The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1859-10-11

public debt, equal in amount to e. los. upon eve
ry head of family.
The whole northern portion ofthe Province was
disqueted by oppressive taxation, the lmpossibEty
of procuring title to their homesteads, and, above
ALL by the well grounded apprehension of extortlon
in the collection of fees by every officer in the
Province, from Governor to Constable. 1t was in
vain to assert the right Of petition and instruction,
or, as has been shown by the foregoing narrative,
for the people to unite in respectful request to
the representatives for information as to the
heir money was called for" Governor Tryon was
neither ignorant of existing abuses nor wanting in
power to redress them. He was in his own estl-
nation severy inch king" and was in truth
clothed with vice regal power. He claimed and
exercised the prerogative right to appoint the pub
lie printer, to license and appoint teachers OF
schools, to present and induct eergymen in the
several parishes to incorporate counties and towns,
to call, prorogue and dissolve the General Assem-
bly,, to approve, disapprove, suspend the opera
ton of legislative enactmcnts, and the general
power of appointment to office He proceeded at
later period of the session to suggest his favorite
scheme for the erection of palace at New-Berne.
Martin, who was no eulogist of the Regulators,
and who, from his residence i'll NewBerne at pc
Rod not very remote from the date of the events
he relates enjoyed the best opportunities to ascer-
tain the truth, remarks as follows:
':On the rise of the legislature, Governor Tryon
lost no time in carrying into effect his darling
scheme of building palace. He had exerted all
his influence to obtain the passage Of the bill, and
the members of the kings council had been official
ly instructed to give it all the support in their
power in their legislative capacity This meas
ure was thought by many to have laid the founda-
ton of the series of disorders and connections
which terminated in the battle of the Alamance.
The grant of five thousand pounds was above the
means of the province in its infant and impover-
ished state; and the Governor intrusted solely
with the disposition of the fund. The trust proved
fatal to the interest of the province, and to the
trustee. 1t made to crafty his vanity at the
expense of both. 1t afforded him an opportunity
of leaving behind an elegant monument of his taste
in building and giving the minister an instance
of his great influence and address in his new gov
ernment. The temptation was not resisted; and
the plan of a governors substituted for that
of palace worthy the residence OF prince OF the
blood The purchase of the ground and the cree
tor of the foundation absorbed the sum which the
legislature had been pleased to bestow, which was
an ample appropriation for the completion of the
building.
"The building superior to any thing of the
kind in British North America; and the writer Of
this history, who visited it in 1888, in company
with the late renowned and unfortunate Don Fran
cisco de Miranda, heard that gentleman say it had
equal IN South America
at was dedicated to Sir William Draper, the
conqueror of Manila, who was on visit at Cover
nor Tryons, and was said to be the author of the
following lines, inscribed over the principal door,
in the vestbule:
ain the reign of monarch who goodness disclosed,
\ free happy people, to dread tyrants opposed,
Have, virtue and merit, erected this dome:
May the and household make this the low home
Where religion, the arts and the laws may invite
Future to live, sweet peace and delight"
Before the completion of the palace, our extend
ing settlements approaching the Alleghanics,
and hardy adventures from the neighborhood of
the present seat OF government, had formed set
Element on the western waters. The pioneers of
Watauga were to pay, by poll tax for the erection
of palace in town, which, until the completion
of the Western and Atlantic Railroad during the
last few months, was, perhaps, visited by single
mountaineer at intervals of quarter of century.
Not one in thousand of the Regulators, whose
poll taxes contributed towards its erection, ever
saw the palace. The Provincial Legislature con-
vened in it for the first time the 9Th Of Decenl-
Der, ITO, and on the Sth April, l775 the last Of
the Royal Governors suddenly and an"rily dissolv
ed the last Provincial Assembly. The Governor
himself, short time thereafter, took not less sud-
den leave of the vice regal mansion. In 1871, the
iron palisades removed, and the lead torn
from the roof under the orders of Governor Burke
NOIhS'i,
of war, and it is not surprising that General Wash
ington, in his visit to New Berne in 1871, found
the substantial and elegant structure in dilapida-
ted condition 1t consumed no great while
thereafter by the torch of accidental inccndiary
under circumstances of which the gravity of hsto-
ny will scarcely permit the recital.
1t is matter of curious inquiry, whether cd
fce of the character described by Governor Tryon
and Judge Martin, in the foregoing extracts from
the letter book of the former and the history of the
latter could have been built for the sum Of fifteen
thousand pounds There is too much reason to
suspect that no such s, stem of accountability pre-
vailed in the fiscal department, as would have ena-
bled any one, from whom the Governor chose to
conceal the facts, to ascertain whether the appro-
priatons were exhausted or exceeded.
BURNING OF HUMAN BODIES FOR FUEL-The |
first and only railroad in Africa, was completed
few months ago. 1t connects Alexandria, the |
chief Egyptian seaport with Cairo. The most
fact connected with this evidence of |
progress in Egypt is the use of human bodies for
fuel. The locomotives are fed with this novel food,
and actually derive their strength from the burning
bones and flesh of men.
A PERFECT CURE BY WILD CHERRY.