USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 18
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till lately, assumed the power of imposing taxes upon the people for the purpose of raising a revenue.
They added, that to say, that the commons of Great Britain had 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 imposed internal taxes ; and the late acts of parlia- ment, granting certain duties on the British colonies, plainly tended to the same point. They complained that duties had been imposed to enhance the com- merce of one part of the empire, 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 them without paying a duty for them.
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They considered the act suspending the legislative power of the province of New-York, as still more alarming to the colonists, although it had that single province in view; for, if the parliament could compel them to furnish one single article to the troops, sent over, they might by the same rule, 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 permitted 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 house of burgesses stated, 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 James 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 necessary on this delicate point.
They concluded with a hope, that they had ex- pressed themselves on the occasion, with a firmness that became freemen, pleading for their fundamental rights, and with a decency, that would exempt them from an imputation of faction and disloyalty; and they had made known their proceedings on this sub-
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ject, with, a view that the representatives of the peo- ple 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, the 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.
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An address was prepared for the king. 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 carry- ing beyond sea, the inhabitants of America, suspected of any crime, to be 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 witness could be found to testify his innocence, shun-
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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.
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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-
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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 been 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 gratitude, 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 could 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
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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, would produce the happiest 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 the assembly.
In the beginning of the new year, the tranquility of the province began again to be disturbed. The regula- tors, assembling themselves in large parties, visited the
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counties in the upper districts, ill treating those who re- fused to join the standard of revolt. 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 sheriff's 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, "that their designs have even extended farther, 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 sheriff 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-
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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 effectual 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, which 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-
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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 by Muddy and part of Queen street, and was the only inhabited part of it ; orders were 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- 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 renowned 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 Manilia, who was on a visit at governor Tryon's, and was said to be the author of the following lines, inscribed over the principal door, in the vestibule :
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Rege pio, felix, diris inimica tyrannis, Virtuti has ædes libera terra dedit. Sint domus et dominus sæclis exempla futuris, Hic 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 this 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 legislature was drawn, by the governor's speech, to the abuses in the management of the finances of the province, the pre- vailing, 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
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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- vince, for the elegant edifice in which he met the houses.
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He concluded, by acquainting 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 England, 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 lamented, 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
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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 governor, 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, which 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
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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 officer 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.
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