Programme of exercises for "North Carolina Day", Friday December, 18, 1903 |
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PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES "NORTH CAROLINA DAY." FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1903. RALEIGH : E. M. Uzzell & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1903. CHAPTER 164 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1901. An Act to Provide for the Celebration of North Carolina Day in the Public Schools. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: Section 1. That the 12th day of October in each and every year, to be called "North Carolina Day/' may be de-voted, by appropriate exercises in the public schools of the State, to the consideration of some topic or topics of our State history, to be selected by the Superintendent of Public In-struction : Provided, that if the said day shall fall on Satur-day or Sunday, then the celebration shall occur on the Mon-day next following: Provided further, that if the said day shall fall at a time when any such school may not be in ses-sion, the celebration may be held within one month from the beginning of the term, unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall designate some other time. Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from and after its ratifi-cation. In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of February, A. D. 1901. PREFATORY. This pamphlet has been prepared and sent out to aid busy teachers in the proper celebration of the day and to leave no excuse for failing to celebrate it. It is earnestly desired that the same day may be celebrated in all the public schools of the State. The consecration of at least one day in the year to the pub-lic consideration of the history of the State in the public schools, as directed by the act of the Legislature printed on the preceding page, is a beautiful idea. It is the duty of every public school-teacher to obey the letter of this law. It will, I know, be the pleasure of every patriotic teacher to obey the spirit of it by using the opportunity of North Carolina Day to fill the children with a new pride in their State, to thrill them with a new enthusiasm for the study of her history, and to kindle upon the altars of their hearts new fires of patriotic love of her and her people. As many of the public schools are not in session as early as October 12th, I have taken the liberty of naming Friday, December 18th, as North Carolina Day for 1903, and of fixing the date hereafter on the last Friday of the week before Christmas. The subject selected in 1901 was "The First Anglo-Saxon | Settlement in America." Following the chronological order of the State's history, the subject last year Avas fittingly "The Albemarle Section/7 and the subject this year is "The Lower Cape Fear Section." In succeeding years the history of other sections of the State will be studied somewhat in the order of their settlement and development, until the entire period of the State's history shall have been covered. It is hoped ultimately to stimulate a study of local and county history. I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Committee of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, consisting of Mr. W, J. Peele, Mr. Marshall DeLancey Hay-wood, Professor D. H. Hill, Professor E. P. Moses, and to patriotic citizens of Wilmington, for valuable aid in the preparation of the programme and in the collection of the material. We are indebted to Professor Henry Jerome Stochard for the poetical selections. The selection from his own poems was made at my urgent request. J. Y. JOYNER, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Raleigh, November 19, 1903. SUGGESTIONS. It is suggested that the programme might be divided into two parts—one part to be rendered in the morning and one in the afternoon. If the programme is too long to be conven-iently carried out by small schools, two or more of the schools might unite in the celebration. Teachers may adapt or change the programme to suit themselves. They are urged to make a special effort to secure a large attendance of the people of the district and to avail themselves of this opportunity to interest parents and patrons in the school. If practicable, it would be an excellent idea to have a brief address by some one in the county or the community. The occasion can be used by a tactful teacher to secure the hearty co-operation of the com-mitteemen, the women of the community and all other public-spirited citizens, and to make the day "North Carolina Day" in truth, for the grown people as well as for the children. It is hoped that these pamphlets, issued from year to year for the celebration of "North Carolina Day," will contain much valuable and interesting information about the State and its people, and much of its unwritten history. It is sug-gested, therefore, that the pamphlets be preserved and that-some of them be filed in the library or among the records of each school. HOW TO GET A RURAL LIBRARY. If your county has not applied for the full number of libraries to which it is entitled, and your school has not secured one of these libraries, let me urge you to use the excellent opportunity of "North Carolina Day" to raise the ten dollars necessary to secure a thirty-dollar library. The five hundred libraries provided for by the special act of the 6 General Assembly of 1901 have been taken. As you know, the General Assembly of 1903 made a special appropriation of $5,000 for the establishment of five hundred new rural libraries and $2,500 for supplementing the rural libraries heretofore established. The conditions for securing one of these new libraries are as follows : The community must raise ten dollars by private subscription or otherwise; the Board of Education is then required to appropriate ten dollars out of the district fund, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon notifica-tion that the twenty dollars has been thus provided, must send a State warrant for ten dollars, making thirty dollars for the library. The number of new libraries to which any one county is entitled under this act is limited to six. The conditions for securing a supplementary appropriation for a library, heretofore established under the act of 1901. are as follows: The community must raise, by private sub-scription or otherwise, five dollars ; the County Board is then required to appropriate five dollars out of the district fund, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon notifica-tion that ten dollars has been thus provided, must issue a State warrant for five dollars, making fifteen dollars for the sup-plementary library. The number of supplementary libraries to which any one county is entitled is also limited to six. Only one hundred libraries and only fifteen supplementary libraries have been applied for under the act of 1903. These libraries have proved a great blessing and stimulus to all schools in which they have been established. If you desire one for your school, I would advise you to apply at once, or you may be too late. Applications have been rapidly coming in since the opening of the schools this fall. Thirty-six war-rants for new rural libraries were recently sent from my office in one day. The probabilities are that all the remaining new libraries and supplementary libraries provided for by the act of 1903 will be applied for before the close of this school year. Below is given a list of the counties that have not taken their full number of libraries, and the number of such libra-ries to which each county is now entitled : Alamance 4 Alexander 6 Alleghany 6 Anson 6 Ashe 6 Beaufort 4 Bladen 6 Brunswick 6 Burke 6 Cabarrus 6 Caldwell 6 Camden 6 Carteret 6 Caswell 6 Catawba 2 Chatham 3 Cherokee 6 Chowan 6 Clay 6 Cleveland 3 Columbus 5 Craven 6 Cumberland ... 6 Currituck 6 Dare 6 Davidson 5 Davie 6 Duplin 6 Durham 4 Edgecombe .... 2 Franklin 4 Gaston 6 Gates 6 Graham 6 Granville 4 Greene 4 Guilford 6 Halifax 6 Harnett 6 Haywood 6 Henderson 5 Hertford ...... 6 Hyde 6 Johnston 4 Jones 6 Lenoir 6 Lincoln 5 Macon 6 Madison 2 Martin 6 McDowell 6 Mitchell 3 Montgomery ... 6 Moore 5 Nash 3 New Hanover . . 6 Northampton . . 3 Onslow 6 Orange 6 Pamlico 6 Pasquotank .... 3 Pender 6 Perquimans .... 6 Person 5 Pitt. 3 Polk 6 Richmond 5 Robeson 5 Rockingham ... 2 Rowan 5 Rutherford .... 6 Sampson 4 Stanly 5 Scotland 6 Stokes 6 Surry 6 Swain 6 Transylvania . . 6 Tyrrell 6 Vance 5 Wake 6 Warren 6 Washington .... 6 Watauga 6 Wilson 4 Yadkin G Yancey 6 NORTH CAROLINA DAY. Subject: THE LOWER CAPE FEAR SECTION. PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES. PRAYER. 1. Song—The Old North State William Gaston 2. Reading—The Early Explorers and Settlers of the Cape Fear — A. M. Waddell 3. Declamation—The Pride of the Cape Fear George Davis 4. Reading—Life Among the Early Cape Fear Settlers. .John BricJcell 5. Recitation—The American Eagle Henry Jerome Stockard 6. Reading—Mary Slocum's Ride. Adapted from Mrs. Ellet. 7. Recitation—Moonlight in the Pines John Henry Boner 8. Reading—Reception of the Stamps on the Cape Fear. .George Davis 9. Recitation—Light'ood Fire John Henry Boner 10. Declamation—The Men of the Cape Fear George Davis 11. Reading—Rescue of Madame DeRosset James Sprunt 12. Recitation—Alamance /S. IF. Whiting 13. Reading—Blockading off the Cape Fear James Sprunt 14. Recitation—Regret Christian lleid (Mrs. F. G. Tiernan) 15. Resources of the Lower Cape Fear. Adapted from "North Carolina and Its Resources," published by State Board of Agriculture. 16. Questions and Answers. 17. Song—My Country, 'Tis of Thee. Appendix. THE OLD NORTH STATE. Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her! While we live Ave will cherish, protect and defend her; Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her, Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her. Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the good Old North State ! v Though she envies not others their merited glory, Say, whose name stands foremost in Liberty's story ! Though too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression, Who can yield to just rule more loyal submission ? Hurrah, etc. Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster At the knock of a stranger, or the tale of disaster ? How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains, With rich ore in their bosoms and life in their fountains. Hurrah, etc. And her daughters, the Queen of the Forest resembling — So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling; And true lightwood at heart, let the match be applied them, How they kindle and flame ! Oh ! none know but who've tried them. Hurrah, etc. Then let all who love us, love the land that we live in (As happy a region as on this side of Heaven), Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us, Raise aloud, raise together the heart-thrilling chorus! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the Old North State forever Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the good Old North State THE EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS OF THE GAPE FEAR. BY A. M. WADDELL. "Most persons who have any knowledge of the subject are aware of the fact that some Massachusetts adventurers came here in 1660, bringing cattle and hogs with them, under the impression that the lands near the mouth of the river were fine grazing lands, but that, finding the locality entirely un-suited to such purposes, they abandoned the country, leaving their cattle and hogs to the Indians, and also leaving—stuck up on a post—a warning to those who might come after them against the barrenness and hopelessness of the region as a possible field for colonial enterprise. However, there is hardly to be found a more amusing specimen of "boom" advertisement of the attractions of a new country than that contained in the seductive papers issued three years later by certain promoters, who did not even have a charter of any kind, to induce immigrants to come here. One paragraph from one of these "boom" advertisements, which has been often quoted, was in these words : " 'If any maid or single woman have a desire to go over, they will think themselves in the Golden Age, when men paid a dowry for their wives ; for if they be but civil and under fifty years of age, some honest man or other will purchase them for wives.' "But these advertisements were published chiefly in Eng-land and did not cause the migration of the first colony that came. That colony came chiefly from Barbadoes and was therefore composed entirely of British subjects, it is true, but they came upon the presentations made by the pioneers sent 11 out by Sir John Yeamans and others to explore this region, and not because of the florid accounts given by the promoters who had no charter but only hoped to be rewarded for their zeal. These explorers anchored their vessel, The Adventurer, in what they called "Cape Fair Road," Monday, October 12, 1663, and on Friday, the 16th, went up the river for some distance, and thence forward, until December 4th, they made their explorations on both sides of both branches of the river for perhaps seventy-five miles, and set sail for Barbadoes on that day, arriving there on the 6th of January following. ''They bought from the Indians for a few trinkets thirty-two miles square of land, and those who sent out the expedi-tion asked the Lords Proprietors to confirm the sale, which was refused, but the Lords Proprietors did make a grant to them which was satisfactory, and in January following ap-pointed Sir John Yeamans Governor and Commander-in- Chief of the proposed colony and of the new county of Claren-don, which extended from the Cape Pear to Florida. Sir John Yeamans, with a colony which numbered several hun-dred persons, arrived and began the settlement on the 29th day of May, 1664-'05. The place at which they landed and built a town, which they called 'Charles Towne,' was at the mouth of the creek on the west side of the river, about eight miles above this place, which has for more than two hundred years been called Old Towne Creek, or, more commonly, ToAvne Creek. "The colony is supposed to have numbered as many as six hundred. No history of their life has been preserved. It is stated in all the histories, previous to the publication of the Colonial Records of North Carolina, that Sir John Yeamans remained with the colony for six years, but this proved to be an error. He remained a very short time and returned on his vessel to Barbadoes. * * * The colony * * * ex- 12 isted only about two years, when it was broken up, its mem-bers going in the fall of 1667 mostly to the northern settle-ments, and thus for the second time the attempt at a perma-nent settlement of the Cape Fear failed. "In 1713, Colonel James Moore of South Carolina led a body of troops into North Carolina to subdue the Indians. With him came his younger brother, Maurice Moore. "To this gentleman/' says Mr. George Davis, "the permanent set-tlement and civilization of the Cape Fear are principally due. He had been favorably impressed with the aspect of the country in his expedition against the Indians, and perhaps he cherished some pious regard for it as the first American home of his grandfather, Sir John Yeamans. And soon after his return to South Carolina he determined to remove to the northern province. * * * He is supposed to have settled upon the Cape Fear about the year 1723. His are the earliest grants for land upon that river now extant, and the first of them are dated in 1725. * * * To the brothers, Mau-rice and Roger Moore, especially I would here render an humble tribute of respect and veneration. * * * These brothers were not cast in the common mould of men. They were of 'the breed of noble bloods.' Of kingly descent and proud of their name, which brave deeds had made illustrious, they dwelt upon their magnificent estates of Rocky Point and Orton, with much of the dignity, and something of the state, of the ancient feudal barons, surrounded by their sons and kinsmen, who looked up to them for counsel and were devoted to their will. Proud and stately, somewhat haughty and overbearing perhaps, but honorable, brave, high-minded and generous, they lived for many years the fathers of the Cape Fear, dispensing a noble hospitality to all the worthy, and a terror to the mean and lawless. * * * * * "Such were the pioneers of the Cape Fear. It is needless to say how great is the reproach of the people who have let their names die." CORNELIUS HARNETT, THE PRIDE OF THE GAPE FEAR. BY HON. GEORGE DAVIS. (Adapted from an Address Delivered at Chapel Hill, June 8, 1855). "There was one who shone like a star in the early troubles of the State, of pure and exalted character, of unsurpassed influence with his countrymen, and the value of whose ser-vices was only equaled by the extent of his sufferings and sacrifices in the cause of liberty. And yet so little is he known that I doubt not, gentlemen, many of you have not even so much as heard his name. I speak of Cornelius Har-nett, the pride of the Cape Fear — cthe Samuel Adams of the Cape Fear.'* To the shame of the State, his birthplace has not heretofore been even conjectured; and meagre as are the accounts of his early history, they are full of errors. * * * He was born in 1723. From 1765 to 1780 there was scarcely a movement in the patriot cause in which Cornelius Harnett did not bear a conspicuous part. And a bare enumeration of the appointments which he filled, and of the men with whom he was associated, would be sufficient to show the influence he exercised and the estimation in which he was held. He was one of the faithful representatives of the people, who, unawed by power, so fearlessly resisted the government on the Attach-ment Law. He was the first chairman of the Wilmington Committee, f over which he long presided—its very center and *Journal of Josiah Quincy. f In 1774 the first Provincial Congress met in New Bern and one of the resolutions of this Congress was that a committee of five be appointed for each county to see that all the resolutions of this Congress should be carried out. Harnett was chairman of the Wilmington committee. 14 soul and the life-breathing spirit of liberty among the people. When the Provincial Congress, in 1775, assumed the govern-ment and appointed a Council to administer the affairs of the colony at their most critical juncture, he was chosen presi-dent of the Council and virtual Governor* of the province— a noble tribute to his worth and abilities. But there is a brighter jewel in his crown of glory. A member of the con-vention which met at Halifax the 4th of April, 1776, he was chairman of the committee appointed to consider the usurpa-tions of the King and Parliament, and the author of their celebrated report and resolution 'empowering the delegates for this colony in the Continental Congress to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence. ' This resolution was unanimously adopted by the convention on April 12, 1776, more than a month before the celebrated resolution of Virginia on the same subject. * * * * "Thus faithfully did Harnett serve the cause of liberty. And the enemies of his country did not forget him for it. In the spring of 1776, Sir Plenry Clinton arrived in the Cape Pear, and his first public act was to issue to Cornelius Har-nett and Robert Howe a patent of nobility. Here it is, writ-ten in British ink and dated 5th of May, 1776: " 'I have it in command to proceed forthwith against all such men and bodies of men in arms and against all con-gresses and committees thus unlawfully established as against open enemies of the State. But, considering it a duty insepa-rable from the principles of humanity first of all to warn the deluded people of the miseries ever attendant upon civil war, I do most earnestly entreat and exhort them, as they tender their own happiness and that of their posterity, to appease the vengeance of a justly incensed nation by a return to their duty to our common sovereign and to the blessings of a free * When Governor Martin fled from New Bern there was no officer of the Crown to ad-minister affairs. Harnett as president of the Council was the chief officer in North Carolina. 15 government established by law; hereby offering, in his Majes-ty's name, free pardon to all such as will lay down their arms and submit to the laws: excepting only from the benefits of such pardon Cornelius Harnett and Robert Howe! "He little knew how he was immortalizing the names of the men he was trying to render infamous ! Harnett con-tinued active in the service of the State until 1781. In that year a British force occupied Wilmington, and so dangerous to the cause of the King was he esteemed that the first incur-sion planned was for the purpose of taking him prisoner. In attempting to escape from his enemies he was taken ill of the gout at the home of his friend, Colonel Spicer, in Onslow, and was captured there and carried in triumph to Wilming-ton. Thus wrecked in health and fortune in the storms which assailed his country, he died soon after in his imprisonment, childless and forlorn, having first penned with his own hand the epitaph which stands above his grave. "In the northeast comer of the grave-yard of St. James' Church in Wilmington lies the body of one than whom a nobler and purer patriot never lived. The rank grass grows over his grave and almost hides it from view, as if it would conceal from the stranger the forgetfulness and ingratitude of the town. Two simple brown stones, discolored by age, mark the spot. On the largest, which is an upright slab, is inscribed — " 'CORNELIUS HARNETT. Died April 20, 1781. Aged 58 Years.' 'Slave to no sect, he took no private road, But looked through nature up to nature's God.' " LIFE AMONG THE EARLY CAPE FEAR, SETTLERS. BY JOHN BRICKELL. Iii an old volume published in Dublin, Ireland, in 1737, we find the following reference by Dr. John Brickell, a traveler, to the people and customs of the Cape Fear region in North Carolina in his day: "The planters, by the richness of the soil, live after the most easy and pleasant manner of any people I have ever met with, for you shall seldom hear them repine at any mis-fortunes in life except the loss of friends, there being plenty of all the necessaries convenient for life; poverty being an entire stranger here and the planters the most hospitable peo-ple that are to be met with, not only to strangers, but likewise to those who by any misfortunes have lost the use of their limbs or are incapable to Avork and have no visible way to support themselves. To such objects as these the country allows fifty pounds per annum for their support, So there are no beggars or vagabonds to be met with, strolling from place to place, as is common amongst us. The country in general is adorned with large and beautiful rivers and creeks, and the woods with lofty timber, which afford most delightful and pleasant seats to the planters, and the lands very con-venient and easy to be fenced in to secure their stocks of cat-tle to more strict boundaries, whereby with small trouble with fencing almost every man may enjoy to himself an entire plantation. These, with many other advantages, such as cheapness and fertility of the lands, plenty of fish, wild fowl and venison and other necessaries that this country naturally produces, had induced a great many families to leave the more northerly plantations and come and settle in one of the 17 mildest governments in the world, in a country that, with moderate industry, may be acquired all the necessaries con-venient for life, so that yearly we have abundance of strangers that come among us from Europe, New England, Pennsyl-vania, Maryland and from many of the islands, such as Antigua, Barbadoes and many others, to settle here, many of whom, with small beginnings, are become very rich in a few years. 7 ' THE AMERICAN EAGLE. HENRY JEROME STOCKARD. Brooded on the crags, his down the rocks, He holds the skies for his domain ; Serene he preens where thunder shocks, And rides the hurricane. The scream of shells is in his shriek As swords, his wings whiz down the air; His claws, as bayonets, gride; his beak, As shrapnel-shards, doth tear. Where Shasta shapes its mighty cone, Where Mitchell heaves into the skies, Silent he glares—austere, alone — With sun-outstaring eyes. MARY SLOCUM'S RIDE. (Adapted from Mrs. Ellet) On February 27, 1776, the Whigs of the Cape Fear, under the lead of General Richard Caswell and Colonel Alexander Lillington, won a splendid victory over the Tories at Moore's Creek Bridge,* a few miles from Wilmington. Nine hundred prisoners, two thousand stands of arms, $75,000 and many other articles of value to the Whigs were captured. Among the heroes of this victory was Ezekiel Slocum, who, when he rode away one quiet Sunday morning to fight for his country, left behind in his little home his young wife, only eighteen years of age, and their little baby. It is easy to imagine what a lonely, long day the young wife had at home that quiet Sabbath day; it is easy to imagine where her thoughts were ; it is easy to imagine how she concealed the anxiety of her heart under the assumed cheerfulness of her face. "I slept soundly and quietly that night/' she says, "and worked hard the next day ; but I kept thinking where they had got to, how far, where and how many of the regulars and Tories they would meet, and I could not keep from that study." Going to bed in this anxious state of mind, it was but natural that her sleep should be disturbed by fearsome dreams. She had tossed and tumbled from one side of the bed to the other till far into the night. And then came a terrible dream. She seemed to see lying on the ground, sur-rounded by the dead and wounded, a body, motionless, bloody, ghastly, wrapped in her husband's cloak. With a cry * This battlefield is in the eastern part of Pender county, a few miles from the Bladen county line. 19 of alarm, she sprang to her feet into the middle of the room. So vivid was the impression, it remained with her even after she awaked from sleep ; and in rushing forward to the place where the vision appeared, she ran into the side of the house. The light was dim ; all around was quiet and peace, but within her breast her heart kept up a great commotion. "If ever I felt fear," she says, "it was at that moment." The more she reflected on the vision, the more vivid and the more fearful it became, until at last she could bear the suspense no longer, and, starting forward, she cried aloud : "I must go to him." In the stable was her favorite and own particular horse, as fleet and easy a nag as ever traveled. In an instant, leav-ing her baby and the house in the care of the nurse, she rushed out to the barn, saddled her mare, and in less time than it takes to tell it, was flying down the road at full speed. The night air was cool; the spirit of the race was in the nag ; and mile after mile was quickly left behind as the sound of her rapidly falling hoofs fell clear and distinct on the quiet night air. All alone, urged onward by love and fear, this brave little woman swept on through the dark night, dashing over bridges, whirling through dark woods, flashing past farm-houses, until, when the sun began to appear in the east, thirty miles lay between her and her quiet home. * * * The sun was well up when a new excitement was added to the race. She heard a sound like thunder rolling and rum-bling in the distance. She pulled up her mare suddenly. What was it ? Though she had never heard the sound before, she knew it must be the roar of the cannon ; and as she thought of what it meant, the blood coursed more rapidly than ever through her veins ; she was more than ever impa-tient to be on the scene, and away she dashed again. * * * As she drew nearer she could hear the roar of the deadly muskets, the fatal rifles and the triumphant shouts of the vic-tors. But from wmich side did they come ? Did those shouts mean the defeat of her husband, or did they mean his tri- 20 umph ? This was the most trying moment of all—this terri-ble suspense. If it was his victory, then he would rejoice to have her share his glory ; if his defeat, then he would need her to sooth his sufferings ; so on she pressed to share with him weal or woe. Crossing the Wilmington road a few hun-dred yards below the bridge, she saw a clump of trees, under which were lying perhaps twenty wounded men. What was this she saw ? Her blood froze in her veins ; her heart leapt to her mouth, for there was the vision realized—the scene before her; she knew it as well as if she had seen it a thou-sand times—the spot, the trees, the position of the men, the groans of the wounded ; and as her sight fell upon a body lying in the midst of the group, her brain became dizzy and the world seemed whirling around her at the rate of ten thousand times a second. There lay a body, motionless, bloody, ghastly, wrapped in her husband's cloak. Her whole soul became centered in that one spot. "How I passed from my saddle to this place I never knew," she said afterwards. But in some way she succeeded in reaching the body and mechanically uncovered the head. She saw before her an unrecognizable face, crusted with dust and blood from a gash across the temple. What a relief to her aching heart was the strange voice that begged her for a drink of water. Her senses came back to her at once, so she was able to minister to the sufferer's wants. She gave him a swallow as she held the drooping head in her lap, and with what remained of the water bathed the dirt and gore from his face. From the ghastly crust came the pale face of one of her neighbors, Frank Cogdell. Under the gentle care of his nurse he re-vived enough to speak, and when she attempted to dress the wound on his head he managed to gasp out : "It's not that ; it's the hole in my leg that's killing me." Lifting the wounded leg from the puddle of blood in which it lay, she gently cut away the trousers and stockings and found a shot hole through the fleshy part of the limb. What 21 nerve it must have taken for this young girl, unused to such work, alone, without help or advice, to go through with this painful ordeal. But she was of the stuff of which JSTorth Carolina moulds her heroes, and she did not flinch from her duty. * * * No sooner had she completed this pressing duty than she turned to others of the unfortunate men who lay in pain and need, and, as she said, "dressed the wounds of many a brave fellow who did good fighting long after that day." * * * When she raised her head, there before her stood her astonished husband, "as bloody as a butcher and as muddy as a ditcher." "I was so happy," she says, "and so were all. It was a glorious victory. I came just at the height of the enjoyment. I knew my husband was surprised, but I could see that he was not displeased with me." It was, of course, long into the night before the excitement subsided. The news spread like wild fire, and the Whigs all over the country heard it with rejoicing and thanksgiving; and everywhere the news of the victory was heard went also the story of the heroine, her brave ride, her heaven-sent aid, her soothing care of the wounded and suffering. Many a soldier breathed a prayer of thanks for the vision which came to her, and for her courageous response. But the prettiest side of the story was the simple and unaffected way in which she looked upon her act. Nothing of force or beauty can be added to her own simple and touching words about her return home. * * * "In the middle of the night," she says, simply, * * * "I again mounted my mare and started home. Caswell and my husband wanted me to stay until the next morning and they would send a party with me. But no! I wanted to see my child, and told them they could send no party that could keep up with me. What a happy ride I had back ! And with what joy did I embrace my child as he ran to meet me !"* *From the Ride of Mary Slocum, adapted from Mrs. Ellet's "Women of the Revolution." MOONKISE IN THE PINES. JOHN HENRY BONER. The sultry day is ending, The clouds are fading away, Orange with purple is blending And purple is turning to gray ; The gray grows darker and denser, Till it and the earth are one; A star swings out like a censer, And the brief warm night is begun. The brown moth floats and poises Like a leaf in the windless air ; Aroused by insect noises, The gray toad leaves his lair ; Sounding the dusk depth quickly, The bull-bats fall and rise, And out of the grasses thickly Swarm glistening fire-flies. Now darkness, heavy, oppressive And silent completes the gloom,; The breathless night is excessive With fragrance of perfume, For the land is enmeshed and ablaze With vines that blossom and trail, Embanking the traveled ways And festooning the fences of rail. 23 Afar in the southern sky Heat-lightning flares and glows, Vividly tinting the clouds that lie At rest with a shimmer of rose — Tremulous, flitting, uncertain, As a mystical light might shine From under an ebon curtain Before a terrible shrine. And the slumbrous night grows late. The midnight hush is deep. Under the pines I wait For the moon ; and the pine-trees weep Great drops of dew, that fall Like footsteps here and there, And they sadly whisper and call To each other high in the air. They rustle and whisper like ghosts, They sigh like souls in pain, Like the movement of stealthy hosts They surge, and are silent again. The midnight hush is deep, But the pines—the spirits distrest They move in somnambulant sleeps They whisper and are not at rest. Lo ! a light in the east, opalescent, Softly suffuses the sky Where flocculent clouds are quiescent, Where like froth of the ocean, they lie- Like foam on the beach they crimple Where the wave has spent its swirl — Like the curve of a shell, they dimple Into iridescent pearl. : 24 And the light grows brighter and higher, Till far through the trees I see The rim of a globe of fire That rolls through the darkness to me, And the aisles of the forest gleam With a splendor unearthly, that shines Like the light of a lurid dream Through the colonnaded pines. Ife RECEPTION OF THE STAMPS ON THE CAPE FEAR. BY HON. GEORGE DAVIS. (From an Address Delivered Before the Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. June 8. 1855). When the Stamp Act was introduced into Parliament, they [the men of the Cape Fear] watched its progress as men watch the storm which they know is to burst in fury on their heads ; but they watched without fear and with manly hearts. When the news of its passage came across the water, their Chevalier Bayard,* John Ashe, was Speaker of the House. He boldly proclaimed to the Governor that he would resist it unto death, and that his people would stand by him in the sacred cause. Did he miscalculate the spirit of his people ? Had he read them aright? Let us see. In the first of the year 1766 the sloop of war Diligence arrived in the Cape Fear, bringing the stamps. The procla-mation of Governor Tryon, announcing her arrival and direct-ing all persons authorized to distribute them to apply to her commander, is dated the 6th of January in that year. Now, look what shall happen. She floats as gaily up the river as though she came upon an errand of grace, with sails all set and the cross of St. George flaunting apeak, and her cannon frown upon the rebellious little town of Brunswick as she yaws to her anchor. People of the Cape Fear, the issue is before you ! The paw of the lion is on your head—the terri-ble lion of England ! Will ye crouch submissively, or redeem * A celebrated knight of the middle ages. 26 the honor that was pledged for you ? Ye have spoken brave words about the rights of the people. Have ye acts as brave ? Ah, gentlemen, there were men in North Carolina in those days ! Scarcely had the stamp ship crossed the bar, when Colonel Waddell was watching her from the land. He sent a message to Wilmington to his friend, Colonel Ashe ; and as she rounded to her anchor opposite the custom-house at Bruns-wick they stood upon the shore with two companies of friends and gallant yeomen at their backs. Beware, John Ashe! Hugh Waddell, take heed ! Consider well, brave gentlemen, the perilous issue that you dare. Remember that armed resistance to the King's authority is treason. In his palace at Wilmington, but a few miles off, the "Wolf of Carolina"* is already chafing at you. And know you not that yonder across the water England still keeps the Tower, the Traitor's Gate, the scaffold and the axe ? Full well they know. But "They have set their lives upon the cast, And now must stand the hazard of the die." By threats of violence they intimidate the commander of the sloop, and he promises not to land the stamps. They seize the vessel's boat, and, hoisting a mast and flag, mount it upon a cart and march in triumph to Wilmington. Upon their arrival the town is illuminated. Next day, with Colonel Ashe at their head, the people go in crowds to the Governor's house and demand of him William Houston, the Stamp-mas-ter. Upon his refusal to deliver him up, forthwith they set about to burn the house above his head. Terrified, the Gov-ernor at length complies, and Houston is carried to the mar-ket- house, where, in the presence of the assembled people, he is made to take a solemn oath never to execute the duties of his office. Three glad, hurrahs ring through the old market- 'Governor Tryon—name given to him by the Indians. 27 house, and the Stamp Act falls, still-born, in North Carolina. And this was more than ten years before the Declaration of Independence, and more than nine years before the battle of Lexington, and nearly eight years before the Boston Tea Party. The destruction of the tea was done in the night by men in disguise. And history blazons it, and New England boasts of it, and the fame of it is world-wide. But this other act, more gallant and daring, done in open day by well-known men with arms in their hands and under the King's flag — who remembers or who tells of it ? When will history do justice to North Carolina? Never, until some faithful and loving son of her own shall gird his loins to the task with unwearied industry and unflinching devotion to the honor of his dear old mother. THE LIGHT'OOD FIRE. JOHN" HENRY BONER. The author of these two poems was born at Salem, N. C, 1845. A recent volume contains all the author considered worth preserving, and is a book highly creditable to the State. Mr. Boner held responsible editorial positions in New York City and elsewhere, and was a frequent contributor to the best periodical literature. The lines on Poe created an im-pression when they appeared in The Century Magazine a few years ago. Declining health forced him to give up his duties in New York and to seek restoration among his friends in his native State. A winter was spent in Raleigh, with temporary relief ; but soon after his return to work in the Government Printing Office, Washington, he suddenly died of hemorrhage, March 6, 1903. The Author's Club of New York assisted in doing honor to his memory. His grave is in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C. When w7intry days are dark and drear And all the forest ways grow still, When gray, snow-laden clouds appear Along the bleak horizon hill, When cattle all are snugly penned And sheep go huddling close together, When steady streams of smoke ascend From farm-house chimneys—in such weather Give me old Carolina's own, A great log-house, a great hearth-stone, A cheering pipe, of cob or briar, And a red, leaping light'ood fire. 29 When dreary day draws to a close And all the silent land is dark, When Boreas down the chimney blows And sparks fly from the crackling- bark, When limbs are bent with snow or sleet And owls hoot from the hollow tree, With hounds asleep about your feet, Then is the time for reverie. Give me old Carolina's own, A hospitable, wide hearth-stone, A cheering pipe, of cob or briar, And a red, rousing light'ood fire. m THE MEN" OF THE CAPE FEAR. (Adapted from an Address by Hon. George Davis). "When the Revolution broke upon the country there was no section in North Carolina, no section in all the thirteen colonies, which gave more royal support to the American cause, was more willing to sacrifice for the common good, was more ready to risk all for the public weal, than was the Cape Fear section. The people of this section, under the leadership of Harnett and Howe, Ashe and Hooper, and other distinguished sons, were ever foremost in the fight, first for liberty, then for independence. Here occurred the first open resistance to the Stamp Act ; here it was that the people, not disguised as Indians, not under the cover of darkness, but in their own proper dress, in the open daylight and in the presence of the Royal Governor, forcibly took William Houston, the Stamp-master, from Tryon's palace and made him swear in the open market-place never to perform the duties of his office; here it was that an indignant people re-plied to a tyrannical Governor's invitation to a public dinner by dumping the repast into the river; here it was that in July, 1774, the people declared 'the cause of Boston the common cause of all' ; here it was that the people declared themselves, in June, 1775, 'ready to go forth and be ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes to secure the freedom and safety of the country' ; and here it was that in January, 1776, the Committees of Safety informed the Council of the Colony, then on their way to meet with the Royal Governor on board a British war-ship in the Cape Fear river, 'that the committee could not, consistent with the safety of the country, permit them to attend the Governor.' 31 "Tims nobly upon the Cape Fear closed the first act of the drama. And when the curtain rose again, George, by the grace of God, King, was King no longer; but the Constitu-tion reigned and the free people of North Carolina governed themselves." RESCUE OF MADAME DeROSSET. (From "Tales of the Cape Fear," by Mr. James Sprunt) "We found in the ship-yard in Wilmington, while the Lilian was undergoing repairs, the noted blockade runner, Lynx, commanded by one of the most daring spirits in the service, Captain Reid. * * * * "A thrilling incident occurred in the destruction of the Lynx, a few weeks after we left her at Wilmington, which nearly terminated the life of a brave and charming little lady, the wife of Mr. Louis H. DeRosset, and of her infant child, who were passengers for Nassau. At half-past seven o'clock on the evening of September 26, 1864, the Lynx attempted to run the blockade at New Inlet, but was immediately dis-covered in the Swash channel by the Federal cruiser NipJion, which fired several broadsides into her at short range, nearly «very shot striking her hull and seriously disabling her. Not-withstanding this, Captain Reed continued his efforts to escape, and for a short time was slipping away from his pur-suer; but he was again intercepted by two Federal men-of-war, the Ilowquah and the Governor Buckingham. Mrs. DeRosset, describing the scene a few days afterwards, said: " 'Immediately the sky wTas illuminated with rockets ; broadside upon broadside, volley upon volley was poured upon us. The Captain put me in the wheel-house for safety. I had scarcely taken my seat when a ball passed three inches above my head, wounding the man at the wheel next to me; a large piece of the wheel-house knocked me on the head. I flew to the cabin, took my baby in my arms and immediately another ball passed through the cabin. We came so near one 33 of the enemy's boats that they fired a round of musketry and demanded surrender. We passed them like lightning; our vessel commenced sinking ! Eight shots went through and through below the water-line. I stayed in the cabin until I could no longer keep baby out of the water.' "The Hoiuquah then engaged the Lynx at close quarters, and her batteries tore away a large part of the paddle-boxes and bridge deck. The Buckingham also attacked the plucky blockade runner at so short a range that her commander fired all the charges from his revolver at Captain Reed and his pilot on the bridge. The continual flashing of the guns brightly illuminated the chase, and, escape being impossible, Captain Reed, much concerned for the safety of his passen-gers, headed his sinking ship for the beach. In the mean-time Fort Fisher was firing upon his pursuers with deadly effect, killing and wounding Hve men on the Howquah and disabling one of the guns. The sea was very rough that night, and the treacherous breakers, with their deafening roar, afforded little hope of landing a woman and her baby through the surf; nevertheless, it was the only alternative, and right bravely did the heroine meet it. "Through the breakers the Lynx was driven to her destruc-tion, the shock as her keel struck the bottom sending her crew headlong to the deck. Boats were lowered with great difficulty, the sea dashing over the bulwarks and drenching the sailors to the point of strangulation. Madame DeRosset, with the utmost coolness, watched her chance while the boat lurched and pounded against the stranded ship, and jumped gracefully to her place ; the baby, wrapped in a blanket, was tossed from the deck to her mother ten feet below, and then the fight for a landing began, while the whole crew, forgetful of their own danger and inspired with courage by the brave lady's example, joined in three hearty cheers as she dis-appeared in the darkness towards the shore. Under the later glare of the burning ship, which was set on fire when aban- 34 doned, a safe landing was effected, but with great suffering. Soaking wet, without food or drink, they remained on the beach until a message could reach Colonel Lamb at Fort Fisher, five miles distant, whence an ambulance was sent to carry the passengers twenty miles up to Wilmington. The baby blockade runner, Gabrielle, survived this perilous adven-ture ; also an exciting run through the fleet in the Confederate steamer Owl; and she is now the devoted wife of Colonel Alfred Moore Waddell, Mayor of Wilmington." ALAMANCE. 1771. The following poem was written by Seymour Whiting. When this poem was written no monument had been placed on the old battle-ground. The monument which now marks the spot was erected in 1880 : No stately column marks the hallowed place Where silent sleeps, unurn'd, their sacred dust — The first free martyrs of a glorious race, Their fame a people's wealth, a nation's trust. The rustic ploughman, at the early morn, The yielding furrow turns with heedless tread, Or tends with frugal care the springing corn Where tyrants conquer'd and where heroes bled. Above their rest the golden harvest waves, The glorious stars stand sentinel on high ; While in said requiem near their turfless graves, The winding river murmurs mourning by. No stern ambition nerved them to the deed, In Freedom's cause they nobly dared to die ; The first to conquer, or the first to bleed, God, and their country's right, their battle-cry. But holier watchers here their vigils keep, Than storied urn or monumental stone ; For Law and Justice guard their dreamless sleep, And Plenty smiles above their bloody home. Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame, And, as their country's glories still advance, Shall brighter blaze o'er all the earth thy name, The first-fought field of Freedom—Alamance. BLOCKADING OFF THE CAPE FEAR. (Selected from "Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade," by Mr. James Sprunt of Wilmington). During the war between the States, Wilmington was one of the chief ports of the Confederacy. A vast amount of food, clothing, munitions of war and other necessities were im-ported into the South through this port, and the United States Government soon recognized the advisability of stationing upon Cape Fear a strong blockading fleet. Mr. J nines Sprunt, in his delightful "Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade," says : "The first blockader placed upon the Cape Fear station was one bearing the misnomer Daylight, which appeared July 20, 1861. Others soon followed, until the number of block-aders off New Inlet and the main bar of Cape Fear river was increased to about thirty or more ; these formed a cordon every night in the shape of a crescent, the horns of which were so close in shore that it was almost impossible for a small boat to pass without discovery. Armed picket barges also patroled the bars and sometimes crept close in upon the forts." In spite, however, of the vigilant blockade by the Fed-eral fleet, vessels continued to slip out and in, carrying on at great danger a commerce with the outside world, with-out which the armies of the Confederacy must have suc-cumbed months sooner than they did. Continuing, Mr. Sprunt says: aThe natural advantages of Wilmington at the time of Avhich we write made it an ideal port for blockade runners, there being two entrances to the river—JSTew Inlet on the north, and the western or main bar on the south of Cape 37 Fear. 'This cape/ said Mr. George Davis, 'is the southern-most point of Smith's Island, a naked, bleak elbow of sand jutting far out into the ocean. Immediately in its front are the Frying Pan Shoals, pushing out still farther twenty miles to sea. Together they stand for warning and for woe; and together they catch the long, majestic roll of the Atlantic as it sweeps through a thousand miles of grandeur and power from the Arctic toward the Gulf. It is the play-ground of billows and tempests, the kingdom of silence and awe, dis-turbed by no sound save the sea-gull's shriek and the breaker's roar. Its whole aspect is suggestive, not of repose and beauty, but of desolation and terror. Imagination cannot adorn it ; romance cannot hallow it ; local pride cannot soften it. There it stands to-day, bleak and threatening and pitiless as it stood three hundred years ago, when Grenville* and Whitef came near unto death upon its sands; and there it will stand, bleak and threatening and pitiless, until the earth and sea shall give up their dead. And as its nature, so its name is noAv, always has been and always will be the 'Cape Fear.' "The slope of our beach for many miles is very gradual to deep water. The surroundings along the coast are regular, and the floor of the ocean is remarkably even. A steamer hard pressed by the enemy could run along the outer edge of the breakers without great risk of grounding; the pursuer, being usually of deeper draft, was obliged to keep further off shore. The Confederate steamer Lilian, of which I was then purser, was chased for nearly a hundred miles from Cape Lookout by the United States steamer Shen-andoah, which sailed a parallel course within half a mile of her and forced the Lilian at times into the breakers. This was probably the narrowest escape ever made by a blockade runner in a chase. The Shenandoali began firing her broad- * Sir Richard Grenville, an English Admiral, in 1585, with an English fleet, explored Roanoke Island and the rivers that empty into Albemarle Sound. t John White, the second Governor of Carolina, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587, and the grandfather of Virginia Dare. 38 side guns at 3 o'clock p. m., her gunners and commanding officers of the batteries being distinctly visible to the Lilians crew. aA heavy sea was running, which deflected the aim of the man-of-war and which alone saved the Lilian from destruc-tion. A furious bombardment by the Shenandoah, aggravated by the display of the Lillians Confederate flag, was continued until nightfall, when, by a clever ruse, the Lilian, guided by the flash of her pursuer's guns, stopped for a few minutes ; then, putting her helm hard over, ran across the wake of the war-ship straight out to sea, and on the following morning passed the fleet off Fort Fisher in such a crippled condition that several weeks were spent in Wilmington for repairs." REGRET. CHRISTIAN KEID. If I had known, O loyal heart, When hand to hand we said farewell, How for all time our paths would part, What shadow o'er our friendship fell, I should have clasped your hand so close In the warm pressure of my own, That memory still might keep its grasp, If I had known. If I had known, when far and wide We loitered through the summer land, What Presence wandered by our side, And o'er you stretched its awful hand, I should have hushed my careless speech, To listen well to every tone That from your lips fell low and sweet, If I had known. If I had known, when your kind eyes Met mine in parting, true and sad— Eyes gravely tender, gently wise, And earnest rather more than glad — How soon the lids would lie above, As cold and white as sculptured stone, I should have treasured every glance, If I had known. 40 If I had known how, from the strife Of fears, hopes, passions here below, Unto a purer, higher life That you were called, O friend, to go, I should have stayed all foolish tears, And hushed each idle sigh and moan, To bid you a last, long God-speed, If I had known. If I had known to what strange place, What mystic, distant, silent shore, You calmly turned your steadfast face, What time your footsteps left my door, I should have forged a golden link To bind the heart, so constant grown, And keep it constant even there, If I had known. If I had known that, until death Shall with his finger touch my brow, And still the quickening of the breath That stirs with life's full meaning now, So long my feet must tread the way Of our accustomed paths alone, I should have prized your presence more, If I had known. If I had known how soon for you Drew near the ending of the fight, And on your vision, fair and new, Eternal peace dawned into sight, I should have begged, as love's last gift, That you, before God's great, white throne, Would pray for your poor friend on earth, If I had known. THE RESOURCES OF THE, LOWER CAPE FEAR. (Adapted from "North Carolina and Its Resources," Published by State Board of Agriculture). The soil along* the lower Cape Fear is most admirably adapted for truck farming, fruit cultivation, raising stock and poultry, every kind of vegetable, all the small fruits; pears, peaches, plums, etc., are here profitably grown. The strawberry business alone engages the attention of many farmers, and many car-loads of strawberries are shipped every spring to Northern cities. Potatoes, asparagus, lettuce, toma-toes, blackberries and whortleberries are some of the sources of revenue of the truck farmer. Wilmington, with 20,976 inhabitants, is the largest city in North Carolina and the chief sea-port. The principal exports are cotton, cotton goods, timber, lumber and naval stores. The most valuable timber in this section is the long-leaf pine. This is a tall and slender tree, with a long, clear stem, the trees frequently being one hundred feet high, but rarely three feet in diameter. The wood is even-grained and strong — stronger than that of any other American pine and nearly twice as strong as that of the white pine. It is exceptionally free from knots, wind-shakes, heart-cracks, red-heart and other timber defects, takes a good polish and is particularly suited for flooring, wainscoting and outside work. It is found on the driest and most sandy soils, unmixed with other trees, or on better soils, with a lower growth, beneath the pine, of dogwood and small post and Spanish oaks, the oaks being suitable for cross-ties. From, this pine, by boxing it—that is : removing a thin layer of the sap-wood so that the resin con-tained in the tree may exude and be caught in a hole or "box" 42 cut in the trunk of the tree near its base—crude turpentine, as the resin isi called, is obtained. By the distillation of the crude turpentine, spirits of turpentine is gotten as the volatile part, while rosin is the residue left in the retort. This industry of tapping the pine for resin, and the distillation of the resin, gives employment to several thousand men in this State, and the annual value of the resinous products sold from this State aggregated in 1890 over $1,500,000, being, in fact, about one-third of the entire product of these commodities in the world. Tar is obtained from this tree by slow combustion in a closed kiln of pieces of its heart-wood impregnated with resin ; and from tar, pitch is made by boiling it with a fixed proportion of crude turpentine. The turpentine industry was one of the principal occupa-tions and sources of wealth in the southern and eastern sec-tions of North Carolina before the war, and Wilmington be-came the largest market in the world for naval stores, draw-ing this trade also from a large section of South Carolina. In those days naval stores were perhaps the chief articles of export from this State, and naturally North Carolina became widely known abroad for the production and exportation of these stores. This probably accounts for the fact that about the only production of North Carolina mentioned in the old geographies were tar, pitch and turpentine; therefore, her name became so identified with these products that she was known abroad as the "Tar Heel State." While these products constitute but a small part of our commercial wealth to-day, it has taken many years to remove from the minds of the people in our sister States this early impression and to inform them of our other wonderful and varied resources. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Question 1 : What is meant by the "Lower Cape Fear Sec-tion" ? Answer: The term "Lower Cape Fear Section" is given to those counties in North Carolina which lie towards the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 2: Who were the first British citizens to visit the Cape Fear region ? Answer: On July 14, 1584, an English fleet sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh and under the command of Philip Ama-das and Arthur Barlowe appeared off the coast near the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 3: When and by whom was the first attempt to settle the Cape Fear country made ? Answer: In 1660 a party of Englishmen from Massachu-setts came to the Cape Fear river seeking pasture lands for their cattle. The region was unsuited for this purpose and therefore was soon abandoned. Question J^: When and by whom was the next attempt made, and with what results ? Answer: In May, 1665, Sir John Yeamans, an English gentleman from Barbadoes, came into the Cape Fear country with 600 colonists and founded a settlement which he named Charles Towne. Sir John Yeamans was the Governor, but remained only a short time with the colony. In 1667 the settlement was abandoned. Question 5: When and where was the first permanent set-tlement made on the Cape Fear? Answer: In 1723 Colonel Maurice Moore of South Caro-lina and a few followers erected homes on the banks of the Cape Fear river. Two years later, 1725, they laid off a town 44 nine miles below the present city of Wilmington and named it "Brunswick." Colonists nocked there in considerable num-bers until the settlement became a town of 400 inhabitants. Question 6: What other early settlement was made on the Cape Fear river? Answer: In 1733 a town was laid off nine miles above Brunswick and called New Liverpool. In 1739 the name was changed to Wilmington. Question 7: For what were these people noted? Answer: They were noted for their intelligence, their cul-ture, their hospitality, their love of liberty, their patriotism and devotion to religion. Question 8: How did the settlement prosper? Answer: It grew rapidly in size and importance. Wil-mington soon became the largest and most important town in the colony and was made one of the capitals of the province. The Governor of the colony had a residence there. Question 9: What important act did the British Parlia-ment pass in 1765 ? Answer: The Stamp Act. This act required the Ameri-cans to use stamps, to be sold by the British Government, on all newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements in newspapers, almanacs, deeds, all court records and many other docu-ments. Question 10: Wh'at did the Americans think of this law? Answer: They were very angry, because they said the British Parliament had no right to lay taxes on them without their consent. Question 11: How was the Stamp Act received in the Cape Fear section ? Answer: The people declared that they would resist it to death. When the vessels bringing the stamps arrived in the Cape Fear river the people seized the stamp officer and forced him to resign his office and agree not to sell the stamps. They 45 refused to let the stamps be landed and no stamps were ever sold in North Carolina. The act was soon repealed. Question 12: Did the repeal of the Stamp Act put an end to the troubles with the King? Answer: No; the foolish King and his Governors con-tinued to oppress the people until finally the people of New Bern drove the Governor out of the province, and he took refuge in Fort Johnston at the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 13: Did the people of the Cape Fear permit him to stay there ? Answer: No; they rebelled against his oppressive acts; so he fled for refuge to a British war vessel in the river. Five hundred men from Brunswick and Wilmington, led by Colo-nel John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, marched to Fort John-ston and destroyed the detested place. Question 11±: Did the Cape Fear people sympathize with the other American colonists in their troubles with the King ? Answer: Yes; in July, 1774, when the King tried to starve the people of Boston into submission to his will, the people of New Hanover declared that the a cause of Boston was the common cause of all" ; and in August they sent to Boston a ship-load of provisions costing £800 or $4,000. Qucstio?i 15: Were the people of the Cape Fear section ready to support their cause by arms ? A ?is wer: In June, 1775, the citizens of New Hanover, Brunswick, Bladen, Duplin and Onslow counties formed an association, agreeing to resist to the death all unjust acts of the King and Parliament, and declared themselves "ready to go forth and be ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes to secure the freedom and safety of the country." Question 16: How did they redeem this pledge when war begun ? , Answer: In February, 1776, when the Scotch Tories col-lected an army to fight the Americans, the men of the Cape Fear took their guns and met the Scotch at Moore's Creek 46 Bridge. A battle was fought there, February 27, 1776, and the Americans gained a splendid victory, the first victory in the open field gained by the Americans during the Revolu-tion. Hundreds of the Cape Fear men joined the American army and fought bravely through the war. Question 17 : Was there any other battle fought during the Revolution in the Lower Cape Fear section % Answer: Yes ; in September, 1781, a battle was fought at Elizabethtown in Bladen county, and the Americans, under Colonel Thomas Brown, gained an important victory. It destroyed the power of the Tories in that section of the country. Question IS: What forts were on the banks of the Cape Fear river during the Civil War ? Answer: Fort Fisher, Fort Anderson and Fort Caswell. Question 19: Were these forts of much importance to the State and to the Confederacy ? Answer: Yes ; because they protected the river from the fleets of the United States. It was through the Cape Fear river that much of the food and clothing for the armies of the Confederacy was brought. Question 20: Did the Union troops try to take these forts ? Answer: Yes, and after a most, terrific bombardment from a powerful Union fleet, Fort Fisher fell, January 15, 1865. Soon afterwards Wilmington was captured. Question 21: What effect did this have on the war? Answer: It was of much importance, for after the capture of Wilmington no other port in the Confederacy was open and no food and clothing could be brought in. i MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE. My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring. My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love ; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy wroods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills, Like that above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. Our fathers' God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light ; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King ! APPENDIX THE RALEIGH STATUE AND THE WILEY MONUMENT. I wish to call special attention to the letter of General Julian S. Carr, in the appendix of this pamphlet, relative to a penny collection from the public school-children of North Carolina for the erection of a statue to Sir Walter Raleigh. This letter reached most of the schools last year too late for North Carolina Day. At the October (1901) meeting of the State Literary and Historical Association, an organization that is doing much for the promotion of literature, the preser-vation of history and the upbuilding of the public schools, a resolution offered by General Carr was adopted, requesting this collection for this purpose from the school-children of the State, on whose soil Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first Eng-lish colony in America, which resulted in Avresting this con-tinent from the Spaniards. I most heartily endorse this idea, and feel that such a collection for such a purpose from our children would be a fitting expression of gratitude to this great maker of the first chapter of our history. By a resolution adopted at the recent meeting of the State Association of County Superintendents, Mr. R. D. W. Con-nor, who read a valuable and inspiring paper on the life and character of Calvin H. Wiley, was requested to prepare for North Carolina Day*a short declamation on this first Super-intendent of Public Instruction and great organizer of our public school system, and I was instructed to request that a collection be taken in the public schools of the State on this day for the erection of a monument to him. To no man in all our history do the people of the State, and especially the cliil- 49 dren of the public schools, owe so great a debt of gratitude for the successful establishment of a great system of public education as to Calvin IT. Wiley. It is eminently fitting that the children of these schools should erect by their con-tributions a lasting memorial to him who gave the best years of a life of unselfish devotion to them and to their schools. I suggest that every school in the State take a collection on ^orth Carolina Day for the Raleigh statue or the Wiley monument, or for both. Each school may direct to which of these purposes its collection shall be applied, or may divide the collection between the two. All collections for the Raleigh statue should be sent to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N, C, Treasurer of this fund. All collections for the Wiley monu-ment should be sent to Mr. R. D. W. Connor, Wilmington, ^s T . C, Treasurer of this fund. Very truly yours, J. Y. JoYNER, Superintendent of Public Instruction. THE SIR, WALTER RALEIGH STATUE. UTILITY OF ITS ERECTION IN NASH SQUARE, RALEIGH, To Hie School-children, School Officers and Teachers vn, North Carolina: Nash Square, as doubtless many of you know, is the open square or park just in front of Union Depot in the city of Raleigh. It is in the centre of this square, in this our capital city, named so fitly in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh, that it is proposed to erect a statue to commemorate his services to the English-speaking people. His efforts to colonize Roanoke Island connect the history of North Carolina with that of America at a most vital point. It was in North Carolina, and through Raleigh's efforts, that English colonization was begun. He is therefore the father of it ; and it was on our own coast that he began the operations whose results have changed the current of human affairs. Any one familiar with our coast and the history of that time can see at a glance the wisdom of his choice. In 1584, the time of the landing of his first colony, Spain was the mistress of the seas, as well as of the land. Her great ships, as well as her great armies, were the terror of all nations. She had destroyed every ves-tige of French colonization begun or attempted on the Atlan-tic coast from North Carolina to Florida. Only one good thing was obtained by French exploration, and that was in-formation of the only part of that coast that was not suscepti-ble to attacks by large ships; that is the coast of North Caro-lina, the best protected in the world ; and of this information, England, through Raleigh, and not France, was destined to get the benefit. So it was not without design and far-reach-ing purpose that he sent his little caravels to the shores of 51 North Carolina. It was behind the protection of her ever-lasting barriers of sand that Barlowe wrote his famous pros-pectus, and Lane made his surveys which electrified the Eng-lish- speaking people and sowed the seed in the minds of the rising generation which made the colony of Jamestown, Vir-ginia, twenty-three years later, and the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, thirty-six years later, practicable. Raleigh's colonies were, in effect, the parents of all the English settle-ments in North America. His effort to effect permanent settlements in North Carolina from 1584 to 1590 was, there-fore, no failure, and should not be so regarded by any rightly instructed student of history. To emphasize his zeal and devotion, his faith and his courage, this man, of whom the world was not worthy, was allowed a martyr's last privilege of laying down his life and his fortune for his cause. Inspired by these things and by the fact that there is no-where on earth a monument to Sir Walter Raleigh, and there is nowhere a place so fitting to erect it as the soil of North Carolina and the city she has named to commemorate his virtues, a motion was made at the last meeting of the State Literary and Historical Association in 1902 to erect this statue in the most effective wray possible—that is, by pe?my contributions from the school-children of North Carolina; and in order to emphasize the utility as well as the adapta-tion of this method, at the same meeting of the Association a bag of pennies, one for every white child in Durham county, was brought forward and presented as the first contribution to the statue. So the movement may be said to have been practically inaugurated by the public school-children of one of the most progressive and enlightened counties in the State. Since that time many schools and colleges have sent in their contribu-tions. It is desired that every child of school age in our State should be given an opportunity to contribute his penny. It should be further added that the committee having in 52 charge the erection of this statue have prepared a calendar for the school-children of North Carolina, containing a synop-sis of the principal events in the life of Sir Walter Raleigh, and the same will be shortly hung upon the walls of the school-houses of North Carolina. It is requested that the collections for this statue be made on North Carolina Day, and that they be sent through the County Superintendents to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N. C. To the school-children of North Carolina and their teachers and officers is commended the study of North Carolina his-tory, beginning with the man who was its very source and greatest, exemplar—the man who, with Columbus and the other great explorers and navigators of that time, gave to the world two continents with all their wealth and fullness, homes for the teeming millions which now enjoy them. As you consider him he will loom up and stand conspicuous in that grandeur which requires the distance of centuries to truly appreciate. With distinguished consideration, I beg to subscribe my-self, Your most obedient servant, Julian S. Carr. CALVIN HENDERSON WILEY. (Prepared by R. D. W. Connor, at the Request of the North Caro-lina County Superintendents' Association). Calvin Henderson Wiley was born the third day of Feb-ruary in the year 1819, in Guilford county, North Carolina. In 1S40 he was graduated from the University of the State. One year later he was admitted to the bar and settled at Oxford, where a brilliant future seemed open to him. From the noble college at which he was educated he sucked into his life that spirit of devotion to his native State so characteristic of the sons of the State University ; and no sooner did he per-ceive that the State needed his talents than he abandoned his career of personal ambition and wealth and dedicated them to the service of North Carolina. It seemed to Dr. Wiley that the future of the State was bound together with the future of her common schools, and that the efficiency of the common schools depended upon the establishment over them of a single executive head. Accordingly, returning to his native county, he presented himself to the people as a candi-date for the General Assembly and was elected. His sole object in doing this was to introduce a bill providing for a general superintendent of the common schools. The bill was introduced and defeated, though Wiley made in support of it one of the most powerfully eloquent and logical speeches ever delivered in the North Carolina Legislature. Beaten, but not dismayed, he returned at the next session, 1852, re-introduced his bill and succeeded in getting it passed. Though he was of a different political party from the majority of the Assembly, yet the members, recognizing his eminent fitness for the work, rose above party fealty and elected him the first Superintendent of Common Schools. 54 At the time that he assumed charge of the school system the schools were in a wretched condition ; the houses generally were mere log hovels; the teachers were ignorant and cared little for their work; the schools were poorly attended. As a result of this, thousands of parents were yearly leaving the State and going to other States where their children could be educated; and tens of thousands of children in North Carolina were growing up to manhood and womanhood in ignorance and illiteracy. Dr. Wiley saw that if this condi-tion continued the State would be ruined, for no State can prosper if its people are uneducated. He therefore deter-mined to devote his life to improving the schools, so that every boy and every girl in North Carolina could be educated and become a useful man or woman. In order to do this he was compelled to give up a large law practice which would doubtless have brought him wealth and fame. But he was so devoted to North Carolina and her children that he did not hesitate to make any sacrifice for their good. No other one of the great men who have helped to make North Carolina what it is had less to guide and help him, or more and greater difficulties to overcome in his work, than did Dr. Wiley. There were a thousand little springs, invisi-ble to the eye, to be delicately touched, a thousand nameless duties to be performed, a thousand crosses and difficulties unknown to the world at large to be met and disposed of. He had everything to do and everybody to instruct. He was like a lonely traveler upon the bosom of a hostile and un-known sea. The compass of experience from which he could learn the channels where to steer his course and avoid the thousand dangers encircling him was lacking to him. But he did not flinch from his task. His hand firmly grasped the helm and the old State swung into the safe channel, under the control of a pilot whose steady hand, guided by a pene-trating insight into the cloudy conditions facing him, was 55 supported by a heart, strong through faith in his cause, in his people and in Divine guidance. In doing the great work which lay before him, Wiley had first of all to teach the people of the State the value and character of public schools. Newspapers and circulars, hun-dreds of public and private letters, public communications to the Governor, eloquent and ringing speeches and a thousand personal interviews, all were brought to his use in educating the public. It was a tremendous, almost a superhuman, task ; but the unconquerable spirit, the tireless energy and the fiery enthusiasm of the Superintendent were catching, and others were soon eager to enroll themselves under his banner and tight by his side. And what was the result of it all ? The work was slow, discouraging and tedious, but the results were far beyond Dr. Wiley's greatest hopes. Old friends were discovered and aroused to renewed efforts, new ones made and interested in the work ; incompetent officers were found out and removed ; numerous errors were corrected ; unity was gradually intro-duced into the system and school-men in all parts of the State were taught to see that the interests of all were bound together in one great and ever-widening circle. The number of teachers in the public schools increased from less than 2,000 to more than 3,500; the number of schools increased from less than 2,000 to more than 3,000 ; the number of children enrolled increased from 85,000 to 116,000; the money ex-pended on the schools increased from $130,000 to more than $400,000. The school-houses were greatly improved, the teachers were better trained and educated, better books were used in the classes, and children all over the State became more interested in their wTork. Whatever of success was attained was admitted by all to be due to Dr. Wiley. He had found the minds of the people filled with errors ; he turned on them the light of knowledge and they vanished like mist before the sun; he found them 56 indifferent to the schools; he aroused their enthusiastic sup-port ; he found a vineyard without laborers ; he created an army of skilled and devoted workers. But just as he reached the point where his work began to show on the development of the State the storm of civil war swept across the country and the schools soon became involved in the general ruin. At the time when the war began, Dr. Wiley had built up in North Carolina the best system of public schools to be found in any of the Southern States. In doing this great work, Dr. Wiley was compelled to make great sacrifices of personal ambition and wealth. Although for some time his salary was not large enough to pay for the board of his horse, yet he clung to his work because he loved the State and loved her boys and girls. Ought not the people of North Carolina to honor the memory of this great and patriotic man ? Ought not the school-children, for whose sake he did so much, to try to erect a fitting memorial to him in our capital city, so they may show to the world that they are not ungrateful for the great sacrifices he made for them ? Let us all determine here and now that Ave will contribute whatever we can for this noble purpose. If the strength of a State lies in the virtue and intelligence of her citizens, then surely no other man more deserves the gratitude of our hearts than Calvin H. Wiley. This gratitude demands that we engrave his name forever upon the tablets of our hearts, and that in our capital city, right in the heart of his beloved State, there shall be erected a monument which shall endure as long as the soil on which it stands, forever bearing testimony of the honor in which his name is held by those for whom he labored without hope of reward. A foresighted statesman, a loyal citizen, a devoted patriot, he labored not for self, but for his fellows.
Object Description
Description
Title | Programme of exercises for "North Carolina Day", Friday December, 18, 1903 |
Date | 1903 |
Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
Collection | North Carolina State Documents Collection. State Library of North Carolina |
Type | text |
Language | English |
Digital Collection | North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Audience | All |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_education_serial_programexercises19011921.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_education\images_master |
Full Text | PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES "NORTH CAROLINA DAY." FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1903. RALEIGH : E. M. Uzzell & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1903. CHAPTER 164 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1901. An Act to Provide for the Celebration of North Carolina Day in the Public Schools. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: Section 1. That the 12th day of October in each and every year, to be called "North Carolina Day/' may be de-voted, by appropriate exercises in the public schools of the State, to the consideration of some topic or topics of our State history, to be selected by the Superintendent of Public In-struction : Provided, that if the said day shall fall on Satur-day or Sunday, then the celebration shall occur on the Mon-day next following: Provided further, that if the said day shall fall at a time when any such school may not be in ses-sion, the celebration may be held within one month from the beginning of the term, unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall designate some other time. Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from and after its ratifi-cation. In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of February, A. D. 1901. PREFATORY. This pamphlet has been prepared and sent out to aid busy teachers in the proper celebration of the day and to leave no excuse for failing to celebrate it. It is earnestly desired that the same day may be celebrated in all the public schools of the State. The consecration of at least one day in the year to the pub-lic consideration of the history of the State in the public schools, as directed by the act of the Legislature printed on the preceding page, is a beautiful idea. It is the duty of every public school-teacher to obey the letter of this law. It will, I know, be the pleasure of every patriotic teacher to obey the spirit of it by using the opportunity of North Carolina Day to fill the children with a new pride in their State, to thrill them with a new enthusiasm for the study of her history, and to kindle upon the altars of their hearts new fires of patriotic love of her and her people. As many of the public schools are not in session as early as October 12th, I have taken the liberty of naming Friday, December 18th, as North Carolina Day for 1903, and of fixing the date hereafter on the last Friday of the week before Christmas. The subject selected in 1901 was "The First Anglo-Saxon | Settlement in America." Following the chronological order of the State's history, the subject last year Avas fittingly "The Albemarle Section/7 and the subject this year is "The Lower Cape Fear Section." In succeeding years the history of other sections of the State will be studied somewhat in the order of their settlement and development, until the entire period of the State's history shall have been covered. It is hoped ultimately to stimulate a study of local and county history. I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Committee of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, consisting of Mr. W, J. Peele, Mr. Marshall DeLancey Hay-wood, Professor D. H. Hill, Professor E. P. Moses, and to patriotic citizens of Wilmington, for valuable aid in the preparation of the programme and in the collection of the material. We are indebted to Professor Henry Jerome Stochard for the poetical selections. The selection from his own poems was made at my urgent request. J. Y. JOYNER, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Raleigh, November 19, 1903. SUGGESTIONS. It is suggested that the programme might be divided into two parts—one part to be rendered in the morning and one in the afternoon. If the programme is too long to be conven-iently carried out by small schools, two or more of the schools might unite in the celebration. Teachers may adapt or change the programme to suit themselves. They are urged to make a special effort to secure a large attendance of the people of the district and to avail themselves of this opportunity to interest parents and patrons in the school. If practicable, it would be an excellent idea to have a brief address by some one in the county or the community. The occasion can be used by a tactful teacher to secure the hearty co-operation of the com-mitteemen, the women of the community and all other public-spirited citizens, and to make the day "North Carolina Day" in truth, for the grown people as well as for the children. It is hoped that these pamphlets, issued from year to year for the celebration of "North Carolina Day," will contain much valuable and interesting information about the State and its people, and much of its unwritten history. It is sug-gested, therefore, that the pamphlets be preserved and that-some of them be filed in the library or among the records of each school. HOW TO GET A RURAL LIBRARY. If your county has not applied for the full number of libraries to which it is entitled, and your school has not secured one of these libraries, let me urge you to use the excellent opportunity of "North Carolina Day" to raise the ten dollars necessary to secure a thirty-dollar library. The five hundred libraries provided for by the special act of the 6 General Assembly of 1901 have been taken. As you know, the General Assembly of 1903 made a special appropriation of $5,000 for the establishment of five hundred new rural libraries and $2,500 for supplementing the rural libraries heretofore established. The conditions for securing one of these new libraries are as follows : The community must raise ten dollars by private subscription or otherwise; the Board of Education is then required to appropriate ten dollars out of the district fund, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon notifica-tion that the twenty dollars has been thus provided, must send a State warrant for ten dollars, making thirty dollars for the library. The number of new libraries to which any one county is entitled under this act is limited to six. The conditions for securing a supplementary appropriation for a library, heretofore established under the act of 1901. are as follows: The community must raise, by private sub-scription or otherwise, five dollars ; the County Board is then required to appropriate five dollars out of the district fund, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon notifica-tion that ten dollars has been thus provided, must issue a State warrant for five dollars, making fifteen dollars for the sup-plementary library. The number of supplementary libraries to which any one county is entitled is also limited to six. Only one hundred libraries and only fifteen supplementary libraries have been applied for under the act of 1903. These libraries have proved a great blessing and stimulus to all schools in which they have been established. If you desire one for your school, I would advise you to apply at once, or you may be too late. Applications have been rapidly coming in since the opening of the schools this fall. Thirty-six war-rants for new rural libraries were recently sent from my office in one day. The probabilities are that all the remaining new libraries and supplementary libraries provided for by the act of 1903 will be applied for before the close of this school year. Below is given a list of the counties that have not taken their full number of libraries, and the number of such libra-ries to which each county is now entitled : Alamance 4 Alexander 6 Alleghany 6 Anson 6 Ashe 6 Beaufort 4 Bladen 6 Brunswick 6 Burke 6 Cabarrus 6 Caldwell 6 Camden 6 Carteret 6 Caswell 6 Catawba 2 Chatham 3 Cherokee 6 Chowan 6 Clay 6 Cleveland 3 Columbus 5 Craven 6 Cumberland ... 6 Currituck 6 Dare 6 Davidson 5 Davie 6 Duplin 6 Durham 4 Edgecombe .... 2 Franklin 4 Gaston 6 Gates 6 Graham 6 Granville 4 Greene 4 Guilford 6 Halifax 6 Harnett 6 Haywood 6 Henderson 5 Hertford ...... 6 Hyde 6 Johnston 4 Jones 6 Lenoir 6 Lincoln 5 Macon 6 Madison 2 Martin 6 McDowell 6 Mitchell 3 Montgomery ... 6 Moore 5 Nash 3 New Hanover . . 6 Northampton . . 3 Onslow 6 Orange 6 Pamlico 6 Pasquotank .... 3 Pender 6 Perquimans .... 6 Person 5 Pitt. 3 Polk 6 Richmond 5 Robeson 5 Rockingham ... 2 Rowan 5 Rutherford .... 6 Sampson 4 Stanly 5 Scotland 6 Stokes 6 Surry 6 Swain 6 Transylvania . . 6 Tyrrell 6 Vance 5 Wake 6 Warren 6 Washington .... 6 Watauga 6 Wilson 4 Yadkin G Yancey 6 NORTH CAROLINA DAY. Subject: THE LOWER CAPE FEAR SECTION. PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES. PRAYER. 1. Song—The Old North State William Gaston 2. Reading—The Early Explorers and Settlers of the Cape Fear — A. M. Waddell 3. Declamation—The Pride of the Cape Fear George Davis 4. Reading—Life Among the Early Cape Fear Settlers. .John BricJcell 5. Recitation—The American Eagle Henry Jerome Stockard 6. Reading—Mary Slocum's Ride. Adapted from Mrs. Ellet. 7. Recitation—Moonlight in the Pines John Henry Boner 8. Reading—Reception of the Stamps on the Cape Fear. .George Davis 9. Recitation—Light'ood Fire John Henry Boner 10. Declamation—The Men of the Cape Fear George Davis 11. Reading—Rescue of Madame DeRosset James Sprunt 12. Recitation—Alamance /S. IF. Whiting 13. Reading—Blockading off the Cape Fear James Sprunt 14. Recitation—Regret Christian lleid (Mrs. F. G. Tiernan) 15. Resources of the Lower Cape Fear. Adapted from "North Carolina and Its Resources," published by State Board of Agriculture. 16. Questions and Answers. 17. Song—My Country, 'Tis of Thee. Appendix. THE OLD NORTH STATE. Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her! While we live Ave will cherish, protect and defend her; Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her, Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her. Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the good Old North State ! v Though she envies not others their merited glory, Say, whose name stands foremost in Liberty's story ! Though too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression, Who can yield to just rule more loyal submission ? Hurrah, etc. Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster At the knock of a stranger, or the tale of disaster ? How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains, With rich ore in their bosoms and life in their fountains. Hurrah, etc. And her daughters, the Queen of the Forest resembling — So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling; And true lightwood at heart, let the match be applied them, How they kindle and flame ! Oh ! none know but who've tried them. Hurrah, etc. Then let all who love us, love the land that we live in (As happy a region as on this side of Heaven), Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us, Raise aloud, raise together the heart-thrilling chorus! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the Old North State forever Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the good Old North State THE EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS OF THE GAPE FEAR. BY A. M. WADDELL. "Most persons who have any knowledge of the subject are aware of the fact that some Massachusetts adventurers came here in 1660, bringing cattle and hogs with them, under the impression that the lands near the mouth of the river were fine grazing lands, but that, finding the locality entirely un-suited to such purposes, they abandoned the country, leaving their cattle and hogs to the Indians, and also leaving—stuck up on a post—a warning to those who might come after them against the barrenness and hopelessness of the region as a possible field for colonial enterprise. However, there is hardly to be found a more amusing specimen of "boom" advertisement of the attractions of a new country than that contained in the seductive papers issued three years later by certain promoters, who did not even have a charter of any kind, to induce immigrants to come here. One paragraph from one of these "boom" advertisements, which has been often quoted, was in these words : " 'If any maid or single woman have a desire to go over, they will think themselves in the Golden Age, when men paid a dowry for their wives ; for if they be but civil and under fifty years of age, some honest man or other will purchase them for wives.' "But these advertisements were published chiefly in Eng-land and did not cause the migration of the first colony that came. That colony came chiefly from Barbadoes and was therefore composed entirely of British subjects, it is true, but they came upon the presentations made by the pioneers sent 11 out by Sir John Yeamans and others to explore this region, and not because of the florid accounts given by the promoters who had no charter but only hoped to be rewarded for their zeal. These explorers anchored their vessel, The Adventurer, in what they called "Cape Fair Road," Monday, October 12, 1663, and on Friday, the 16th, went up the river for some distance, and thence forward, until December 4th, they made their explorations on both sides of both branches of the river for perhaps seventy-five miles, and set sail for Barbadoes on that day, arriving there on the 6th of January following. ''They bought from the Indians for a few trinkets thirty-two miles square of land, and those who sent out the expedi-tion asked the Lords Proprietors to confirm the sale, which was refused, but the Lords Proprietors did make a grant to them which was satisfactory, and in January following ap-pointed Sir John Yeamans Governor and Commander-in- Chief of the proposed colony and of the new county of Claren-don, which extended from the Cape Pear to Florida. Sir John Yeamans, with a colony which numbered several hun-dred persons, arrived and began the settlement on the 29th day of May, 1664-'05. The place at which they landed and built a town, which they called 'Charles Towne,' was at the mouth of the creek on the west side of the river, about eight miles above this place, which has for more than two hundred years been called Old Towne Creek, or, more commonly, ToAvne Creek. "The colony is supposed to have numbered as many as six hundred. No history of their life has been preserved. It is stated in all the histories, previous to the publication of the Colonial Records of North Carolina, that Sir John Yeamans remained with the colony for six years, but this proved to be an error. He remained a very short time and returned on his vessel to Barbadoes. * * * The colony * * * ex- 12 isted only about two years, when it was broken up, its mem-bers going in the fall of 1667 mostly to the northern settle-ments, and thus for the second time the attempt at a perma-nent settlement of the Cape Fear failed. "In 1713, Colonel James Moore of South Carolina led a body of troops into North Carolina to subdue the Indians. With him came his younger brother, Maurice Moore. "To this gentleman/' says Mr. George Davis, "the permanent set-tlement and civilization of the Cape Fear are principally due. He had been favorably impressed with the aspect of the country in his expedition against the Indians, and perhaps he cherished some pious regard for it as the first American home of his grandfather, Sir John Yeamans. And soon after his return to South Carolina he determined to remove to the northern province. * * * He is supposed to have settled upon the Cape Fear about the year 1723. His are the earliest grants for land upon that river now extant, and the first of them are dated in 1725. * * * To the brothers, Mau-rice and Roger Moore, especially I would here render an humble tribute of respect and veneration. * * * These brothers were not cast in the common mould of men. They were of 'the breed of noble bloods.' Of kingly descent and proud of their name, which brave deeds had made illustrious, they dwelt upon their magnificent estates of Rocky Point and Orton, with much of the dignity, and something of the state, of the ancient feudal barons, surrounded by their sons and kinsmen, who looked up to them for counsel and were devoted to their will. Proud and stately, somewhat haughty and overbearing perhaps, but honorable, brave, high-minded and generous, they lived for many years the fathers of the Cape Fear, dispensing a noble hospitality to all the worthy, and a terror to the mean and lawless. * * * * * "Such were the pioneers of the Cape Fear. It is needless to say how great is the reproach of the people who have let their names die." CORNELIUS HARNETT, THE PRIDE OF THE GAPE FEAR. BY HON. GEORGE DAVIS. (Adapted from an Address Delivered at Chapel Hill, June 8, 1855). "There was one who shone like a star in the early troubles of the State, of pure and exalted character, of unsurpassed influence with his countrymen, and the value of whose ser-vices was only equaled by the extent of his sufferings and sacrifices in the cause of liberty. And yet so little is he known that I doubt not, gentlemen, many of you have not even so much as heard his name. I speak of Cornelius Har-nett, the pride of the Cape Fear — cthe Samuel Adams of the Cape Fear.'* To the shame of the State, his birthplace has not heretofore been even conjectured; and meagre as are the accounts of his early history, they are full of errors. * * * He was born in 1723. From 1765 to 1780 there was scarcely a movement in the patriot cause in which Cornelius Harnett did not bear a conspicuous part. And a bare enumeration of the appointments which he filled, and of the men with whom he was associated, would be sufficient to show the influence he exercised and the estimation in which he was held. He was one of the faithful representatives of the people, who, unawed by power, so fearlessly resisted the government on the Attach-ment Law. He was the first chairman of the Wilmington Committee, f over which he long presided—its very center and *Journal of Josiah Quincy. f In 1774 the first Provincial Congress met in New Bern and one of the resolutions of this Congress was that a committee of five be appointed for each county to see that all the resolutions of this Congress should be carried out. Harnett was chairman of the Wilmington committee. 14 soul and the life-breathing spirit of liberty among the people. When the Provincial Congress, in 1775, assumed the govern-ment and appointed a Council to administer the affairs of the colony at their most critical juncture, he was chosen presi-dent of the Council and virtual Governor* of the province— a noble tribute to his worth and abilities. But there is a brighter jewel in his crown of glory. A member of the con-vention which met at Halifax the 4th of April, 1776, he was chairman of the committee appointed to consider the usurpa-tions of the King and Parliament, and the author of their celebrated report and resolution 'empowering the delegates for this colony in the Continental Congress to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence. ' This resolution was unanimously adopted by the convention on April 12, 1776, more than a month before the celebrated resolution of Virginia on the same subject. * * * * "Thus faithfully did Harnett serve the cause of liberty. And the enemies of his country did not forget him for it. In the spring of 1776, Sir Plenry Clinton arrived in the Cape Pear, and his first public act was to issue to Cornelius Har-nett and Robert Howe a patent of nobility. Here it is, writ-ten in British ink and dated 5th of May, 1776: " 'I have it in command to proceed forthwith against all such men and bodies of men in arms and against all con-gresses and committees thus unlawfully established as against open enemies of the State. But, considering it a duty insepa-rable from the principles of humanity first of all to warn the deluded people of the miseries ever attendant upon civil war, I do most earnestly entreat and exhort them, as they tender their own happiness and that of their posterity, to appease the vengeance of a justly incensed nation by a return to their duty to our common sovereign and to the blessings of a free * When Governor Martin fled from New Bern there was no officer of the Crown to ad-minister affairs. Harnett as president of the Council was the chief officer in North Carolina. 15 government established by law; hereby offering, in his Majes-ty's name, free pardon to all such as will lay down their arms and submit to the laws: excepting only from the benefits of such pardon Cornelius Harnett and Robert Howe! "He little knew how he was immortalizing the names of the men he was trying to render infamous ! Harnett con-tinued active in the service of the State until 1781. In that year a British force occupied Wilmington, and so dangerous to the cause of the King was he esteemed that the first incur-sion planned was for the purpose of taking him prisoner. In attempting to escape from his enemies he was taken ill of the gout at the home of his friend, Colonel Spicer, in Onslow, and was captured there and carried in triumph to Wilming-ton. Thus wrecked in health and fortune in the storms which assailed his country, he died soon after in his imprisonment, childless and forlorn, having first penned with his own hand the epitaph which stands above his grave. "In the northeast comer of the grave-yard of St. James' Church in Wilmington lies the body of one than whom a nobler and purer patriot never lived. The rank grass grows over his grave and almost hides it from view, as if it would conceal from the stranger the forgetfulness and ingratitude of the town. Two simple brown stones, discolored by age, mark the spot. On the largest, which is an upright slab, is inscribed — " 'CORNELIUS HARNETT. Died April 20, 1781. Aged 58 Years.' 'Slave to no sect, he took no private road, But looked through nature up to nature's God.' " LIFE AMONG THE EARLY CAPE FEAR, SETTLERS. BY JOHN BRICKELL. Iii an old volume published in Dublin, Ireland, in 1737, we find the following reference by Dr. John Brickell, a traveler, to the people and customs of the Cape Fear region in North Carolina in his day: "The planters, by the richness of the soil, live after the most easy and pleasant manner of any people I have ever met with, for you shall seldom hear them repine at any mis-fortunes in life except the loss of friends, there being plenty of all the necessaries convenient for life; poverty being an entire stranger here and the planters the most hospitable peo-ple that are to be met with, not only to strangers, but likewise to those who by any misfortunes have lost the use of their limbs or are incapable to Avork and have no visible way to support themselves. To such objects as these the country allows fifty pounds per annum for their support, So there are no beggars or vagabonds to be met with, strolling from place to place, as is common amongst us. The country in general is adorned with large and beautiful rivers and creeks, and the woods with lofty timber, which afford most delightful and pleasant seats to the planters, and the lands very con-venient and easy to be fenced in to secure their stocks of cat-tle to more strict boundaries, whereby with small trouble with fencing almost every man may enjoy to himself an entire plantation. These, with many other advantages, such as cheapness and fertility of the lands, plenty of fish, wild fowl and venison and other necessaries that this country naturally produces, had induced a great many families to leave the more northerly plantations and come and settle in one of the 17 mildest governments in the world, in a country that, with moderate industry, may be acquired all the necessaries con-venient for life, so that yearly we have abundance of strangers that come among us from Europe, New England, Pennsyl-vania, Maryland and from many of the islands, such as Antigua, Barbadoes and many others, to settle here, many of whom, with small beginnings, are become very rich in a few years. 7 ' THE AMERICAN EAGLE. HENRY JEROME STOCKARD. Brooded on the crags, his down the rocks, He holds the skies for his domain ; Serene he preens where thunder shocks, And rides the hurricane. The scream of shells is in his shriek As swords, his wings whiz down the air; His claws, as bayonets, gride; his beak, As shrapnel-shards, doth tear. Where Shasta shapes its mighty cone, Where Mitchell heaves into the skies, Silent he glares—austere, alone — With sun-outstaring eyes. MARY SLOCUM'S RIDE. (Adapted from Mrs. Ellet) On February 27, 1776, the Whigs of the Cape Fear, under the lead of General Richard Caswell and Colonel Alexander Lillington, won a splendid victory over the Tories at Moore's Creek Bridge,* a few miles from Wilmington. Nine hundred prisoners, two thousand stands of arms, $75,000 and many other articles of value to the Whigs were captured. Among the heroes of this victory was Ezekiel Slocum, who, when he rode away one quiet Sunday morning to fight for his country, left behind in his little home his young wife, only eighteen years of age, and their little baby. It is easy to imagine what a lonely, long day the young wife had at home that quiet Sabbath day; it is easy to imagine where her thoughts were ; it is easy to imagine how she concealed the anxiety of her heart under the assumed cheerfulness of her face. "I slept soundly and quietly that night/' she says, "and worked hard the next day ; but I kept thinking where they had got to, how far, where and how many of the regulars and Tories they would meet, and I could not keep from that study." Going to bed in this anxious state of mind, it was but natural that her sleep should be disturbed by fearsome dreams. She had tossed and tumbled from one side of the bed to the other till far into the night. And then came a terrible dream. She seemed to see lying on the ground, sur-rounded by the dead and wounded, a body, motionless, bloody, ghastly, wrapped in her husband's cloak. With a cry * This battlefield is in the eastern part of Pender county, a few miles from the Bladen county line. 19 of alarm, she sprang to her feet into the middle of the room. So vivid was the impression, it remained with her even after she awaked from sleep ; and in rushing forward to the place where the vision appeared, she ran into the side of the house. The light was dim ; all around was quiet and peace, but within her breast her heart kept up a great commotion. "If ever I felt fear," she says, "it was at that moment." The more she reflected on the vision, the more vivid and the more fearful it became, until at last she could bear the suspense no longer, and, starting forward, she cried aloud : "I must go to him." In the stable was her favorite and own particular horse, as fleet and easy a nag as ever traveled. In an instant, leav-ing her baby and the house in the care of the nurse, she rushed out to the barn, saddled her mare, and in less time than it takes to tell it, was flying down the road at full speed. The night air was cool; the spirit of the race was in the nag ; and mile after mile was quickly left behind as the sound of her rapidly falling hoofs fell clear and distinct on the quiet night air. All alone, urged onward by love and fear, this brave little woman swept on through the dark night, dashing over bridges, whirling through dark woods, flashing past farm-houses, until, when the sun began to appear in the east, thirty miles lay between her and her quiet home. * * * The sun was well up when a new excitement was added to the race. She heard a sound like thunder rolling and rum-bling in the distance. She pulled up her mare suddenly. What was it ? Though she had never heard the sound before, she knew it must be the roar of the cannon ; and as she thought of what it meant, the blood coursed more rapidly than ever through her veins ; she was more than ever impa-tient to be on the scene, and away she dashed again. * * * As she drew nearer she could hear the roar of the deadly muskets, the fatal rifles and the triumphant shouts of the vic-tors. But from wmich side did they come ? Did those shouts mean the defeat of her husband, or did they mean his tri- 20 umph ? This was the most trying moment of all—this terri-ble suspense. If it was his victory, then he would rejoice to have her share his glory ; if his defeat, then he would need her to sooth his sufferings ; so on she pressed to share with him weal or woe. Crossing the Wilmington road a few hun-dred yards below the bridge, she saw a clump of trees, under which were lying perhaps twenty wounded men. What was this she saw ? Her blood froze in her veins ; her heart leapt to her mouth, for there was the vision realized—the scene before her; she knew it as well as if she had seen it a thou-sand times—the spot, the trees, the position of the men, the groans of the wounded ; and as her sight fell upon a body lying in the midst of the group, her brain became dizzy and the world seemed whirling around her at the rate of ten thousand times a second. There lay a body, motionless, bloody, ghastly, wrapped in her husband's cloak. Her whole soul became centered in that one spot. "How I passed from my saddle to this place I never knew," she said afterwards. But in some way she succeeded in reaching the body and mechanically uncovered the head. She saw before her an unrecognizable face, crusted with dust and blood from a gash across the temple. What a relief to her aching heart was the strange voice that begged her for a drink of water. Her senses came back to her at once, so she was able to minister to the sufferer's wants. She gave him a swallow as she held the drooping head in her lap, and with what remained of the water bathed the dirt and gore from his face. From the ghastly crust came the pale face of one of her neighbors, Frank Cogdell. Under the gentle care of his nurse he re-vived enough to speak, and when she attempted to dress the wound on his head he managed to gasp out : "It's not that ; it's the hole in my leg that's killing me." Lifting the wounded leg from the puddle of blood in which it lay, she gently cut away the trousers and stockings and found a shot hole through the fleshy part of the limb. What 21 nerve it must have taken for this young girl, unused to such work, alone, without help or advice, to go through with this painful ordeal. But she was of the stuff of which JSTorth Carolina moulds her heroes, and she did not flinch from her duty. * * * No sooner had she completed this pressing duty than she turned to others of the unfortunate men who lay in pain and need, and, as she said, "dressed the wounds of many a brave fellow who did good fighting long after that day." * * * When she raised her head, there before her stood her astonished husband, "as bloody as a butcher and as muddy as a ditcher." "I was so happy," she says, "and so were all. It was a glorious victory. I came just at the height of the enjoyment. I knew my husband was surprised, but I could see that he was not displeased with me." It was, of course, long into the night before the excitement subsided. The news spread like wild fire, and the Whigs all over the country heard it with rejoicing and thanksgiving; and everywhere the news of the victory was heard went also the story of the heroine, her brave ride, her heaven-sent aid, her soothing care of the wounded and suffering. Many a soldier breathed a prayer of thanks for the vision which came to her, and for her courageous response. But the prettiest side of the story was the simple and unaffected way in which she looked upon her act. Nothing of force or beauty can be added to her own simple and touching words about her return home. * * * "In the middle of the night," she says, simply, * * * "I again mounted my mare and started home. Caswell and my husband wanted me to stay until the next morning and they would send a party with me. But no! I wanted to see my child, and told them they could send no party that could keep up with me. What a happy ride I had back ! And with what joy did I embrace my child as he ran to meet me !"* *From the Ride of Mary Slocum, adapted from Mrs. Ellet's "Women of the Revolution." MOONKISE IN THE PINES. JOHN HENRY BONER. The sultry day is ending, The clouds are fading away, Orange with purple is blending And purple is turning to gray ; The gray grows darker and denser, Till it and the earth are one; A star swings out like a censer, And the brief warm night is begun. The brown moth floats and poises Like a leaf in the windless air ; Aroused by insect noises, The gray toad leaves his lair ; Sounding the dusk depth quickly, The bull-bats fall and rise, And out of the grasses thickly Swarm glistening fire-flies. Now darkness, heavy, oppressive And silent completes the gloom,; The breathless night is excessive With fragrance of perfume, For the land is enmeshed and ablaze With vines that blossom and trail, Embanking the traveled ways And festooning the fences of rail. 23 Afar in the southern sky Heat-lightning flares and glows, Vividly tinting the clouds that lie At rest with a shimmer of rose — Tremulous, flitting, uncertain, As a mystical light might shine From under an ebon curtain Before a terrible shrine. And the slumbrous night grows late. The midnight hush is deep. Under the pines I wait For the moon ; and the pine-trees weep Great drops of dew, that fall Like footsteps here and there, And they sadly whisper and call To each other high in the air. They rustle and whisper like ghosts, They sigh like souls in pain, Like the movement of stealthy hosts They surge, and are silent again. The midnight hush is deep, But the pines—the spirits distrest They move in somnambulant sleeps They whisper and are not at rest. Lo ! a light in the east, opalescent, Softly suffuses the sky Where flocculent clouds are quiescent, Where like froth of the ocean, they lie- Like foam on the beach they crimple Where the wave has spent its swirl — Like the curve of a shell, they dimple Into iridescent pearl. : 24 And the light grows brighter and higher, Till far through the trees I see The rim of a globe of fire That rolls through the darkness to me, And the aisles of the forest gleam With a splendor unearthly, that shines Like the light of a lurid dream Through the colonnaded pines. Ife RECEPTION OF THE STAMPS ON THE CAPE FEAR. BY HON. GEORGE DAVIS. (From an Address Delivered Before the Literary Societies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. June 8. 1855). When the Stamp Act was introduced into Parliament, they [the men of the Cape Fear] watched its progress as men watch the storm which they know is to burst in fury on their heads ; but they watched without fear and with manly hearts. When the news of its passage came across the water, their Chevalier Bayard,* John Ashe, was Speaker of the House. He boldly proclaimed to the Governor that he would resist it unto death, and that his people would stand by him in the sacred cause. Did he miscalculate the spirit of his people ? Had he read them aright? Let us see. In the first of the year 1766 the sloop of war Diligence arrived in the Cape Fear, bringing the stamps. The procla-mation of Governor Tryon, announcing her arrival and direct-ing all persons authorized to distribute them to apply to her commander, is dated the 6th of January in that year. Now, look what shall happen. She floats as gaily up the river as though she came upon an errand of grace, with sails all set and the cross of St. George flaunting apeak, and her cannon frown upon the rebellious little town of Brunswick as she yaws to her anchor. People of the Cape Fear, the issue is before you ! The paw of the lion is on your head—the terri-ble lion of England ! Will ye crouch submissively, or redeem * A celebrated knight of the middle ages. 26 the honor that was pledged for you ? Ye have spoken brave words about the rights of the people. Have ye acts as brave ? Ah, gentlemen, there were men in North Carolina in those days ! Scarcely had the stamp ship crossed the bar, when Colonel Waddell was watching her from the land. He sent a message to Wilmington to his friend, Colonel Ashe ; and as she rounded to her anchor opposite the custom-house at Bruns-wick they stood upon the shore with two companies of friends and gallant yeomen at their backs. Beware, John Ashe! Hugh Waddell, take heed ! Consider well, brave gentlemen, the perilous issue that you dare. Remember that armed resistance to the King's authority is treason. In his palace at Wilmington, but a few miles off, the "Wolf of Carolina"* is already chafing at you. And know you not that yonder across the water England still keeps the Tower, the Traitor's Gate, the scaffold and the axe ? Full well they know. But "They have set their lives upon the cast, And now must stand the hazard of the die." By threats of violence they intimidate the commander of the sloop, and he promises not to land the stamps. They seize the vessel's boat, and, hoisting a mast and flag, mount it upon a cart and march in triumph to Wilmington. Upon their arrival the town is illuminated. Next day, with Colonel Ashe at their head, the people go in crowds to the Governor's house and demand of him William Houston, the Stamp-mas-ter. Upon his refusal to deliver him up, forthwith they set about to burn the house above his head. Terrified, the Gov-ernor at length complies, and Houston is carried to the mar-ket- house, where, in the presence of the assembled people, he is made to take a solemn oath never to execute the duties of his office. Three glad, hurrahs ring through the old market- 'Governor Tryon—name given to him by the Indians. 27 house, and the Stamp Act falls, still-born, in North Carolina. And this was more than ten years before the Declaration of Independence, and more than nine years before the battle of Lexington, and nearly eight years before the Boston Tea Party. The destruction of the tea was done in the night by men in disguise. And history blazons it, and New England boasts of it, and the fame of it is world-wide. But this other act, more gallant and daring, done in open day by well-known men with arms in their hands and under the King's flag — who remembers or who tells of it ? When will history do justice to North Carolina? Never, until some faithful and loving son of her own shall gird his loins to the task with unwearied industry and unflinching devotion to the honor of his dear old mother. THE LIGHT'OOD FIRE. JOHN" HENRY BONER. The author of these two poems was born at Salem, N. C, 1845. A recent volume contains all the author considered worth preserving, and is a book highly creditable to the State. Mr. Boner held responsible editorial positions in New York City and elsewhere, and was a frequent contributor to the best periodical literature. The lines on Poe created an im-pression when they appeared in The Century Magazine a few years ago. Declining health forced him to give up his duties in New York and to seek restoration among his friends in his native State. A winter was spent in Raleigh, with temporary relief ; but soon after his return to work in the Government Printing Office, Washington, he suddenly died of hemorrhage, March 6, 1903. The Author's Club of New York assisted in doing honor to his memory. His grave is in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C. When w7intry days are dark and drear And all the forest ways grow still, When gray, snow-laden clouds appear Along the bleak horizon hill, When cattle all are snugly penned And sheep go huddling close together, When steady streams of smoke ascend From farm-house chimneys—in such weather Give me old Carolina's own, A great log-house, a great hearth-stone, A cheering pipe, of cob or briar, And a red, leaping light'ood fire. 29 When dreary day draws to a close And all the silent land is dark, When Boreas down the chimney blows And sparks fly from the crackling- bark, When limbs are bent with snow or sleet And owls hoot from the hollow tree, With hounds asleep about your feet, Then is the time for reverie. Give me old Carolina's own, A hospitable, wide hearth-stone, A cheering pipe, of cob or briar, And a red, rousing light'ood fire. m THE MEN" OF THE CAPE FEAR. (Adapted from an Address by Hon. George Davis). "When the Revolution broke upon the country there was no section in North Carolina, no section in all the thirteen colonies, which gave more royal support to the American cause, was more willing to sacrifice for the common good, was more ready to risk all for the public weal, than was the Cape Fear section. The people of this section, under the leadership of Harnett and Howe, Ashe and Hooper, and other distinguished sons, were ever foremost in the fight, first for liberty, then for independence. Here occurred the first open resistance to the Stamp Act ; here it was that the people, not disguised as Indians, not under the cover of darkness, but in their own proper dress, in the open daylight and in the presence of the Royal Governor, forcibly took William Houston, the Stamp-master, from Tryon's palace and made him swear in the open market-place never to perform the duties of his office; here it was that an indignant people re-plied to a tyrannical Governor's invitation to a public dinner by dumping the repast into the river; here it was that in July, 1774, the people declared 'the cause of Boston the common cause of all' ; here it was that the people declared themselves, in June, 1775, 'ready to go forth and be ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes to secure the freedom and safety of the country' ; and here it was that in January, 1776, the Committees of Safety informed the Council of the Colony, then on their way to meet with the Royal Governor on board a British war-ship in the Cape Fear river, 'that the committee could not, consistent with the safety of the country, permit them to attend the Governor.' 31 "Tims nobly upon the Cape Fear closed the first act of the drama. And when the curtain rose again, George, by the grace of God, King, was King no longer; but the Constitu-tion reigned and the free people of North Carolina governed themselves." RESCUE OF MADAME DeROSSET. (From "Tales of the Cape Fear," by Mr. James Sprunt) "We found in the ship-yard in Wilmington, while the Lilian was undergoing repairs, the noted blockade runner, Lynx, commanded by one of the most daring spirits in the service, Captain Reid. * * * * "A thrilling incident occurred in the destruction of the Lynx, a few weeks after we left her at Wilmington, which nearly terminated the life of a brave and charming little lady, the wife of Mr. Louis H. DeRosset, and of her infant child, who were passengers for Nassau. At half-past seven o'clock on the evening of September 26, 1864, the Lynx attempted to run the blockade at New Inlet, but was immediately dis-covered in the Swash channel by the Federal cruiser NipJion, which fired several broadsides into her at short range, nearly «very shot striking her hull and seriously disabling her. Not-withstanding this, Captain Reed continued his efforts to escape, and for a short time was slipping away from his pur-suer; but he was again intercepted by two Federal men-of-war, the Ilowquah and the Governor Buckingham. Mrs. DeRosset, describing the scene a few days afterwards, said: " 'Immediately the sky wTas illuminated with rockets ; broadside upon broadside, volley upon volley was poured upon us. The Captain put me in the wheel-house for safety. I had scarcely taken my seat when a ball passed three inches above my head, wounding the man at the wheel next to me; a large piece of the wheel-house knocked me on the head. I flew to the cabin, took my baby in my arms and immediately another ball passed through the cabin. We came so near one 33 of the enemy's boats that they fired a round of musketry and demanded surrender. We passed them like lightning; our vessel commenced sinking ! Eight shots went through and through below the water-line. I stayed in the cabin until I could no longer keep baby out of the water.' "The Hoiuquah then engaged the Lynx at close quarters, and her batteries tore away a large part of the paddle-boxes and bridge deck. The Buckingham also attacked the plucky blockade runner at so short a range that her commander fired all the charges from his revolver at Captain Reed and his pilot on the bridge. The continual flashing of the guns brightly illuminated the chase, and, escape being impossible, Captain Reed, much concerned for the safety of his passen-gers, headed his sinking ship for the beach. In the mean-time Fort Fisher was firing upon his pursuers with deadly effect, killing and wounding Hve men on the Howquah and disabling one of the guns. The sea was very rough that night, and the treacherous breakers, with their deafening roar, afforded little hope of landing a woman and her baby through the surf; nevertheless, it was the only alternative, and right bravely did the heroine meet it. "Through the breakers the Lynx was driven to her destruc-tion, the shock as her keel struck the bottom sending her crew headlong to the deck. Boats were lowered with great difficulty, the sea dashing over the bulwarks and drenching the sailors to the point of strangulation. Madame DeRosset, with the utmost coolness, watched her chance while the boat lurched and pounded against the stranded ship, and jumped gracefully to her place ; the baby, wrapped in a blanket, was tossed from the deck to her mother ten feet below, and then the fight for a landing began, while the whole crew, forgetful of their own danger and inspired with courage by the brave lady's example, joined in three hearty cheers as she dis-appeared in the darkness towards the shore. Under the later glare of the burning ship, which was set on fire when aban- 34 doned, a safe landing was effected, but with great suffering. Soaking wet, without food or drink, they remained on the beach until a message could reach Colonel Lamb at Fort Fisher, five miles distant, whence an ambulance was sent to carry the passengers twenty miles up to Wilmington. The baby blockade runner, Gabrielle, survived this perilous adven-ture ; also an exciting run through the fleet in the Confederate steamer Owl; and she is now the devoted wife of Colonel Alfred Moore Waddell, Mayor of Wilmington." ALAMANCE. 1771. The following poem was written by Seymour Whiting. When this poem was written no monument had been placed on the old battle-ground. The monument which now marks the spot was erected in 1880 : No stately column marks the hallowed place Where silent sleeps, unurn'd, their sacred dust — The first free martyrs of a glorious race, Their fame a people's wealth, a nation's trust. The rustic ploughman, at the early morn, The yielding furrow turns with heedless tread, Or tends with frugal care the springing corn Where tyrants conquer'd and where heroes bled. Above their rest the golden harvest waves, The glorious stars stand sentinel on high ; While in said requiem near their turfless graves, The winding river murmurs mourning by. No stern ambition nerved them to the deed, In Freedom's cause they nobly dared to die ; The first to conquer, or the first to bleed, God, and their country's right, their battle-cry. But holier watchers here their vigils keep, Than storied urn or monumental stone ; For Law and Justice guard their dreamless sleep, And Plenty smiles above their bloody home. Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame, And, as their country's glories still advance, Shall brighter blaze o'er all the earth thy name, The first-fought field of Freedom—Alamance. BLOCKADING OFF THE CAPE FEAR. (Selected from "Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade," by Mr. James Sprunt of Wilmington). During the war between the States, Wilmington was one of the chief ports of the Confederacy. A vast amount of food, clothing, munitions of war and other necessities were im-ported into the South through this port, and the United States Government soon recognized the advisability of stationing upon Cape Fear a strong blockading fleet. Mr. J nines Sprunt, in his delightful "Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade," says : "The first blockader placed upon the Cape Fear station was one bearing the misnomer Daylight, which appeared July 20, 1861. Others soon followed, until the number of block-aders off New Inlet and the main bar of Cape Fear river was increased to about thirty or more ; these formed a cordon every night in the shape of a crescent, the horns of which were so close in shore that it was almost impossible for a small boat to pass without discovery. Armed picket barges also patroled the bars and sometimes crept close in upon the forts." In spite, however, of the vigilant blockade by the Fed-eral fleet, vessels continued to slip out and in, carrying on at great danger a commerce with the outside world, with-out which the armies of the Confederacy must have suc-cumbed months sooner than they did. Continuing, Mr. Sprunt says: aThe natural advantages of Wilmington at the time of Avhich we write made it an ideal port for blockade runners, there being two entrances to the river—JSTew Inlet on the north, and the western or main bar on the south of Cape 37 Fear. 'This cape/ said Mr. George Davis, 'is the southern-most point of Smith's Island, a naked, bleak elbow of sand jutting far out into the ocean. Immediately in its front are the Frying Pan Shoals, pushing out still farther twenty miles to sea. Together they stand for warning and for woe; and together they catch the long, majestic roll of the Atlantic as it sweeps through a thousand miles of grandeur and power from the Arctic toward the Gulf. It is the play-ground of billows and tempests, the kingdom of silence and awe, dis-turbed by no sound save the sea-gull's shriek and the breaker's roar. Its whole aspect is suggestive, not of repose and beauty, but of desolation and terror. Imagination cannot adorn it ; romance cannot hallow it ; local pride cannot soften it. There it stands to-day, bleak and threatening and pitiless as it stood three hundred years ago, when Grenville* and Whitef came near unto death upon its sands; and there it will stand, bleak and threatening and pitiless, until the earth and sea shall give up their dead. And as its nature, so its name is noAv, always has been and always will be the 'Cape Fear.' "The slope of our beach for many miles is very gradual to deep water. The surroundings along the coast are regular, and the floor of the ocean is remarkably even. A steamer hard pressed by the enemy could run along the outer edge of the breakers without great risk of grounding; the pursuer, being usually of deeper draft, was obliged to keep further off shore. The Confederate steamer Lilian, of which I was then purser, was chased for nearly a hundred miles from Cape Lookout by the United States steamer Shen-andoah, which sailed a parallel course within half a mile of her and forced the Lilian at times into the breakers. This was probably the narrowest escape ever made by a blockade runner in a chase. The Shenandoali began firing her broad- * Sir Richard Grenville, an English Admiral, in 1585, with an English fleet, explored Roanoke Island and the rivers that empty into Albemarle Sound. t John White, the second Governor of Carolina, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587, and the grandfather of Virginia Dare. 38 side guns at 3 o'clock p. m., her gunners and commanding officers of the batteries being distinctly visible to the Lilians crew. aA heavy sea was running, which deflected the aim of the man-of-war and which alone saved the Lilian from destruc-tion. A furious bombardment by the Shenandoah, aggravated by the display of the Lillians Confederate flag, was continued until nightfall, when, by a clever ruse, the Lilian, guided by the flash of her pursuer's guns, stopped for a few minutes ; then, putting her helm hard over, ran across the wake of the war-ship straight out to sea, and on the following morning passed the fleet off Fort Fisher in such a crippled condition that several weeks were spent in Wilmington for repairs." REGRET. CHRISTIAN KEID. If I had known, O loyal heart, When hand to hand we said farewell, How for all time our paths would part, What shadow o'er our friendship fell, I should have clasped your hand so close In the warm pressure of my own, That memory still might keep its grasp, If I had known. If I had known, when far and wide We loitered through the summer land, What Presence wandered by our side, And o'er you stretched its awful hand, I should have hushed my careless speech, To listen well to every tone That from your lips fell low and sweet, If I had known. If I had known, when your kind eyes Met mine in parting, true and sad— Eyes gravely tender, gently wise, And earnest rather more than glad — How soon the lids would lie above, As cold and white as sculptured stone, I should have treasured every glance, If I had known. 40 If I had known how, from the strife Of fears, hopes, passions here below, Unto a purer, higher life That you were called, O friend, to go, I should have stayed all foolish tears, And hushed each idle sigh and moan, To bid you a last, long God-speed, If I had known. If I had known to what strange place, What mystic, distant, silent shore, You calmly turned your steadfast face, What time your footsteps left my door, I should have forged a golden link To bind the heart, so constant grown, And keep it constant even there, If I had known. If I had known that, until death Shall with his finger touch my brow, And still the quickening of the breath That stirs with life's full meaning now, So long my feet must tread the way Of our accustomed paths alone, I should have prized your presence more, If I had known. If I had known how soon for you Drew near the ending of the fight, And on your vision, fair and new, Eternal peace dawned into sight, I should have begged, as love's last gift, That you, before God's great, white throne, Would pray for your poor friend on earth, If I had known. THE RESOURCES OF THE, LOWER CAPE FEAR. (Adapted from "North Carolina and Its Resources," Published by State Board of Agriculture). The soil along* the lower Cape Fear is most admirably adapted for truck farming, fruit cultivation, raising stock and poultry, every kind of vegetable, all the small fruits; pears, peaches, plums, etc., are here profitably grown. The strawberry business alone engages the attention of many farmers, and many car-loads of strawberries are shipped every spring to Northern cities. Potatoes, asparagus, lettuce, toma-toes, blackberries and whortleberries are some of the sources of revenue of the truck farmer. Wilmington, with 20,976 inhabitants, is the largest city in North Carolina and the chief sea-port. The principal exports are cotton, cotton goods, timber, lumber and naval stores. The most valuable timber in this section is the long-leaf pine. This is a tall and slender tree, with a long, clear stem, the trees frequently being one hundred feet high, but rarely three feet in diameter. The wood is even-grained and strong — stronger than that of any other American pine and nearly twice as strong as that of the white pine. It is exceptionally free from knots, wind-shakes, heart-cracks, red-heart and other timber defects, takes a good polish and is particularly suited for flooring, wainscoting and outside work. It is found on the driest and most sandy soils, unmixed with other trees, or on better soils, with a lower growth, beneath the pine, of dogwood and small post and Spanish oaks, the oaks being suitable for cross-ties. From, this pine, by boxing it—that is : removing a thin layer of the sap-wood so that the resin con-tained in the tree may exude and be caught in a hole or "box" 42 cut in the trunk of the tree near its base—crude turpentine, as the resin isi called, is obtained. By the distillation of the crude turpentine, spirits of turpentine is gotten as the volatile part, while rosin is the residue left in the retort. This industry of tapping the pine for resin, and the distillation of the resin, gives employment to several thousand men in this State, and the annual value of the resinous products sold from this State aggregated in 1890 over $1,500,000, being, in fact, about one-third of the entire product of these commodities in the world. Tar is obtained from this tree by slow combustion in a closed kiln of pieces of its heart-wood impregnated with resin ; and from tar, pitch is made by boiling it with a fixed proportion of crude turpentine. The turpentine industry was one of the principal occupa-tions and sources of wealth in the southern and eastern sec-tions of North Carolina before the war, and Wilmington be-came the largest market in the world for naval stores, draw-ing this trade also from a large section of South Carolina. In those days naval stores were perhaps the chief articles of export from this State, and naturally North Carolina became widely known abroad for the production and exportation of these stores. This probably accounts for the fact that about the only production of North Carolina mentioned in the old geographies were tar, pitch and turpentine; therefore, her name became so identified with these products that she was known abroad as the "Tar Heel State." While these products constitute but a small part of our commercial wealth to-day, it has taken many years to remove from the minds of the people in our sister States this early impression and to inform them of our other wonderful and varied resources. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Question 1 : What is meant by the "Lower Cape Fear Sec-tion" ? Answer: The term "Lower Cape Fear Section" is given to those counties in North Carolina which lie towards the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 2: Who were the first British citizens to visit the Cape Fear region ? Answer: On July 14, 1584, an English fleet sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh and under the command of Philip Ama-das and Arthur Barlowe appeared off the coast near the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 3: When and by whom was the first attempt to settle the Cape Fear country made ? Answer: In 1660 a party of Englishmen from Massachu-setts came to the Cape Fear river seeking pasture lands for their cattle. The region was unsuited for this purpose and therefore was soon abandoned. Question J^: When and by whom was the next attempt made, and with what results ? Answer: In May, 1665, Sir John Yeamans, an English gentleman from Barbadoes, came into the Cape Fear country with 600 colonists and founded a settlement which he named Charles Towne. Sir John Yeamans was the Governor, but remained only a short time with the colony. In 1667 the settlement was abandoned. Question 5: When and where was the first permanent set-tlement made on the Cape Fear? Answer: In 1723 Colonel Maurice Moore of South Caro-lina and a few followers erected homes on the banks of the Cape Fear river. Two years later, 1725, they laid off a town 44 nine miles below the present city of Wilmington and named it "Brunswick." Colonists nocked there in considerable num-bers until the settlement became a town of 400 inhabitants. Question 6: What other early settlement was made on the Cape Fear river? Answer: In 1733 a town was laid off nine miles above Brunswick and called New Liverpool. In 1739 the name was changed to Wilmington. Question 7: For what were these people noted? Answer: They were noted for their intelligence, their cul-ture, their hospitality, their love of liberty, their patriotism and devotion to religion. Question 8: How did the settlement prosper? Answer: It grew rapidly in size and importance. Wil-mington soon became the largest and most important town in the colony and was made one of the capitals of the province. The Governor of the colony had a residence there. Question 9: What important act did the British Parlia-ment pass in 1765 ? Answer: The Stamp Act. This act required the Ameri-cans to use stamps, to be sold by the British Government, on all newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements in newspapers, almanacs, deeds, all court records and many other docu-ments. Question 10: Wh'at did the Americans think of this law? Answer: They were very angry, because they said the British Parliament had no right to lay taxes on them without their consent. Question 11: How was the Stamp Act received in the Cape Fear section ? Answer: The people declared that they would resist it to death. When the vessels bringing the stamps arrived in the Cape Fear river the people seized the stamp officer and forced him to resign his office and agree not to sell the stamps. They 45 refused to let the stamps be landed and no stamps were ever sold in North Carolina. The act was soon repealed. Question 12: Did the repeal of the Stamp Act put an end to the troubles with the King? Answer: No; the foolish King and his Governors con-tinued to oppress the people until finally the people of New Bern drove the Governor out of the province, and he took refuge in Fort Johnston at the mouth of the Cape Fear river. Question 13: Did the people of the Cape Fear permit him to stay there ? Answer: No; they rebelled against his oppressive acts; so he fled for refuge to a British war vessel in the river. Five hundred men from Brunswick and Wilmington, led by Colo-nel John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, marched to Fort John-ston and destroyed the detested place. Question 11±: Did the Cape Fear people sympathize with the other American colonists in their troubles with the King ? Answer: Yes; in July, 1774, when the King tried to starve the people of Boston into submission to his will, the people of New Hanover declared that the a cause of Boston was the common cause of all" ; and in August they sent to Boston a ship-load of provisions costing £800 or $4,000. Qucstio?i 15: Were the people of the Cape Fear section ready to support their cause by arms ? A ?is wer: In June, 1775, the citizens of New Hanover, Brunswick, Bladen, Duplin and Onslow counties formed an association, agreeing to resist to the death all unjust acts of the King and Parliament, and declared themselves "ready to go forth and be ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes to secure the freedom and safety of the country." Question 16: How did they redeem this pledge when war begun ? , Answer: In February, 1776, when the Scotch Tories col-lected an army to fight the Americans, the men of the Cape Fear took their guns and met the Scotch at Moore's Creek 46 Bridge. A battle was fought there, February 27, 1776, and the Americans gained a splendid victory, the first victory in the open field gained by the Americans during the Revolu-tion. Hundreds of the Cape Fear men joined the American army and fought bravely through the war. Question 17 : Was there any other battle fought during the Revolution in the Lower Cape Fear section % Answer: Yes ; in September, 1781, a battle was fought at Elizabethtown in Bladen county, and the Americans, under Colonel Thomas Brown, gained an important victory. It destroyed the power of the Tories in that section of the country. Question IS: What forts were on the banks of the Cape Fear river during the Civil War ? Answer: Fort Fisher, Fort Anderson and Fort Caswell. Question 19: Were these forts of much importance to the State and to the Confederacy ? Answer: Yes ; because they protected the river from the fleets of the United States. It was through the Cape Fear river that much of the food and clothing for the armies of the Confederacy was brought. Question 20: Did the Union troops try to take these forts ? Answer: Yes, and after a most, terrific bombardment from a powerful Union fleet, Fort Fisher fell, January 15, 1865. Soon afterwards Wilmington was captured. Question 21: What effect did this have on the war? Answer: It was of much importance, for after the capture of Wilmington no other port in the Confederacy was open and no food and clothing could be brought in. i MY COUNTRY, 'TIS OF THEE. My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring. My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love ; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy wroods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills, Like that above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake, Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. Our fathers' God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light ; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King ! APPENDIX THE RALEIGH STATUE AND THE WILEY MONUMENT. I wish to call special attention to the letter of General Julian S. Carr, in the appendix of this pamphlet, relative to a penny collection from the public school-children of North Carolina for the erection of a statue to Sir Walter Raleigh. This letter reached most of the schools last year too late for North Carolina Day. At the October (1901) meeting of the State Literary and Historical Association, an organization that is doing much for the promotion of literature, the preser-vation of history and the upbuilding of the public schools, a resolution offered by General Carr was adopted, requesting this collection for this purpose from the school-children of the State, on whose soil Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first Eng-lish colony in America, which resulted in Avresting this con-tinent from the Spaniards. I most heartily endorse this idea, and feel that such a collection for such a purpose from our children would be a fitting expression of gratitude to this great maker of the first chapter of our history. By a resolution adopted at the recent meeting of the State Association of County Superintendents, Mr. R. D. W. Con-nor, who read a valuable and inspiring paper on the life and character of Calvin H. Wiley, was requested to prepare for North Carolina Day*a short declamation on this first Super-intendent of Public Instruction and great organizer of our public school system, and I was instructed to request that a collection be taken in the public schools of the State on this day for the erection of a monument to him. To no man in all our history do the people of the State, and especially the cliil- 49 dren of the public schools, owe so great a debt of gratitude for the successful establishment of a great system of public education as to Calvin IT. Wiley. It is eminently fitting that the children of these schools should erect by their con-tributions a lasting memorial to him who gave the best years of a life of unselfish devotion to them and to their schools. I suggest that every school in the State take a collection on ^orth Carolina Day for the Raleigh statue or the Wiley monument, or for both. Each school may direct to which of these purposes its collection shall be applied, or may divide the collection between the two. All collections for the Raleigh statue should be sent to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N, C, Treasurer of this fund. All collections for the Wiley monu-ment should be sent to Mr. R. D. W. Connor, Wilmington, ^s T . C, Treasurer of this fund. Very truly yours, J. Y. JoYNER, Superintendent of Public Instruction. THE SIR, WALTER RALEIGH STATUE. UTILITY OF ITS ERECTION IN NASH SQUARE, RALEIGH, To Hie School-children, School Officers and Teachers vn, North Carolina: Nash Square, as doubtless many of you know, is the open square or park just in front of Union Depot in the city of Raleigh. It is in the centre of this square, in this our capital city, named so fitly in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh, that it is proposed to erect a statue to commemorate his services to the English-speaking people. His efforts to colonize Roanoke Island connect the history of North Carolina with that of America at a most vital point. It was in North Carolina, and through Raleigh's efforts, that English colonization was begun. He is therefore the father of it ; and it was on our own coast that he began the operations whose results have changed the current of human affairs. Any one familiar with our coast and the history of that time can see at a glance the wisdom of his choice. In 1584, the time of the landing of his first colony, Spain was the mistress of the seas, as well as of the land. Her great ships, as well as her great armies, were the terror of all nations. She had destroyed every ves-tige of French colonization begun or attempted on the Atlan-tic coast from North Carolina to Florida. Only one good thing was obtained by French exploration, and that was in-formation of the only part of that coast that was not suscepti-ble to attacks by large ships; that is the coast of North Caro-lina, the best protected in the world ; and of this information, England, through Raleigh, and not France, was destined to get the benefit. So it was not without design and far-reach-ing purpose that he sent his little caravels to the shores of 51 North Carolina. It was behind the protection of her ever-lasting barriers of sand that Barlowe wrote his famous pros-pectus, and Lane made his surveys which electrified the Eng-lish- speaking people and sowed the seed in the minds of the rising generation which made the colony of Jamestown, Vir-ginia, twenty-three years later, and the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, thirty-six years later, practicable. Raleigh's colonies were, in effect, the parents of all the English settle-ments in North America. His effort to effect permanent settlements in North Carolina from 1584 to 1590 was, there-fore, no failure, and should not be so regarded by any rightly instructed student of history. To emphasize his zeal and devotion, his faith and his courage, this man, of whom the world was not worthy, was allowed a martyr's last privilege of laying down his life and his fortune for his cause. Inspired by these things and by the fact that there is no-where on earth a monument to Sir Walter Raleigh, and there is nowhere a place so fitting to erect it as the soil of North Carolina and the city she has named to commemorate his virtues, a motion was made at the last meeting of the State Literary and Historical Association in 1902 to erect this statue in the most effective wray possible—that is, by pe?my contributions from the school-children of North Carolina; and in order to emphasize the utility as well as the adapta-tion of this method, at the same meeting of the Association a bag of pennies, one for every white child in Durham county, was brought forward and presented as the first contribution to the statue. So the movement may be said to have been practically inaugurated by the public school-children of one of the most progressive and enlightened counties in the State. Since that time many schools and colleges have sent in their contribu-tions. It is desired that every child of school age in our State should be given an opportunity to contribute his penny. It should be further added that the committee having in 52 charge the erection of this statue have prepared a calendar for the school-children of North Carolina, containing a synop-sis of the principal events in the life of Sir Walter Raleigh, and the same will be shortly hung upon the walls of the school-houses of North Carolina. It is requested that the collections for this statue be made on North Carolina Day, and that they be sent through the County Superintendents to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N. C. To the school-children of North Carolina and their teachers and officers is commended the study of North Carolina his-tory, beginning with the man who was its very source and greatest, exemplar—the man who, with Columbus and the other great explorers and navigators of that time, gave to the world two continents with all their wealth and fullness, homes for the teeming millions which now enjoy them. As you consider him he will loom up and stand conspicuous in that grandeur which requires the distance of centuries to truly appreciate. With distinguished consideration, I beg to subscribe my-self, Your most obedient servant, Julian S. Carr. CALVIN HENDERSON WILEY. (Prepared by R. D. W. Connor, at the Request of the North Caro-lina County Superintendents' Association). Calvin Henderson Wiley was born the third day of Feb-ruary in the year 1819, in Guilford county, North Carolina. In 1S40 he was graduated from the University of the State. One year later he was admitted to the bar and settled at Oxford, where a brilliant future seemed open to him. From the noble college at which he was educated he sucked into his life that spirit of devotion to his native State so characteristic of the sons of the State University ; and no sooner did he per-ceive that the State needed his talents than he abandoned his career of personal ambition and wealth and dedicated them to the service of North Carolina. It seemed to Dr. Wiley that the future of the State was bound together with the future of her common schools, and that the efficiency of the common schools depended upon the establishment over them of a single executive head. Accordingly, returning to his native county, he presented himself to the people as a candi-date for the General Assembly and was elected. His sole object in doing this was to introduce a bill providing for a general superintendent of the common schools. The bill was introduced and defeated, though Wiley made in support of it one of the most powerfully eloquent and logical speeches ever delivered in the North Carolina Legislature. Beaten, but not dismayed, he returned at the next session, 1852, re-introduced his bill and succeeded in getting it passed. Though he was of a different political party from the majority of the Assembly, yet the members, recognizing his eminent fitness for the work, rose above party fealty and elected him the first Superintendent of Common Schools. 54 At the time that he assumed charge of the school system the schools were in a wretched condition ; the houses generally were mere log hovels; the teachers were ignorant and cared little for their work; the schools were poorly attended. As a result of this, thousands of parents were yearly leaving the State and going to other States where their children could be educated; and tens of thousands of children in North Carolina were growing up to manhood and womanhood in ignorance and illiteracy. Dr. Wiley saw that if this condi-tion continued the State would be ruined, for no State can prosper if its people are uneducated. He therefore deter-mined to devote his life to improving the schools, so that every boy and every girl in North Carolina could be educated and become a useful man or woman. In order to do this he was compelled to give up a large law practice which would doubtless have brought him wealth and fame. But he was so devoted to North Carolina and her children that he did not hesitate to make any sacrifice for their good. No other one of the great men who have helped to make North Carolina what it is had less to guide and help him, or more and greater difficulties to overcome in his work, than did Dr. Wiley. There were a thousand little springs, invisi-ble to the eye, to be delicately touched, a thousand nameless duties to be performed, a thousand crosses and difficulties unknown to the world at large to be met and disposed of. He had everything to do and everybody to instruct. He was like a lonely traveler upon the bosom of a hostile and un-known sea. The compass of experience from which he could learn the channels where to steer his course and avoid the thousand dangers encircling him was lacking to him. But he did not flinch from his task. His hand firmly grasped the helm and the old State swung into the safe channel, under the control of a pilot whose steady hand, guided by a pene-trating insight into the cloudy conditions facing him, was 55 supported by a heart, strong through faith in his cause, in his people and in Divine guidance. In doing the great work which lay before him, Wiley had first of all to teach the people of the State the value and character of public schools. Newspapers and circulars, hun-dreds of public and private letters, public communications to the Governor, eloquent and ringing speeches and a thousand personal interviews, all were brought to his use in educating the public. It was a tremendous, almost a superhuman, task ; but the unconquerable spirit, the tireless energy and the fiery enthusiasm of the Superintendent were catching, and others were soon eager to enroll themselves under his banner and tight by his side. And what was the result of it all ? The work was slow, discouraging and tedious, but the results were far beyond Dr. Wiley's greatest hopes. Old friends were discovered and aroused to renewed efforts, new ones made and interested in the work ; incompetent officers were found out and removed ; numerous errors were corrected ; unity was gradually intro-duced into the system and school-men in all parts of the State were taught to see that the interests of all were bound together in one great and ever-widening circle. The number of teachers in the public schools increased from less than 2,000 to more than 3,500; the number of schools increased from less than 2,000 to more than 3,000 ; the number of children enrolled increased from 85,000 to 116,000; the money ex-pended on the schools increased from $130,000 to more than $400,000. The school-houses were greatly improved, the teachers were better trained and educated, better books were used in the classes, and children all over the State became more interested in their wTork. Whatever of success was attained was admitted by all to be due to Dr. Wiley. He had found the minds of the people filled with errors ; he turned on them the light of knowledge and they vanished like mist before the sun; he found them 56 indifferent to the schools; he aroused their enthusiastic sup-port ; he found a vineyard without laborers ; he created an army of skilled and devoted workers. But just as he reached the point where his work began to show on the development of the State the storm of civil war swept across the country and the schools soon became involved in the general ruin. At the time when the war began, Dr. Wiley had built up in North Carolina the best system of public schools to be found in any of the Southern States. In doing this great work, Dr. Wiley was compelled to make great sacrifices of personal ambition and wealth. Although for some time his salary was not large enough to pay for the board of his horse, yet he clung to his work because he loved the State and loved her boys and girls. Ought not the people of North Carolina to honor the memory of this great and patriotic man ? Ought not the school-children, for whose sake he did so much, to try to erect a fitting memorial to him in our capital city, so they may show to the world that they are not ungrateful for the great sacrifices he made for them ? Let us all determine here and now that Ave will contribute whatever we can for this noble purpose. If the strength of a State lies in the virtue and intelligence of her citizens, then surely no other man more deserves the gratitude of our hearts than Calvin H. Wiley. This gratitude demands that we engrave his name forever upon the tablets of our hearts, and that in our capital city, right in the heart of his beloved State, there shall be erected a monument which shall endure as long as the soil on which it stands, forever bearing testimony of the honor in which his name is held by those for whom he labored without hope of reward. A foresighted statesman, a loyal citizen, a devoted patriot, he labored not for self, but for his fellows. |
OCLC number | 14264282 |