  enlarged  in  sentiment,  to  believe,  that  their  address 
procetdt  d  from  an  ambition  of  taking  the  lead  and  dic- 
tating to  others ;  they  submitted  their  opinions  to  the 
judgment  of  those  they  addressed,  with  assurances,  that 
they  would  take  it  kind,  if  any  of  them  should  point  out 
any  thing  further,  necessary  to  be  done,  and  satisfied 
them,  from  confidt  nee  in  the  king,  the  common  head  and 
father  of  all,  the  united  and  dutiful  supplications  of 
his  American  subjects  would  meet  his  royal  and  favora- 
ble acceptance. 

The  scarcity  of  money  rendering  it  impracticable  to 
defray  the  expenses,  incurred  by  the  late  expedition  to 
Hillsborough  and  running  the  dividing  line  between  the 
back  settlements  and  the  Cherokee  hunting  ground,  it 
became  impossible  to  do  an}  thing  more  than  secure 
the  demands  of  the  creditors  of  the  province,  bv  certifi- 
cates, issued  from  the  treasury  ;  accordingl\',  debentures 
or  notes,  receivable  there,  to  the  amount  of  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds,  were  direct  d  to  be  issued,  and  for  the  re- 
demption of  them,  a  poll  tax  of  two  sellings  was  laid, 

N.  CARO.  u,  32 


I 


250  CHAPTER  [>1769 

With  a  view  to  enable  the  industrious  poor  to  dis- 
charge their  taxes,  inspectors'  notes,  for  tobacco,  hemp, 
rice,  indigo,  wax,  tallow  and  deer  skins,  were  directed 
to  be  received. 

The  county  of  Mecklenburg  was  divided,  and  the 
western  part  of  it  erected  into  a  new  county,  which, 
in  compliment  to  the  governor,  was  called  Try  on. 
^  George  Mercer  of  Virginia,  who  has  alreadj^  been 
mentioned  as  stamp  master  of  that  province,  was 
this  year  appointed  lieutenant  governor  of  North 
Carolina. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  the  governor  dissolved  the 
general  assembly  by  proclamation. 

The  disturbances  in  the  western  counties  were 
far  from  being  quelled.  Early  in  the  spring,  John 
Lea,  the  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Orange,  attempting 
to  serve  a  warrant,  for  a  breach  of  (he  peace,  on 
Hanson  Hamilton,  one  John  Pugjh  and  two  other 
regulators  fell  upon,  compelled  him  to  desist  and 
beat  him  with  great  cruelty. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  the  governor  in  pursu- 
ance of  instructions  received  from  the  minister,  issu- 
ed his  proclamation  for  the  pardon  of  all  persons, 
whatever,  concerned,  even  in  resfard  to  fines. 

The  new  legislature  met  at  Newbern,  on  the  23d 
of  October.  The  governor  informed  the  houses, 
that  the  king  had  left  the  regulation  of  Indian  affairs 
to  tlii?  colonies,  whose  legislature,^  it  Had  been 
thought,  must  be  the  best  judges  of  what  their  se- 
veral situations  and  circumstances  might  require; 
but  that  the  office  of  superintendant  would  be  con- 
tinued, for  such  matters,  as  required  immediate  ne- 
gotiation between  the  crown  and  the  Indians,  which 


1769]  THE  EIGHTH.  2oi 

could  not,  consistently,  be  regulated  by  legislative 
authority. 

He  observed,  that,  as  it  was  not  in  the  power  o^ 
the  king,  to  dispense  with  the  act  of  parliament, 
respecting  the  legal  tender  of  paper  currency  in  the 
colonies,  no  petition  for  an  emission  of  that  cur- 
rency, as  a  legal  tender,  could  meet  with  success, 
and  added,  that  this  intimation  was  not  intended  to 
preclude  the  fullest  consideration,  that  could  be 
given,  to  any  representation  the  assembly  might 
make  on  that  subject,  or  any  plan  they  could  suggest 
for  that  purpose. 

As  the  affairs  of  the  province  must,  in  some  degree, 
necessarily  suffer  delay,  from  the  want  of  a  regular  agent 
at  home,  duly  authorized  to  act  in  every  case  in  which 
the  colony  might  be  concerned,  he  informed  the  houses 
he  was  authorized  to  give  his  assent  to  a  law,  for  raising 
a  sum  sufficient  for  the  salary  of  such  an  officer,  provid- 
ed he  was  appointed  by  an  act,  passed  especially  for  that 
purpose;  as  the  act  was  to  originate  in  the  lower  house, 
it  would  follow,  that  the  name  of  tl^  person  must  be  in- 
serted there,  aUhough  the  other  two  branches  of  the  le- 
gislature would  each  have  a  negative  vote  on  the  bill. 

He  drew  the  attention  of  the  houses  to  a  late  act  of 
parliament,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  culture  of  raw" 
silk  in  America:  as  this  object  was  of  considerable  im- 
portance to  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies,  he 
pressed  the  houses  to  second  the  efforts  of  parliament 
and  pursue  such  measures,  by  premiums  or  otherwise, 
as  might  induce  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  to  enter 
with  spirit  and  expedition,  on  so  useful  and  profitable 
a  species  of  culture. 


2o£  CHAPTER  [176=^ 

He  concluded  by  observing,  that  he  was  authorized 
to  give  them  assurances,  that  the  king's  ministers  liad  at 
no  time,  entertained  a  design  to  propose  to  parliament  to 
lay  any  further  taxes  on  America,  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  a  revenue,  and  that  it  was  their  intention  to  pro- 
pose, at  the  next  session  of  parliament,  to  take  off  the 
duties  on  glass,  paper  and  colors,  upon  consid<  rtion  of 
their  having  been  laid  contrary  to  the  true  principles  of 
commerce.  He  assured  the  houses,  such  had  always 
been  and  still  were  the  sentiments  of  the  king's  present 
ministers  and  the  principles  by  which  their  conduct  to- 
wards America  had  ever  been  regulated,  and  expressed 
his  reliance  on  the  prudence  and  candor  of  the  members, 
that  they  would  give  full  credit  to  the  late  testimonies  the 
king  and  parliament  had  afforded,  of  their  attention  and 
affection  to  the  colonies,  and  this  explanation  of  the 
measures  of  his  servants;  a  confidence  which  would  tend 
to  remove  the  prejudices,  excited  by  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  those  who  were  jealous  of  the  prosperity  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  and  would  re-establish 
that  cordiality  and  affection,  on  u  hich  the  glory  and 
safety  of  the  British  empire  depended. 

He  renewed  his  application  for  a  provision  of  lead  and 
powder  for  the  service  of  the  king  and  the  defence  of  the 
province,  and  recommended  a  strict  examination  into 
the  state  of  the  public  finances. 

The  lower  house  replied,  that  the  information  he  had 
been  pleased  to  afford  to  them,  as  to  the  intention  of  the 
king's  ministers,  was  very  grateful  to  them  and  would 
be  much  more  so,  when  they  would  find  those  designs 
carried  into  execution,  even  upon  the  consideration  that 
the  duties  intended  to  be  repealed  had  been  laid  contrary 
to  the  true  principles  of  commerce,  and  expressed  their 


1769]  THE  EIGHTH.  253 

joy,  to  find  that  the  sentiments  of  the  kinj^'s  ministers 
coincided  with  their  own.  They  observed,  that  a  pro- 
vision of  powder  and  lead,  while  the  province  enjoyed  a 
profound  [)eace,  appeared  to  them,  by  no  means  neces- 
sary, as  every  tax  or  clog  on  trade  must  discourage  com- 
merce. They  agreed  with  the  governor  in  the  opinion, 
that  the  public  funds,  at  no  time  since  the  settlement  of 
the  province,  required  a  more  strict  examination,  and 
the  necessity  there  wus,  that  a  settlement  of  all  public  ac- 
counts should  be  forthwith  obtained,  and  the  situation 
of  thf"  public  finances  of  the  province  made  known  to  the 
people. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1770.  governor  Tryon's  speech 
and  the  address  of  the  house  being  read  in  parliament, 
Mr.  Drake  made  a  motion,  that  it  was  derogatory  to 
his  majesty's  honor  and  to  the  freedom  of  parliamentary 
deliberation,  to  pledge  the  faith  of  the  crown  to  the  colo- 
nial assemblies,  for  the  repealing  or  laving,  or  continu- 
ing any  taxes  or  duties  whatsoever:  but  it  passed  in  the 
negative. 

On  the  2d  of  November,  the  speaker  L^id  before  the 
house  a  communication  from  the  house  of  burgesses, 
of  the  province  of  Virginia,  written  on  the  9th  of  May 
last. 

It  began  by  stating,  that  the  house  of  burgesses,  hav- 
ing attentively  considered  several  late  acts  of  j)arliamcnr, 
and  being  of  opinion,  that  they  manifestly  tended  to  de- 
prive the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  of  their  essential 
rights  and  privileges,  had  thought  it  their  duty,  as  rep- 
resentatives of  a  free  people,  to  take  every  regular  step 
to  assert  that  constitutional  liberty,  for  the  destruction  of 
which,  those  laws  seemed  to  be  enacted;  and  had  thought, 
proper  therefore,  to  reprcbcnt  that  they  were  sensible 


254  CHAPTER  [1769 

of  the  happiness  and  security  they  derived  from  their 
connexion  with,  and  dependence  on,  Great  Britain, 
and  their  great  concern,  that  any  unlucky  incident  should 
interrupt  that  salutary  harmony  which  they  ever  wished 
to  subsist.  They  lamented,  that  the  remoteness  of  their 
situation  often  exposed  them  to  such  misrepresenta- 
tions, as  were  apt  to  involve  them  in  censures  of  disloy- 
alty to  their  sovereign  and  the  want  of  a  proper  respect 
for  the  British  parliament,  whereas,  they  had  indulged 
themselves  in  the  agreeable  persuasion,  that  they  ought 
to  be  considered  inferior  to  none  of  their  fellow  subjects 
in  loyaltv  or  affection. 

They  disdained  any  affectation  of  independence  on 
from  the  parent  kingdom,  the  prosperity  of  which  they 
professed  themselves  bound  to  the  utmost  of  their 
abilities  to  promote,  and  declared  their  cheerful  ac- 
quiescencein  the  authority  of  parliament  to  make  laws 
for  preserving  a  necessary  dependence  and  for  regu- 
lating the  course  of  trade  in  the  colonies;  yet  they 
could  not  conceive  and  humbly  insisted,  it  was  not 
essential  to  support  a  relation  between  a  mother  coun- 
try and  colonies,   transplanted   from  her,   that  she 
shoud  have  a  right  to   raise  money  thenceforth  with- 
out their  consent,  and  presumed  they  did  not  aspire 
to  more,  than  the  national  rights  of  British  subjects, 
when  they  asserted  that  no  power  on  earth  had  a  right 
to  impose  taxes  on  the  people,  or  take  the  smallest 
portion  of  their  property  without  their  consent,  given 
by  their  representatives  in   parliament.     This  had 
ever  been  considered  as  the  chief  pillar  of  the  consti- 
tution; without  this  support  no  man  could  be  consid- 
ered to  have  the  least  shadow  of  liberty;  since  they 
could  have  no  property  in  that,  which  another  could 


1769]  THE  EIGHTH.  ^55 

hy  right  take  from  them,  when  lie  pleased  without 
their  consent. 

They  observed  that  their  ancestors  had  brought 
with  them  entire,  and  transmitted  to  their  descendants, 
the  natural  and  constitutional  rights  they  had  enjoyed 
in  their  native  country,  and  the  first  principles  of  the 
British  constitution  were  early  engrafted  into  the  con- 
stitution of  the  colonies.  Hence  a  legislative  author- 
ity, ever  essential  in  all  free  states,  was  derived  from 
and  assimilated, as  near  as  possible,  to  that  of  England. 
The  executive  power  and  the  right  of  assenting  to  and 
dissenting  from  all  laws  reserved  to  the  king,  and  the 
privilege  of  choosing  their  own  representatives  ves- 
ted in  the  people,  continued  confirmed  to  them 
by  repeated  and  express  stipulations.  The  govern- 
ment thus  established,  they  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  their 
own  labour  v^^ith  a  security  which  liberty  alone  could 
impart.  Upon  pressing  occasions  they  applied  to  the 
king  for  relief,  and  gratefully  acknowleged,  they  fre- 
quently received  it  from  their  mother  country.  When- 
ever their  assistance  becaine  necessary,  requsitions 
had  been  constantly  made  from  the  crown  to  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  people,  who  had  complied  with 
them  to  the  utmost  extent  of  their  abilities,  and  the  am- 
ple provisions  made  for  the  support  of  civil  govern- 
ment, in  the  reign  of  Charles  Jl.  and,  at  his  request, 
the  large  supplies,  voted  during  the  last  war,  upon  the 
requisitions  of  the  former  and  present  king,  afforded 
early  and  late  instances  of  the  disposition  of  the  assem- 
blies of  the  province  of  Virginia,  and  were  sufficient 
proofs,  that  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  had  not, 


256  CHAPTER  ♦  [1763 

till  lately,  assumed  the  power  of  imposing  taxes  upon 
the  people  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue. 

They  added,  that  to  sny,  that  the  commons  of  Great 
Britain  h?^d  a  right  to  impose  internal  taxes  on  the 
inhabitants  of  the  continent,  who  were  not,  and  could 
be,  represented,  was  in  effect  to  bid  them  prepare  for 
a  state  of  slavery;  for  the  colonies  having  no  constitu- 
tional check  on  their  liberality  in  giving  away  their 
money,  could  not  have  an  opportunity  of  explaining 
their  grievances  or  pointing  out  the  easiest  method  of 
taxation,  and  their  doom  would  generally  be  determin- 
ed, before  they  became  acquainted,  that  the  subject 
had  been  agitated  in  parliament. 

They  observed,  the  oppressive  stamp  act  confessed- 
ly imposrd  internal  taxes;  and  the  late  acts  of  parlia- 
ment, granting  certain  duties  on  the  British  colonies, 
plaiidy  tended  to  the  satne  point.  They  complained 
that  duties  had  been  imposed  to  enhance  the  com- 
merce of  one  part  of  the  esnpire,  that  were  likely  to 
prove  injurious  to  another,  and  by  this  means  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  was  injured ;  and  duties  imposed 
on  such  of  the  British  exports  as  were  necessaries  of 
life,  to  be  paid  by  the  colonists  on  importation,  without 
any  view  to  the  interest  of  commerce,  but  merely  to 
raise  a  revenue,  or  in  other  words,  to  compel  the  colo- 
nies to  part  with  their  money  against  their  inclination, 
they  conceived  to  be  a  tax  internal  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  anditcould  not  be  thought  just  or  reasonable, 
that,  restricted  as  they  were  in  their  trade,  confined  in 
their  exports,  and  obliged  to  purchase  these  very  neces- 
saries in  the  British  market,  they  should  be  told  they 
could  not  have  tliem  without  paying  a  duty  lor  them. 


1769 J  THE  EIGHTH.  257 

They  considered  the  act  suspending  the  legislative 
power  of  the  province  of  New- York,  as  still  more 
alarming  to  the  colonists,  altliough  it  had  that  single 
province  in  view;  for,  if  the  parliament  could  compel 
them  to  furnish  one  singh*  article  to  the  troops,  sent 
over,  they  might  by  the  same  riil^',  oblige  them  to 
furnish  clothes,  arms  and  every  other  necessary,  even 
the  pay  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  a  doctrine  re- 
plete with  every  mischief  and  utterly  subversive  of 
all  that  is  dear  and  valuable;  for  the  colonists  could 
derive  no  advantage  from  the  right  of  choosing  their 
own  representatives,  if  those  representatives,  when 
cho  en,  were  not  permitt<^d  to  exercise  their  own 
judgment  and  were  under  the  necessity,  on  pain  of 
being  deprived  of  their  legislative  authority,  of  en- 
forcing the  mandates  of  the  British  parliament. 

The  hou'^e  of  birgesses  st  .ted,  that  these  senti- 
ments had  been  expressed  in  an  address  to  the  king, 
a  memorial  to  the  lords  and  a  remonstrance  to  the 
house  of  commons;  that  the  council  of  the  province 
had  concurred  in  them,  and  J'mes  Abercrombie 
and  Edward  Montague,  the  agents  of  the  province, 
had  been  directed  to  unite  in  their  best  endeavors  to 
obtain  redress  of  the  grievances  complained  of,  and 
to  co-operate  with  the  agents  of  the  other  colonies,  in 
every  measure  that  should  be  deemed  neces»aiy  on 
this  delicate  point. 

They  concluded  with  a  hopo,  that  they  had  ex- 
pressed themsplvcs  on  the  occasion,  with  a  tirmness 
that  became  freemen,  pleading  for  their  fuiidamental 
rights,  and  with  a  decency,  that  would  exempt  them 
from  an  iniputati(»n  of  factiofi  and  dish)\aUy;  and 
they  had  made  known  their  proceedings  on  this  »>ub- 

N.  CARO.    II.      33 


25S  CHAPTER  [I76& 

ject,  withj  a  view  that  the  representatives  of  the  pea- 
pie  of  North  Carolina,  being  acquainted  with  them^ 
might  go  hand  in  hand  in  opposition  to  measures 
which  had  an  immediate  tendency  to  enslave  them;, 
and  were  persuaded  that  the  candor  of  the  house 
would  not  consider  it  in  any  other  light,  and  trusted, 
that  by  a  hearty  union  of  the  colonies,  the  constitu- 
tion might  again  be  established  on  its  genuine  prin- 
ciples; an  end  equally  to  be  desired,  both  by  the 
mother  country  and  the  colonies. 

The  house  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  sole  right 
of  imposing  taxes  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
was,  and  had  ever  been,  legally  and  constitutionally  ves- 
ted in  the  the  house  of  assembly,  lawfully  convened, 
according  to  the  ancient  and  established  practice,  with 
the  consent  of  the  council  and  the  king,  or  his  gover- 
nor; that  it  was  the  undoubted  privilege  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  province,  to  petition  the  king  for  the  redress 
of  grievances,  and  it  was  lawful  and  expedient,  to 
procure  the  concurrence  of  the  other  colonies,  in  duti- 
ful addresses,  praying  the  royal  interposition,  in  favor  of 
the  violated  rights  of  America;  and  that  all  trials  for 
treason,  misprision  of  it,  felony  or  any  other  crime, 
committed  in  the  colony,  by  any  person  residing  in  it, 
ought,  of  right,  to  be  in  one  of  the  king's  courts,  held 
there  according  to  its  fixed  and  known  rules  of  proceed- 
ing; and  that  seizing  any  inhabitant  on  suspicion  of  any 
crime  committed  in  the  province,  to  be  sent  beyond  sea 
for  trial,  was  highly  derogatory  to  the  rights  of  the  British 
subjects,  as  thereby,  die  inestimable  privilege  of  being 
tried  by  a  jury  of  the  vicinage,  as  well  as  the  liberty  of 
summoning  and  producing  witnesses,  at  the  trial,  was 
taken  away  from  the  party  accused. 


n69]  THE  EIGHTH.  .         259 


\ 


An  address  was  prepared  for  the  kinp;.  It  began  by 
assurances  that  his  subjects,  in  North  Carolina,  were 
distinguished  by  their  loyalty  and  firm  attachment  to 
him  and  his  ancestors,  were  far  from  countenancing 
treasons,  and  ready  at  any  time  to  sacrifice  their  lives  and 
fortunes,  in  defence  of  his  person  and  government.  It 
expressed  the  deepest  concern,  and  heartfelt  grief  of  the 
house,  that  their  loyalty  had  been  traduced,  and  those 
measures,  which  a  just  regard  for  the  British  constitu- 
tion made  necessary  duties,  had  been  misrepresented, 
as  rebellious  attacks  on  his  government. 

The  house  next  observed,  that,  when  they  considered, 
that,  by  the  established  laws  and  constitution  of  the  col- 
ony,  the  most  ample  provision  was  made,  for  apprehend- 
ing and  punishing  any  person,  who  should  dare  to  en- 
gage in  any  treasonable  practice,  or  disturb  the  tranquil- 
ity of  government,  they  could  not,  without  horror, 
think  of  the  new,  unusual,  illegal  and  unconstitutional 
mode,  recommended  to  the  king,  of  seizing  and  carr}^- 
ing  beyond  sea,  the  inhabitants  of  America,  suspected 
of  any  crime,  to  bt  tried  in  any  manner  contrary  to  the 
ancient  and  long  established  course  of  proceeding;  they 
pitied  the  deplorable  situation  of  an  American,  who, 
having  incurred  the  displeasure  of  any  person  in  power, 
might  be  dragged  from  his  native  home  and  his  dearest 
domestic  connexion,  thrown  into  a  prison,  not  to 
await  his  trial  before  a  judge  or  a  jury,  from  a  know- 
ledge of  whom,  he  might  be  encouraged  to  hope  for 
speedy  justice;  but  to  exchange  his  imprisonment  in  his 
own  country,  for  fetters  among  strangers,  conveyed  to  a 
distant  land,  where  no  friend  nor  relative  would  alleviate 
his  distresses  or  minister  to  his  necessities,  and  where  no 
'i^'itness  could  be  found  to  testifv  his  innocence,  shun- 


^eo  ^  CHAPTER  [1760 

ned  by  the  respectable  and  honest,  and  consigned  to  the 
society  and  converse  of  the  wretched  and  abandoned,  he 
could  only  pray  them  to  end  his  misery  with  his  life. 

Truly  alarmed  at  the  fatal  tendency  of  these  perni- 
cious councils,  and  with  hearts  filled  with  anguish,  by 
invasions  so  ingenious  of  their  dearest  privileges,  the 
house  prostrated  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the  throne, 
beseeching  the  king,  as  their  sovereign  and  father,  to 
avert,  from  his  faithful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  miseries 
which  must  necessarily  be  the  consequences  of  such 
measures.  ^ 

The  address  concluded,  by  expressing  the  firm  con- 
fidence of  the  house,  in  the  royal  wisdom  and  goodness, 
and  assurances,  that  the  daily  prayers  of  his  people  in 
the  province,  were  addressed  to  the  Almighty;  that  he 
might,  long  and  prosperously,  reign  over  Great  Britain 
and  his  other  dominions;  and  that,  after  death,  he  might 
taste  the  fullest  fruition  of  eternal  bliss;  and  that  one  of 
his  descendants  might  wield  the  sceptre  over  the  ex- 
tended British  empire,  till  time  should  be  no  more. 

The  address,  as  well  as  the  resolutions,  was  assented 
to,  without  a  dissenting  vote,  and  the  agent  of  the  pro- 
vince was  directed  to  procure  it  to  be  presented  to  the 
king,  and  afterwards  published  in  the  English  papers. 

The  only  public  act,  passed  at  this  session,  was  for 
the  appointment  of  Henry  E,  M'Cullough,  agent  of  the 
province. 

The  governor  informed  the  house,  by  a  message,  that 
some  of  the  resolves  on  their  journals,  after  the  as- 
surances he  had  given  them  in  his  speech,  had  sap- 
ped the  foundation  of  confidence  and  gratitude,  torn  up 
by  the  root,  every  sanguine  hope  he  had  entertained,  to 
render  the  province  any  further  service,  if  he  had  render- 


1769]  THE  EIGHTH.  261 

ed  it  any,  and  made  it  his  indispensable  duty  to  put  an 
end  to  the  session. 

The  house  replied,  that  his  assurances,  at  the  opening 
of  the  session,  of  the  repeal  of  certain  acts,  so  contrary 
to  the  interests  both  of  Great  Britain  and  America,  had 
the  repeal  of  them  b^en  in  his  power,  would  have  been  a 
certainty,  upon  which  the  house  could  not  but  have  re- 
lied, without,  indeed,  sapping  the  foundation  of  confi- 
dence and  tj;ratitude,  and  justly  forfeiting  all  title  to  his 
future  favor  and  services;  but,  as  those  assurances 
were  in  consequence  of  expectation,  formed  on  the  in- 
tentions of  ministers,  to  recommend  such  repeals  to 
parliament,  who  might  not  be  in  place  at  the  next  meet- 
ing of  that  body,  the  house  couid  not  but  think  it  a  duty 
they  indispensably  owed  to  their  constituents,  to  express 
their  disapprobation  of  acts  and  measures,  in  their  ap- 
prehension, grievous  and  unconstitutional.  To  this 
motive  alone,  they  begged  him  to  impute  these  resolves, 
and  not  to  a  loss  of  confidence  in  him,  or  a  want  of  a 
very  grateful  remembrance  of  the  signal  services  he  had 
rendered  to  the  province;  and  they  took  this  opportu- 
nity of  declaring  to  the  world,  that  the  benefit  which  had 
accrued  to  theprovince,  from  his  administration,  had  ex- 
cited in  their  bosoms,  the  warmest  sensations  of  gratitude, 
and  would,  deservedly,  obtain  for  him,  the  blessings  of 
posterity. 

The  governor  answered,  he  was  sorry  to  observe,  the 
house  had  founded  their  late  conduct  on  a  jealousy  of 
the  intentions  of  ministers,  who  might  not  be  in  office 
at  the  next  meeting  of  parliament.  He  assured  them  he 
had  received  the  sentiment,  which  he  had  communica- 
ted, as  the  voice  of  the  crown,  and  did  not  believe  a 


^e^2  CHAPTER  [1769 

i 

change  in  the  ministry,  would  produce  any  in  the  mea- 
sures adopted  by  the  king's  present  servants. 

On  meeting  the  two  houses,  a  few  hours  after,  he  ob- 
served, he  had  met  them  with  a  most  sincere  disposition 
to  forward  public  business.  He  made  his  public  ac- 
knowledgments to  the  upper  house,  for  the  cheerful 
desire  they  had  manifested  of  co-operating  with  him,  and 
expressed  his  gratitude  to  the  other,  for  the  honorable 
testimony  they  bore  to  the  rectitude  of  his  intention, 
and  prayed  them  to  believe  the  interruption,  which  had 
been  given  to  the  business  of  the  session,  did  not  occa- 
sion more  disappointment  to  them,  than  its  cause  pro- 
duced real  affliction  to  him. 

He  observed,  the  plan  he  laid  before  them  for  the 
management  of  their  finances,  if  adopted  by  the  legisla- 
ture, and  invariably  pursued,  woukl  produce  the  h.ippiest 
effects  to  the  province;  and  he  would  be  bold  to  say,  if 
ever  carried  in  any  future  session,  into  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature, it  would  be  acknowledged  the  most  beneficial 
session  the  province  ever  witnessed,  even  if  the  act  should 
be  the  only  one  passed.  He  lamented,  that  this  blessing 
was  not  to  be  obtained,  while  the  treasurers,  late  sheriffs, 
and  their  securities  could  command  a  majority  in  the 
lower  house,  and  while  a  treasurer  was  suffered  to  ab- 
sent himself,  and  withhold  his  public  accounts  from  the 
general  assembly,  let  the  pretence  of  his  absence  be  ever 
so  urgent.  He  concluded,  that,  as  his  duty  preceded 
every  other  consideration,  he  was  compelled  to  dissolve 

/  L  ']  the  assembly.  "^    — ^--* 

j^^/       In  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  the  tranquility  of 

t  ■i  ^-^the  province  began  again  to  be  disturbed.     The  regula- 
tors, assembling  themselves  in  large  parties,  visited  the 


w 


1770]  THE  EIGHTH.  263 

counties  in  the  upper  districts,  ill  treating  those  who  re- 
fused to  join  the  standard  of  rev^olt.  Maurice  Moore, 
the  associate  justice,  who  attended  at  Salisbury  in  the 
month  of  March,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  supe- 
rior court,  reported  to  the  governor,  that  the  sheriffs  of 
the  several  counties  of  that  district,  complained  heavily 
of  the  opposition  made  to  them,  in  the  exercise  of  their 
duties,  by  the  regulators;  that  it  was  impossible  to 
collect  a  tax  or  levy  an  execution,  '*plain  proofs,  among 
many  others,"  said'the  judge,  -Hhat  their  designs  have 
even  extended  faither,  than  to  promote  a  public  inquiry 
into  the  conduct  of  public  officers.  This  evil,  though 
cognisable  by  the  courts  of  law,  no  civil  process  could 
redress,  for  this  obvious  reason,  that  none  could  be  exe- 
cuted among  those  people."  The  judge  concluded  his 
report  by  observing,  he  had  advised  the  sheriffs,  to  peti- 
tion the  governor  and  general  assembly;  and  he  prayed, 
that  it  might  not  be  found  necessary  to  redress  this  evil, 
by  means  equal  to  the  obstinacy  of  the  people  who  had 
given  occasion  to  it. 

The  contagion  had  spread  even  into  the  lower  coun- 
ties. In  the  month  of  April,  Simon  Bright,  the  shtriff 
of  the  county  of  Dobbs,  having  a  warrant  to  apprehend 
Thomas  Blake  and  John  Coulie,  two  men  who  were  at- 
tempting to  spread  the  principles  of  the  rebellion  in  that 
county,  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  their  proselytes,  who 
killed  James  Lindsay,  one  of  his  assistants,  and  com- 
pelled the  sheriff' to  abandon  his  purpose. 

Richard  Henderson,  one  of  the  associate  justices, 
went  up  to  Hillsborough,  in  the  latter  part  of  Septem- 
ber, for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  superior  court  of 
law,  for  that  district;  but  the  regulators,  who  were  as- 


264  CHAPTER.  [1770 

sembled  in  great  numbers,  forcibly  obstructed  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court,  compelled  the  judge  and  other 
officers  of  justice,  to  leave  the  court  house,  took  posses- 
sion of  the  records  and  blotted  a  considerable  part  of 
them.  After  giving  an  account  of  these  tumultuous 
proceedings,  to  the  governor  and  council,  the  judge  ob- 
served, that  as  to  pointing  out  the  most  eftectual  steps, 
to  bring  the  offenders  to  condign  punishment,  he  was 
apprehensive  no  process  could  issue,  in  the  present  situ- 
ation of  affairs,  that  could  bring  about  so  great  an  end, 
as  no  obedience  had  been  paid  to  any  process  whatever, 
by  the  insurgents,  who,  if  apprehended,  went  under  the 
existing  court  law,  and  were  tried  in  the  district  in  which 
the  crime  was  committed,  a  circumstance,  which  the  re- 
cent instances  of  their  conduct  being  considered,  left 
room  to  apprehend  the  inefficacy  of  every  measure,  that 
might  be  derived  from  that  source.  The  judge  propo- 
sed, that  the  legislature  might  be  convened,  immediately, 
and  that  the  colonels  of  particular  counties  might  be  or- 
dered to  muster  their  regiments,  in  order  to  ascertain 
'what  number  of  men  would  be  disposed  to  act  as  volun- 
teers, on  whose  conduct,  when  called  out,  reliance  might 
be  placed. 

The  council,  however,  thought  it  best  not  to  convene 
the  legislative  body,  before  the  day  to  which  it  stood  pro- 
rogued ;  this  determination  was,  perhaps,  produced  by 
an  unwillingness  to  have  the  session  held  in  the  upper 
parts  of  the  province;  a  severe  epidemic,  w^hich  then 
raged  in  the  eastern  part  of  it,  forbidding  its  meeting  at 
the  usual  place. 

A  charter  was  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
of  Hillsborough,  authorizing  them  to  choose  a  repre- 


IT70]  THE  EIGHTH,  2B5 

sentative  in  the  lower  house,  a  measure  which  is  said  to 
have  been  taken  to  secure  a  seat  for  Edmund  Fanning, 
an  attorney  of  influence,  who  has  already  been  mentioned 
in  this  chapter  and  who  was  a  great  partisan  of  the 
governor  and  extremely  obnoxious  to  the  regulators ; 
these  people  were  so  greatly  exasperated  by  this  ^  - 
circumstance,  that  they  spoke  of  coming  down  in  arms  :; 
forcibly  to  prevent  his  taking  a  seat,  and  threatened,  in  ^ 
case  they  failed  in  the  attempt,  to  set  fire  to  the  town  of 
Newbern  ;  the  governor  was  so  apprehensive,  that  they 
would  carry  their  threats  into  execution,  that  he  caused 
a  ditch  to  be  dug  along  the  part  of  the  town,  from 
Neuse  to  Trent  river,  which  is  bounded  bv  Muddvand 
part  of  Queen  street,  and  was  the  only  inhabited  part 
of  it ;  orders  w^re  issued  to  the  colonels  of  the  mi- 
litia in  the  counties  on  Neuse,  and  some  of  those  on  Tar 
river,  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  on  the 
first  news  of  the  approach  of  the  regulators,  and  op- 
pose their  passage  ;  colonel  Leech,  of  the  county  of 
Craven,  was  directed  to  order  his  regiment  into  town, 
for  the  protection  of  the  legislature. 

The  legislature  met  at  Newbern,  on  the  5th  of  Decem-  \tfO 
ber ;  the  governor  received  them  in  the  palace,  which  had 
lately  been  finished,  and  to  which  he  had  now  removed. 
The  building  was  superior  to  any  of  the  kind  in  British 
North  America ;  and  the  writer  of  this  history,  who 
visited  it  in  1783,  in  company  with  the  late  renowntd 
and  unfortunate  don  Francisco  de  Miranda,  heard  that 
gentleman  say,  it  had  no  equal  in  South  America. 

It  was  dedicated  to  Sir  William  Draper,  the  conqueror 
of  Manilla,  who  was  on  a  visit  at  governor  Tr}on's, 
and  was  said  to  be  the  author  of  ihe  following  lincs^ 
inscribed  over  the  principal  door,  in  tlie  vestibule  : 

N.    CARO.  II.  34 


266  CHAPTCR        '  [nw 

Eege  pio^felix^  diris  inimica  tyrannis, 
Virtuti  has  ades  libera  terra  dedit, 
tSint  domus  et  doininus  sceclis  exempla  futuris^ 
Hie  artes,  mores,  jura^  legesque  colant* 

Which  are  translated  thus  : 

In  the  reign  of  a  monarch,  who  goodness  disclos'd, 
A  free,  happy  people,  to  dread  tyrants  oppos'd, 
Have,  to  virtue  and  merit,  erected  tiiis  dome ; 
May  the  owner  and  household  make  this  the  lov'd  home, 
Where  religion,  the  arts  and  the  laws  may  invite 
Future  ages  to  live,  in  sweet  peace  and  delight. 

The  proportion  of  the  new  members  was  about  the 
fourth  of  the  whole.  The  attention  of  the  lefrislature 
was  drawn,  by  the  governor's  speech,  to  the  abuses  in 
the  management  of  the  finances  of  the  province,  the  pre- 
vaiHng,  real  or  feigned,  complaints  against  public  officers, 
the  evils  arising  from  the  quantity  of  counterfeited 
money  in  circulation,  and  the  injuries  offered  to  the 
king's  government,  at  and  since  the  late  superior  court 
for  the  district  of  Hillsborough. 

He  said,  it  was  a  matter  of  great  concern  to  every 
honest  man  in  the  province,  that  after  the  frequent  soli- 
citations which  had  been  made,  for  a  just  statement  of 
the  public  revenue,  none  had  as  yet  been  produced.  He 
observed,  the  plan,  he  had  laid  before  the  houses,  at  the 
last  session,  stood  unimpeached,  as  to  propriety,  regu- 
larity and  method ;  he  referred  it  to  the  consideration  of 
the  houses,  with  a  wish  that  a  law  might  now  be  passed, 
for  the  adoption  of  it.  He  suggested  the  propriety  of 
restraining  public  treasurers,  by  severe  penalties,  and 
the  deprivation  of  their  offices,  from  being  directly  or 


I77D]  THE  EIGHTH.  <267 

indirectly  engaged  in  trade,  a  restraint  which  would  be 
a  check  against  the  temptation  of  employing  the  funds  of 
the  public  as  a  stock  for  private  trade,  and  allow  the 
officers  more  leisure  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  sta- 
tions ;  he  complained  of  the  liberty,  former  treasurers 
had  assumed,  of  taking  moneys  at  pleasure  from  one 
fund,  to  make  up  the  deficiencies  of  others,  a  practice 
which  had  introduced  much  confusion  in  public  ac- 
counts ;  and  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  establishing 
such  regulations  in  the  offices  of  the  treasurers,  as  would 
prevent  further  irregularities,  bring  into  public  view 
past  transactions  and  remove  the  jealousies  which  the 
people  too  justly  entertained. 

He  besought  them  to  make  the  most  scrupulous  en- 
quiries, with  regard  to  the  complaints  against  public  offi- 
cers, which  were  either  the  cause  or  the  pretence  of  the 
late  disturbances,  to  provide  for  the  redress  of  any  griev- 
ance which  might  exist,  and  to  establish  fees  of  office, 
in  so  express  and  determined  a  manner,  as  would  re- 
move even  the  possibility  of  doubt  or  abuse. 

He  observed,  the  circulation  of  a  large  quantity  of 
counterfeited  money,  afforded  a  presumption,  that  per- 
sons of  property  and  ability  were  concerned  in  this  kind 
of  traffic. 

He  laid  before  the  houses  the  depositions,  which  had 
been  sent  him,  of  the  late  disturbances,  during  the  sit- 
ting of  the  superior  court  for  the  district  of  Hillsborough, 
and  recommended  them  to  provide  for  raising  a  suffi- 
cient body  of  men,  under  the  rules  and  discipline  of  war, 
to  march  into  the  settlements  of  the  insurgents,  to  aid 
and  protect  the  magistrates  and  civil  officers. 

He  made  his  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  pro- 
vincCy  for  the  elegant  edifice  in  which  he  met  the  houses. 


^6$  CHAPTER  [1770 

^  He  concluded,  by  acquaintinsj  the  houses  that,  the 
king  having  indulged  him  with  leave  of  absence,  he 
should  think  his  earnest  endeavours  well  rewarded,  if  he 
could  have  the  happiness,  on  his  return  to  Enejland,  to 
inform  his  sovereign,  that  the  wisdom  of  the  houses  had 
enabled  him  to  give  stability  and  a  permanent  regularity 
to  the  interior  police  of  the  province,  and  to  restore  the 
blessings  of  peace  to  its  inhabitants. 

Both  houses  echoed  the  sentiments  of  the  chief  ma- 
gistrate ;  the  lower  house  observed,  in  regard  to  the 
evils,  flowing  from  the  great  quantity  of  counterfeited 
bills  in  circulation,  that  nothing  less  could  remedy  them, 
than  to  call  in  all  public  certificates  and  currency,  by  an 
emission  of  a  new  medium,  which,  it  seemed,  the  legis- 
lature would  not  be  permitted  to  do. 

They  bewailed  the  approaching  departure  of  the  go- 
vernor, and  lamenied,  that  it  was  a  misfortune,  peculiar 
to  the  province,  that  as  soon  as  a  governor  had  become 
acquainted  with  its  constitution  and  the  temper  of  its 
inhabitants,  he  was,  by  some  ill  fated  means,  removed  ; 
an  observation  very  complimentary,  as  all  the  governors 
of  the  province,  since  it  had  become  a  royal  province, 
had  long  ruled  over  it,  and  were  suffered  to  preside  till 
their  death. 

A  seditious  piece,  in  the  Gazette,  in  the  form  of  a  let- 
ter, directed  to  Maurice  Moore,  one  of  the  associate  jus- 
tices, having  arrested  the  attention  of  the  lower  house, 
was  referred  to  the  committee  of  propositions  and 
grievances  ;  Hermon  Husband,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  house  for  the  county  of  Orange,  being  suspected  of 
having  had  it  published,  was  summoned  before  the  com- 
mittee,  and,  on  his  examination,  appeared  greatly  to  pre- 
varicate ;  his  conduct,  in  this  and  other  respects,  was 


1770]  THE  EIGHTH.  !269 

referred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  who  re- 
ported, that  he  was  the  publisher  oF  the  piece ;  that  he 
was  one  of  the  people,  calling  themselves  regulators, 
and  had  been  a  principal  mover  and  promoter  of  the  late 
riots  and  tumults,  in  the  county  of  Orange  and  other 
parts  of  the  province ;  that  he  had  insinuated,  that  in 
case  he  should  be  confined,  by  order  of  the  house,  a 
number  of  people  would  come  down  and  release  him, 
an  information,  which  the  committee  received  as  a  daring 
insult  offered  to  the  house,  tending  to  intimidate  the 
members  in  the  due  discharge  of  their  duty  ;  the  house 
concurred  with  the  report,  and  came  to  a  resolution, 
that  the  member  had  rendered  himself  unworthy  of  a  seat 
in,  and  justly  incurred  the  contempt,  of  the  house,  and  a 
vote  of  expulsion  immediately  passed. 

The  s^overnor,  apprehensive  that  the  return  of  this  ; 
man  into  his  county,  especially  under  the  irritation  which^ 
his  expulsion  was  calculated  to  excite,  might  be  produc- 
tive of  fatal  consequences,  wished  to  have  him  arrested, 
and  having  called  the  council,  submitted  the  propriety 
of  the  measure  to  their  consideration.  The  board  dis- 
approved of  it:  however,  at  his  request,  chief  justice 
Howard,  one  of  them,  heard  witnesses  at  the  council  table, 
and  issued  a  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of  Husband: 
he  was  committed  under  it  and  remained  several  days 
in  jail,  before  he  could  procure  bail. 

With  a  view  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  tumults  and 
riots,  wliich  had  distracted  the  province,  an  act  was 
passed,  making  it  the  duty  of  every  justice  of  the  peace 
or  sheriff,  on  being  informed  of  the  assemblage  of  any 
number  of  persons,  above  ten,  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
turbing the  peace,  to  repair  to  them,  require  and  com- 
mand them  to  disperse  and  return  to  their  respective 


270  CHAPTER  ^1770 

habitations;  and  it  was  made  felony,  without  the  benefit 
of  clergy,  for  such  persons  to  remain  assembled,  to  the 
number  of  ten,  for  more  than  one  hour.  It  was  made 
the  duty  of  the  justices  and  sheriffs  to  call  the  assistance 
of  any  of  the  king's  able  subjects,  to  apprehend  the  per- 
sons, thus  continuing  together.  It  was  also  made  felony 
for  any  number  of  persons  above  ten,  assembled  toge- 
ther, with  an  intention  of  disturbing  the  proceedings  of 
any  court  of  judicature,  to  assault  or  threaten  any  judge 
or  oil[icer  of  the  court,  during  the  term;  to  assault  any 
sheriff  or  coroner,  in  the  execution  of  the  duties 
of  his  office,  or  to  demolish  or  destroy  any  church, 
chapel,  court  house,  prison,  or  other  house  or  out 
house. 

It  being  found  very  difficult  to  bring  to  justice  per- 
sons, who  had  heretofore  been  guilty  of  any  of  the  above 
offences,  the  attorney  general  was  authorized  to  prose- 
cute them  in  any  superior  court  or  court  of  oyer  and 
terminer,  in  the  provjnce,  and,  on  an  indictment  found, 
the  judges  were  directed  to  issue  a  proclamation  against 
the  defendant,  commanding  him  to  surrender  himself 
and  stand  his  trial,  and,  on  failure,  he  was  to  be  held 
guilty  and  outlawed,  and  his  lands  and  chattels  forfeited. 
The  governor  was  empowered  to  make  drafts  from  the 
militia  to  enforce  the  execution  of  the  law;  and  persons 
found  embodied  and  in  arms,  to  oppose  the  military 
force,  refusing,  on  the  command  of  a  justice  or  sheriff, 
to  lay  down  their  arms  and  surrender  themselves,  were 
to  be  treated  as  traitors. 

With  a  view  to  encourage  migration,  all  persons  who 
had  come  immediately  from  Europe  to  the  province, 
and  such  as  might  thus  arrive  thereafter,  ^vere  exempted 
from  the  payment  of  taxes  for  four  years.     A  college 


1770]  THE  EIGHTH.  271 

was  established  in  the  town  of  Charlotte:  these  two  acts 
were,  however,  repealed  by  the  kings  in  council. 

Quakers  were  exempted  from  military  service,  except 
in  case  of  invasion  or  insurrection. 

The  inspection  laws  were  revised. 

The  fees  of  attorneys  and  clerks  were  regulated. 

The  chief  justice  was  allowed  a  salary  of  six  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  and  fifty  pounds  for  every  court,  in 
lieu  of  all  other  fees  or  emoluments  of  office. 

With  a  view  to  diminish  the  strength  of  the  regula- 
tors, in  the  county  of  Orange,  by  division,  three  new 
counties  were  established;  one  consisting  of  parts  of  the 
counties  of  Orange,  Cumberland  and  Johnston,  which, 
in  compUment  to  the  lady  of  governor  Tryon,  was  called 
Wake;  another  of  parts  of  the  counties  of  Orange  and 
Rowan,  which  was  called  Guilford,  and  a  third  out  of 
the  southern  part  of  the  county  of  Orange,  to  which,  the 
name  of  Chatham  was  given. 

In  order  to  afford  some  relief  against  the  great  scarci- 
ty of  a  circulating  medium,  a  temporary  act  was  passed, 
forbidding  sheriffs  to  sell  property,  taken  in  execution, 
for  less  than  two  thirds  of  the  appraised  value;  chattels, 
for  which  two  thirds  of  the  appraised  value  could  not  be 
obtained,  were  to  be  received  in  satisfaction  of  the  debt, 
and  the  plaintiff  was  at  liberty  to  take  lands,  or  give  fur- 
ther time.  The  king,  province  and  British  merchants 
were  not  to  be  affected  by  this  act. 

The  northern  part  of  the  county  of  Rowan  was  erect- 
ed into  a  new  county,  to  which  the  name  of  Surry  was 
given. 

With  a  view  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  post- 
offices  and  post  roads,  which  had  lately  been  establi^ihcd 
by  the  postmaster  general,  through  the  province,  a  law 


272  CHAPTER  [1770 

was  passed,  making  the  expense  of  ferrying  mail  carriers 
a  public  charge,  and  compelling  persons,  called  upon  by 
the  rider,  to  carry  the  mail,  in  case  of  sickness  or  failure 
of  his  horse,  and  forward  it  to  the  next  office,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  postmaster  general. 

On  the  request  of  the  lower  house,  the  governor  caus- 
ed all  the  books  and  papers  of  the  secretary's  office,  to 
be  removed  from  Wilmington  to  Newbern. 

Several  thousand  tamilies  of  the  Presbyterian  denom- 
ination, having  removed  from  the  mother  country  and 
the  northern  colonies,  settled  in  the  frontier  counties  of 
the  province,  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  savage  Indians, 
and  subject  to  all  the  hardships  and  difficulties  of  culti- 
vating a  desolate  wilderness,  under  the  expectation  of 
enjoying,  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  exercise  of  their  reli- 
gious privileges,  as  a  people,  attached  to  the  doctrine, 
worship  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  as 
summed  up  in  the  Westminster  confession  of  faith; 
and  the  Presbyterian  ministers  were  prohibited,  by  an 
act  passed  in  1768,  from  celebrating  the  rites  of  matri- 
mony  among  their  congregations,  according  to  their  con- 
fession of  faith,  by  publication  in  their  religious  assem- 
blies, nor  allowed,  without  license,  unless  by  paying  a 
fee  to  the  Episcopal  clergymen,  the  incumbent  of  the 
parish:  the  rigor  of  the  law  was  relaxed  and  Pres- 
byterian ministers,  legally  called  and  ordained 
in  any  congregation  of  the  province,  were  allowed  to 
solemnize  the  rites  of  matrimony,  according  to  the 
Westminster  confession  of  faith,  betw  en  persons  of 
the  Presbyterian  denomination  and  members  of  the 
minister's  congregation,  without  paying  any  fee  to 
the  minister  of  the  established  church  of  England 
in  the  parish. 


1771]  THE  EIGHTH.  27S 

Six  thousand  pounds  of  powder  and  two  thousand 
pounds  of  balls  and  shot  were  directed  to  be  pur- 
chased by  the  captain  commandant  of  fort  John- 
son. 

Just  as  the  legislature  was  about  to  adjourn,  in- 
formation was  received,  that  the  regulators  had  as- 
sembled, in  great  numbers,  at  Cross  creek;  on  which 
the  assembly  voted  a  sum  of  ^ve  hundred  pounds, 
to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  governor,  in  order  to  en- 
able him  to  guard  against  their  approach  towards 
Newbern,   whither,  it  was  reported,  they  intended  /• 

to  come  and  set  the  palace  on  fire.  *^ 

The  legislature  was  prorogued  on  the  26th  of 
January. 

With  a  view  to  prevent  the  regulators  from  being 
supphed  with  ammunition,  the  governor,  early  in  the 
month  of  February,  issued  a  proclamation,  prohi- 
biting all  merchants,  traders,  or  others,  from  supply- 
ing any  person  with  powder,  shot  or  lead,  until  fur- 
ther notice. 
^  Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  a  letter 
from  Redmund  Howell,  from  Halifax,  to  James  Hun-  '*^ 
t6r,  a  chief  of  the  regulators,  was  intercepted  and 
forwarded  to  the  governor.  It  appeared  the  writer 
had  been  sent  into  the  county  of  Halifax,  with  a 
view  to  induce  the  people  to  rise  and  march  to 
Newbern,  in  order  to  join  the  men  who  were  gather- 
ed at  Cross  creek,  and  intended  to  proceed  to  New- 
bern; but,  having  been  detained,  by  some  accident, 
on  the  road,  he  heard,  on  his  arrival  in  Halifax,  of 
Husband's  being  admitted  to  bail,  on  which  he  judg- 
ed it  unnecessary  to  stir  the  people.      He  expressed 

N.  CARO.    n.         35 


2T4  CHAPTER  [1771 

his  belief  of  the  facility  with  which  this  would  have 
been  effected,  if  it  had  appeared  useful.  Soon  af- 
ter, accounts  reached  Nevvbern,  that  the  men  col- 
lected, at  Cross  creek,  had  dispersed;  they  were 
reported  to  coiisist  of  a  body  of  twenty-two  hundred 
and  to  have  several  waggons  in  their  train. 

Early  in  the  month  of  March,  it  was  determined 
jn  council,  to  raise  a  force,  from  the  several  regi- 
ments of  militia,  and  the  governor  was  advised  to 
march^  at  their  head,  into  the  settlements  of  the  re- 
gulators and  reduce  them  by  force,  to  obedience 
to  the  laws^  and  while  the  troops  were  among  them, 
to  assist  the  sheriffs  in  levying  the  taxes,  protect 
the  election  of  a  new  member,  for  the  county  of  Or- 
ange, in  the  room  of  Hermon  Husband,  and  support 
the  commissioners  appointed  to  run  the  dividing  line 
between  the  counties  of  Orange  and  Guilford,  as 
none  of  those  acts  of  government  could  be  executed 
without  the  assistance  of  a  military  force. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  the  sheriff*,  clerk,  register 
and  other  officers  of  the  county  of  Rowan,  met  a 
committee  of  the  regulators,  consisting  of  James  . 
Hunter,  Johri  Inyard,  William  Welborn,  Thomas 
Flake,  John  Cuny,  James  Wilson,  Samuel  Waggo- 
ner, David  Gillespie,  James  Graham,  Henry  Wade, 
Peter  Julian,  Jeremiah  Fields,  John  Vickney,  Sam- 
uel Jones  and  Joshua  Zagur:  at  this  meeting  the 
officers  agreed  "to  settle  with,  and  pay,  every  per- 
son in  the  county,  any  and  all  such  sum  or  sums  of 
money,  as  they  or  their  deputies  had  taken  through 
iuadvertency  or  otherwise,  over  and  above  what 
they  severally  ought  to  have  taken  for  fees,  more 


1771]  THE  EIGHTH.  275 

than  the  law  allowed  them  to  receive,  without  any 
trouble  or  law  for  the  recovery  of  the  same."     The        > 
committee,  on  their  part,  agreed,  that,  "when  any 
doubt  should  arise,  all  persons  within  the  county,  ** 

should  fi^ive  in  th^ir  demands  to  such  persons,  as 
should  be  appointed  by  the  people,  in  each  neigh- 
bourhood to  receive  the  same,  and  be  determined 
by  gentlemen,  jointly  chosen  by  both  parties,  whose 
judgment  should  be  final."  The  persons  were  Ma- 
thew  Locke,  Hermon  Husband,  James  Smith,  James 
Hunter,  Samuel  Young,  Thomas  Person,  John  Cain 
and  James  Graham;  John  Frohock,  clerk  of  the 
county  court,  Thomas  Frohock,  clerk  of  the  su- 
perior court,  John  Brawly,  register,  Griffith  Ruther- 
ford, sheriff,  William  Frohock,  his  deputy;  Benja- 
min Miller,  iVndrew  Ellison,  Francis  Locke,  WiU 
liam  T.  Cole  former  sheriffs,  Alexander  Martin  and 
John  Dunn:  they  agreed  to  meet  on  the  third  Tues- 
day in  May. 

A  special  court  of  oyer  and  terminer  was  held  at 
Newbern,  on  the  11th  of  March,  under  the  late  act 
of  assembly,  and  bills  of  indictment  were  found 
against  William  Butler,  John  Gappen,  Samuel  De- 
vincy,  James  Hunter,  Mathew  Hamilton  and  Red-  ^ 
nap  Howell,  for  riotously  and  feloniously  breaking 
the  house  of  Edmund  Fanning,  on  the  2.0tli  of  Sep- 
tember, 1770,  and  others  against  the  same  persons 
and  Hormon  Husband,  John  Frost,  Eli  Branson, 
Tliomas  H.  Smith,  James  Lowe,  Daniel  Smith,  Jer- 
emiah Fields,  John  Gugle,  William  Dunn,  Henry 
Litterman,  Thomas  Welborn,  Ninian  B.  Hamilton, 
Peter    Craven,   William    Pavne,   Robinson   Yorke,   f^ 

n 


:iJ7&  CHAPTER  [1772 

Reuben  Sanderson,  James  Bignour,  James  Haridon, 
Samuel  Culbertson  and  Patrick  Crayton,  for  an  as- 
sault on  John  Williams,  at  Hillsborough,  on  the  24th 
of  September,  1770.  Before  the  rise  of  the  court? 
an  association  paper  was  drawn  up,  by  which  the 
subscribers  solemnly  engaged  "to  support  govern- 
ment against  the  insurgents,  at  the  risk  of  their  Uves 
and  fortunes,  and  to  adopt  every  salutary  measure, 
in  their  power,  for  restoring  peace  and  tranquility, 
and  enforcing  a  due  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  pro- 
vince." It  was  immediately  subscribed  by  the  go- 
venor,  the  members  of  the  council,  the  speaker  of 
the  house  of  assembly,  the  grand  jury  and  a  consi- 
derable number  of  other  persons  of  respectability. 
The  paper  was  afterwards  circulated  through  tlie 
county  of  Craven,  and  few  persons  withheld  their 
signatures:  similar  papers  were  circulated  in  the 
neighboring  counties,  and  they  met  with  equal  suc- 
cess. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  governor  Try  on,  attended 
by  several  of  the  members  of  the   council   and   a 
number  of  olher   ii>iluential  characters,   marched 
from  the  town  of  Newbern,  at  the  head  of  about 
three  hundred  men,  a  small  train  of  artillery  and  a 
number  of  baggage  waggons,  to   the  settlement  of 
the  regulators,  according  to  tlie  recommendation  of 
the  council.     On  the  3d  of  May,  he  found  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  men,  composed  of 
detachments  from  the  countv  of  New  Hanover,  un- 
der  the  orders  of  colonel  John  Ashe,  of  the  county 
of  Craven,  under  colonel  Joseph  Leech,  of  the  coun-  ' 
j\  ty  of  Dobbs,  under  colonel  Richard  Caswell,  of  the 


<4 


a 


1771]  THE  EIGHTH.  277 

county  of  Onslow,  under  colonel  Craig,  of  the  coun^ 
iy  of  Carteret,  under  colonel  William  Thompson,  of 
the  county  of  Johnston,  under  colonel  Needliam 
Bryan,  of  the  county  of  Beaufort,  with  a  compar^y 
of  artillery,  commanded  by  captain  Moore  and  a 
company  of  rangers  under  captain  Neale. 

The  army  marched,  on  the  1th,  to  Hunter's  lodge, 
in  the  county  of  Wake,  where  they  were  joined  by 
a  detachment  from  that  county,  under  colonel  John 
Hinton.  A  party  was  ordered  to  attend  the  sheriff 
in  levying  the  fines,  due  from  the  men,  who  had  at- 
tended a  muster  of  the  militia,  without  arms,  on  the 
preceding  day,  and  in  collecting  the  taxes  due  in  the 
neighborhood,  except  from  those  who,  had  joined 
the  army  as  volunteers. 

On  the  ninth,  they  marched  to  Enoe  river,  and  en- 
camped within  a  few  miles  from  the  town  of  HillsLo- 
rough,  where  they  were  joined  by  a  detachment  from  the 
county  of  Orange,  under  colonel  Edmund  Fanning; 
here  an  express  arrived  from  general  Waddle,  with  the 
information,  that  the  regulators  had  surrounded  him, 
with  a  force  more  considerable,  than  it  was  possible 
for  them  to  collect,  and  in  consequence  of  the  deser- 
tion, or  what  was  much  worse,  the  connexion  he  had 
discovered  to  subsist  between  his  own  camp  and  that  of 
the  regulators,  he  had  the  mortification  to  make  a  re- 
treat to  Salisbury,  the  only  resource  left  him  ;  accounts 
were  also  received,  that  the  regulators  were  advancing, 
svith  the  avowed  intention  of  opposing  the  governor's 
march,  and  fears  were  entertained,  they  would  reach 
Haw  river  soon  enough  to  obstruct  his  passage,  the 
ford  of  that  stream  being  so  easily  defended,   that,   on 


278  CHAPTER  [1771 

that  contingency,  the  crossing  of  it  must  have  cost  a 
great  dt^al  of  blood.  The  inhabitants  of  the  neighbor- 
hood being  generally  disaffected  to  the  government,  no 
intelligence,  that  could  be  relied  upon,  was  to  be  ob- 
tained, except  that  the  regulators  were  in  considerable 
numbers  and  determined  to  give  battle. 

The  army  marched  through  the  town  on  the  following 
<lay  ;  the  sick  were  left  there,  as  well  as  the  carts  attend- 
ing the  army,  which  were  found  to  delay  the  march ; 
waggons  were  substituted  for  them  ;  the  governor  was 
joined  by  a  volunteer  company  of  light  horse,  under 
captain  Bullock. 

The  troops  advanced  to  Haw  river  on  the  13th,  and 
on  the  following  day  reached  the  great  Alamance ;  one 

third  of  the  army  was  ordered  to  remain  underarms, 
during  the  whole  night,  to  be  relieved  every  second 
hour. 

On  the  15th,  a  messenger  from  the  regulators  brought 
a  petition  to  the  governor ;  the  object  of  it  was  to  de- 
sire, that  he  would  redress  the  grievances  of  the  people, 
as  the  only  means  of  preventing  that  bloodshed,  which, 
from  the  ardour  of  the  'eaders  and  of  the  troops  on  both 
sides,  must  otherwise  ensue ;  his  answer  was  desired 
within  four  hours;  the  governor  sent  the  messenger 
back,  with  a  promise  that  an  answer  would  be  returned 
on  the  following  day,  by  noon.  John  Ashe  and  John 
Walker,  who  were  sent  out  of  camp  on  duty,  were,  in 
the  evening,  seized  by  the  regulators,  tugged  up  to 
trees,  severely  whi^jped  and  made  prisoners. 

At  night,  the  orders  of  the  preceding  evening  were  re- 
newed ;  the  cavalry  were  directed  to  keep  their  horses 
saddled,  during  the  whole  night,  and  to  keep  a  grand 


mi]  CHAPTER.  179 

guard  of  ten  mcn,'at  about  half  a  mile  towards  the  head 
of  the  camp,  a  little  off  the  road  to  Salisbury. 

The  army  moved  the  next  morning,  at  break  of  day, 
without  beat  of  drum,  leaving  their  tents  standin^q,  and 
their  baggage  and  waggons  in  the  camp ;  one  company, 
from  the  detachment  of  Johnston  county,  with  such 
men  as  were  not  able  to  march  briskly,  remained  behind, 
as  a  guard  to  the  camp,  under  the  orders  of  colonel 
Bryan  ;  the  waggon  horses  were  kept  in  their  geers,  and 
the  whole  army  was  drawn  into  a  hollow  square. 

At  a  distance  of  five  miles  from  the  camp,  the  armies 
being  within  half  a  mile  from  each  other,  three 
guns  were  fired,  as  a  signal  to  form  the  line  of  battle, 
which  was  immediately  done.  The  governor's  men 
were  drawn  into  two  lines,  at  the  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred yards  from  each  other ;  the  detachment  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Craven  and  Beaufort  formed  the  right  wing  of 
the  front  line,  and  those  of  the  counties  of  Carteret  and 
Orange  the  left,  with  the  artillery  in  the  centre ;  the  de- 
tachment of  the  countv  of  New  Hanover,  and  three  com- 
panics  of  the  county  of  Dobbs,  formed  the  right  wing  of 
the  second  line,  and  those  of  the  counties  of  Onslow  and 
Johnston,  with  the  rest  of  that  of  Dobbs,  the  left ;  the 
detachment  of  the  county  of  Wake,  with  a  troop  of 
light  horsemen  from  that  of  Duplin,  reinforced  the  rear 
guard ;  the  rangers  covered  the  flanks  on  both  sides^ 
facing  to  the  right ;  the  troop  of  light  horse,  from  the 
county  of  Orange,  escorted  the  governor ;  the  detach- 
ment of  the  counties  of  Carteret  and  Onslow  were  di- 
rected, in  case  of  an  attack  on  the  left  wing,  to  form  an 
angle  from  their  respective  lines,  to  cover  the  left  flank. 

The  regulators  were  encamped  at  some  distance; 
their  number  exceeded,  in  a  small  degree,  those  of  the 


280  CH.VPTER  [1771 

governor;  they  were  headed  b}^  Hermon  Husband, 
James  Hunter  and  William  Butler;  they  answered  the 
governor's  guns  by  three  huzzas  and  beating  to  arms. 
A  message  was  then  sent  them,  in  reply  to  their  peti- 
tion ;  the  purport  of  it  was,  that  the  governor  had,  in 
every  circunistance,  both  in  his  particular  and  legislative 
capacity,  pursued  every  measure  that  was  in  his  power, 
to  quiet  them,  but  without  effect;  he  bad  now  nothing  to 
offer  them,  but  was  bound  to  require  of  them  an  imme- 
diate submission  to  governnient,  a  promise  of  paying 
their  taxes,  so  long  withheld  from  the  public,  an  imme- 
diate return  to  their  respective  places  of  residence,  and  a 
solemn  assurance,  that  they  would  no  longer  protect  the 
individuals  who  were  indicted,  from  a  fair  trial  for  their 
offences  ;  he  concluded,  by  allowing  them  one  hour  to 
consider,  and  if  they  did  not  then  yield  and  accept  so  fair 
a  proposal,  the  circumstances  that  would  follow  would 
be  imputed  to  them  alone. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  messenger  at  the  camp  of  the 
regulators,  they  impatiently  heard  the  reading  of  the  go- 
vernor's  answer  to  their  petition,  and  bid  him  return 
to  Billy  Try  on,  and  say  they  defied  him,  and  battle 
was  all  they  wanted ;  some  of  their  leaders,  however, 
prevailed  on  them  to  listen  to  a  second  reading  of  the 
paper;  but  they  again  expressed  their  impatience  to  come 
to  an  engagement,  with  the  most  violent  imprecations. 
On  the  return  of  the  messenger,  the  army  marched  to 
within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  regulators'  camp>  and 
there  halted.  The  regulators  advanced  also,  in  order  of 
'  battle,  to  a  short  reach  of  the  road,  where  they  halted 
likewise,  waving  their  hats  as  a  challenge,  to  dare  their 
opponents  to  advance. 


S771]  THE  EIGHTH.  S8I 

Governor  Tryon  now  sent  a  magistrate  and  an  offi. 
cer,  with  a  proclamation,  commanding  the  insurgents 
to  disperse  within  one  hour:  the  magistrate  read  it  aloud, 
in  front  of  the  lines;  but  they  disdained  listening  to  him, 
crying  out  battle!  battle!!  On  the  return  of  themagis* 
trate,  the  governor  understanding  that  the  regulators 
proposed  putting  John  Ashe  and  John  Walker  in  front 
of  their  lines,  sent  a  message,  that,  as  he  should  keep  the 
prisoners  he  had  taken  in  a  place  of  safety,  he  hoped  the 
same  care  would  be  taken  of  those  gentlemen.  To  this, 
they  returned  no  direct  anfivver;  but  proposed  to  surren- 
der these  two  prisoners,  if  the  governor  would  surrender 
those  he  had  taken,  seven  in  number.  The  proposition 
of  so  unequal  an  exchange,  implying  a  concession  on 
the  part  of  the  governor,  was,  at  first,  rejected;  but,  at 
last,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  men,  who  were  appre- 
hensive of  the  treatment  that  these  two  persons  might  re- 
ceive, he  agreed  to  the  exchange.  The  enemy  being 
tardy  in  their  compliance,  and  the  army  complaining  of 
the  extreme  heat  of  the  sun,  and  manifesting  great  impa- 
tience to  advance,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  lead  them 
on.  They  marched  in  profound  silence,  till  the  lines  of 
both  parties  met,  almost  breast  to  breast.  The  governor 
forbade  his  men  to  fire  until  he  ordered  them.  The  first 
rank  were  almost  mixed  with  those  of  the  enemy,  who 
were  stationed  a  little  before  the  main  body,  and  who  now 
began  to  retreat  slowly,  to  join  their  army,  bellowing 
defiance  and  daring  their  opponents  to  advance.  The 
army  kept  on  till  within  twenty -five  yards  of  them  and 
then  halted.  The  regulators  continued  to  call  on  the 
governor  to  order  his  men  to  fire:  several  of  them  ad- 
vancing towards  the  artillery,  opening  their  breasts  and 

N.  CARD.    II.      36 


n2       "  CHAPTER  [1771 

defying  them  to  begin.  The  army  saw  them  going  to 
the  spot  they  had  determined  to  occupy,  and  which  was 
best  calculated  to  secure  them,  and  annoy  it.  The 
ground  they  abandoned,  Was  the  place  they  wished  the 
governor  to  occupy,  and  the  only  one  he  could,  with- 
out action,  obtain.  He  was  entirely  open  to  their  fire, 
and  most  of  them  were  secure  from  his;  and,  as  the 
greatest  part  of  the  artillery  was  in  the  road,  they  dis- 
posed their  best  troops  to  attack  it. 

An  adjutant  was  now  sent,  to  the  enemy's  camp,  to 
receive  John  Ashe  and  John  Walker,  who  brought  for 
an  answer,  that  they  v.'ould  be  surrendered  within 
half  an  hour.  He  was  sent  back  to  inform  the  regu- 
lators, that  the  governor  would  wait  no  longer,  and  that, 
if  they  did  not  directly  lay  down  their  arms,  they  should 

be  fired  on.      Fire  and  be  d d,  was  the  answer. 

The  governor,  ordering  his  men  to  fire,  was  not  imme- 
diately obeyed  ;  on  which,  rising  on  his  stirrups  and 
turning  to  his  men,  he  called  out  '*fire!  fire  on  them  or  on 
me."  The  action  now  began,  and,  almost  instantly,  be- 
came general. 

The  insurgents,  pursuing  the  Indian  mode  of  fighting, 
did  considerable  injury  to  the  king's  troops;  but,  owing 
to  the  artillery,  and  firmness  of  tlie  latter,  were,  after  a 
conflict  of  one  hour,  struck  with  a  panic  and  fled,  leaving 
•V  upwards  of  twenty  dead,  and  a  number  of  wounded. 
The  fugitives  were  pursued,  and  several  prisoners  were 
made.  The  loss  of  the  governor  was  only  nine  killedy 
and  sixty -one  wounded.  The  laurels  which  he  gained 
on  this  day,  were  sullied  by  a  vindictive  and  intemperate 
behaviour.  Towards  the  evening,  when  every  thing 
was  quiet,  and  the  regulators  defeated  and  dispersed. 


n71J  THE  EIGHTH.  233 

eaptaiii  Few,  one  of  the  prisoners  made  in  the  pursuit, 
was,43y  his  orders,  without  a  trial,  hung  on  a  tree. 

On  the  following  day,  the  governor  issued  a  procla- 
mation giving  notice,  that  every  person,  except  those 
who  were  outlawed  or  prisoners  in  the  camp,  who, 
within  five  days,  would  come  in,  lay  down  his  arms, 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  promise  to  pay  his  taxes 
and  submit  to  the  laws  of  his  country,  would  receive 
a  free  pardon.  The  proviso  was  afterwards  enlarged, 
from  time  to  time,  to  the  10th  of  July,  but  the  follow- 
ing persons  were  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  the  pro- 
clamation: Samuel  Jones,  Joshua  Geague,  Samuel 
Wagoner,  Simon  Dunn,  jr.  Abraham  Creson,  Benja- 
min Meritt,  James  Wilkinson,  sen.,  Edward  Smith,  ,'  ^^SSSm 
John  Bumpass,  Joseph  Boring,  William  Rankin,  Wil- 
liam Robeson,  John  Winkler,  John  Wilcox,  Jacob 
Telfair  and  Thomas  Person. 

The  army  marched,  on  the  21st,  to  Sandy  creek, 
where  they  encamped  and  halted  for  a  week.  Detach- 
ments were  sent  to  assist  in  the  collection  of  taxes,  and 
to  disperse  the  regulators,  who  were  lurking  about  in 
parties.  A  reward  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  and  Oi 'vy^-i^ 
one  hundred  pounds,  in  money,  was  offered,  for  the  ^  ^t44*<>  . 
apprehension  of  Hermon  Husband,  James  Butler, 
Rednap  Howel,  and  other  chiefs  of  the  regulators,  or 
either  of  them,  dead  or  alive.  Parties  were  sent  to  lay 
waste  their  plantations.  The  army  next  proceeded  to 
the  Jersey  settlements,  crossing  Deep  river  and  Flat 
Swamp;  they  stopped  two  days  and  marched  to  Betha- 
bara,  a  Moravian  town,  by  Reedy  creek. 

The  army  being  joined  by  general  Waddle,  with  a 
large  body  of  men,  returned  on  the  9th  of  June,  by 


284  CHAPTER.  t^'^'^* 

Black  Jack,   Buffalo,    Big  Troublesome    and  Back 
creeks,  to  Hillsborough,  which  they  reached  on  the  14th. 
A  special  court  of  oyer  and  terminer,  was  held,  for  the 
trial  of  twelve  of  the  prisoners,  taken  in  the  battle:  they 
were  indicted  for  high  treason,  convicted  and  received 
sentence  of  death,     The  execution  of  six  of  them  was 
respited,  till  the  king's  pleasure  was  known.     On  the 
19th,  the  others  were  executed.     The  whole  army  was 
drawnout  under  arms,  except  the  quarter  guard  and  sen- 
tinels.    They  formed  and  marched,  in  a  hollow,  oblong 
square ;    the  artillery  forming  the  front  and  rear  faces: 
the  first  line,  the  right,  and  the  second,  the  left  face:  the 
main  guard  marching  in  the  centre,  with  the  sheriff  and 
prisoners:  the  light  horse,  covering  the  outside  of  the 
flanks  to  keep  off  the  mob.      This   order  of  march 
had  been  sketched  out,  and  given  in  general  orders, 
by  the  governor,  who  stooped,  in  this  manner,  to  point 
out  the  spot  for  the  erection  of  the  gallows,  and  to  give 
orders  for  cleaning  the  field  around,  to  make  room  for 
the  army.     An  acute  writer,  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
day,  observed,  that  the  governor's  minute  and  personal 
attention  to  these  particulars,  left  a  ridiculous  idea  of  his 
character  behind,  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  that 
'   of  an  undertaker  at  a  funeral. 

On  the  following  day,  the  army  left  Hillsborough, 
and  encamped  at  Stone  creek.  The  next  morning,  the 
governor  took  leave  of  them,  and  proceeded  to  New- 
bern.  The  troops  moved,  by  slow  marches,  to  colonel 
Bryan's,  in  the  county  of  Johnston,  near  the  spot, 
where  the  town  of  Sraithfield  has  since  been  established. 
The  different  detachments  separated,  and  took  the  short, 
est  roads  to  their  respective  counties* 


iyiVj  THE  EIGHTH.  £86 

On  his  arrival  at  Newbern,  governor  Tryon  took 
shipping  for  the  province  of  New- York,  to  take 
charge  of  the  affairs  of  that  government,  to  which  he  had 
been  appointed* 


Rerords^^Magaxines^^  Gazettes, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

On  the  departure  of  governor  Tryon,  the  admiiiis- 
tratiofl  of  the  affairs  of  the  province  devolved  on 
James  Hasel,  the  president  of  the  council,  who  was 
qualified  on  the  1st  of  July.  He  did  not  hold  long 
the  reins  of  g  -vernment;  for  on  the  11th  of  the  follow- 
ing month,  Josiah  Martin,  who  had  been  appointed 
governor  of  the  province,  arrived  from  New-York 
at  Newbern. 

This  gentleman  was  a  brother  of  Samuel  Martin, 
who  had  been  a  member  of  the  British  parliament 
and  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  who,  having  been 
reflected  on,  in  one  of  the  numbers  of  the  North 
Briton,  fought  in  a  duel,  and  wounded  the  famous 
John  Wilkes,  the  author  of  that  paper,  in  the  year 
1763.  The  governor  was  a  native  of  England,  had 
hitherto  followed  the  profession  of  arms,  and  risen  to 
the  rank  of  a  major. 

He  met  the  legislature,  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
middle  of  the  month  of  November,  in  the  town  of 
Newbern.  After  some  prefatory  encomiums  on  the 
late  governor,  he  congratulated  the  houses  on  the 
restoration  of  the  province  to  tranquility  and  order, 
and  recommended  the  consideration  of  effectual  resa- 
lutions  against  the  return  of  the  evils  that  had  lately 
disturbed  it.  To  attain  this  object,  he  said,  it  appear- 


1771]  i^HAPTEK  287 

ed  necessary  to  obviate  all  just  grounds  of  the  discon- 
tent of  the  people  and  to  afford  the  fullest  possible 
evidence  of  the  just  administration  of  the  finances  of 
the  province;  to  correct,  as  far  as  human  prudence 
could,  all  manner  of  abuses  and  give  every  facility  to 
the  administration  of  justice. 

He  recommended,  as  war  was  still  raging  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  kept  Great  Britain  in  a 
state  of  watchfulness,  which  rendered  caution  in  the 
colonif^s  necessary,  that  the  militia  of  the  province 
be  put  on  a  respectable  footing,  and  that  provisions 
might  be  made  for  the  establishment  of  fort  Johnston, 
and  supplying  the  garrison  with  sufficient  stores. 

He  concluded  by  observing,  that,  as  the  public 
faith  stood  pledged,  he  conceived  it  needless  to  say  any 
thing  on  the  provision  necessary  to  be  made  for  de- 
fraying the  charges  of  the  late  and  important  services 
of  the  troops,  and  expressed  his  hope  that  the  house 
of  assembly  would,  at  least,  indemnify  the  leader 
under  whose  auspices  they  had  acted  for  his  personal 
expenses,  generously  undertaken  for  the  good  of  the 
province,  and  that  this  being  done,  the  king's  sub- 
jects, lately  misled,  having  returned  to  their  duty,  the 
veil  of  oblivion  should  be  drawn  over  the  late  un- 
happy troubles,  and  all  the  distinctions  and  animosi- 
ties, which  they  created,  extinguished. 

At  the  request  of  the  governor  the  members  of  both 
houses  took  the  oath  of  abjuration,  as  altered  by  an 
act  of  the  sixth  year  of  the  king's  reign,  which  had 
never  been  used  in  the  province. 

The  answer  of  the  house  of  assembly  was  compli- 
mentary. They  observed,  that  proliibited  as  they 
were,  by  an  act  of  parliament,  from  any  further  emis- 


288  CHAPTER  [177  J 

sion  bf  paper  money,  the  inconveniencies  arising  from 
a  <\^ant  of  specie  to  serve  as  a  medium  of  trade  (com- 
mon in  all  young  countr  es)  were  changed  into  real 
distress,  equally  felt  and  lamented  by  individuals  and 
the  public^  and  expressed  their  earnest  wish,  that  the 
only  mode  for  paying  the  public  debt,  which  the 
circumstances  of  the  country  would  permit  them  to 
adopt,  might  prove  just  and  satisfactory  to  the  public 
creditors. 

It  appearing,  from  a  state  of  public  funds  made  by 
John  Burgwin,  that  a  sura  more  than  equal  to  the 
amount  of  the  bills  emitted  in  174S  and  1754,  had 
been  collected,  and  that  there  would  be  a  balance  in 
favcir  of  the  province  after  the  payment  of  the  arrears, 
for  which  security  had  been  given,  of  upwards  of 
four  thousand  pounds;  a  bill  was  brought  in  and 
passed  both  houses,  for  discontinuing  the  poll  tax 
and  duty  on  liquors,  and  for  the  redemption  of  the 
bills  issued. 

The  governor  having  received,  during  the  session, 
the  king's  instructions  to  appoint  commissioners  to 
continue  the  southern  boundary  of  the  province;  run 
in  the  year  1763,  as  far  as  the  Salisbury  road,  till 
it  should  reach  the  Cherokee  line,  applied  to  the  low- 
er house  to  be  enabled  to  defray  the  expense  of  that 
service.  But  the  house,  in  reply,  desired,  through 
him,  to  have  it  made  known  to  the  king,  that  if  the 
ruwning  of  the  line  should  be  carried  into  execution^ 
it  would  occasion  the  greatest  injury  to  the  province, 
*  as  it  would  deprive  it  of  a  great  number  of  useful  in*- 
habitants,  by  law  and  custom  engrafted  into  i^s  con- 
stitution,  counteract  a  number  of  established  laws 


mi]  THE  NINTH.  289 

and  take  from  it  a  great  part  of  valuable  land^  posses  - 
sed  under  patents,  issued  by  the  governors  of  NortU 
Carolina;  cut  off  all  communication  and  commerce 
with  the  Indians,  by  leaving  only  a  tract  of  land  over 
impassai)le  mountains  between  tliem,  and  deprived 
the  province  of  several  thousand  pounds,  laid  out  in 
running  tiie  western  line,  which  would,  by  this 
means,  be  taken  into  South  Carolina. 

Both  houses  concurred  in  instructions  to  the  com- 
mittee of  correspondence,  to  direct  the  agent  of  the 
province  to  solicit  permission  to  import  salt  from 
Spain  and  Portugal;  the  speaker  was  desired  to  ad- 
dress the  speaker  of  the  house  of  burgesses  of  the 
province  of  Virginia  and  request  that  the  agent  of  that 
province  might  be  instructed  to  use  his  interest  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  governor  was  also  addressed 
for  his  aid. 

The  house  of  assembly  appointed  a  committee  to 
draw  up  an  address  to  the  king,  the  lords  and  com- 
mons of  Great  Britain,  setting  forth,  that  the  house, 
ever  ready  to  support  the  king^s  honor  and  dignity, 
had  with  spirit  and  liberality  fallen  upon  a  method 
to  pay  the  great  expense  of  the  late  expedition 
against  the  insurgents,  in  support  of  the  king's  gov- 
ernment; but  being  restricted  from  emitting  a  paper 
currency  to  be  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  the  only 
method  they  could,  in  the  dirstressed  situation  of  tiie 
country,  fiill  upon,  v/as  by  stamping  debenture  bill.«, 
as  a  temporary  expedient,  cliargeable  ui)on  the  trea- 
sury of  tiie  province;  but,  as  the  expedient  was  atten- 
ded with  great  inconvenience  to  the  public,  and  the 
irnUviduals  wlij  were  to  receive  them  might  siistun 
if)jury  from  tiieir  depreciition,  and  a?  tho*e  iudivid 

N.    CARO.  II.  37 


'2d0  CHAPTER  £1771 

uals  were  those  who  had,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  stood 
forth  in  support  of  the  king's  government  and  the  con- 
stitution of  the  colony,  they  prayed  that,  in  consideration 
of  those  people,  as  well  as  of  the  situation  of  the  province, 
labouring  under  great  distress  for  want  of  a  currency, 
the  act  of  parliament,  against  issuing  a  paper  currency, 
might  be  repealed  so  far,  at  least,  as  respected  North  Car- 
olina:  and  the  committee  were  desired  to  set  forth,  in 
the  address,  that  the  house  would  frame  the  law,  so  as  to 
prevent  British  creditors  from  suffering,  in  case  such 
currency  should  depreciate  in  value. 

The  house  of  assembly  addressed  the  governor 
for  a  general  pardon  to  all  persons,  concerned  in  the 
late  insurrection,  except  Hermon  Husband,  Red- 
nap  Howell  and  William  Burke,  whose  crimes,  they 
said,  were  too  atrocious  to  merit  any  degree  of  leni- 
ty. He  answered,  that  his  wishes  corresponded 
with  the  humane  and  generous  disposition  of  the 
house,  to  conciliate  the  minds  of  the  king's  subjects 
and  establish  peace  and  good  order  throughout  the 
province,  on  the  firmest  basis:  he  had  anticipated 
their  wishes;  but,  considering  such  a  general  pardon 
out  of  the  limits  of  his  power,  he  had  offered  such  a 
measure  to  the  royal  consideration  and  would  for- 
ward their  request  to  Great  Britain. 

The  bill,  which  had  passed  the  house,  for  discon- 
tinuing the  tax  and  duty,  imposed  for  the  redemp- 
tion afthe  paper  money,  and  another  for  striking 
twenty  thousand  pounds  in  debenture  bills,  on  bank 
paper,  to  be  exchanged  for  all  such  debenture  and 
tender  bills,  as  were  in  circulation  in  the  province, 
were  rejected. 


1771]  THE  NINTH.  291 

An  act  was  passed  to  indenJnify  such  persons,  as 
had  acted  in  defence  of  government  and  the  pre- 
servation of  public  peace,  during  the  late  insurrec- 
tion, from  vexatious  suits,  and  another  for  appoint- 
ing Henry  Eustace  M'Cullough,  esq.  agent  for  the 
province. 

A  town  was  established  on  the  south  side  of  Tar 
river,  in  the  county  of  Pitt,  which,  in  compliment  to 
the  new  governor,  was  called  Martinborough.  The 
name  of  it  was  altered,  in  a  few  years  after,  to  that 
of  Greenville,  out  of  respect  to  General  Nathaniel 
Greene. 

The  settlements  in  the  back  part  of  the  province 
rapidly  increasing,  a  road  was  directed  to  be  laid 
out,  from  the  western  frontier,  through  the  counties 
of  Mecklenburg,  Rowan,  Anson  p^  J  Cumberland,  to 
the  town  of  Campbellton,  on  the  northern  bank  of 
Cape  Fear  river. 

On  the  23d  of  December,  the  governor  dissolved 
the  assembly:  no  reasons  were  assigned  for  the  mea- 
sure: but  it  was  believed  to  have  been  occasioned 
by  the  resolve  of  the  house  of  assembly,  declaring, 
that  the  collection  of  the  poll  tax  and  the  duty  on 
liquors,  for  the  redemption  of  the  currency,  ought  to 
be  discontinued. 

To  prevent  the  effect  of  it,  a  few  days  after  the 
legislature  had  adjourned,  the  governor  issued  his 
proclamation,  stating,  that  the  suggestion  that  the 
act,  imposing  the  tax  and  duty,  had  its  intended 
cfUct,  by  raising,  from  the  people,  the  whole  sum 
emitted  upon  the  credit  of  those  funds,  and,  conse- 
quently, that  the  tax  and  duty  ought  not  to  be  col- 
lected, was  a  fallacy  and  a  very  gross  misrepreseo- 


/?'■ 


292  Chapter  '       [n-^ 

lation  of  tlie  fact;  Ibe  mone}^  collected  having  been 
diverted  to  other  services  and  a  great  part  of  it 
remaining  in  the  Iiands  of  the  sheriffs  and  collectors, 
who  had  not  yet  accounted  for  it  to  the  treasurers: 
therefore,it  appeared  thatthere  still  remained  extant 
and  in  circulation,  a  considerable  quantity  of  the 
bills  of  credit,  for  the  sinking  of  which,  the  produce 
of  the  tax  and  duty  was  the  only  remaining  appro- 
priated fund,  and  the  public  faith  stood  engaged  to 
continue  them,  till  other  funds  were  provided  for  the 
extinction  of  the  paper,  or  till,  by  their  means,  it  was 
collected  and  destroyed:  he  therefore  warned  the 
sheriffs  and  collectors  to  carry  the  acts  of  1749  and 
17/)4  into  effect,  until  they  were  legally  repealed. 

In  the  course  of  the  winter,  a  female  adventurer  pass- 
ed through  the  pi  >-<  ince  and  attracted  great  notice.  She 
had  assumed  the  name  of  Lady  Susanna  Carolina  Ma- 
tilda, sister  to  the  queen  of  Great  Britain,  and  had  tra- 
velled through  the  province  of  Virginia,  from  one  gen- 
tleman's house  to  another,  under  those  pretentions.  She 
made  astonishing  impressions  in  many  places,  affecting 
the  manners  of  royalty  so  inimitably,  that  many  had  the 
honor  of  kissing  her  hand. 

To  some  she  promised  governments,  to  others  regi- 
ments, or  promotions  of  different  kinds  in  the  treasury, 
army  and  navy:  in  short,  she  acted  her  part  so  adroitly  as 
to  levy  heavy  contributions  upon  some  persons  of  the 
highest  rank.  She  received  the  marked  attention  of  go- 
vernor Martin  and  his  lady,  whilst  in  Newbern;  and  pro- 
ceeded thence  to  Wilmington,  where  she  was  also  re- 
ceived with  great  marks  of  distinction.  At  last,  after  re- 
maining some  days  in  Charleston,  she  was  detected  and 
apprehended.    Her  real  name  was  Sarah  Wilson;  having 


1772]  THE  NINTH.  ^9S 

been  taken  into  the  service  of  one  of  the  maids  of  honor 
to  the  queen,  she  found  access  into  one  of  the  royal  apart- 
ments, and  breaking  open  a  cabinet,  rifled  it  of  many 
vakiable  jewels,  for  which  she  was  apprehended,  tried  and 
condemned  to  die;  but  through  the  interposition  of  her 
mistress,  her  sentence  was  softened  into  transportation. 
She  had,  accordingly,  been  landed,  in  the  preceding  flill, 
in  Maryland,  wliere  she  was  purchased  by  a  Mr.  W.  Du- 
val, of  Bush  creek,  Frederick  county.  After  a  short 
rcbidence  there,  she  effected  her  escape  into  Virginia,  and 
when  at  a  prudent  distance,  assumed  the  name  and  char- 
acter of  the  queen's  sister,  having  brought  with  her,  from 
England,  clothes  that  served  to  favor  the  deception,  and 
a  part  of  the  jewels,  together  with  her  majesty's  picture, 
which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  her. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer,  the  governor  visited 
most  parts  of  the  province,  particularly,  those  in 
which  the  late  disturbances  and  commotions  had 
prevailed.  In  the  month  of  August,  the  six  regula- 
tor chiefs,  on  whom  sentence  of  death  had  been 
passed,  and  whose  execution  had  been  respited  by 
governor  Tryon,  received  the  king's  absolute  par-  * 
don.  On  the  24th,  governor  Martin  granted  a  char- 
ter to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Tarborough,  in 
the  county  of  Edgecombe^  allowing  them,  among 
other  privileges,  that  of  electing  a  member  to  sit 
and  vote  in  the  house  of  assembly. 

The  meeting  of  tlie  legislative  body  was  postpon- 
ed till  the  25th  of  January.  The  governor  apprised 
the  houses,  he  had  the  king's  command  to  propose 
the  passage  of  an  act  of  general  pardon  and  oblivi- 
on, in  favor  of  the  persons,  concerned  in  the  late 
troubles,  the  effect  of  which  was,  however,  to  be 


2§4  CHAPTER  [1773 

suspended  till  the  king's  pleasure  was  known,  and 
expressed  his  hope,  that,  after  extending  mercy  to 
the  offenders  against  the  public  peace,  it  might  be 
thought  becoming  the  superintending  care  of  the  le- 
gislature to  promote  its  future  security,  by  perma- 
nent laws.  He  drew  ♦be  attention  of  the  house,  to 
the  necessity  of  framing  a  court  system,  on  certain, 
settled  and  permanent  principles,  the  acts  for  the 
establishment  of  the  superior  and  inferior  courts, 
which  had  been  made  temporary,  expiring  at  the 
end  of  the  session. 

A  select  committee  was  appointed  to  frame  a  court 
law;  they  were  instructed  to  make  provision  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  superior  and  inferior  courts,  in  one  bill; 
to  vest  the  appointment  of  the  clerks  of  the  superior  court, 
which  heretofore  belonged  to  the  clerk  of  the  crown, 
in  the  chief  justice;  to  restrain  the  clerks  of  the  pleas 
from  selling  the  offices  of  clerks  of  inferior  courts;  to 
vest  the  power  of  granting  letters  of  administration  and 
testamentary,  in  the  inferior,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  su- 
perior courts;  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  a  justice,  out 
of  court,  to  causes  to  the  value  of  five  pounds. 

A  bill,  framed  according  to  those  instructions,  having 
passed  the  house  of  assembly,  the  council,  on  its  third 
reading,  proposed,  that  the  district  of  Hillsborough 
should  be  abolished,  and  a  new  one  erected  at  Camp- 
bellton,  to  be  composed  of  the  counties  of  Anson, 
Cumberland,  Chatham,  Guilford  and  Wake,  and  that 
the  counties  of  Orange  and  Granville  be  added  to  the 
district  of  Halifax;  that,  in  all  cases  of  attachment,  where 
the  defendant  resided  in  Europe,  proceedings  should  be 
staid,  before  plea,  one  year;  that  the  inferior  court  of 
pleas  should  be  held  by  justices  of  the  quorum;  that 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  29^ 

the  clerk  of  the  pleas  should  be  permitted  to  reserve  to  V 
himself  a  reasonable  proportion  of  the  profits  and  emol-  t 
uments  of  the  clerks  of  inferior  courts.  The  house  of 
assembly  refused  to  conQur  with  any  of  the  amendments, 
except  the  second;  the  council  passed  the  bill:  it  con- 
tained a  clause,  suspending  its  effect,  till  the  king's  plea- 
sure was  known,  and,  in  this  shape,  received  the  gover- 
nor's assent. 

Some  immediate  provision,  however,  being  indispen- 
sable, separate  bills  were  introduced,  to  renew  and  con- 
tinue, for  a  limited  time,  the  acts  under  which  the  supe- 
rior and  inferior  courts  had  hitherto  been  holden.  On 
the  third  reading  of  the  superior  court  bill,  in  the  house 
of  assembly,  a  clause  was  struck  out,  which  had  been 
introduced  as  an  amendment,  in  the  council.  The  ob- 
ject of  it  was  to  exempt  the  estates  of  such  persons,  as 
had  never  resided  in  the  province,  from  the  process  of 
attachment,  otherwise  than  according  to  the  laws  and 
statutes  of  England.  On  the  return  of  the  bill,  the 
council  insisted  on  their  amendment,  observing,  that  it 
was  so  penned,  as  to  give  to  the  people  of  the  province 
every  benefit,  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  England,  in  res- 
pect to  attachments,  and  what  that  benefit  was,  or  how  far 
restrained,  was  left  at  large  for  the  construction  of  courts 
of  law. 

The  house  answered,  that  they  had  struck  out  the 
clause^  inserted  by  the  council,  after  tlic  most  mature 
deliberation;  they  were  of  opinion,  that  it  would  be 
highly  inconsistent  with  the  commercial  policy  of  the 
province,  to  reliquish  the  benefit  of  the  attachment  of 
the  effects  of  those,  who  did  not  reside  in  the  province, 
as  from  the  absense  of  their  persons,  tlie  creditors  l^  no 


296  CHAPTER  [1773 

security,  but  what  was  derived  from  their  property  in 
the  province,  upon  the  faith  of  which,  those  debtors  had, 
in  many  instances,  obtained  credit.  •  They  added,  the 
privilege  they  claimed,  was  exeicised  by  many,  if  not  by 
all  the  American  provinces,  varied  agreeably  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  each  particular  place,  and  regulated  by 
colonial  lav/s,  and,  in  some  instances,  by  the  municipal 
customs,  in  certain  liberties  and  franchises  of  Great 
Britain:  and  as  they  could  observe  nothing  in  their  par- 
ticular constitution  that  could  vindicate  a  construction, 
so  injurious  to  the  country,  they  could  not,  injustice  to 
themselves  and  their  constituents,  assent  to  it.  They 
took  notice,  that  the  clause,  proposed  by  the  council,  was 
not  confined  to  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain;  but  ex- 
tended its  influence  to  persons,  resident  in  other  colonies, 
whose  effects  were  thereby,  guarded  from  attachment 
for  any  debt  they  owed  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province, 
whose  property  was  liable  to  become  the  subject  of  at- 
tachment, at  their  suits,  for  any  debt  they  might  owe  to 
them. 

The  same  amendment  was  made  to  that  part  of  the  in- 
ferior court  bill,  which  related  to  judicial  attachments; 
the  house  resisted  the  introduction  of  it,  on  the  ground 
of  its  inutility;  for,  as  the  bill  stood,  the  sheriff  could  not 
return  that  the  defendant  could  not  be  found,  unless  he 
had  been  at  his  house  or  place  of  abode.  The  clause 
appearing  inoperative,  the  house  thought  themselves 
bound  to  reject  it,  as  its  introduction  would  be  consid- 
ered, as  presumptive  evidence  of  an  inclination,  on  their 
part,  to  relinquish  the  right  of  attaching  the  estates  of 
persons,  who  had  never  resided  in  the  province;  a  right 
which,  under  proper  regulations,  would  appear  equita- 
ble, and  was  essential  to  the  well  being  of  the  colony. 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  297 

They  avowed  it,  as  the  sense  of  the  house,  that,  by  the 
laws  and  customs  of  Great  Britain,  no  provision  was 
made  for  attachments :  that  as  far  as  they  were  known 
there,  they  existed  by  municipal  customs,  were  con- 
fined to  liberties  and  franchises,  governed  by  the  particu- 
lar circumstances  of  place  and  people,  and  so  essentially 
local  in  their  application,  as  not  to  admit  of  being  ex- 
tended by  any  analogy  to  the  province ;  and  as  they 
would  have  to  be  referred,  in  case  the  amendment  of  the 
council  took  place,  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  Great 
Britain,  for  a  remedy  by  attachment,  the  application 
must,  from  what  had  been  observed,  be  altogether  nu- 
gatory and  fruitless. 

They  expressed  their  belief,  that  the  judges  of  the 
courts  of  law,  zealous  for  the  welfare  of  the  province, 
would  give  a  liberal  construction  to  the  clause  proposed  ; 
but,  bv  the  laws  in  force,  their  decisions  would  be  con- 
fined and  fettered.  With  this  restriction,  the  house 
thought,  no  legal,  just  interpretation  could  be  formed, 
but  what  must  operate  as  a  denial  of  the  benefits  sought 
from  the  attachment  laws,  and  they  thought  that,  to  se- 
cure so  important  a  privilege,  the  mode  of  exercising  it 
should  be  grounded  on  certainty,  tlie  law  positive  and 
express,  and  nothing  left  for  the  exercise  of  doubt  and 
discretion. 

They  mentioned,  as  a  circumstance  that  could  not 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  council,  that  the  law  was 
to  continue  in  force  for  six  months,  and  from  thence  to 
the  end  of  the  next  session  of  assembly  ;  and  in  the 
manner  in  \vhicli  the  house  had  passed  the  bill,  it  was 
incumbent  on  the  creditor  to  give  liis  foreign  debtor 
notice  for  a  tVv  clvemonth,  before  he  could  bind  his 
v^fTects  by  attachment :  so  that  it  was  left  altogether  in 

N.  CARO.    II.         38 


IdW  *  CHAPTER  [1775 


the  power  of  govei  nnient,  to  prevent  this  law  having 
any  eftect  whatsoever,  with  regard  to  foreign  debtors,  by 
putting  an  end  to  its  operation,  before  twelve  months 
(which  must  necessarily  be  the  case)  or  a  longer  time 
expire. 

The  house  bore  the  fullest  testimony  to  the  necessity 
of  courts  of  law ;  and  the  many  disadvantages  which 
must  arise  from  a  failure  of  a  due  distribution  of  jus- 
tice, on  the  criminal  side,  they  observed,  were  too  ob- 
vious to  be  mentioned ;  they  hoped,  the  council  would 
equally  feel  for  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  province, 
and  conscious  of  the  benefit  that  had  been  derived  by 
the  people,  from  the  right  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed,  of 
attaching  the  eflfects  of  foreigners,  they  would  not  part 
with  a  provision,  grounded  on  the  principles  of  mutual 
and  reciprocal  justice,  the  privation  of  which  must  ne- 
eessarily  destroy  that  confidence  and  credit  to  foreigners 
and  the  neighboring  colonies,  upon  which  the  trade  and 
prosperity  of  the  province  depended. 

The  council  rejected  the  superior  court  bill ;  the  in- 
ferior court  bill  passed,  but  the  governor  withheld  his 
assent  from  it. 

A  claim  being  presented  to  the  house  of  assembly,  for 
services  stated  to  have  been  rendered  the  province,  in 
running  the  late  dividing  line  between  the  province  and 
South  Carolina,  the  house  resolved,  that,  as  the  last  as- 
sembly had  so  fully  expressed  the  sense  they  had  of  the 
injury  that  would  accrue  to  the  colony,  should  the  line 
they  proposed  to  be  run  be  carried  into  execution,  and 
as  the  house  were  actuated  with  the  same  sentiments, 
they  could  not,  by  any  means,  consider  any  person  em- 
ployed in  that  service,  as  the  servant  of  the  province, 
and  consequently  could  not  think  him  entitled  to  any 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  299 

allowance  from  the  province,  for  any  aid  in  the  execu- 
tion of  a  measure,  so  detrimental  to  its  interest. 

The  house  directed  the  committee  of  correspondence, 
to  instruct  the  agent  of  the  province  to  push  the  appUca- 
tion  concerning  the  liberty  of  importing  salt  from  Lis- 
bon into  the  southern  provinces,  with  the  aid  of  otiier 
agents ;  to  endeavour  to  obtain  some  beneficial  altera- 
tions in  the  present  laws  relative  to  naval  stores,  such  as 
a  liberty  of  proceeding  to  other  ports  of  Europe,  after 
touching  at  any  port  of  England,  and  offer  made  to  the 
navy,  and  also  the  liberty  of  conveying  naval  stores  to 
any  of  the  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  in  time  of  peace ; 
both  regulations  to  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  trea- 
sury, on  apprehensions  of  war,  &c. ;  to  procure  a  con= 
tinuance  of  the  bounty  on  timber  and  staves,  and  to  re- 
gulate  it  so  as  to  suit  American  timber,  the  present  di- 
mensions being  taken  from  the  timber  in  Germany  ;  to 
represent  the  particular  distress  and  situation  of  the  af- 
fairs of  the  province,  especially  as  to  the  want  of  a  cur- 
rency, or  other  medium  by  which  debts  could  be  paid 
or  executions  satisfied  ;  and  that  it  was  on  these  grounds 
the  present  valuation  law  had  been  passed ;  that  being 
entirely  confined  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  and 
in  no  way  affecting  British  property,  it  was  to  be  con- 
sidered as  an  internal  regulation  ;  and  to  use  his  best  en- 
deavours to  prevent  the  repeal  of  it ;  to  recommend  to 
his  best  care,  the  act,  with  the  suspending  clause,  for 
the  establishment  of  courts ;  to  furnish  him  with  the 
reasons  on  which  it  was  passed,  and  to  direct  him,  im- 
mediately and  unremittingly  to  apply  for  the  king's  al- 
lowance of  that  act ;  the  province  having  the  melancholy 
prospect,  till  his  pleasure  was  knovvn,  of  continuing 


300  CHAPTER  [1773 

"without  court  laws,  exposed  to  every  dreadful  circum- 
stance that  may  attend  the  want  of  them. 

To  enter  at  large  into  the  proceedings  on  the  bill  for 
continuing  the  superior  court  act  for  six  months,  and 
the  great  and  important  reasons  that  induced  the  house 
not  to  comply  with  the  propositions  made  them  concern- 
'  ing  original  attachments  ;  that  the  house  conceived  they 
had  fully  guarded  the  property  of  new  residents,  by  the 
clause  proposed  in  the  law  sent  home,  and  that  so  im- 
portant did  this  matter  appear  to  the  province,  that  they 
could  not  think,  by  any  means,  of  giving  it  up,  v  \d  riiey 
submitted  themselves  and  the  unhappiness  of  their  pre- 
sent situation,  to  the  king's  paternal  goodness,  not  doubt- 
ing but  they  would  meet  relief;  choosing  rather  the  mis- 
fortune of  a  temporary  deprivation  of  laws,  than  to  form 
a  system  whereby  they  might  be  left  without  any  re- 
medy on  that  point. 

To  explain  to  him  the  reasons,  on  which  the  expenses 
of  running  the  southern  boundary  line,  were  not  paid; 
that,  in  case  another  line  should  be  ordered  to  be  run, 
after  weighing  the  complaint  of  the  house,  they  would 
cheerfully  answer  the  whole  expense. 

That  as  lord  Granville's  office  had  been  shut  for  seve- 
ral years  past,  to  the  great  inconvenience  and  grievance 
of  the  inhabitants  of  his  territory,  the  agent  might  be  di- 
rected to  use  his  utmost  endeavors,  at  the  several  boards, 
to  induce  the  king  to  purchase  the  title  of  lord  Granville, 
and  that  the  lands  in  that  part  of  the  province,  might  be 
holden  of  the  king,  as  in  the  others. 

The  house  came  to  a  resolution,  ?ie?n,  con,  that  the 
right  of  attachment  of  the  effects  of  foreigners  had  been 
long  exercised  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  in 
qpmmon  with  the  other  provinces  in  America,  and  se- 


1773]  tHE  NINTH.  SOi 

veral  trading  citres,  liberties  gnd  franchises  in  Great  Bri- 
tain ;  that  it  had  been  found  greatly  beneficial  to  its  trade 
and  commerce,  and  the  security  of  the  property  of  indi- 
viduals, and  that  the  house  could  not,  by  any  public  act 
of  theirs,  relinquish  this  right,  without  at  the  same  time 
abandoning:  the  interest  of  their  constituents  and  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  the  province. 

They  directed  their  clerk  to  cause  this  resolve  to  be 
piiblished,  with  all  the  messages  that  had  passed  between 
the  two  houses,  in  all  the  gazettes  of  the  province,  and 
of  Virginia  and  South  Carolina. 

An  act  was  passed,  for  the  encouragement  of  the 
manufacture  of  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  by  a  bounty  of  eight 
shillings  on  every  hundred  weight  of  the  former,  and 
fifteen  of  the  latter ;  and  a  town  was  established  on  the 
south  side  of  the  north-west  branch  of  Cape  Fear  river, 
in  the  county  of  Bladen,  which  was  called  Elizabethtown. 

On  the  sixth  of  March,  the  governor  prorogued  the 
legislature  for  two  days;  at  the  expiration  of  that  short 
period,  it  appeared,  that  so  man}"  of  the  members  of  the 
house  of  assembly  havl  returned  home,  that  there  did  not 
remain  a  majority  to  constitute  a  house;  those  w^ho  re- 
mained, refusing  to  proceed  to  business,  till  a  majority 
could  be  procured;  the  governor,  being  informed  of 
this,  sent  a  message  to  the  speaker,  informing  him,  that, 
according  to  the  king's  instructions,  fifteen  members 
were  a  quorum,  and  desired  that  the  speaker  might  form 
a  house  with  that  number ;  the  speaker  replied,  that  the 
members  in  town  were  of  opinion,  that  it  would  be  in- 
consistent with  their  duty  to  their  constituents,  to  legis- 
late, unless  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  house 
were  in  their  seats.  The  governor  issued  his  procla- 
mation, dissolving  the  assembly. 


302  CHAPTER  [1773 

The  province  received  a  considerable  accession  to  its 
population ;  three  hundred  families  arrived  at  Wilming- 
ton, from  Scotland ;  they  went  up  to  the  vicinity  of 
Cross  creek,  and  settled  near  the  place  occupied  by  those 
of  their  countrymen  who  had  adhered  to  the  pretender, 
and  had  left  home  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  before. 

The  ordinary  courts  of  justice  being  now  shut,  tlie 
governor  issued  commissions  of  oyer  and  terminer, 
for  the  dispensation  of  justice,  in  criminal  cases:  in  civil 
ones,  no  remedy  could  be  devised. 

In  the  month  of  June,  the  governor  received,  and 
soon  after,  communicated  by  proclamation,  the  king's 
instructions,  restraining  the  governors  of  the  American 
provinces  and  plantations,  from  granting  any  warrant 
of  survey,  or  passing  any  patent  for  lands,  without  his 
special  direction,  except  in  favor  of  the  officers,  non- 
commissioned officers  and  soldiers  entitled  thereto,  un- 
der the  king's  proclamation  of  the  7th  of  October,  1763, 
allowing  persons,  whose  titles  were  not  perfected,  to 
withdraw  their  entries,  receiving  back  the  money  paid, 
or  wait  and  retain  their  right  of  priority. 

In  the  fall,  accounts  reached  ttie  province,  that  the 
court  bill  had  receiv^ed  the  king's  ilisallowance;  and  the 
governor  was  informed,  that  provision  might  be  allowed 
by  law,  for  attachments  in  cases,  where  the  cause  of 
action  arose  within  the  province:  due  proof  being  made, 
before  the  writs  issued,  in  judicial  as  well  as  in  original 
attachments,  that  the  debtor  had  absconded,  to  avoid  the 
payment  of  the  debt,  and  that  the  ordinary  process  of 
law  could  not  be. served.  The  limitation  of  the  juris- 
diction of  the  superior,  and  the  extension  of  that  of  the 
inferior  courts,  were  deemed  totally  inadmissible.  He 
%vas  authorized  to  allow  the  jurisdiction  of  the  inferior 


1773J  THE  NINTH.  303 

courts,  to  the  amount  of  twenty  pounds,  with  an  appeal, 
ill  cases  of  the  value  of  five  pounds  or  more,  where  the 
titles  of  land  and  the  rights  of  the  crown,  were  not  drawn 
into  question. 

The  legislative  body  was  convened,  and  met  at  New-       ^/ 
bern;  on   the  4th  of   December.     After  informing  it 
of  the  fate  of  the  courTBifiTthegovernor  apprized  them  of 
the  principles  on  which  they  might  expect  his  assent  to 
a  new  bill.     He  pressed  upon  them,  the  expediency  of 
making  it  permanent,  and  allowing  honorable  salaries  to 
the  judges.     He  said  he  was  authorized  to  state,  that  the 
rules  which  were  insisted  on,  in  regard  to  attachments, 
were  those  by  which  this  kind  of  process  was  regulated, 
in  the  commercial  cities  of  England,  and  other  parts  of 
Europe.     He  recommended,  that  proper  compensation 
might  be  provided  for  the  services  of  the  officers  of  jus- 
tice,   in   attending   the  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer, 
which  the  absence  of  a  court  law  had  imperiously  called 
for;  and  reminded  them,  that  it  still  remained  with  them, 
to  render  effectual  the  king's  gracious  intentions,  towards 
the  people,  concerned  in  the  late  insurrection. 

The  house  of  assembly,  in  their  answer,  bewailed,  as 
a  circumstance,  which  added  pungency  to  the  distresses 
of  the  people,  that  there  was  so  little  expectation  of 
relief  from  the  interposition  of  government. 

They  added,  that,  loyal  in  their  principles  and  prac- 
tice, and  zealously  attached  to  the  constitutional  powers 
over  them,  they  had  been  ready,  on  all  occasions,  to  tes- 
tify their  obedience  to  every  salutary  measure,  which  the 
king,  through  his  governor,  had  been  pleased  to  recom- 
mend to  them;  and  ruled  by  the  same  sovereign,  and 
equally  entitled  to  the  blessings  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion, with  the  rest  of  their  fellow  subjects,  thev  claimed 


304  CHAPTER  [H'J^ 

a  security  tor  their  properties,  essential  to  their  com- 
mercial interest,  and  uniformly  enjoyed  by  the  rest  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  other  British  provinces  on  the 
continent. 

They  observed,  the  idea  of  foreign  attachments  was 
inseparable  from  a  trading  people,  and  under  the  former 
happy  constitution  of  the  courts  of  the  province,  it  gave 
credit  to  its  inhabitants  and  secured  to  them  the  confi- 
deace  of  their  neighbors,  and  the  alteration,  which  was 
proposed,  could  not  be  considered  as  an  adequate  reme.> 
dy  for  the  mischiefs,  which  it  was  the  purpose  of  their 
process  to  obviate,  and  such  as  they  could  not,  in  duty 
to  themselves  and  their  constituents,  adopt. 

They  said,  these  sentiments  were  freely  expressed, 
from  an  eminent  desire  to  exneditc  the  business  of  the 
session,  and  to  prevent  the  delays  which  might  arise 
from  reserve. 

They  asserted,  that  the  power  of  issuing  commissions 
of  oyer  and  terminer  and  general  jail  delivery,  delega- 
ted by  the  king  to  his  governor,  could  not  be  exercised 
without  the  aid  of  the  legislature  of  the  province.  Ca- 
lamitous as  the  circumstances  of  a  people  might  be, 
from  the  interruption  both  of  criminal  and  civil  juris- 
diction, the  house  judged  the  misery  of  such  a  situa- 
tion vanished  in  con^parison  with  a  mode  of  redress, 
exercised  by  courts  unconstitutionally  formed,  and  it 
was  a  blessed  particularity  of  the  British  code,  that 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  had  its  foundation  in  the 
laws  of  the  land,  and  was  regulated  by  principles  as 
fixed  as  those  of  the  constitution. 

They  concluded  by  declaring  their  unwillingness  to 
make  provision  for  defraying  the  expenses,  attending  a 
measure  which  they  eould  not  approve. 


1773]  ^  THE  NINTM.  S05 

The  speaker  laid  before  the  house  a  letter  from  the 
speaker  of  the  house  of  burgessess  of  the  province  of 
Virginia,  enclosing  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  of  that 
house,  on  the  12th  of  March  last,  with  a  request  that  a 
committee  might  be  appointed  to  communicate  from 
time  to  time  with  a  committee  by  them,  then  appointed; 
also  letters  from  the  speakers  of  the  lower  houses,  in  sev- 
eral provinces,  expressing  their  approbation  of,  and  / 
concurrence  with,  the  resolves.  Whereupon  the  house  « 
came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  vigilance,  displayed  by  the  ( 
house  of  burgesses  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  in  at- 
tending to  every  encroachment  upon  the  rights  and  lib- 
erties of  America,  and  the  wisdom  and  vigor  with  which 
they  had  always  opposed  such  encroachments  were 
worthy  the  imitation  and  merited  the  gratitude  of  «!! 
their  sister  colonies,  and  in  no  instance  more  particular- 
ly, than  in  the  proposed  measure  of  appointing  commit- 
tees of  correspondence,  by  which  communication  and 
harmony  will  be  established  am.ong  them,  that  they 
will  be  at  all  times  ready  to  exert  their  earnest  eflforts  and 
Strenuous  endeavors  to  preserve  and  defend  their  rights, 
opiate  systematically  invaded. 

John  Harvey,  the  speaker,  Robert  Howe,  Cornelius 
Harnett,  William  Hooper,  Richard  Caswell,  Edward 
Vail,  John  Ashe,  Joseph  Hewes,  and  Samuel  Johnston, 
were  appointed  a  standing  committee  of  correspondence 
and  enquiry.  They  were  instructed  to  obtain  the  earliest 
and  most  authentic  intelligence  of  all  such  acts  and  reso- 
lutions of  the  parliament,  or  proceedings  of  administra- 
tion, as  might  relate  to  the  colonists  and  to  maintain  a 
communication  with  the  other  provinces.  They  were 
further  instructed,  without  delay,  to  inform  themselves 
particularly  of  the    principles  and  authority,   on  which 

N.  CARO.    II.       39 


m&  CHAPTER  fl773 

was  constituted  the  court  of  enquiry,  said  to  have  been 
of  late  held  in  the  province  of  Rhode  Island,  with 
power  to  transport  persons,  accused  of  offences 
committed  in  America,  to  places  beyond  the  seas  to  be 
tried. 

The  speaker  was  desired  to  transmit  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions,  with  a  respectful  answer,  to  the  speaker  of 
the  house  of  burgesses  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  and 
a  circular  letter  of  thanks  to  the  speakers  of  the  several 
houses  of  assembly,  who  had  so  spiritedly  adopted  the 
patriotic  resolutions  and  measures  of  the  house  of  bur- 
gesses of  the  province  of  Virginia,  for  their  obliging 
communications  to  the  house. 

The  house  took  in  consideration  the  acts  of  1748  and 
1754,  imposing  a  poll  a  tax  and  duty  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  paper  currency  then  emitted,  came  to  a 
resolution,  that  the  laws  had  had  their  effect,  and  the  tax 
and  duty  ought  to  cease;  they  directed  a  bill  to  be  brought 
for  this  purpose. 

The  house  refused  to  admit  Henry  Irwin,  who  was 
elected  as  a  member  from  the  town  of  Tarborough,  to 
which  a  charter,  authorizing  the  election  of  a  member, 
had  lately  been  granted  by  the  governor.  The  refusal 
was  grounded  on  the  principle,  that  the  town  did  not 
J  contain  sixty  families,  as  required  by  the  act  of  1715, 
and  had  never  before  been  represented. 

The  governor,  in  answer  to  the  address  of  the  house, 
said  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  express  the  concern  he 
felt,  in  receiving  from  one  of  the  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  province,  professing  to  be  dutiful  and  loyal 
subjects,  an  address,  which  he  wished  not  to  think,  in- 
decently  arraigning  the  justice  of  his  sovereign  and 
bis  government;  especially  while,  with  the  most  friendly 


[1773  THE  NINTH.  307 

beneficence,  all  the  blessings  of  the  British  constitution 
were  held  out  to  them,  their  wishes  indulged,  in  regard 
to  the  mode  of  proceeding  against  debtors,  which 
they  lament  to  have  so  much  at  heart,  as  far  as  could  be 
done,  without  violence  to  their  sacred  and  venerable 
fabric. 

He  observed,  that  the  inconsistency  of  the  proceed- 
ings by  attachment,  which  formerly  obtained  in  the  pro- 
vince, their  tendency  to  destroy  commercial  credit  and 
confidence,  and  their  obvious  repugnancy  to  the  par- 
ticular statutes  which  were  framed  for  their  preser- 
vation, upon  the  most  liberal  principles  of  equity  and 
universal  justice,  might  be  presumed  to  be  the  grounds 
of  the  restrictions,  proposed  by  government;  restrictions 
which  he  could  take  upon  himself  to  affirm,  were  never 
designed,  ungenerously  to  dibtinguish  the  province  from 
its  neighbors,  but  founded  on  the  essential  policy  of  as- 
similating the  constitution  of  the  colonies,  to  that  of  the 
mother  country,  and  supported  by  the  well  known  and 
generally  received  maxim,  ti^at  the  conveniency  of  par- 
ticular members  should  yield  to  the  general  interest  of 
the  state. 

He  said  he  had  seen,  with  real  concern,  intemperate 
resolves  on  the  journal  of  the  house,  one  of  whicn,  he 
seemed  to  think,  had  an  apparent  tendency  to  sap  the 
foundation  of  the  constitution,  by  cancelling  that  assur- 
ance of  protection,  the  first  great  bond  of  the  subject's 
allegiance.     He  added,  that,  if  the   doctrine  they   had 
first  broached,  that  the  aid  of  the  legislature  of  the  pro-    ^' 
vince  was  necesi^ary  to  any  legal  administration  of  jus-    ^ 
tice,  could  be  received,  it  would  follow  of  consequence,     ;' 
that  a  branch  of  it,  declining  to  adopt  any  system,  cuuld 
unhinge  the  state,  and  dissolve  all  those  solemn  ties, 


308  CHAPTER  [177^ 

which,  according  to  the  British  constitution,  or  form 
of  government,  happyly  and  wisely  gifted,  reciprocally 
bound  the  sovereign  and  the  subject  in  each  other's  mu- 
tutil  interest. 

He  observed,  he  was  perfectly  satisfied  of  the  legality 
of  the  measures  he  had  pursued  for  the  public  good, 
which  had  been,  immemorially,  recommended  and  never 
before  authorized.  He  rejoiced  in  their  salutary  effects, 
and  was  willing  to  submit  their  expediency  to  their  can- 
dor, when  they  should  reflect  ,that,  at  the  forced  and  pre- 
cipitate conclusion  of  the  last  session,  the  province  w^as 
left,  by  the  legislature,  destitute  of  any  establishment  for 
the  distribution  of  justice:  naked,  defenceless  and  ex- 
posed to  every  injury;  happily  for  the  province,  then 
consigned  to  rapine  and  disorder,  there  resided  in  the 
prerogative,  a  power  to  shield  the  subject  from  the  hand 
of  violence.  Its  protection  had  been  sought  and  im- 
plored, and  many  parts  of  the  province  bore  testimony 
to  its  wholesome  influence. 

The  power,  which  had  saved  the  province  from  the 
last  state  of  confusion,  with  which  it  was  threatened,  and 
which  the  house  had  condemned,  he  said  it  would  be  his 
duty  to  exercise,  as  well  as  every  other  constitutional 
authority,  entrusted  to  him  by  the  king,  whenever  the 
security  or  welfare  of  his  subjects  would  require.  He 
lamented  his  disappointment,  in  the  hope  he  had  enter- 
tained, that  the  house  would  have  thought  it  an  indispen- 
sable duty,  to  have  made  a  reasonable  compensation  to 
the  judges  and  other  ministers  of  justice,  to  whom  the 
public  are  so  much  indebted;  he  doubted  not,  that  since 
the  house  had  determined  otherwise,  the  gentlemen 
would  find  the  noblest  reward,  in  the  consciousness  of 
having  greatly  served  their  country.     He  concluded,  by 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  SG9 

beseeching  the  house  calmly  to  consider  the  unhappy- 
state  of  the  province,  how  much  its  prosperity  depend- 
ed on  the  present  measure,  and  how  much  it  was  incum- 
bent on  them  to  promote  it. 

The  house  prepared  a  court  bill;  but  the  council  intro- 
duced  into  it  such  amendments,  as  were  recommend- 
ed in  Great  Britain.  The  house  of  assembly  refused  to 
concur  with  those  alterations,  and  addressed  a  message 
to  the  council,  in  which  they  promised  that,  ever  atten- 
tive to  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  important  trust  re- 
posed in  them  by  the  inhabitants  of  province,  the  house, 
in  the  conduct  of  every  public  measure  which,  dur- 
incr  the  session  had  been  submitted  to  their  delibera- 
tion,  had  in  view  the  interest  and  happiness  of  their  con- 
stituents, as  the  grand  object  that  ought  to  govern  their 
determinations;  appointed  by  the  people  to  watch  over 
their  rights  and  privileges,  and  to  guard  them  from  eve- 
ry encroachment  of  a  public  or  private  nature,  it  became 
their  duty,  and  would  be  their  constant  endeavor,  to  pre- 
lierve  them  secure  and  inviolable  to  the  present  age,  and 
to  transmit  them,  unimpaired,  to  posterity.  They  stated, 
that  they  had  given  the  court  bill  the  attention  it  requir- 
ed, without  suffering  private  interest,  passion  or  preju- 
dice to  intrude  upon  their  enquiries;  conscious,  from 
their  late  melancholy  experience,  of  the  unhappy  conse- 
quences, attending  the  extinguishment  of  the  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  province;  dreading  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  calamity,  they  still  submitted  to  suffer 
only  to  avoid  a  greater  misfortune;  lookiug  back  upon 
past  grievances,  without  reproaching  themselves  with 
being  the  cause  of  them,  and  trusted,  that  an  impartial 
world  would  do  them  the  justice  to  own,  they  contended 
for  nothing  more,  than  what  they  had  lately  enjoyed  in 


310  -  CHAPTER  [1773 

common  with  the  rest  of  the  king's  subjects  in  North 
America. 

The  right  of  foreign  attachment,  they  said,  was  exer- 
cised by  their  sister  colonies,  with  every  latitude  requi- 
site to  promote  their  commercial  interest,  and  to  secure 
the  property  of  the  inhabitants;  it  was  a  right  essential  to 
every  system  of  police  and  a  security,  inseparable  from 
traffic.  In  a  province,  situated  like  North  Carolina, 
where  trade  was  the  vital  principle  of  the  constitution, 
every  circumstance,  which  placed  the  people  on  a  more 
unfavorable  footing  than  their  neighbors,  was  to  enrich 
the  latter  at  the  expense  of  the  former,  and  build  the  in- 
crease of  the  trade  of  the  one  on  the  ruin  of  that  of  the 
other,  and  the  house  needed  but  to  look  to  the  colonies, 
adjoining  them,  to  discover  the  invidious  distinction, 
and  to  find  cause  to  regret,  that,  with  equal  merit,  they 
had  been  less  the  favorites  of  government. 

They  expressed  themselves  fully  sensible  in  the  ap- 
plication to  the  king,  that  the  act,  passed  at  the  last  ses- 
sion, for  establishing  courts  of  justice,  reserving  to  the 
province,  in  its  due  extent,  the  right  of  attachment,  had 
failed  to  obtain  the  king's  concurrence;  they  lamented 
the  ill  success  of  their  endeavors,  but  still  flattered  them- 
selves, that  their  sovereign  was  not  inexorable  and  that 
he  would  still  lend  an  ear  to  the  just  complaints  of  his 
faithful  subjects.  To  despair  from  obtaining  relief  from 
the  grievances  they  were  now  laboring  under,  would  be 
to  impeach  the  justice  of  the  British  government,  and  to 
distrust  the  virtues  of  their  king  and  father:  and  to  sit 
patiently  down,  in  an  humble  acquiescence,  under  the 
denial  of  a  security  by  attachment,  would  be  to  render 
themselves  unworthy  of  his  royal  interposition,  and  an 
i^iiplied  resignation  of  the  rights  of  subjects,  and  a  vio- 
lation of  the  duty  they  owed  him,  as  the  royal  protector 
of  them. 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  311 

They  manifested  their  intention  of  addressing  the  king 
on  this  interesting  occasion,  and  hoped,  that  the  council, 
equally  jealous  of  the  happiness  of  the  province,  would 
heartily  concur  with  them,  in  a  measure  that  promised 
the  greatest  probability  of  being  accomplished,  although 
their  opinion  might  differ  from  that  entertained  by  the 
house,  and  should  be  happy  to  find,  that  no  passion,  no 
private  motive,  influenced  the  consultations  of  the  coun- 
cil; but  that,  with  candor  and  moderation,  they  pursued 
the  same  object,  though  by  different  means. 

They  expressed  their  confidence,  that,  in  amending 
the  bill,  the  council  had  paid  a  strict  attention  to  the 
plan  proposed  by  the  king  to  the  governor;  but  the  house, 
the  most  important  branch  of  the  legislature,  could  not 
conceive  that  the  attachment  clause,  as  proposed  to  them, 
gave  a  remedy  equal  to  the  evils  it  was  intended  to  obvi- 
ate ;  the  limits,  within  which  an  attachment,  so  re- 
strained, could  only  operate,  were  too  confined  to  render 
that  process  beneficial ;  the  oath  prescribed,  as  a  neces- 
sary previous  requisite,  rendered  it  unattainable  by  every 
one  who  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  pleasing  influence  of 
truth  and  honor,  and  subject  to  perjury  ;  to  swear  that  a 
man  absconds  to  avoid  the  payment  of  debt,  was  to  pry  into 
the  secret  movements  of  the  human  heart,  and  to  assume  ^ 
a  province,  not  short  of  inspiration.  The  house  could  not 
regard  the  approbation  of  the  council,  obligatory  upon 
their  assembly,  and  whatever  might  ensue  from  the  dif- 
ference of  opinion,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  decide, 
whether  the  calamity  ought  to  be  charged  on  the  house, 
contendin;^  for  a  right,  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  pro- 
vince had  for  a  long  time  beneficially  exercised,  or  to 
those  who  urged  an  innovation  on  the  constitution, 
which  was  to  deprive  the  people  of  what  they  had  so  lon^ 
enjoyed  un impeached. 


312  CHAPTER        .  [1773 

The  house  heartily  acknowledged  for  themselves  and 
their  constituents,  the  necessity  of  court  laws,  and  with- 
out anticipating  the  horrors  of  a  desertion  of  the  inhabit- 
ants from  the  province,  and  the  extinction  of  its  name  and 
political  existence,  they  experienced  in  its  present  un- 
happy state,  sufficient  to  induce  them  to  wish  for  a 
cliange,  upon  legal  and  constitutional  principles. 

They  observed,  that  the  rules  of  right  and  wrong,  the 
limits  of  the  prerogative  of  the  crown  and  the  rights  of 
the  people,  being  well  known  and  ascertained,  to  ex- 
ceed either  of  them  was  highly  unjustifiable:  and  were 
the  attachment  law,  as  hitherto  enjoyed,  as  a  small  ad- 
vantage, compared  with  that  of  having  court  laws,  as 
the  council  contended  it  was,  the  right  of  the  people  to 
it  was  equal  to  the  right  to  a  more  important  object ;  in 
the  smallest,  it  was  bartering  the  right  of  the  people  for 
a  present  convenience ;  in  a  greater,  it  would  be  the 
same  crime,  aggravated  only  by  its  circumstances. 

They  took  notice  with  surprise,  that  a  doctrine,  main- 
tained by  a  former  house  of  assembly,  was  now  adopted 
by  the  council,  who  disclosed  as  their  opinion, ;that  at- 
tachnients  were  not  known  to  the  common  or  statute 
laws  of  England ;  they  then  asked,  what  did  govern- 
ment tender  to  the  people,  when  it  proposed  to  the  last 
assembly  a  mode  of  attachments  agreeable  to  the  laws 
of  England, 

They  added,  they  would  assert,  on  all  occasions,  the 
necessity  of  attachments,  in  the  manner  the  people  had 
latel}''  enjoyed  them,  in  point  of  expediency  as  well  as  of 
right,  and  viewed  in  the  scale  of  relation  to  the  private 
dealings  between  subject  and  subject,  it  had  every  ad- 
vantage that  could  be  reasonably  sought,  as  the  trade  of 
the  province  and  its  neighbors  was  principally  confined 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  513 

to  the  mutual  and  private  intercourse  mentioned  by  the 
council. 

With  regard  to  the  allowance  to  the  chief  justice  and 
attorney  general,  inserted  by  the  council  in  the  bill,  the 
iiouse  answered,  it  was  the  undoubted  privilege  of  the 
people,  exercised  by  their  representatives,  to  make  a  dis- 
[)osition  of  their  own  moneys  ;  the  interposition  of  the 
council,  with  respect  to  such  a  disposition,  could  only 
be  considered  as  an  infringement  upon  the  rights  of  thi 
people,  and  an  open  violation  of  a  fundamental  principle 
of  the  constitution.  Sensible  of  the  importaiiCe  of  th.: 
judicial  character,  and  desirous  to  provide  fvjr  thoiC 
whom  government  might  think  proper  to  invest  with  it, 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  acceptance  of  miCn  of  integrity 
and  eminence,  the  house  said,  they  conceived  the  bill 
for  regulating  the  fees  of  the  chief  justice,  to  be  a  pro- 
vision not  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the  province 
or  to  the  dignity  of  the  office,  and  they  admitted,  that  a 
dependence  on  the  precarious  increase  or  decrc?4se  of 
suits,  and  the  uncertaintv  which  attended  th»e  collection 
of  fees  on  them,  created  an  inconvenience  which  thtv 
felt  desirous  of  obviatin!]^:  and  \^■hon  the  kins:  v/ould 
be  pleased  to  appoint  judgts,  during  good  behaviour, 
tiiey  v/onld  sliow  tlic  most  sincere  gratitude  for  tins  ad- 
vantage, both  in  their  profession  and  practice,  by  giving 
a  perpetual  salary  to  such  officers,  as  would  do  honor  to 
the  appointuient ;  in  the  mean  time,  they  could  nuly 
think  of  makiiig  such  provision  for  tlie  chief  justice, 
judges  and  attorney  general,  as  should  appear  suitable 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  province. 

Thev   concluded  bv  observing;,   that  the  sentiments 

i- 

vvhic'n  ruled  the  conduct  of  the  house,  were  snbmitud 
as  circumstances,  which,  if  they  could  not  induce  the 

N.    CARD.   II.  40 


Ml  CHAPTER  [1773 

council  to  alter  their  determination,  would,  to  that  body 
and  the  world,  afford  the  fullest  conviction,  that  the  house 
were  sincere  and  detcrniined  in  the  measures  they  had 
adopted,  and  from  which,  in  their  judgment,  they  could 
not  depart,  without  a  breach  of  faith  to  the  public  and 
debasing  their  legislative  character. 

Soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  house,  on  the  next  day, 
the  secretary  brought  a  message,  to  require  their  imme- 
diate attendance  at  the  palace. 

Before  they  moved,  they  came  to  an  unanimous  reso- 
lution, that,  having  considered  the  king's  instructions  to 
the  governor,  in  regard  to  the  process  of  attachments, 
and  sensible  of  the  deplorable  situation  to  which  the 
country  must  be  reduced,  should  the  proposed  restric- 
tions be  continued,  they  had  felt  it  a  duty,  which  they 
owed  to  themselves  and  posterity,  to  use  every  expedi- 
ent to  prevent  it,  and,  therefore,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  a  dutiful  address  to  die  king,  humbly 
soliciting  him  to  withdraw  an  instruction,  which,  how- 
ever equitable  it  might  appear  to  his  royal  mind,  ever 
attentive  to  the  interests  of  his  people,  was  so  ill  adopted 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  province  and  to  its  commer- 
cial interest,  as  to  render  its  operation  extremely  injuri- 
ous to  both .;  and  to  allow  his  governor  to  pass  a  law, 
which,  though  suited  to  the  policy  of  the  province, 
might  be  so  framed,  as  not  to  be  in  any  manner  inj  urious 
to  the  interest  of  Great  Britain,  which  his  faithful  sub- 
jects  of  North  Carolina  thought  it  their  highest  duty  to 
promote. 

The  committee  were  instructed,  in  order  to  convey 
the  address,  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  to  the  sove- 
reign, and  as  the  most  effectual  means  of  promoting  its 
success,  to  address  William  Tryon,  the  governor  of  the 


1773]  THE  NINTH.  316 

province  of  New- York,  who,  happily  for  the  country^ 
had  for  many  years  presided  over  it,  and  of  whose 
wishes  for  its  welfare  they  felt  the  fullest  conviction, 
transmit  him  the  address  to  the  king,  and  request  that  lie 
would  forward  it,  support  the  earnest  solicitations  of  the 
house  with  his  interest  and  influence,  and  accept  the  im- 
portant trust,  as  a  testimony  of  the  £^reat  affection  the 
province  bore  to,  and  the  great  conlidence  they  re- 
posed in  him. 

When  the  house  arrived  at  the  palace,  the  governor 
told  them,  he  had  seen  with  infinite  concern,  so  much 
lime  consumed  by  them  and  so  great  an  expense  incur- 
red by  the  public,  that  he  thought  their  longer  attend- 
ance of  no  purpose,  while  they  refused  to  adopt  any 
plan  for  the  due  administration  of  justice,  to  which  he 
had  it  in  his  power  to  assent ;  he  observed,  he  had  made 
them  fully  acquainted  with  the  restrictions  the  king  had 
laid  upon  his  conduct,  which  he  was  sure  had  been  cal- 
culated by  government,  on  the  most  mature  considera- 
tion, for  the  welfare  of  the  people. 

He  desired  the  members  to  appeal  to  and  consult  their 
constituents,  to  state  to  them  with  candor  the  point  for 
which  they  contended,  and  apprising  them  that  the  king 
had  been  graciously  disposed  to  indulge  their  wishes,  as 
far  as  was  consistent  with  the  principles  of  the  constitu- 
tion and  the  interest  of  all  his  subjects ;  then  to  ask  them, 
whether  they  wished  to  relinquish  all  the  blessings,  all 
the  advantages  and  all  the  security  for  their  lives  and 
property,  which  resulted  from  the  regular  execution  of 
the  laws  of  the  province,  for  the  contention  for  a  mode  of 
proceeding  against  debtors,  applicable  only  to  a  particu- 
lar case,  which  was  in  itself  unconstitutional,  and  which, 
if  it  could  be  obtained,  would  not  avail  one  person  in  a 


316  CHAPTER  [1774 

thousand  among  them  ;  he  expressed  his  belief,  that,  if 
these  facts  were  fairly  represented  to  the  people,  they 
knew  too  well  their  own  interest,  to  make  such  a  sacri- 
fice, or  to  approve  the  conduct  of  tlie  house. 

To  give  the  members  such  an  opportunity,  he  pro- 
rogued the  assembly,  to  the  first  day  of  Marcli. 

On  mcetinc:  the  houses,  after  this  short  recess,  the  co- 
vernor  told  the  assembly,  he  presumed  they  had  returned 
fully  informed  of  the  sense  of  their  constituents,  in  re- 
gard to  the  difficulties  which  had  arisen  concerning  the 
court  laws,  and  which  had  unhappily  rendered  the  two 
last  sessions  abortive;  and  he  should  rejoice  to  find,  that 
it  inclined  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  accept  the 
modifications,  in  regard  to  the  process  by  attachment, 
which  he  had  proposed  at  the  last  session  :  but  if,  con- 
trary to  his  wishes,  they  were  still  deemed  inexpedient, 
he  had  that  confidence  in  regard  to  the  house  of  as- 
sembly, which  induced  him  to  hope,  they  would  no 
longer  make  the  obtaining  of  a  point,  which  they  knew 
it  was  out  of  his  power  to  yield,  the  indispensable  condi- 
tion of  passing  laws  for  the  general  administration  of 
justice,  in  comparibon  of  which,  the  matter  contended 
for,  allowing  it  all  the  utility  and  importance  that  its 
warmest  advocates  ascribed  to  it,  was  of  very  little 
consequence. 

He  added,  that  the  law  of  attachment  in  every  colony, 
as  far  as  he  had  been  able  to  inform  himself,  made  no  part 
of  the  several  plans  for  the  adminstration  of  justice;  but 
was  in  all  a  separate  and  distinct  provision;  and  from  its 
having  been  for  a  small  number  of  years  woven  into 
temporary  court  laws  in  the  province,  it  did  not  appear 
to  him  necessary  or  expedient,  that  it  should  still  re- 
main incorporated  in  the  fundamental  constitution,  and 


1774]  THE  NINTH.  '  31 T 

he  flattered  himself,  the  house  would  with  him,  think  it 
incompatible  with  every  idea  of  good  policy  to  re- 
nounce every  security  of  the  public  peace,  credit  and 
happiness,  every  protection  of  the  lives  and  property  of 
a  whole  people,  for  a  circumstance  so  clearly,  so  con- 
fessedly unessential.  He  added,  lie  was  not  authorized 
to  propose  any  thing  new  on  the  subject,  and  drawing 
the  attention  of  the  houses  to  the  late  barbarous  murder 
of  a  store  keeper  on  Cross  creek,  in  the  county  of  Cum- 
berland, which  appeared  co  be  a  prelude  only  to  scenes 
more  flagitious  and  tragical,  if  the  hand  of  justice  con- 
tinued longer  disarmed,  urged  them  to  lose  no  time  in 
rescuing  their  country  from  distress  by  the  re-establish- 
ment of  its  courts. 

The  house  replied,  they  had  came  to  the  last  session 
fully  possessed  of  the  sentiments  of  their  constituents; 
they  had  however  appealed  to  them  again,  consulted 
them  and  stated,  candidly,  the  point  for  which  they  con- 
tended, and  informed  them  how  far  the  king  was  dispos- 
ed to  indulge  their  wishes,  disdaining  any  equivocation 
or  reserve  that  might  leave  them  ignorant  of  the  con- 
duct they  had  pursued  or  the  real  motives  which  had 
influenced  it;  and  they  had  the  heartfelt  satisfaction  to 
inform  him,  that  their  constituents  had  expressed  their 
warmest  approbation  of  the  late  proceedings  of  the  house 
and  had  given  them  the  most  positive  instructions  to 
persist  in  those  endeavors  to  obtain  the  process  of  foreign 
attachment,  upon  the  most  liberal  and  ample  footing. 

Under  these  circumstances,  they  added,  were  they  to 
adopt  the  modifications,  proposed  to  them,  they  should 
violate  the  sacred  trust  the  people  had  reposed  m  them, 
and  disregard  the  line  of  duty,  marked  out  for  their  con- 
duct; the  people  were  too  sensible  of  the  importance  of 


318  CHAPTER  [1774 

preserving  that  security  in  trade,  which  they  had  hitherto 
enjoyed,  and  knew  too  well  their  own  interest  to  make  a 
sacrifice  of  it,  or  to  condemn  the  conduct  of  those  who 
had  exerted  their  utmost  endeavors  to  retain  it  unim- 
paired. 

They  admitted,  that  in  many  of  the  colonies,  the 
laws  which  governed  the  proceedings  by  foreign  at- 
tachment, were  detached  from  those  which  formed  the 
general  plan  for  the  distribution  of  justice;  but  took 
notice  that  they  were  not,  therefore,  less  secured  to  the 
inhabitants,  they  had  equally  the  sanction  of  government, 
and  were  as  permanent  in  their  duration,  as  the  court 
laws  on  which  they  necessarily  depenpended;  and  when 
these  colonies  had  made  provisions  for  these  purposes, 
by  two  distinct  laws,  they  possessed  the  fullest  assur- 
ance, that  government  would  not  deny  its  assent  to 
either. 

They  assured  the  governor  they  would  use  their  best 
endeavors  to  lessen  the  calamities  the  province  suffered 
from  the  licenciousness  of  manner  which  was  the  con- 
sequence of  the  occlusion  of  the  couris;  thinking,  that 
although  the  best  of  human  institutions  liad  been  found 
unequal  to  a  perfect  prevention  of  crimes  against  the 
peace  and  security  of  mankind,  the  most  barbarous  mur- 
ders having  been  sometimes  perpetrated  under  the  best 
regulated  police,  it  was  their  duty,  and  they  should  not 
fail,  to  propose  the  best  plan  for  the  administration  of 
justice,  in  criminal  cases,  that  the  circumstances  of  the 
delav  would  admit;  which  would  have  been  effected  at 
the  last  session,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unexpected  and 
precipitate  manner  in  which  he  had  been  pleased  to  put 
an  end  to  it. 


K74]  THE  NINTH.  319 

The  governor  observed,  that  if  by  telling  him,  per- 
haps with  great  exultation,  that  the  people  had  approv- 
ed of  the  conduct  of  the  house,  and  instructed  their  re- 
presentatives to  persist  in  their  endeavors,  the  idea  was 
intended  to  be  conveved,  that  the  distressed  state  of  the 
province  was  to  be  continued;  because  he  had  it  not  in 
his  power  to  comply  exactly  with  all  their  wishes  in  re- 
gard to  a  mode  of  proceeding,  in  some  very  material 
points  peculiar  to  the  province,  which  was  holden  by 
many  to  have  been  unguarded,  too  open  and  applicable 
to  fraudulent  and  oppressive  purposes;  he  could  no  more 
enter  into  the  policy  of  such  a  plan  of  conduct,  which, 
in  his  opinion,  was  without  precedent,  than  he  could  help 
dreading  the  people  would  soon  feel  they  made  infinitely 
too  dear  a  sacrifice. 

As  he  has  reason  to  believe  opinions  prevailed,  but  too 
generally,  that  government  designed  by  tlie  resolutions 
proposed  concerning  attachments,  to  put  the  inhabitants 
of  the  province  upon  a  footing  of  disadvantage  with 
respect  to  the  rest  of  the  king's  subjects;  he  said  it  be- 
came his  duty  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  the  ill  ten- 
dency of  so  unjust,  derogatory,  and  ungenerous  appre- 
hensions. He  therefore  pledged  most  solemnly  his  honor, 
that  there  was  nothing  more  foreign  to  the  royal  inten- 
tion than  so  injurious  a  distinction  of  the  province,  and 
that  the  same  benefit  of  the  process  of  attachment,  and 
every  other  provision  would  be  allowed  in  the  province, 
that  was  held  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  if  the  colony 
did  not  render  itself  less  deserving  of  the  royal  favor.  He 
assured  the  house,  tliat  if  he  could  entertain  a  belief,  that 
the  colony  was  by  any  measure  to  be  deprived  of  a  priv- 
ilege, or  advantage,  common  to  the  rest  of  the  king's 
subjects,  it  would  be  as  hurtful  and  humiliating  to  him 


32-J  <^HiVPTER  [1774 

as  to  them,  and  he  should  consider  it  his  duty  to  labor 
against  it  with  all  becoming  zeal;  a  subject  like  them,  he 
prized  as  highly  the  rights  of  that  condition,  and  should 
as  impatiently  feel  any  violation  of  them,  against  which 
he  owed  them  his  thanks  to  providence,  that  there  was 
a  sure  defence  in  their  governor's  justice  and  sacred 
regard  for  the  British  constitution. 

He  left  it  to  their  calm  reflection  to  decide,  how  far 
he  was  chargeable  with  precipitation  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  last  session;  he  had  waited  with  patience  and  long- 
ing desire  to  see  measures  taken  for  the  deliverance  of 
the  country  from  the  evils  that  impended  it,  and  when 
he  found,  that  the  house  insisted  on  provisions  which 
his  duty  forbade  him  to  admit,  in  the  court  bills,  he  had 
prorouged  the  general  assembly,  with  the  hope  that,  at  a 
future  period,  in  another  temper,  and  after  mature  con- 
sideration, the  house  would  propose  a  measure  more 
conducive  to  the  happiness  of  their  country.  It  was 
with  this  expectation  now  that  he  met  them,  and  he 
prayed,  that  he  might  not  be  disappointed. 

He  concluded,  that,  as  a  point  of  duty,  he  had  ahvays 
made  the  fairest  and  fullest  representations  to  the  king's 
servants  of  the  transactions  of  the  province,  and  he  had 
fulfilled,  unsolicited,  every  expectation  that  could 
be  reasonably  formed,  from  his  heartfelt  expression  of 
regard  to  the  v/elfare  of  the  province,  by  collecting  with 
much  pains  and  industry,  every  light  and  information 
wiihin  his  reach,  from  the  laws  of  attachment  in  the  other 
provinces,  that  could  serve  to  illustrate  the  point  insist- 
ed upon,  and  by  communicating  them  to  the  secretary 
of  state. 

a 

A  bill  having  passed  the  house  of  assembly,  for 
the  estaMishment  of  Buperior  court?,  the  eonncil. 


1774]  THE  NINTH.  321 

on  the  third  reading  of  it,  proposed  that  the  part  of 
it  which  related  to  attachments,  and  the  clause  re^ 
pealing  the  fee  bill  of  1748,  be  made  the  subjects 
of  a  separate  bill ;  that  the  former,  should  be  drawn 
in  such  a  mode  as  would  please  the  house ;  but 
both  should  be  suspended  in  their  operations  till  the 
king's  pleasure  be  known;  and  that  the  superior 
court  law  be  limited  in  its  duration  to  the  period  of 
one  year:  the  house  refused  to  concur,  bj  a  majori- 
ty of  thirty-three,  with  regard  to  attachment,  and 
thirteen  as  to  the  fee  bill.  This  is  the  first  time  that 
the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  were  recorded 
in  the  journal  of  the  house. 

In  a  message  to  the  council^they  complained,  that 
nothing  more  favorable  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  pro- 
vince was  offered,  than  what  they  had  rejected  at 
the  last  session:  they  said,  they  could  not  think  of 
having  the  important  point,  for  which  they  had  so 
zealously  and  so  justly  contended,  in  a  situation 
which  would  not  atFord  the  smallest  probability  of 
their  obtaining  it  hereafter,  on  the  ample  and  liberal 
footing  which  the  trade  of  the  province  and  its  rela- 
tions with  the  neighboring  provinces  required;  nei- 
ther could  they  abandon  the  clause,  relating  to  the 
fee  bill,  the  remuneration  contemplated  therein  be- 
ing precarious,  and  ill  suited  to  the  dignity  of  the 
chief  justice,  while  there  was  a  law  providing  a 
handsome  salary  on  its  expiration,  for  which  they 
should  not  fail  liberally  to  provide. 

The  council,  in  reply,  urged  the  house  to  recon- 
sider  the  bill,  and  expressed  their  hopes,  that,  from 
the  wisdon  and  virtue  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  something  might  yet  vise  to  stay  the  ruia 

N.  CARO.    II.       41 


J 


322  CHAPTER  [1774 

of  the  country.  They  repeated,  that,  in  regard 
to  attachments,  they  had  claimed  and  adopted  all 
that  was  ever  enjoyed  by  the  king's  subjects  in  Eng- 
land, and  they  apprehended,  that  every  step  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  British  constitution,  would  lead  to 
error,  fraud  and  injustice;  and,  considering  the 
fee  bill  of  1748,  as  a  solemn  grant,  from  the  legisla- 
ture, of  certain  f^,es  and  perquisites  to  the  chief  jus- 
tice, as  a  reward  for  his  services,  they  could  not  re- 
concile it  to  their  ideas  of  equity  and  justice,  to  take 
from  that  officer  this  permanent  security  for  his  sup- 
port, without  allowing  him  an  equivalent:  neverthe- 
less, as  they  were  willirjg,  as  much  as  possible,  to 
remove  every  difficulty  from  the  establishment  of  the 
courts,  and  as  some  sacrifice  was  to  be  made,  when 
so  much  good  was  to  be  obtained,  they  repeated 
their  offer  to  concur  in  a  separate  bill,  for  the  re- 
peal of  the  fee  act,  with  a  suspending  clause. 

They  objected  to  the  limitation  of  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  superior  court,  thinking  it  reasonable, 
that  all  the  king's  subjects,  should  be  left  at  liberty 
to  sue  in  either  court;  and  inconsistent  to  give,  in 
one  and  the  same  bill,  to  the  superior  court,  all  the 
powers  incident  to  the  king's  courts  at  Westminster, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  limit  its  jurisdiction  in  a 
manner,  unknown  to  those  courts. 

They  concluded  that,  if  what  they  had  offered 
was  still  thought  inadequate  to  the  views  of  the 
house,  they  could  go  no  further,  and  must  leave  the 
rectitude  of  their  intentions  to  be  decided  at  some 
future  period,  when  the  ardor  of  the  contest  should 
have  subsided,  and  the  arguments,  offered  by  the 
houses,  should  be  impartially  weighed. 


i774j  THE  NINTH.  3ii3 

The  house  reconsidered  the  bill  and  proposed  a 
proviso,  confining  the  process  of  attachment  to 
cases  in  which  proof  of  the  defendant  absconding, 
with  the  intention  to  avoid  the  payment  of  the  debt, 
so  far  as  his  intentions  could  be  judged,  from  cer- 
tain circumstances,  \vhich  should  be  considered  as 
evidence  of  such  an  intention.  These  circumstan- 
ces were  stated  to  be,  in  case  of  a  debtor,  residing 
out,  or  who  had  never  been  in  the  province,  neglect 
of  payment,  in  other  cases,  his  private  removal  out 
of  the  county,  or  concealment,  in  the  creditor's  be- 
lief, from  the  ordinary  process,  to  avoid  payment: 
the  process  was  also  confined  to  cases  in  which  the 
cause  of  action,  by  the  most  liberal  construction,  ia 
favor  of  the  creditor,  inhabitant  of  the  province, 
could  possibly  be  construed,  to  have  arisen  within 
it. 

They  refused  to  concur  with  the  council,  as  to 
the  fee  act  of  1748,  or  to  strike  out  the  clause,  lim- 
iting the  jurisdiction  of  the  superior  court,  thinking 
that  to  leave  the  creditor  at  large,  to  bring  his  ac- 
tion for  small  sums  in  the  superior  court,  would  be 
distressing^  and  oppressive  to  poor  debtors. 
•'  vSoon  after  their  message  was  read  in  the  council,^ 
the  governor  sent  to  that  body  a  copy  of  two  arti- 
cles of  the  king's  instructions  to  him,  which,  he  ob- 
served, were  couched  in  words,  so  express  and 
plain,  and  so  pointedly  forbade  his  assent  to  the  bill, 
with  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  house  of  as- 
sembly, that  he  hoped  the  council  would  think  it  in- 
consistent with  their  duty  to  the  king,  to  advise  hin\ 
to  offend  ap;ainst  his  instructions,  by  passing  the  bill, 
in  one  of  these  articles,  it  was  said  the  king  would 


CHAPTER  [1774 

not  consent  that  the  juriscliction  of  hfs  superior 
court  should  be  Timited,  in  cases  of  any  value  what- 
ever; by  the  other,  the  governor  was  forbidden  to 
re-enact  any  law  to  which  the  king's  assent  had  been 
before  refused,  without  express  leave  for  that  pur- 
pose, obtained  upon  a  full  representation  to  be  made 
through  one  of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state,  of 
the  reason  and  necessity  for  passing  such  a  law; 
nor  to  assent  to  any  law,  repealing  any  former  law 
of  the  province,  unless  there  be  a  clause  inserted  in 
it,  suspending  its  operation  till  the  king's  pleasure 
be  known. 

The  council,  however,  agreed  to  the  amendment 
as  proposed  by  the  house  of  assembly,  and  it 
Iiaving  taken  place,  the  bill,  at  length,  passed  theiast 
reading. 

Before  the  house  went  to  the  palace,  to  present, 
for  the  governor's  assent,  the  superior  court  bill,  a 
resolution  passed,  without  a  dissenting  vote,  that 
the  house  and  the  council  had  pursued  every  useful 
measure,  in  their  power,  to  relieve  the  colony  from 
the  distressed  situation  to  which  it  was  reduced,  for 
want  of  court  law^s,  and,  that  as  well  by  the  bills  al- 
ready passed  as  by  those  still  under  consideration, 
they  had  exerted  their  utmost  endeavors  to  lessen 
the  present  and  to  prevent  the  future  calamities  of 
the  colony. 
^    In  rejecting  the  superior  court  bill,  the  governor 
said,  he  could  never  find  himself  in  a  situation  more 
affecting  to  his  sensibility,  than  when  his  duty  to 
his  king  opposed  his  compliance  with  their  wish- 
es: he   had   flattered   himself,  his   open,  free   and 
candid  communication  of  the  roval  instructions  and 


1774]  THE  NINTH.  325 

his  repeated  assurances,  that  his  conduct  must  be 
regulated  by  the  sincere  inclination  he  had  con- 
stantly expressed  and  manifested,  to  concur  in  any 
consistent  plan,  not  repugnant  to  those  rules, 
would  defend  him  from  the  tender  feelings  tiiat  op- 
pressed his  heart.  He  besought  them  not  to  make 
him  any  longer  mourn  over  the  miseries  of  the  colo- 
ny, with  a  heart  felt  devotion  for  its  service;  because 
he  was  not  allowed  to  do  all  they  wished;  he  dis- 
missed them  for  further  deliberation,  widi  a  prayer 
that  the  Almighty  might  guide  their  councils,  to  the 
perfect  restoration  of  the  prosperity  and  the  great- 
est advancement  of  the  glory  and  happiness  of  the 
province. 

The  house  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  loyal 
and  dutiful  petition  to  the  king  and  parliament,  praying 
for  the  repeal  of  the  statute,  preventing  bills  of  credit  be- 
ing issued  in  the  colonies,  so  far  as  it  regarded  the  pro- 
vince, and  to  allow  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  make  the  de- 
^bentures  of  the  province  a  legal  tender  in  all  payments, 
■^  and  that  in  case  it  was  thought  improper  to  grant  the 
request  of  the  house,  the  king  might  be  pleased  to  with- 
draw his  instructions  to  the  governor,  forbidding  to 
pass  any  law  subjecting  the  property  of  debtors,  taken 
in  execution,  to  a  valuation,  and  that  tlie  house  might 
be  allowed  to  pass  a  law  similar  to  the  late  act  on  that 
subject. 

The  house  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  power  of 
attaching  the  estates  of  foreign  debtors  was  founded  on 
principles  of  the  strictest  equity,  and  was  a  benefit  so  es- 
seiUial  to  the  commercial  interest  of  the  colony,  that 
they  thought  it  a  duty  \vhich  they  owed  to  themselves 
and  posterity,  to  retain  it  unimpaired,  and  that  their  not 


326  CHAPTER  [1774 

being  able  to  obtain  a  law,  for  continuing  this  power  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  colony,  was  the  source  from  which 
its  present  distresses  were  principally  derived  ;  that  the 
late  superior  court  bill,  as  it  had  o;one  from  the  house  on 
the  third  reading,  appeared  to  be  well  fitted  to  the  policy 
of  the  country  ;  reserving  to  the  colony  the  power  of  at- 
taching the  effects  of  foreigners,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
guarding  against  an V  possible  injury  to  debtors  residing 
abroad ;  that  an  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  inferior 
courts  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  colony,  and  that, 
th<  refore,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  house,  to  endeavor  to 
obtain  the  king's  permission  to  extend  it. 

The  house  appointed  Thomas  Barker  and  Alexander 
Elmslev,  to  carry  the  above  resolves  into  effect. 

Laws  were  passed,  for  establishing  interior  courts,  and 
a  court  of  over  and  terminer,  to  be  holden  semi-annually 
in  each  of  the  judicial  districts,  by  the  chief  justice,  or 
in  case  of  his  iiiability,  by  justices,  appointed  by  the  go- 
vernor ;  jurisdiction  was  given  to  these  courts,  over  the 
decisions  of  the  inferior  courts,  by  writs  of  error  or  ap- 
peal ;  the  jurisdiction  of  the  county  court,  was  confined 
to  causes  of  no  less  value  than  five  pounds,  nor  more 
than  twenty  poimds ;  both  acts  were  to  continue  in  force 
only  till  the  end  of  the  session  of  assembly,  after  one 
%^ear. 

The  recurrence  to  the  press,  for  the  supply  of  a  cir» 
culating  medium,  in  time  of  need,  had  been  so  frequent 
in  the  province  and  the  neighboring  ones,  that  the  rapa- 
citv  of  the  counterfeiter^  was  excited,  and  their  success 
had  been  so  great,  that  they  had  supplied  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  paper  in  circulation.  It  was  judged  ne- 
cessary, in  order  to  check  their  progress,  to  make  this 
kind  of  imposition  a  felony,  without  the  benefit  of 
clers:v. 


n74J  THE  NINTH.  32t 

Doubts  having  arisen,  whether  slaves,  being  consi> 
dered  by  the  laws  of  the  province,  as  things  not  as  persons, 
the  maliciously  killing  of  a  slave  was  legal  murder,  an 
act  was  accordingly  passed,  making  the  first  commis- 
sion of  this  offence  a  misdemeanor,  punishable  by  im- 
prisonment only ;  a  repetition  of  the  offence  was  recog- 
nized as  murder,  and  punishable,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
destruction  of  a  white  man. 

A  new  county  was  formed  out  of  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  of  Tyrell  and  the  southern  part  of  that  of 
Halifax,  to  which  the  name  of  Martin  was  given,  in 
compliment  to  the  chief  magistrate* 

The  house  came  to  a  resolution,  that  the  poll  tax  and 
duty  on  liquors,  laid  in  the  years  1748  and  1754,  for  the 
redemption  of  the  paper  currency  then  emitted,  ought 
long  ago  to  have  ceased  ;  diat  the  house  had  frequently 
passed  bills  to  repeal  the  clause  imposing  them,  and 
their  not  being  able  to  obtain  a  law  for  that  purposCj  was 
a  great  grievance  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  and 
oppression  to  its  trade. 

The  treasurers  w^ere  directed  to  issue  orders  to  the 
collector  not  to  receive  the  tax  for  the  year  1774,  nor  the 
duty  for  liquors,  imported  after  the  first  day  of  May  fol- 
lowing. 

The  house  declared,  they  would  consider  such  col- 
lector, as  would  receive  the  tax  or  duty  afterwards,  as 
guilty  of  a  contempt  of  the  resolutions  of  the  house,  and 
as  meriting  their  highest  censure,  and  that  they  would 
consider  it  as  a  duty,  incumbent  on  them,  to  indemnify 
any  person  who  might  incur  any  damage,  by  acting  in 
obedience  to  this  order,  in  this  respect ;  and  that  the 
public  ftuth  stood  pledged  to  make  good  any  deficiency, 


328  CHAPTER  [im 

should  any  appear,  on  the  final  settlement  of  the  money 
collected,  in  virtue  of  the  tax  and  duty. 

In  giving  his  assent  to  the  bills,  for  the  establishment 
of  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer  and  inferior  courts,  the 
governor  lamer.ted,  that  no  better  system  was  offered  for 
the  dispensation  of  justice,  than  the  establishment  of 
county  courts,  the  limited  jurisdiction  of  which  reached 
not  cases  of  greater  value  than  twenty  pounds,  leaving 
the  people  without  relief  in  more  important  cases,  a  dis- 
tinction quite  irreconcileable  to  the  impartiality  of  justice. 

He  said,  that  the  measures  which  had  been  taken,  to 
render  ineffectual  the  powers  he  derived  from  the  king, 
for  the  protection  of  his  subjects  in  the  province,  and 
the  pendency  of  the  bill,  for  erecting  courts  for  the 
trial  of  criminal  matters,  were  reasons  of  the  greatest 
weight  with  him,  for  giving  his  assent  to  a  plan,  so  in* 
adequate  to  the  due  administration  of  justice,  so  in- 
competent to  the  security  of  the  public  revenue,  the  col- 
lection of  which  was  left  to  depend  on  the  integrity  of 
officers,  which  had  appeared  to  him  so  inconsistent 
with  every  principle  of  good  policy.  Next  to  this  con- 
sideration, he  wished  to  assure  them,  he  was  willing  to 
concur  with  the  house,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  relief  of 
the  distresses  of  the  province ;  and  on  the  one  hand,  he 
well  knew  example  to  be  of  greater  force  than  precept, 
so,  on  the  other,  he  rested  satisfied,  that  a  short  use  of 
the  expedients  adopted,  would  convince  the  houses  of 
their  ineificacy,  as  well  as  of  the  integrity  of  his  inten- 
tions and  the  rectitude  of  his  conduct:  after  all,  he  was 
but  too  sensible,  his  assent  to  those  bills,  of  a  nature  so 
unusual,  nevv  and  extraordinary,  would  need  all  the 
apology  he  should  be  able  to  make,  to  his  roval  master. 


1774]  THE  NINTH      ,  529 

He  lamented  the  bad  state  in  which  the  militia  of  the 
province  was  left,  and  observed,  that  the  information 
lately  received  from  the  superintendant  of  Indian  affairs, 
relative  to  the  desigris  of  the  Indians,  left  him,  at  least,  a 
doubt  concerning  them,  and  urged  the  propriety  of  the 
interposition  of  government,  to  prevent  their  outrages 
on  certain  of  its  people,  settled  in  the  Indian  territory, 
in  vengeance  for  whose  encroachments,  it  wa5  to  be 
feared,  the  Indians  might  extend  their  violence  against 
the  innocent  and  uOj^uarded  inhabitants  on  the  frontiers ; 
and,  as  the  prolongation  of  the  session,  for  a  day  or  two, 
would  be  far  less  inconvenient  and  expensive,  than  a 
new  session,  he  pressed  them  to  retire  and  consider,  oa 
proper  means  for  the  defence  of  the  province. 

A  militia  bill,  accordingly,  passed  both  houses  and, 
on  the  following  day,  received  the  governor's  assent. 
This  was  the  last  bill,  to  which  the  sanction  of  a  gover- 
nor was  asked,  in  North  Carolina. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  the  assembly  was  prorogu- 
ed, and  four  days  after  was  dissolved  by  procla- 
mation; this  measure  was  confessedly  grounded  on 
the  assumption  of  a  power  unconstitutional,  repug- 
nant to  the  laws  and  derogatory  of  the  honor  and 
good  faith  of  the  province,  by  attempting  to  abro- 
j^ate  an  act  of  the  general  assembly,  upon  which  the 
public  credit  essentially  depended;  and,  about  one 
month  after,  the  governor,  by  proclamation,  called 
on  all  sheriffs  and  collectors  to  levy  the  poll  tax  and 
duty  on  liquors,  notwithstanding  the  directions  of  the 
assembly  to  the  contrary. 

In  the  month  of  Jmie,  public  notice  was  given,  that 
the  king,  by  his  instructions  to  the  governor,  of  the 
9th  of  February,  had  established  new  orders  and 

N.   CARO.    II.       42 


930  CHAPTER  [1774 

regulations  for  the  future  disposal  of  his  lands  in  the 
province,  excepting  to  sucii  reduced  officers  and 
soldiers  to  whom  lands  were  directed  to  be  granted, 
by  his  proclamation  of  the  7th  of  October,  1773; 
but  had  signified  that  it  was  not  his  intention  that 
those  persons,  who  had  hitherto  obtained  warrants 
of  survey,  should  be  precluded  from  ripening  them 
into  grants,  or  that  any  claim  to  a  grant,  founded  on 
any  antecedent  step,  that  could  give  an  equitable 
title  to  it  should  be  precluded.  .     • 

During  the  summer,  the  people,  in  the  different^ 
parts  of  the  province,  openly  avowed  their  inten- 
tion of  joining  in  the  measures,  proposed  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  province  of  Massachusetts.  Meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  principal  towns  and  in  several 
of  the  counties,  and  a  general  one  was  proposed,  to 
be  composed  of  deputies,  chosen  in  every  county 
and  town,  entitled  to  representation,  in  the  legisla- 
ture. It  was  recommended  to  the  delegates,  to 
meet  in  the  town  ofNewbern,  on  the  25th  day  of 
August. 

On  the  13th  of  that  month,  the  governor  issued 
his  proclamation,  complaining  of  the  meetings  which 
had  then  been  held,  without  any  legal  authority, 
and  in  which,  he  said,  resolves  had  been  entered 
into  and  plans  concerted,  derogatory  to  the  authori- 
ty of  the  king  and  parliament,  and  stating  his  ap- 
prehension, that  the  same  inflammatory,  disloyal  and 
indecent  measures  might  be  adopted  in  such  future 
assemblies,  inconsistent  with  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  the  government,  tending  to  excite  clamor 
and  discontent  among  the  king's  subjects,  requiring 
the  people,  on  their  allegiance,  to  forbear  to  attend 


1774]  THE  NINTH.  ^31 

any  such  meetings,  parlicularly  the  general  one,  and 
requiring  the  king's  officers  to  oppose  such  meet- 
,  ings  to  the  utmost  of  their  powers. 

The  deputies,  however,  attended  on  the  day  ap- 
pointed, and  began  their  session,  without  any  ob- 
struction: they  made  choice  of  John  Harvey,  of  the 
county  of  Perquimans,  as  theirmoderator. 

The  council,  having  been  convened  by  the  gover- 
nor, and  consulted  on  the  steps  which  were  most 
proper  to  be  taken,  advised  him  that  '* nothing  could 
be  done." 

The  meeting  proceeded  to  business,  and  entered 
into  a  number  of  resolutions;  in  the  preamble  of 
which,  they  declared  themselves  impressed  with  the 
most  sacred  regard  for  the  British  constitution,  and 
determined  to  maintain  the  succession  of  the  house 
of  Hanover.  They  expressed  their  unshaken  fidel- 
ity to  their  sovereign  and  their  attachment  to  their 
fellow  subjects  of  Great  Britain:  asserting,  that, 
viewing,  with  the  utmost  abhorrence,  every  attempt 
which  might  tend  to  disturb  the  peace  and  ood 
order  of  the  colony,  or  to  shake  t^»e  loyalty  of  the 
king*s  subjects,  residing  in  it;  but,  at  the  same  t-ime, 
elating,  that  tliey  conceived  it  a  duty  which  they 
owed  to  themselves  and  tlieir  posterity,  in  the  alarm- 
ins:  state  of  British  America,  when  tijcirmost  essen- 
tial  rights  were  invaded,  by  powers,  unwarrantably 
a.-^sumed  by  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  to  de- 
clare their  sentiments  in  the  most  public  manner, 
lest  their  silence  should  be  construed  as  an  acqui- 
escence, and  as  a  very  strong  evidence  of  their  pa- 
tient submission  to  the  burden  lately  imposed  on 
them. 


S^  CHAPTER  [1774 

After  these  preliminary  decl-r* rations,  they  made  a  for- 
'mal  recognition  of  George  III.  as  the  lawful  arkd  right- 
ful king  of  Great  Britain  and  her  dominions,  and  of  the 
province  of  North  Carolina  and  parts  thereof,  avowing 
their  faithful  and  true  allegiance  to  him,  as  their  sove- 
reign. 

They  stated,  that  they  laid  claim  to  no  more  than 
the  rights  of  Englishmen,  without  any  diminution  or 
abridgement,  which,  it  was  tht  ir  indispensable  duty,'and 
would  be  their  constant  endeavor,  to  maintain  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power,  consistently  with  their  loyalty  to 
the  lawful  sovereign  and  their  great  regard  for  the  con- 
stitution. 

They  asserted  it  to  be  of  the  very  essence  of  the  Bri- 
tish constitution,  that  no  subject  should  be  taxed,  but 
by  his  own  consent,  freely  given,  in  person,  or  by  his 
legal  representative,  and  that  any  other  mode  was  highly 
derogatory  to  the  rights  of  the  subject,  and  a  gross  vio- 
lation of  the  grand  charter  of  their  liberties;  and  that,  as 
the  British  subjects,  resident  in  America,  had  not,  nor 
could  they  have,  any  representation  in  the  parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  any  act  of  that  body,  imposing  a  tax  on 
them,  was  illegal  and  unconstitutional,  and  the  pro- 
vincfal  assemblies  (the  king,  by  his  governor,  constitu- 
ting a  branch  thereof)  were  alone  competent  to  tax  the 
people  of  their  respective  colonies. 

They  declared,  that  the  duties,  imposed  by  several 
British  statutes  upon  tea  and  other  articles,  consumed 
in  America,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue,  were 
highly  illegal  and  oppressive,  and  that  the  late  exporta- 
tion of  tea,  by  the  East  India  company,  to  different  parts 
of  America^  was  intended  to  give  effect  to  one  of  the 
uSaid   acts^  and,  to  establish  a  precedent,  dishonorable 


nf4]  THE  NINTH.  333 

to  America,  and  to  obtain  an  implied  assent  to  the  pow- 
ers which  Great  Britain  had  unconstitutionally  assumed, 
of  levying  a  tax  on  the  American  people  without  their 
consent. 

Tliey  bestowed  high  encomiums  on  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province  of  Massachusetts,  for  having  distinguished 
themselves  in  a  manly  support  of  the  rights  of  America 
in  general;  recognized  the  cause,  in  which  they  were 
suffering,  as  that  of  every  honest  American,  deserving 
the  blessings  which  the  constitution  bestowed  on  them; 
and  bewailed  the  srrievances  under  which  the  town  of 
Boston  was  laboring,  as  the  effect  of  a  resentment  levell- 
ed against  its  inhabitants,  for  having  stood  foremost  in 
an  opposition  to  measures,  which  must,  eventually,  in- 
volve all  British  America  in  a  state  of  abject  dependence 
and  servitude. 

They  reprobated  the  statute,  commonly  called  the 
Boston  port  act,  as  the  most  cruel  infringement  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  of  Boston,  both  as 
men  and  members  of  the  British  government,  and  the 
late  statute  for  regulating  the  police  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts,  as  an  infringement  of  the  charter  right, 
granted  by  king  William  and  queen  Mary,  and  tending 
to  lessen  that  sacred  confidence  which  ought  to  be  plac- 
ed in  the  acts  of  kings;  and  the  bill  for  altering  the  'ad- 
ministration of  justice,  in  certain  criminal  cases,  within 
the  province  of  Massachusetts,  empowering  the  gover- 
nor to  send  to  Great  Britain,  for  trial,  all  persons  who, 
in  aid  of  the  king's  officers,  should  commit  any  capital 
offence,  as  fraught  with  the  highest  injustice  and  partiali- 
ty, and  tending  to  produce  the  frequent  bloodshed  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  while  it  furnished  an  op- 
portunity of  committing  the  most  atrocious  crimes  with 


^34  CHAPTER  [nii 

the  greatest  iivipunity  and  v\ithout  the  least  probability 
or|/Uinshment. 

They  asserted,  a  trial  by  a  jury  of  the  vicinity  to 
be  the  only  lawful  inquest  that  could  pass  on  the  life  of  a 
British  subject;  and  the  right  to  it  had  been  handed 
down  to  them  from  the  earliest  ages,  confirmed  and 
sanctioned  by  INIagna  Charta,  and  that  every  subject, 
punished  without  it,  was  not  a  victim  to  public  jus- 
tice; but  a  sacrifice  to  the  power  of  tyranny  and  high 
handed  oppression. 

They  bound  themselves  not  to  import  after  the  first 
day  of  January,  from  Great  Britain,  any  East  India 
merchandise,  except  medicine,  ncr  from  the  West  India, 
any  East  India  or  British  goods,  nor  purchase  them 
imported  by  other  persons,  after  that  day;  not  to  export 
tobacco,  naval  stores,  or  any  other  to  Great  Britain,  nor 
sell  the  same  for  exportation  there,  after  the  first  day  of 
October,  1775,  unless  American  giievances  were  pre- 
viously redressed;  not  to  import  or  purchase  any  slaves 
imported  by  others,  after  the  Hrst  day  of  November;  not 
to  use,  or  suffer  to  be  used  in  their  families,  any  East 
India  tea;  and  to  consider  all  persons  in  the  province, 
not  Complying  with  these  engagements,  as  enemies  to 
their  countrv. 

They  voted,  that  the  vendors  of  merchandise,  in  the 
province,  ought  not  to  take  any  advantage  of  the  non- 
importation, and  sell  their  goods  at  the  rates  they  were 
hitherto  accustomed  to  sell. 

The  deputies  manifested   their   approbation    of  the 
proposition  of  holding  a  general  congress  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  month  of  September,  to  deliberate 
on  the  situation  of  British    America,   and  to   concert 
measures  to  eflect  the  purpose  of  defending  with  cer- 


1774]  THE  NINTH.  335 

tainty  the  rights  of  Americans,  repairing  the  breach 
iTiade  ill  those  rights,  and  guarding  them  for  the  future, 
from  any  violation,  under  the  sanction  of  public  author* 
ity.  They  declared,  that  the  people  of  the  province 
would  break  off  all  intercourse  with  any  colony,  city, 
town  or  individual,  who  would  refuse  or  neglect  to 
carry  into  execution  such  general  plans  as  might  be 
adopted  by  the  continental  congress;  and  that,  viewing 
the  attempts  made  made  by  the  minister  upon  the  town 
of  Boston,  as  a  prelude  to  a  general  attack  on  the  rights 
of  the  other  colonies,  they  determined  on  contributions, 
in  proportion  to  their  abilities,  to  ease  the  burdens  im- 
posed upon  that  town,  for  their  virtuous  opposition  to 
the  revenue  acts,  that  its  inhabitants  might  be  enabled 
to  persist  in  a  prudent  and  manly  opposition  to  the 
schemes  of  parliament  and  render  its  designs  abortive. 

Proceeding  to  the  choice  of  deputies  to  the  continen- 
tal congress,  their  suffrages  united  in  favor  of  William 
Hooper,  of  the  county  of  Orange,  Joseph  Hewes, 
of  the  town  of  Edenton,  and  Richard  Caswell,  of  the 
county  of  Dobbs. 

They  were  instructed  to  express  the  people's  sincere 
attachment  to  the  person  and  family  of  their  sovereign, 
their  determination  to  support  his  lawful  authority  in  the 
province,  and,  in  the  meantime,  their  steady  adherance 
to  the  first  law  of  nature,  a  firm  and  resohite  defence  of 
their  persons  and  properties  against  all  unconstitutional 
encroachments  whatever.  To  assert  the  right  of  the 
people  to  all  the  j)rivilcgcs  of  British  subjects;  particu- 
larly, that  of  paying  no  tax  or  duty,  without  their  con- 
sent, and  the  exclusive  power  of  the  legislature  of  the 
province  to  make  laws  to  regulate  its  internal  polity, 
subject  to  the  king's  dis-illowaiice.     To  concur  with  the 


336  CHAPTER  [1774 

delegates  or  deputies  from  the  other  provinces,  in  such 
regulations,  addresses  and  remonstrances,  as  may  appear 
conducive  to  a  lasting  harmony  and  good  understanding 
with  Great  Britain,  a  circumstance  most  sincerely  and 
ardently  wished  for. 

It  was  resolved  that,  at  every  future  provincial  meet- 
ing,  the  votes  should  be  taken  by  counties  and  towns, 
and  it  was  recommended  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
chosen  in  each  county,  by  such  persons  as  should  ac- 
cede to  the  measures  now  proposed,  to  see  that  they  be 
properly  carried  into  execution,  and  correspond  occa- 
sionally with  the  provincial  committee  of  correspondence 
of  the  province. 

The  moderator,  or  in  case  of  his  death,  Samuel  John- 
ston, of  the  county  of  Chowan,  was  empowered  to  con- 
vene the  present  deputies,  or  such  as  might  thereafter  be 
chosen,  on  any  occasion  that  might  require  it. 


Records-^Magazines — Gazettes, 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  continental  congress  began  its  session  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  on  the  4th  ol'  September,  1774.  It  was 
composed  of  delegates  from  all  the  British  American 
provinces,  except  those  of  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  Georgia 
and  Florida.  Peyton  Randolph,  the  speaker  of  the  late 
h(Hise  of  burgesses,  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  was 
called  to  the  chair  of  this  august  body:  they  proceeded 
on  business,  with  closed  doors,  anrj  the  members  were 
required  to  devulge  such  parts  of  it  only,  as  the  majori- 
ty deemed  unnecessary  to  remain  secret. 

The  state  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  was  one 
of  the  first  objects  of  the  consideration  of  the  congress. 
They  expressed  their  sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  province,  under  the  operation  of  the 
Jate  unjust,  cruel  and  oppressive  acts  of  the  British  par- 
liament, and  their  most  thorough  approbation  of  the 
wisdom  and  fortitude  with  which,  opposition  to  those 
tinjubt  measures,  had  hitherto  l>een  conducted,  and  they 
earnestly  recommended,  to  their  brethren,  a  perseverance 
in  the  same  firm  and  temperate  conduct,  in  the  hope,  tliat 
the  effect  of  the  united  efforts  of  North  America,  in  their 
behalf,  would  carry  such  conviction  to  tiie  British  na- 
tion, of  the  unwise,  unjust  and  ruinous  policy  of  the 
British  administration,  as  quickly  to  introduce  better 
;nen  and  wiser  measures. 
N.   cAiio.  n.  43 


J33  CHAPTER  [1774 

They  also  recommended,  that  contributions,  from  all 
the  colonies,  for  supplying  the  necessities  and  alleviat- 
ing the  distresses  of  the  people  of  Boston,  should  be 
continued;  and  that  the  merchants,  in  the  respective  pro- 
vinces, should  forbear  to  send  to  Great  Britain,  any 
orders  for  goods  and  countermand  those  already  given; 
and,  some  days  after,  resolutions  were  passed,  for  the 
suspension  of  the  importation  of  goods  from  Great  Bri- 
tain and  Ireland,  and  their  dependencies,  and  of  all  goods 
manufactured  there,  after  the  first  day  of  December,  and 
inhibiting  the  purchase  or  use  of  any  such  goods.  All 
exports  to  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  the  West  Indies 
were  directed  to  cease  after  the^  10th  of  September, 
1775,  if  the  grievances  of  the  i\merican  people,  were 
not  then  ledressed.  The  form  of  an  association,  for 
carrying  into  effect  the  requisitions  of  the  congress, 
was  drawn  up,  and  subscribed  by  every  one  of  the 
delee:ates. 

A  declaration  of  the  rio;hts  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
British  American  provinces,  was  framed  and  reference 
was  made  to  all  those  which  the  parliament  had  lately 
violated.  A  petition  to  the  sovereign,  addresses  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain,  the  inhabitants  of  the  province 
of  Quebec  and  the  twelve  provinces,- represented  in  con- 
gress, were  drawn  up,  and  letters  were  addressed  to 
those  who  had  neglected  to  send  delegates,  inviting  them 
to  join  their  brethren  in  what  was  deemed  the  common 
cause. 

The  cons^ress  recommended  the  meeting:  of  the  other 
delegates,  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  adjourned  on  the  26th 
of  October. 

In  the  course  of  the  fall,  governor  Martin  visited  the 
province  of  New-York,  and  the  administration  of  gov- 
ernment devolved,  during  his  absence,  on  James  Hasell, 


1774]  THE  TENTH.  S39 

the  councillor  first  named  in  the  king's  instructions,  as 
president  and  commander  in  chief. 

At  the  recommendation  of  the  continental  conp;ress, 
contributions  were  now  raised  with  great  cheerfulness, 
for  the  relief  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
throughout  the  province;  merchants  of  the  first  respecta- 
bility, undertook  to  store  and  ship,  to  the  port  of  Salem, 
the  provisions  which  were,  by  this  means,  obtained: 
committees  were  also  appointed,  in  every  county  and  in 
the  chief  towns,  (o  see  the  articles  of  association,  entered 
into  by  congress,  faithfully  and  punctualy  carried  into 
execution. 

Governor  Martin  returned  from  New- York,  in  tlie 
beginning  of  the  new  year.  On  the  10th' of  February,- 
he  issued  a  proclamation,  relative  to  a  purchase  lately 
made  by  Ricliard  Henderson,  one  of  the  late  associate 
justices  of  the  province,  and  his  partners,  from  the  Che- 
rokee Indians,  of  a  tract  of  land,  about  three  hundred 
miles  square,  in  payment  of  v/hich,  among  other  goods, 
a  quantity  of  ammunition  had  been  promised.  This 
purchase  excited  the  alarm  of  government  and  the  peo- 
ple, from  another  circumstance:  the  company  had  issu- 
ed advertisements,  inviting  debtors,  fugitives  from  jus- 
tice, and  all  persons,  in  desperate  circumstance,  to  repair 
to  the  new  acquisition,  where  assurances  of  an  asylum 
were  held  out.  The  purchase  included  lands  within  the 
limits  of  the  province  of  Virginia,  and  a  portion  of  the 
lands  Q-rantcd  bv  the  kins;  to  the  earl  of  Granville:  it 
was  made  in  violation  of  the  king's  proclamation,  of  the 
7th  October,  1763,  and  of  an  act  of  the  legislature  of 
the  province,  forbidding  the  acquisition  of  Indian  lands., 
hy  individuals- 


840  CHAPTER  [1775 

The  meeting  of  the  legislative  bocly  being  fixed  on 
an  early  day,  in  the  month  of  April,  at  Ntwbern,  John 
Harvey,  of  the  county  of  Perquimans,  tht-  moderator  of 
the  late  meeting  of  deputies,  summoned  them  to  meet  at 
the  same  time  and  place,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing 
delegates,  to  attend  the  continental  congress,  in  the 
month  of  May.  His  advertisement  was  followed  by  a 
proclamation  of  the  governor,  intended  to  counteract  its 
effect. 

The  delegates,  most  of  whom  were  members  of  the 
assembly,  met  on  the  same  day  as  the  the  legislature; 
and  John  Harvey  was  called  to  the  chair  of  the  assembly 
and  that  of  the  convention  of  deputies. 

In  addressing  the  house,  on  the  4th  of  April,  the  go- 
vernor said,  he  met  them  with  the  hope  that,  dismissing 
every  cause  of  private  dissention  from  their  minds,  they 
would  calmly,  unitedly  and  faithfully  apply  themselves 
to  the  high  and  important  office  of  legislation,  in  which 
they  had  so  great  a  •^hare,  according  to  the  constitution 
of  their  country,  which  now  called  upon  them  for  relief, 
in  a  most  peculiar  and  pressing  manner:  he  looked  with 
concern  and  horror  to  the  consequences  of  the  violent 
and  unjustifiable  proceedings,  in  some  of  the  provinces 
on  the  continent,  where,  in  many  places,  the  innocent, 
unwary  and  ignorant  part  of  the  people'  had  been  cruelly 
betrayed  into  measures,  highly  inconsistent  with  their 
duty  and  allegiance  to  their  king  and  state,  tending  to 
involve  them  in  the  most  embarrassing  difficulties  and 
distress,  and  which,  if  pursued,  must  inevitably  precipi- 
tate the  colonies  from  their  present  unparalleled  state  of 
prosperity  into  a  train  of  miseries,  most  dreadful  to  con- 
template: from  which  ages  of  time  would  not  redeem 
them  to  their  now  envied  state  of  felicity. 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  341 

He  observed,  the  members  of  the  houses  were  bound 
by  their  dury  to  the  kin^,  the  state  and  the  people,  as 
well  as  he  was  by  his,  to  obviate  the  contagion  of  these 
evil  examples  in  the  province,  and  to  defend  it,  if  possi- 
ble, from  the  ruin  and  destruction  to  which  they  plainly 
led. 

He  expressed  his  infinite  concern  on  the  unhappy 
influence  they  already  had.  The  meetings,  to  which  the 
people  had  been  excited,  the  appointment  of  committees, 
the  violences  those  little,  illegal,  unrestrained  and  arbi- 
trary tribunals  liad  done  to  the  rights  of  the  kingN  sub- 
jects, the  flagrant  and  unpardonable  insults  oftered  to  the 
hicfhest  authorities  of  the  state,  by  some  of  their  acts, 
which  had  been  made  public,  and  the  stop  which  had 
been  put,  in  some  of  the  counties,  to  the  regular  course 
of  justice,  in  imitation  of  the  unwarrantable  measures, 
taken  in  other  colonies,  but  too  plainly  evinced  their 
baneful  progress  in  the  province,  and  loudly  demanded 
the  most  effectual  exertion  of  their  restraining  and  co- 
ercing powers. 

Addressing  himself  to  the  assembly,  he  told  them  they 
were  now,  by  their  duty  to  themselves  and  their  con- 
stituents, most  particularly  called  upon  to  oppose  a 
meeting  of  the  delegates,  which  the  people  had  been 
invited  to  chose,  and  who  were  appointed  to  assemble 
in  the  place  of  the  legislature.  This  illegal  meeting,  he 
said,  pursuant  to  his  duty  to  the  king  and  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  country,  and  from  his  regard  for  the  dignity 
of  the  house  and  the  just  rights  of  the  people,  he  had 
endeavored  to  counteract  and  should  continue  to  resist 
by  every  means  in  his  power. 

He  Ubked  what  all  this  could  mean?  Whether  the 
members  of  the  house  were  not  the  lawful  representa- 


<^iAc: 


42  ^  CHAPTER  [1775 

lives  of  the  people  in  the  province,  and  competent  to 
every  lawful  purpose?  Whether  they  would  submit 
to  see  their  constituents  misled,  to  violate  their  dearest 
privileges,  by  wounding  their  dignity  and  setting  up 
representatives,  derogatory  to  their  just  power  and  au- 
thority? 

He  added,  this  was  an  insult  to  the  house  of  so  vio- 
lent a  nature,  that  it  appeared  to  him  to  demand  their 
every  possible  discouragement;  for  its  evident  tendency 
was  to  create  a  belief  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  that  they 
were  capable  of  electing  representatives  of  superior 
powers  to  the  members  of  the  house,  which,  if  it  could 
possibly  obtain,  would  lead,  by  obvious  consequences, 
to  the  destruction  of  the  essence,  if  not  the  very  being, 
of  an  assembly  in  the  province,  and,  finally,  to  the  utter 
dissolution  and  overthrow  of  its  established  happy  con- 
stitution. This,  he  said,  was  one  of  the  fatal  expedients 
employed  in  some  of  the  other  colonies  under  the  influ- 
ence to  factious  and  vicious  men,  intent  upon  promot- 
ing their  horrid  purposes,  at  the  hazard  of  their  coun- 
try's ruin.  He  declared  himself  willing  to  believe  they 
had  been  adopted  in  the  province,  more  from  a  spirit  of 
imitation  than  ill  principles,  and  that  the  houses,  clearly 
discerning  the  mischiefs  with  which  they  were  pregnant, 
would  heartily  concur  with  him  in  opposing  the  first 
dawnings  of  so  dangerous  a  system. 

As  an  object  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  all  the 
colonies,  he  recommended  it  to  the  attention  of  the  legis- 
lature, to  employ  their  utmost  care  and  assiduity  to  re- 
move those  false  impressions,  by  which  the  engines  of 
sedition  had  labored  to  effect,  but  too  successfully,  a 
most  unnatural  division  between  the  parent  state  and  the 
colonies,  which,  under  her  protecting,  indulgent  and  fos- 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  343 

tering  care,  had  attained  a  degree  of  prosperity  beyond 
all  example ;  while  the  basest  arts  had  been  practised 
upon  the  innocent  people,  who  had  been  blindly  led  to 
partake  in  a  guilt,  to  which  their  hearts  were  confessedly 
averse,  and  thus,  step  by  step,  they  were  likely  to  be 
seduced  from  their  duty,  and  all  the  bonds  of  civil  socie- 
ty destroyed,  unless  timely  remedies  were  applied,  a  me- 
lancholy prospect,  that  Oiust  seriously  alarm  every  good 
subject,  every  humane,  every  honest  man. 

He  besought  the  members  of  the  houses,  as  guardi- 
ans of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  people,  rigorously 
to  oppose  proceedings,  so  manifestly  subversive  of  their 
freedom  and  happiness ;  to  undeceive  and  lead  them 
back  from  the  dangerous  precipice,  to  which  an  ill  spirit 
of  faction  was  urgingthem,  to  -the  path  of  their  duty  ; 
to  set  before  them  the  sacred  tie  of  allegiance,  by  which, 
as  subjects,  they  were  bound  to  the  state ;  to  inform 
them  of  the  reciprocal  benefits,  which  their  strict  ob- 
servance of  it  would  entitle  them  to,  and  to  warn  them 
of  the  danger  to  which  they  must  expose  themselves 
and  property,  and  all  that  they  held  dear,  by  revolting 
from  it. 

He  took  notice  that  the  members,  both  in  the  houses 
and  in  courts,  had,  in  their  several  capacities,  frequent 
opportunities,  most  solemnly  to  swear  their  allegiance, 
which  was  an  implied  duty  from  every  subject,  when  it 
was  not  professed  and  declared,  a  circumstance  which 
must  have  brought  it  home  to  their  consideration  : 
hence,  he  thought,  they  must  be  well  qualified  to  ex- 
plain the  obligatory  nature  and  importance  of  it  to  the 
people,  wl\o  would  naturally  look  up  to  them  for  a  rule 
of  conduct,  in  these  wild  and  distempered  times  ;  he  de- 
clared his  hope,  that,  taught  by  their  example,  the  pco- 


314  CHAPTER 


(1775 


pie  would  immediately  return  to  their  duty  and  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws,  and  gladly  free  themselves  from  that 
tyranny,  which  ill  directed  Zealand  lawless ambiiion,  by 
all  the  arts  of  misrepresentation  and  delusion,  were 
courting  them  to  submit  to. 

He  mentioned,  with  satisfaction,  that  he  had  already- 
received  signal  proofs  of  the  steady  loyalty  and  duty  of 
a  great  number  of  the  good  people  of  the  province,  and 
he  had  the  fullest  asburance,  that  many  more  would  fol- 
low their  laudable  example  ;  he  congratulated  the  houses 
upon  tliese  favorable  presages,  which,  he  persuaded  him- 
self, thev  would  improve,  to  the  honor  and  dignity  of 
their  country; 

He  said,  the  state  of  die  colonies  was,  at  the  time,  the 
subject  of  the  deliberations  of  the  great  council  of  the  na- 
tion, from  whose  wisdom  and  justice,  every  thing  ought 
to  be  expected,  consistent  with  the  principles  of  the  con- 
stitution and  the  general  welfare  of  the  empire,  while  the 
colonies  continued  in  their  duty,  and  the  confessedly  ge- 
nerous  character  of  Britain,  and  the  magnanimity  ol  the 
sovereign,  who,  through  the  whole  course  of  his  reign, 
had  uniformly  made  the  happiness  of  his  people  the  ob- 
ject of  all  his  views,  and  the  rule  of  action  insured  it ; 
on  this  great  arbiter  of  British  rights,  he  thought  it  be- 
come  them  to  rely,  with  the  fullest  confidence,  and  to 
deserve,  by  a  dutiful  behaviour,  its  favorable  regard. 

He  observed,  that,  if  the  people  of  the  province  had 
any  representations  to  make  to  the  supreme  powers  of 
the  "^itate,  the  assembly  were  the  only  legal  and  proper 
channel  of  their  applications,  through  which  they  might 
be  assured  of  every  attention  to  their  dutiful  petitions, 
and  he  trusted  the  house  tendered  too  hi^hlv  the  risrhts 
pf  the   people,  committed   to  their  guardianship,  and 


^•^75]  THE  TENTH  34a 

knew  too  well  the  limits  of  their  own  power,  to  consign 
them  to  any  other  hands,  that  must  not  only  be  disquali- 
fied to  serve  the  people,  but  would  infallibly  divest  the 
house  of  that  dignity  and  consequence,  which  belonged 
to  them,  as  the  representatives  of  the  people. 

He  pressed  them,  laying  aside  all  passion  and  preju. 
dice,  calmly  and  with  one  accord,  to  pursue  such  a  line 
of  conduct,  in  those  points  of  general  concern  to  Ame- 
rica, as  might  be  most  likely  to  heal  the  unhappy  differ- 
ences now  subsisting  between  Great  Britain  and  her  co- 
lonies ;  to  consider,  how  great  an  opportunity  they  now 
had  to  serve  their  country,  manifest  their  loyalty  to  the 
best  of  kings,  and  demonstrate  their  attachment  to  the 
British  constitution,  the  most  free  and  glorious  system 
in  the  whole  world.  He  hoped,  it  would  be  their  glory 
to  record  to  the  latest  posterity,  that,  at  a  time  when  the 
monster,  sedition^  dared  to  rear  his  impious  head  in 
America,  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  inspired  with  a 
just  sense  of  their  duty  to  their  king  and  country,  ani- 
mated by  the  example  of  her  legislature,  stood  forth 
among  the  foremost  of  the  king's  subjects,  to  repel  the 
fell  invader  of  their  happiness :  thus  redeeming  their 
sinking  country  to  posterity,  and  acquiring  to  them- 
selves immortal  honor  and  renown  ;  w^hile  a  contrary 
conduct  must,  at  once,  plunge  a  once  happy  land,  into 
horrors  beyond  all  imagination,  whence  nothing  could 
recover  it,  but  the  generous  hand  of  Britain. 

In  addition  to  the  powerful  motives  he  had  detailed, 
he  observed,  he  was  authorized  to  say,  that  the  unwar- 
rantable measure  of  appointing  delegates  to  attend  a  con- 
gress at  Pffiladelphia,  then  in  agitation,  would  be  highly 
offensive  to  the  king. 

N.  CARO.  ir.     44 


a4G'  CHAPTER  [niu 

He  next  drew  the  attention  of  the  houses  to  the  par- 
ticular state  of  the  province. 

The  exhausted  state  of  the  treasury,  the  large  de- 
mands on  it  that  remained  unsatisfied,  the  dues  of  public 
officers  that  remain  unpaid,  he  said,  called  loudly  for 
their  attention,  to  the  ill  condition  of  public  credit  and 
the  finances  of  the  province. 

He  congratulated  them  on  the  fuir  opportunity  which 
they  had,  of  restoring  to  the  province  a  permanent  esta- 
blishment of  courts,  as  he  had  received  the  king's  de- 
termination, on  the  proposed  regulations,  with  regard  to 
proceedings  by  attachment,  which  would  be  commu- 
nicated in  a  special  message. 

In  the  address,  which  was  prepared  to  this  speech, 
the  house  began  by  observing,  that  they  had  met,  with 
minds  superior  to  private  dissentions,  determined  calmly, 
unitedly  and  faithfully,  to  discharge  the  sacred  trust  re- 
posed in  them  by  their  constituents,  and,  actuated  by 
these  sentiments,  it  behoved  them  to  declare,  that  the 
assembly  of  the  province  had  the  highest  sense  of  their 
allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  to  whom  alone, 
as  their  constitutional  sovereign,  they  acknowledged  it 
to  be  due,  and  to  whom  they  so  cheerfully  and  repeat- 
edly had  sworn  it ;  that  to  remind  them  of  it,  was  unne- 
cessary. This  allegiance,  all  past  assemblies  had,  upon 
every  occasion,  amply  expressed,  and  the  present  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  should  always  be  ready  with 
pleasure  to  testify ;  sensible,  however,  that  the  same 
constitution,  which  established  that  allegiance  and  en- 
joined the  oath,  in  consequence  of  it,  had  bound  majesty 
under  as  solemn  obligations,  to  protect  sudjects  invio- 
late in  all  their  just  rights  and  privileges,  wisely  intend- 


rnoj         ^  THE  TENTH.  34' 


i 


ing,  by  reciprocal  dependence,  to  secure  the  happiness 
of  both. 

They  contemplated,  widi  horror,  the  unhappy  state  of 
America,  involved  in  the  most  embarrassing;  difficulties 
and  distresses,  by  «  number  of  unconstitutional  invasions 
of  her  rights  and  privileges,  by  which  the  inhabitants  of 
the  continent,  in  general,  and  of  the  province,  in  particu- 
lar, had  been  precipitated  into  measures,  extraordinary 
perhaps  in  their  nature,  but  justified  by  necessity  :  from 
whence,  among  many  other  measures,  the  appointment 
of  committees,  in  the  counties  and  towns,  took  its  birth, 
to  prevent,  as  much  as  in  them  lay,  the  operation  of  such 
unconstitutional  encroachments,  and  they  expressed 
themselves  unconscious  of  any  step,  taken  by  those  com- 
mittees, but  such  as  they  were  compelled  to  resort  to, 
for  that  salutary  purpose. 

They  added,  that,  as  it  was  not  to  be  controverted, 
that  the  people  had  a  right  to  petition  for  a  redress  of 
grievances,  or  to  remonstrate  against  them,  and  as  it  was 
only  in  a  meeting  of  the  people,  that  tlieir  sense,  upon 
such  petitions  and  remonstrances,  could  be  obtained, 
the  right  of  assembling  w^as  undoubted  :  to  attem|)t, 
therefore,  under  the  musk  of  authorit}',  to  prevent  or 
forbid  a  meeting  of  the  people,  for  such  purposes,  or  to 
interrupt  their  proceedings,  when  met,  would  be  a  vain 
effort  to  exercise  power,  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
constitution. 

Far  be  it  from  us,  continued  they,  even  to  wish  to 
prevent  the  operations  of  the  convention,  now  held  in 
Ncwbern,  or  to  agree  with  you  in  bestowing  on  ihem 
the  injurious  epithet  of  an  illegal  meeting.  They  are  the 
representatives  ol'  the  people,  appointed  for  a  special  and 
important  purpose,  and  to  which,  though  our  constitu- 


CHAPTER  [1776 

ents  might  have  thought  us  adequate,  yet  as  our  meet- 
ing depended  on  the  pleasure  of  the  crown,  they  would 
have  been  unwise  to  have  trusted  to  so  precarious  a 
contingency,  especially  as  the  frequent  and  unexpected 
prorogations  of  the  assembly,  one  of  them  in  particular, 
as  if  all  respect  and  attention  to  the  convenience  of  the 
representatives  had  been  lost,  was  proclaimed  but  twa 
or  three  daySj  before  the  time  which  had  been  appointed 
for  their  meeting,  left  the  people  without  the  hope  that 
the  assembly  would  have  been  permitted  to  sit,  till  it 
was  too  late  to  appoint  delegates  to  attend  the  continen- 
tal congress  at  Philadelphia,  a  measure,  which,  they 
joined  the  rest  of  America,  in  thinking^  essential  to  its 
interests. 

The  house  observed,  they  neither  knew  nor  believed, 
that  any  base  arts  had  been  practised  on  the  people,  in 
order  to  lead  them  from  their  duty;  but  they  knew  witiv 
certainty,  that  the  steps  they  had  taken,  proceeded  from 
a  full  conviction  that  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  had^ 
by  a  variety  of  oppressive  and  unconstitutional  pro- 
ceedings,  made  those  steps  absolutely  necessary;  they 
thought  it,  therefore,  a  duty  which  they  owed  to  the 
people,  to  assert,  that  their  conduct  had  not  been  owing 
to  the  arts  of  designing  men,  and  had  it  much  to  lament^ 
that  the  governor  should  have  added  his  sanction  to  so 
groundless  an  imputation,  as  it  had  a  manifest  tendency 
to  weaken  the  influence,  which  the  united  petitions  of 
the  king's  American  subjects  might  otherwise  have  upon 
their  sovereign,  for  a  redress  of  the  grievances,  of  which 
they  complained. 

They  added,  they  should  feel  inexpressible  concern, 
at  the  information  he  had  given  them,  of  his  being  au- 
thorized to  say,  that  the  appointment  of  delegates  Ks 


/ 


2775]  •  THE  TENTH.  349 

attend  the  congress  at  Philadelphia,  then  in  agitation, 
would  be  lyghly  offensive  to  the  king,  if  they  had  not 
been  recently  informed,  on  the  best  authority,  of  his 
very  gracious  reception  of  the  united  petition  of  his 
American  subjects,  addressed  to  him,  by  the  continental 
delegates,  lately  convened  in  Philadelphia;  from  which 
they  could  not  have  the  least  reason  to  suppose,  that  a 
similar  application  to  the  throne  would  give  offence  to 
the  sovereign,  or  prevent  his  receiving  a  petition  for  the 
redress  of  grievances  which  his  American  subject  had  a 
right  to  present,  separately,  or  unitedly. 

They  assured  the  governor  they  should  ever  receive 
with  pleasure,  the  information  uf  any  mark  of  loyalty  to 
the  king,  given  by  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  . 
but  they  expressed  their  great  concern  lest  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  thought  proper  to  convey  that  infor- 
mation, should  excite  a  belief  that  a  great  number  of  the 
people  of  the  province  were  disaffected  :o  their  sove- 
reign; to  prevent  this,  they  judged  it  incumbent  on  them 
solemnly  to  testify  to  the  world,  that  the  king  had  no 
subjects  more  faithful,  than  the  inhabitants  of  North 
Carolina;  none  more  ready,  at  the  expense  of  their  lives 
and  fortunes,  to  protect  and  support  his  person,  crown 
and  dignity.  They  added,  that  if,  however,  by  the  sig- 
nal proofs  he  spoke  of,  were  meant  the  addresses  lately 
published  in  the  Gazette,  and  said  to  have  been  presen- 
ted to  him,  they  could  receive  no  pleasure  from  his  con- 
gratulations on  that  subject,  but  what  resulted  from  the 
consideration,  that  so  few  had  been  found,  in  so  popu- 
lous a  province,  weak  enough  to  be  seduced  from  their 
duty  and  prevailed  on  by  the  base  acts  of  w  icked  and 
designing  men,  to  adopt  principles  so  contrary  to  tlie 


35d  CHAPTER  [1775 

sense  of  all  America,  and  so  destructive  to  those  just 
rights  and  privik^^es,  it  was  their  duty  to  maintain. 

They  improved  the  opportunity,  the  first  that  had 
been  given  them,  of  expressini^  their  warm  attachment 
to  their  sister  colonies,  and  their  heartfelt  compassion  for 
the  deplorable  fate  of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  to  declare 
the  fixed  determination  of  the  province  to  unite  with  the 
others,  in  every  effort  to  retain  their  just  rights  and 
privileges,  which,  as  subjects  of  a  British  king,  they  pos- 
sessed, and  which  it  was  their  duty  to  transmit  unim- 
paired to  posterity. 

In  contemplating  the  exhausted  state  of  the  jiublic 
treasury,  the  concern  that  they  felt,  was,  they  said,  alle- 
viated, from  the  consideration,  that  it  was  not  owing  to 
any  misconduct  of  the  assembly,  who  had  hitherto  been 
disallowed  to  pass  any  inferior  court  law,  but  upon  such 
terms  w^hich  their  duty  rendered  it  impossible  for  them 
to  accept;  by  which  means  no  list  of  taxables  could  be 
taken  for  1773;  and  consequently  no  money  collected 
to  defray  the  charges  of  government  for  that  year,  and 
as  the  governor  had  not  thought  proper  to  meet  the 
legislature,  at  the  usual  time,  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1774, 
the  treasury,  deprived  of  the  collections  of  two  years, 
was  unable  to  enforce  the  great  demands  on  it,  till  some 
law  could  be  passed  to  replenish  it. 

Convinced  of  the  necessity  of  courts  of  justice,  they 
expressed  their  willingness  to  adopt  any  plan  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  them,  consistent  with  the  circumstances 
of  the  colony,  which  might  promise  judges  of  capacity 
and  integrity,  for  such  they  would,  with  pleasure,  libe- 
rally provide. 

The  house  passed  resolves,  approving  the  proceedings 
of  the  deputies  of  the  continental  congress;  and  expres- 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  ,     3ol 

sed  their  determination,  as  members  of  the  con\miinity 
in  general,  to  adhere  to  those  resokuions  shortly,  and  use 
what  influence  they  have,  to  convince  every  individual 
in  the  colony  to  observe  them. 

The  governor  having  laid  the  journal  of  the  assembly 
before  the  council,  they  unanimously  expressed  an  opin- 
ion, that  the  existence  of  such  a  house  of  assembly  was 
incompatible  with  the  honor  of  the  crown  and  the  safety 
of  the  people,  recommended  the  governor  to  dissolve  it. 

On  the  8th  of  April  the  governor  dissolved  the  assem- 
blv  by  proclamation. 

The  convention  came  to  a  resolution,  that  as  the  hap- 
piness and  prosperity  of  every  state,  -greatly  depends  on 
providing  within  itself,  articles  necessary  for  subsistence, 
cloathing  and  defence,  from  common  prudence  and 
regard  for  the  colony,  they  would  encourage  arts, 
manufactures,  agriculture  and  every  kind  of  economy, 
and  use  their  influence  with  their  constituents,  and  all 
persons  connected  with  them  to  provide  them. 

Thev  recommended  to  the  committees  of  the  several 
counties,  to  propose  premiums  to  be  given  to  the  in- 
habitants, whose  industry  may  appear  a  proper  subject 
for  their  bounty. 

They  asserted  the  undoubted  right  of  the  people  to 
meet  and  petition  the  throne  for  a  redress  of  grievances, 
and  that  such  a  right  necessarily  included  that  of  ap- 
pointing delegates  for  that  purpose,  and  resolved  that  the 
governor's  proclamation  forbidding  iheir  meeting,  and 
the  subsequent  one  commanding  them  to  disperse,  were 
illegal,  an  infraction  on  their  just  rights  and  ought  to  be 
disregarded,  as  a  wanton  and  arbitrary  exercise  of  power. 

They  declared  their  unqualifled  approbation  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  late  continental  congress,  and  elected 


Sb2  CHAPTER  [1775 

the  gent^men  attending  it,  on  the  part  of  the  province, 
as  its  representatives,  in  the  next. 

Thomas  M'Night,  a  delegate  from  the  county  of  Cur- 
rituck, being  called  upon  to  subscribe,  with  the  other 
members  of  the  convention,  the  association  recommen- 
ded by  the  continental  congress,  refused  and  with- 
drew; whereupon  the  convention  declared  him  inimical 
to  the  cause  of  the  liberty  of  America,  holding  him  up 
as  a  proper  object  of  contempt,  and  recommending  to 
every  person  to  break  off  all  connexion,  and  cease  to 
have  any  intercourse  with  him. 

The  governor  having  drawn  the  attention  of  the  coun- 
cil to  the  conduct  of  John  Harvey,  the  speaker  of  the 
late  assembly,  who  had  summoned  the  deputies  to  attend 
a  convention,  and  had  filled  the  chair  of  that  body,  the 
hoard  recommended,  that  his  name  should  be  stricken  oflf 
the  list  of  justices  of  the  county  of  Perquimans,  as  a 
mark  of  their  indignation  for  the  conspicuous  part  he  had 
acted,  in  what  they  termed  the  most  dangerous  and  un- 
lawful proceedings. 

On  the  separation  of  the  deputies,  the  governor,  find- 
ing the  tide  of  events  strongly  running  against  him,  col- 
lected a  few  pieces  of  cannon,  which  were  scattered  about 
the  town,  and  placed  them  before  the  palace,  with  a  view 
to  intimidate  the  people.  He^despatched  messengers  to 
Cross  creek,  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  which,  a  number  of  emigrants,  from  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  had  lately  settled;  he  gready  de- 
pended on  their  assistance:  others  were  sent  farther  to- 
wards the  mountains,  with  a  view  to  pursuade  the  peo- 
ple, who  had  been  concerned  in  the  commotions,  during 
the  administration  of  governor  Tryon,  that  their  exemp- 
tion from  the  punishment,  to  which  he  represented  them 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  3oS 

as  still  liable,  would  depend  on  their  ready  assistance 
against  the  present  unlawful  opposers  of  the  king's  go- 
vernment, 

In  the  meantime,  committees  were  kept  up,  and  met 
weekly,  in  every  county  and  in  the  principal  towns;  the 
militia,  every  where,  voluntarily  turned  out,  to  be  train» 
ed,  and  furnished  themselves  with  arms  nnd  ammuni- 
tion, and  every  measure  was  taken  to  prepare  for  what- 
ever opposilion  they  might  be  called  upon  to  make,  to 
the  adherents  of  Great  Britain. 

Governor  Martin's  conduct  gave  great  cause  of  alarm 
to  the  people  of  N::wbern:  a  letter  of  his,  to  general 
Gage,  at  Boston,  of  the  16th  of  March,  had  been  inter- 
cepted; the  object  of  it  was  to  solicit  a  supply  of  arms 
and  ammunition:  it  mentioned,  that  many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  province  began  to  find,  that  they  had  been 
misled,  and  seemed  inclined  to  disengage  themselves 
from  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  continental  congress  and 
their  committees!  A  watchful  eye  was  kept  on  his  mo* 
tions;  at  last  the  committee  of  the  town  interposed, 
seized  and  carried  off,  from  the  palace,  six  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery. Unable  to  effect  any  thing,  finding  himself  sus- 
pected and  insecure,  he  now  made  a  precipitate  retreat 
to  Fort  Johnson,  on  the  river  of  Cape  Fear. 

In  the  beginning  of  July,  some  disaffected  persons, 
improving  the  opportunity  which  the  suspension  of  or- 
der and  government  seemed  to  afford,  made  an  attempt 
to  induce  a  number  of  negroes,  on  Tar  river,  to  rise, 
with  a  view  to  lead  them  on  and  eftect  a  massacre  of  the 
white  people.  The  plan  was  very  near  succeeding;  but 
was  fortunately  disclosed  to  Thomas  Respiss,  of  the 
county  of  Beaufort,  by  one  oi"  his  slaves.  A  captain 
Johnston,  of  Whit£  Haven,  in  Connecticut,  who  had 

N.   CA  RO.    II.       45 


SS4  CHAPTER  [HTd 

lately  come  to  Bath,  for  a  cargo  of  naval  stores,  had  been 
made  use  of  to  stir  up  the  black  people.     Nothing  had 
transpired  till  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  July,  the  eve  of 
the  day,  on  which  the  tragedy  W2iS  to  have  been  acted. 
On  the  information  reaching  the  committee  of  the  coun^ 
ty  of  Pitt,  expresses  were  sent  in  different  directions,  ta 
alarm  the  people  of  the  neighboring  counties.     Forty 
negroes  were  taken  up  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours;  they 
all  nearly  agreed  in  the  account  which  they  gave:  they 
had  been  directed  to  fall,  on  the  night  of  the  8th,  on  the 
white  people  of  the  family,  in  which  they  resided,  and, 
after  destroying  them,  to  set  fire  to  the  buildings,  and 
proceed  thus,  from  plantation  to  plantation,  till  they 
reached  the  back  counties,  where  they  were  promised  to 
be  received  by  persons,  sent  thither,  and  armed  by  go- 
vernment for  their  protection,  and,  as  a  reward  ^or  their 
exertions  in  the  king's  cause,  they  were  to  be  enfran- 
chised and  settled  beyond  the  mountains,  in  a  free  govern^^ 
ment  of  their  own.     In  disarming  them,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  was  secured. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Wilmington,  appre- 
hending thai  the  governor  might  streilgthen  Fort  John- 
ston  and  prepare  it  for  the  reception  of  a  force  which 
might  be  employed  to  distress  them,  or  that  he  might 
encourage  their  slaves  to  repair  and  take  shelter  there, 
and  afterwards  arm  them  against  their  masters;  assem- 
bled under  the  command  of  John  Ashe,  wt>u  had  re- 
signed his  commission  of  colonel  of  the  militia  of  the 
county  of  New  Hanover,^  which  he  held  under  the  king, 
they  proceeded  to  the  fort,  to  remove  the  artillery  from 
it;  |but  found,  on  their  arrival,  that  the  cannon  and  stores 
had  been  taken  on  board  tiie  sloop  of  war  the  Cruizer, 
and  oa  board  of  which  the  gpvcrxK)r  had  sought  shel- 


^775)  T^E  TENTH.  m 

ter.  They  entered  the  fort  and  set  tht'  buildings  in  it  on 
fire. 

The  committee  of  the  town  of  Wilmington,  by  some 
of  their  resolves,  which  they  publibhed  and  circulated 
through  the  province,  charged  the  governor  with  fomen- 
ting a  civil  v»^ar,  and  endeavoring  to  excite  insurrection 
among  the  negroes:  they  declared  him  an  enemy  to  his 
country  and  the  province,  and  forbade  all  persons  to 
hold  any  communication  Vt^ith  him. 

That  of  the  town  of  Nevvbern,  came  to  similar 
resolutions:  they  prohibited  ail  persons  from  remo« 
ving  from  Core  sound,  or  any  place  near  v/hich  the 
governor  might  be,  without  leave  from  the  nearest 
committee,  under  pains  of  not  being  suffered  to 
return. 

The  governor,  in  a  letter  of  the  24th  of  June,  to 
Lewis  Henry  de  Rossett,  one  of  the  council,  awk- 
wardly attempted  to  vindicate  himself  of  the  charge 
of  his  having  given  encouragement  to  the  negroes 
to  revolt.  He  assured  that  gentleman  he  had  never 
conceived  a  thought  of  that  nature,  and  added  his 
opinion,  that  ''nothing  could  justify  such  a  measure, 
but  the  actual  and  designed  rebellion  of  the  king's 
subjects,  and  the  failure  of  all  other  means  to  main- 
tain his  government." 

The  continental  congress  met  in  the  city  of  Phil- 
adelphia, en  ihe  10th  of  May.  In  addition  to  the 
delegates  of  the  twelve  provinces,  which  had  before 
been  represented  in  congress,  a  delegate  from  the 
parish  of  St.  John,  in  the  province  of  Georgia,  took 
his  seat. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  George  Washington,  one  of 
the  delegates  of  the  province- of  Virginia,  wae  ap- 


5 


SoQ  CHAPTER  [177 

pointed  commander  in  chief  of  the  American  for- 
ces. The  congress  declared  they  would  maintain, 
assist  and  adhere  to  him,  with  their  lives  and  their 
fortunes. 

Continental  paper  money  was  emitted,  to  the 
amount  of  three  millions  of  dollars. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  the  congress  having  taken 
the  state  of  the  province  of  North  Carolina  into 
consideration,  and  taking  notice,  that  the  enemies 
of  the  liberties  of  America,  were  adopting  measures 
to  divide  the  good  people  of  that  province,  and 
defeat  the  American  association,  recommended  to 
all  in  that  province,  who  wished  well  to  the  liberties 
of  America,  to  associate  for  the  defence  of  Ameri- 
can liberty,  and  to  embody  themselves  as  militia, 
under  proper  officers,  and  resolved  that,  in  case  the 
assembly  or  convention  of  the  province  should  think 
it  absolutely  necessaey,  for  the  support  of  the  Ame- 
rican association  and  the  safety  of  the  province,  to 
raise  a  body  of  men,  not  exceeding  one  thousand, 
the  congress  would  consider  them  as  an  American 
army  and  provide  for  their  pay. 

The  20th  of  July  was  observed,  throughout  the 
province,  as  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  fasting  and 
prayer,  in  pursuance  of  a  recommendation  of  the 
continental  congress. 

This  body  ended  its  session  on  the  first  of  the  fol- 
lowing month. 

To  the  woeful  catalogue  of  oppressions  which  first 
aroused  the  American  people,  were  now  superadd- 
ed additional  insults  and  injuries:  the  humble  and 
dutiful  petitions  of  the  continental  congress,  flatter- 
ed at  first,  with  a  gracious  reception,iupon  thier  intro- 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  357 

duction  to  the  throne,  had  been  afterwards  buried 
in  a  mass  of  useless  papers,  upon  the  table  of  the 
house  of  commons,  and  shared  the  common  fate  of 
American  petitions  and  remonstrances,  to  be  reject- 
ed or  forgotten.  Bills  had  been  passed  for  pro- 
hibiting the  fishery  of  the  New  England  provinces, 
and  restraining  the  trade  of  the  other  provinces  to 
Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  the  British  West  Indies; 
the  minister  still  continued  to  pour  troops  into  the 
town  of  Boston,  reducing  that  once  flourishing  city, 
to  a  garrison,  dealing  out  from  thence,  his  instru- 
ments of  tyranny  and  oppression,  to  overawe  and 
influence  the  other  provinces.  His  designs  had 
hitherto  proved  unsuccessful,  and  heaven  seemed 
to  have  assumed  the  protection  of  the  injured  and 
insulted  colonies,  and  signally  to  have  appeared  in 
their  favor,  when,  in  the  late  battle  of  Lexington, 
six  hundred  raw,  undisciplined  provincials  had  de- 
feated treble  that  number  of  regular  troops  and  pur- 
sued them  into  their  camp. 

The  provinces  of  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  in  imitation  of  their  brethren  in  Massachu- 
setts, had  enlisted  bodies  of  troops,  preparing  for  the 
last  extremity,  and  determined  to  live  free,  or  not  at  all ; 
that  of  New  York  had,  to  the  disgrace  of  those  who  re- 
presented her,  as  inimical  to  the  liberties  of  America, 
boldly  stood  forth,  determined  to  brave  every  danger, 
rather  than  to  submit  to  the  edicts  of  the  minister,  or 
desert  the  protection  of  their  constitutional  rights  and 
privileges ;  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  the  provinces 
to  the  southward  had  taken  an  honorable  share  in  the  line 
ofdefence,armed  andequippcd  themselves,  toaveitthcim- 
pendkjg  calamity.     The  latter,  in  addition  to  the  com- 


35S  CHAPTER  [1775 

mon  danger,  dreading  a  civil  war,  as  the  most  awful 
scourge  of  heaven,  had  a  most  dangerous  enemy  in  their 
own  bosom  ;  and,  after  the  measures  which  the  minister 
had  condescended  to,  in  order  to  carrv  into  effect  his 
daring  scheme,  there  was  but  httle  room  to  hope,  he 
would  hesitate  to  raise  the  hand  of  the  servant  against  the 
master.  Dr.  Johnston,  a  pensioned  tool  of  the  minis- 
try, in  a  late  pamphlet,  entitled  Taxation  no  Tyranny, 
had  spoken  the  intention  of  the  administration,  in  a  lan- 
guage too  plain  to  be  misunderstood:  **  The  slave 
should  be  set  free,  an  act  which  the  lovers  of  liberty 
must  surely  commend,  if  they  are  furnished  with  arms 
of  defence  and  utensils  of  husbandry,  and  settled  in  some 
simple  form  of  government,  within  the  country,  they 
may  be  more  honest  and  grateful  than  their  masters," 
were  the  words  of  this  prostituted  court  favorite." 

In  these  circumstances,  the  utmost  efforts  being  ne- 
cessary to  get  and  keep  the  province  in  a  state  of  defence, 
Samuel  Johnston  of  the  county  of  Chowan,  in  pursu- 
ance  of  a  resolve  of  the  late  convention,  John  Harvey,  the 
moderator  of  that  body,  having  died,  summoned  a  meet- 
ing of  delegates,  to  be  holden  in  the  town  of  Hillsbo- 
rough, on  the  20th  of  August.  Soon  after  the  appear- 
ance of  this  summons,  governor  Martin  issued  a  pro- 
clamation of  uncommon  length ;  he  began,  by  advert- 
ing to  the  proceedings  of  the  committee  of  the  town  of 
Wilmington,  in  which  he  said,  "the  basest,  most 
scandalous,  seditious  and  inflammatory  falsehoods,  were 
asserted,  evidently  calculated  to  impose  upon  and  mis- 
lead  the  people  of  the  province,  and  to  alienate  their  affec- 
tion from  the  king  and  his  government,  and  concluding 
in  the  true  spirit  of  licentiousness  and  malignity,  charac- 
terising the  productions  of  those  seditious  combinations^ 


1775]  THE  TENTH-  339 

with  the  resolve,  declaring  him  an  enemy  to  the  interests 
of  the  province  in  particular,  and  America  in  general ; 
an  impotent  and  stale  device,  which  the  malice  and  false- 
hood of  these  unprincipled  censors  had  suggested,  and 
which  was  the  last  contemptible  artifice  resorted  to,  and 
employed  to  calumniate  every  man,  in  every  rank  and 
station  of  life,  who  opposed  their  infamous  and  noto- 
rious proceedings." 

He  represented  the  conflagration  at  Fort  Johnston,  as 
a  deed  of  *'  wanton  barbarity,  that  would  disgrace  human 
nature,  in  the  most  savage  state,  and  was  an  overt  act  of 
treason,  which  would  have  justified  his  immediate  ven- 
geance, restrained  by  pity  for  the  innocent,  misguided 
and  deluded  people,  whom  he  considered,  as  the  blind  in- 
struments of  their  atrocious  leaders,  who,  defeated  in  the 
still  more  flagitious  designs  they  meditated,  and  of  which 
he  had  the  fullest  evidence,  and  already  involved  in  guilt 
of  the  blackest  die  themselves,  it  might  be  presumed, 
urged  on  the  people  to  every  enormity  that  might  make 
them  appear  principals,  in  their  own  treason,  instead  of 
the  blind  instruments  of  them,  and  by  extending  the 
guilt  among  many,  save  themselves  from  the  penalties 
they  had  wantonly  incurred." 

The  address  of  the  late  delegates  to  the  continental 
congress  was  next  noticed.  The  governor  observed, 
'*the  preposterous  enormity  of  it  could  not  be  ade- 
quately described  and  abhorred  ;  it  marked  that  assem- 
bly as  the  genuine  source  of  those  foul  streams  of  sedi- 
tion, which,  through  the  channel  of  committees,  had 
overflown  a  once  happy  land,  and  now  threatened  it  with 
every  species  of  misery,  ruin  and  desolation."  From 
this,  the  proclamation  passed  to  ^'  the  treasonable  pro- 
ceedings of  an  infamous  committee,  in  the  to^vn  of  New* 


360  CHAPTER  [1773 

bern,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  armed  men,  in  seizing  antj 
carrying  off  six  pieces  of  artillery,  the  property  of  the 
king,  that  lay  behind  the  palace ;  the  repeated  insults 
and  violences,  offVred  to  the  king's  subjects,  by  those 
little,  tyrannical  and  arbitrary  combinations,  and,  among 
others,  to  some  of  the  gc  vernor's  servants,  who  had 
been  stopped,  searched  and  forcibly  detained,  when  em- 
ployed upon  his  business ,  the  unremitted  assiduity  of 
those  engines  of  sedition,  to  sow  discontent  and  disaf- 
fection, and  the  base  artifices  they  employed,  to  preju- 
ilice  and  alienate  the  minds  of  the  king's  subjects,  by 
confidently  and  traitorously  propagating  the  most'b^se, 
scandalous  and  nu)nstrous  falsehoods  of  the  kmg's  reli- 
gious and  political  principles,  and  the  ill  designs  of  his 
ministry,  daring  thus  to  defame,  and  even  to  traduce  the 
character  of  the  best  of  princes." 

He  alluded  to  the  summons,  lately  issued  by  Samuel 
Johnston,  "  by  which  the  people  were  invited  to  elect 
delegates  to  a  provincial  congress,  in  the  town  of  Hills- 
borough, as  a  measure,  subversive  of  the  constitution 
of  the  province,  and  evidently  calculated  to  seduce  the 
king's  loyal  and  faithful  subjects,  in  the  interior  and  west- 
ern counties,  whose  steadvdutv  to  their  kino:  and  conn- 
try  had  hitherto  resisted  all  the  black  artifices  of  false- 
hood and  sedition,  and  had  already,  on  his  representa- 
tion, the  king's  most  gracious  acceptance  and  approba- 
tion, which  he  was  authorised  to  signify  to  the  loyal 
people  of  the  province,  particularly  in  the  counties  of 
Dobbs,  Cumberland,  Anscn,  Orange,  Guilford,  Chat- 
ham, Rowan  and  Surry,  who  had  given  more  special 
and  public  testimonies  of  their  loyalty,  fidelity  and 
duty  ;"  he  gave  them  assurances  of  the  king's  most 
^rm  support,  and  expressed  his  confidence,   that  they 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  361 

would  not  only  confirm  the  good  disposition  of  those 
people,  but  strengthen  and  enable  them  to  baffle  and  de- 
feat every  effort  of  sedition  and  treason,  prompt 
them  also  to  resist  their  first  approaches,  by  withstand- 
ing the  now  meditated,  seditious  attempt  of  the  proposed 
provincial  congress,  to  steal  in  upon  them  the  spirit, 
and  erect  among  them  the  standard  of  rebellion,  under 
the  pretence  of  meeting  for  solemn  deliberation  on  the 
public  welfare. 

He  forewarned  the  people  to  forbear  making  any 
choice  of  delegates,  to  represent  them  in  the  proposed 
provincial  congress,  as  tliey  would  avoid  the  guilt  of 
giving  sanction  to  an  illegal  assembly,  acting  upon  prin- 
ciples, subversive  of  the  happy  constitution  of  this  coun- 
try, andj  by  every  means  in  their  power,  to  discourage  so 
dangerous  and  unconstitutional  an  assembly,  and  resist 
its  baneful  influence. 

He  offered  the  king's  gracious  pardon,  for  all  outrages 
done  or  hitherto  committed,  to  all  such  as  would  return 
to  their  duty,  the  king  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  their 
country,  with  ample  encouragement  and  rewards,  to 
such  persons,  as  might  deliver  up  to  him  the  few  un- 
principled individuals,  who  had  seduced  the  people  to 
those  treasonable  outrages. 

He  denounced  John  Ashe  of  the  county  of  New 
Hanover,  and  Robert  Howe  of  the  county  of  Bruns- 
wick, who,  having  been  elected,  by  the  people,  colonels 
of  the  militia  of  their  respective  counties,  had  called  the 
men  out  to  be  trained  to  arms,  and  forewarned  the 
people  from  electing  any  military  oilicejs,  or  the  per- 
sons thus  chosen,  from  arraying  the  militia,  without  his 
commission  or  authority,  in  contempt  and  invasion  of  the 

king's  prerogative. 

N.    CARO.  Ji.  40 


582  X  CHAPTER  [2775 

Delegates  to  the  provincial  congress,  were  chosen  in 
every  county  and  chief  town  in  the  province;  most  of 
them  met  on  Sunday,  the  20th  August ;  a  house  was 
not,  however,  formed  till  the  next  day  ;  one  hundred  and- 
cighty-four  members  took  their  seats. 

It  being  represented  to  the  congress,  that  endeavors 
had  been  made,  by  the  enemies  of  the  liberties  of  Ame- 
rica, to  persuade  several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  pro- 
vince, who  had  been  engaged  in  the  insurrections  in  the 
years  1770  and  1771,  that  they  remained  still  liable  to 
be  punished,  unless  pardoned  by  the  king,  and  that  par- 
dons could  only  be  obtained,  on  condition,  that  they 
should,  when  required,  take  arms  against  such  persons 
as  should  be  devoted  to  destruction,  for  having  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  defence  of  American  liberty,  the  con- 
gress came  to  a  resolution,  that  they  would,  to  the  ut- 
most of  their  power,  protect  such  persons  from  any  in- 
jury which  may  be  attempted,  on  the  pretence  of  punish- 
ing them,  for  any  thing  done  by  them,  during  the  in- 
surrection, or  in  consequence  of  it. 

The  congress  appointed  thirteen  of  their  members  to 
confer  with  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  as 
entertained  any  religious  or  political  scruples,  with  res- 
pect to  associating  in  the  common  cause  of  America, 
not  to  receive  any  ill  impressions,  that  might  have  been 
made  upon  them,  by  the  artful  devices  of  the  enemies  of 
America,  and  to  induce  them,  by  any  influence  and 
persuasion,  heartily  to  unite  for  the  protection  of  the 
constitutional  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people. 

The  congress  expressed  their  high  approbation  of 
the  association,  entered  into  by  the  continental  congress^ 
at  their  first  meeting,  agreed  to  adhere  to  it  and  recom-^ 
mended  it  to  their  constituents. 


S775]  THE  TENTH.  36^ 

The  members  subscribed  a  test,  professing  their  alle- 
giance to  the  king,  acknowledging  the  constitutional 
executive  power  of  government,  and  solemnl}^  declaring 
their  absolute  belief,  that  neither  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  nor  any  member,  or  constituent  branch  of  it, 
had  a  right  to  impose  taxes  upon  the  colonies,  or  to 
regulate  their  internal  police,  and  that  all  attempts  by 
force  or  fraud  to  establish  and  exercise  such  claim  and 
power,  v/ere  violations  of  the  peace  and  security  of  the 
people,  and  ought  to  be  resisted  to  the  utmost;  and  that 
the  people  of  the  province,  singly  and  collectively  are 
bound  by  the  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  continental  and 
provincial  congress;  because,  in  both  they  are  repre- 
sented by  persons  chosen  by  themselves;  and  they  so- 
lemnly engaged  under  the  sanction  of  virtue,  honor  and 
the  sacred  love  of  liberty  and  their  country,  to  maintain 
and  support  such  acts  and  resolutions  to  the  utmost  of 
their  power. 

An  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  was 
published,  stating  the  present  controversy  in  an  easy  and 
familiar  stile,  in  a  manner  obvious  to  the  meanest  capa- 
city, calling  upon  them  to  unite  in  defence  of  American 
liberty,  and  vindicating,  from  the  necessity  to  which  the 
administration  had  reduced  them,  the  taking  up  arms 
and  assuming  the  controul  of  the  militia  and  ascribing 
the  silence  of  the  legislative  power  of  government  to  the 
refusal  of  the  governor  to  exercise  the  functions  of  his 
office,  bv  leaving  the  province  and  retiring  on  board  of 
a  man  of  war,  without  any  violence  or  threat  having  been 
offered  to  him. 

The  congress  unanimously  resolved,  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  North  Carolina  would  cheerfully  pay  their  pro- 
portion of  the  expenses,  incurred   by  the  continental 


364  CHAPTER  [1775 

congress,  in  embodying  and  supporting  an  army,  and 
that  they  would  make  ample  provision  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  such  part  of  the  sum  emitted  for  that  purpose, 
according  to  the  rates  fixed,  or  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  people  in  the  province. 

The  president  laid  before  the  house,  a  cop}^  of  the  gov- 
ernor's proclamation,  which  had  been  directed  to  them. 
On  its  being  read,  it  was  resolved,  that  the  proclamation 
was  a  false,  scurrilous,  malicious  and  seditious  libel,  tend- 
ing to  dispirit  the  good  people  of  the  province,  and  to 
stir  up  tumults  and  insurrections,  dangeious  to  the  peace 
of  the  king's  government  and  the  safety  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  highly  injurious  to  the  characters  of  several 
gentlemen  of  virtue  and  loyalty;  and  it  was  directed  to 
be  burnt  by  the  common  hangman. 

For  the  support  of  the  American  association  and  the 
safety  of  the  colony,  the  congress  thought  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  raise  a  body  of  forces,  consisting  of  one 
thousand  men,  upon  the  faith  of  the  resolution  of  the 
continental  congress;  to  be  divided  into  two  regiments 
of  five  hundred  men  each;  four  hundred  were  stationed 
in  the  district  of  Wilmington,  and  two  hundred  in  each 
of  the  districts  of  Newbern,  Edenton  and  Salisbury. 
The  command  of  the  first  regiment  was  given  to  James 
Moore,  of  the  county  of  New-Hanover,  and  that  of  the 
second  to  Robert  Howe,  of  the  county  of  Brunswick. 

The  plan  of  a  general  confederation,  between  the  uni- 
ted colonies,  having  been  taken  into  consideration,  the 
congress  were  of  opinion,  that  it  was  net  then  eligible, 
and  the  delegates  of  the  province  to  the  continental  con- 
gress, were  instructed  not  to  consent  to  any  plan  of 
confederation,  which  might  be  offered  to  the  next  con- 
gress, until  it  could  be  laid  before,  and  approved  by,  a 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  36  5 

provincial  congress;  it  being  imagined  that  the  associa- 
tion ought  to  be  further  relied  on  for  bringing  about  a 
reconciliation  with  the  parent  state;  and  a  further  con- 
federation ought  only  to  be  adopted  in  case  of  the  last 
necessity. 

The  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
was  directed  to  be  emitted  in  bills  of  credit  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  province;  and  for  the  redemption  of  it,  a 
poll  tax  was  laid  for  nine  years,  to  commence  in  the 
year  1777. 

A  battalion,  to  consist  of  ten  companies  of  fifty  men, 
rank  and  file,  was  directed  to  be  raised  in  every  dis- 
trict. The  troops,  thus  to  be  raised,  were  called  min- 
ute men,  their  uniform  was  a  hunting  shirt,  leggings  or 
spatterdashes  and  black  gaiters;  they  were  to  be  embo- 
died in  battalions,  at  or  near  the  town  of  the  district,  and 
continue  in  training  for  fourteen  days  successively;  af- 
ter this,  the  companies  were  to  return  to  their  respective 
counties,  and  be  mustered,  at  least,  once  in  a  fortnight. 
They  were  to  be  paid  when  training,  mustering  and 
called  to  the  field.  Edward  Vail  of  the  county  of  Chow- 
an, was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  battalion  of 
Edenton  district,  Richard  Caswell  of  the  county  of 
Dobbs,  to  that  of  the  district  of  Newbern,  Alexander 
Lillington  of  the  of  county  of  New-Hanover,  to  that  of 
the  district  of  Wilmington,  Thomas  Wade  of  the  coun- 
ty of  Anson,  to  that  of  the  district  of  Salisbury,  James 
Thackston,  of  the  county  of  Cumberland,  to  that  of  ihe 
distiict  of  Hillsborough,  and  Nicholas  Long  of  the 
county  of  Halifax,  to  that  of  the  district  of  Halilax. 

The  congress  unanimously  agreed  on  an  address  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  British  empire. 


S6G  CHAPTER  [1775 

This  paper,  which  is  said  to  be  the  composition  of 
William  Hooper,  began  by  stating,  that  the  fate  of  the 
contest,  subsisting  between  the  American  colonies  and 
the  British  ministers,  at  the  helm  of  public  affairs,  was 
one  of  the  most  important  epochs,  which  would  mark 
the  British  history.  Foreign  nations,  with  anxious 
expectations,  waited  its  result,  and  saw  with  amazement 
the  blind  infatuated  policy  which  the  administration  pur- 
sued to  subjugate  the  colonies,  and  reduce  them  from 
the  situation  of  loyal  and  useful  subject  to  absolute  de- 
pendence and  abject  slavery;  as  if  the  descendants  of 
those  men,  who  had  shed  such  rivers  of  blood  and  spent 
millions  of  treasure,  infixing  upon  a  lasting  foundation, 
the  liberties  of  the  British  constitution,  saw,  with  envy, 
the  once  happy  state  of  this  western  region,  and  theref^ 
to  exterminate  the  patterns  of  those  virtues  which  shone 
with  a  light  that  bid  fair  to  rival  their  own. 

It  was  next  observed,  that  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their 
own  honest  industry;  to  call  that  their  own  which  was 
earned  with  the  labor  of  their  own  hands  and  the  sweat 
of  their  brows,  to  regulate  the  internal  polity,  by  which 
they  alone  were  to  be  affected;  were  the  mighty  boons 
which  the  people  of  America  asked;  and  the  appellation 
of  traitors,  rebels  and  every  other  harsh  names  which 
malice  could  suggest  and  the  virulence  of  language  ex- 
press, were  the  returns  they  received  to  the  most  hum- 
ble petitions  and  frequent  supplications;  they  were  told 
that  independence  was  their  object  and  had  the  thought 
to  shake  off  all  connexion  with  the  parent  state;  a  cruel 
suggestion,  contradicted  by  all  their  professions,  all  their 
actions. 

The  congress  declared  and  invoked  the  almighty  being, 
the  searcher  of  the  recesses  of  the  human  heart,  that  it 


1115]  THE  TENTH.  361 

was  their  most  earnest  wish  and  prayer  to  be  restored, 
with  the  other  colonies,  to  the  state  in  which  they  were 
placed  before  the  year  1763,  disposed  to  glance  over 
any  regulation,  which  Great  Britain  had  made  previous 
to  that  period,  and  which  seemed  to  be  injurious  and 
oppressive  to  the  colonies,  hoping,  that  at  some  future 
day,  she  would  benignly  interpose  and  remove  every 
cause  of  complaint. 

They  observed,  that  whenever  they  had  departed  from 
the  forms  of  the  constitution,  their  safety  and  self-pre- 
servation had  declared  the  expedient,  and  if,  in  any  in- 
stance, they  had  assumed  powers  which  the  laws  had 
vested  in  the  sovereign,  or  his  representatives,  it  had  only 
been  in  defence  of  their  persons,  properties  and  those 
rights  which  God  and  the  constitution  had  made  una- 
lienably  theirs;  as  soon  as  the  cause  of  their  apprehen- 
sions and  fears  were  removed,  they  would  return,  with 
joy,  those  powers  to  their  proper  channels,  and  the  insti- 
tutions, formed  from  the  urgency  of  the  times,  should 
cease  with  the  necessity  that  had  created  them. 

''Those  expressions,"  continues  the  addres,  "flow 
from  an  affection,  bordering  upon  devotion,  to  the 
house  of  Hanover,  as  established  by  law,  from  sub- 
jects who  view  it  as  a  monument  that  does  honor  to 
human  nature,  capable  of  teaching  kings  how  glo- 
rious it  is  to  reign  over  a  free  people.  These  are 
the  heartfelt  effusions  of  men,  ever  ready  to  spend 
their  blood  and  treasure,  when  constitutionally  call- 
ed upon,  in  support  of  the  succession  of  his  majesty 
king  George  HI.,  his  crown  and  dignity,  and  who  fer- 
vently wish  to  transmit  his  reign  to  future  ages,  as 
tlioera  of  common  happiness  to  hi^  people.     Could 


36S  ~  CHAPTER  [1775 

these,  our  sentiments,  reach  the  throne,  surely  our 
sovereign  would  forbid  the  horrors  of  war  and  des- 
olation to  intrude  into  this  once  happy  and  peace- 
ful land,  and  would  stop  that  deluge  of  human  blood 
which  now  threatens  to  overflow  this  colony;  blood 
too  precious  to  be  shed,  but  in  a  common  cause, 
against  the  enemies  of  Great  Britain  and  her  sons." 

The  consiress  averred,  that  these  declarations 
were  held  forth  as  testimony  of  loyalty  to  their  sove- 
reign and  affection  to  the  parent  state,  and  as  a 
sincere  earnest  of  their  present  and  future  inten- 
tions, and,  they  flattered  themselves,  thereby  to  re- 
move those  impressions,  which  had  been  made  by 
weak  and  wicked  men,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  colo- 
ny, with  the  intention  of  bringing  the  rectitude  of 
the  designs  of  its  inhabitants  into  distrust  and  spread 
sedition,  anarchy  and  confusion  through  a  loyal 
province. 

Having  thus  discharged  their  duty  to  the  world, 
themselves  and  posterity,  they  hoped  that  Almighty 
God  might  give  success  to  the  means  they  were 
about  to  make  use  of,  so  far  as  they  might  be  aim- 
ed to  produce  just,  lawful  and  good  purposes,  and 
the  salvation,  peace  and  happiness  of  the  whole  Bri- 
tish empire. 

It  being  necessary  to  organize  some  kind  of  pro- 
visional govenmient,  a  provincial  council  was  estab- 
lished, composed  of  two  persons,  duly  chosen  by 
the  delegates  of  each  district,  and  one  by  the  whole 
congress. 

Accordingly,  Samuel  Johnson  was  chosen  by  the 
congress,  and  Cornelius  Harnett  and  Samuel  Ashe 


m^i  THE  TENTH,  J^^ 

by  the  delegates  of  the  district  of  Wihnington;  Ab> 
ner  Nash  and  James  Coor  by  those  of  the  district 
of  Newbeni;  Thomas  Jonea  and  Whitmill  Hill  by 
those  of  the  district  of  Edenton;  WiHiam  Jones  and 
Thomas  Jones  by  those  of  the  district  of  Halifaxj 
Thomas  Person  and  John  Kinchen  by  those  of  the 
district  of  Hillsborough,  and  Samuel  Spencer  and 
Waightstill  Avery  by  those  of  the  district  of  Sal- 
isbury. 

A  comruittee  of  safety,  composed  of  a  president 
and  twelve  members,  was  also  chosen  by  the  dele- 
gates for  each  district. 

A  committee  of  twenty-one  members  in  every 
county,  and  one  of  fifteen  in  each  of  the  towns  of 
Edenton,  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  and  seven  in 
each  of  the  other  county  towns,  were  directed  to  by 
chosen  by  the  freeholders. 

The  meetings  of  the  provincial  council  were  to 
be  quarterly.  The  court  house  of  the  county  of 
Johnston  was  the  place,  at  which  they  were  first 
to  assemble  to  trar>sact  business,  and  they  were  al- 
lowed  the  privilege  of  fixing  other  times  and  places 
of  meeting. 

The  committees  of  safety  were  directed  to  hold 
i^eir  meetings  quarterly^  in  the  principal  town  of 
the  district.  ^' 

The  county  and  town  committees  were  to  meet 
«ionthly,  at  the  court  house. 

The  latter  were  pernaitted  to  sit  jointly,  or  be 
^consolidated  v/ith  the  committee  of  thecounty. 

The  provincial  council  were  empower<;d  to  call 

•*>ut  the  militia,  in  ra*es  of  Rl?»rm.  to  reject  officer^', 
u.  ,r.ARo.   Ti,     47  V 


mo  CHAPTER  imB 

appointed  by  the  people,  when  thej  shoold  disap- 
prove; to  suspend  officers  in  the  army  and  militia; 
to  fill  vacancies;  to  draw  on  the  treasury  for  all 
such  sums  of  money  as  should  be  necessary  for  the 
service,  and,  generally,  to  do  all  things  they  might 
deem  necessary,  to  strengthen,  secure  and  defend 
the  colony,  with  the  exception  of  &uapending  or 
altering  any  act  or  resolution  of  the  continental 
congress. 

The  provincial  council  and  the  committees  of 
safety,  in  subordination  to  it,  had  thej  direction 
of  the'army,  and  all  military  arrangements  and  estab- 
lishments. 

The  provincial  council  and  the  committees  of 
safety,  in  their  respective  di&tricts,  were  authorized 
to  compel  debtors,  suspected  of  an  intention  to  re- 
move,'to  give  security  to  their  creditors. 

The  county  committees  had  the  same  power,  in 
eases  of  demands  under  twenty  pounds. 

The  committees  of  safety  were  authorized  to  re- 
ceive information,  censure  and  punish  delinquents, 
either  in  the  first  instance,  or  as  a  superintending 
power  over  the  town  and  county  committeesi 

The  town  and  county  committees  were  directed 
4o  elect,  by  ballot,  out  of  their  own  members,  sever> 
persons,  to  act  as  a  committee  of  secrecy,  intelli- 
gence and  observation,  who  were  to  correspond 
with  the  provincial  council,  the  committees  of  safe- 
ty and  the  other  committees  in  the  province  and 
the  neighboring  ones,  to  take  np  and  examine  all 
suspected  persons,  and,  if  necessary,  to  send  them 
to  the  provincial  council,  or  th,e  committee  of  safely^ 
of  their  respective  districts. 


1775]  THE  TENTH.  37X 

Premiums  were  voted  for  the  manufacture  of  salt- 
petre, gunpowder,  cotton  and  woollen  cards,  pins, 
needles,  linnen  atid  woollen  cloth,  and  for  the  erec- 
tion of  rolling  and  slitting  miUs,^  furnaces  for  the 
manufacture  of  steel  and  iron,  paper  mills,  salt 
works,  and  for  r-efining  sulphur. 

The  congress  rose  on  the  19th  of  September. 


Mecords-^Magazmes —  Gazdt^s. 


CHAPTER  XI 


In  the  western  part  of  the  province,  the  people 
were  still  eager  in  their  resistance.  In  the  months 
of  March  and  April,  1775,  the  leading  men  in  the 
county  of  Mecklenberg  held  meetings  to  ascertain 
the  sense  of  the  people,  and  to  confirm  them  in  their 
opposition  to  the  claim  of  the  parliament  to  impose 
taxes  and  regulate  the  internal  policy  of  the  colonies. 
At  one  of  those  meetings,  when  it  was  ascertained^ 
that  the  people  were  prepared  to  meet  their  wishes* 
it  was  agreed,  that  Thomas  Polk,  then  colonel  com- 
mandant of  the  county,  should  issue  an  order  direct- 
ed to  each  captain  of  militia,  requesting  him  to  call 
a  company  meeting  to  elect  two  delegates  from  his 
company,  to  meet  in  general  committee,  at  Char- 
lotte, on  the  19th  of  May;  giving  to  the  dele- 
gates ample  power  to  adopt  such  measures,  as  to 
them,  should  seem  best  calculated  to  promote  the 
common  cause  of  defending  the  rights  of  the  colony, 
and  aiding  their  brethen  in  Massachuseets.  Colo- 
nel Polk  issued  the  order,  and  delegates  were  elect- 
ed. They  met  in  Charlotte,  on  the  day  appointed. 
The  forms  of  their  proceedings  and  the  measures 
to  be  proposed  had  been  previously  agreed  upon, 
by  the  men  at  whose  instance  the  committee  were 
assembled.    The  Reverend  Hezekiah  Jones  Balch, 


i775]  CHAPTER  375 

Dr.  Ephraim  Brevard,  and  William  Kennon,  esq.  an  at- 
torney at  law,  addressed  the  committee,  and  descanted 
on  the  causes  which  had  led  to  the  existing  contest  with 
the  mother  country,  and  the  consequences  which  were  to 
be  apprehended,  unless  the  people  should  make  a  firm 
and  energetic  resistance  to  the  right  which  parliament 
asserted,  of  taxing  the  colonies  and  regulatmg  their  in- 
ternal policy. 

On  the  day  on  which  the  committee  met,  the  first  in- 
telligence  of  the  action  at  Lexington,  in  Massachusetts, 
on  the  19th  of  April,  was  received  in  Charlotte.  This 
intelligence  produced  the  most  decisive  effect.  A  large 
concourse  of  people  had  assembled  to  witness  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  committee.  The  speakers  addressed  their 
discourses,  as  well  to  them,  as  to  the  committee,  and 
those  who  were  not  convinced  by  their  reasoning,  were 
influenced  by  their  feelings,  and  all  cried  out,  *'let  us  be 
independent!  let  us  declare  our  independence  and  defend 
it  with  our  lives  and  fortunes!"  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  draw  up  resolutions.  This  committee  was 
composed  of  the  men  who  planned  the  whole  proceed- 
ings, and  v/ho  had,  already,  prepared  the  resolutions 
which  it  was  intended  should  be  submitted  to  the  gene- 
ral committee.  Doctor  Ephraim  Brevard  had  drawn 
up  the  resolutions  sometime  before,  and  now  reported 
them,  with  amendments,  as  follows; 

^'Resolvedy  That  whosoever  directly  or  indirectly 
abets,  or  in  any  way,  form  or  manner,  countenances  the 
invasion  of  our  rights  as  attempted  by  the  parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  his  country,  to  America 
and  the  rights  of  man. 

^^Resolvecly  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg 
founty,  do   hereby  dissolve  the  political  bonds  which 


874  CHAPTER  [HTu 

have  connected  us  with  the  mother  country;  and  absolve 
ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  ab- 
juring all  political  connexion  with  a  nation,  that  has 
wantonly  trampled  on  our  rights  and  liberties,  and  in- 
humanly shed  the  innocent  blood  of  Americans  at  Lex- 
ington. 

'^Resolved,  That  wq  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people,  that  we  are  and  of  right 
ought  to  be  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  people,  un- 
der the  power  of  God  and  the  general  congress;  to  the 
maintenance  of  which  independence  we  solemnly  pledge 
to  each  other,  our  mutual  co-operation,  our  lives,  our 
fortunes  and  our  most  sacred  honor. 

^^ Resolved^  That  we  do  hereby  ordain  and  adopt  as 
rules  of  conduct,  all  and  each  of  our  former  laws,  and 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain  cannot  be  considered  here- 
after as  holding  any  rights,  privileges  or  immunities 
amongst  us. 

*^ Resolved,  That  all  officers  both  civil  and  military, 
in  this  county,  be  entitled  to  exercise  the  same  powers 
and  authorities  as  heretofore;  that  every  member  of  this 
delegation  shall  henceforth  be  a  civil  officer,  and  exercise 
the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  issue  process,  hear 
and  determine  controversies  according  to  law,  preserve 
peace,  union  and  harmony  in  the  county,  and  use  every 
exertion  to  spread  the  love  of  liberty  and  of  country, 
until  a  more  general  and  better  organized  system  of 
government  be  establishsed. 

^^ Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  trans- 
mitted, by  express,  to  the  president  of  the  continental 
congress,  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  to  be  laid  before 
that  body." 


1775]  THE  ELEVENTH.  mij. 

These  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  and 
subscribed  by  the  delegates.  James  Jack,  then  of 
Charlotte,  but  now  residing  in  the  state  of  Georgia^  was 
engaged  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  resolutions  to  the  presi- 
dent of  congress,  and  directed  to  deliver  copies  of 
them  to  the  delegates  in  congress  from  North  Carolina. 
The  president  returned  a  polite  answer  to  the  address 
which  accompanied  the  resolutions,  in  which  he  highly 
approved  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  delegates  of 
Mecklenberg;  but  deemed  the  subject  of  the  resolutions 
premature  to  be  laid  before  congress.  Messrs.  Caswell, 
Hooper  and  Hewes,  forwarded  a  joint  letter,  in  which 
they  complimented  the  people  of  Mecklenburg  for  their 
zeal  in  the  common  cause,  and  recommended  to  them, 
the  strict  observance  of  good  order;  that  the  time  would 
soon  come,  when  the  whole  continent  would  follow  their 
example. 

On  the  day  that  the  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the 
delegates  in  Charlotte,  they  were  read  aloud  to  the  peo- 
ple, who  had  assembled  in  the  town,  and  proclaimed 
amidst  the  shouts  and  huzzas,  as  expressing  tlie  feelings 
and  determination  of  all  present.  When  captain  Jack 
reached  Salisbury,  on  his  way  to  Philadelpliia,  the  gene- 
ral court  was  sittings  and  Mr.  Kennon,  an  attorney  at 
law,  who  had  assisted  in  the  proceedings  of  the  delegates 
at  Charlotte,  was  then  in  Salisbury.  At  the  request  of 
the  judges,  Mr.  Kennon  read  the  resolutions  aloud  in 
<^en  court,  to  a  large  concourse  of  people;  they  were 
listened  to  with  attention  and  approved  by  all  present. 

The  delegates  at  Charlotte  being  empowered  to  adopt 
such  measures,  as  in  their  opinion  would  best  promote 
the  common  cause,  established  a  variety  of  regulations 
for  managing  tl've  concerns  of  the  country.     Courts  of 


376  CHAPTER  (iTia 

justice  were  held  under  the  direction  of  the  delegates* 
For  some  months  these  courts  were  held  at  Charlotte; 
but  for  the  convenience  of  the  people,  (for  at  that  time 
Cabarrus  formed  part  of  Mecklenberg,)  two  other 
places  were  selected,  and  the  courts  were  held  at  each  in 
rotation.  The  delegates  appointed  a  committee  of 
their  body,  who  were  called  *'a  committee  of  safety,'' 
and  they  were  empowered  to  examine  all  persons 
brought  before  them  charged  with  being  inimical  to  the 
common  cause,  and  to  send  the  military  into  the  neigh- 
boring counties  to  arrest  suspected  persons.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  this  power,  the  committee  sent  into  Lincoln  and 
Rowan  counties,  and  had  a  number  of  persons  arrested 
and  brought  before  them.  Those  who  manifested  pen- 
itence for  their  toryism,  and  took  an  oath  to  support  the 
cause  of  Hberty  and  of  the  country,  were  discharged. 
Others  were  sent  under  guard  into  South  Carolina  for 
safe  keeping.  The  meeting  of  the  delegates  at  Char- 
lotte and  the  proceedings  which  grew  out  of  that  meet- 
tng,  produced  the  zeal  and  unanimity  for  which  the 
people  of  Mecklenberg  were  distinguished  during  the 
whole  of  the  revolutionary  war.  They  became  united 
as  a  band  of  brothers,  whose  confidence  in  each  other^ 
and  the  cause  which  they  had  sworn  to  support,  was 
never  shaken  in  the  worst  of  times. 

The  continental  congress  met  on  the  13th  of  Sep^ 
tember. 

The  province  of  Georgia  sent  delegates  to  that 
body. 

They  recommended  to  the  provinces  of  New-York, 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  the  three  lower 
counties  in  Delaware,  which  had  been  excepted, 
from  the  effect  of  the  act  of  the  British  parliament, 


i775]  THE  ELEVENTH.  377 

for  restraining  the  trade  of  the  provinces,  to  forbear 
availing  themselves  of  the  benefit  allowed  them  by 
that  act,  and  that  no  person  should  apply  to  the 
custom  houses  of  the  said  colonies,  for  such  clear- 
ances and  documents,  as  could  not  be  obtained  in 
the  other  colonies. 

The  province  of  North  Carolina  was  directed  to 
supply  the  island  of  Bermuda  with  sixteen  thousand 
bushels  of  corn  and  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
bushels  of  peas  and  beans. 

Three  millions  of  dollars  w^ere  emitted  in  bills  of 
credit. 

The  provinces  of  Maryland,  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  were  permitted  to  export  produce,  to  any 
part  of  the  world,  except  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and 
the  rest  of  her  dominions,  and  to  import  salt  in 
return. 

The  two  battalions  which  had  been  ordered  to  be  rais- 
ed in  the  province  of  North  Carolina,  were  increased  to 
the  continental  establishment,  and  kept  in  the  pay  of  the 
united  colonies,  for  the  purpose  of  defending  that  pro- 
vince and  assisting  the  adjacent  ones. 

Application  was  made  to  tlie  committees  of  safety  of 
the  province  of  South  Carolina,  for  so  much  powder  as 
could  be  spared,  for  the  immediate  use  of  the  province 
of  North  Carolina;  and  the  delegates  of  that  province 
were  directed  to  purchase  drums,  fifes  and  colours,  for 
its  use. 

The  congress  recommended  to  the  committees  of  safe- 
ty of  that  province,  to  employ,  immediately,  all  the 
gunsmiths  that  could  be  prociired,  in  makinc^  nurskets 
and  bayonets. 


SlQr  CHAPTER  jmi^ 

Two  ministers  of  the  gospel  were  engaged,  by  the 
congress,  to  proceed,  immediately,  to  those  counties  of 
North  Carolina,  settled  by  the  regulators  and  highlanders, 
for  the  purpose  of  informing  them  of  the  nature  of  the 
dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies:  and,  it 
was  recommended  to  the  committee  ^of  safet}'^  in  case 
the  method  of  defending  the  province,  by  minute  men, 
proved  inadequate,  to  substitute  some  other  means  more 
effectual. 

The  provincial  council  met,  for  the  first  time,  on  the^ 
T8th  of  October,  and  made  choice  of  Cornelius  Harnett 
for  their  president. 

Some  disturbances  happening,  in  the  county  of  New 
Hanover,  in  which,  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  met, 
and  protested  against  the  proceeding  of  the  late  pro- 
vincial congress,  at  Hillsborough;  the  council  request- 
ed their  president,  John  Ashe  and  Samuel  Ashe,  two  of 
their  members,  to  proceed  to  that  county,  in  order  to 
conciliate  the  mmds  of  the  people:  the  council,  for  this 
purpose,  adjourned  for  a  few  weeks. 

They  recommt-nded  to  the  committee  of  safety  of 
the  district  of  Wilmington,  to  use  their  utmost  endea- 
vors to  cut  off  all  manner  of  personal  communication 
between  the  governor  and  the  officers  of  the  ships  of 
war,  in  the  river  of  Cape  Fear,  and  the  people  of  the 
province. 

The  committees  of  safety  of  the  districts  of  Wil- 
mington, Newbern  and  Edenton,  were  directed,  tO' 
procure,    immediately,   an  armed  vessel  each. 

The  deputies  of  the  council  succeeded  in  reconcil- 
ing the  party  who  had  risen  against  the  measures  of  the 
provnicial  congress^,  but,  in  the  mean  while,  serious 


n75]  THE  ELEVENTH.  S79 

discontents  had  broken  out  in  the  county  of  Cumber- 
land ;  the  county  had  lately  received  a  considerable  ac- 
cession of  population,  by  the  migration  of  a  number  of 
families  from  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  the  heads  of 
many  of  which  had  suffered  in  their  former  country,  by 
their  adherence  to  the  cause  of  the  pretender,  and  the 
dread  of  meeting  the  further  consequences  of  an  oppo- 
sition to  the  reigning  sovereign,  having  brought  them  to 
North  Carolina,  a  desire  of  enjoying  that  peace  and  qui- 
etness, of  which  they  were  in  quest,  rendered  them 
averse  to  join  any  opposition  to  government.  In  the 
west  and  north  of  their  settlements,  were  those  of 
the  people,  who  had  lately  been  engaged  in  the  troubles 
of  the  regulation  war,  and  who,  discouraged  by  their  ill 
success,  viewed  the  proceedings  of  the  congresses,  in 
the  light  in  which  those  of  their  own  meetings  had  ap- 
peared ;  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  counties  were 
divided  in  their  mode  of  thinking.  The  union  of  the 
highlanders,  the  regulators,  and  that  portion  of  their 
neighbors  who  were  desirous  of  remaining  under  the 
kingly  government,  or  had  no  confidence  in  the  success 
of  its  opponents,  appeared,  to  governor  Martin,  an  ob- 
ject easy  to  be  accompli<^hed,  and  of  vast  importance  to 
the  royal  cause.  The  possession  of  this  part  of  the  pro- 
vince, the  very  heart  of  it,  would  enable  him  to  keep  the 
rest  in  awe,  if  not  in  subjection ;  and  the  arrival  of  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  who  was  hourly  expected  at  Wilming- 
ton, from  New  York,  with  a  body  of  troops,  promised 
to  secure  the  command  of  the'  only  part  of  the  coast  of 
the  province,  which  was  accessible  to  ships  of  war  ;  ac- 
counts had  also  reached  the  province,  that  Sir  Peter 
Parker  and  lord  Cornwallis  would  sail  from  England  in 
the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  with  a  considerable  body 


mo  CHAPTER  '  [1775 

of  troops,  and  there  was  reason  to  believe,  their  first  visit 
would  be  to  the  southern  provinces. 

With  this  object  in  view,  the  governor  sent  emissa- 
ries into  the  upper  counties,  and  issued  a  commission  of 
brigadier  general  to  Donald  McDonald,  an  influential 
character  among  the  Scotch  emigrants ;  with  this  testi- 
monial of  his  rank,  the  new  general  received  a  procla- 
mation, commanding  all  the  king's  loyal  subjects  to 
join  his  standard  ;  the  date  of  this  instrument  was  left 
in  blank,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  publish  it,  at  a  favora- 
ble moment. 

While  the  governor  was  thus  preparing  matters,  for  a 
sudden  and  vigorous  attack  on  the  southern,  lord  Dun- 
more  of  Virginia,  was  making  arrangements  to  strike  a 
blow  on  the  northern  counties  of  the  province  ;  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty* regular  troops  he  had  joined  a 
number  of  tories  and  negroes,  in  whose  hands  he  had 
placed  some  arms;  with  this  force,  he  marched  to  the 
Great  Bridge,  in  the  county  of  Nansemond,  Va.  where 
he  entrenched  himself,  waiting  the  success  of  some  of 
his  emissaries,  who  had  gone  into  the  counties  of  the 
district  of  Edenton,  with  a  view  to  induce  the  slaves  of 
the  planters  to  endeavor  to  obtain  their  freedom,  by 
flocking  to  the  royal  standard  in  his  camp. 

A  party,  under  lieutenant  colonel  Scott,  marched 
against  him ;  on  the  day  of  their  arrival  at  the  Great 
Bridge,  they  had  a  rencontre  with  the  enemy,  and  killed 
five  white  men  and  sixteen  negroes  ;  on  the  next  day, 
lieutenant  Tibbs,  who  had  the  command  of  the  boat 
guard,  about  six  miles  from  that  place,  was  attacked  by 
a  party  of  the  king's  troops  and  a  number  of  negroes ; 
several  of  his  men  broke  ground,  but  he  maintained  his 
stand  with  the  rest,  until  leutenant  colonel  Scott  des- 


i776j  THE  ELEVENTH.  381 

patched  captain  Nicholas,  with  fifty  men,  to  reinforce 
him ;  these  had  to  pass  through  a  heavy  fire,  and,  when 
they  joined  the  lieutenant,  they  found  he  had  beaten  off  the 
enemy  and  killed  seven  ol  their  men,  among  whom  was 
the  officer,  who  headed  the  party. 

The  troops  from  North  Carolina  joined  them  early  ; 
on  the  evening  of  the  third  of  Decern  I  jcr,  they  saw  a 
pile  of  large  buildmgs  on  fire,  at  the  far  end  of  the  village, 
between  which  and  the  fort,  ttie  enemy  had  placed  some 
sentries. 

On  the  fourth,  they  sent  a  party  of  one  hundred  men, 
under  the  command  of  colonel  Stephens  of  the  battalion 
of  minute  men,  over  the  river ;  he  fell  in  with  a  guard 
of  about  thirty  men,  chiefly  negroes  ;  they  got  close  to 
the  sentry,  before  trie y  were  discovered  ;  he  challenged, 
and  receiving  no  answer,  fired ;  the  Americans,  being 
too  eager,  began  the  attack  immediately,  without  waiting 
for  orders,  and  kept  up  a  very  hot  fire  for  nearly  fifteen 
minutes ;  they  killed  one,  burned  another  in  the  house 
and  made  four  prisoners,  all  blacks ;  the  rest  fled  :  some 
fine  muskets  fell  into  their  hands. 

General  McDonald  published  the  governor's  procla- 
mation, early  in  the  month  of  February,  and  erected  the 
king's  standard  at  Cross  creek;  about  fifteen  hu;  dred 
men  collected  around  it.  Qn  the  first  intimation  of  it, 
colonel  Moore,  at  the  head  of  the  first  continental  regi- 
ment, lately  raised  in  the  province,  and  such  a  puvi  of 
the  militia  of  the  district  of  Wilmington,  as  he  could  col- 
lect, took  the  field,  with  a  few  pieces  of  cannon  ;  he 
Iialted  near  the  bridge,  on  Rocky  river,  in  the  county  of 
Cumberland,  about  the  distance  of  twelve  miles  trom 
Cross  creek,  fortified  a  camp  and  patiently  sat  down, 
waiting  the  motion  of  the  enemy  ;  his  post  was  a  very 


3S2  CHAPTER  [H'tS 

advantageous  one,  as  it  enabled  him  to  prevent  the  junc- 
tion of  the  forces,  raised  by  general  McDonald,  with  those 
which  were  expected  at  Wilmington,  from  the  northern 
provinces  and  Great  Britain,  or  which  the  governor 
might  be  able  to  collect,  in  the  counties  of  Onslow  and 
Carteret  and  along  the  shores  of  Cape  Fear  river,  to 
which  places  he  had  sent  emissaries  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  mean  while,  colonel  Caswell  and  colonel  Lil- 
lington,  who  commanded  the  minute  men  of  the  dis- 
tricts of  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  joined  by  some 
parties  of  militia  and  a  few  volunteer  corps,  came  and 
encamped  on  the  bank  of  Moore's  creek,  near  its  junc- 
tion with  South  river,  in  the  county  of  New  Hanover. 

Soon  after,  general  McDonald  marched,  at  first  to- 
wards  colonel  Moore,  and  halted,  at  some  distance  from 
his  camp ;  he  sent  in  an  officer,  charged  with  a  letter  to 
the  colonel,  bewailing  the  difficulty  of  his  situation,  and 
pressed,  by  his  duty  to  his  sovereign,  to  the  fatal  ne- 
cessity of  shedding  blood,  while,  led  by  the  principles  of 
humanity,  he  wished  the  event  might  be  prevented,  by 
the  submission  of  the  colonel  and  his  party,  to  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  their  country ;  he  inclosed  a  copy 
of  the  governor's  proclamation  and  of  his  own  mani- 
festo, expressing  his  hope,  that  the  colonel  would  coolly, 
impartially  and  deliberately  weigh  their  contents,  and 
pay  them  that  regard  they  justly  merited,  from  every 
friend  to  the  human  species ;  he  proffered  to  to  him,  his 
officers  and  men,  in  the  king's  name,  a  free  pardon  and 
indemnity  for  all  past  transgressions,  on  their  laying 
down  their  arms  and  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
concluded,  that,  unless  these  terms  were  accepted,  he 
must  consider  them  as  traitors  to  the  constitution,  and 
t^kethe  necessary  steps  to  conquer  and  subdue  them. 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  3H^ 

Desirous  of  gaining  time,  colonel  Moore  amused  the 
general,  till  he  could  no  longer  temporise ;  he  then  re- 
plied, that  his  followers  and  he  were  engaged  in  a  noble 
cause,  the  most  glorious  and  honorable  in  the  world,  the 
defence  of  the  rights  of  mankind;  they  needed  no  par- 
don. In  return  for  the  governor's  proclamation,  he  en- 
closed a  copy  of  the  test  required  by  the  late  provincial 
congress,  to  be  subscribed  by  every  officer  in  the  pro- 
vince, invited  him  to  subscribe  and  offer  it  for  the  sig- 
nature of  his  officers,  and  on  their  doing  so  and  laying 
down  their  arms,  he  promised  to  receive  them  as  bro- 
thers; but  concluded,  that  in  case  of  their  refusal,  the 
general  and  his  men  could  only  expect  that  treatment 
with  which  he  had  been  pleased  to  threaten  him  and  his 
followers. 

Accounts  reached  the  general's  camp,  at  the  time  he 
received  colonel  Moore's  final  answer,  of  the  motions  of 
colonel  Caswell  and  colonel  Lillington,  and  of  the  arrival 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  in  Cape  Fear  river,  with  a  rein- 
forcement, as  well  as  of  lord  William  Campbell,  gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina.  General  McDonald  now  thought 
it  dangerous  to  risk  an  action  with  colonel  Moore,  and 
dreading  to  find  himself  surrounded,  thought  of  nothing 
but  making  his  way  to  Wilmington,  with  a  view  to  join 
the  troops  lately  arrived  ;  he,  therefore,  decamped  with- 
out noise,  and  attempted,  by  rapid  marches,  to  elude 
the  pursuit  of  colonel  Moore  ;  he  crossed  South  river, 
and  proceeding  down  towards  the  town  of  Wilmington, 
fell  in  with  colonel  Caswell  and  colonel  L/illington,  who, 
with  about  one  thousand  men,  were  encamped  on  the 
south-east  side  of  the  creek,  where  they  had  thrown  up 
some  works  for  the  defence  of  their  camp  ;  colonel  Cas- 
well had  caused  the  planks  of  the  bridge  to  be  taken  up  ; 


384  -       CHAPTER  ^  [1776 

the  force  of  the  province  was  much  inferior  to  that  un- 
der the  general,  but  the  latter  had  the  disadvantage  to 
have  the  creek  to  cross;  and  in  the  situation  in  which 
the  bridge  was,  if  an  attack  was  made,  a  retreat  would 
have  been  a  precarious  resource;  it  was,  however,  de- 
terniined  to  risk  an  encounter,  and  the  general  being  dis- 
abled, by  indisposition,  to  lead  on  the  men,  colonel 
McLeod,  the  next  officer  in  rank,  placed  himself  at  their 
head.  Tliey  began  the  attack  v/ith  much  vigour,  and 
were  r^^ceived  by  the  provincial  forces  with  great  cool- 
ness and  bravery ,  but  the  fall  of  colonel  McLeod  and 
of  several  officers,  early  in  the  battle,  damped  the  spirits 
of  the  men,  and  colonel  Casv/ell  having  improved  the 
first  moment  of  apparent  discomfiture,  to  charge  with 
intrepidity  and  boldness;  the  royal  army  was  routed,  and 
the  men,  flying  in  every  direction,  were  strenuously  pur 
sued,  and  several  were  made  prisoners;  general  McDo- 
nald himself  was  taken. 

The  fortunate  issue  of  this  first  engagement  with  the 
forces  of  government,  was  a  most  favorable  circum- 
stance to*  the  cause  of  the  province;  it  increased  the 
confidence  of  its  friends,  and  filled  its  opposers  with  ap- 
prehension and  alarm,  while  it  determined  a  great  part 
of  those  who  had  hitherto  refrained  from  choosing  their 
side. 

The  provincial  council  met,  a  few  days  after,  in  the 
town  of  Newbern  ;  the  continental  congress,  having  re- 
commended to  them  and  the  provincial  council  of  Geor- 
gia, to  send  members  of  their  bodies  to  Charleston,  to 
confer  with  a  committee  of  the  council  of  safety  cf  the 
province  of  South  Carolina,  iipon  weighty  matters,  rela- 
tive to  the  defence  and  security  of  the  three  provinces, 
Abner  Nash  of  the   town  of  Nev;bern  and  John  Kin- 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  34i; 

chen  of  the  town  of  Halifax,  proceeded  on  that  mission, 
at  the  request  of  the  council. 

The  continental  congress  ordered  an  emission  of  four 
millions  of  dollars,  in  bills  of  credit. 

They  appointed  major  general  Lee  to  the  command 
of  the  continental  forces  in  the  southern  department, 
composed  of  the  provinces  of  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina. 

Colonels  James  Moore  and  Robert  Howe  were  ap- 
pointed brigadier- generals,  the  former  to  command  in  the 
province  of  North  Carolina,  the  latter  in  that  of  Vir- 
ginia, 

The  provincial  congress  met,  at  the  town  of  Halifax, 
on  the  fourth  of  April ;  they  chose  Samuel  Johnston  for 
their  president ;  Francis  Nash  of  the  town  of  Hillsbo- 
rough and  Alexander  Martin  of  the  county  of  Guil- 
ford, were  appointed  colonels  of  the  two  first  regiments 
of  the  province,  in  the  continental  establishment,  in  the 
room  of  generals  Moore  and  Howe.   ' 

Four  other  regiments  were  also  raised,  at  the  requi- 
sition of  congress,  and  the  command  of  them  was  given 
to  Jethro  Sumner  of  the  county  of  Halifax,  Thomas 
Polk  of  the  county  of  Mecklenberg,  Edward  Bun- 
combe of  the  county  of  Tyrrel  and  Alexander  Lilling- 
ton  of  the  county  of  New  Hanover. 

A  brigadier  general  was  appointed  in  each  district, 
Richard  Caswell  in  the  district  of  Newbern,  John  Ashe 
in  that  of  Wilmington,  Griffith  Rutherford  in  that  of 
Salisbury,  Thomas  Person  in  that  of  Hillsborough, 
Allen  Jones  in  that  of  HuHfax,  and  Edward  Vail  in  that 
©f  Eden  ton. 

These  milit;«y  arrangements  >vcre  taken,  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  resolution  of  the  continental  congress,  rccom- 

*K.    CARO.   II.  49 


1 
\ 


34b  CHAPTER  [HI  a 

mending  to  the  provincial  congress  to  prepare  for  a  vi- 
gorous defence  and  opposition;  accounts  having  been 
received,  that  the  British  ministry  and  their  agents,  had 
meditated  and  were  preparing  an  attack  upon  Charleston 
and  several  places  in  Virginia,  and  probably  in  North 
Carolina. 

The  continental  congress  having  also  desired,  that 
members  of  the  councils  of  safety  of  the  provinces  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  might  meet  and  confer  on 
such  operations,  as  their  mutual  interest  rendered  neces- 
sary ;  general  Allen  Jones  and  Thomas  Brickel!  of  the 
county  of  Hertford  were  desired  to  proceed  to  Rich- 
mond. 

The  sea  shore  requiring  particular  attention,  a  com- 
pany of  fifty  men  was  directed  to  be  raised  and  stationed 
at  Beaufort,  in  the  county  of  Carteret,  and  five  other  in- 
dependent companies,  for  the  protection  of  the  remain- 
der of  the  coast. 

In  addition  to  this,  two  regiments  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  men  each,  were  directed  to  be  raised  in  the  dis- 
tricts of  Halifax,  Edenton,  Newbern  and  Wilmington; 
Philemon  Hawkins  of  the  county  of  Bute  was  appoint- 
ed colonel  of  the  first,  and  Thomas  Brown  of  Bladen,  of 
the  second. 

Bills  of  credit  were  directed  to  be  emitted,  to  the 
amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  a  poll  tax, 
to  continue  for  twenty  years,  was  imposed. 

The  former  delegates  to  the  continental  congress  were 
re-elected ;  they  were  empowered  to  concur,  in  declaring 
the  independence  of  the  united  colonies  and  forming 
foreign  alliances,  but  they  were  instructed  to  reserve  to 
the  province  the  right  of  forming  its  own  constitution 
and  laws,  ^ 


^776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  Sol 

The  provincial  council,  before  their  adjournment,  is- 
sued forth  a  solemn  declaration,  stating  that,  impelled  by 
a  regard  to  their  own  safety  and  the  preservation  of 
those  rights  and  privileges,  which  God  and  the  constitu- 
tion  had  made  inalienably  theirs,  and  which  the  power  of 
Great  Britain,  with  unrelenting  vengeance,  injustice  and 
cruelty,  was  laboring  to  subvert,  they  had  been  induced 
,<o  adopt  measures,  which  it  was  their  wish  to  explain,  to 
those  who  might  be  interested  in  them  and  their  conse- 
quences. 

To  other  provinces,  at  a  distance  from  their  places  of 
residence  and  without  that  circle  within  which  their  per- 
sonal and  family  influence  might  be  exerted,  to  the  pre- 
judice of  the;  continent,  and  the  province  in  particular, 
they  had  deemed  it  absolutely  necessary  for  the  public 
safety,  to  remove  a  body  of  men,  wh»  ^e  residence  for- 
tune had  cast  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  province,  and 
who,  in  common  with  the  people  of  it,  had  shared  the 
blessings  whicli  a  mild  and  liberal  system  of  provincial 
laws,  a  benign  climate  and  an  increasing  trade,  that 
poured  niches  into  the  lap  of  honest  industry,  the  conn- 
tenance  and  protection  of  their  honest  neighbors,  held 
out  to  them  with  the  most  hberal  hand. 

These  misguided  people,  they  observed,  disregarding 
the  duty,  which  they  owed  to  their  country,  under  the 
just  and  equal  laws  of  which  they  had  aijoyed  protec- 
tion, procured  ample  means  of  subsibtance  for  them- 
selves and  families,  and  possessed  of  considerable  pro- 
perty, they  were  equally  bound,  by  every  tie,  human 
and  divine,  to  defend  and  maintain  the  cause  of  liberty, 
which,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  province,  all  vir- 
tuous men  on  the  continent,  at  the  hazard  of  every  thing 
dear  to  them,  were  laboring  to  defend.     These  men-, 


S5«  CHAPTER  [Vnt^ 

confederating  with  the  unnatural  enemies  of  America, 
taking  advantage  of  their  residence  in  the  province  and 
the  confidence,  which  that  circumstance  necessarily  cre- 
ated, had  raised  their  hands  against  their  neighbors  and 
endeavored  to  embrue  them  in  their  blood.  God,  in  his 
providence,  had  hitherto  defeated  their  vvicktd  machina- 
tions, and  put  into  the  possession  of  the  friends  of 
liberty  the  principal  men  among  those,  who,  Irom  the 
wickedness  of  their  own  hearts  and  the  seduction  of 
others,  meant  to  have  consigned  a  most  flourishing  pro- 
vince to  the  most  abject  slavery  and  oppression  ;  though 
subdued,  they  still  retained  principles,  inimical  to  the 
country,  and  were  ready,  as  soon  as  they  should  be  fa- 
vored by  their  situation  or  the  assistance  of  troops,  ex- 
pected every  day  to  invade  the  province,  with  the  proba- 
bility of  success,  to  attempt  to  carry  their  wishes  into 
execution,  and,  co-operating  with  a  merciless  administra- 
tion, drench  the  province  in  blood. 

Such,  the  congress  declared,  were  the  motives  of 
their  conduct,  which  a  regard  to  the  common  safety,  and 
that  first  principle  of  nature,  self  preservation,  prompted 
and  justice  demanded  at  their  hands.  In  the  anguish  of 
their  hearts,  they  lamented  the  sad  necessity,  which  the 
frailties  of  their  fellow  beings  had  allotted  to  their  share, 
and  still  hoped  for  the  reformation  of  those  who,  in  this 
happy  contest,  were  severed  from  them  and  those  en- 
dearing tics  which  nature  and  social  connections  had 
formed  for  them,  and  who  still  remained  in  the  province 
to  lament  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  those  who  had 
been  removed:  to  those  the  congress  administered  this 
consolation,  that  they  might  rest  assured,  that  no  wanton 
act  of  cruelty  or  severity  should  be  exercised  towards 
the  prisoners;   no  restraint  imposed  upon  them,  but 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  389 

what  should  be  necessary  to  prevent  them  using  their 
liberty  to  the  injury  of  the  friends  of  America. 

The  congress  declared,  they  had  their  own  security 
in  contemplation,  not  to  make  others  miserable;  they 
comrhiserated  the  errors  of  those  whom  they  had  in  their 
power;  their  situation  disarmed  resentment:  they  would 
hail  their  reformation  with  increasing  pleasure,  and  re- 
ceive them  with  open  arms,  and  their  sincere  contrition 
and  repentance  would  atone  for  their  past  conduct. 
Members  of  the  same  political  body,  the  congress  said, 
had  felt  the  convulsion  which  the  severance  occasioned, 
and  should  bless  the  day  which  should  restore  them  to 
friends  of  liberty,  the  cause  of  America,  of  God  and  of 
mankind. 

They  added,  they  warred  not  with  the  helpless  fami- 
lies  those  men  had  left  behind;  but  sympathised  with 
their  sorrows  and  wished  to  pour  the  balm  of  pity  into 
the  wounds  which  a  separation  from  husbands,  fathers 
and  the  dearest  relations  had  made;  and  considered  them 
as  the  rightful  pensioners  upon  the  charity  of  those  who 
had  aught  to  spare,  from  their  necessities,  for  the  relief 
of  their  fellow  creatures:  to  such  persons  they  recom- 
mended them. 

They  expressed  a  hope,  that  the  humanity  and  com- 
passion which  had  marked  the  course  they  were  engag- 
ed in,  would  influence  the  minds  of  the  prisoners  to 
such  a  conduct  as  might  call  forth  the  utmost  tenderness, 
as  much  depended  on  tlie  future  demeanor  of  the  fami- 
lies of  the  insurgents  as  on  the  treatment  they  would  ex- 
perience. They  might  consider  themselves  as  hostages 
for  their  own  good  l:>ehavior,  and,  by  their  own  good  con- 
duct, do  kind  oftices  to  their  friends,  a  tribute  of  du- 


390  -  CHAPTER  '  [17T6 

ty  as  well  as  humanity,  from  those  in  whose  power  they 
were. 

General  McDonald  was  released  on  his  parole. 

The  congress  adjourned  on  the  14th  of  May. 

The  armament  which  had  left  the  port  of  Portsmouth 
in  the  latter  part  of  December,  under  the  order  of  admi- 
ral Sir  Peter  Parker,  had  proceeded  to  Ireland,  to  receive 
some  troops.  It  was  detained  so  long  in  Ireland,  that 
it  did  not  reach  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  river,  till  the  be- 
ginning of  May.  The  success  of  general  Caswell,  at 
Moore  creek  bridge,  had  so  much  depressed  the  friends 
of  the  royal  cause,  that  it  was,  for  a  long  time,  deemed 
of  no  avail  to  make  any  attempt  against  the  province. 
The  troops  remained  on  board  of  the  vessels,  in  the 
river,  in  the  vicinity  of  fort  Johnson.  On  the  12th, 
however,  between  the  hours  of  two  and  three,  about 
nine  hundred  men  wxre  landed,  at  general  Howe's 
plantation,  in  the  county  of  Brunswick,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Generals  Clinton  and  Cornwallis.  The  sentry, 
posted  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  immediately  gave  the 
alarm  to  the  guard,  who  had  only  time  to  collect  their 
horses  and  throw  down  the  fences,  to  let  a  few  cattle 
out,  which  they  drove  off,  before  the  enemy  surrounded 
the  house.  On  their  march  up  the  causeway,  from  the 
river,  part  of  the  guard  kept  up  a  brisk  fire  on  them, 
which  the  enemy  steadily  returned.  A  few  women, 
who  were  left  in  tlie  house,  were  treated  with  great  bar- 
barity; one  of  them  was  shot  through  the  hips,  another 
was  stabbed  with  a  bayonet,  and  a  third  knocked  down 
with  the  but  of  a  musket.  In  the  small  skirmish,  while 
the  British  were  on  the  causeway,  they  had  one  man 
killed,  several  wounded  and  a  serjeant  of  the  33d  regiment 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  .^91 

made  prisoner.  From  general  Howe's  they  marched 
to  Ostin'smill,  with  a  df  sign  to  surprise  major  Davis, 
who  commanded  a  detachment  at  that  place.  In  this 
they  failed:  the  major  having  received  intelligence  of 
their  landing,  by  the  guard,  un  their  retreat  from  gene- 
ral Howe's,  moved  off  with  his  baggage  and  two  swi- 
vels in  very  good  order,  unperceived  by  the  enemy. 
They  burnt  the  mills  and  retreated  to  the  vessels.  This 
invasion  produced  no  other  advantage  than  three  horses 
and  two  cows. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  the  armament  left  the  river; 
it  consisted  of  upwards  of  thirty  vessels,  without 
having  made  any  serious  attempts  against  the  pro- 
vince: their  design,  it  was  believed,  being  frustrated 
by  the  discomfiture  of  the  forces  raised  by  general 
McDonald.  By  the  unwillingness  of  the  former  re- 
gulators to  join  the  royal  standard,  the  separation  jaf 
some  of  their  ships  and  the  loss  of  eight  of  their  pro- 
vision vessels,  while  in  the  river,  they  were  so  dis- 
tressed for  provisions  that  they  killed  several  horses, 
on  Baldhead,  the  flesh  of  which  was  served  to  the 
men.  They,  however,  found  some  barrels  of  pork 
in  the  county  of  Onslow,  by  the  assistance  of  one 
Gibbs,  of  New  river,  and  another  man  called  Cruder, 
with  whom  governor  Martin  had  kept  up  a  corres- 
pondence. This  was,  however,  all  that  the  gover- 
nor could  effect,  and  he  found  himself  deceived  in 
the  hope  which  he  had  expressed,  of  being  able  to 
command  such  a  tbrce  as  would  be  sufficient,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  few  ships  and  troops,  to  keep 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province  in  awe  and  sul)mis- 
aion 


Sn  CHAPTER  ^  [1770 

This  second  miscarriage  damped  the  spirits  of 
the  friends  of  the  royal  cause  and  confirmed  the 
hope  which  their  opponents  had  entertained,  that 
they  would,  by  their  unceasing  steadiness,  compel 
the  partizans  of  the  crown  to  abandon  the  pro- 
vince, or  join  in  the  protection  of  the  glorious  cause 
of  liberty. 

The  fleet  made  its  appearance  before  the  city  of 
Charleston,  in  the  early  part  of  June:  it,  however, 
abandoned  that  station  before  the  end  of  the  month. 
Their  inability  to  strike  a  blow  animated  the  hopes 
and  depressed  the  fears  of  those  who  imagined,  that 
the  American  provinces  would  not  prove  able  to 
cope  with  the  forces  of  the  mother  country. 

While  it  was  expected  that  the  sight  of  the  fleet  would 
strike  terror  into  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  mar- 
itime counties,  and  every  possible  means  was  exerted 
to  create  dissention  and  strife  in  the  heart  of  the  pro- 
vinces; an  attack  was  meditated  on  the  western  frontiers. 
Governor  Tonyn  of  East  Florida  had  requested  to  be 
furnished  with  a  small  force,  at  the  head  of  which,  rein- 
forced by  the  adherents  to  the  British  cause  in  his  pro- 
vince, he  proposed  to  march  into  the  Indian  nations,  on 
the  borders  of  Georgia  and  Carolina.  He  had  no 
doubt  of  his  ability  to  engage  the  red  people  to  spread 
slaughter,  devastation  and  ruin  on  the  margins  of  the 
provinces,  while  with  his  force  he  promised  to  march 
into  the  thicker  settlements.  The  accidental  capture  of 
the  bearer  (»f  his  dispatches  prevented  the  success  of  his 
scheme.  It  was  not,  however,  entirely  defeated.  On 
the  very  day  the  British  fleet  began  to  fire  on  the  coast 
of  South  Carolina,  the  Cherokees  commenced  their  in- 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  393 

vasions  on  the   unprotected  and    unsuspecting  back 
settlers. 

Early  in  the  month  of  July,  Griffith  Rutherford,  brig- 
adier general  of  the  militia  of  the  district  of  Salisbury, 
passed  the  mountains,  at  the  head  of  nineteen  hundred 
men,  w^hile  colonel  Williamson  led  a  party  of  the  militiu 
of  South  Carolina  against  the  Cherokees.  As  general 
Rutherford  crossed  the  wilderness,  parties  of  Indians, 
lying  in  ambush,  harrassed  him  by  a  galling  fire.  He 
however  after  a  short  time  succeeding  in  silencing  them, 
ranged  the  settlement  of  the  enemy  undisturbed,  laid 
waste  the  plantations  and  destroyed  their  provisions. 
This  timely  chastisement  produced  the  most  fortunate 
effect;  most  of  the  Indians  surrendered  themselves  and 
sued  for  peace.  The  more  obsthiate  fled  to  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  Floridas,  in  search  of  that  protection, 
which  was  due  to  them,  from  their  instigators. 

During  these  days  of  alarm  and  distress  in  the  south- 
ern provinces,  an  important  event  took  place  in  Phila- 
delphia. On  the  seventh  of  June,  the  congress  received 
the  proposition  that  the  United  States  were  and  ought  of 
right  to  be  free  and  independent,  that  they  were  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  po- 
litical  connexion  betwetn  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  was  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved.  It  was 
agreed  upon,  on  the  seco^id  of  July,  and  on  the  fourth  a 
formal  declaration  of  independence  was  s.ubscribed  by 
the  delegates  of  all  the  colonies  present. 

On  the  first  day  of  August,  the  council  of  safety, 
sitting  in  the  tovNn  of  Halifax,  caused  this  joyful  event 
to  be  proclaimed  before  them,  in  the  presence  of  the 
militia  of  the  county  drawn  up  under  arms  for  that  pur- 
pose, amidst  the  acclamations  and  shouts  of  a  larger  as 

N.   CARD.    II.       50 


494  CHAPTER  [1776 

semblage  of  people,  than  had  ever  been  witnessed  in  that 
part  of  the  provinceJ 

Thus  ended  the  royal  government  in  the  province  of 
North  Carolina,  forty  eight  years  after  the  purchase  of 
the  interest  of  the  lord's  proprietors;  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  years  after  the  first  charter  of  Charles  the  second; 
and  one  hundred  and  ninety -two  years  after  the  arrival 
of  the  first  British  adventurers  at  Ocracock. 

Governor  Martin's  administration  was  a  turbulent 
one.  He  lacked  not  the  inclination,  neither  was  he  ab- 
solutely deficient  in  the  talents,  requisite  to  have  render- 
ed it  otherwise.  During  the  greater  part  of  it,  he 
seems  to  have  found  himself  too  strictly  fettered  by  his 
instructions,  to  have  been  able  to  do  much  for  the  service 
of  the  province.  In  the  latter  years,  he  appears  to  have 
misconceived  the  means  that  might  have  averted  or  quel- 
led the  storm.  He  had  formed  and  communicated  to 
the  ministers  a  wrong  idea  of  his  own  influence  and 
that  of  the  persons  who  favored  the  commotions  which 
ended  in  the  prostration  of  his  authority,  and  he  surely 
had  gained  no  very  intimate  knowledge  of  the  temper 
of  the  people  over  whom  he  presided.  His  project  of 
arming  the  slaves  would  have  sullied  a  reputation  ac- 
quired by  a  series  of  years  of  useful  services. 

James  Hassell,  L.  H.  De  Rosset,  John  Sampson, 
Alexander  M'Cullough,  William  Dry,  Samuel  Cornell, 
Martin  Howard,  Marmaduke  Jones,  Sir  Nathaniel 
Duckinfield  and  Samuel  Strudwick  sat  in  council  du- 
ring governor  Martin's  residence  in  the  province. 

Richard  Caswell,  of  the  county  of  Dobbs,  and  John 
Harvey,  of  the  county  of  Perquimans,  filled  the  chair 
of  the  lower  house,  and  Martin  Howard,  the  chief  judi- 
cial seat,  during  that  period. 

;.  :  '   '     /    .        r  -\    II    r    ^     ^       ■        0 


1776]  '/HE  ELEVENTH.  -395 

The  population  of  the  province,  at  the  end  of  the  royal 
government,  is  imagined  to  have  consisted  of  little  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls;  one  fifth  of 
whom  v^ere  slaves.  ^ 

The  towns  of  Edenton,  Newbern  and  Wilmington 
were  the  only  ones  to  which  the  appellation  could  be 
given,  and  the  most  populous  of  them,  Newbern,  did 
not  count  more  than  six  hundred  inhabitants. 

Religion  was  at  a  low  ebb;  notwithstanding  the  pro- 
vision made  by  law  for  one  clergyman  of  the  established 
churgh  in  every  parish,  there  were  not  more  than  six 
ministers,  settled  in  the  province.  The  presbyterians 
had  nearly  an  equal  number.  The  quakers  had  reli- 
gious establishments  in  the  counties  of  Perquimans, 
Pasquotank,  Orange,  Guilford,  Johnston  and  Carteret. 
The  Moravians  or  united  brethren  had  six  settlements, 
Salem,  Bethabara,  Bethania,  Friedberg,  Frieland  and 
Hope,  and  the  number  of  persons  under  the  care  of  this 
chnrch,  in  all  these,  was  about  five  hundred. 

There  was  no  regular  establishment  of  any  other  de- 
nomination of  christians;  though  the  counties  were 
visited  by  itinerant  baptist  and  methodist  preachers. 

Litterature  was  hardlv  known.  There  were  in  the 
whole  province  but  two  schools,  the  trustees  of  which 
had  of  late  been  incorporated;  those  of  the  towns  of 
Newbern  and  Edenton.  In  the  first,  a  wooden  building 
had  been  erected  by  the  trustees,  in  which  the  meetings 
of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  were  occasionally 
held. 

One  of  the  principal  staple  commodities  of  the  pro- 
vince was  tobacco.  It  was  principally  cultivated  in  the 
uper  counties,  bordering  on  Virginia,  and  in  the  ^vestcrn 
ones,  Indian  corn,  wheat,  peas,  beans  and  potatoes,  were 


SIJ^  CHAPTER  [1776 

^iscd  throughout  the  colony;  indigo  and  rice   were 
planted  in  the  lower  counties  of  the  district  of  Wil- 
mington.    The  swamps  on  the  borders  of  Cape  Fear 
river,  were  deemed  very  rich  and  extremely  well  calcu- 
lated for  the-culture  of  rice;  but  the  greater  part  remain- 
ed undrained  for  want  of  people.     Cotton  was  raised  on 
most  of  the  farms,  though,  perhaps,  not  on  any  for  expor- 
tation, the  staple  appeared  excellent.     Ship  building  was 
an  object  of  attention,  in  several  parts  of  the  province, 
large  quantities  of  naval  stores  and  lumber  of  all  kinds 
were  exported  yearly.     Vast  herds  of  cattle  and  hogs 
were  raised.     Many  settlers,  in  those  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, which  lay  at  a  distance  from  navigable  streams,  de- 
pended on  the  hides  of  their  cattle  and  barrelled  meat^ 
with  some  corn  and  potatoes,  for  the  people  of  their 
plantations.    Those  settlements  were  not,  however,  very 
numerous;  most  of  the  hcvas  being  on  the  borders  of 
some  river  or  creek,  affording  the  means  of  inland  naviga- 
tion.    The  province,  however,  was  greatly  deficient  ii^ 
ports,  at  the  mouths  of  her  rivers,  which  might  admit 
large  ships. 

The  ordinary  mode  of  husbandry  was  to  clear  a  piece 
of  wood  land,  a  work  of  but  little  trouble,  the  growth  of 
trees  being  generally  thin.  This  being  effected,  and  the 
clearing  fenced,  Indian  corn  was  yearly  sown,  till  the 
ground  ceased  to  yield  a  crop  sufficient  to  repay  the  labor 
of  the  sower.  In  the  lower  counties,  a  new  piece  of 
ground  was  now  cleared;  in  the  back  counties,  where  the 
soil  was  stronger  and  the  climate  more  temperate,  the 
land  was  sown  with  peas  or  beans  one  year,  and  after- 
wards, for  two  or  three  years,  with  wheat. 

In  this  system  of  crops,  the  land  was  changed  as  fast 
as  it  wore  out,  fresh  pieces  cleared,  exhausted  in  succes- 


1776]  THE  ELEVENTH.  397 

sion,  and  left  to  the  spontaneous  growth ;  it  was  not 
here,  as  in  England  and  the  northern  colonies,  where 
weeds  come  first  and  then  grass ;  the  climate  was  so 
hot,  that,  except  on  rich  moist  lands,  any  sort  of  grass 
was  scarce ;  but  the  fallow,  in  a  few  years,  became  a 
forest,  no  climate  being  more  congenial  to  the  quick 
growth  of  trees ;  if  the  planter  did  not  return,  to  culti- 
vate the  land,  which,  from  the  great  abundance  of  waste- 
ground,  was  often  the  case,  the  old  plantation  ceased 
soon  to  be  distinguis^hable  from  the  rest  of  the  woods. 

Fruit  was  in  as  great  abundance,  and  naturally  of  as 
fine  a  flavour,  as  in  any  of  the  other  provinces  ;  peaches 
were  so  plentiful,  that  vast  quantities  of  them  were 
given  to  the  hogs. 

The  total  exports  of  the  province  were  valued  at  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling. 


Records  — Magazines . — Gazettes . 


4 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  II. 


CHAPTER  I.— FROM  1729  TO  1734. 

The  province  of  Carolina  divided;  George  Burrington  ap- 
pointed governor  of  North  Carolina;  his  arrival  at  Edenton; 
Sir  Richard  Everard's  surrender  of  the  government;  sketches 
of  the  new  governor's  instructions;  Sir  Alexander  Cumming 
sent  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  neighboring  Indians;  Dr. 
Brickell  sent  by  the  governor  to  explore  the  country  towards 
the  mountains;  Sir  Alexander  meets  the  Cherokee  chiefs,  who 
acknowledge  their  dependence  on  the  king  of  Great  Britain, 
agree  to  a  treaty,  and  send  six  of  their  chiefs  to  England; 
first  meeting  of  the  legislature  under  the  authority  of  the 
crown;  the  governor's  requisitions  disregarded;  courts  of  jus- 
tice established;  arrival  of  the  Cherokee  chiefs  in  England, 
their  reception,  treaty  concluded  with  them,  their  retui'u  to 
Charleston;  chief  justice  Smith,  disagreeing  with  the  gov^ernor, 
sails  for  England;  rice  allowed  to  be  exported  from  the  Caro- 
linas  to  the  southern  parts  of  Europe;  the  governor  visits  the 
settlements  on  Cape  Fear  river;  meets  the  legislature  for  the 
second  time;  they  refuse  again  to  comply  with  his  demands; 
he  dissolves  the  assembly  ;  the  British  American  provinces 
allowed  to  export  non  enumerated  commodities  to  Ireland; 
the  manufacture  of  cordage  discouraged;  Onsrlow  precinct  es- 
tablished; the  province  of  Georgia  settled;  the  maiHjfacture  of 
hats  restrained;  lands  in  the  American  provinces  made  liable 
to  sale  on  executions;  Edgecombe  and  Bladen  preciucis  csta- 


400  TABLE  OF 

blished;  the  chief  justice  returns,  and  the  governor  departs; 
president  Rice. 

CHAPTER  II.— FROM  1734  TO  1744. 

Governor  Johnston  arrives;  meets  the  legislature;  paper 
money  emitted;  court  of  exchequer  established;  the  southern 
provinces  alarmed  at  the  approaching  rupture  between  the 
mother  country  and  France  and  Spain;  governor  Oglethorpe 
fortifies  the  province  of  Georgia;  a  Spanish  commissioner 
comes,  and  demands  the  surrender  of  that  colony;  governor 
Johnston  meets  the  legislature;  his  speech  at  the  opening  of 
the  session;  he  prorogues  the  legislature;  the  navigation  of 
British  vessels  in  the  American  seas  obstructed  by  Spanish 
giiarda  castas;  statute  for  the  encouragement  of  British  sail 
cloth  manufactures;  the  legislature  meets  at  Newbern;  cir- 
cuit courts  established  at  Newbern  and  Newton;  office  of  pro- 
vost marshal  abolished;  sheriffs  substituted;  precincts  denomi- 
nated counties;  differences  with  Spain  terminated  by  treaty; 
new  rupture;  letters  of  marque  against  the  subjects  of  Spain; 
the  village  of  Neusen  established  as  a  town,  under  the  name  of 
Wilmington,  and  admitted  to  representation  in  the  assembly; 
declaration  of  war  against  Spain;  admiral  Vernon  sent  to  the 
West  Indies;  governor  Oglethorpe  directed  to  annoy  the 
Spaniards  in  Florida;  forces  raised  for  the  purpose  in  the 
Carolinas  and  Virginia;  unsuccessful  attack  of  St.  Augustine; 
meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Edenton;  aid  granted  in  specific 
commodities;  great  scarcity  of  currency;  commdoities  made  a 
tender  in  payment  of  taxes;  the  privileges  of  British  subjects 
extended  by  parhament  to  certain  aUens  settling  in  the  Ameri- 
can provinces;  bounty  on  naval  stores  continued;  400  men  sent 
to  reinforce  admiral  Vernon's  troops  in  the  West  Indiers; 
meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Edenton;  town  of  Johnston  esta- 
blished in  Ouston;  the  province  divided  into  fourteen  parishes; 


CONTENTS.  401 

Tfieeting  of  the  legislature  at  Wilmington;  the  county  of  North 
Hampton  established;  the  parliament  forbids  the  establishment 
of  banking  institutions  in  the  American  provinces;  the  Spaniards 
make  a  descent  on  Georgia;  governor  Oglethorpe's  successful 
defence;  the  enemy  abandons  the  colony;  the  legislature  meets 
at  Edenton;  provisions  made  for  erecting  a  magazine  in  each 
county;  election  of  members  of  assembly  regulated;  parlia- 
Bient  continues  the  bounty  on  the  exportation  of  naval  stores; 
lord  Granville's  part  of  the  Carolinas  assigned  to  him  in  seve- 
ralty; American  courts  of  vice  admiralty,  authorized  to  take 
cognizance  of,  prize  cases. 

CHAPTER  III.— FROM  1744  TO  1755. 

France  declares  war  against  Great  Britain;  the  French  of 
cape  Breton  take  fort  Canseau;  unsuccessful  attempt  against 
Annapolis;  meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Newbern;  fort  John- 
ston, on  Cape  Fear  river,  built;  the  town  of  Brunswick  esta- 
bhshed;  capture  of  cape  Breton;  the  pretender's  unsuccessful 
attempt;  meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Newbern  and  Wilming- 
ton; the  counties  of  Johnston  and  Granville  established;  militia 
regulated;  right  of  representation  rendered  equal  among  the 
counties;  superior  court  removed  to  Newbern,  with  the  court 
of  chancery;  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer  and  nisi  prius  held  at 
Edenton,  Wilmington,  and  the  county  of  Edgecombe;  adherents 
to  the  pretender  remove  to  the  American  provinces;  several  of 
them  settle  on  Cape  Fear  river;  provision  made  for  a  revision 
of  the  provincial  laws;  parliament  continues  the  statutes  for 
^he  encouragement  of  the  manufacture  of  British  sail  cloth, 
and  for  allowing  tltc  exportation  of  rice  from  the  Carolinas  to 
the  southern  part  of  Europe;  tea  allowed  to  be  imported  into 
the  American  provinces,   without  paying  the  inland  duty;   the 

»:ulture  of  indigo   encouraged   by  a   bounty i  meeting   of  the 
N.  CARO.    U       51 


402  TABLE  OF 

legislature  at  Edenton;  fortifications  directed  at  Ocracock, 
Topsail  and  Bear  inlets;  emission  of  paper  money;  fiscal  regu- 
lations; new  fee  bill;  exportation  of  raw  hides  forbidden;  Ttrs- 
carora  Indian  lands  marked  off;  king's  rent  roll;  James  Aber- 
crombie  appointed  agent  of  the  province  in  England;  peace  of 
Aix  la  Chapelle;  Spanish  privateers  come  into  Cape  Fear 
river;  two  of  them  blown  up;  parHament  authorizes  the  people 
called  Unitas  Fratrum,  to  settle  in  the  American  provinces; 
first  printing  pr^ess  established  in  North  Carohna;  Nova  Scotia 
settlements  encouraged;  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  Newbern  j 
revisal  of  the  laws  approved;  certain  statutes  of  the  British 
parliament  declared  in  force;  provision  for  the  relief  of  insolv- 
ent debtors;  the  counties  of  Duplin  and  Anson,  and  the  town 
of  Hawns,  estabhshed;  raw  silk  and  bar  and  pig  iron  exempted 
from  duty  by  the  British  parliament  on  importation  from  the 
British  American  provinces;  slit  mills  and  iron  furnaces  strictly 
forbidden  to  be  erected;  the  people  called  the  Unitas  Fratrum^ 
purchase  a  large  tract  of  land  between  Dan  and  Yadkin  rivers 
from  lord  Granville;  the  legislature  meet  at  Newbern;  first  in- 
spection laws;  pilotage  of  Cape  Fear  river  regulated;  inland 
duty  on  wines  and  spirits  from  South  Carolina;  new  style;  ma- 
nufacture of  pot  and  pearl  ashes  in  the  American  provinces  en* 
couraged;  bounty  on  naval  stores,  masts,  &c.  continued;  meet- 
ing of  the  legislature  at  Bath;  improvement  in  the  navigation- 
of  the  principal  rivers;  the  county  of  Orange  and  the  town  of 
Wimberly  established;  the  first  printed  publication  of  the 
provincial  laws ;  charter  of  the  province  of  Georgia  surrendered ; 
gxDvernor  Johnston  dies. 

CHAPTER  IV.— FROM  1752  TO  1754. 

President  Rice;  great  storm;  president  Rowan;  meeting  of 
the  legislature  at  Newbern;  the  county  of  Rowan  and  town  of 


CONTENTS.  403 

Portsmouth  established;  fort  Granville  built;  encroachment  of 
the  French  on  the  Ohio;  lord  Holderness's  circular;  orders 
of  the  French  king  to  his  governor  in  Canada;  governor  Din- 
widdie's  letter  to  president  Rov^an,  soliciting  an  aid  of  troops; 
meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Wilmington;  lower  house  insist 
on  an  emission  of  paper  money;  plan  for  a  loan  office;  aid 
granted  and  paper  money  emitted;  the  county  of  Cumberland 
and  the  towns  of  Exeter  and  Gloucester  estabHshed;  forces 
sent  to  Virginia  under  colonel  Innis;  they  return  without  any 
thing  being  effected;  Albany  plan  of  union, 

CHAPTER  v.— FROM  1754  TO  1760. 

Governor  Dobbs  arrives  at  N^wbern,  with  a  number  of  can- 
non and  firelocks;  his  speech  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  legis 
?ature;  aid  granted  to  the  king;  new  judicial  system;  genera 
Braddock  arrives  in  Virginia,  with  a  strong  force;  his  circular 
letter  to  the  governors;  his  difficulties  in  procuring  aid;  gover- 
nor Dobbs  attends  him  at  Alexandria;  plan  of  the  campaign; 
the  general  marches  towards  Monongahela;  is  attacked,  de- 
feated and  killed;  o-overnor  Dobbs  visits  the  western  frontier 
and  the  sea  coast;  meets  the  legislature  at  Newbern;  fort 
Dobbs,  in  tlie  county  of  Rowan,  erected;  Wachovia  erefted 
into  a  distinct  parish;  yellow  fev^r;  lord  Loundon,  the  new 
commander  in  chief,  arrives  in  Virginia;  Oswego  taken  by  the 
French;  meeting  of  the  legislature;  aid  granted;  improvement 
of  roads  and  inspection  laws;  the  upper  house,  at  the  governor's 
recommendation,  address  the  king  for  troops  for  the  fortifica- 
tions; post  continued;  governor  Glenn,  of  South  Car^'ina, 
erects  forts  in  the  western  country  lately  arquired  frc.m  the 
Indians;  force  sent  under  captain  Waddle  to  fort  Loudon; 
governor  Dobbs  attends  a  meeting  of  the  goveriiors  of  the 
southern  provinces  at  Philadelphia;  plan  of  the  next  campaign; 


i04  TABLE  OF 

general   Lyttleton,  of  South    Carolina,    applies    for   succour; 
governor  Dobbs  convenes    the  legislature;    succour   granted j 
indemnification  to  the  provinces  of  Virginia,  North  and  South 
Carolina  voted  by  parhament;  meeting  of  the   legislature  at 
Newbern;  aid  granted;  Indian  affairs;  gloomy  prospect  of  the 
time;  William  Pitt's  circular  letter;  SirJefTrey  Amherst  arrives 
at  Hahfax  with  troops;  general  Abercrombie,  commander  in 
chief;  plan  of  the  next  campaign;  the  legislature  meets  at  New- 
bern;  aid  granted;  the  town  of  Hertford  estabhshed;  the  island 
of  Cape  Breton  taken;  fort  Frontegnac;  the  legislature  meets 
at  Edenton;  aid  granted;  the  city  of  Tower  Hill  established  as^ 
the  seat  of  government;  Halifax  district  and  Nixonton  esta- 
blished;   fort  Duquesne   taken;  the  Indians  fall  on  the  back 
settlements  of  the  southern  provinces;  riots  in  Edenton  dis- 
trict;   meeting  of  the    legislature  at  Newbern;    ^  iagira  and 
Qiiebec  taken;  meeting  of  the  legislature  at  Wilm..  gtoi;  new 
court  system;  altercation  between  the  two  houses;  attempt  to 
emit  paper  money;  aid  to  the  king;  the  county  of  Hertford 
established;    navigation   of  Neuse   and    Pamphco    rivers;    the 
town    of  Hillsborough    established;     the    assembly   dissolved^ 
governor  Lyttleton,  of  South  Carolina,  marches  against  the 
Indians;  new  legislative  body  meet  at  Newbern;  riots  at  Hills- 
borough; sheritT  prevented  from  holding  the  poll;  court  system, 
lower  house  address  the  governor  to  pass  the  bill;  his  perplexi- 
ty; he  consults  the  chief  justice  and  attorney  general,  who  ad- 
vise him  to  give  his  assent;  he  addresses  the  lower  house,  and 
presses  them  to  pass  the   aid  bill  first;  the  lower  house  form 
themselves  into  a  committee  of  secresy  of  the  whole,  and  oa 
its  report  pass  a  resolution  disapproving  the  governor's  conduct,, 
and  address  the  king;  address  the  governor  again;  he  rejects, 
the  bill;  county  courts  established;  clergy  bill;  the  assembly  ig 
prorogued;  meets  again;  superior  court  bill  passed;  the  upper 
bouse  amends  the  aid  bill;  the  lower  house  complains;  it  passes 


CONTENTS'.  405 

both  liouses  with  a  clause  for  an  emission  of  paper  money,  and 
is  rejected  by  the  governor. 

CHAPTER  VI.-~FROM  1760  TO  1764. 

The  Cherokees  fall  on  the  back  parts  of  South  Carolina? 
force  sent  under  captain  Waddle  to  the  rehef  of  that  province; 
the  Creeks  join  in  the  war;  governor  Bull  applies  to  governor 
Dobbs  for  help;  the  legislature  convened  at  Wilmington;  back- 
wardness of  the  lower  house;  aid  and  militia  bill;  distressed 
situation  of  fort  Loudon;  the  garrison  abandon  it;  success  of 
the  British  arms  in  Canada;  the  legislature  meets  at  W^ilming- 
ton;  difficulty  in  forming  a  house;  election    of  members    of 
assembly  regulated;  the  county  of  Pitt  and  the  town  of  Tar- 
borough;  first  lottery  encouraged  by  legislative  authority;  aid 
bill  rejected  by  the  governor;  legislature  prorogued  for    one 
day;  new  session;  expedient  of  the  lower  house  in  regard  to 
the  aid  bill;  the  assembly  dissolved;  avowed  motives  of  the 
dissolution;  the  governor's  conduct  censured  at  home;  death  of 
George   II.;    George    III.    proclaimed;    new   legislative    body; 
contest    about    the    agent;    aid   bill;    colonel  Greene    sent   to 
South  Carolina;  marches  against  the  Cherokees;  defeats  them; 
treaty  made  with  them;  late  court  laws  disallowed  by  the  king; 
governor  Dobbs  censures  lord  Egremont's  circular  letter;  now 
legislative  body  meets  in  Wilmington;  the  governor's  speech; 
address  of  the  lower  house;    legislature   prorogued;    seconil 
meeting;  the  house   refuse  an   aid;  anxiety  occasioned  by  ac- 
counts  of  t!ie  repeal  of  the  loan  laws;  legislature  prorogued; 
third  meeting;    contest   between  the  two   houses;    the    lower 
house  addresses  the  king;  the  assembly  dissolved;  the  governor 
orders  recruits  to  be  raised;  representation  of  the  lords  com- 
missioners of  trade  and  plantations  on  lottery  and  agent  bills; 
new  legislative  body  convened  at  Ncwbern;  new  comt  system. 


400  TABLE  OF 

contest  between  the  two  houses:  clergy  and  road  acts;  the 
county  of  Mecklenberg  and  the  towns  of  Kingston  and  Camp- 
bellton  established;  the  two  houses  address  the  king  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Tower  Hill  act;  protest  in  the  upper  house;  de- 
finitive treaty  of  peace;  charter  of  the  towns  of  Edenton,  New- 
bern,  Wilmington  and  Halifax;  governors  of  the  southern  pro- 
vinces meet  at  Augusta  "for  the  settlement  of  Indian  affairs; 
lord  Egremont's  circular  letter  on  contraband  trade;  governor 
Dobbs  goes  to  Augusta;  president  Hasell;  Indian  treaty;  the 
governor  returns;  meets  the  assembly  at  Wilmington;  contest 
between  the  houses;  chart  of  the  coast;  culture  of  hemp  en- 
couraged; militia  act;  the  counties  of  Brunswick  and  Bute 
estabhshed;  first  school  act;  resolution  of  parliament  on  taxing 
the  colonies;  periodical  publications  first  attempted;  North 
Carolina  Magazine;  Wilmington  Post  Boy;  lieutenant  governor 
Tryon;  legislature  meets  at  Wilmington;  letter  of  the  speaker 
o£  the  house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts  on  the  taxa- 
tion of  the  colonies;  post  office  encouraged;  account  of  paper 
money  and  treasury  notes  emitted;  contest  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  king's  printer;  governor  takes  his  leave  of  the  house, 
on  his  intended  voyage  to  Europe;  disturbances  in  Oran^re 
coimty;  the  governor  dies. 

CHAPTER  VII.— FROM  1165  TO  1768. 

Lieutenant  governor  Tryon  takes  the  administration  of  gov- 
ernment; George  Whitfield  passes  through  theCarohnas;  riots 
in  Mecklenberg;  legislature  m.eets  at  Wilmington;  post  office; 
clergy  law;  first  rumor  of  the  stamp  act;  legislature  prorogued; 
general  consternation  through  the  British  provinces;  dissolution 
of  the  ghouse  of  burgesses  of  Virginia;  meetings  of  the  peo- 
ple at  Edenton,  Newbern  and  Wilmington;  disturbances  ia 
^)range;  house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts  propose  a 


CONTENTS.  407 

•meefcing]of  deputies  from  all  the  provinces,  at  New-York;  pro- 
ceedings  of  people   at  Providence,  Boston,    Charlestown,   in 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey,  Maryland;  congress 
at  New-York;  proceedings  in  Virginia;  North  Carolina;  asso- 
ciation in  Philadelphia    and  New-York;    lieutenant  governor 
Tryon  appointed  governor;  general  Conway's  circular  letter; 
Indian  affairs;  stamps  arrive  in  Cape  Fear  river;  their  landing 
prevented;  duel  at  Wilmington;  surviving  party  presented;  his 
trial  and  acquittal;  chief  justice  Berry  shoots  himself;  stamp 
act  repealed;  first  meeting  of  the  people  of  Orange,  at  Mad- 
dock's  mill;  meeting  on  Deep  river;  second  meeting-  at   the 
mill;  new  legislative  body  meets  at  Newbern;  contest  between 
the  houses  on  the  appointment  of  a  treasurer;  address  to  the 
throne;  Presbyterian  ministers  permitted  to  marry;  Tuscararo 
land;  palace;  Cherokee  line;  the  legislature   meets   at   New- 
bern;   new    court    system;    Hillsborough    district   estabhshed; 
house  address  the  king  for  an  emission  of  paper  money;  asso- 
ciation of  the  ra^  ilators;  their  committee  waits  on  the  gover- 
nor; association  in  Anson;  proceedings  of  governor  and  coun- 
cil; governor  proceeds  to  MiUsborough;  his  proclamation;  sends 
the  sheriff  to  collect  the   taxes;  deputies  of  the  regulators  at- 
tack him;  militia  called;  oath   of  allegiance;  meeting   of  the 
council;  regulators  come  in  arms  to  the  superior  court;  they 
retire;  proclamation  of  pardon. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— FROM  1768  TO  1771. 

The  legislature  meets  at  Newbern;  letter  of  the  speaker  of 
the  house  of  representatives  of  Massachusetts;  treasury  certi- 
ficates; inspectors'  notes  received  for  taxes;  the  county  of 
Tryon  established;  lieutenant  governor  Mercer;  assembly  dis- 
solved; first  disturbances  in  Orange;  further  proclamation  of 
pardon;  new  legislature  meets  at  Newbern;  Indiana  flairs;  cul- 


408  TABLE  OF 

ture  of  raw  silk;  letter  of  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  burgesses 
of  Virginia;  resolution  on  the  taxation  of  the  colonies;  address 
to  the  throne;  assembly  dissolved;  disturbances  in  Orange  ex- 
fend  to  other  counties;  superior  court  obstructed  at  Hills- 
borough; riots;  charter  of  the  town  of  Hillsborough;  fortifica- 
tion of  Newbern;  the  legislature  meets  there;  Hermon  Hus- 
band, one  of  the  regulators,  expelled  from  the  house,  imprisoned 
and  bailed;  riot  act;  chief  justice's  salary;  the  counties  of 
Wake,  Guilford  and  Chatham  established;  execution  law; 
post  office;  secretary's  office  removed  to  Newbern;  fresh 
disturbances;  council  advises  the  governor  to  march  against  the 
regulators;  their  meeting  in  Rowan;  court  of  oyer  and  termi- 
«-  ner  at  Newton;  governor  Try  on  marches  at  the  head  of  an 
armed  force;  proceeds  to  Johnston  court  house;  Wake  county; 
Hillsborough;  general  Waddle  compelled  by  the  regulators  to 
retreat;  Haw  and  Alamance;  battle;  rout  of  the  regulators; 
army  marches  to  Sando  creek;  Jersey  settlements;  Bethabara; 
Reedy  creek;  joined  by  general  Waddle;  return  to  Hillsbo- 
rough; court  of  oyer  and  terminer;  sentence;  execution;  army 
leaves  Hillsborough;  governor  Try  on  takes  care  of  them,  and 
proceeds  to  New-York. 

CHAPTER  IX.— FROM  1771  TO  1774. 

• 

President  Hasel;  governor  Martin;  the  legislature  meets  in 
Newbern;  oath  of  abjuration;  South  Carolina  line;  importation 
of  salt  from  Portugal  and  Spain;  address  to  the  king;  act  of 
indemnification;  town  of  Martinborough  established;  duty  on 
wine  and  spirits;  assembly  dissolved;  governor's  proclamation; 
new  legislature;  act  of  pardon  and  obhvion;  contest  on  the 
process  of  attachment;  expenses  of  running  the  South  Caro- 
lina line;  pot  and  pearl  ashes;  house  refuses  to  sit  without  a 
full  quorum;  assembly  dissolved;  great  distress  occasioned  by 
the  occlusion  of  courts;  court  of  oyer  and  terminer;  governors 


prohibited  from  issuingpatents;  court  bill  disallowed;  governor 
authorized  to  assent  to  an  attachment  law  on  certain  terms; 
the  legislature  meets  at  Newbern;  Virginia  resolutions;  com- 
niittee  of  correspondence;  duty  on  wines  and  liquors;  mem- 
ber from  Tarborough  refused  a  seat;  court  bill,  attachment 
clause:  contest  between  the  houses;  committee  appointed  to 
address  the  king;  legislature  prorogued;  new  meeting;  gover- 
nor rejects  the  superior  court  bill;  lower  house  addresses  the 
throne  for  leave  to  issue  paper  nioney;  inferior  courts;  courts 
of  oyer  and  terminer;  counterfeited  bills;  malicious  killing  of 
a  slave  declared  murder;  the  county  of  Martin  established; 
duty  on  wines  and  liquors;  Indian  troubles;  militia  law;  legis- 
lature prorogued;  dissolved  by  prorogation;  new  orders  in  re- 
gard to  patents;  coimty  meetings;  provincial  meeting  proposed; 
governor's  proclamation  to  forbid  it;  the  deputies  meet;  the 
oounciPs  advice  to  the  governor  thereon;  proceedings  of  the 
deputies. 

CHAPTER  X.— FROM  1774  TO  1776. 

Continental  congress;  governor  Martin  goes  to  New-York; 
president  Hasel;  committees;  governor  Martin  returns;  Hen- 
derson's purchase;  general  meeting  of  deputies  called;  meet- 
ing of  the  le2;islatirre;  of  the  deputies;  governor's  speech; 
address  prepared  by  the  lower  houso;  proceedings  of  the  de- 
puties approved  by  the  lower  house;  assembly  dissolved;  reso- 
lution of  the  convention  of  deputies;  governor  fortifies  the 
palace;  sends  emissaries  towards  Cross  creek  and  the  back 
counties;  county  and  town  committees;  governor's  letter  to 
general  Gage  liiterceptcLl;  lie  retreats  to  Cape  Fear;  negn"u:i? 
on  Tar  river  rise;  inhabitants  of  Wilmington  march  to  fort 
Johnston,  and  set  fire  to  the  buildings;  the  committees  at 
Wilmington  and  Nev/bern  denounce  the  governor;  his  letter 
io  L.  H.  de  Rossett;  continental  congress  nieot-^;  George 
.V.  CARO.    II.      r>5 


410  TABLE  OF 

Washington  appointed  commander  in  chief;  emission  of  con- 
tinental money;  resolution  of  congress  in  regard  to  North 
Carolina;  fast  ordered;  congress  rise;  the  ministers  attempt 
to  separate  New-York  and  North  Carolina  from  the  colonies; 
proposal  of  causing  the  negroes  to  rise;  provincial  congress 
called  at  Hillsborough;  governor  Martin's  proclamation;  the 
congress  meets;  approve  the  association;  subscribe  a  test; 
address  the  people;  governor's  proclamation  directed  to  be 
burnt  by  the  hangman;  forces  raised;  plan  of  a  general  con- 
federation disapproved;  paper  money  emitted;  address  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain;  provincial  council;  committee  of 
safety:  town  and  county  committees;  premiums;  provincial 
congress  rises. 

CHAPTER  XI.— FROM  1775  TO  1776. 

Meetings  held  in  the  county  of  Mecklenberg,  to  ascertain 
the  sense  of  the  people;  orders  issued  to  elect  delegates;  dele- 
gates elected;  they  meet  at  Charlotte  on  the  day  appointed; 
news  of  the  action  at  Lexington,  Mass.  received;  committee 
appointed  to  draw  up  resolutions;  resolutions  drawn  up  and 
submitted;  the  continental  congress  meets;  Georgia  sendg 
delegates  to  that  body;  recommendation  to  New-York,  North 
Carolina,  Georgia  and  Delaware;  supply  of  salt,  corn  and  peas 
by  North  Carolina  to  Bermuda;  emission  of  continental  mo- 
Hcy;  North  Carolina  allowed  a  restricted  exportation  of  pro- 
duce; ministers  sent  to  the  back  parts  of  North  Carolina; 
meeting  of  the  provincial  council;  disturbances  in  New  Hano- 
ver; armed  vessels;  Scotch  at  Cross  creek;  general  McDc- 
nald;  lord  Dunmore,  in  Virginia;  Great  bridge;  royal  standard 
raised  at  Cross  creek;  colonels  Moore,  Caswell  and  Lillington; 
Rocky  river;  Moore's  creek  bridge ;  tories  defeated;  provincial 
council  meets  at  Newbern;  committee  sent  to  South  Carolina; 


CONTENTS.  41 1 

<5ontinental  emission  of  paper  money;  general  Lee;  provincial 
congress  at  Hillsborough;  military  arrangements;  committee 
to  Virginia;  protection  of  the  coast;  paper  money;  continental 
delegates  authorized  to  declare  independence  and  form 
alliances;  declaration  published  by  the  congress;  general 
McDonald  paroled;  congress  rise;  British  fleet  arrives  in  Cape- 
Fear  river;  lands  troops;  their  ill  success;  return  to  the  ships; 
the  fleet  sails  for  Charleston;  tories  on  New  river;  the  fleet 
leaves  the  coast  of  South  Carolina;  governor  Tonyn's  project; 
general  Rutherford  marches  against,  and  chastises  the  Indians  i 
congress  declares  the  independence  of  the  colonies;  it  is  pro- 
ckimed  at  Halifax. 


THE  END. 


ERRATA. 

Page  7,  imo  31.  for  cliamel  reati  cliarnel 

42,  13,  intended— tended. 

55,  IS,  Ansa — Anson. 

75,  14,  Neppel — KeppeL 

140,  10.  tanial— trivial. 

141,  18,  their — true. 

205,  13,  Fanquin — Fauquier. 

"  14,  caused — accomDanied. 

208,  26,  laid— said. 

222,  22,  ingenuously — ingeniously. 

223,  8,  ingenuous — ingenious. 
230,  33,  five— six. 

234,  13.  David— Isaac. 

243,  20,  <ie/e— and. 

312,  6,  after  sufficient — fljf^caus6 

3f?6.  15,  their — were. 


aU 


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Biincrtrft  CxrllectUrn.