USA > South Carolina > Documentary history of the American revolution: consisting of letters and papers relating to the contest for liberty, chiefly in South Carolina, from originals in the possession of the editor, and other sources, V.1 > Part 27
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A packet arrived from England two days ago at Cockspur, after a short passage and all the letters that they did not suspect came to friends of liberty were allowed to be brought up by Mr. Thomas Young (a half tory as he is usually denominated) as also an Act of Parliament repealing the Boston Port Bill and an Act to include New York, North Carolina and Georgia, in the restraining Bill, also the King's Proclamation, dated 22d December last, declaring that all vessels cleared out after the Ist January last, and taken by any of the King's ships shall be deemed lawful prizes and is so particular as to point out the shares from the Admiral to the swabber.
I have seen a letter from a capital merchant in London to Mr. George Houston of this town, inclosing a contract which he had made with the contractors of the Vietualling Office, to supply all his Majesty's
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
ships that may be stationed or rendezvous here, and that he should also supply the agents of the Northern department with such provisions as could be purchased cheaper here than there, and from the tenor of the letter, apprehend a number of men-of-war may be expected; for further particulars, I refer you to the Council of Safety, who will send you copies of all the letters of any consequence together with the Act of Parliament aud Proclamation.
I shall return home as soon as I have completed the business sent on, if nothing material occurs.
I herewith inclose you two papers of intelligence and a general return.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servt., STEPH'N. BULL.
COL. THOMSON TO CAPT. GOODWIN.
[Original MIS.]
MARCH 17, 1776. To Capt. Robert Goodwin, Congarees.
DEAR SIR :- I expect to see you at Nelson's Ferry by Friday next, or Saturday at farthest, with your old Company and all your new recruits. If you will call on me Thursday or Friday, I will go to Nelson's Ferry. Please to order Lieut. Liles to recruit men for Capt. Donalson, as he is in his Company. I hope your Company will be full very soon.
I am, dear sir, your humble sert.,
WM. THOMSON.
MR. LAURENS TO MR. DRAYTON.
[Original MS.]
CHARLESTON, March 21, 1776. The Hon. Mr. Drayton :
DEAR SIR :- Inclosed you will find Col. Gadsden's orders for eighteen men to be put on board the armed schooner " Peggy," of which Lieut. Sherman is to be the commander; the mate of the schooner has con- sented to go, which I am glad of, as he is acquainted with the vessel and every thing about her.
I am of opinion that two of your four pounders which may be hoisted in, in an instant, will be of great service, and although there are no ring- bolts in the schooner, the scamen will soon make a contrivance for fixing and working the guns, sufficient for the intended short service.
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Your Lieutenants will be deliberate in taking every necessary article on board; dispatch is absolutely necessary ; she must be at or over the bar by day-light. You will give the necessary orders; and I would for the encouragement of the men, besides the value of the prize, promise £35, per man, for every prisoner taken, and the like sum for every man killed of the enemy.
I am, dear sir, your obedient humble servt., HENRY LAURENS.
A GENERAL RETURN OF THE DIFFERENT DETACHMENTS ON DUTY AT SAVANNAH IN GEORGIA. UNDER THE COMMAND OF COLONEL STEPHEN BULL.
[Original M.S.]
HEAD QUARTERS SAVANNAH, March 15th, 1776.
Names of Companies.
Major.
Captains.
Lieutenants. .
ter & Adjutant.
Surgeon, Or. Mas
Sergeant's Majore.
Sergeants. .
Corporals.,
Drums and FifeR. .
Privateg.
Charles Town Volunteeers,
11
2
3
29
Charles Town Light Infantry
1
3
14
Charles Town Fusiliers,.
2
25
Granville County Regiment.
2
9
2
10
6
9 105
Beaufort Light Infantry,
St. Helena Volunteers
2
2
31
Euhaw Volunteers
Huspa Volunteers,
1
17
Light Horse, or Pocotalligo hunters,
1
16
Oakety Creek Detachment
1
9
St. Peter's.
1
1
23
Pipe Creek,.
11
32
Boggy Gut,
0)
New Windsor,
11
24
Upper Three Runs
Beaufort Artillery
Total
1
9 |11 |1 , 2 :22 | 5 |7 256
A true Return.
THOS. RUTLEDGE, Adjutant.
1
1
31
11111
3
1
Charles Town Rangers,
132
1
1
1
i 16
Black Swamp,
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
COL. BULL TO MR. LAURENS.
[Original MS.]
SHELDEN, March 26, 1776. To Henry Laurens, Esq., President of the Council of Safety in Charles- ton :
Sra :-- About midway between Savannah and Purrysburg. I received your favor and the five hundred pounds sterling by Gruber; I disman- tled all the vessels in Georgia, before I left that Province, and have returned safe home with my command.
I purpose being in Charlestown to-morrow night, and will the next day acquaint the Congress or Council of Safety in what manner I have executed their order. Could I have heard from you but twelve hours sooner. I should not have left Savannah as soon as I have done, as there is one piece of service which I wanted to have put into execution, which I did not think myself properly authorised to do.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most humble servt.,
STEPH'N. BULL. P. S .- I have supplied Gruber with five pounds of the public money.
THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES, APRIL, 11, 1776.
(From the MS. in the State Department. ]
April 11, 1776.
Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council,
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the General Assembly :
It has afforded me much satisfaction to observe, that, though the season of the year rendered your setting very inconvenient, your private concerns. which must have suffered greatly by your long and close application in the late Congress to the affairs of this Colony, requiring your presence in the country, yet, continuing to prefer the public weal to case and retirement. you have been busily engaged, in framing such laws, as our peculiar circumstances rendered absolutely necessary to be passed, before your adjournment. Having given my assent to them, I presume you are now desirous of a recess.
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On my part, a most solemn oath has been taken, for the faithful discharge of my duty. On yours, a solemn assurance has been given, to support me therein-thus a public compact between us stands recorded. You may rest assured, that I shall keep this oath ever in mind ; the Constitution shall be the invariable rale of my conduct ; my ears shall be always open, to the complaints of the injured ; justice, in mercy, shall neither be denied, or delayed ; our laws and religion, and the liberties of America, shall be maintained and defended to the utmost of my power. I repose the most perfect confidence in your engagement.
And now, gentlemen, let me entreat that you will, in your several parishes and districts, use your influence and authority, to keep peace and good order, and procure strict observance of, and ready obedience to the law.
If any persons therein, are still strangers to the nature and merits of the dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies, you will explain it to them fully, and teach them, if they are so unfortunate as not to know their inherent rights. Prove to them. that the previleges of being tried by a jury of the vicinage, acquainted with the parties and wit- nesses, of being taxed, only with their own consent, given by their representatives, freely chosen by, and sharing the burthen, equally with themselves, not for the aggrandizing a rapacious minister, and his dependant favorites, and for corrupting the people, and subverting their liberties, but for such wise and salutary purposes, as they themselves, and of having their internal polity regulated, only by laws, consented to by competent judges of what is best adapted to their situation and circumstances, equally bound too by those laws, are inestimable, and derived from that Coustitution, which is the birthright of the poorest man, and the inheritance of the most wealthy. Relate to them, the various unjust, and cruel statutes, which the British Parliament, claim- ing a right to make laws for binding the Colonies in all cases whatso- ever, have enacted, and the many sanguinary measures which have been, and are, daily pursued, and threatens to wrest from them, these invaluable benefits, and to enforce such an unlimited and destructive claim. To the most illiterate it must appear, that no power on carth can, of right, deprive them of the hardly-earned fruits of their honest industry, toil and labor. Even to them, the impious attempt to prevent many thousands from using the means of subsistence provided for man, by the bounty of his Creator, and to compel them, by famine to sur- render their rights, will seem to call for Divine vengeance. The enden- vors, by deceit and bribery, to engage barbarous nations, to embrue
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their hands in the innocent blood of helpless women and children, and the atterupts, by fair but false promises, to make ignorant domestics subservient to the most wicked purpose. are acts, at which humanity must revolt.
Show your constituents, then. the indispensible necessity, which there was for establishing some mode of government in this Colony, the ben- efits of that which a full and free representation has established, and that the consent of the people is the origin, and their happiness the end of government. Remove the apprehensions with which honest and well meaning, but weak and credulous minds, may be alarmed. and prevent ill impressions by artful and designing enemies. Let it be known, that this Constitution is but temporary,-till an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained. and that such an event is still desired, by men who yet remember former friendships and intimate connections, though for defeuding their persons and properties, they are stigmatised and treated as rebels.
Truth, being known, will prevail over artificial misrepresentation -- conviction must follow its discovery. In such case, no man, who is worthy of life, liberty or property, will, or can refuse to join with you, in defending them, to the last extremity. Disdaining every sordid view. and the moan, paltry considerations of private interest and present emolument, when placed in competition with the liberties of millions, and seeing that there is no alternative, but absolute unconditional sub- mission, and the most abject slavery, or, a defence becoming men born to freedom, he will not hesitate about the choice. Although superior force may, by the permission of Heaven, lay waste our town and ravage our country, it can never eradicate, from the breats of freemen, those principles which are ingrafted in their very nature ; such men will do their duty, neither knowing or regarding consequences; but, submitting them with humble confidence to the omniscient and omnipotent Arbiter and Director of the fate of Empires, and trusting that his Almighty arm, which has been so signally stretched out for our defence, will deliver them in a righteous cause.
The eyes of Europe, nay, of the whole world, are on America. The eyes of every other Colony are on this-a Colony, whose reputation for generosity aud magnanimity is universally acknowledged. I trust. therefore, it will not be diminished by our future conduet, that there will be no civil discord here, and that the only strife amongst brethren will be, who shall do most to serve, and to save, an oppressed and injured country.
J. RUTLEDGE.
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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF
COL. LAURENS TO HON. MR. DRAYTON.
[Original MS.]
ANSONBURGH, April 26, 1776. To the Honorable William Henry Drayton, Esquire :
DEAR SIR :- I return the paper you obligingly sent for my perusal. I have read it with satisfaction and pleasure, halting no where but at a little inacuracy marked on the margin of the last page of the 4th sheet, and at the history of Slitting Mills, which possibly upon retrospection you may in some phrases vary. The public are indebted to you. I acknowledge this as one of them with gratitude. I have not detained your servant a moment beyond the necessary time for reading the charge, and for subscribing myself, dear sir,
Your most obedient serrt., HENRY LAURENS.
MR. PRESIDENT RUTLEDGE TO MR. CHIEF JUSTICE DRAYTON.
[Original MS.]
WEDNESDAY MORNING.
To the Honorable the Chief Justice :
The President presents his compliments to the Chief Justice, and will be obliged to him, for a sight of his charge to the Grand Jury.
COURT OF SESSIONS.
[Printed Circular.]
At an adjournment of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Assize and general Gaol Delivery, held at Charles Town, for the District of Charlestown, on Tuesday the 23d day of April, 1776. Before the Honorable William Henry Drayton, Esq., Chief Justice, and his Associate Justices of the Colony of South Carolina.
On motion of Mr. Attorney General, Ordered that the charge of his
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Honor the Chief Justice, delivered to the Grand Jury be published, together with their Presentments.
By order of the Court.
JOHN COLCOCK, C. C. S. May 2d, 1776.
THE CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury:
When by evil machinations tending to nothing less than absolute tyranny, trials by jury have been discontinued ; and juries in discharge of their duty have assembled, and as soon as met silently and arbitrarily dismissed without being impannelled, whereby in contempt of magna charta. justice has been delayed and denied: It cannot but afford to every good citizen, the most sincere satisfaction, once more to see juries, as they now are, legally impannelled, to the end that the laws may be duly administered. I do most heartily congratulate you upon so im- portant an event.
In this Court, where silence has but too long presided, with a direct purpose to loosen the bands of government, that this country might be involved in anarchy and confusion ; you are now met to regulate your verdicts, under a new Constitution of Government, independent of royal authority-a Constitution which arose according to the great law of nature and of nations; and which was established in the late Congress on the 26th day of March last --- a day that will be ever memorable in this country-a month, remarkable in our history, for having given birth to the original Constitution of our Government, in the year 1669; for being the era of the American calamities by the stamp act, in the year 1765; for being the date of the repeal of that act in the following year; and for the conclusion of the famous siege of Boston, when the American arms compelled General Howe, a General of the first reputa- tion in the British service, with the largest, best disciplined, and best provided army in that service, supported by a formidable fleet, so preci- pitately to abandon the most impregnable fortifications in America, as that he left behind him a great part of the bedding, military stores, and cannon of the army. And for so many important events, is the month of March remarkable in our annals. But I proceed to lay before you, the principal causes leading to the late Revolution of our Government --- the law upon the point-and the benefits resulting from that happy and necessary establishment .. The importance of the transaction deserves such a state -- the occasion demands -- and our future welfare requires it : To do this may take up some little time; but the subject is of the
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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF
highest moment, and worthy of your particular attention. I will, there- fore, confine my discourse to that great point; and after charging you to attoud to the due observance of the jury law, and the potrei and negro acts, fort caring to mention the other common duties of a grand jury, I will expound to you. the Constitution of your country.
The House of Brunswick was yet scarcely settled in the British throne, to which it had been called by a free people, when, in the year 1710, our ancestors in this country, finding that the government of the Lords proprietors operated to their malu, exercised the rights transmitted to them by their forefathers of England; and casting off the proprietary authority. called upon the House of Brunswick to rule over them -- a house elevated to royal dominion, for no other purpose than to preserve to a people, their unalienable rights. The king accepted the invitation ; and thereby indisputably admittedl the legality of that Revolution. And in so doing, by his own act, he vested in those our forefathers, and in us their posterity, a clear right to effect another Revolution, if ever the government of the House of Brunswick should operate to the ruin of the people. So the excellent Roman Emperor Trajan, delivered a sword to Saburanus his Captain of the Prietorian Guard, with this ad- mired soutence: "Receive this sword, and use it to defend me if I govern well. but, against me if I behave ill."
With joyful acclamations, our ancestors by act of Assembly passed on the ISth day of August, 1721, recognized the British monarch. The virtues of the second George are still revered among us-he was the father of his people. . And it was with extacy we saw his grandson, George the Third mount the throne, possessed of the hearts of bis subjects.
But alas : Almost with the commencement of his reign, his subjects felt causes to complain of government. The reign advanced-the grievances became more numerous and intolerable-the complaints more general and loud-the whole Empire resounded with the cries of in- jured subjects! At length, grievances being unredressed and ever increasing; all patience being borne down; all hope destroyed; all con- fidence in royal government blasted !- Behold : the Empire is rent from pole to pole :- perhaps to continue asunder forever !
The catalogue of our oppressions, continental and local, is enormous. Of such oppressions, I will mention only some of the most weighty.
Under color of law, the king and parliament of Great Britain have made the most arbitrary attempts to enslave America ;
By claiming a right to bind the Colonies, "in all cases whatsoever;" By laying duties at their mere will and pleasure upon all the Colonies;
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By suspending the Legislature of New York :
By rendering the American charters of no validity, having annulled the most material parts of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay;
By divesting multitudes of the colonists of their property, without legal accusation or trial ;
By depriving whole Colonies of the bounty of Providence on their own proper coasts, in order to coerce them by famine ;
By restricting the trade and commerce of America :
By sending to, and continuing in America, in time of peace, an an armed force without, and against the consent of the people ;
By granting impunity to a soldiery instigated to murder the Ame- ricans ;
By declaring, that the people of Massachusetts Bay are liable for offences, or pretended offences done in that Colony, to be sent to, and tried for the same in England; or in any Colony where they cannot have the benefit of a jury of the vicinage ;
By establishing in Quebec, the Roman Catholic religion, and an arbi- trary Government; instead of the Protestant religion, and a free Go- vernment.
And, thus America saw it demonstrated, that no faith ought to be put in a royal proclamation. For I must observe to you, that in the year 1763, by such a proclamation people were invited to settle in Canada. and were assured of a legitimate representation, the benefit of the common law of England, and a free Government. It is a misfor- tune to the public, that this is not the only influence of the inefficiency of a royal proclamation. However, having given you one instance of a failure of royal faith in the northern extremity of this abused Conti- nent, let it suffice, that I direct your attention to the southern extremi- ty, respecting which, the same particulars, were in the same manner promised : but, the deceived inhabitants of St. Augustine. are left, by their grand jury, in vain to complain and lament to the world, and yet scarcely permitted to exercise even that privilege distinguishing the miserable, that royal faith is not kept with them !
The proceedings which I have enumerated, either immediately or in their evident consequences. deeply affected all the Colonies ; ruin stared them in the face. They united their counsels, and laid their just complaints before the throne. praying a redress of grievances. But, to their astonishment, their dutiful petition for peace and safety, was answered, only by an actual commencement of war and military de- struction !
In the mean time, the British troops that had been peaceably received
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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF
by the devoted inhabitants of Boston, as the troops of their sovereign bound to protect them ! fortified that town, to imprison the inhabitants, and to hold that capital against the people to whom it belonged! And the British rulers having determined to appeal from reason and justice, to violence and arms, a select body of those troops, being in the night suddenly and privately marched from Boston-at Lexington, on the 19th day of April, 1775, they. by surprise, drew the sword of civil war. and plunged it into the breasts of the Americans: Against this horrid in- justice. the Almighty gave instant judgment. An handful of country militia badly armed, suddenly collected, and unconnectedly and irregu- larly brought up to repel the attack, discomfited the regular bands of the tyranny ; they retreated, and night saved them from total slaughter.
Thus forced to take up arms in our own defence, America yec again, most dutifully, petitioned the king, that he would "be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of his faithful colonists to the throne, in pretence of their common councils, might be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation ; and that in the mean time, measures might be taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of his Majesty's subjects ;" but, it was in vain ! The petition, on the part of millions, praying that the effusion of blood might be stayed, was not thought worthy of an answer ! The nefarious war continued. The ruins of Charlestown, Falmouth and Norfolk, towns not constructed for offence or defence, mark the humane progress of the royal arms- so the ruins of Carthage, Corinth and Numantium proclaimed to the world, that justice was expelled the Roman Senate! On the other hand. the fortitude with which America has endured these civil and military outrages; the union of her people, as astonishing as unprece- dented. when we consider their various manners and religious tenets ; their distance from each other; their various and clashing local inter- ests; their self-denial ; and their miraculous success in the prosecution of the war; I say these things all demonstrate that the Lord of Hosts is on our side ! So it is apparent, that the Almighty Constructor of the Universe, having formed this Continent of materials to compose a State preeminent in the world, is now making use of the tyranny of the British rulers. as an instrument to fashion and arrange those materials, for the end for which, in his wisdom, he had formed them.
In this enlightened age, humanity must be particularly shocked at a recital of such violences; and it is scarce to be believed, that the Bri- tish tyranny could entertain an idea of proceeding against America, by a train of more dishonorable machinations. But. nothing less than absolute proof, has convinced us, that in the carrying on the conspiracy
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مدوني
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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
against the rights of humanity, the tyranny is capable of attempting to perpetrate whatever is infamous.
For the little purpose of disarming the imprisoned inhabitants of Boston, the King's General, Gage, in the face of day, violated the public faith, by himself plighted ; and in concert with other Governors, and with John Stuart. he made every attempt to instigate the savage nations to war upon the Southern Colonies, indiscriminately to massacre man, woman and child. The Governors in general have demonstrated that truth is not in them ; they have enveigled negroes from, and have armed them against their masters; they have armed brother against brother, son against father! Oh, Almighty Director of the Universe ! what confidence can be put in a Government. ruling by such engines, and upon such principles of unnatural destruction :- a Government, that on the 21st day of December last, made a law, ex post furto, t) justify what had been done, not only without law. but in its nature unjust ?- a law to make prize of all vessels trading in, to, or from the United Colonies-a law to make slaves of the crews of such vessels. and to compel them to bear arms against their conscience, their fathers, their bleeding country: The world, so old as it is, heretofore had never heard of so atrocious a procedure ; it has no parallel in the regis- ters of tyranny. But to proceed.
The king's judges in this country refused to administer justice; and the late Governor Lord William Campbell, acting as the King's repre- sentative for him and on his behalf. having endeavored to subvert the Constitution of this country, by breaking the original contract between king and people, attacking the people by force of arms; having viole- ted the fundamental laws ; having carried off the great seal, and having withdrawn himself out of this Colony, he abdicated the Government.
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