Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-06
sHlsTOEICaL HoRNEIs NEST.

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Such is the phrase by which the Nor
York Herald c-haracterizes the contro-
versy about the H~ecklenburg Declara-
ton Of Independence. The phrase,
however. Is itself historical, and Irving
quotes it II his life Of Washington. 1t
is attributed to Lord CORVALLIS, whose
army was once posted in Charlotte,
y. c., and who pronounced that village
"gbe hornsts nest Of North Carolina.
Washington Irving accepts also the
tradition that M~ecklenburg was t1e
.heady, high-minded county where the
first Declaration Of Independence had
been made This sobriqu55 Of "hor-
nets n-st well expresses the cEarac-
ter Ct the old Scotch,Irish immigrants,
combining the impTessiyensss Of the
C=ls with the strong convictions Of the
Gaelic Co7euanters. The Herald builds
on this expression q very reasonable
argument IL favor of the traditional
MscEeuburg decumsnt Of hay %.
The hornets were in session over
their own grievances on M4y I9. 1775,
when news reached ChtflGtte OF the
battle Of Lexington, which had oeodr-
red lust u mgnEreTious. What
more natural tran hat they should
forthwith adopt exactly the form Of
resolutions a5erilel Il them. But
they were aLcad oi-PUhFs neut,
and their Declaration Of Independence
was suppressed as beng lBLeto IN
lure the cause, while TIE more cqnssry-
atfve resolutions .cf eleven days later
were circulated and published all over
the country II order to iuli runners
about their first hasty action. Such Is
the theory Of the Herald, which, it
thinks, completely answers all the
cavils of historical ic9Eocla=ts. The
Emsncipatign proclamation IN cur Owl
day Is cited as an illustration. There
were ardent Abolitiou.s-s who spoke
out boldly for cmancipauya n the very
beginning Of our civil war, and even
before It commenced. But the Bepub-
Iigan party as a body diseountcnauCed
and bcliltlcd them, because, although
the party thought the contest might
ultimately come to that, a. knew that
TO make that issue in the outset would
digunite the North and defeat its
cause. If President Lincoln
could have secretly suppressed
the premature emancipation orders
Of Gen. Fremont in Missouri and Gen.
Hunter in South Carolina, he would
Enthusiastically have done 50, but the
press had already published them be-
fore he could act. The journalism of
a century ago was not 50 gItcrprisi8g,
and the Mecklenb 1rg Declaration was
suppressed as being premature. This
view certainly explains away the his
tor.cal difficulties and leaves unim-
peach,d thc,testimouy Of the fourteen
Witnesses who werc'stil living in 1881,
and swore before a committee Of The
North Carolina Legislature that they
had participated in the meeting ofsMay
20, I775.
In this connection a fact may be
stated not generally known, namely.
that. toward tie close u the war, Sher-
mans men destroyed many of the doc
uments bearing upon this Mecklenburg
question. A Raleigh correspondent
writes.
ETozt. Il not al. of The documents,
Iotn in manuscript and Ia print, beal-
ilr MO- tLe early history OK the Colo
nv and State Of North Carolina We're
carefully and almost saaredly preserved
In the STATE Library here until lie
close Of the late war. Unfortunately,
and sad 10 relate, that receptacle OF
literature and historic lore was ruth
lessiv invaded by SheTman.s bum
mers' in 1865. and most Ct the dOcu'
ments and publications were either
stolen or destroyed by the ConqucriGg
hut needless soldiers. Many private
libraries IN this and adjoining States
suffered from the same source, and
many priceless gems OI literature were
tLss ~lrre;lieyably lost % postellty.
Owing 10 this sad calamity, historians
and others In quest of information on
the subject Of the Mecklenburg Decla-
ration are left without the authorities