USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 13
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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 Carolina, 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 very 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
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success of his journey to the province of Georgia, he in- formed them, 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 their 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: ยท 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 sheriff's 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 were 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.
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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 agents 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 house, 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 substitute for it, the word council.
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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 deliberation, 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 serviccable they might be to the public, unless the lower house agreed to the alteration of the name so anxiously desired to be rid of. They 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
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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 who 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
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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 published 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 flag had been that of victory on every sea,
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found her already too great dominions enlarged 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 weight 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 worldl 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
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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 paper ; 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 long 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. 4
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
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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- ments 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 fax ; 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 by 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 encouragement 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 chanuel and burdened with new taxes and
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impositions, laid upon them 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 ense the trader, as far as in their power, of the heavy expenses attending the exportation ot 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 with, 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.
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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.
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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 appeared, 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 king's orders, proclamations and laws, was attended with an expense, it was the duty and privilege of the lower
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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-
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alty of the inhabitants of the province 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 important 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 county 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, Robert Palmer and Benjamin Herron.
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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.
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CHAPTER VII.
WILLIAM TRYON 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 John Fro- hock 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 of 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-
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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 in each parish, whose salary should 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 themselves the majority of public assemblies; each of whom, 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
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