The North-Carolina standard., 1844-09-18

lresiding Ia the county of Ebert, in the State of
Georgia. y was in the revolutionary war from the
tcommencsment 70 the close ! would further OBJ
serve, thatihe Rev. Ffaheis Cammins, Presby-
tefan clergyman, of Greene coanty, in this State,
was student in the town of Charlotte at the time
fthe adoptonof these resolutions, and is as well,
or perhaps better. acquainted with the proceedings
at that time, than any man now living. e
20" Col. William Polk, of Raleigh in North Caro-
lima, was living with his father, Thomas in Char
lotte, at the time have been speaking Of and al
though then too young to be forward in the bust
ness, vet the leading circumstances have related
cannot have escaped his recollection. e
JAMES JACK.
assigned this 7th Dec. 1919, in presence of
JOB WESTON, C. G. Or
JAMES OLIVER, attorney at law" @
This herald of Meeklenburg independence-he
whom all the witnesses and the tradition of that
day designated by name as the chosen messenger
of the Mecklenburg meeting of May, l775, to the
national Congress- patriot of the revolution,
and an honorable man, v hom separation of
twenty years from the Polk family might alone
exempt from the suspicion Of personal bias or
an undue paFtiaitys-thus solemnly declared, a
quarter of century ago, when there was no mo-
tive to fiattpr, and no temptation to defame Eze-
kiel Polk, that +" he roas among those who appear.
ed to take The zead' in the proud act of the Meek
lenburg patriots What reasonable excuse then,
can there be, after this, for such as now for the
first time, undertake TO fix the epithet of TORY
on the name and family of polka What pre-
text to paate the outrage upon the feelings of the
living, by such an ignoble slander ofthe dead2 In
view of what has been presented-that ga set of
people of Meckenburg declared independence in
May l775-that this was done in the face of " his
Majesty's denunciatons and inEde6ance of his
power-that Ezekiel Polk was one of them, and
leader among the bold .set,''-it is not easy to
give credit to any mans sincerity who will affect
TO believe that EZEKIEL POLK was a TORY.
But suspicion itself must give way before the
accumulated testimony of those who lived In the
time of the revolution and knew Ezekiel Polk
long and intimately. They resided in Mecklen-
burg where TORIES were scarce-so scarce dur
ingthe war asto be universally known and remem-
bered after it. American soldiers-revolutionar
wings themselves-they testify with one voice that
they knew all the Polks and that this charge is a
calumny of modern growth They say that it is
false " that it is at SANDER" that Ezekiel Polk
was not TOR but true, early, and constant
friend ofthe American cause, and " SeUenty-SiE
rohig as ALL the Polks sOeTc" 1t will be seen, when
come to give their evidence in their own words,
that have not overstated it.
There are one.or two facts however, resting
not upon frail memory ofman alone-facts which
no prejudices of the present day can falsfy, and
no partiaity can have devised, but which are so
inconsistent with this imputation upon the mem
ory of EZEKIEL POLK as to entitle them to
the highest consideration; and before proceeding
to submit the testimonials of the old soldiers in
vindication oftheir slandered compatriot have TO
say few words upon them.
n7has Been shown already that EZEKIEL Polk
" took lead' in the declaration of independence
on May go. 1775. To achieve that independence |
he is next seen with revolutionary military COM
mission in his pocket, even before the national !
declaration of independence of 4th July. 1776.
To prove the fact, here is copy of the commits
sion taken from the ORIGINAL, and cores
ponding with the same document as published in
the American archives. viz:
"SOUTH CAROLINA.
SIN pursuance of the resoIations,ot the Prcvia-
ci0l Congress We do certify that Ezekiel Polk !
Esq., is second captain in the regiment Of rangers
in the provincial service. Dated the l th day of
June, ITS.
HENRY LAWRENS,
RAWS. LOWNDES,
THOMAS FURGISON,
BENZ ELLIOT,
NJ BREWTON, +
ARTHUR MIDDLETON. 4
THOMAS HEYWARD, Jr. Il
~. - WILLIAM Fl. DRAITON,
\. = JAMES PARSONS,
VIII TAM VIII ThMcnN |,