The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-28
ror the b 4rncr aud Mu,h-.ic.
The Cho~an County Declaration
OF undergraduates, June ieth,
1878.

vrban the Committee came to act upon II
NAV here state, before proceeding iurth-
ar. can be sustained only 10 this extent
the later body Was actll1 un",r lnsiruc
tons, a a platform ady adopted az
proceeded not 10 ..urI5 thens,If,s ~
the DISCUS, Of '.u a.les, but " ,.eie
Is. a We thin all a. peai ia Q aTtl
Gle. Until the al, Ser was Ieccls ron
Philadelphia, uL,.e Was no. ,'e- the
sentLlanoe Of recantation, and even then,
oDly the semblance. The Committee
disIatch i now generally accepted asthe
only paper the royal governor ever saw,
anu L> understood that. as did its author,
as declaring all entire dissolution oi the
laws" Rightly interpreted, whatever
may to said Gf L, DIP ma turn, aud
he object it was int.uied u accom-
plish, the paper in the ram I the Com
mittee was never understood, at It's home,
as a recautatlon.
The D~nreatal evidence of the original,
Of which We now have the Williamson
Davie copy, Wa, doubtless, clear to you
as meaning the testimony Of ii. There
were certainly these. II any confdeEce Is
10 be placed in human testimony, but
how many authors, and who were the, {?
The an,wer would require to long a
depression.
Our present task is to proof,ead the
Chowan Declaration.
During the session of the Convention
of the North Carolina Protestant Epis-
copal Church last May in Charlotte. !
made the acquaintance of the able aud
acceptable rector If the church at Eden
ton. Rev. Robert B. Draue. From him
| learned that, in cele brating the 18th of
July in that ancient town, which worth
ilv perpetuates the name of "a colonial
Governor. it had long been the custom
rn occasionally read in connection with
the national document, another which
hid been signed by the members of the
old Committee of that county prior TO its
companion, as containing Ill different
language, about the same sentiments.
As the reader will obs rye, the first
clause of some seventeen words or more,
garbled from this instrument, would
present a Test which the most loyal
tory would have cheeriully signed but.
the whole per, taken as written, is
found onlv ~ tender to Great Britain the
semblancc ui d conditional allegiance,
winch size would not, and could not, ac-
sept. Here Is the document, with that
potion ol Rev. Nj. Dralc ; letter, which
ailuues 10 L:
EDENToN, n. c., July IS, 1883.
.ur. Il. II. Graham, Charlotte, ". c..
My Dear Sir:-Ou page PA of the
Nestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Eden
ton, Chowan county, n. e., may be
found the Declaration, of which ! sen
you Il copy:
I'VE, the subscribers, protesting our
allegiance to the King and acknowled-
gang the Constitutional Executive power
of Government, do solemDly profess,
testify, and declare, that We do absolu-
tely believe that neither the Parliament
Of Great Britain, nor any Member, or
Constituent Branch thereof, have a right
10 impose Taxes upol these Colonies to
regulate the internal Policy thereof and
that all attempts by Fraud or Force TO
establish and exercise sucE claims n
/, wers arc Violations of the Peace and
Security Of the People, and ought to be
resisted to the utmost, and that the Peo-
,le of this Province, slngly and coilec-
lively, are bound by the Acts and Resolu-
tious of the Continental and the PrOvlu-
cial Congresses, because in both they are
freely represented by persons chosen by
themselves, and We do solemnly and sin
| cerely promise and engage under the
sanction of Virtue, Honor, and the Sac
l. i Love of Liberty and Our Country, to
maintain and support al, and every the
Acts, Resolutions, and Regulations of the
said Continental and Provincial Con-
gre,ses to the utmost of our power aud
ability.
In Testimony whereof we have hereto
.et uuI hands this 18th of June l776*.
Rich'd Hoskins, Thos. Bonner.
David Rice, VIM. BOYD,
Aaron Hill, Thos. Benbury,
Pelatiah Walton, Jacob Hunter,
VIM. Hinton, John Beasley,
William Bennett, William Roberts.
The above presents the manuscript
just as received. 1t exhibits a free use
of initial capital letters, evidently for
sake OF emphases. Is not the verdict of
the good people Of Chowan a righteous
one, that this paper Is worthy to be read.
as an elder brother of the more formal
and general declaration promulgated at a
latter date from Philadelphia? Great
Britain, in the first part, or preamble, is
only tainted with the shadow Of an
allegiance, which had inevitably and for
ever passed beyond her recall. We have
already seen that the Rowan County
Committee, Whose members had heard
with approval the reading vi Mecklen-
burg's official dispatch on its way to Con
greSS, containing some of the grounds on
which 1.-The citizens" had declared them
selves independent, set up a new govern
ment, and recommended the same to the
Continental D~elegates,) made no for
maj declaration" Tor themselves. but
awaited the answer from Philadelphia.
Nevertheless they soon after planted
themselves squarcly upon the Mecklen
burg Declaration 6y u recorded cote, sur
rendering the right of jurisdiction over
certain citizens 10 this one instance, and
thanking the parties making the arrest Of
ID. and b, under the circumstances.
AM this too, after her Continental Lale-
gates had postponed a consideration of
the Meckienburg Constitution Tor such
Is really the contents OF that Dispatch
as premature. Rowan was as good as
her word, our enemies themselves being
judges The gallant Tar.eton has te>ti,
fled that M~ecklcnburg and Ruhon was
The most rebellious district in America.
Rowan, as We shall see, also had this
Edenton Declaration. The o%riyina, entry
on the Vestry Book l. cherished as a
document well worthy OF IA sect.o which
was the home of IA John Harvey, a
Joseph Hewes, a Samuel Johnston, and
a William HOOPER. The foremost rebel
In all this Western world. vas Alexander
Craighead. the independ, mt hero OF Mid
die Octorara, aud liz the cause of lelig-
ion the colaborer of " hitfieid. l. was
remarked of the ~versa!.l. abi.ity o Geo.