magazine took fire, at which time several of his men were overboard hanging by the rigging-29 men out of 69 men were killed on board of com. W's barge, together with the commodore himself. In this engagement general Cropper had to contend with two white men and one negro, all armed with cutlasses, and boarding pikes, and defended himself with a musket and bayonet.—One of the general's antagonists struck him with a cutlass on the head, which nearly brought him down. In the middle of this individual conflict, the negro discovering his young master to be the person with whom he and the two white men were engaged, cried out, "Save him—he is my young master!"-Gen. Cropper afterwards set this faithful man free, and settled him in the city of Baltimore.-General John Cropper, was in the service of his beloved country about 45 years. Those who were acquainted with him, know how he discharged his duty in every station in which he was placed. Gen. C. retained to the last hour of his life the veneration and love he bore for the illustrious Washington, the savior of his country. He tried to imitate him in his conduct as a soldier and citizen. The deeds of this great, good, and illustrious American was the theme of general Cropper at all times. He could not bear to hear the least whisper derogatory to the character of the best of men ing of Monday, 15th of January, 1821, general | About the middle of the engagement, com. W's John Cropper, in the 66th year of his age, after an illness of eleven days. He embarked early in the cause of his country, and was chosen a captain, in the 9th Virginia regiment on continental establishment, when only nineteen or twenty years of age, and marched in December 1776, to the north to join the army under the command of the illustrious Washington. General Cropper was promoted from a captaincy in the 9th Virginia regiment to a major in the 5th Virginia regiment. Gen. C. was at the battle of Brandywine, when the 5th Virginia regiment was nearly cut to pieces, and from which, during the action, his colonel and lieutenant both ran away. Gen. C. then retreated with the remainder of the regiment, and lay concealed in some bushes on the battle ground, until near day-break of the same night of the engagement between mid-night and daybreak, he stole off and marched to Chester, with a red handkerchief lashed to a ramrod for colors. On Chester Bridge, general C. was met by the illustrious George Washington and general Woodford. The latter alighted from his horse, embraced gen. Cropper, and pressed him to his bosom and said, "He whom we thought was lost, is found." -Gen. C. was then promoted to a lieutenant colonel in the 7th Virginia regiment, and was at the battles of Germantown and Monmouth Courthouse. From the 7th Virginia regiment he was pro--and more than once has gen. Cropper been moted to the command of the eleventh Virginia regiment, by the Marquis De La Fayette, which regiment he commanded until his return to Virginia on the 30th of November, 1782. The day on which the preliminary articles of peace were signed at Paris, Gen. Cropper was engaged with com. Whaley, in the barge Victory, in the Chesapeake Bay, against five British barges, under the command of com. Perry. At the commencement of this engagement, there were attached to com. Whaley's squadron three other American barges, all of which ran off as soon as the engagement commenced, and left com. Whaley alone to contend with five British barges, full manned.—Com. W. had on board his barge 69 men, principally citizens of the counties of Accomack and Northampton. I deceased. personally engaged to defend his fame. Gen. C. had the honor to die possessed with a written document, from the pen of this illustrious personage, which evidenced the high opinion he entertained of the worth of the deceased as an officer. This document was treasured up as a miser would treasure his gold, and but few persons were permitted to read it, or hear it read. It was the more highly prized, because this illustrious general and statesman was cautious in discovering his opinions, or showing his attachment to individuals.-Gen. Cropper was the soldier's friend.-The deceased has left a widow and seven children, and ten grandchildren, to deplore his loss. The writer of this is one who was well acquainted with the ADDRESS NORTH CAROLINA. OF THE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA, were compelled to take for that salutary purpose. It is not to be controverted, that his ma TO GOVERNOR JOSIAH MARTIN, APRIL 1775. jesty's subjects have a right to petition for a To his excellency Josiah Martin, esq., captain redress of grievances, or to remonstrate general, governor, and commander in chief, against them; and as it is only in a meeting of in and over the province of North Carolina. the people, that their sense, respecting such SIR-We, his majesty's most dutiful and petition and remonstrance, can be obtained, loyal subjects, the members of the assembly of that the right of assembling is as undoubted. North Carolina, have taken into consideration-To attempt, therefore, under the mask of your excellency's speech, at the opening of this authority, to prevent or forbid a meeting of the session. We met in general assembly, with minds superior to private dissension, determined calmly, unitedly, and faithfully, to discharge the sacred trust reposed in us by our constituents. Actuated by sentiments like these, it behoves us to declare, that the assembly of this colony have the highest sense of their allegiance to the king of Great Britain, to whom alone, as our constitutional sovereign, we acknowledge allegiance to be due, and to whom we so cheerfully and repeatedly have sworn it, that to remind us of the oath was unnecessary. This allegiance, all past assemblies have, upon every occasion, amply expressed; and we, the present representatives of the people, shall be always ready, by our actions, with pleasure to testify; sensible, however, that the same constitution which established that allegiance, and enjoined the oath in consequence of it, hath bound his majesty under as solemn obligations, to protect subjects inviolate in all their just rights and privileges, wisely intending, by reciprocal dependence, to secure the happiness of both. We contemplate, with a degree of horror, the unhappy state of America, involved in the most embarrassing difficulties and distresses, by a number of unconstitutional invasions of their just rights and privileges; by which, the inhabitants of the continent in general, and of this province in particular, have been precipitated into measures, extraordinary perhaps in their nature, but warranted by necessity, from whence, among many other measures, the appointment of committees, in the several towns and counties, took its birth, to prevent, as much as in them lay, the operations of such unconstitutional encroachments. And the assembly remain unconvinced of any steps taken by those committees, but such as they people for such purposes, or to interrupt their proceedings when met, would be a vain effort, unduly to exercise power in direct opposition to the constitution. Far be it from us, then, sir, even to wish to prevent the operations of the convention now held at Newbern, or to agree with your excellency in bestowing upon them the injurious epithet of an illegal meeting. They are, sir, the respectable representatives of the people, appointed for a special and important purpose, to which, though our constituents might have thought us adequate, yet, as our meeting depended upon the pleasure of the crown, they would have been unwise to have trusted to so precarious a contingence, especially as the frequent and unexpected prorogations of the assembly, one of them in particular, as if all respect and attention to the convenience of their representatives hath been lost, was proclaimed but two or three days before the time which had been appoinied for the meetings, gave the people not the least reason to expect that their assembly would have been permitted to sit till it was too late to appoint delegates to attend the continental congress at Philadelphia; a measure which they joined the rest of America in thinking essential to its interest. The house, sir, neither know, nor believe that any base arts have been practised upon the people in order to lead them from their duty; but we know with certainty, that the steps they have taken proceeded from a full conviction, that the parliament of Great Britain had, by a variety of oppressive and unconstitutional proceedings, made those steps absolutely necessary. We think it, therefore, a duty we owe the people, to assert, that their conduct has not been owing to base arts, practised upon them by wicked and designing men; and have it much to lament, that your excellency should add your sanction to such groundless | with the other colonies in every effort to retain imputations, as it has a manifest tendency to those just rights and liberties which, as subjects weaken the influence which the united petition to a British king, we possess, and which it is of his majesty's American subjects might oth- our absolute and indispensable duty, to hand erwise have, upon their sovereign, for a redress down to posterity, unimpaired. of those grievances of which they so justly JOHN HARVEY, Speaker. complain. It DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. FROM THE RALEIGH REGISTER. is not probably known to many of our readers, that the citizens of Mecklenburg county, in this state, made a declaration of independence more than a year before congress made theirs. The following document on the subject has lately come to the hands of the editor from unquestionable authority, and is published that it may go down to posterity. We should feel inexpressible concern at the information, given us by your excellency, of your being authorized to say, that the appointment of delegates, to attend the congress at Philadelphia, now in agitation, will be highly offensive to the king, had we not recently been informed, from the best authority, that his majesty has been pleased to receive, very graciously, the united petition of his American subjects, addressed to him by the continental delegates, lately convened at Philadelphia. We have not, therefore, the least reason to suppose, that a similar application to the throne, will give offence to his majesty, or prevent his receiving a petition for the redress of [As the genuineness of this declaration of Ingrievances, which his American subjects have dependence has been recently questioned in different sections of the country, reference is a right to present, either separately or unitedly. We shall always receive, with pleasure, the particularly requested to an extract from a letinformation of any marks of loyalty to the king,ter written by Sir James Wright, Governor of given to your excellency, by the inhabitants of this colony; but we are greatly concerned, lest the manner in which you have thought proper to convey this information, should excite a belief, that a great number of the people of this province are disaffected to their sovereign, to prevent which, it is incumbent upon us, in this manner, solemnly to testify to the world, that his majesty has no subjects more faithful than the inhabitants of North Carolina, or more ready, at the expense of their lives and fortunes, to protect and support his person, crown, and dignity. If, however, by the signal proofs your excellency speaks of, you mean those addresses lately published in the North Carolina Gazette, and said to be presented to you, the assembly can receive no pleasure from your congratulations thereupon, but what results from the consideration that so few have been found in so populous a province, weak enough to be seduced from their duty, and prevailed upon by the base arts of wicked and designing men, to adopt principles so contrary to the sense of all America, and so destructive of those rights and privileges, it was their duty to maintain. We take this opportunity, sir, the first that has been given us, to express the warm attachment we have to our sister colonies in general, and the heart-felt compassion we entertain for the deplorable state of the town of Boston in particular, and also to declare the fixed and determined resolution of this colony, to unite Georgia, to the home government, of date June 20th, 1775,* one month after the date of that that "by the enclosed paper your lordship will declaration (May 20th, 1775,) in which he states see the extraordinary resolves by the people in Charlotte Town, Mecklenburgh county." This statement settles for all time, the authenticity of that declaration. The extract was recently furnished to the reviser of this work, March 7, 1876, by the Historical Society of Georgia.] NORTH CAROLINA, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, May 20, 1775In the spring of 1775, the leading characters of Mecklenburg county, stimulated by the enthusiastic patriotism which elevates the mind above considerations of individual aggrandisement, and scorning to shelter themselves from the impending storm, by submission to lawless power, etc. etc., held several detached meetings, in each of which the individual senti ments were " that the cause of Boston was the cause of all; that their destinies were indissolubly connected with those of their eastern fellow-citizens—and that they must either submit to all the impositions which an unprincipled and to them an unrepresented parliament might impose-or support their brethren who were doomed to sustain the first shock of that power, which, if successful there, would ultimately overwhelm all in the common calamity. Conformably to these principles, col. Adam Alex * See Georgia, p. 390. ander, through solicitation, issued an order to government of the congress: to the mainteeach captain's company in the county of Meck-nance of which independence, we solemnly lenburg, (then comprising the present county pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, of Cabarrus) directing each militia company to our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred elect two persons, and delegate to them ample honor. power to devise ways and means to aid and assist their suffering brethren in Boston, and also generally to adopt measures to extricate themselves from the impending storm, and to secure, unimpaired, their inalienable rights, privileges and liberties, from the dominant grasp of British imposition and tyranny. 4. Resolved, That, as we now acknowledge the existence and control of no law or legal officer, civil or military within this county, we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former lawswherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein. In conforming to said order, on the 19th of May, 1775, the said delegation met in Char- 5. Resolved, That it is also further decreed, lotte, vested with unlimited powers; at which that all, each, and every military officer in this time official news, by express, arrived of the county is hereby reinstated to his former combattle of Lexington on that day of the preceding mand and authority, he acting conformably to month. Every delegate felt the value and these regulations. And that every member importance of the prize, and the awful and present of this delegation shall henceforth be a solemn crisis which had arrived-every bosom civil officer, viz., a justice of the peace, in the swelled with indignation at the malice, invete-character of a Committee man,' to issue proracy, and insatiable revenge developed in the cess, hear and determine all matters of controlate attack at Lexington. The universal senti-versy, according to said adopted laws, and to ment was let us not flatter ourselves that preserve peace, and union, and harmony, in popular harangues-or resolves; that popular said county; and to use every exertion to spread vapor will avert the storm, or vanquish our the love of country and fire of freedom throughcommon enemy-let us deliberate-let us cal-out America, until a more general and orgaculate the issue-the probable result: and nized government be established in this then let us act with energy as brethren leagued province. to preserve our property—our lives,—and what is still more endearing, the liberties of America. Adam Alexander was then elected chairman, and John M'Knitt Alexander, clerk. After a free and full discussion of the various objects for which the delegation had been convened, it was unanimously ordained 1. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country-to America-and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man. INCIDENTS RELATING TO THE DECLARA- A number of by-laws were also added, merely to protect the association from confusion, and to regulate their general conduct as citizens. After sitting in the court-house all night, neither sleepy, hungry or fatigued, and after discussing every paragraph, they were all passed, sanctioned, and decreed, unanimously, about 2 o'clock, A. M. May 20. In a few days, a deputation of said delegation convened, when capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was deputed as express to the congress at Philadelphia, with a copy of said resolves and proceedings, together with a letter addressed to our three representatives, viz., Richard Caswell, Wm. Hooper, and Joseph Hughes, under express injunction, personally, and through the state representation, to use all possible means to have said proceedings sanctioned and approved by the general congress. On the return of capt. Jack, the delegation learned that their proceed 2. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from allegiance to the British crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our right and liberties-and inhumanly shed the innocent blood of American patriots at Lexington. 3. Resolved, That we do hereby declare our-ings were individually approved by the memselves a free and independent people; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power other than that of God and the general bers of congress, but that it was deemed premature to lay them before the house. A joint letter from said three members of congress was also received, complimentary of the zeal in the common cause, and recommending persever- them. If they are forgeries, they are highly ance, order and energy. The subsequent harmony, unanimity, and exertion, in the cause of liberty and independence, evidently resulting from these regulations, and the continued exertion of said delegation, apparently tranquilized this section of the state, and met with the concurrence and high approbation of the council of safety, who held their sessions at Newbern and Wilmington, and who confirmed the nomination and acts of the delegation in their official capacity. From this delegation originated the court of enquiry of this county, who constituted and held their first session in Charlotte; they then held their meetings regularly at Charlotte, at col. James Harris's, and at col. Phifer's, alternately, one week at each place. It was a civil court founded on military process. Before this judicature all suspicious persons were made to appear, who were formally tried, and banished or continued under guard. Its jurisdiction was as unlimited as toryism, and its decrees as final as the confidence and patriotism of the county. Several were arrested and brought before them from Lincoln, Rowan, and the adjacent counties. Declaration of Independence.-The following paragraph appears in the Essex Register of the 24th ult., in relation to the declaration of independence made by the citizens of Mecklenburg county, in this state, as early as May, 1775, which was originally published in this paper on the 30th of April, 1818, and which has been copied into most of the newspapers printed in the United States. "The Mecklenburg resolutions, as copied from the Raleigh Register, have not had universal credit. It has been surprising that they had been so long unknown. Though the publisher says they rest upon high authority, the public would be pleased to know more about criminal, and we agree, that "fictions of this kind, five and forty years after the pretended fact, ought to be discountenanced by every man of honor, and this in particular ought to be hunted from the dark cavern from which it originated. The more ingenious the invention, the more detestable." We can only say that, from the specious form in which they appeared, we were induced to copy them. They had so many circumstances that they could easily be exposed, if fictions; and, being printed in the state in which the resolutions are said to have been taken, they originated where these circumstances might be explained. We know not what part the representatives of North Carolina took in congress, and how far they availed themselves of the spirit they found in their constituents. With us, it was no objection that they were not published. We know the state of the press at that time, and the general inability to take a fair estimate of local opinions. As some doubts have arisen respecting the documents, it is of the greatest importance that the documents be examined and traced to their true history. These doubts involve some serious questions. We copied them from the press, and they have no object in northern policy. They are, if true, favorable to the south in which they appear. As they regard a period of our history in which every thing should be assist to more satisfactory knowledge of their clear and certain, we hope the publisher will true character." For the satisfaction of the respectable editor of the Essex Register, we are desirous of giving him, and others, who may have doubts as to the correctness of these documents, all the information in our power; and we feel confident, after we shall have done so, no longer doubt will remain as to the truth and reality of the proceedings in question. It appears, this Mecklenburg declaration of independence had, during last winter, been the subject of conversation at Washington, amongst members of congress; and that, in order to put the matter out of dispute, one of our senators, and the representative from the Mecklenburg district, in congress, wrote to gentlemen in that part of the country, most likely to give it, for satisfactory information in relation to this matter. Our senator received the following answer to the letter which he wrote on this ocasion: "ALEXANDRIA, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N. C. February 7, 1819. "SIR-Your application to gen. Joseph |