USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 16
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period, when there should be greater need of, and stronger inclination to debate between the houses, on questions 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 earliest oppor- tunity of manifesting their unshaken loyalty, and making every return of duty and gratitude, for the paternal goodness which had 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 natural attachment to the 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
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commerce, would produce in them, every proper sen- timent of love and gratitude.
A sum of one hundred and thirty-three pounds, six shillings and eight pence, was appropriated to the sup- port of 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
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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 scheme 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
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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 for 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 which 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 grounds 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
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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 Decem- ber; the governor, in his address, spoke of the approba- tion and acknowledgments due to the good conduct 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, in the strict ful- filment of their engagements at the 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 diligence 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
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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- selves 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 adopt the former, perhaps contrary to the sense of their constituents. and the imposition on a people, who, from poverty, were hardly able to bear the necessary expenses 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
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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 by the governor, and had an allowance of about five 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 Ameri- ca. John Temple and James Robinson, who were already on the continent, and Henry Hutton, Wil- liam Burch and Charles Paxton, who arri. ed soon after, were to compose it. The duties were to be collected after the 20th of November: the colonies believing, that this board was appointed to enforce the new duties, were again inflamed and pronounc-
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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 now 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 "the request of 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 exaction of illegal contributions and to hear open testimony against acts of extortion practiced
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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- cording 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 who 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 sheriff's and the vestrymen and desire them to meet twelve deputiesfrom 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, tock. 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, they fired a few
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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;
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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,
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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 the 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, in ruin 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 the 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,
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to be made acquainted, 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 sheriff's 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
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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; they would
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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- lected any 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 the council shortly, he would lay the communication they had brought, before them. and would apprise them in time of the result of their deliberation.
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