Part 15 (1/2)

CHAPTER XXII.

GOVERNOR MARTIN AND THE REVOLUTION.

A. D. 1771 TO 1774.

James Hasell, as President of the Council, a.s.sumed the conduct of affairs until the arrival of the new Governor. This new Governor, Josiah Martin, was born 22d April, 1737, and had been a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, which position he was obliged to resign on account of his health. He then sought civil employment and was appointed Governor of North Carolina. He was a far more honorable man than Tryon. He had no unworthy favorites, as Tryon had, and concocted no selfish schemes for his own benefit or that of his family, but was exceedingly obstinate and strict in the observance of royal prerogatives. Unattractive in his manners, and very positive in his opinions, he sometimes failed to withhold the manifestations of his displeasure towards those who might happen to differ with him, no matter how honestly. Perhaps, however, in the fierce antagonisms of the times in which he ruled in North Carolina, his real virtues were not appreciated as they deserved.

1771.

2. Governor Martin met the a.s.sembly, for the first time, in New Bern, on the 19th of November, 1771. At his suggestion, the Legislature pa.s.sed an act of amnesty toward all persons engaged in the war of the Regulation except Husbands and a few other leaders. Such wise and merciful action, however, was not to be the rule of his life.

3. It had long been felt that the taxes were exceedingly burdensome, and, from a statement made to the Legislature at this time, by one of the public treasurers, of the real condition of the public funds, it was seen that these taxes had been, for a time at least, unnecessarily imposed. The treasurer showed that a full collection of the amounts in arrear, for which security had been given, would discharge the entire public debt and leave in the public treasury the sum of twenty thousand dollars. A bill was at once pa.s.sed in both houses of the Legislature, and without opposition in either, discontinuing the special taxes that had been devoted to the extinguishment of the public debt.

Governor Martin, however, vetoed the bill, and thus began a series of conflicts with the Legislature that lasted until his expulsion from the province.

4. The repeal of the Stamp Act had been gratefully received; but Parliament still excited great apprehension by an express and formal a.s.sertion of its powers to tax America. It had cost immense sums to the Crown to drive out the French, and much money was still needed to pay British expenses in America. It was insisted that the colonies ought to pay their fair share in these burdens. The great question was, how this was to be done. If Parliament could levy what it pleased, then Americans were no longer free, in that they were not masters of their own purses.

Many propositions were made to arrange the difficulty, but none were satisfactory to both sides.

1773.

5. So dissatisfied was Governor Martin with his first Legislature that he speedily dissolved it, and did not permit a new one to meet until the last of January, 1773. The new Legislature met in New Bern, and the House gave notice of its temper by electing as its speaker John Harvey, of Perquimans, admitted on all hands to be the most earnest supporter of colonial rights in all the province. Upon every important subject of legislation the Governor and the new a.s.sembly were at variance, and he accordingly dissolved it on the 9th of March, declaring that it ”had deserted its duty and flagrantly insulted the dignity and authority of the government.”

6. The next a.s.sembly met in New Bern, on the 4th of December, 1773, and continued in session seventeen days, when it shared the fate of its predecessor, and was sent home with the injunction to consult with the people and learn their will.

7. Short as was the session, however, its action was most important. On the day after the session began, letters were received from the Legislature of Virginia and other colonies, proposing that each province should appoint a Committee of Correspondence. The proposition was speedily agreed to by the House of a.s.sembly, and a committee of nine appointed, with instructions to ”obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of administration, as may relate to or affect the British colonies in America, and to keep and maintain a correspondence and communication with all sister colonies, respecting these important considerations, and the result of such, their proceedings, from hour to hour, to lay before the House.”

8. John Harvey, Richard Caswell, Samuel Johnston, Joseph Hewes, Edward Vail, Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe, William Hooper and Robert Howe const.i.tuted the committee, and certainly, in North Carolina at least, it may be said there was never an abler one.

By this action the province took position with its sister colonies on the great question of the day. That the question was regarded as one of great importance and great gravity, if not of great difficulty, we need no other a.s.surance than that afforded by the character of the men into whose hands it was committed.

QUESTIONS.

1. On whom did the government next devolve? Who succeeded James Hasell? How is Governor Martin compared with some of his predecessors?

2. Where did Governor Martin first meet the a.s.sembly? What law was pa.s.sed?

3. What was the financial condition of the government at this period? What act was pa.s.sed concerning taxes?

4. How were the people excited by the English Parliament? What was the trouble?

5. How did Governor Martin act concerning the Legislature? What declaration was made by him?

6. Where did the next a.s.sembly meet, and what was done with it?

7. What letters were received during the session? What was done with the proposition?

8. Who composed the Committee of Correspondence? What is said of these men?

CHAPTER XXIII.