The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-05-07

and constitution of the country, and set
ting up system of rule and regulation
| repugnant to the laws, aud subyers y,
OF His Maiesty's Government.
We would respectfully ask the Char
lesion Courier whether this array o
testimony has removed its doubts 0
| the genulness OF document of whicl
| North Carolina is. and may well b'
proud:
! II it should object with Jefferson tha
! the Journals of the General Congress
contain no allusion to the fact, the an
swer is at hand. The posthumous me
NOR of Rev. Mr.. Hunter says expressl,
that Capt. Jack, who bore the Declara
ton TO Philadelphia, reported on his re-
turn, that Congress, individually, man
ifested their entire appreciation of the
conduct of the Mecklenburg citizens
bm deemed Il premature to lag them OH
ciaUy before tie House. In othel
words, Congress had not given up tn,
hope of reconciliation with the mother
country, and was not prepared for &
declaration of final separation.
Sustained by such mass of testi
mony, there never could have been {
doubt Of the truth of the Mecklenbure
| Declaration, had it not been for Mr.
Jefferson's attempt to give it the go-by
| in 1919, when the subject was mucl
agitated in the papers of the day. The
charge of plagiarism was made agains
| him, founded Oh the identity of four pas.
sages in that paper with four passage.
| in his own National Declaration. tx
| disprove the charge. he adopted tn,
summary mode of disputing the authen
| ITCHY OF the Mecklenburg paper; anC
not satisfied with this, endeavored tC
sustain that ground by foul charge 0
Toryism against VIM. Hooper, one 0
the North Carolina delegates in Con
| gress, and of lukewarmness on the par
of another, Mr.. Hewes. How thes,
charges have been disproved and lef1
without the shadow of shade of sup
port, is matter of history, which it i
not our purpose to enter upon.
But few facts are stated in the Apri
| 1S3Sl number of the Southern Literar,
Messenger, which have an importan
bearing upon the subject, acquitting
Mr.. Jefferson Of plagiarism, taking from
him the merit of originating some OF the
finest passages of the National Declara
! ton, aud adding strength, if strength
were needed, to the claims of the Meek
| lenburg Declaration.
The four phrases which are ide1tica
in the two Declarations are. dissolve
the political bands which have connect
| ed, ''-''absolve from all allegiance tC
| the British crown''-''are and of righ
ought to be-" and ''pledge TO each other
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor
Now the Messenger shows that tn,
second phrase is in the Virginia resolu
tions instructing their delegates in Con.
gress ito propose to that body to de-
| clare the United Colonies free and In
| dependent States;'' and that it occurs
| also, together with the first and tlirt
| phrases, in Mr. Lees resolution. moved
in accordance with that instruction
| That none of them were used 10y Mr.
Jefferson in his original draft, but wer,
| interpolated by the committee to whom
Mr.. Jefferson submitted it, as follows
the words thrown in by the committee
being in italics:
That these United Colonies are. dRt
of right ought to be, free and indepen
dent States; that they are dbSolred iron
all allegiance to tie British CroWn, dHt
that all political conHeGion bctueen HeD
and the State of Great Britain IS. dnc
ought to be, totaUy dixsoired."
''As to the last Of The four parable
phrases" says the Messenger, I'VE can
not trace them to any document. Ii
the Mecklenburg Declaration the phras,
stood, ''to the maintenance of which in
dependence we solemnly pledge to eacl
other our mutual cooperation, our lives
our fortunes. and our most sacred hon
orr In Mr.. jefferson Declaration, i
ran, land for the support Of this Decla
ration with a firm reliance upon Provi
dencel we mutually pledge to each 9th
er our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
homo -
The words in brackets were intro
duced by the committee We have
not been able to trace the origin OF this
phrase to any other source than The
! Mecklenburg paper; but it may be, i
! we had the State, or other papers o
that remarkable age before us, our re
searches might trace Mr.. Jefferson 5 t
some intermediate channel, OF to some
| common Fountain