The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-24
Monday. May "a. 1876.
The mecklsnbure DECLARATION.

n0nntieSS
ces in the case of the revolutionary annals c
which the whole country is now passing I
under critical review after the lapse OF a
hundred years. We have already had
some vigorous skirmishing between the
champions of Lexington and Concord tor
the distinction of having been the first to
fire that particular shot which had been
heard round the world when Emerson
first marked its reverbeTation by his Tyr
taean lyric of 1886, and which has been so
abundantly ricochetted by the centennial
oratory and newspaper rhetoric OF the
period through which we are passing. The
dispute between Ethan Allen, Benedict
Arnold aud Colonel Euston for the part
they respectively had in the capture OF IL
conderoga led at the time to the shedding OF
a good deal of ink over the honoTs of vic
tory which had fortunately been gained
without shedding drop of blood, and if
the critics of the present day have not
hauled Colonel Euston oyer the Goals for
making himself the hero Of that story, as
Captain De La Place felt obliged to do |
even while detained as prisoner of war, it |
may be because the echos of that old news
paper strife have failed to reach their ears. |
But it cannot be doubted that with the |
near approach of the centenary of the bat |
tie of Bunker's Hill the venerable histor- |
ical conundrum which raises question as
to the name Of the officer who commanded
the American troops in that engagement
will be set afresh for the rise and fall of
many local polybius in Boston and else
where.
Even as we write our friends in North |
Carolina are engaged in hand to- hand
contest with the historical iconoclasts who
are supposed to have lifted the hammer of
destructive criticism" against the ma
jestic images Of the Mecklenburg worthless.
And in this case the foes against whom
North Carolina has to contend are mainly
of her own household. Those who pro-
pose to themselves the pious task of build
ing an altar at Charlotte on the Goth in
slant to the memory Of the heroes who
declared independence of Great Britain
on the 10th OF May, l775," find themselves
compelled to work, like the children of
Israel when rebuilding the walls of Jerusa-
lem after the Babylonish captivity-with
the trowel in one hand and the sword in
the other.
If this contention is not without its an
noyances to those Of 1.-The North Carolina
people who have selected the Goth of
May as the immovable Red-Letter
Day on which they will commemorate the
it is also not without signal advanta-
ges which may serve in a large
measure to compensate for any controver
sial drawbacks upon the enjOyments OF a
festive occasion. The fervent heats of the
long CONTROVERSY which has been waged
over the genuineness and authenticity Of
the Declaration of Independence alleged to
have been made by the people OF Mccklen-
burg on the Goth Of May, 1775, have in
deed gathered fresh vehemence in imme-
date prospect of the centennial anniversa-
ry now so close at hand, but it cannot be
doubted that the fires kindled by the con-
flict have greatly inhamed the zeal of the
votaries who are bent On keeping the ira
ditional faith as delivered aforetime, and as
still warmly cherished by large part of
the North Carolina people.
The champions OF the assumed Mecklen'
burg Declaration of Independence on the
Goth of May, IT'S, may find another CON-
pensation for the discredit cast upon that
document in the fact that its impugners
propose nothing more by their ''protane
tampering' than to extract what they call
a false brilliant from North Carolina
crown in order that they may insert in its
place diamond of the purest water and
serenest lustre. The contest, in fact, as
regarded from an independent and disin-
terested point of view. may be described a;
friendly rivalry between competing ad
mirers of the Mecklenburg heroes Of l775
each party contending for precedence il
the discovery of truth that each may place
what it deems the choicest garland on tn,
brOws of the venerable men whom all de
light to honor.
The questions at issue in the premises
may be briefly stated, though the discus
sions and side issues to which they have
led since the year 1919 are among the mos
prolix which have vexed the local history
of the country. On the 30th Of April IL
that year the Raleigh Register first pub
lished to the world what is now known al
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepen
dence, purportlng to have been adopted OF
the Goth Of May, 1775, and accompanied
with narrative protesting to recite tine
circumstances in which it originated. This
Declaration and narrative were handed
down by John McKnitt Alexander. who
represented himself to have, been secreta
ry of the meeting which adopted the Dec
laration, and the genuineness of the paper
was authenticated by certificate from his
son, the elder Alexander having died il
1917.
The paper, on its first publication, was
Jefferson animated that it was probably
quiz" John Adams confessed an entire
want Of faith in its authenticity, and gavt
his reasons for holding that the documen
could never have been sent to the Cont
mental Congress, as was declared in tn,
accompanying narrative. Thus put upoI
their defense, the members of the legisla
ture of North Carolina in lS3O-3l appoint
ed a committee to collect evidence il
support of the document, and this com
mittee gathered the testimony of fourteen
witnesses, who state, with more Of
less Of particularly, that they were pres
ent at meeting in Mecklenburg durin,
the year sl775, when independence wa
declared. All these witnesses, in givinl
their testimony, knew of the publication
ma1ein 1919. Seven of them confirm it
date as fixed by John Mcknight Alexan
der. The other seven decline to be explic
1t on this point. They all spoke from mem
ory, after lapse of from forty-fve to fifty
five years. None of them were sworn, a
is commonly represented in the mucl
loose writing current on the topic.
Seven years after the publication Of thi
states evidence a set Of patriotic resolu
tons, adopted by 1.-THE committee of Meek
lenburg" on the 3lSt Of May, 1775, wa
discovered by Peter Force in an old news
paper of that year. These resolutions Gi,
not contain an unconditional and irrevoca
BILE declaration of independence, but as
sumed its provisional existence in conse
quence of the lapse of British authority
The terms and purport of the resolution
~ ind nknA IL