North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history

              cJ(A^^^jr
Vol. VIII. JULY, 1908. No. 1
13he
floRTH CflROIilNfl BoOKliET
'
' Caroli7ia ! Carolina ! Heaven'' s blessings attend her !
WJiile we live we will cherish, protect and defend her.''''
Published by
THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
The object of the Booklet is to aid in developing amd preserving
Korth Carolina History. The proceeds arising from its publication will
be devoted to patriotic purposes. Editoes.
ADVISORY BOARD OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
BOOKLET.
Mrs. Spiek Whitakeb. Mes. T. K. Beuner.
Professor D. H. Hill. Mb. R. D. W. Connou.
Mb. W. J. Peele. De. E. W. Sikes.
Professor E. P. Moses. Db. Richard Dillabd.
De. Kemp P. Battle. Me. James Sprunt.
Me. Marshall DeLancey Haywood. Judge Walter Clabk.
EDITORS :
Miss Mary Hilliaed Hinton, Mes. E E. Moffitt.
OFFICERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION,
1906-1908.
regent :
mbs. e. e. moffitt.
VICE-BEGENT :
Mrs. WALTER CLARK.
honorary REGENT:
Mrs. SPIER WHITAKER.
RECORDING SECRETARY:
Mrs. LEIGH SKINNER.
COREESPONDING SECEETAEY
:
Mes. W. H. PACE.
TEEASUREE
:
Mes. frank SHERWOOD.
EEGISTEAE:
Miss MARY BILLIARD HINTON.
GENEALOGIST
:
Mbs. HELEN De BERNIERE WILLS.
FOUNDEB OF THE NOETH CAROLINA SOCIETY AND ReGEINT 1896-1902:
Mbs. spier WHITAKER.
eegent 1902:
Mbs. D. H. HILL, Sb.*
eegent 1902-1906:
Mrs. THOMAS K. BRUNER.
* Died December 12, 1904.
THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
Vol. VIII JULY, 1908 No. 1
JOHN HARVEY/
BY R. D. W. CONNOR,
Secretary of the North. Carolina Historical Commission
Of all the men who inaugurated the Revolution in JSTorth
Carolina, John Harvey, perhaps, is least known. But little
has been written of his services to his country, and the stu-dent
of his career will search in vain outside of the bald offi-cial
records for more than a mere mention of the official posi-tions
which he held. These records, however, reveal a career
that would do honor to any of his great contemporaries.
The origin of the Harvey family in I^orth Carolina has
been the subject of much speculation and has been accounted
for in various ways. The traditional accounts credit Vir-ginia
with furnishing this family to ISTorth Carolina, but
whatever may be true of the other branches, this is not true
of the branch from which John Harvey sprung. During the
middle of the seventeenth century the first John Harvey of
whom we have any record, and his wife Mar)^, lived "at ye
Heath in Shetterfield Parish in Warwick Sheare in Ould
Ingland." One of their sons, Thomas Harvey, came to Nortti
Carolina some time about 1680 as private secretary to Gover-nor
John Jenkins. He himself afterwards served as deputy
governor during the absence of Governor Archdale. Upon
his arrival there he found others of his name who were
^Reprinted, with additional matter, from the "Biographical History
of North Carolina," Volume IV, by permission of Charles L. Van Nop-pen,
Publisher.
4t THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET.
already prominent in the official life of the province. They
had settled in Perquimans County on Albemarle Sound,
occupying a strip of land between the Yeopim and Perquim-ans
rivers, known to this day as Harvey's ISTeck. Governor
Jenkins died December 17, 1681. Within less than four
months Thomas Harvey showed his devotion to the memory
of his patron by marrying the bereaved widow, Johannah.
In those early days in North Carolina, when the number of
men in the province greatly exceeded the number of women,
it was probably regarded as contrary to public jDolicy for a
sprightly woman to hide her charms behind a widow's veil.
Six years after her second marriage Johannah Harvey died.
Thomas Harvey bore his loss with becoming fortitude and
within less than six months resigned his sorrows into the
keeping of Sarah Laker, the daughter of a prominent colonial
official, Benjamin Laker, and his wife Jane Dey. By her
Thomas Harvey had three children. The second son, a
Thomas also, married Elizabeth Cole, daughter of Colonel
James Cole, of ]S[ansemond County, Virginia. This union
continued only a few years, Thomas Harvey dying during the
winter of 1729. He left four sons, Thomas, John, Benjamin,
and Miles." In his will he made provisions and left direc-tions
for the education of these boys ; one legacy in this will
was a hundred pounds proclamation money for the poor of
Perquimans County.
The second of these boys was destined to become the most
illustrious of the Harveys. He was born some time about
the year 1725. According to the provisions of his father's
will he received a good education, probably under a private
tutor, or, as w^as not unusual then, in England. "We may
suppose that, like other boys similarly situated, he gave due
2 Hathaway: North Carohna Historical and Genealogical Register,
Vol. 3, No. 3, 476-480.
JOHN HARVEY. 5
attention to the sports common in frontier settlements
—
riding, hunting, fishing, swimming, rowing, and other out-door
amusements. Early in life he was married to Mary
Bonner, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Bonner, of Beau-fort
County. They had ten children. It is not unworthy
of remark that the Harveys were a prolific family. John
Harvey's eldest son, Thomas, had eight children ; his second
son, John, had three ; Miles, his fifth son, had four ; while
Joseph, the seventh son, had fourteen. John Harvey's grand-children
also proved themselves in this respect not unworthy
of their origin.^
We know nothing about John Harvey's early life. As soon
as he was old enough to understand such things he mani-fested
a lively interest in provincial politics ; the traditions
of his family, no less than his own inclinations, would lead
him to do so. A promising young man, supported by family
influence, wealth, and education, he could not fail to attract
the attention of the local politicians of the popular party.
He had scarcely laid aside his childish things before they
brought him forward as a candidate for a seat in the General
Assembly, and elected him a member of the session held at
Xew Bern in June of 1746.* He arrived one day too late to
take part in the organization of the House, which was effected
by the election of Samuel Swann speaker. The journal
quaintly states that, June 12, "Mr. John Starkey moved that
as Mr. Samuel Swann had been speaker heretofore and no
objection lay against his behaviour in that station he may be
chosen speaker." To this proposition there Avas no dissent.
John Harvey's first session was a short one, lasting only six-teen
days.
Harvey had entered the Assembly, however, just in time to
become involved in one of the bitterest contests connected with
'Ibid. * Colonial Records of North Carolina, IV, 818.
b THE NORTH CAEOLHSTA BOOKLET.
our colonial history. The early Korth Carolina charters had
given to the counties of Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank,
Currituck, Bertie,^ and Tyrrell the privilege of sending five
members each to the Assembly, and had allotted to all the
other counties only two each. As these latter counties grew
in wealth and population they looked with jealous eyes on the
extra privilege of the older counties. Rivalries and friction
enhanced by local prejudices arose out of this inequality. By
having five members each the northern counties had a ma-jority
of the Assembly, and of course controlled legislation.
The southern counties could do nothing but patiently await
their opportunity to strike a more nearly even balance. It
happened that just at the time John Harvey entered the As-sembly
the governor, Gabriel Johnston, a hard-headed Scotch-man,
threw himself into the controversy on the side of the
southern counties. In November, 1746, he called the As-sembly
to meet at Wilmington.*' On account of the difficulties
in reaching Wilmington at that season of the year, the north-ern
members had declared that they would not attend an As-sembly
held at that place. Relying upon the fact that they
composed a majority of the members, they expected, of course,
that no session could be held without them. In this they
reckoned without their host. Little did John Harvey and his
colleagues think that Samuel Swann and his colleagues, for
the sake of a petty sectional advantage, would surrender one
of the most cherished constitutional principles for which the
colonists had ever contended—that no number less than a ma-jority
of the Assembly ought to be considered a quorum. But
this is just what the southern members did, for at the bidding
of a royal governor they formed a house composed of less
than a majority, and proceeded to business. Only two bills
^Northampton County had afterwards been created out of Bertie and
given two of the latter's five members. Northampton acted with the
northern counties. ^Colonial Records, IV, 838.
JOHN HARVEY. 7
were passed at this session—one to make I^ew Bern the capi-tal
of the province, the other to reduce the representation of
the northern counties to two members each. After this had
been done the governor with many honeyed words sent the
members home.
Of course the northern counties refused to recognize the
validity of laws passed by this rump Assembly. So when the
governor issued his writs for a new election, commanding
them to choose two members each, they refused obedience,
and chose five each as usual. John Harvey was one of those
elected for Perquimans. But the governor declared the elec-tions
void. Thereupon the northern counties appealed to the
king. The controversy was long and bitter. Eight years
passed before a decision was reached on the appeal, and dur-ing
these years the northern counties, refusing to send only
two members each—^the only number the governor would
recognize^—were not represented in the Assembly of the
province. It was not until March 14, 1754, that the board of
trade filed its report with the king ; the decision was in favor
of the northern counties.®
Governor Johnston, dying in 1752, did not live to see the
end of the controversy he had helped to fasten on the colony.
His successor was Arthur Dobbs. He arrived in ISTorth Caro-lina
in October, 1754,® bringing instructions to call a new
Assembly in which the representation was to be distributed
as it had been prior to 1746. This Assembly met in ISTew
Bern, December 12th, and was the first session in eight years
at which all the counties were represented.^" John Harvey
was returned at the head of the Perquimans delegation. John
Campbell was there from Bertie, leader of the northern
forces; Samuel Swann from Onslow, leader of the southern
^Col. Rec, IV, 856-57. ^Col. Rec, V, 81. "Col. Rec, V, 144g.
">Col. Rec, V, 231.
O THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
faction. The northern faction was of conrse hostile to Swann,
and for the first time in fourteen years an opponent for the
speakership appeared. An interesting contest ensued. There
were fifty-eight members of the Assembly, thirty of whom
were of the northern faction, twenty-eight of the southern.
On the opening day, however, six members were absent, four
of the former, two of the latter party, so that those present
were equally divided in their allegiance. This gave the
southern members some encouragement, for if their two ab-sent
colleagues arrived before those of their opponents, they
could re-elect Swann and triumph over the arrogant Xorth.
When the house met, therefore, "Mr. Sinclair set up
Mr. Samuel Swann ; Mr. Thomas Barker proposed and set up
Mr. John Campbell, on which the motion was made and the
question was put, and the house dividing there appeared an
equality of votes." JSTeither faction was willing to give way.
Word was therefore sent to the governor that the house could
not yet attend upon him, and his opinion was asked as to the
solution of the difficulty. Dobbs replied that it was an un-precedented
case, "but in all cases where there was a right,
there ought to be a remedy," and he thought the clerk ought
to cast the deciding vote. The house would not agree to
this, and Swann, realizing that the chances were against him,
offered to withdraw. His friends demurred, but in spite of
their opposition "Mr. Swann acquainted the members that in
order to expedite the business of the house he gave up his
pretentions to the said place to Mr. John Campbell, where-upon
he was placed in the chair."^^ The next morning Gover-nor
Dobbs wrote : "Although there may be some little spar-ring
betwixt the parties, yet both have assured me it shall
have no effect upon public affairs or make my administration
uneasy." ^'
"Col. Rec, V, 233. i^Col. Rec, V, 153-4.
JOHN HAKVEY. \)
The great event of Governor Dobbs's administration was
the French and Indian War. 'No man was more British in
his enmity to the French or more Protestant in his hostility
to their religion than Arthur Dobbs. He made the wringing
of money out of the province for the prosecution of the war
the paramount object of his administration. The Assembly
met his demands as liberally as they thought the situation
and circumstances of the province justified, but they could
not satisfy the governor. Greater demands pressed in impo-litic
language gave birth to sharp controversies over the limi-tations
on the prerogatives of the Crown and the extent of
the privileges of the Assembly. In these debates John Har-vey
was one of the leaders in stoutly maintaining that the
only authority on earth that could legally levy taxes on the
people was their General Assembly. Dobbs's first Assembly
voted £8,000 for war purposes.^^ John Harvey was a mem-ber
of the committee that drafted the bill. An incident con-nected
with its passage is significant and worthy of record.
The Council, or upper house, having proposed an amendment,
the Assembly, or lower house, promptly rejected it and, in-stead,
resolved, without a dissenting vote, "that the Council
in taking upon them to make several material alterations to
the said bill whereby the manner of raising as well as the
application of the aid thereby granted to his Majesty is di-rected
in a different manner than by that said bill proposed,
have acted contrary to custom and usage of Parliament, and
that the same tends to infringe the rights and liberties of the
Assembly, who have always enjoyed uninterrupted the privi-lege
of framing and modeling all bills by virtue of which
money has been levied on the subject for an aid for his
Majesty." ^* Within less than a year after this session ad-journed
all British America was thrown into consternation
"Col. Rec., V, 243 et seq. "Col. Rec, V, 287,
10 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
by tlie disastrous ending of Braddock's expedition. Gover-nor
Dobbs at once convened the Assembly in special session,
and in a sensible, well-written address suggested that "a
proper sum cheerfully granted at once will accomplish what a
very great sum may not do hereafter." ^^ The house went
into committee of the whole, with John Harvey presiding, to
consider the ways and means of raising £10,000. Harvey
was also a member of the committee to draft the bill which
was promptly passed. Three companies were ordered to be
raised and placed at the disposal of the governor. The next
session of the Assembly, 1756, voted another war appropria-tion,
£4,400." In the meantime the war had been going
against the British and the ministry felt that more concerted
action by the colonies was desirable. At a meeting of south-ern
governors at Philadelphia, March, 1757, a plan was
adopted which apportioned 400 troops to K^orth Carolina.^^
When Governor Uobbs laid this plan before the Assembly,
the house, through a committee of which Harvey was a mem-ber,
promised to do all within its power to carry it into exe-cution.^**
A bill carrying £5,306 was introduced. John Har-vey
was especially instmmental in securing its passage. He
j)resided over the committee of the whole to consider ways
and means, was a member of the committee that drafted the
bill, and a member of the conference committee of the two
houses. These appropriations were all voted with ''alacrity,"
as the Assembly said, and the governor acknowledged, though
they imposed upon the people a debt of "above forty shilling's
each taxable," which was more than the currency in circula-tion
in the province.^''
The summer of 1757 was one of the gloomiest in the annals
of the British empire. Success everywhere cro^^^led the arm?
i^CoI. Rec, V, 495etseq. >«Col. Rec, V, 734. "Col. Rec, 750.
'«Col. Rec, V, 829 et seq. "Col. Rec, V, 1001.
JOHN HARVEY. 11
of France. In America, the French empire "stretched with-out
a break over the vast territory from Louisiana to tlie St.
Lawrence."'*^ The Indians called Montcalm the ''famou» man
who tramples the English under his feet.""^ In July, how-ever,
a new force was introduced into the contest which, it is
not mere rhetoric to say, was destined in a few brief months
to raise the banner of England from the dust of humiliation
to float among the most exalted stars of glory. This force
was the genius of William Pitt, "the greatest war minister
and organizer of victory that the world has seen."'"'" The
Assembly of jSTorth Carolina had quarreled v/ith Dobbs, but
the words and spirit of Pitt inspired them, "notwithstanding
the indigency of the country," to renewed efl:orts for the sup-port
of the war. John Harvey was a member of the commit-tee
that drafted a bill enrolling three companies to serve in
the Virginia campaign under General Forbes and appropria-ting
£7,000 for their subsistence.^^ The house requested that
these troops be sent to General Forbes "without loss of time."
The summer of 1758 was as glorious as the summer of 1757
had been gloomy. In every quarter of the globe England's
arms were victorious. In Europe victory followed victory
with dazzling rapidity. In America Louisburg fell. Fort
Frontenac surrendered, and Fort Duquesne was rebaptized
with the name of England's gTeat war minister. The ISTorth
Carolina Assembly at the winter session voted £2,500 for the
North Carolina troops serving on the Ohio.^* After this Dobbs
made a total failure in his efforts to direct the Assembly.
More zealous than judicious, he allowed himself to become
involved in a foolish quarrel in a matter which he was pleased
to consider an encroachment upon the king's prerogative;
and rather than yield a little where resistance could do no
™Green: Short History of the English People. ^'Fiske: New France
and New England, 309. "Fiske: Ibid, 315. '^Col. Rec, V, 1003. ^^Col.
Eec, V, 1063.
lii THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
good, he foolishly threw away the supjDlies which a burdened
people i-eluctantly offered. Quarrel after quarrel followed
;
the sessions were consumed with quarrels. The Assembly re-fused
to frame supply bills at the governor's dictation, and
in an outburst of \vrath he wrote to the board of trade that
the members were "as obstinate as mules," and appealed to
the king to streng-then his authority that he might "prevent
the rising spirit of independency stealing into this colony."'"
AVhile the Vv'ar occupied public attention little else occurred
to attract general interest. John Harvey had gradually
forged his way to the front rank of the popular leaders and
had become the recognized head of the northern party. In
October, 1755, Governor Dobbs wrote to the board of trade,
"parties are only smothered, yet not quite laid aside."^'' The
truth of this observation became apparent at the session of
September, 1756. John Oampbell was detained at home on
account of sickness and sent in his resignation of the speaker-ship.
The smoldering embers of faction at once broke forth.
The North lined up behind John Harvey in one more effort to
break the power of Samuel Swann. But as no one expected
such a contest, several members of the Assembly were not
present at the opening, and when the roll was called only
thirty-eight answered. The majority of these were of the
Swann faction, and he was accordingly elected speaker.-^
This was the last attempt made to defeat Swann. Events
soon occurred that v/elded the two parties together for united
resistance to the encroachments of the governor, and harmony
being the first essential for success, Swann was allowed to
preside over the Assembly until he voluntarily resigned the
honor. Except for matters relating to the war the time and
attention of the Assembly were given largely to schemes for
internal improvements. John Harvey was concerned in much
«Col Rec, VI, 251. '«Col. Rec, V, 440. "Col. Rec, V, 689.
JOHN HARVEY. 13
of this iininterestingiy necessary work. He served on most
of the important committees and was frequently called on to
preside over the house in committee of the whole.
Governor Dobbs, who had grown peevish with age, was
given permission in 1765 to surrender the cares of his office
to a lieutenant-governor and return to England. While he
was busily packing for his trip "his physician had no other
means to prevent his fatiguing himself than by telling him he
had better prepare himself for a much longer voyage." He
set sail on this "longer voyage" March 28, 1765.'® His suc-cessor
was William Tryon, the ablest of the colonial gover-nors.
Tryon's first Assembly met at ISTew Bern, May 3,
1765."^ He laid before the house some correspondence rela-tive
to the establishment of a postal route through the prov-ince,
and recommended that an appropriation be made for the
purpose. This was of course a matter of the first importance,
and the Assembly, desiring more information than was then
available, resolved to postpone final action until the needed
data could be collected. However, "desirous that a matter
of such public utility should take effect" at once, the house
appointed a committee to arrange with the postmaster general
for a temporary route until more definite action could be
taken. The chairman of this committee was John Harvey.
The work was pushed with vigor and success, and a route was
laid out from Suffolk in Virginia to the South Carolina
boundary line, a distance of two hundred and ninety-seven
miles. In a letter to Governor Bull of South Carolina urg-ing
him to have the route continued to Charleston, Governor
Tryon says, evidently referring to the committee, that the
route was established through l^orth Carolina "by the as-siduity
of some gentlemen" of this province.^"
December 20, 1765, Tryon, who had until then been lieu-
»8CoL Rec, Vn, 3, "Col. Rec, VII, 61. ^ocol. Rec., VII, 100.
14 THE NOKTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
tenant-governor, qualified as governor. As was customary
when a new governor entered upon his office, he dissolved the
Assembly, December 21, and issued writs for a new one.
Nearly a year passed, however, before he allowed the mem-bers
to convene, and they did not meet until ISTovember 3,
1766.^^ That day Richard Caswell, representing Dobbs
County, ''moved that John Harvey, Esquire, be chosen
speaker ; and [he] was unanimously chosen speaker and placed
in the chair accordingly. Mr-. Howe and Mr. Fanning," con-tinues
the journal, "waited on his excellency the governor,
and acquainted him the members had made choice of a
speaker, and desired to know when they should wait on him
for his approbation ; and being returned acquainted the mem-bers
that his excellency said he would receive them imme-diately.
The members waited on his excellency the governor
in the council chamber and presented John Harvey, Esquire,
to his excellency for approbation, who M^'as pleased to approve
of their choice. Then Mr. Speaker asked his excellency to
confirm the usual privileges of the house, particularly of that
of freedom of speech, to which his excellency, for answer, was
pleased to say that the house might depend he would pre-serve
to them all their just rights and privileges."
Thus John Harvey at last came to his own. Since the
people then had no voice in the choice of their governor, the
highest office within their gift was the speakership of the
Assembly. To this office the ambitious politician aspired,
and to it the leader of the popular party was generally elected.
This position, as leader of the province, which John Harvey
now assumed, he never lost, though once temporarily laid
aside because of ill health. It is of course impossible, from
the bare records that have been preserved, to estimate accu-rately
the exact share which he had in the stirring scenes
"Col. Rec, M:I, 342.
JOHN HAHVEY. 15
enacted in the province from now until his death, but we
know that as leader of the popular party his was the mind
that directed the inauguration of the Revolution in ISTorth
Carolina. He was the author of many of the movements that
culminated in the Revolution, while none were attempted
until he had been consulted and his co-operation secured.
How he bore himself in his responsible position the success
of those movements, guided by him in their inception, bears
witness.
At the winter session, of 1767-1768 Edmund Fanning
moved in the Assembly that the speaker provide for himself,
the clerks and other officials ''necessary robes, suitable to their
stations, and a mace for this house and the Council at the
expense of the public."^" The motion was passed unani-mously.
At the next session Harvey reported that he had
written to London to learn what the articles would cost, and
now submitted his information to the house for instructions.
"Whereupon the house resolved," as the journal states, "that
the two silver maces of about two feet long and gilded, weigh-ing
about one hundred ounces, do not exceed the sum of one
hundred and fifteen pounds sterling, and that the robes for
Mr. Speaker do not exceed the sum of fifteen pounds ster-ling."
^^ Harv^ey accordingly ordered the articles through the
colony's agent, Henry Eustace McCulloh. McCuUoh sent
the robe, but not the maces, because he did not have money
enough for the latter. A resolution of the North Carolina
Assembly evidently would not pass for currency in London.
Referring to the robe McCulloh wrote to Harvey: "I flatter
myself it will please, for it is rich and plain. You will
want a handsome tye upon the occasion, but that, I recollect,
George Gray, of Edenton, can furnish you with. ISTinety-nine
out '.of a hundred of the sons of Adam bow the knee to
»»Col. Rec, VII, 656. 33Col. Rec, VH, 969.
16 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
appearances ; so far wise men approve, and make use of
them."'*
But graver matters .than the purchase of parliamentary
paraphernalia demanded the attention of John Harvey and
the jSTorth Carolina Assembly. The Stamp Act had been re-pealed,
but the , continent was now in a turmoil from one end
to the other over the Townsend Acts. Massachusetts and
Virginia, during the summer of 1768, issued their famous
circular letters inviting the co-operation of the other colonies
in concerting measures of resistance, in order that their re-monstrances
and petitions to the king "should harmonize
with each other." jSTovember 11, 1768, John Harvey laid
copies before the Assembly.^" Much to the disgust of some
of the leaders the house declined to take any action except to
give the speaker verbal directions to answer them.^'^ The
house then resolved to present "an humble, dutiful and loyal
address" to the king, praying the repeal of the several acts
imposing' duties' on goods imported into America. A com-mittee
composed of John Harvey, Joseph Montfort, Samuel
Johnston, Joseph Hewes, and Edward Vail was appointed to
drav7 up the address, which Henry Eustace McCulloh was in-structed
to present.^^ Thus the Assembly missed the real
significance of the proposition, unity of action with the other
colonies. Union was the great bugbear of the king and
ministry; they did not doubt that if the colonies co/ild be
kept separated they could easily bring them to terms. The
policy of the king, therefore, w^as to avoid as far as possible
giving the Americans a common grievance in support of which
they could unite. So, too, the king and ministry did not
dispute the right of each colony alone to petition the throne
for redress of grievances ; but they fought desperately against
any disposition on the part of the Americans to unite in their
"Col. Rec, VIII, 59. ^scol. Rec, VII, 928. s^Col. Rec, VIII, 9.
"Col. Rec, VII, 973.
JOHN HAKVEY. 17
petitions. Johnston and Hewes were so disgusted at the As-sembly's
flash in the.. pan that they declined to serve on the
committee. But John Harvey acted more wisely. He as-sumed
that the Assembly intended for the committee to act in
concert with the committees of the other colonies, and thus
improved on the Assembly's verbal instructions. In his letter
to Thomas Gushing, speaker of the Assembly of Massachu-setts,
Harvey said : "I am directed to inform you that they
[the IsTorth Carolina Assembly] are extremely obliged to the
Assembly of the Massachusetts-Bay, for communicating their
sentiments on so interesting a subject; and shall ever be ready,
firmly to unite with their sister colonies, in pursuing every
constitutional measure for redress of the grievances so justly
complained of. This house is desirous to cultivate the strict-est
harmony and friendship with the assembles of the colo-nies
in general, and with your house in particular. * * * The
Assembly of this colony will at all times receive with pleasure,
the opinion of your house in matters of general concern to
America, and be equally willing on every such occasion to
communicate their sentiments, not doubting of their meeting
a candid and friendly acceptance."^® In their letter of in-structions
to McCulloh, Harvey, Montfort, and Vail, said:
''The last thing. Sir, which we shall take leave to recommend
to you as the sense of the people and which we doubt not will
be equally pleasing to you as to us, will be on your part a
spirited co-operation with the agents of our sister colonies
and those who may be disposed to serve us in obtaining a re-peal
of the late act imposing internal taxes on Americans
without their consent and the which is justly dreaded by them
to be nothing more than an introduction to other acts of the
same injurious tendency and fatal consequences."^^ This
38 The Boston Evening Post, May 15, 1769. '^Col. Rec, VII, 877.
2
18 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
course taken by John Harvey and the other members of the
committee, therefore, saved IsTorth Carolina from the odium
which a failure to support the common cause would have
heaped on the colony.
In the address to the king, which Harvey as chairman of
the committee probably wrote, the king* was reminded that,
in the ]Dast whenever ''it has been found necessary to levy sup-plies
within this colony requisitions have been made by your
Majesty or your royal predecessors conformable to the rights
of this peojDle, and by them cheerfully and liberally complied
with" ; and while promising a like compliance in the future,
the address maintained that members of the "Assembly can
alone be the proper judges, not only of what sum they are able
to pay, but likewise of the most eligible method of collecting
the same. Our ancestors at their first settling, amidst the
horrors of a long and bloody war with the savages, which noth-ing
couldpossibly render supportable but theprospects of enjoy-ing
here that freedom which Britons can never purchase at so
dear a rate, brought with them inherent in their persons, and
transmitted down to their posterity, all the rights and liberties
of your Majesty's natural born subjects within the parent
state, and have ever since enjoyed as Britons the privileges of
an exemption from anytaxations but such as have been imposed
on them by themselves or their representatives, and this privi-lege
we esteem so invaluable that we are fully convinced no
other can possibly exist without it. It is therefore with the
utmost anxiety and concern we observe duties have lately been
imposed on us by Parliament for the sole and express pur-pose
of raising a revenue. This is a taxation which we are
firmly persuaded the acknowledged principles of the British
constitution ought to protect us from. Free men can not be
legally taxed but by themselves or their representatives and
that your Majesty's subjects within this province are repre-
JOHN HAKVEY. 19
sented in Parliament we can not allow, and are convinced
that from our situation we never can be."*''
McCulloh's letters to the committee and to Harvey give
the history of the address after it reached him. To the com-mittee
he wrote that in accordance with customary procedure
he waited on Lord Hillsborough, secretary of state for the
colonies, with the address and that his lordship agreed to pre-sent
it to the king. The answer, he said, would be for-warded
through the official channels.*^ To his friend, John
Harvey, to whose influence McCulloh owed his appointment,
he wrote with more freedom. "The little right I had to ex-pect
that warmth of friendship which I have met from you,"
he said, "is an additional circumstance to the grateful sense
I have of your partial kindness ; I am very sensible that my
success in the affair of the agency is principally the work of
your hand. I wish I may ever have it in my power to make
you a more weighty return than words ; them I will spare.
I am proud and happy in your friendship, and will endeavor
to deserve it.
"I don't mean a compliment, but I really think the general
idea of your petition is the best I have seen. I should have
blushed forever for you if you had not bore [sic] some testi-mony
in the good cause. Surely you have been polite and
compliant enough.
'Tt may be proper to give you a little private history as to
your petition. I am convinced they would have been better
pleased had you let it alone. Many of my friends (acquaint-ances
rather) in Carolina, have kindly hinted to me, that I
would best judge whether I would lay the ideas of the mad
(rebellious) Americans at the foot of the throne; and have
been kindly concerned for the consequences to me should I
attempt it. I am much obliged to them. I see nothing in
*"Col. Rec, Vn, 980. «Col. Rec, Vin, 55.
"
20 THE NORTH CABOLINA BOOKLET.
your petition but my soul approves. My spirit as well as my
circumstances are independent, and though my Lord H—
h
[Hillsborough] had the politeness to say that petitioning in
my circumstances was foolish^ (his own words) I insisted I
had no discretion to exercise—no question to ask, but that it
should be presented in the most proper and official manner;
had he refused I would have bent the knee myself—the way
it has been done is the only one, and never deviated from but
in cases of refusal. I trust in God I shall never want courage
to execute your commands. * * * I have it from authority,
to acquaint you, that the acts complained of by America are
to be repealed; their proud stomachs here must come down.
Our politics here are nothing but a scene of confusion. Men's
minds seem greatly inflamed. The ministry, etc., seem most
cordially detested—it is, however, my opinion that they will
keep their seats. * * * One thing let me add—surely Messrs.
H. [Hewes] & J. [Johnston] who have refused to act, will
not be continued of the committee of correspondence."*^
This Assembly and the governor parted on good terms.
Later, because of several deaths among the members, Tryon
dissolved it and issued writs for a new election. ^AHien the
new Assembly met in October, 1769, John Harvey was again
unanimously elected speaker.*^ They met the governor in
good spirits and everything promised smooth sailing; but un-exjjected
reefs were in the way. In the preceding May the
Assembly of Virginia adopted a series of resolutions on the
questions at issue between the American colonies and the Brit-ish
Parliament. These resolutions were sent to the speakers
of the various colonial assemblies. John Harvey laid a copy
before the Assembly of ISTorth Carolina, !N"ovember 2, and the
house adopted them verbatim. They denied the right of Par-liament
to levy taxes in America. They affirmed the right
«Col. Rec, Vin, 58-61. «Col. Rec, VIII, 107.
JOHN HARVET. 21
of the subject to petition the throne for redress of grievances.
They denounced the act of Parliament requiring Americans
accused of treason to be taken to England for trial. They
declared "that the seizing any person or persons in this
colony suspected of any crime whatsoever committed therein
and sending such person or persons to places beyond the sea
to be tried is highly derogatory to the rights of British sub-jects,
as thereby the inestimable privilege of being tried by
a jury from the vicinage, as well as the liberty of summoning
and producing witnesses on such trial, will be taken away
from the party accused." An address to the king was
adojDted which presented in a different form the same ideas
embodied in the resolutions ; and McCuUoh was instructed,
after presenting it to the king, to have it printed in the Brit-ish
papers.** Convinced by experience that the ears of the
king were deaf to their appeals, the Americans now began to
appeal to their British brethren. For these resolutions the
house suffered the penalty of dissolution.
The Assembly was dissolved November 6, 1769. But the
members had not completed their work and they were not ready
to go home. They thought "it necessary that some measures
should be taken in their distressed situation, for preserving
the true and essential interests of the province," and there-fore
resolved to hold a meeting "for that very salutary pur-pose,"
independent of the governor. Sixty-four of the
seventy-seven members immediately repaired to the court-house
and organized themselves into a convention. So far as
I have been able to ascertain no account of this meeting has
ever appeared in any history and, therefore, at the risk of
being tedious and of prolonging this sketch beyond the proper
limits, I shall give the account in full as it appears in the
South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal^ of December
"Col. Rec, VIII, 121-124.
22 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
8, 1769/^ Says that paper, after stating the fact of the
meeting, "it was first proposed, for the more decent and regu-lar
discussion of such matters as might be taken into con-sideration,
that a moderator should he appointed, and John
Harvey, Esq., late speaker of the house of Assembly, was
unanimously elected.
"The true state of the province being then opened and
fully explained, and it being proposed that a regular associa-tion
should be formed, a committee was appointed to prepare
the necessary and most proper regulations for that purpose,
and they were ordered to make their report to the general
meeting the next day, at nine o'clock."
The next day accordingly the committee made their report,
"which being read, seriously considered, and approved, was
signed by a great number of the late members of the Assem-bly
then present, and is as follows:
"We, his Majesty's most dutiful subjects, the late repre-sentatives
of all the freeholders of theprovinceof Xorth-Caro-lina,
avowing an invincible attachment and unshaken fidelity
to our most gracious Sovereign, and protesting against every
act that may have the least tendency to disturb the peace and
good order of this government, which we are willing, at the
risque of our lives and fortunes, to maintain and defend;
but, at the same time, sensibly affected with the hardships,
difficulties and discouragements the colonies at present labour
under, from several taxes and impositions laid on by Parlia-ment,
for the sole purpose of a revenue, by which our money
is taken from us, without our consent, and applied to the sup-
*^ For this, and the other material from the South Carolina papers used
in this article, I am indebted to Miss Mabel L. Webber, the very effi-cient
Secretary of the South Carolina Historical Society. Miss Webber
has been engaged by the North Carolina Historical Commission to make
an index to the North Carolina items in the Colonial and Revolutionary
newspapers of Charleston, and has done her work with thoroughness and
accuracy. These items throw much new light on the early historv of
North Carolina.—R. D. W. C.
JOHN HAHVEY. 23
port of new created commissioners of customs, and other
placemen: And by other acts of Parliament, we are de-prived
of that invaluable privilege of trial by our peers and
the common law, and made subject to the arbitrary and op-pressive
proceedings of the civil law, justly abhorred by our
ancestors, the freemen of England: And finding, that the
most dutiful and loyal petitions and remonstrances from the
colonies for redress, have been rejected with contempt; and
dreading the evils which threaten us and our posterity, by
reducing us from freedom to a state of slavery ; and in order
to stimulate our fellow subjects, the merchants and manufac-turers
in Great-Britain, to aid us in this our distress, and
to shew our readiness to join, heartily, with the other colonies,
in every legal method which may most probably tend to pro-cure
a redress, which we believe, will be most effectually pro-moted
by establishing economy, encouraging American manu-factures
in general, and of this province in particular; pro-moting
industry, and discouraging all manner of luxury and
extravagances : We do therefore, most earnestly, recommend
this our association, to the serious attention of all gentlemen,
merchants, traders, and other inhabitants of this province, not
doubting that they will, very readily and cordially, accede
thereto; we therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed,
do solemnly promise and agree, to and with each other, that
until the colonies are restored to their former freedom, by a
repeal of those oppressive acts, we will most truly adhere to,
and abide by the following resolutions, to-wit:
''First. It was unanimously agreed on and resolved, this 7th
day of N^ovember, 1769, that the subscribers, as well by their
own example as all other legal ways and means in their
power, will promote and encourage industry and frugality,
and discourage all manner of luxury and extravagance; and
will also encourage and promote the use of North American
24 THE NORTH CAROLIISrA BOOKLET.
manufactures in general, and those of this province in par-ticular;
and such of the subscribers who shall or may have
any such for sale, will sell and dispose of them at the same
rates as heretofore.
''Secondly. That thej will not at any time hereafter, di-rectly
or indirectly, import or cause to be imported, any man-ner
of goods, merchandise or manufactures, which are or shall'
hereafter be taxed by act of Parliament for the purpose of
raising a revenue in America, except paper, not exceeding
eight shillings sterling per ream, and except such articles only
as orders have already been sent for; nor purchase any such
after the first day of January next, of any person whatever,
but they will always consider such taxation, in every respect,
as an absolute prohibition ; and in all future orders forbid
their correspondents to ship them any goods whatever, taxed
as aforesaid, except as is above excepted.
''Thirdly. That the subscribers will not hereafter, directly
or indirectly, import or cause to be imported from Great
Britain, or any part of Europe, (except such articles of the
produce and manufacture of Ireland, as may be immediately
and legally brought from thence, and also all such goods as
orders have been already sent for) any of the goods herein-after
enumerated, to-wit: Spirits, wine, cyder, perry, beer,
ale, malt, barley, pease, beef, pork, fish, butter, cheese, tal-low,
candles, oil, fruit, sugar, pickles, confectionary, pewter,
hoes, axes, watches, clocks, tables, chairs, looking-glasses, car-riages,
joiners and cabinet work of all sorts, upholstery of all
sorts, trinkets, and jewellery, plate and gold, and silversmiths
work of all sorts, ribbons and milliner)^ of all sorts, (except
spices), silks of all sorts, (except sewing silk), cambrick, lawn,
muslin, gauze, (except bolting cloth), calico, or cotton stuffs,
of more than two shillings per yard, linens of more than two
shillings per yard, woollens, worsted 'stuffs of all sorts, of
JOHN HAHVEY. 25
more than one shilling and six-pence per yard, broadcloths of
all kinds, of more than eight shillings per yard, narrow
cloths of all kinds, of more than three shillings per yard, hats^
stockings, shoes and boots, saddles and all manufactures of
leather and skins, of all kinds, until the late act of Parlia-ment
imposing duties on tea, paper, glass, etc., for the pur-pose
of raising a revenue in America are [sic] repealed ; and
they will not after the first day of January next, purchase
any of the above enumerated goods of any person whatsoever,
unless the above mentioned acts of Parliament are repealed.
"Fourthly. That in all orders which any of the subscribers
may hereafter send to Great Britain, they shall and will ex-pressly
direct their correspondents not to ship them any of the
above enumerated goods, until the above mentioned acts are
repealed ; and if any goods are shipped to them contrary to
the tenor of this agreement, they will refuse to take the same,
or make themselves chargeable therewith.
"Fifthly. That they will [not] import any slaves or pur-chase
any imported, after the first day of January next, until
the said acts of Parliament are repealed.
"Sixthly. That they will not import any wine of any kind
whatsoever, or purchase the same from any person whatsoever,
after the first day of January next, (except such wines as are
already ordered) until the act of Parliament imposing duties
thereon are [sic] repealed.
"Seventhly. For the better preservation of the breed of
sheep, that they shall not kill, or suffer to be killed, any
lambs that shall be yeaned before the first day of May, in any
year, nor dispose of such to any butcher, or other person,
whom they have reason to expect intends to kill the same.
"Eighthly and Lastly. That these resolves shall be binding
on all of the subscribers, who do hereby, each and every per-son
for himself, upon his word and honour, agree that he will
\
26 THE lirORTH CAKOLIJN^A BOOKLET.
strictly and firmly adhere to, and abide by, every article in
this agreement, from the time of his signing the same, for and
during the continuance of the before mentioned acts of Par-liament
; and every subscriber who shall not strictly and liter-ally
adhere to his agreement, according to the true intent and
meaning hereof, ought to be treated with the utmost con-tempt."
Upon the publication of these resolves the newspapers de-clared
with triumph : "This completes the chain of union
throughout the continent for the measure of non-importation
and economy."
Governor Trj^on had been pleased at the action of the As-sembly
on the circular letter of 1768 ; but now his wrath
boiled over. He declared that the resolutions and address
adopted by the Assembly "have sapped the foundations of
confidence and gratitude, have torn up by the roots every san-gTiine
hope I entertained to render this province further ser-vice,
if in truth I have rendered it any, and made it my indis-pensable
duty to put an end to this session."*" To Lord
Hillsborough he wrote: "I must confess the proceedings of
the last Assembly have woimded my sensibility and, being
dangerously ill at the time, their conduct took advantage of
the then weak state of my mind, and for that reason perhaps
has made the deeper impression upon it. I wish I could say
with Lord Botetourt *' that my prospect brightens. Confi-dence,
my Lord, that delicate polish in public transactions,
has received an ugly scratch, and I fear we have no artists
here who can restore it to its original perfection."*'^ In his
reply Lord Hillsborough declared that the conduct of the As-sembly
in adopting "^measures and resolves so unbecoming
and unwarrantable" gave "gTeat concern" to his Majesty.*®
^«Col. Rec, VIII, 134. 'Governor of Virginia. «Col. Rec, VIII,
169. «Col. Rec, VIII, 170.
JOHN HAKVEY. 27
But the friends of the American cause were as much pleased
as its enemies were offended. To John Harvey, Henry Eustace
McCulloh wrote: "A letter from Mr. Pryor acquaints me of
the dissolution of your late Assembly and of my appointment
as agent. I am pleased to think the Assembly had virtue to
deserve the first event; and I am sensible I am greatly to
thank you for the second."'''* Later he referred again to their
resolutions: ''In my opinion the proceedings of your late As-sembly
have vindicated the honor of the province, and I pray
God, future assembles may ever have wisdom to see, virtue
to assert, and courage to vindicate the just rights of them-selves
and their constituents."^^ Ten days later he added:
"Your governor (in my opinion) would have done wiser to
have been less passionate ; and had he been so I do not be-lieve
he would have been blamed here. Lord Hillsborough
has found out at last that dissolutions do no good."°'^
A sentence in one of McCulloh's letters reveals the com-manding
position in the province which Harvey had now at-tained.
Acknowledged leader of the popular party, there
was no political position which he could now accept that would
have been regarded as a promotion. McCulloh says : "For the
reasons you approve, I shall endeavor hard to get some of the
vacant seats in the Council filled by gentlemen from the north-ward.
I may be wrong, but I at present conceive it would
be a lessening of your dignity and weight to take one of them.
Pray write me unreservedly on this subject." °^ Many of the
leaders of the Assembly had stepped up into the Council ; for
Harvey alone it was suggested that it would be a step down-ward.
AYhen the new Assembly met at ISTew Bern in December,
1770, Richard Caswell was elected speaker. It has been fre-quently
stated that the Assembly took this step because they
«'Col. Rec, VIII, 171. 51 Col. Rec, VIII, 181. 52Col. Rec, VIII, 183.
53 Col. Rec, Vni, 184.
28 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
were anxious to placate Tryon, and John Harvey on account
of his bold stand for the privileges of the colony was not
acceptable to the governor. Such a statement is not only
erroneous, but does a great injustice to all the persons con-cerned.
It is an insinuation that the Assembly could stoop
to the sacrifice of their leader in order to please a royal gover-nor
; it is an insinuation that Tryon had no better sense than
to bite at the bribe ; it is an insinuation that Richard Caswell
was not true to the interests of the province and was willing
to lend himself as a peace offering at the expense of his leader
;
it is an insinuation that John Harvey was willing to show
the white feather after having so arrogantly waved the red
flag. There is no need to seek such a complicated explana-tion
of such a simple event ; the plain truth is that John Har-vey
was at home sick when the Assembly convened and so a
substitute had to be found. What better substitute could be
found for bold John Hai'\'^ey than the versatile Richard Cas-well
? It may as well be said here that John Harvey's rela-tions
with Tryon were of the most friendly, and even confiden-tial,
nature. In that event in Tryon's career for which he
has been most blamed, the Regulator War, he received the
sympathy and support of John Harvey.
Whatever may be the sympathies of the people of l^orth
Carolina to-day, one thing is certain—the Regulators received
scant sympathy from those patriots of North Carolina who
organized and conducted the Revolution and won American
independence. In a letter to John Harvey, December 21,
1770, while the Assembly was in session and Harvey was at
home sick, James Iredell said : ''Before I left ISTew Bern the
Assembly had done nothing, but since there have been appear-ances
very alarming. The day I left town (New Bern), Mr.
Johnston presented a. spirited bill to the house upon the sub-ject
of punishing the Regulators. * * * This bill, I believe.
JOHN HAHVEY. 29
sir, you would have thought expedient, though severe, but
desj)erate diseases must have desperate remedies. * * * Your
absence, sir, at so critical a period is much to be lamented,
but yourself are equally to be pitied for the unhappy occa-sion,
as your country for the unhappy effects of it."^* Mc-
Culloh in a letter to Edmund Fanning, whom the Regulators
especially detested, refers to Harvey, and two others, as '^our
common friends."^' Tryon, too, regarded Harvey as friendly
to his movement against the Regulators, and there is nothing
to show that Harvey felt otherwise. When about to set out
on his Alamance campaign, the governor wrote to Harvey
:
'^Though I am apprehensive your situation lays [sic] too re-mote
from the seat of the disturbances in this country to give
government in time any aid to suppress the insurgents, I,
nevertheless, out of respect to you, take the liberty to inform
you that I purpose the last week in next month to begin my
march from ISTew Bern to Orange County, so as to be if pos-sible
the first week in May in the settlements of the insur-gents."^^
If 'is probable that had he not been ill Harvey
would have followed the example of Harnett, Caswell, Ashe,
the Moores, and other leaders and marched to Alamance with
Tryon.
After the battle of Alamance Tryon went to ISTew York and
Josiah Martin came to ISTorth Carolina. Martin met his first
Assembly November 19, 17Y1. The session was short, for
the governor soon quarreled with the house over a measure
which he denounced as "a monstrous usurpation of authority
that I think provides irrefragably the propensity of this
people to democracy." ^^
The Assembly did not meet again until January, 17Y3.
Richard Caswell, whose bold conduct had been the cause of
Martin's wrath, might very justly have demanded that the
"Col. Rec, VIII, 270. "^Col. Rec, VIII. 223. «6Col. Eec, VIII, 697.
"Col. Rec, IX, 234.
30 THE KOKTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
members endorse his conduct by re-electing him speaker. But
realizing that it was an improper time for self-seeking, he
deferred to the real leader of the Assembly, and himself nomi-nated
John Harvey. From this session till the end of royal
rule in jSTorth Carolina John Harvey was continuously elected
speaker of the Assembly without opposition. This January
session ended in confusion. During the preceding summer
Governor Martin, acting under certain instructions from the
king which the assembly had positively declined to follow,
had caused the boundary line between JSTorth Carolina and
South Carolina to be run in such a way as to operate to the
disadvantage of the former province. He now called upon
the Assembly to defray the expenses of this work and the
house peremptorily and sharply refused. In order to give
them an opportunity to reconsider their action, which, under
the rules of the house, could not be done at that session, Mar-tin
prorogued the session from March 6th to March 9th. On
the 9th, when he was ready to meet the Assembly again, he
found to his astonishment that the majority of the members
had gone home. He therefore convened those who remained
and commanded them to form a house. They refused unless
a majority of the members should return. WTien Martin
asked John Harvey if he expected a sufficient number to re-turn
to make a majority, Harvey rej)lied that he had not "tlie
least expectation" that any such event would occur. In an
outburst of rage Martin declared that ''the Assembly had de-serted
the business and interests of their constituents and flag-rantly
insulted the dignity and authority of government,"
and forthwith dissolved it.^^ He afterwards wrote to Lord
Dartmouth, secretary of state for the colonies, that he had
the satisfaction to find that "no ill humour or disposition has
been discovered toward me," but "the Assembly confessed
51 Col. Eec.IX, 594-595.
~~~
JOHN HARVEY. 31
with one accord that I had acted in every part of this busi-ness
with uniform and becoming firmness, an effort of can-dour
that I will acknowledge to your lordship I did not ex-pect,
but that is not therefore the less pleasing to me. To
evince their regard to me the speaker and the other members
who remained in town, at the dissolution of the Assembly,
paid me a visit on the evening of that day, and complimented
me in the most respectful manner. In justice to these gentle-men,
my lord, it behooves me to remark to your lordship,
that they were the flower of that very heterogeneous body."^''
One can not let pass this opportunity to remark that these
''flowers," in the estimation of Governor Martin, soon de-generated
into very obnoxious weeds.
The Assembly at this session manifested their regard for
John Harvey by voting him out of the public treasury £100
"as a reward" for his extraordinary trouble, assiduity and
attention to the business of the Assembly. The Council
readily concurred in this resolution and the governor assented
to it, declaring that he did so "with the greatest pleasure * * *
as it is a token of the just respect of your house to Mr.
Speaker, which I am well assured -the faithful services of
that gentleman will always claim."*'*' A similar mark of re-spect,
except that the sum was £200, was again shown in 1774.
In the meantime the quarrel with the mother country had
continued with increasing bitterness, until it had become ap-parent
to all Americans that if they were to make a successful
stand for their liberties they must stand together. So when
John Harvey at the December session in 1773 laid before the
house letters from Virginia proposing that each colony ap-point
a committee of correspondence to keep in touch with
the committees of the other colonies, the idea found ready
acceptance. The following were elected a committee for
59Col Rec, IX, 600. socol. Rec, IX, 571, 580, 936.
32 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
ISTortli Carolina : John Harvey, Robert Howe, Cornelius Har-nett,
William Hooper, Richard Caswell, EdAvard Vail, John
Ashe, Joseph Hewes, and Samuel Johnston.®^ Thus North
Carolina took her first step towards union. The next step
was the natural consequence of the first and was easy to take.
This was the call that now went abroad throughout the coun-try
for a Continental Congress. When Martin learned that
iNorth Carolina was determined to join in this congress he
determined to prevent it by refusing to call the Assembly to-gether
until too late to elect delegates. April 2, 1774, he
wrote to Lord Dartmouth that "writs have been issued for
the election of a new Assembly, returnable on the 26th of May
next, being one day beyond the time to which the late Assem-bly
stood prorogued, but unless some unforeseen public exi-gency
shall make it expedient, I do not propose another meet-ing
of the Legislature until the fall."*^" Tryon had success-fully
adopted this plan to prevent the election of delegates to
the Stamp Act Congress; but Martin lacked a good deal of
Tryon's tact and personal popularity, and the men with whom
he was contending were not the kind to be caught twice in the
same trap. When the governor's private secretary communi-cated
his determination to John Harvey, Harvey flew into a
rage, exclaiming, "In that case the people will convene one
themselves." April 5, 1774, Samuel Johnston wrote to Wil-liam
Hooper : "Colonel Harvey and myself lodged last night
with Colonel Buncombe, and as we sat up very late the con-versation
turned on continental and provincial affairs. Colo-nel
Llarvey said during the night, that Mr. Biggleston told
him, that the governor did not intend to convene another As-sembly
luitil he saw some chance of a better one than the last
;
and that he told the secretary that then the people would
convene one themselves. He was in a very violent mood,
"Col. Rec, IX, 737, 740, 741. 62Col. Rec, IX, 959.
JOHN HAEVEY. 33
and declared he was for assembling a convention independent
of the governor, and urged upon us to co-operate with him.
He says he will lead the way and will issue handbills under
his own name, and that the committee of correspondence
ought to go to work at once. As for ray own part, I do not
know what better can be done. Without courts®^ to sustain
the property and to exercise the talents of the country, and
the people alarmed and dissatisfied, we must do something to
save ourselves. Colonel Harvey said that he had mentioned
the matter only to Willie Jones, of Halifax, whom he had
met the day before, and that he thought well of it, and prom-ised
to exert himself in its favor. I beg your friendly coun-sel
and advice on the subject, and hope you will speak of it to
Mr. Harnett and Colonel Ashe, or any other such men."^^
Harvey's bold and revolutionary proposition fell upon will-ing
ears. The people rallied to his support ; the convention
was called; and in defiance of Governor Martin's proclama-tion
forbidding it, met at ]SIew Bern, August 25, 1^74:.^'^
Seventy-ono delegates were present, among them the ablest
men in the colony. When they came to choose their presid-ing
ofiicer all eyes turned to one man, the father of the conven-tion,
John Harvey. A series of resolutions was passed de-nouncing
the acts of Parliament, stating the claims of the
Americans, and expressing approval of the call for a Conti-nental
Congress to which delegates were elected. John Har-vey
was authorized to call another convention whenever he
thought it necessary. Then having resolved "that the thanks
of this meeting be given to the Hon. John Harvey, Esquire,
moderator, for his faithful exercise of that office and the ser-
^'This was due to the fact that the Assembl}' dedined to pass a court
law in accordance with the king's instructions, and the king refused
assent to any other. For a brief account of this long contest see sketch
of Cornelius Harnett, in No. 3 of Vol. 5 of The North Carolina Booklet.
"6 Col. Rec, IX, 968. «*Col. Rec, IX, 1029, 1041.
3
34 THE NORTH CABOLINA BOOKLET.
vices he has thereby rendered to this province and to the
friends of America in general/' the convention adjourned.
No more significant step had ever been taken in Xorth Caro-lina
than the successful meeting of this convention. It re-vealed
the people to themselves ; they now began to under-,
stand that there was no special magic in the writs and procla-mations
of a royal governor; they themselves could appoint
delegates and organize legislatures without the intervention
of a king's authority. This was a long step toward inde-pendence
; John Harvey took it, the people followed.
During the summer of 1774 the distressed situation of Bos-ton,
because of the Boston Port Bill, touched the hearts of the
American people. In all the colonies the cry went up that
Boston was suifering in the common cause. The convention
of iSTorth Carolina reiterated this cry and the people, by their
generous contributions, showed that their sympathy lay deeper
than words. From Wilmington, ISTew Bern, Edenton, and
the surrounding counties ship loads of provisions were sent
free of freight charges to the suffering poor of the 'New Eng-land
city. September 20, 1774, John Harvey addressed the
following letter to the committee of correspondence in Bos-ton,
composed of James Bowdoin, John Hancock, Samuel
Adams, and Isaac Smith
"Perquimans Co., 20th Sept., 1774.'°
"Honorable Gentlemen.
"Joseph Hewes, Esq., appointed a trustee with me, to col-lect
the donations of the inhabitants of two or three counties
in the neighborhood of Edenton, for the relief of our dis-tressed
brethren of Boston, being absent attending the Consti-tutional
Congress at Philadelphia, I have the pleasure to send
you, as per enclosed bill of lading, of the sloop Penelope, Ed-
«* Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, 4th Series, Vol. 4, 85-86.
JOHN HAEVEY. 35
ward Herbert, master, which [I] wish safe to hand, and that
you will cause the amount of the same to be divided among
the poor inhabitants according to their necessities.
"The captain has received the most of his freight here. The
balance wall be paid him on return, the cargo to be delivered
clear of any expense; which you would have received some
months sooner, but the difficulty of getting a vessel on freight
prevented. [I] hope to be able to send another cargo this
winter, for the same charitable purpose, as the American in-habitants
of this colony entertain a just sense of the suffer-ings
of our brethren in Boston, and have yet hopes that when
the united determinations of the continent reach the royal
eai", they will have redress from the cruel, unjust, illegal and
oppressive late acts of the British Parliament. I take the
liberty to inclose you the resolves of our provincial meeting
of deputies, and have the honor to be, w^ith the most perfect
respect and esteem, in behalf of Mr. Hewes and self,
"Honorable Gentlemen, your most obedient and very hum-ble
servant, JoHisr Harvey."
This cargo was received October 15. It consisted of
2,096 bushels of corn, 22 barrels of flour, and 17 barrels of
pork, which, as the Boston committee said in their letter of
thanks, was a noble and generous donation froni their worthy
brethren and fellow countrymen of the two or three counties
in the neighborhood of Edenton. ''We thank you," con-tinued
the Boston committee, "for the resolves of your provin-cial
meeting of deputies, which you were so kind as to inclose.
We esteem them as manly, spirited and noble, worthy our
patriotic brethren of ISTorth Carolina. The tender concern
for, and honor done, this greatly injured and oppressed town
and province, expressed therein, demand our particular notice
and grateful acknowledgments, which are hereby tendered by
36 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
this committee in behalf of the town. In short, your bounty,
of which we now partake so largely, and the encouragement
given of the increase thereof, lay us under the greatest obli-gation,
and make us almost forget our misery. God grant
that our endeavors to restore and preserve the rights of our
dear America may be attended with His favor and blessing;
then we may hope that we shall have occasion, both he that
soweth and he that reapeth, to rejoice together in the salvation
of our God and Saviour. To Him be all the glory."®®
And yet there are those who would have us believe that in
this great contest wdth the powder of Great Britain none of
the American colonies played other than a selfish role
!
Foiled in his purpose to hold IS^orth Carolina aloof from
the Continental Congress, Governor Martin determined to
make the best of a bad situation and summoned the Assem-bly
to meet him at New Bern, April 4, 1775. John Harvey
immediately called a convention to meet at the same place
April 3.®^ It was a wise precaution, for the Assembly sat
only at the pleasure of the governor, who would certainly dis-solve
it upon the first manifestation of disloyalty. It was
intended that the members of the Assembly should also be
members of the convention, and this plan was carefully car-ried
out, though there were members of the former who were
not members of the latter. Martin was furious and denounced
Harvey's action in two resounding proclamations.®^ The con-vention
replied by electing Harvey moderator ; the Assembly
by electing him speaker.®^ The governor roundly scored both
bodies, and both bodies roundly scored the governor. It was
indeed a pretty situation. One set of men composed t^vo po-litical
bodies—one legal, sitting b}^ the authority of the royal
governor and in obedience to his writ; the other non-legal,
««Tbid, 86-88. ^aiol. Rec, IX, 1125. «» Col. Rec, IX, 1145, 1177.
«3Col. Rec, IX, 1178, 1187.
JOHN HABVEY. 3Y
sitting in defiance of his authority and in direct disregard of
his proclamation. The governor impotently demanded that
the former join him in denouncing and dispersing the latter,
composed largely of the same men whose aid he solicited.
The two bodies met in the same hall, the convention at nine
o'clock a. m., the Assembly at ten, and were presided over by
the same man. When the governor's private secretary was
announced at the door, in an instant, in the twinkling of an
eye, Mr. Moderator Harvey would become Mr. Speaker Har-vey
and gravely receive his excellency's message.'^*'
JSTeither body accomplished much. The convention ap-proved
the "Association" recommended by the Continental
Congress, agTeed to adhere to it, and recommended it to tlie
people of the province. A resolution declaring the right of
the people themselves, or through their representatives, to
assemble and petition the throne for redress of grievances
was adopted, with the conclusion that "therefore, the gover-nor's
proclamation issued to forbid this meeting, and his
proclamation afterwards commanding this meeting to dis-perse,
are illegal and an infringement of our just rights and,
therefore, ought to be disregarded as wanton and arbitrary
exertions of power." Hooper, Hewes, and Caswell were re-elected
delegates to the Continental Congress, and a resolu-tion
of thanks for their services was adopted. Thereupon
Mr. Speaker Harvey returned the thanks of the house in the
following words
:
"Gentlemen :—The sacred trust reposed in you by your
country, so faithfully discharged by you, does honor to your-selves;
justifies the choice made of you by the last conven-tion
; and places you in a situation to receive the best reward
a patriotic breast can fill [feel], the applause of your country,
who, in order to bear testimony to your merit, have directed
™Col. Rec, Prefatory Notes, IX, XXXIV.
38 THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET.
me to convey to you their sincere thanks for the services you
have rendered them in the important office to which they ap-pointed
you. And it is with great pleasure I now, gentlemen,
in behalf of this colony in general and of this convention in
jDarticular, return you those thanks which have been so unani-mously
resolved by the convention to be your due."
The next day John Harvey, or in the event of his death,
Samuel Johnston, was authorized to call another convention
when necessary.
The Assembly had time only to organize and exchange mes-sages
with the governor when it, too, came to an end. Its
first offense was the election of John Harvey speaker. The
governor had authority to reject the Assembly's choice if
he saw fit, but he did not dare do so, however bitter a pill it
was. "On the 3d instant, the time appointed for the meet-ing
of the convention," thus he wrote to Lord Dartmouth.
u* -x- * hearing that many deputies from the counties were
come here, I issued the proclamation, of which I now trans-mit
your lordship a copy numbered 1,^^ notwithstanding
which I found this imlawful body met for a short time and
elected Mr. Harvey moderator, by whose advertisement it
had been convened. I still hoped the Assembly on what I
had to say to it would secede from this convention, although
I well knew" that many of the members had been sent as
deputies to it. And this hope, together with my desire to lay
no difficulties in the way of the public business, induced me
on the next day to admit the election of Mr. Harvey, who
was chosen speaker of the Assembly, and presented by the
house for my approbation. Indeed, to say the truth, my
lord, it was a measure to which I submitted upon these prin-ples
not v/ithout repugnance even after I found the Council
unanimously of the opinion that it would not be expedient to
'iCol. Rec, IX, 1177.
JOHN HARVEY. 39
give a new handle of discontent to the Assembly by rejecting
its choice if it should fall as was expected upon Mr. Harvey,
for I considered his guilt of too conspicuous a nature to be
passed over with neglect. The manner, however, of my ad-mitting
him, I believe sufficiently testified my disapproba-tion
of his conduct while it marked my respect to the election
of the house."'" The next day the Assembly committed its
second offense by inviting the delegates to the convention who
were not also members of the Assembly to join in the latter's
deliberations. The governor promptly sent the sheriff of
Craven County with a proclamation to forbid this unhallowed
union. The only notice taken of it was by James Coor, the
member from Craven County, who said, after the sheriff had
read the proclamation: "Well, you have read it and now you
can take it back to the governor." ^^ "j^ot a man obeyed it,"
wrote Martin, who had thus far succeeded in keeping his tem-per
admirably. But on the fourth day of the session the
house adopted resolutions approving the "Association" of the
Continental Congress, thanking the delegates for their ser-vices,
and endorsing their re-election. This was more than
the governor had bargained for, and when he learned of it his
wrath boiled over. He promptly issued his proclamation,
April 8, 1775, dissolving the Assembly. It was the last As-sembly
that met m ]Srorth Carolina at the call of a royal gover-nor
and by its dissolution Governor Martin put an end to
British rule in that province. In a letter to Lord Dartmouth,
describing these events, he said : "I am bound in conscience
and duty to add, my lord, that government is here as abso-lutely
prostrate as impotent, and that nothing but the shadow
of it is left. * * * I must further say, too, my lord, that it
is my serious opinion which I communicate with the last de-gree
of concern that unless effectual measures, such as British
"Col. Eec-, IX, 1212. '^ Col. Kec, IX, 1213^
40 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
spirit may dictate, are speedily taken there will not long re-main
a trace of Britain's dominion over these colonies."
'^^
It was impossible for Governor Martin to let slip any op-portunity
to vent his wrath at a rival. Three days after the
dissolution of the Assembly he called the attention of the
Council to the proceedings of the convention "^'signed John
Harvey, moderator, wherein are certain resolves highly de-rogatory
to the honour and dignity of his Majesty's govern-ment,
tending to destroy the j)eace and welfare of this prov-ince,
in the highest degree oppressive of the people, and ut-terly
subversive of the established constitution. He there-fore
submitted to the consideration of this board the pro-priety
of marking its indignation of such unlawful and dan-gerous
proceedings by striking Mr. John Harvey out of his
Majesty's commission of the peace for the county of Per-quimans,
where he resides." ^^ The councilors of his
Majesty's governor gravely concurred in these sentiments and
John Harvey's judicial head fell at the block.
But little did John Harvey care. His time for earthly
honors and earthly contests was rapidly drawing to a close.
The last days of his life were spent under the clouds of the
rapidly coming revolution. That revolution no man had done
more to produce than he. ISTo man watched its outcome with
greater coniidence, or awaited it with greater hope. But it
is one of the tragedies of human life that men often are not
permitted to see and enjoy the fruits of their labors and sacri-fices.
So it was with this man of the people, this political
leader with the vision of a prophet, this organizer of revolu-tion
destined to mark the beginning of an era in the history
of mankind. The South Carolina Gazette and Country Jour-nal,'^^
in a letter dated at ISTew Bern, May 19, 1775, an-nounced
his death in the following appreciative obituary:
^*Col. Rec, IX, 1215. ^^Col. Rec, IX, 1215-1216. ™June 6. 1775.
JOHN HARVEY. 41
"With inexpressible grief and concern, we have received
from Edenton the melancholy account of the death of Col.
John Harvey, of Perquimans County, who a few days since
died at his seat there after a very short illness, occasioned, it is
said, by a fall from his horse. The respectable and uncom-mon
character of this worthy member of society has, for many
years past, placed him in the highest department of this
province in the gift of the people, that of speaker of the
house of Assembly; and the great assiduity and diligence
with which he discharged that, and many other important
trusts committed to his care, and his perseverence, in seeking
the real and substantial good of his country, renders his
death a public loss, which will be truly lamented by a grate-ful
people. It is to be hoped that some abler pen will do
justice to his manes ; we can only say, that as in public life
all his actions were directed to the good of his country, so in
private his house was one continued scene of hospitality and
benevolence, and his purse, his hand and heart, were ever de-voted
to the service and relief of the distressed. In him the
advocates for American freedom have lost a real and true
friend ! In him this province may mourn a substantial and
irretrievable loss."
On the last day of May, Robert Howe, Cornelius Harnett,
and John Ashe, patriots who had not hesitated to follow
where John Harvey led, wrote these words to Samuel John-ston:
"We sincerely condole with all the friends of Ameri-can
liberty in this province on the death of our worthy friend,
Colonel Harvey. We regret it as a public loss, especially at
this critical juncture."" "He will be much missed," wrote
Joseph Hewes from Philadelphia. "I wish to God he could
"Col. Rec, IX, 1285. McRee in his "Life and Correspondence of
James Iredell," I, 34, states, and the statement has been repeated, that
Harvey died June 3, 1775. Perhaps for "June" we should read "May".
42 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
have been spared and that the G—r [Governor] and Judge
H—d [Howard] had been called in his stead." Few the
words, but sincere the tribute, from men who knew his vir-tues
and appreciated his worth. '^^
'^John Harvey was buried at Belgrade farm, on Albemarle Sound, in
Perquimans County, in a granite tomb said to weigh twenty tons. The
tomb was originally on a bluff, but the waves have gradually washed the
bluff away until the tomb now lies about three hundred yards from the
shore. It has withstood the washing of the waves and is yet in a good
state of preservation. It is said that there is an inscription on it, but it
is so covered with moss and barnacles that it can not be deciphered.
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS OF NORTH CARO=
UNA DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
BY CLYDE L. KING, A.M.
The purpose of this paper is to make a study of the mili-tary
organizations of North Carolina, during the American
Eevolution, with the hope of finding out whether North
Carolina or the Continental Congress exercised final and
sovereign authority over them. We will examine, first, the
various military organizations of the State and, second, the
military organizations placed upon the Continental estab-lishment,
noting in each case how the troops were embodied,
supported, ofiicered, and directed. Then we will deteimine,
if we can, whether North Carolina or the Continental Con-gress
exercised sovereign control over them.
One of the first^ steps taken by North Carolina toward
embodying militai'y forces for the Revolutionary War was
to provide" (Sept. 7, 1775) for minute men and militia.
For this purpose the Province was divided into six districts.
Each of these districts was to raise one battalion^ of minute
men to be enlisted for six months. It seems that they were
not reinlisted at the expiration of their six months term, at
least no further reference is made to them after the battle of
Moore's Creek.
In each of these districts, too, a brigade of militia was to
be raised. ''The militia of every county," so read the reso-lution*
of the Provincial Congress, May 4, 1776, ''is to con-sist
of all the effective men from sixteen to sixty years of
age and shall be formed into one regiment" and "the regi-
1 On Aug. 30, 1775, two Continetal Battalions had been embodied.
2 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 196-199.
3 "Consisting of ten companies, of fifty men rank and file each."
4 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 500-564.
44 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
ments divided into companies of not less tlian fifty rank and
file." Each company was to be divided into five divisions,
one division to consist of all the more aged and infirm men,
the other four divisions to draw lots for the first, second,
third, or fourth turns to go on service. The militia, were to
muster once a month at least.
From time to time other military organizations were
formed. On April 9th, 1770, three companies of Light
Horse were created, "consisting of one captain, one lieuten-ant,
one cornet and thirty-three privates each.^" On April
29th, 1776, the Provincial Congress created" five Indepen-dent
Companies "to consist of one captain, two lieutenants,
one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers,
one fifer, and sixty-eight rank and file." Later, they cre-ated
a company of rangers and embodied and equipped an
artillery company. Thus we see that the legislative power
of l^orth Carolina created military organizations at will and
regulated their embodiment in detail, and that they did this
without reference to any other sovereign body.
LIow were these organizations supported, how officered,
and by whom directed ? All of them were paid, armed and
maintained^ by the State of jSTorth Carolina. The field of-ficers
for each and every battalion of minute men were rec-ommended
by the several districts and appointed by the Pro-vincial
Congress.^ The field officers of each district ap-pointed
a suitable person or persons in each county to enlist
minute men. These minute men, when their companies
were completed, chose their captains, lieutenants and ensigns,
and these appointed their respective non-commissioned of-ficers.
The field officers of the militia were appointed by the Pro-vincial
Congress ; the captains, lieutenants, and ensigns by
5 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 506.
6 Col. Eecords of N. C, Vol. X, p. 546.
7 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 570-571 ; XI, p. 529; X, p. 290-1.
8 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 196-197.
MILITAEY OEGANIZATIONS. 45
committees of their respective companies.^ The Provincial
Congress named all the officers for the five Independent Com-panies^''
and for the Light Horse/^ In order that this power
of appointment should always rest with the State legisla-ture
or, in its recess, with the Governor, Sec. 14 of the State
Constitution^" (1776) provided ''That the senate and house
of commons shall have power to appoint the generals and
field officers of the militia and all officers of the regTilar army
of this State" and section 20 provided ''That in every case
where any officer, the right of v/hose appointment is by this
constitution vested in the General Assembly, shall, during
the recess, die, or his office by any other means become va-cant,
the Governor shall have power, with the advice of the
Council of State, to fill up such vacancy by granting a tem-porary
commission, which shall expire at the end of the next
session of the General Assembly." The full and ultimate
power, therefore, to support and officer these troops rested
in the K'orth Carolina Legislature, or, during its recess, with
the Governor.
The first decided and effective use made by North Caro-lina
of her military forces was the overthrow of the Loyal-ists
at Widow Moore's Creek on February 27, 1776.^^ The
committees of safety in the various counties, in accordance
with the power^* vested in them by the Provincial Congress,
ordered out a certain part of their militia. ^^ These forces
were placed by the Provincial Council under proper com-mand,
and other organizations were ordered to join them,
so that by the time of the battle. Colonel Caswell, who re-
9 Col. Eecords of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 200, 204, 207.
10 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 546.
11 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 519.
12 Revised Statutes of N. C, Vol. 1, p. 13.
13 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 482.
"Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 200 (On Sept. 8, 1775).
15 Tryon County ordered out "every third effective."
46 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
pulsed and scattered the Loyalists, had under him^® 800 min-ute
men to whom he added the 250 under Lillington. Col.
James Moore was near at hand with an army" of 1,100 men
made up of the First !N^orth Carolina Continental Battalion,
150 Wilmington minute men, 200 Duplin militia and 100
volunteer independent rangers. These forces were assembled
and directed by North Carolina authorities alone. Again,
May 2, 1776, the Provincial Congress drafted 1,500 mili-tia^*
for three months^'' to ward off a threatened attack, and
ordered them to march as quickly as possible to Wilmington.
At divers times other uses were made of the troops by local
or provincial authorities, such as putting"" down local upris-ings
of the loyalists and preventing them from joining Gov-ernor
Martin. ^^ Some of her lav/s, too, show that she was
not expecting any other authority to make use of North
Carolina troops. The act (April 29, 1776) creating the five
independent companies specifically provided"^ that they
should ''be subject only to the control of this or any future
Congress, or to any executive power, acting in the recess of
the same, to remove or disband them." These companies
were also given authority to take enemies' ships as prizes of
war—a power assumed only by sovereign States. Thus we
see that JSTorth Carolina made use of her troops for such pur-poses
and in such ways as her sovereign will directed.
Whenever the urgent need for any one or more of these
military organizations seemed to be past, the Provincial Con-gress
disbanded them at will. On one occasion she dissolved
the two Southern Independent Companies^^ and at another
16 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 482.
17 Moore's Hist, of N. C, pp. 203, 204.
18 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 558.
19 May 11, 1776, this.
20 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 761.
21 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 440, 536.
22 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 546.
23 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 92.
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. 47
"time certain companies of militia.'* On December 15, 177Y,
she discharged"^ the militia companies that she had stationed
on the coast and also those on the frontier, creating'^*' in the
place of the latter a special company of Eangers to warn
the militia when Indian uprisings seemed imminent. The
Provincial CongTess and, later, the State Legislature not
only assumed full control over these military organizations
for itself, but, during its recess, vested its power in the Pro-vincial
Council and, under the constitution, in the Governor.
Xot only did Xorth Carolina assume sovereign control
over her State troops within the State, embodying, officering,
using, and disbanding them as she wished but, when outside
the State, she exercised the same control over them. Jointly
with Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, she subdued the
Cherokees with no interference or suggestion from the Con-tinental
CongTess, save the following resolution-^ (J^i^^y 30,
1776) : "Information being given to Congress by a letter
from the President of South Carolina, that the Cherokees
have commenced hostilities against that State, and that he
has ordered a body of men to march against them and has
applied for assistance to the neighboring states of North
Carolina and Virginia:
Resolved: That it be recommended to the states of Vir-ginia,
N^orth Carolina and Georgia to afford all necessary
assistance to the State of South Carolina and to cooperate
against that state in prosecuting the war against the Indians
with the utmost vigor." But at once the three ISTorth Caro-lina
delegates then in the Continental Congress, lest the
home authorities might interpret this resolution as of some
force and sigTiificance, sent home this statement^® which they
24 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 927.
25 State Records of N. C, XII, p. 159.
26 State Records of N. C, XII, p. 160.
27 Journals of Cont. Cong., V, p. 616 (Ford ed.)-
28 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 679.
48 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
all signed: "This resolve is bj no means intended to alter
the plan of military operations which you have begnn or to
draw off the Strength of our back Country to a distant part
merely for the sake of acting in the same place with the
South Carolinians, if the Opposition can be made as effectu-ally
in any manner devised by yourselves or from a part of
your province from whence hostilities may successfully be
carried into the bosom of the Cherokee country, hi fact,
nothing is meant hut to subdue the Cherohees." The States
subdued the Cherokees, and then, without any resolution on
the part of the Continental Congress, appointed joint com-missioners
and signed a treaty"® of peace with the Indians.
Later in the same year (JSTovember, 1776), l^orth Carolina
granted to South Carolina, which was then in sore need of
troops, permission to raise troops in ISTorth Carolina terri-tory.
At the same time she embodied two regiments and sent
them to the aid of South Carolina,^" maintaining the while
full control of them.^^
We may conclude from these facts that North Carolina
assumed the same sovereign control over her troops when
without the state or in joint action with other states, as when
within the state, a thing impossible had she considered hex-self
and the other states subject to a common sovereign
power.
Since IsTorth Carolina embodied, supported, officered and
dinected her troops, maintaining full and final authority
over them, whether serving within or mthout the State ; and
since the Continental Congi-ess in no sense even assumed
power over these troops, and since North Carolina in her
29 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, pp. 650, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661-9,
889, 895, 912.
30 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 103.
31 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 929.
32 There were also many objections made by JSTorth Carolina to the
raising of troops on her territory by other States, e. a., see X. C. R.. XI,
p. 663. '
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. 49
military regulations never suggested that the Continental
Congress had power to control them, we must conclude that
so far as her State troops were concerned North Carolina
was a sovereign and independent State.
But there remains for consideration another military or-ganization
embodied in North Carolina, the Continental
Battalions. These Continental Battalions were supported
by money advanced by the Continental Congress to Treasu-rers
appointed by the North Carolina Legislature, to which
they reported, and to which they looked for orders and di-rections.^'
The Battalion officers proper were all appointed
by the North Carolina legislature. Those officers having
charge over one or more battalions^^ were appointed by the
Continental Congress upon the nomination of the North
Carolina Legislature. These troops, therefore, if any, should
he under Continental control.
Let us follow in some detail the embodiment of these
troops, to find out by whom they were embodied, and if by
N^orth Carolina upon the order of the Continental Congress,
whether the State acted in a spirit of obedience or in one
of prudent acquiescence.
On June 26, 1775, the Continental Congress resolved
"That in case the Assembly of Convention of that Colony
shall think it absolutely necessary for the support of the
American Association and safety of the Colony to raise a
body of forces not exceeding 1,000 men this Congress will
consider them as an American army and provide for their
pay."^* The Provincial Assembly of North Carolina em-bodied
these troops, appointed their officers (September 1,
1775), divided them into two regiments of five hundred men
each, subdivided these into divisions, and stationed these di-
32 Col. Records of K C, Vol. IX, pp. 482 and 521.
33 Journals of Cons:., Vol. IV, p. 174.
34 Col. Eecords of N. C, Vol. X, p. 40.
4
50 THE NORTH CAEOLIISrA BOOKLET.
visions where they were most needed in ISTorth Carolina. In
the same act the legislature provided that "The said two regi-ments,
and every of the above divisions, shall from time to
time be disposed of as this Congress or the Council of Safety
shall direct.'"'
The Assembly of ISTorth Carolina, one week afterawrds,^^
declared that these troops should "be kept in pay three
months, unless the Provincial Council shall judge it neces-sary
to continue them longer ; and the said Council are em-powered
to disband them at any time before or after the term
of three months, when they shall judge that their service ig
unnecessary.""'^ But on ^November 28th following, the Con-tinental
Congress put these two Battalions on pay for one
year.^* North Carolina made no change in the terms
of her enlistment and embodied her troops on her own
plan. The same overriding of Continental regulations oc-curred
the next year. The jSTorth Carolina Legislature had
declared (April 27, 1776) that the Continental troops should
be enlisted for the term of two years and six months. ^^ On
September 24, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved that
these troops should be enlisted for the "continuance of the
war."*° But to this resolution North Carolina paid no heed.
This was not obedience nor was it acquiescence, but rather
the natural neglect, it would seem, of a sovereign body to
take care that its acts should coincide with the requests and
recommendations of a Central Committee.
Eight more battalions were finally put upon the Continen-tal
Establishment. The embodiment of the Third to the
Sixth of these Battalions may throw additional light upon
the attitude of the North Carolina Congress to the Conti-
35 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 187.
36 September 8, 1775.
37 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 203.
38 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 338.
39 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 544.
40 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 807.
MILITAEY ORGANIZATIONS. 51
nental Congress. On January 16th, 1776, the Continental
Congress resolved that another Battalion should be raised
in the Colony of North Carolina.*^ Acting upon this resolu-tion,
the Provincial Congress of Korth Carolina created,
April 9, 1776, not one Battalion, but three and these of 750
privates each, and in addition three companies of Light
Horse.*" The next day the members of the Provincial Con-gress
bethought themselves of the Continental regulations
that, including officers, each regiment should consist of 728
men. jSTothing daunted, however, they created a fourth Bat-talion
out of the extra officers and privates, and the President
of the Assembly cheerfully wrote to the Continental Dele-gates
at Philadelphia : "It is hoped that you will find no
difficulty in getting them placed on the Continental Estab-lishment
when it is considered that the Colonies of Virginia
and South Carolina are in daily expectation of being invaded
and that we have therefore very little reason to hope for suc-cour
or assistance from either of them."*'^ There is in this
a spirit of independence that can scarce be reconciled with
obedience to sovereign power.
When these Continental forces were needed for military
purposes, by what power were they summoned, and, when
in operation, by what power were they directed ? On Octo-ber
21, 1775, the Provincial Congress which had already
stationed the two Continental Battalions along the coast,
ordered them to "oppose to the utmost of their power" the
landing of any hostile troops.** We have already seen that
ISTorth Cai^olina used the First Continental Battalion at
Widow Moore's Creek. Other similar uses were made of
them. When within the State, then, ISTorth Carolina as-sumed
full control of these troops.
41 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 413.
42 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 506.
43 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 495.
44 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 186.
52 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
But what of their control when without the State ? On
September 3d, 1776, the Continental Cbngress resolved that
"Two of the Continental Battalions be ordered to march
with all possible expedition under command of General
Moore to reenforce the army at New York." By whom
they were to be ordered the resolution did not state but that
the execution of the resolution at least was to be left to
ISTorth Carolina is shown by the following resolution*^ of the
Continental Congress (September 16, 1776) : "It being rep-resented
by the delegates of ISTlorth Carolina, that, from late
accounts, it appears that the situation of affairs in that State
is such, that it will be dangerous, if not impracticable, to
execute the resolution of Congress of the third instant * *
* Resolved that it be left to the discretion of the Council of
Safety of l^orth Carolina, to execute or suspend that resolu-tion
according as they shall think most conducive to the pub-lic
service and the safety of their particular State."*^
On JSTovember 16th, 1776, the Continental Congress passed
the following resolution :*'^ "Resolved that it be recommend-ed
to the Convention of North Carolina to station General
Moore with the regular troops under his command in such
parts of that state or of the state of South Carolina where
they will be in capacity to render immediate and seasonable
assistance to their friends in South Carolina." The North
Carolina Assembly evidently did not consider this as a com-mand
of a superior authority directing its own troops, for
on November 29th, 1776, following, it put this order into
execution in the following words :*^ "In consequence of In-
45 Journals of Cont. Cong., Vol. V, p. 761 (Ford ed.).
46 It is very significant to note that the following clause was stricken
out: "Provided, nevertheless, that they shall not have power to stop
Brigadier-General Moore from repairing to New York." Is this a tacit
confession that North Carolina did have full control even over a Briga-dier-
Ceneral? Does it mean that she could have held the troops and
not the officer?
47 Journals of Cong., Vol. VI, p. 956 (Ford ed.).
48 Col. Records of N. C, Vol. X, p. 947.
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. 53
formation from the Continental Congress that a considerable
number of Troops and a large Fleet had sailed from New
York, and are supposed to be intended against Charlestown,
South Carolina, Resolved, That General Moore do immedi-ately
march with the troops under his command to the Relief
of Charlestown without delay." G-eneral Moore led his troops
as directed and while in South Carolina looked to the ISTorth
Carolina authorities for direction.*'* That the execution of
the orders of the Continental Congress was left wholly to
ISTorth Carolina we can no longer doubt, and it only remains
for us to find out whether or not the State considered herself
under obligations to execute implicitly Continental orders.
In the early part of 1777^*' the Continental Congress re-solved
that all the battalions of Continental troops in North
Carolina should join General Washington "as soon as may
be" after March 15th.^^ Governor Caswell on February 6th
requested General Moore to order three complete regiments
to march without delay and join General Washington.^'
General Moore encountered constant delays always reporting
to Governor Caswell, never to the Continental Congress, for
aid^^ and orders.^* In time all of the nine Battalions by
order of North Carolina authorities reached General Wash-ington.
But North Carolina followed her own dictates, or-dering
them to depart when she wished and in the way she
wished. ^^ This may have been acquiescence, but certainly
it was not obedience.
Even after these Continental Battalions were in Washing-ton's
camp they continued to look to the North Carolina
49 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 367.
50 February 5, 1777.
51 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 374.
52 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 375.
53 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 411.
54 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 412.
55 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, pp. 579, 614; Vol. XII, p. 131.
Follow particularly the new Tenth Battalion.
54 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
autliorities as the authorities to whom alone their obedience,
outside of their immediate field operations, was due. In the
first place ISTorth Carolina recruited the ranks^® and punished
the deserters. To aid in this, the IsTorth Carolina Legisla-ture
called upon General ISTash or the Commanding officer
of the Continental troops to report to the Assembly lists of
the different battalions, divisions, companies, parts of com-panies
and names of deserters." It ordered Continental
Battalion officers to recruit in ISTorth Carolina or to repair
to the IS^orth as it saw fit.^^ It even abolished superfluous
Continental offices although the officers were then under Gen-eral
Washington.^" That there was need of effective recruit-ing
we may learn from the fact that the nine Continental
Battalions, instead of having 6,552 men and officers had
1,385 of whom there were only 655 privates fit for duty."*'
Yet the Continental Congress gave no orders. Her angviish
and feeling of helplessness were no doubt reflected in these
words written home by the North Carolina delegate. Corn.
Harnett : "For God's sake fill up your Battalions, Lay
Taxes, put a stop to the sordid and avaricious spirit which
infects all ranks and conditions of men.""^
]S^ot only did the ISTorth Carolina Legislature assume full
control over these Continental troops while within and with-out
the State, but on May 9th, 1777, vested the Governor,
during its recess, with power*'^ at his discretion to appoint
"officers to fill up all such vacancies as may happen in the
Continental armies," and to remove,"* suspend and censure
•''6 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, pp. 578-9. 456-7 : XII, pp. 9, 10,
59, 60.
5T State Records of N. C, Vol. XII, p. 33.
58 State Records of N. C, Vol. XII, pp. 59 and 60.
50 State Records of N. C, Vol. XII, pp. 48 and 50.
60 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 690.
61 State Records of N. C, Vol. XI, p. 696; Dec. 16, 1777.
6^ State Records of N. C, Vol. XII, p. 99.
63 State Records of N. C. Vol. XII, p. 93.
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. 55
any Continental officer that may behave unworthily. It par-ticularly
required him from time to time to give such direc-tions
respecting the securing and disposal of deserters as he
might judge necessary, and further gave him power "To
give such orders as he may think necessary for the removal,
marching or disposition of the Continental Troops in this
state or any of theni/'^*
North Carolina, then, embdoied at will such state military
organizations as she pleased and directed all of them as she
thought best, exercising full and sovereign control over them.
She embodied in her own way ten Continental battalions
which were paid by the Continental Congress through North
Carolina treasurer. The Continental Congress recommended
by resolution certain military operations for these troops.
The execution of these resolutions was left wholly to the
State of North Carolina which maintained and exercised full
control of the troops, both within and without the State,
even to the extent of punishing deserters though they were
under the immediate command of General Washington. The
Continental Congress in no place asserted definitely that she
had sovereign authority over them while North Carolina not
only asserted such authority but exercised it. We must con-clude,
then, that so far as control over her military organi-zations
was concerned, North Carolina was a sovereign and
independent State and that Thomas Burke expressed the
common attitude of the people of North Carolina toward the
Continental Congress, when he said to the General Assembly
:
"I consider the Congress at present as a general council of
America instituted for the purpose of opposing the usurpa-tions
of Britain."
64 State Records of N. C, Vol. XII, p. 99.
A SERMON
BY
REV. GEORGE MICKLEJOHN
PREACHED BEFORE
GOVERNOR TRYON'S ARMY AT HILLSBOROUGH
SEPTEMBER 25, 1768
Edited for THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
BY
R. W. D. CONNOR
S«cretaiy North Caiolina Historical Commission
[ TITLE PAGE. ]
I
On the important Duty of Subjection to the
CIVIL POWERS.
SERMON
Preached before his EXCELLENCY
WILLIAM TRYON, Esquire,
Governor and Commander in Chief of the
Province of North-Carolina,
AND THE
TROOPS raised to quell the late
INSURRECTION,
AT
Hillsborough, in Orange County,
On Sunday September 25, 1768.
By GEO. MICKLEJOHN, S. T. D.
N E WB E R N :
Printed by James Davis,
M,DCC,LXVIIL
DEDICATIOIsr.
To
HIS EXCELLENCY _
William TuYoisr, Esquire^
Governor and Commander in Chief of the
Province of NORTH-CAROLINA.
SIR,
THE Kind A]3probation with which YOU have favoured
this DISCOURSE, is as much an Honour as it is a Satis-faction
to me ; for which I desire Your Excellency to accept
my grateful Acknowledgments: And as You, with many
other Honourable Gentlemen, have, in so particularly oblig-ing
a Manner, sigiiified Your Desire of seeing it published,
I have complied with Your Request ; which, indeed, I must
own. You put it out of my Power to refuse. I heartily pray
GOD it may be attended with those beneficial Effects, which
You seem to entertain so much Hopes of: And if it should
be instrumental in bringing any to a just Sense of the great
DLTTY inculcated therein, and a religious Observance of it
for the future. My Pleasure would be greatly heightened, by
the Happiness I am sensible You will receive Yourself.
With My earnest Wishes for Your Excellency's present Fe-licity,
as well as Eternal Wellfare, which it will always be
a peculiar Joy to Me to promote,
I remain, SIR,
Your EXCELLENCY'S
Ever faithful and obliged
Humble Servant,
GEO. MICKLEJOEN.
A SEEMON, &C/
ST. PAUL'S Epistle to the ROMANS, Chap. XIII. Verses
1st & 2d.
Let every Soul he subject unto the higher Powers; for
there is no Power hut of God; the Powers thai he, are or-dained
of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the Or-dinance
of God; and they that resist, shall receive to therpr
selves Damnation.
I AM persuaded, that every one who feels the least regard
for the wellfare and happiness of his country ; and the peace
and comfort of his fellow-subjects and countrymen, will look
upon the subject as highly proper, and seasonable at this
time.
FOR who can reflect upon so many wretched and unthink-ing
men, thus madly attempting to subvert the laws of the
kingdom ; thus inconsiderately involving friends, relations
and neighbours, in the most direful calamity, and foolishly
1 Extracts from the Journal of the General Assembly of North Caro-lina
;
Friday, November 18, 1768:
Eecd from his Excellency a Written Message by Mr. Edwards rela-tive
to, and accompanied with one hundred copies of a sermon preached
by the Reverend Mr. Micklejohn before the Troops at Hillsborough,
which Message is as follows, (that is to say)
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
By the particular request of the Reverend Mr. Micklejohn, I desire
leave in his behalf to present your House with one hundred copies of
a sermon preached before the Troops at Hillsborough. The merit and
beneficial tendency of this admirable discourse, gave general satisfaction
to all who heard it delivered; a testimony it will undoubtedly receive
from everv one who reads with attention. Wm. Tkyon.
62 THE WORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
bringing upon themselves destruction here, and damnation
hereafter ;—who can look upon so deplorable a scene, without
feeling the most earnest desires, that every such rash and
misguided person could be made duly sensible of the dread-ful
impiety of so daring and wicked an action, as well as of
the certain misery that must inevitably be the consequence ?
IT is possible this alarming consideration may prevail
with some persons, when every other more laudable motive
fails of its proper influence ; and, it is to be hoped, that a
sight of their danger may bring them to a sense of their
duty.
Saturday, December 3d, 1708:
Reed from the Council the following Message Vizt
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly,
We must also recommend to your consideration the Reverend Mr.
Mieklejohn who preached to the Troops at Hillsborough printed and
dispersed several copies of one of the sermons on the the important
occasion.
3d December 1768. In the upper House. ******** Resolved the following Message be sent to the Council, Vizt,
Gentlemen of His Majestys Honhle Council.
* * * We do agree that the Treasurers pay the expence of print-ing
those sermons preached by the Reverend George Mieklejohn sent to
this House by his Excellency this session.
3d*Decembe*r 1768.*****John H*arvey Sp. Monday December 5th 1768.
Resolved the following Message be sent to His Excellency the Gov-ernor,
Vizt,
To His Excellency William Tryon, Esquire, Captain, General Governor,
dCa,
Sib,—This House have received your Excellency's Message relative to
the Reverend George Mieklejohn, with one hundred copies of a Sermon
preached by him at Hillsborough, and in his behalf presented by your
Excellency to the House, in consequence of which we have Resolved that
the Expence of printing the said Sermon be paid by the Public. * * *
5th December 1768. John Harvey Sp.
(Colonial Records of North Carolina, VII—939, 976, 983.)
SERMON BY REV. GEORGE MICKLEJOHN. 63
WITH this view, I have singled out the words of the text
for the subject of our present meditation: And though I
have the pleasure to think I am speaking before those who
stand not in need of [2] the admonition they contain, yet
I thought it not improper for us to consider the several argu-ments
which enforce this gTeat duty here enjoined; that we
may not only be preserv'd stedfast in our obedience to it
ourselves, but may be able to convince others of the danger,
as well as error of their ways ; and keep them, for the future,
in the paths of duty and allegiance, from which they liave
lately so unhappily wandered.
YOU cannot but observe then, in the first place, that this
important duty of subjection to lawful authority, is one plain
and principal doctrine of Christianity. It is here delivered
to the world by an inspired Apostle of CHRIST ; by Him,
whom our LORD, in a vision to Ananias, honours with the
distinguishing title of "a chosen vessel to Himself." He it
is, who, thus commissioned from above, gives us, in the name
of the most high GOD, this solemn command in the words
of the text; to which we are, all of us, both high and low,
rich and poor, wise and ignorant, indispensably obliged to
pay the highest reverence and regard ; and no rank nor sta-tion
in life, can possibly exempt any one from the strictest
obedience to it : For it is directed to all men in general, with-out
any exception
—
Let every soul he subject to the higher
powers—^and it comes to us by the Authority of the same
GOD and SAVIOUR, who has given us every other precept
that we meet with in holy scripture:—It comes to us from
that sovereign LORD OF ALL LORDS, whose name we
have the honor to bear; whose subjects we profess ourselves
at present ; and whose eternal kingdom we hope to become
inheritors of hereafter: 'Till men, therefore, have renounced
CHRIST, and apostatized from his religon—'till they have
disowned his sovereignty and dominion over them, and given
64 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET.
up all expectations of future happiness from his favour, they
must acknowledge themselves bound, by the strongest ties,
both of interest and gratitude, to comply with this sacred in-junction,
no less than with every other command of his Di-vine
Gospel.
BUT we may still further judge of the singular impor-tance
of this duty enjoined us in the text, from that re-markable
stress laid upon [3] it by the great Apostle in sev-eral
other of his Epistles. When he is delivering his apos-tolical
injunctions to Titus, and instructing him in the sev-eral
branches of his duty as a minister of Christ, he gives
it him in charge, in a very solemn manner, to put men in
mind, to be subject to principalities and powers ; to obey
Magistrates ; to speak evil of no man; to be no brawlers, but
gentle; shewing all meekness to all men. These things, says
he, I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have
believed in God, that is, they who have acknowledged the
truth of that revelation" he has made us in the Gospel, might
be careful to maintain good works: These things are good
and profitable unto men.
AITD in the first Epistle to Timothy, he carries this re-quest
and reverence for the powers that are lawfully set over
us, to a still greater height ; making it our duty, not only
to be subject unto them, but to implore the favour of Heaven
upon them, and the divine blessing on their endeavours for
the public happiness and tranquility. I exhort first of all,
says the Apostle, that Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions,
and givng of Thanhs, he made for all Men: For Kings, and
for all that are in Authority; that we may lead a quiet and
peaceaMe life, in all godliness and honesty; for this is good,
and acceptahle in the sight of God our Saviour.
JUDGE therefore in yourselves, my beloved brethren, and
beseech others, in the name of God, to consider how dreadful
2 In the text, revalation.
SERMON BY REV. GEORGE MICKLEJOHN. 65
a breach of this duty they must be guilty of, who, instead of
praying for the safety of our governors and protectors, pre-sume
to threaten their sacred persons with violence, to whom
God has commanded us to pay the highest veneration, be-cause
they derive their authority from him.
AISTD this leads me to a second very material argument,
arising from the words of the text, which strongly enforces
this duty, and to which it becomes every one seriously to at-tend
: For surely nothing should more fully convince us of
our obligation to pay the most ready obedience to this pre-cept
of Christianity, than the solemn reason which the
Apostle has immediately subjoined : Let every soul [jJ.] he
subject to the higher^ powers; for there is no power hut of
God: the powers that he, are ordained of God.
HAD this precept been delivered to mankind without
pointing out to them at the same time, this particularly aw-ful
sanction ; yet even then our observance of it would have
remained indispensable : For when God commands, man is
to obey.
THAT God, from whom we have received life and breath,
and all things, and to whom we are indebted for every com-fort
and blessing we enjoy—that God, upon whom alone we
are to depend to all eternity, and by ivhom our unalterable
fate is to be finally determined ;—this great and adorable
BEIJSrG has an uncontroulable right over his dependent
creatures, to lay upon them whatever commands his wisdom
sees proper for them, without being obliged to satisfy them
of the reasons for such his sovereign will and pleasure. But
in the case before us, you cannot but take notice, in how very
different a manner God has been pleased to deal with us
;
for while he gives us this command by his holy Apostle, he
graciously condescends to inform us of those weighty reasons
3 In the test, higer.
5
66 THE NORTH CAEOLHSTA BOOKLET.
upon which the duty is founded, and which would be most
likely to engage us in a religious observance of it.
WE are commanded, therefore, to be subject to the higher
powers, because the authority they are invested with is from
HEAVEN: The poivers that be, are ordained of God!—
They are God's vicegerents upon earth, and instruments in
the hand of his providence, for carrying on the grand pur-poses
of protection and government, and for securing the
peace and happiness of mankind.
AISFD though, indeed, they are sometimes unhappily
obliged, through the perverseness and wickedness that is in
the world, to become unwilling avengers, to execute wrath
upon every one that doth evil; yet are they, in general, the
ministers of God to us, for good, and for the praise and re-ward
of them that do well.
WAS it not for this necessary power which has been com-mitted
to them by the ALMIGHTY, every thing must soon
be involved in the most dreadful anarchy and confusion.
Every man's own will [5] would then be his law; and no
language can fully describe those various scenes of misery
and horror which would continually arise before us, from the
discordant passions and divided interests of mankind. But
God, in his infinite goodness, has provided a natural security
against all these mischiefs in those different ranks and or-ders
of men, which his wisdom has thought proper should
subsist in the world ; and in which some are allotted to gov-ern,
and others obliged to obey, that so the happiness of the
whole community might the more effectually be preserved.
And upon these guardians of the public and general wellfare,
God has been pleased to confer a divine authority, to render
their persons, as well as ordinances, the more sacred and
venerable.
IT is by him, therefore, that kings reign, and princes de-cree
justice; by him princes rule, and nobles, even all the
SEKMON BY REV. GEOKGE MICKLEJOHN. 67
judges of the earth : And as it is very beautifully expressed
in the book of Wisdom, power is given them of the LORD,
and sovereignty from the Highest: To the truth of this im-portant
point, we have a greater than Solomon bearing testi-mony;
even our blessed Saviour himself; who, when Pilate
was boasting of that power he had over him, either to crucify
or to release him, puts him in mind from whence he had re-ceived
his authority ; and gives him this mild and instructive
answer, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, ex-cept
it ivere given thee from above.
HERE we leam from the mouth of our Redeemer him-self,
whence is derived that dignity and sacredness, which
belongs to those who are invested with any public power and
oiEoe.—Here we behold the God of the universe submitting
to that supreme authority he himself has conferred upon
man ; and acknowledging the reverence due to that very
power, which was shortly to pronounce the sentence of death
against him.
BUT we have a still more striking and remarkable in-stance
of submission and respect to the Civil Powers, which
our blessed Lord, upon another occasion, condescended to
shew, and which highly deserves every one's serious attention
and regard: It is recorded by the [6] Evangelist St. Mat-thew,
in the lYth chapter of his Gospel, that when our Lord
was come to Capernaum, they who received the tribute mon-ey,
which was required of every Jew above the age of twenty,
demanded of St. Peter, whether his Master intended to pay
it. St. Peter very readily engages for his Lord's willing and
chearful compliance ; as he well knew how exact had ever
been his observance of every civil, as well as religious duty;
But when he came into the house to inform his master of
this demand, our blessed Saviour, by an easy similitude,
leads him to understand, that he had been too hasty in his
68 THE NORTH CABOLINA BOOKLET.
promises for Mm; for surely, if the children of earthly
princes could plead a freedom from paying any custom or
tribute, (as appeared by his own reply to the question our
Lord had proposed) much more reasonably might he be ex-empted
from it, who was himself the Lord of all thiJigs, and
the Son of that heavenly King, for the service of whose
temple this particular tribute was paid.—But notwithstand-ing
our Lord might have justly claimed this privilege and
exemption ; yet, you see, he willingly declines it ; and, Least
we should offend them, says he, to the Apostle, go thou to the
sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh
up; and ivhen thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find
a piece of money; that take, and give unto them for me and
for thee.—What condescension was this in the Son of God!—
Who but must be struck with admiration at this amazing
instance of goodness, in thus vouchsafing to work a miracle,
rather than not • satisfy the demands of public authority
;
lest, by refusing compliance himself, he might countenance
others in disobedience and rebellion ! And who is there that
will presume to offer insult to the powers that are in authori-ty,
or shew the least resistance, when he considers how re-markably
our Lord was pleased to honour them, by express-ing
the most cautious fear of displeasing them, and thus
wonderfully providing against giving any offence?—In or-der,
therefor©, to guard men from incurring the guilt of so
heinous a crime, let us, in the third place, briefly consider
the dreadful consequences that must attend it.—This the
Apostle gives us, in these few, but awful words. They that[^'\
resist, shall receive to themselves DAMlSTATIOISr ; not only
condemnation in this ivo7-ld, but eternal vengeance in the life
to come.—And here again, we cannot but observe, the great
importance of this duty of subjection, from that tender care
which the e-oodness of GOD has taken to secure our obedience
SERMON BY REV. GEORGE MICKLEJOHN, 69
to it. Some precepts are delivered to us without any par-ticular
intimation of the punishment attending our neglect:
But this was a matter of so much consequence to the general
comfort and happiness of the world, that the divine wisdom
thought it necessary for us, while we read the sacred injunc-tion,
to have before our eyes that future misery which must
follow the violation of it: So that, if the love of God, and
reverence for his commands, should fail to produce this be-coming
submission, a regard for our own Everlasting Interest
might possibly prevail.
GrOD has, therefore, been pleased, by his holy Apostle,
to pronounce the sentence of inevitable 'perdition upon all
those who refuse subjection to lawful power and authority;
as hereby, they not only shew the highest contempt of his
positive command, but do all in their power to obstruct the
gracious designs* of his providence, for the good and well-fare
of manki^id. So that, upon calm consideration, every
one must acknowledge, there cannot possibly be offered a
greater insult to Almighty GOD, than thus contemptuously
to disregard his will, and despise those sacred powers whom
he has ordained and appointed to carry on the best and
noblest purposes in the world : And what wonder then is it
that so terrible a portion is reserved in store for every such
bold and presumptuous offender?—God is represented in
scriptures as the God of Peace, and Lover of Concord; and
we are, for this reason, commanded, in another place, to fol-low
peace with all men; because, without this, no man shall
see the LOED. Every one, therefore shall hereafter be ban-ished
from his presence and glory who dares to disturb, in
the least degree, that peace and harmony ; or endeavours, in
any respect, to destroy that good order and government,
which it is the intention of HEAVEN should be supported
in the world.
* In the text, desings.
YO THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
[8] BUT though we were not able to assign any particu-lar
reason for this severe judgment mentioned in the text,
yet ought it to be a sufficient warning to every rebellious sin-ner,
to find how positively it is there denounced : For what
God has so solemnly threatened, lie will most assuredly in-flict.
THESE then are the principal reasons which enforce the
duty enjoined by the Apostle; but there are several others,
which, if duly attended to, cannot but add considerable
weight to the argaiments already offered, and which I shall,
therefore, beg leave briefly to mention.
LET it be considered then, that resistance to that lawful
power and authority which God hath set over us, can never
possibly be productive of any thing but the wildest uproar,
and most universal confusion ; and, in the end, can never
fail of being attended with the most shocking and dismal
effects.
OF this we would have seen a dreadful and melancholy
proof ; and God only knows what worse consequences might
have ensued, had they not been happily prevented by the
good conduct of those brave men, who distinguished them-selves
as remarkably by their HUMAlSriTY, as by the VAL-OUR,
they shewed on that trying occasion.
TO their courage and intrepidity will ever be due our
warmest gratitude and thanks; which, blessed be God, gave
so timely a check to the desperate fury of those rash men
who were engaged in that execrable attempt; and to their
humanity these very men must ever acknowledge themselves
obliged, which bore so long and patiently their repeated and
exasperating insults, and treated them afterwards with great-er
lenity than they could reasonably expect ; for where one
has not fallen, twenty ought to have suffered.
LET every one learn, that outrage and violence can never
answer any other end but to spread slaughter and desolation
SERMON BY EEV. GEOKGE MICKLEJOHN. 71
around us ; and to introduce the most wretclied scenes of mis-ery
and distress : Let them consider further, how impossible
it is that any good can ever be brought about by such wicked
means; and that tho[ugh] some [9] may only meet the
ruin their rashness has sought, yet many others must una-voidably
become partakers in the calamity, who were never
partners in the crime.
THE consideration therefore of the present misfortunes,
in which many of their fellow-creatures must be involved,
as well as the future destruction to which others are exposed
by such daring acts of rebellion, will naturally restrain every
man from uniting in them who has the least spark of hu-manity
and compassion remaining in his breast.
AISTOTHER motive which cannot but have great weight
with every generous mind, is the reflection that every the
least Insult offered to magistrates and governors, is an act
of the basest ingratitude against those who are, under God,
our protectors and guardians, not only from foreign Ene-mies,
but from every domestic foe: To them we owe our
security from all that numerous train of mischiefs to which
we should be daily liable, from the corruption and wicked-ness
of the world, if under no restraint from human laws,
and unawed by proper authority !—To them are we indebted
for the safe and comfortable enjoyment of all the blessings
of private life, and all the advantages we derive from civil
society !—Were there not some who would take upon them
the arduous business of public government, the execution of
laws, and administration of justice, how would vice and
iniquity every where triumph ! And what must become of
the welfare and tranquility of every individual, were men
left at full liberty to plan their malicious schemes against
them, and knew they could safely execute them whenever
they pleased ? What must become of the general peace and
72 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.
happiness of the whole community, when fraud and injus-tice,
oppression and violence, with every other crime that is
i