Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / May 22, 1879, edition 1 / Page 2
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-w. ..i'flii ani ' - 1 2fot dharbtte bSClTJer. . ' " ii)Cj.PThj?masC;en rnia. iiJcsEijJMiwai4W fim -denartment, the Ul'-Wn frMB tb doting wropteitlut f , free-born ream." ' THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1879. THE. lOlfir ANNIVERSARY : . . -,v -.v. ! . 0 F TH K M KCKLK HBPRG OECLA RATI OX vv f r IMDirEHDEKCE. rlffcteaUerenriarse Crowd nrt alll'talv RBrretsful fiar. SPEECH OF HON. Wm. M. ROBBISS. - L - , It is often remarked in Charlotte that ' it never rains on the 20th of May, and each recurrence of the day illustrates our good fortune in this very important which no amount of patriotic interest and enthusiasm could alleviate or ,in the slightest degree 'compensate for; the 20th, like the advertised lottery drawings, never "postpones," and, (from the increasing interest in the dayr will, like these also, wes trust, never "scale.") Hence the general rejoicing on the evening before when the signal officer announced, that the' indications , were all favorable, and the local weather prophets, who are generally inclined to , predict foul weather rather than fair, were compelled to; admit that the broad heavily over us for a week were unmis takable signs of fair weather. And indeed a brighter and a lovelier m day could hot have been desired. Its the annual custom, by the ringing of all the city bells and the belchiugs of a rather insignificant looking but an ex tremely voiceful icannon, a contribu . tion from our sister State,South Carolina Utona liaa nvir failed t(l man ifest a keen interest in our annual cele brations by their presence and co-opera-tion in it, and by all the means in their power. In the early morning flags were stretched across the streets and the city put on her holiday appearance. u TtiV'!r,irtirrv f 'i I The ttrowrl in the city was by all odds ? 5the largest that ever: gathered.in Chap- 'lotteson any similar occasion with the single exception of the Centennial An niversary in 1875. i The very lowest es timates made up from a knowledge of the number brought in by the excursion trains put the number of non-resldenta, on the streets during the day at from 5,000 to 6,000. These included persons mostly from the circle indicated by Greenville, Columbia, Laurinburg, Sal isbur', Statesville and Shelby. The representation from South Carolina was far beyond any ever known before. One train alone, on the Air-Lin road, bronffht four hundred and -flity, tne maioritv of whom were from -the' other side of the line. The excuraion'trains on all th roads arrived between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning, and left late in the afternoon sor;that the crowds i w he in ihe streets nearly all day, and constituted a gayand festive sight. ; v A THE PROCESSION was formed about 11 o clock by Col. II. C. Jones, chief marshal, assisted by J. S. Myei-s, and Dr. Jno. R. Erwin, of Meck lenburg, John Reid, of Iredell, Thomas Ross, lr. llobU Brevard, of Cleaveland and Capfe D. J. Cjirter, of Lancaster, with the right resting on Try on street near St. Peter's Episcopal church. It was led by the chief marshal and Statesville cornet band, the latter beau tifully uniformed, wha were followed immediately by the military under com mand or uapt. J. m, uavis, or ineMecK lenburg Riflemen,; in the following order: aidets of the Carolina Military Insti tute under command of Lieut. R. G. Thomas. Hornets' Kt Riflemen under com mand of Lieut. J. G. Young. Mecklenburg Riflemen under com mand of Lieut. McLaughlin. Charlotte Grays, under command of Capt R. B. "Alexander j'olk nines, under command or L'upt. 4, A. Younts. - An attfacTive feature in the line of . the Grays fta a carriage drawn by two gray horses, and completely covered with flowersHnthe midst xf which sat little Bessie May Sanders, the adopted daughter of the company. Following the military companies were carriages containing Gov, Jury is and the members of his staff, Cols. Paul B. Means, Jno. N. Staples and A. B. Andrews; Lt. Go v: Robinson, Hon. W. M. Robbins, the speaker of the day, " Gen. J. A. Young, , the reader of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen dence, Rey, JE. H. Harding, Mayor Os " borne. Judge D. G,' Fowle, Adjutant General Jones, and Maj. F. II. Cameron, of hhi staff, and perhaps a few others. - ..Then came the 'A fire organizations, preceded by the officers of the fire de partment and .the Concord cornet Land.-. The; Hornets were under command itt President TZl E. Miller. The engine 'was decorated witfi flowers and was drawn by four, bay horses. .The" Pioneers followed under com fnand of President :1L J. Elam. Con spicuous in the line was a carriage of -flowers; beautifully canopied, bearing a little girl, Bertha Eagle, daughter of the late James D. Eagle, who was a mem ber of the company. Another feature which attracted Attention was the com- 1any faithful dog,!! Heck, appropriate ly uniformed. - The whole made a very attractive picture. 1 The Independent Hook & Ladder company, under command of President -J A. Bixby, had their truck prettily decorated, and on lop of it under a canopy sat a little girl, the daughter of Mr. Thomas Sprinkle, guarded by a boy in the uniform of the company. Following the fire companies was a grotesque picture, consisting of a paint ed Mfagon, inscribed The Pinafore,", on f Which were mounted four or five young ft men in thQ dress of clowns, g i "At the end of the : procession was the Continental battalion, in their bright uniforms, about fifty strong, under command of J. A, Young, Jn, (General Washington) .assisted by the venerable Gen. Neel, of .Steel iCreek..,The battalr, ion made an exceedingly attractive feature of the procession and was cheer ed as it passed the: main part of the crowd on the public square, v . After forming near St. Peter's Epis copal church, the procession moved directly to the grounds of the Carolina Milita;ry Institute. The windows, bal . conies and many of the house tops along :.- the route were crowded with ladies, who had assembled long before the hour for the procession to pass. IN THE INSTITtTTE GROUNDS. It was fully three quarters of an hour after the head of the procession entered Institute grounde that the last of the long line of vehicles and pedestrians filed la. A large stage had been erected in the grove and; around it seats were arranged for the crowd. On . the trees . -. surrounding the rostrum were hung pictures of George Washington, Lee, uen uavis, tonewaii Jackson and oth ers, ana over tne stand was suspended u. the word "Welcomed in larA lot . y invitation of the chief marshal the following gentlemen occupied seats on the itrum: Excellency Gov. Jar- lif. PvB!,Mean8' Jno-A- Staples 2f t t i ;ndrewa, members of his staff, Lieut Gov. Robinson, Mayor Oa. borne, Hon, W, JL Robbins, Gen, Jno. A, Toune, Rev. E.H. Harding, Adjutant- Gner1d Jones, Maj. F. It. Cameron, military and representatives oi uieiue ilatinrtmont tf i WhimVliR. The exercises of the day were opened by an appropriate ana impjesaitc .y j erby Rev. & IL Harding. V"-vr The chief marshal ;then introduced Hon. W. M. Robbins, of Statesville, who, delivered the following address. V SPEECH OF HON. W. M. BOBBINS. Ladies and (bfentlemen : Themistocles said that the trophiesof Miltiades would not permit him to slep. : Julius Csesar wept before the Rtatue of Alexander because it shamed -tfteingioriousness -of his ownrcareer nrinr Ixi that Tim ft. jnfl BUJiV OI.,J.ucj.- innnvlsn h;iR nerved theatriotV arm Tiif .fnfiiHAri noiira&ie-into many'ifor- ldm.hjppe, through all the ages since. Vanlen at t.h crisis of his Ecrvptian rwiinnhlftd the enercrv of his army by the exclamation, " Soldiers, for- ty centuries iook aown at you nviu tmna uf tJi nvramids.'' - - . A thousand illustrations might be given to prove that heroism is conta gious, and that the memory of great deads insnires: men to emulate them And the influence of such recollections ia all the more Dowerful when those great deeds have been done by men of our own blood our own immediate kith and kin. One of the Latin histo rians tells how the Roman youth were inritvi tn virt.iions livs and masnani moua conduct by contemplating Jheim- ages of their distmguisnea progenitors. It is of great importance, therefore, that every people should treasure up the legacy of honorable traditions trans mitted from high-spirited and heroic ancestors, since the consciousness of being the scions of an illustrious stock, noted for courage, wisdom, enterprise, self-reliance and grand achievements, cannot fail to awaken sentiments of pa triotism and just pride, promote lofty and worthy aspirations, and nourish and keep alive an elevated public spirit. Nobility imposes obligation ; and it is almost impossible for those who know the ilood of heroes fldws in Their" veins to be content to sink down to a tame and narrow existence and be deaf to the voice within calling them to dare and to do as becomes the sons of noble sires. I have great pleasure in uniting with you to-day. in celebrating the anniver sary ot the Declaration, ot Independ ence made hete by our patriotic fathers one hundred and four years ago. That waV an event which North Carolinians ought never to forget nor allow to be forgotten, for it is one of the brightest jewels in the crown of historic glory which encircles the. brow of . our State. Among.euqh a 'promt arid liberty-Vving sisterhood as the colonies then were and as the States have since shown themselves to be, it is certainly no com mon honor, but one deserving of per petual remembrance, that the name of North Carolina stands-foremost in lit erty's story." 1 You are all familiar with the. ques tions which have been raised and "ex-, tensively discussed aster tle exact'day and the precise terms of the famous Mecklenburg Declaration. I-shall not enter at any length into thnt con trover-; sy now ; for what those patriotic-, jrten did here in May, 1775, even conceding; as wer. need not do. what cavillers hav said or may say, was of such real and extraordinary merit and,substance a3 to raise it far above a question of mere phraseology or even of few days tui ference in dates. 4t"j& enough for me to read in the records of the enemies of American independence what they thought and said about it at the time. Those records show that more than one of the royal governors took notice of what was then being enacted here and characterized it as '"extraordinary" and liorrid" and treasonable" .to a degree surpassing all that had yet been done by the people of thts continents and one of them expresses his apprehension that the example would soon be followed by all the colonies. Surely such language as that Cannot, rfcfej to mere protests and remonstrances against British op pression, for these had long been uni versal; nor can it refer to acts of simple resistance to British wrong, for that had already assumed the form of an armed outbreak in Massachusetts. "What-was it, then, which that royal governor thought fit to denounce as surpassing in its "horrid and- treasonable" nature the fiercest remonstrances and even fla grant armed rebellion ? It has always seemed very clear to my mind what it was. 4t was the first startling an nouncement of the idea of a complete separation from Great Britain and the establishment here of an independent nationality. No wonder that seemed to a British governor treason extraordi nary. I think it very likely that the pro ceedings of the Mecklenburg patriots, (and Mecklenburg then included Cabar rus county, too, be it understood,) which struck the minds of our British enemies so forcibly, were not all the work of any one day. lirand movements were made here on more days than one, al though I am convinced that the first great act in the drama occurred on the 20th of May, 1775, in the shape of a De claration of. Independence. It is con ceded that the original book containing that declaration was, accidentally de stroyed by lire in 1800, and that the copy which has been read to-day comes down to ufv f rom a transcript made about 1793 by a reputable gentleman who says he took it from the original. We have a copy also in slightly differ ent form, said to have come from the first rough draft made by the original writer. Now, suppose even that neither of these copies were perfectly exact in every word and phrase which may be so yet, that a real Declaration of Inde pendence was put forth on the 20th of May, 1775, and that its ringing tones awakened responsive shouts and accla mations of approval from the multitude assembled on the court-house square of Charlotte, seems to me to be placed be yond all reasonable controversy by the abundant and unimpeachable "testimo ny of eye-witnesses to the transaction. Indeed, there is in the copies we pos sess, of it such a striking ; accordance with what we would expectsuch a vrai8embhance- wbenuwe think of the circumstances under which that decla ration was made,as,conclusively proves its substantial genuineness. A meeting of the people of the county is called and is in session" in' Ihecourt-housedeliber-ating upon the -alarm mg?eonditionof the country, when .suddenly the stait ling intelligence- reaches them that the blood of their brethren haa;already been shed by the soldiers of the King at Lex ington and Concord. ' Set on fire by the news, the bold idea of independence at once burst forth? and took form in a paper which no man who is familiar with the style of doing business in pop ular assemblages .would, expect to find couched in' elegant diction or well rounded periods. Though there were men of fair scholarship in that meeting, if the declaration which emanated from it under those exciting circumstances had come to us in the share of a finish ed, production in style and language, we roignt do sure oi its spunousness. jjnt its authors were thinking of the mighty meaning and substance of what they were doing, and not of the niceties of rhetoric; and that paper, with its ab rupt turns of expression, its somewhat disjointed sentences, and its occasional solecisms of grammar, bears the unmis takable earmarks of its true origin in a county meeting of citizens, and, lefeme add, is such a paper as the transcriber, in my opinion, could not have forged if he had fiie&Vv:. Some have imagined that the verity of the act of May 20th is shaken by the proceedings which took place on the 31st of May, eleven days later. To my mind the latter are really confirmatory of the former, wnen we iook at tnetrue nature and .scope- of -achtfid tbe-vf dent2e$to with which the latter were adopted, ana promptly puousnea m ine newspaper press of thats time. The de claration of May 20th was the impul sive And enthusiastic outburst andexV - -M At . 4-Un I.- -J" Firession oj. uio jupuntj. i.ijuugui anu; eeling of the Mecklenburg patriots uri-i der thRinfluence of exciting news ; und it is noticeable that-it confines itself mainly to the enunciation of rights for themselves and their own immediate community, with a brief recognition of the auttonty or the Provincial jon- gress of INorth CarQlinaaad l:ar hintrajt the necessity of organiking goverri-i ment .for . tiswttOie.pxoyjnce .,1 ou can see at a glance that there is an in? completeness about this, not at all an incompleteness or indefiniteness as to the leading and fundamental idea the grand thought of independence but an imperfect conception of the relation in which their bold -mye was placing them, for; the time being, to the other colonies--just stfch ah incomplete view of the ' whole -American situation as was natural toymen who were warmed with enthusiasm and were giving titr terance to their own bold sentiments and the feelings which were rife in their own community. The resolutions of the 31st of May, were the Work of men of the same com munity and actuated by the same spir it, and they do not really abate or re tract anything of what wasdofte be fore, but in fact make a substantial step forward in exactly the same direc tion ; but those resolutions bear all the marks of having been, coolly and delib erately prepared with great skill by their authors for the eye and ear of all America, and with the studied design to bring all the colonies up to a contest with Britain on the advanced line which this community had already as sumed. They set themselves on that occasion to enact the roe of profound and far-seeing statesmen. Inspired with the instincts and intuitions of born leaders of men, they evidently sought in those Resolutions to strike the key note uf a grand and general movement throughout the American colonies, and they pursue this design with the most consummate policy. Let us note some of the striking fea tures of those resolutions of May 3lst, which show their consistency with the act of May 20th, and that they are a log ical sequence of that;;and also show thfe deep and politic purpose of the committee-men, their authors, which is discernible all through them. In the first place, they recognize a condition of actual independence as be ing a then subsisting fact, and as cre ating a necessity that the people should set about governing themselves. If we were to organize a meeting here to-day and undertake to proclaim the utter abrogation of all British authority in this country and the right of the ieople to establish a government of their own, we could not do so jn more explicit terms than the fathers did in those res olutions. As they were aware, howev er, that public sentiment in other colo nies was not as ripe as it was here for an open proclamation of independence in so many words, they are careful about terms and only use the expression midpendentr oncQ.iti the whole paper, wmie ail tnrougn iney, assert and reit erate propositions which plainly mean that and nothing else, taking care, also, in the preamble, ingeniously to lay all the blame of the situation upon the British government in that Parliament in an address to the King the preceding February had declared the American colonies to be in a state of actual re bellion.. Observe then, how those Meck lenburg patriots go on speaking now not merely for their own immediate section, but for the whole country and declare in the first resolution, "That all commissions, civil and military, hereto fore, granted byjthecr9W4 to be exer cised in these colonies, are null and voiL" Mark, also, the terms of the sec ond resolution, "That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the direction of the great Continental Con gress, is invested with all legislative and executive powers within their re spective provinces, and that no other legislative or executive power does or can exist at this time in any of these colonies." 1 ask, what is all this but an asser tion of independence most emphatical ly, in sum and substance? ...But those Mecklenburg men then proceeded to carry out their ideas by setting the ex ample of independent self-government, and establishing for their own commu nity and putting in operation a very complete and well-devised system of in ternal administration, both civil and military, with elective officers, who should " licld and exercise their several powers by virtue of the choice (of the inhabitants of this county) and inde pendent of the crown of Great Britain and former constitution of this prov ince " to use the words of the fourth resolution; and the fourteenth resola tion also says: " That all these officers (shall) hold their commissions during the pleasure of their several constitu ents." They also constituted tribunals to determine both criminal and civil ca ses and to try appeals, and, in fact, cre ated and set in motion, over a territory larger than some States of the Union are now, a complete system of county and township administration, (the town ships then and since, until recently, in North Carolina being denominated captain's districts), and the machine of local government which they put into operation then, though modified from time to time, as occasion suggested, has continued to run uninterruptedly to this hour, substantially as they started it ;1 To guard and foi tify.the position they had assumed in thus inaugurating a truly popular and independent system of self-government, those heroic men proceeded in their sixteenth resolution to declare: "That whatever person shall hereafter receive a commission from the crown, or attempt tQ exercise any such commission heretofore receiv ed, shall be deemed an enemy" to his country"; and they then specify how such offenders shall be arrested and punished; and likewise in the seven teenth resolution they direct hiat a sim ilars course ; be taken; with f reference to "any person refusing to yield "Obedi ence" to the regulations which had been established. I have deemed it proper to dwell thus atsome.lengthaipon the more detailed proceedings ot tne aist or May in connection- witlr the bold declaration of May 20th, because both were the work of the same patriotic community, and both were parts of the same "connected and consistent movement. The first act was a defiant-declaration of indepen dence as an inherent and abstract right. The latter act was independence as a fact accomplished, with an independent government fully thought out and set up, accompanied by an invitation to all the colonies to recognize the inevitable and follow the example. It is true that the eighteenth resolu tion of May 3lst: contains an intima tion that the British union then dissolv ed, might perhaps be reconstructed pro vided Parliament should "resign its un just and arbitrary pretensions with re spect to America." But this language does not at all indicate that there was any wavering or lack of decisiveness in the steps which the men , of . Mecklen burg had taken and were then taking in the cause of independence ; for these are not the words nor this the tone of a subject province simply . remonstrating against grievances, but,"taken in con nection with what wag being done, they were the proud and solemn utterances of an independent State to an equal, dic tating the terms on which .the former union between them, now broken, '"may be rehabilitated. ';' -' - J - - There is one other feature only which I will noticB of those resolutions of the 3ist of May. ins. showing the far-sigin-J : wisfrowahUI)!- triors and the wonderfully just concep- tion they had of the scheme of both lo cal. afid general 5 government which They exprslyfreedgnized inithatjpa- pej tne Hutnoniy as wen uji. iup vAiiiu nental Congress asS of the I Prbvuicial Qn glasses of -;th especti ve'lonies; thev felt of soon srearimr their machine' of local administration on to the grand engine of a State and - Federal system. Those men -wAni statesmen in the BO- kbiestl feense bttnat 'wbrd- They fwdr rfo communist, f They showed their faith in and derotSMrlherrnciplesr of local, liberty and self-government, for they were the first men in America to devise- and put in operation a plan of local administration for -their own community founded on those princi ples; yet their clear Vision took a wider range, and comprehended the prospec tive wants of the whole, American peo ple. .They saw that not only, local and State governments would be; required for local and State purposes, but that to secure the common interests; and wel fare of all, there, must also be a general fovernment under the control of (as hey phrased it), " the great Continent al. Congress." In short, those sages of Mecklenburg, were the first apostles of that creed long afterwards so eloquent ly formulated by Webster: -" Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." It is an interesting, inquiry how it came about that the wilds of North Car olinafor what l am how going to say is true not only of Mecklenburg, but of the whole State should havelieen the home of a population of such an extra ordinary character, such manly cour age, and such brilliant genius, in those early; times. But the explanation is easy if we consider the circumstances of the case. Most of the earlv settlers of Ahierica were the pick and fiower of that grandest of all the races of men which the World has yet seen I mean that , wonderful conglomerate race which peoples the British Islands. Though we are celebrating to-day the nrst direct step wnicn led to our en franchisement from the dominion of that country, 1 am proud to assert that it has bred the noblest race of. men (ex cepting our own, their offspring), which has ever existed.. There in the course of centuries the Saxon, with his Ger manic . industry, perseverance, and sturdy common sense; the Norman, with his taste for culture, his self-assertion, and love of command; the Scots man, with his self-reliant spirit, -his me taphysical genius, and his stern faith ; the Irishman, with his Celtic fire and tenderness and enthusiasm ; have been blended into one common stock, which combines within itself all those gifts of head and heart and physical manhood which have made it dominant and un rivalled in its influence over the politics, law and religion indeed the whole civ ization of mankind in these later ages. Such was the race which furnished the immigrants who planted the Eng lish colonies on this continent ; but even that incomparable stock underwent a sifting process a process, as we may call it, of natural selection by which only its best elements came to this coun try, xnere lay tne ocean or tnree tnou sand miles to be crossed ; but far more important still, when it was crossed, a boundless, pathless wilderness was spread out before the new comer a wilderness which was the home of wild beasts and fierce savages, and was only to be subdued by patient, persistent toil and endurance of hardships and priva tion. That was the prospect which of fered itself to the imagination of those who might contemplate emigration from the old world to the new. Under such circumstances it is not strange that the sluggish, the timid and the un enterprising .remained behind, and only the daring and adventurous, the strong' willed and lion-hearted-in short, those who were emphatically men came over to hew out their fortunes and battle with destiny in this western world. And then as to those who did come, the same sort of process was largely re peated in that it was again the bolder and more self-reliant spirits who pushed out farthest into the wilderness and es tablished themselves in regions remote from the first settlements. Such a re gion was the greater part of North Car olina including the whole western portion of the province down to about thirty or forty years prior to the revolu tion. The few sparse establishments of the earlier pioneers adjacent to the coast had not been sufficient either in extent or population to take away from the greater part of her immense terri tory its original character as a primeval wilderness a wild frontier region of hill and vale and mountain, with beau tiful and romantic streams pouring their silver floods through dark, untrod den dells, and waging with their wierd music the mocking echoes of the unbro ken forests. Into these unpeopled solitudes went forth the most enterprising, energetic, and high-spirited of the American col onists to plant their homes on this vir gin soil and under these sunny skies; and whether it was something in the air they breathed, more pure and vital than that of Italy, or whether it was that the instinct of liberty grew keener in their souls by reason of the untamed and fetterless life they led, I know not ; but a great American historian has said of those men the settlers of North Carolina that they were "the freest of the free." It is no disparagement to the revolu tionary patriots of Mecklenburg to say that the glorious spirit of devotion to liberty and impatience of a foreign y -ke, which they displayed in their dec laration of May 20th, 1775, and the sub sequent proceedings, was not confined to themselves alone, but was character istic of the people of North Carolina in all sections of the province and in every epoch of her colonial history. Although the unconquerable" determination of North Carolinians everywhere and al ways to preserve for; themselves the blessings of civil liberty which were their birthright; did not elsewhere4 find expression so soon as nere in Mecklen burg in the form of a declaration of ab solute independence, yet deeds of kin dred daring and helpful of the great common -cause-4Ueseattered through all the pages of, North, Carolinian histo ry, and more thickly as the crisis of the mighty conflict drew -near, showing plainly, enough the, common feeling wiucn pervaded tne bosoms ot tne sons of NorUi Carolina from the mountains to the sea. It is this which enables all the people of the State fairly to lay claim to a share in the glory.: of the Mecklenburg Declaration; for it is this which gives to that famous act far more than ; a' mere local significance and proves it to have, been' indeed but the conspicuous outcropping of a solid stra turn of liberty -iovmg sentiment which united the"tiearts 6f all North Caroling ians, While we are engaged in the ex ercises of this, occasion today, our fellow-citizens, as I learn, in other parts of the State, are . participating in the observance of, the day by appropri ate ceremonies. They have a right to do so.5 The renown of the event which we celebrate is the. property of the whole State; since it was the gene ral high spirit and love ," of freedom which was then displaying itself all over North Carolina and running like elec tric fire from heart to heart, which made such events as the declaration of May 20th, 1775, possible in this or any other locality at .that time j and, accord ingly, this day ought to be held in ever lasting remembrance by; the people of the entire State, and annually celebra ted in every corner of her wide domain; down to the latest -generations. , , I cannot nowrecount, with any full- ness of detail, or even mention, an tne characteristic incidents m the storyot tii&iiuirajw as wel1 lonS berttre, wiuctr cor- roborate my statement as to the gener al prevalence throughout the; coionyof Nortniuaronna oi me same; esseiuuu spirit which-"here broken forth fin the form of adeclaration of independence- that spirit which always scorned thei thought of .submitting to , oppression, fcnd never: would brookany but . the mildest control. The attempt to rntro-t duce in this colony the Aristocratic con-! stitution, prepared by. Locke, was as completea failufc as would be the ef fort , tq put . narness on an unpamea courser of . I the desert. In the very ear liest period, when the settlements were limited mhieegtOnamuCArbemarre and Pamlico sounds, the colonists. moreJ3American, liberty. s, ifl i than once rebelled against the tyranny r rFonjyears afterward, on the of the ruling authorities. On one oc casion they put forth a declaration of grievances, among wuicu tney spemneu excessive taxation, abridgment of po litical liberty, with the denial of free election of an assembly and they then proceeded, to seize and . imprison the president and council, called a legisla ture: established courts. ;-and governed themselves for two years, until the ar rival of . a newly appointed governor whose authority they chose to acknowl edge. At another time they impeached their goyernor, threw him into prison, tiled him and sentenced him to twelve months exile and perpetual disqualifia cation to hold ihe gubernatorial office. But without particularizing the mul titude of instances in which the North Carolinian Colonists came into collision with rulers who sought to oppress them, it is sufficient now to cite the tes timonv on this subject given by a fewr historical writers of those days. Spots-' woods, a Virginian, who wrote in the be ginning of the last century says : "It w as the common practice of the people in North Carolina to resist and imprison their governors, until, they looked upon that as lawful which had been solongtol erated." Gov. Bunington, who held the office in 1724, and who was removed on account of the popular complaints against his bad behavior in office, thus expresses himself in an official paper: "The people of -Norm Carolina are neither to be cajoled or outwitted. Whenever a governor attempts to ef fect anything by theseJ means, he will lose his labor and show his ignorance." They "always behaved in solently to their governors; some they have imprisoned; others they have drove out of the country ; and at other times set up a governor of their own choice, supported by men under arms." Col. Wm. Byrd, one of the Virginian commissioners for running the bounda ry line between North Carolina and Virginia, in 1827, in a very intertaining account, which he afterwards wrote for that survey, an account in which, as our friends, the Virginians, have al ways been want to do, he indulges in a great deal of very happy wit at our ex pense, with just a slight tinge of malice in it, because, as I suppose, it turned out that the North Carolinian commis sioners had got the advantage in the business and secured a strip of land three miles wide all along the border more than we were entitled to; leaves on record this amusing observation: "The borderers laid it to heart if their land was taken in Virginia;, they chose much rather to belong to Carolina, they pay no tribute to God or to wThere Csesar. These reiterated testimonies to the habitual and inconquerable repugnance of North Carolinians to the control of those who exercised authority over them, all admit of the same easy expla nation. Their gevernors, besides being men not chosen by themselves, were too generally tyrannical, unjust and ra pacious. There is a plenty of evidence on the other hand to show that no colo ny was more peaceful and orderly and no people more obedient and law-abiding when they were allowed to make their own laws, and their Tulers were just, honest and caref Ul hot to trample on popular rights. On this point I need produce but a single witness, the histo rian Bancroft, wno says: "Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self government? Let them study the his tory of North Carolina. The inhabi tant were restless and turbulent in their imperfect submission to a govern mens imposed on them from abroad; the administration of the colony was firm, humane and tranquil when left to themselves. Any government but their own was oppressive." But to come down to the time when the first mutterings of the great revolu tionary storm began to be audible, where was there ever a more manly and decisive act or one more defiant of arbitrary power than was performed in 1765 by the men of the Cape Fear coun try in their method of resisting the en forcement of the stamp act? Many laudations have been heaped upon the party of bold men, as .they are called, who disguised themselves and went under cover of darkness, surprised a few drowsy, unresisting common sail ors, and emptied the boxes of tea in Boston harbor. But when the stamped paper arrived in the Cape Fear on board a British vessel, the heroic lead ers and yeomanry of that section, in broad davlisrht and without anv dis guise, forbade it to be landed, insulted and mocked the captain of the vessel by capturing and carrying off his boat in derision on an ox cart, and, disdain ing any conflict with mere underlings, went to the palace of Gov. Tryon "the Great Wolf of Carolina" and to his face defied him to attempt the execu tion of that obnoxious act, forced him, by threats of burning down his house over his head, to produce the stamp master whom he had appointed and who was concealed within, and then compelled this stamp-master to take a solemn oath that he would never exer cise the duties of his Office. Such was the determined conduct ' of chivalric men.. who were ready to dare everything, in the maintenance of their rights and who had the courage to do openly what they deemed it needful to do and face the consequences without shirking. When American history shall be ade quately written, haying for its aim jus-s tice to all and not merely -the eulogy of a few favorite localities, this bold pro ceeding of the Cape Fear patriots will find a place on onp pf life brightest pages.' ;;; . : :? ;sv-v i . , Five years later came that great movement participated in by, the peo ple of almost all the upper middle counties usually ; denominated the war of the Regulators. The story of.it is too familiar to require more than a brief allusion front me how. It was a char acteristic and genuine uprising of the people who felt that the only proper and legiuuiaw xuncuonoi any government which claimed the allegiance ; of free born men was to promote the general happiness and well-'being 'of; the Whole Dooy or tne citizenship, wniietneyaw with indignation that th.B. government of .North Carolina as .administered in their part, of the province was, .wholly perverted from this rightful purpose and bad become a mere machine for the ag grandizement of haughty and avaricious .office-holders. Orange,.Guilford, Rowan and the adjacent counties,; including all the numerous counties which have since been formed Out of them,- were; become so many little satrapies which rapacious tax-gatherers and grasping officials of high and low degree plundered and op pressed almost at will, filling their cof fers with money illegally wrung" from the people to whom they denied justice or sold it and whonr 5 they would J have reduced, if their exactions had been pa tiently endured, to a Condition little better than that of serfs and bondsmen. But those proup-spirited freemen would riot quietly submit to all this. . After many ineffectual remonstrances and a few wild passionate outbursts of vio lence, they at length seized their Ivuht- inrr rifloQ anil mnrpViod in a Twlu n miu( ' OoVi Tryon and lay their emphatic pro- thirsty tyrantrwhiie pretending to treat n iiu mem. iuiuiASLeij im meu gnevUipejJ fell suddeiilyttdtreacherouAlTttt)6ln them with his Well-armed battalion? ; J ana tnougn tney ? lougnt wen j tor meu without experienced leaders, thev were overwhelmed and driven from the field. I Hut notwi thstanding the "battleof Ala mance" on tne letiror May, 1771, ended in the discomfiture of those champions oi tree ana nonest government, and tnougn some good men and true pa triots, misunderstanding theiro cause, fought against, them cthat day. still it is but simple truth .ifc say that the blood there shed was the firstcrimsonlib iiou poureu oui on uie sacred aitar oi day site. whose anniversary we, nQWcelebrate, Came ihkt crowning iict.Sflf Mecklen irg'Declarationfof independence, the climax and culmination of North Caro lina's long protest against British op pression and evil rule. After that, important events crowd? ed thick upon each other in North Caro lina; events which the standard his tories of the cojintry, .:wi$h their usual neglect of us,"b3ive either failed to note at all or damned with faint mention, and: which for that reason I should like to recall and dwell upon as they de serve, but time will not petmit and it would over-tax your patience to listen to so long a recital. History, for instance has scarcely deigned: to remember the battle of Moore's Creek on the lower Cape Fear ,1he27brof February 1776, where that hoble bid heroj Caswell, of Lenoir, and therchitalrous jlUngton of New Han QyoYi wii their i brave 3 followers, sur prised and overthrow McDonald and his gallant Scotchmen whom conscience and stern sense of duty, rather than sym pathy with the cause, had lead to array themselves on the side of King George. That battle, both for the numbers en gaged and for the important results which followed, in that it gave a blow to the royalist caAise in North Carolina frcMwlticri it never recovered and by preventing the junction of the royalists with the "British forces at Wilmington, probably saved this State from being speedily overrun by the enemy, was really as influential in favorably shap ing the course of affairs as almost any which occurred in the revolutionary war. A halo of romance surrounds the memory of that conflict, "not only be cause the thousands who met there in hostile array were all Carolinians, but also because of the remarkable chain of events which brought to that field un der the banners of the-King the brave and Trigh-spirited men who lost the bat tle. I am sure no North Carolinian can ever recall the thrilling and pathetic story of the Scotch exiles who settled the broad region between the Cape Fear and the Pee Dee without a feeling of genuine respect and a throb of sympa thy. In their native land they and their fathers, for sixty long, dark years, had clung with lingering hope to the fading fortunes of Scotland's royal line the House of Stuart and , once and again the pibroch roundeel and rallied the clans from their mountain fastness es to battle for its restoration. At length came Charles Edward and the rising of 45; and once more the faithful Highlanders, true to their Jacobite tra ditions, arrayed themselves under his standard and went forth with the old. time loyalty and high enthusiasm to win back tor mm tne crown of his lathers But all was lost on the field of Cullo den. The last Stuart was crushed. Hope was no more. Then at last the hardy nignianders yielded to destiny and pledged their honor, and allegiance by solemn oaths to the dynasty of King George. Broken in fortune they left their native heath-clad mountains and sought homes here in the wilds of Caro lina, hoping for peace and rest alter so I many storms. Uut envious rate pur sued them even here. Soon war again enveloped them in its seething billows, un one side they saw men in open re bellion, and on the other King George Those Scotchmen could not have loved him, but they had felt his power and they remembered also their oaths. With the unswerving faith of martyrs they remembered that the righteous - Hi . 11. A 1 mau i lie mat swearem w ins own hurt and changeth not;" and true to conscience and to duty, as they saw it, they rallied now to the standard of King George only to meet at Moore's creeK anotner uunoden and be en shrouded yet again in the gloom of de- teat, uut thank (iod! fortune at length wearied of persecuting those heroic and true-hearted men. The boon of liberty which America secured came to bless them, too ; and to-day their pros perous ana nappy descendants people one of the finest region of North Caro lina a sturdy .chivalric and high-souled race, worthy of their proud Scottish blood, and an honor to the State. On the 12th of April, 1776, the Provin cial Congress ot Halifax unanimously "Resolved: That the delegates from this colony in the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the dele gates from other colonies in declaring independence ana torming: foreign al liances ; reserving to this colony the sole and exclusive right of forming a constitution and laws tor this colony. This was among the first, if not the very first, direct and explicit utterance by the supreme authority of any colony in favor of independence. It is noticea ble that this took place nearly three months before the general Declaration was made at Philadelphia; and no less wortny ot remark is the jealous care with which the patriotic and wise men of those davs cruarded in that, resolution the principles of State's rights and local self-government, a principle which has at all times been held sacred by the peo ple of North Carolina, constituting as it does the strongest and most impreg nable bulwark against tne encroach ments of overgrown - and tyrannica power; ' ' 4 Thus I have glanced at a few only of tne notable occurrences in North Caro lina which preceded and did much to hasten .on the final grand movement of all the colonies in -"throwing off forever the shackles ot foreign domination, and which strikinslv illustrate the zeal tmA forwardness of the people of this State in the cause or American liberty. H would be spirit-stirring to go on and re late now, nooiy her sons stood by thai cause through the long strife which fol lowed, while the waves of the conflict surged back, and forth over her fields. But time would fail me to tell the glori ous story ; to tell how Caldwell preached and Davie' fought, and Davidson fell: how the patriotic Mrs. Steele, of Salis bury, emptied her purse into the hands ot uenerai Greene, to neip on the cause how -that lion-hearted .woman, Mrs. Bell, of ' Randolph rallied her! faithful negroes: and. triumDhantlv beat off from her barricaded dwelling the cruel Fan ning and . his bloody- marauders: how jjr. iiaii, me. jsiatesvme pascor, Droxe off his half-finished sermon, came down from the pulpit, and promptly led the stern ' Scotch-Irishmen of his congrega tion to oppose Cornwallis on the Ca tawba , how jiForbei land iial gallant neighbors died fighting for their fire sides at Guilford; now Cleaveland kept tne Deacon-nres or liberty: blazing on the mountain heights of Wilkes. Ashe and Watauga; how the fiery spirits Of iiiccwcuuuig auuivuwiui, uv lueirwana reception of Tarleton and his legion in the streets of Charlotte, and, by other like deeds, won' for this section ' from their great adversary, Cornwallis, the proud; appellation -; of the 'Hornets L Nest ; how the dannar Whigs- between the Yadkin and ' the Catawba sprang like fierce Hong upon the King's forces and rent them to pieces at liamsour s mill : how the bold mountaineers of the extreme western counties swooped sud denly down upon Ferguson and his him rugged stronghold on Kin in , u 1 . . . . migluy himself could notsl, , C oi ii ;...i lowed spots, which history Where .daring -deeds were ( , ls knightly men-places whiehin , lllftit., y time shall serve as holv slm: ' ,Ul the worshippers of liberty may ao. auu 'txsuilUUlie W1LI1 I lit UO in, nouie aead wuo sanct fied the smi T their hearts blood, poured o ll North Carolina might Tbe free t,,ilt But what I have said is enonii, show what manner of men we to from, and how North Carolina, reslv8 worthy Of that naf.Hnt.io i-s,i ' , t- . - "IH IIS MT M sionate love whfctiglow ClOW in tho 1 .... ''w of all her true sons at the bare m. pf he4 name-ff i y "Carolina! Carolina! heaven's blesslnes ml, t While we live we will cherish, proSMdM -ner ; ueud Though fools may deride and witlings defam. t Our hearts sweUexulUng whenever we iwmXb"' She envies not others their merited gon her Yet her name stands foremost in liberty's tA Too true to herself e'er to crouch to odEA&: noire ram netu -o just ruie a more loViii . SlOu. """ma. Descendants of so noble an and With Buch heroic t examples sS before Us all over the pages of nous luslory, North Carolina hi , right now to expect every manof UJ to do his duty. There is a work for ,,t to do, demanding our highest effJ Z and our truest devotion. Fate i, .a L cently cast a dark pall over the fm.,. m.nI.tl, ... 1 1 . , - ... I iet- piuaiieritj- una UfrtJll jam in mil,.. by the shock of a fierce fit..;..-' dal conflict and needs to he .' from the foundation. Ken ii,P (, itself again requires to be watch, i over and. guarded against its willful unwitting enemies. But all is not J lere are North Carolina's U rA ui i nd..health-giv.ing air. Here are hir air heids; seamed and scarred . o, .... may be by the rude hand of Mars it I for us to make them bloom and blossom again with rich harvests under th. benign influence of our sunny clime. here are our beautiful rivers : and if ;.' for us to stud their banks with min forge and factory, enliven their lonelv glens with the music of machinery an,i oilcym uicii onjjjca vviimoveiy towns and villages peopled by happy and thrivin citizeus. Despair is not a word in tii vocabulary of North Carolinians unless they were the degenerate offspring of'a noble race; and the bearing of her gal lant sons and her true-hearted daught ers amid the fiery trials which recently tested them showed full well to all the wuiiu Hi ii, iiuiui Carolina nasnot tost the breed of noble bloods." I call you then, my fellow-North Carolinians, this day to renewed courage, energy and hope. Warmed by the inspiring mem ories of the olden time, mindful that the high blood of heroes and courses through your veins, let us show ourselves Worthy of them, by our devo tion to the honor of North Carolina by standing like a wall of tire round the citanel of her liberties, and by the thor ough utilization of her immense malr- nal resources, until by the blessini? of favoring Heaven the great glory of htr past shall be transcended by the greater glory of her future. 1 he address was delivered in an ex ceedingly graceful and impressive man ner and tne attention winch was given it was something altogether unusual. It was also frequently interrupted hv applause. SPEECH OF GOV. JAR VIS. At the conclusion of4 the address, aiul after music by the band, there were loud calls for Gov. Jarvis. who. uimn being introduced by the chief marshal, made a short, but exceedinclv lunm effort, quite winning the hearts of the crowd, a vast majority ot whom had never seen him before. His remarks appeared to be mainly extemiwraneous and were confined chiefly to enforcing upon ms people the necessity ot a more active (State pride. He showed by for cible illustrations what North Carolina had suffered from lack of this, and also recalled her past history, and enumera ted her resources to show what her peo ple had to be proud of. lie referred to the object of the gathering to-day and the lessons that miht be drawn from it, and said there was one thing he hoped never to. hear of a North Caro linian doing again, and that was doubt ing that there was a declaration of in dependence by the people of Mecklen burg county on theJOth ot May, 177.). n was a tact in his opinion estatmsneu beyond controversy, and was one in which the whole Mate should feel an equal pride with Mecklenburg county. JUDGE fowle's speech. In response to calls Judge Vovle came forward and was introduced by the chief marshal as one of whose elo quence many of the audience had often heard, and whom thev wouiu ue de lighted to hear to-day. Judge Fowle said he only w ished to say a word about the occasion of the gathering to-day. He then-proceeded to discuss the spirit of the Mecklenburg signers, their bold ness in defying the mightest nation on eartn, and the lessons which it uiuem. drawing from history examples of sim ilar- deeds ot daring. Judge jrowits manner is inspiriting in a high degree, his diction is chaste and elegant, and he rarely fails to stir even the most callous. His speech was remarkably well received, Lieut, Governor Robinson w as als called for and was introduced by (Jen Young. He said he hadn't the remotest idea of making a speech. He had come to Charlotte on the present occasion in response to the invitation of the com mittee of arrangements to help cele brate an event of which asaortn Carolinian he was proud. He was glad that he had come, and lioped that his friends would excuse him from saying any more. Col. H. C. Jones, chief marshal of the day, was called for, but declined, ana announced that the exercises wouifl conclude with the benediction by Kev. E. H. Harding. , ., ... The crowd soon afterwards left t grounds, and were followed by the mi tary and fire companies in the order w which they had marched out earlier in the day. The procession disbanded ai the public square. PRESENTATION OF CADETS TO JARVIS. Immediately after the conclusion ot the speaking, the cadets of the Carolina Military Institute were presemu Col. Thomas to Gov. Jarvis, Col. Thomas saying that thev represented the bean, of three States and bore the arm8 North Carolina, and lie trusted tn should the occasion demand it " would always be ready to use i frms to defend the State. TheGoernor tcucu iHJUgiaLuiabius j " .. T 1 1 f uuuu men iiuucaioutc, ., , j 4. 4i. in receiv eninved in receiMW their education at one oi tutions in the country. firemen's parade. "Previous to entering the proewj1 in the morning, at 11 o'clock, the u r fire companies paraded the princii streets inthe city in the order ; V manner described in noting the w procession. INCIDENTS OF THE DAY. The firemen of the city extended cial hospitalities to a delegatw" t. about twenty-five young men repr (lf ing the different fire organization Columbia. They were VIS1 halls of all the different companeted ring the evening and toasted ana until their departure at 1 o cJUy day morning. The Hornet com gave a parade and IftS? If ternoon for their yecial benen j The only casualty of any geDt to during the day day was an gVek Mr. Ira De Armond, of Mauaw army and ' overwhelmed
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 22, 1879, edition 1
2
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