The New York Herald Newspaper, May 8, 1875, Page 3

¢ emer A ee TICONDEROGA. Thteresting Reminiscences of the Revolutionary Period, Abercrombie’s March from Lake George | to Lake Champlain. pe Pee lg Ppa Gr be iT , Ethan Allen’s Address to the Green Mountain Boys. The Vicissitudes and Victories of the Colonial Soldiery. PROGRAMME OF THE COMING FESTIVITIES. TICONDEROGA, May 5, 1875. All that has been spared of this little provincial aistrict ies midway between the Lakes George and Champlain, being just two mules distant from each other. The outlet of tne former, leaping in cataracts and tumbling over rocks, runs right through the hears of the village, and, before the Gre, moved iis factories and turned its mills. Hence, flowing on in a circuitous course, it Gnally empties itself into Lake Champlain. On every side of its boiling, seething waters ‘all mountains ascend heavenward, dangerously Drecipitous, bus grand and picturesque in the extreme, It was clong these mountain sides that one hundred years ago were enacted some of the most exciting scenes or the Revolution, It was beside this stream that the magnificent army of Abercrombie made its historical passage from | lake to lake, and just above the spot where the Waters mingle with Champlain below, that their grand army suffered its overwhelming defeat. On Monday next ali these events will be com- memorated in story and in song, and hence there ls no more interesting theme at present thana description of the celebrated march, a review of ‘he country over which the journey was made, and the account of its attack, repulse and retreat. Your correspondent, securing an admirable guide, one Mr, dcCormick, a gentleman tamiltar with the | territory and well versed in its historic recoliec- tions, proceedea to Lake George \his morning, and from tnence journeyed to Lake Champlain, pursuing exactly the same route that Avercrom- bie traversed more than acentury ago. Te Lol. lowing are the detatis of the journey :— ADERCROMBIE’S ARMY. It may be safely said that one of the grandest historic scenes ever witnessed was the celebrated passage of Abercrombic’s army vown the waters ef the Horicon, now known us Lake George. This passage was effected on the morning of Tuly 6, 1753. The sum rode gioriously in the heavens, and the tall, oversiadowing mountains, Which everywhere enclose the lake, echoed the | sound of martial music, and the cam, quiet deptns of the waters reflected the gleam and glitter of burnisnea arms, Abercromvie had under his command a | Motlla made up of 1,000 batteaux, @ large Bumber of rafts mounted with artillery and 16,000 meu. slowly but grandly did the expedition pass down the lakes, the rangers and light iniantry oc- cupying the front, the regulars the centre aud tne | provincials the right ana left wings. In the grand Solitade and silence o! tne morning, disturbed only by the shrill voice of birds, the sight, thougu ex- tremely beautitul, was, for the locality, more than Qsually strange. The flotilla, pausing a littie while St Sabbath Day Point, flaaily disembarkea @t Howe's ianding, and it was to this point thar your correspondent early this morning repaired. | ‘The landing is sili known to the travelling pub- Me, aud is located ina ilttle cove. On the morn- img 0: the 7th Abercrombie began to move, aud, Starting irom this landing, your correspondent | took up the same line of marcn, the ruggedness of the path rendering it necessary for him to walk, tory has a@ratzer decatled description of the y along the west bank of the outlet or river, ‘and it was only now and then that my cuide andi ‘Were puzzled concerning the actual advance. I never saw a wilder country than thac through Which this army passed, as it is even now, and we | can well imagioe that tue route pursued was | paiofal and siow in the extreme. It was princi- pally along mountain uplands and through rav- ipes—the one made up of sharply pointed crags | and the other filled with Drush and brambie—that the soldiers proceeded. These mountain sides are tm many instances whoily inaccessible to man, and oas)6©@)6rrule «all are dangerous to apy save by the most cautious ascent. The sheep feed upon their tops; aud this pasturage, where it exists, is hence richer and more verdant 0D the sides than onthe summits. The scenery | given | among their decreasing ranks, | stream of fire poured trom the French levies. | heaviest and most effective firing was done, and | stance could any inscription be found. A little | its base was missing while its top was lying flat all along the rough, broken course is always grand and very often alarming. A shower came up as 1 Passed down. The sky seemed to change cvlor | dvery Moment, and the mountain tops were en- | feloped in clouds and sombre darknessI saw a — porge so well protected by its overtopping rock tnat after the shower was over it was | as Gry as belore the rain, At every step | 1 tek my ears were greetea with the sarill cry of frightened birds and the crash and thunder of waterfall and cataract. Now ana | then finding my way up some ep prociivity | Aview would burst upon my eyes so magnif- | @entthati could out pause and regard it with | Speechless admiration; almost every variety of tree and busn girded the mountain’s edge—the ash, poplar, walnut, birch, hemlock, cedar, butter- Hut, basswood and beech—all strictly indigenous to the soiland growing unattended by any mor- tal band. Such was the line of marcn of that gooa army; we can well believe that even the officers were forced to cut their | Way onward through this wilderness with toner Swords, As tley advanced the jeet of the men ‘Were cut by the rock aad plerced with tne bram- | ble, ond everywhere iney journeyed lithe and poisonous serpents rose in their path and dis- puted their rignt of way. At last, after many hours of weary, painful aud aimosi disheartening Warching, Abercrombie reached the point where this little village now is, and paused right over there across the stream, which he bad lollowed | ail the way irom Lake George to Ticonderoga. The | fort he was wauting to besiege was only two miles | away. LRT THE READER ADVANCE head of the English army aod see what is veing | done about the fort. In those earthworks thrown | Gp thousands Of yards irom the wails trowniog Bish avovo Lake Champlain the French were ac- Hively engaged strengthening their works and throwing out oew, s\tong and speariike abvattis, Their movements were concealed, and the almost | impenetraoie forest rendered their enemy inca. pable of correctiy estimating their strength. Tus Wes shown by the fact that woen Abercrombie Sent out an English engineer to repoit conccra- 1 @ fortifications he revarned with the answer that they were very weak, poorly manned, @od that tie Engiish army could capture them Without any serious trouvie or great loss of life. Out, then, irom the bordera of ths Bow rulted village Abercrombie marched his soldiers in aii the magnificence of military dis- play. He vid not wait for bis artillery, siowly ap- Preaching from the roar, but proceeded coal. Gently Without it, Down toe naturai path that 1 can sce from my window as I write the soldiers continued thelr steady tramp onward, the great Boncourse OF sodiery making up o strange bus Wm, voting spectacie. Toe army waa formed in bites aer—tirst camo the rangers, batteau won ‘id the highs infantry; next wore the provinciais, Mareding With wieat spaces Letweea each regi- Ment, While beiind these the reguiara were formes iu volnaa, | ViamLering up tue ateep pro | grave error and mistake. Daddy, while be lived, | sides, NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, MAY 8, I875=—TRIPLE SHHT. OLD TICONDEROGA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. the fort, and. penetrating the dense thickness ef the forest, they soon reached the long line of earth- works thrown up by the Frenen ana guarded by the sharp abattis. Steadily and with the coolest courage and precision the regiments are wheeled into line. Noshotis fred from benind the earth- Works, and all that can be seen is an occa- sivual French cap, The English sound the sigua! for assault. The instant, this is a line of blazing fire fashes from behind the earthworks. Hundreds fall in death, and the English, dashing maaly at the abattis, are met with a round Of cannot shot that, for we mo- ment, spreads destruction, terror and panic Saplings are cut asunder, trees cragn over their heads and the | earta seems crumbling underneath their very feet. i In an instant, however, the panic is over, tne ranks are filled again and another dash is made uvon the works. Tne English become entangled tn the abattis. They can netther retreat nor advance, and all tha while this dreadtul galling fire pours upon them from bebind the breastworks, Lost to order, discipline or even consciousness, the Scoten Highlauders hack at the abattis, formed of trees, with sharply pointed limbs, and try to hew their way out with their broads words in vain, One regiment of Highlanders alone loses two-thirds of its men and twenty-five of its officers. A few, more daring, free themseives from the abattis, reach the earthworks, only to ne plerced to the heart with French bayonets, The Engiish still do wot yield. They heard only one command when they started. It was “advance.” Once more they formed their shattered lines, Two columns charged to the right, another at the centre, a third upon the lert. Another crash of small arms, another burst of cannonade, ana again hundreds bite the dust. Abercrombie during all this carnage and blood+ shed was in the rear, and it was only the cool courage and wonderful bravery of Montcalm that inspired the soldiers to face such feariul odds, He knew the moment the first charge was made that the English had greatly underrated the strength ofthe french, and ielt thereupon that he was contending against hope. But yet no command came irom Abercrombie to cease the slaughter. Finally, the line being utterly disorganized, the British soldiers began firing uponeacn other. The havoc was terrible, and all the while asteady | At last regiment after regiment began an indepen- | dent, unconcertea retreat, leaving 2,000 dead | bodies upon the ground. The provincials covered | their fight, Tne fgnt had waged far mto tae | night, and, as the English outnumbered the French fourfold, the latter restrained pursuit on ac- count of the darkness. 1saw to-day the location | of the ground upon wuich this terrible battle ensued, A new growth of timber covers it | Dow, but the long, circuitous earthworks | of the French lines are distinctly marked | on the landscape. They are located some | distance irom the fort, but in ready access to it. | | A gully about five ieet deep shows where the the location of the abatis can be plainly seen, I faw also a tree, a large Oak, standing a . nthe receding slope. tt marked the 8,4, be,oud which Abercrombie could not approach, ¢>a irom which he began his retreat. It bore . p ae board upon which was inscribed :— Caeee ne neenel tELESE OEE LELEEDLE SELLE OLELELE DEE: 1 PE g ABEKCROMBIE’S DEFEAT. H JULY 8TH, 1753. Loss 2,000, Be Reet) Se Does ag BUN aed IO Passing this historic spot, clambering over t! heights of the old French eartnworks and running along their deep excavations, Fort Ticonderoga appeared a little ways ahead of me, its crumbling ruins presenting a weird and pecullar impression, To reach itl must descend into a little vailey de- clining lakeward and afterward creep up the nigh | craggy promontory upon which it stands. | As I was going up the bili I came across & Stretch of ground so strange in shape | ana contour that 1 instinctively felt that it | was a cemetery, and that I was waiking over the graves of hundreds of soldiers, whose memory a hundrea years ago at their burial was forgotien, and none of whom ever had a single stone to give his name to posterity. Here and there a little rot- | ting piece of plank woald be driven in the ground | at the foot of some bauk of earth, Dut im no in- | further up the hill { discovered a marbie slab. It bad been broken in twaim by some rude band; upon the earth. It read as follows:— OLD DADDY RICE. Uld Isaac, or Old Daday, as every one used to call | him when alive, bad for years and years lived About the fort, and up to the time of his death nad acted a8 guide to all its visitors, He wasa plain, simple-minded, silvery hairea ola man, borne down with the rheamatism and almost crushed by bis years. He would take people around the place, tell them much of its former history, and alas! many & person relying apon what Daday told nim, though the old man believed every word he ut- tered to be as true as gospel, has fallen into was always bappy, and if the old man’s head sometimes conceived incorrect ideas and reported | things as true which never bappened, his errors, for the most part, were so paipavle that no stu- dent of history could oe very well wisied by them, One day Old Daddy died, and they buriea nim under the suadow of the rains over which he had clambered for almost haif a century. Some kind | hand reared a plain white siab to his memory; bat other bands, rude @nd sacrilegious, have vroken it, and no doubt Daddy's grave will soon be lost to | identification, a8 are the graves of many others, FORT TICONDEROGA. 1 passed through the cemetery—it has no fence about it—climded over Quother old breastwork, Went dowa into a gully, elther side of which was wailed up, and through it found my way into Fort Ticonderoga, The past history of the tort can bo easily told, ‘It was built by the French in i760, Abercrombie, a8 just reiated, assauited its ave- nues and approach in 1758 {t was captured ur Amuerst in 1759, recaptured by Ethan Alien in 1776, and evacuated before Burgoyne by St, Clair intue year 1717. Its present ruins teli their own meiancholy story. Save a few portions of tae which stand here and there ajone, with great intervals between them, it is simply a con- fused masse of mortar and stone, piled up in irregu- jar veaps, The old parade grouna in the centre, the barracks of the soldiers, the quarters of the officers bave all been cestroyed. No one, from ite present appt ace, can tell how it louked 100 Jears ago. All the underground passages ani covered avenues are either eatiroiy or partiauy closed up, Gud Laou;h in some instances one can Tun Jor a littie distance along their former limits, lus course Is sooa laterrupted by Leaps uf ruvoien | and brokea rock, Tuere is One apartizent, however, pretty weil preserved, {cis wderground, belay arched over- Dead with solid Masonry, and approached by five different entrances. Old Daday Kise and several bistoriaus insist Upon oalliny this the bakery of the wrt, ‘This ridiculous, Met only on account | the fort. | greatinterest. Ilooked in vain to find the spot | that remain of it; not oy any means sudicient to je forcarriages Mt.Defiance, a very high hi supposed inacce: C2 a 4 yoerend of its peculiar size and construction, but on ac- count of its immediate connection with all the old avenues ‘leading to it underground, There was no necessity of building a bakery under the earth’s surface, and no one, I believe, ever saw & bakery with four exits and entrances, Besides, had itever been a bakery, the influence of heat and smoke would even now be seen upon its ceil- ing and walls, which ts not the case. Alter creep- ing through its main entrance on my hands and kpees, | (ound myself in asolid fireproof com- partment, thirty feet square, and about filteen high from the floor to the keystone of 1s aren. It was filled witu ice and snow, and after my eyes had become a little familiar with the darkness, I noticed the four entrances mentioned above, 1 tried to crawl througn each of them, but all were filled up. From | their appearance, however, I feel sure that they | once lead to stairways, which im their tura lead up to the parade ground. if was very partic. ular in my Investigation, and am quite sure that this ia the very *‘bomoproof’” under which the soldier made his escape alter snapping his fusee at Colonel Ethan Allen. Everything seems to in- Gicate that it isa bombproof, Studying tne origi- nal construction of the tort, f ind that a bomb. proof could only conveniently be located im this place. We know at least tnat there was & bombproof, and it is not likely that a bombproof would crumble to pieces before a bakery. Aside from this bombproot, or what- ever it may have been, notcing else remains in- tact—every other thing has gone to rack and ruin, Groping my way from the bombproof I clambered up the sides of an ancient underground passage way and gained the promontory om which the fort stands. It commands a magoificent view of Lake Champlain in both directions, Sweep- ing tne outlook with a Meld glass I could see on the other side Hand’s Cave— the very ideatical place where Ethan Allen mustered his cighty-three meno, ant irom which he proceeded to cross the water for the capture of p-nld also see Willow Point, where he landed, o“Sig,vestern shore, some distance to- | ward the bp $430 \1 Visited this spot, and the wil- lows are groW.se Were still—not the same wil- lows, of course, but willows of the same variety. It was here, on that memorable morning of May 10, 177 that Allen, gathering nis valiant eighty-three under tue shade of the willows, said to them:—‘“Friends and fellow soldiers, you have for @ numoer of years past been @ scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your valor has been famed abroad ang acknowleaged, as appears by the advice and orders to me from the General Assembly of Con- necticut to surprise and take the garrison now before us. Il now propose to advance before you, and in person conauct you through the wicket gate, forwe must this morning eituer quit our pretentions to valor or possess ourselves of this fortress in @ few minutes; aud inasmuch as it is @ desperate attempt, which none but tne bravest ofmen dare undertake, Ido noturge it on any contrary to his will You that will undertake voluntarily poise your frelocks.”” Every Green Mountain boy poised his firelock, nd the little band started in the direction of the fort. 1 went over the same ascending ground, and thouge tl is no mark now by which I couldlearn w ie wicket gate stood, vestiges of the location of the sallyport remain where Alien’s lite Was saved by @ sentinei’s gun missing fire. Remains of the covered way, through which Allen rushed into the parade ground surrounding the barracks, are aiso to be seen, and at the com. ing Centennial, on Monday, will be viewed wita where stood the commandant’s quarters, before the entrance of whicn Ethan Allen demanded his surrender “In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.” Of course { could locate the place relatively, but not one beam or stone of the structure can be identified, though in trying to find it I have no doubt that my feet were bruised against much of the original material used in its construction. After this has been said the fort, as it is at present, may be regarded as fully deserived. The great piles of stone, the ac- cumulated heaps of rubbish, and two or three shattered walls staading here and there are ali remind one what It once was, THE ALLEN OBNTENNIAL, Ali the places 1 have described, the route over wuieb I just journeyed, the scene of Aber- crombie’s defeat, and the rains of tue old tort, are to oe Visited again by the many hundreds wuo, on Monday next, will gather to this little village to celebrate the centenaial of Allen's capture of Ticonderoga. The citizens of the place have ade dressed the following card to the public: CaRD, Faizxps—Owing to our very disastrous duced to ashes aliost the eutire vasiness Village, retarding busiuess purswits aud m: oor, oar Centennial Commitiee have tour d imybowsibie to Carry ous tue original commemorate the capture ot But tuere has been expres ba desire to Commemorata the ‘of Post Alired Weed. G, simple programme, Welcomin Sind assist to the baht of our ability in wa cises of (he day pias nz to aii who may au Taking into consideration our limited means and the | short tine in whieh to make arraugements we can only prepare tubies and asa you to Jom us in & grand union re nie. . hereby invited to attend the one hundreath an- nivorsary of the capcare of Fort ticonderoga, Muy WW, 1776, by kthau Allen and his Green Mountain Ho: Followinw the echo uf “thesho that was heard around the world” went out a voids from Hoonderoga, just 10) yours ago on the day we celebrate, Which curried terror o the bearts of 1 of oar fOCetNtNeLS. | Let, us All to the meuiory ot that voice. Ve eottully, ba apse ties Vow AuethO WHR, te ke Ke Trcoxpenoaa, N. ¥., April 20, 1875 ‘The lollowing is the programme :— “To the name of the great Jehovah aad the Continental longvess,"” 78. MAN ALLE wars. La CENTENNIAL at TICONDEROGA, lonpay, May 10, Ta78, ae tock moraling the capture of the tori | Tee RD LN UF AXE RUISE s, Reveilie—One hundred guns Sunrise—Reveilie—Ono huadre 9 to ly o'closk=iteception of luvited guests by Post | Aiired Weed. tio'cloce—Conso.tdation, of organized bodies aua re- view, uuder commana of Jenoral Hammond, 12)g o'diock —telreshments Picnic, APTRAXOON. 13g o'clock. Wormation of iive—organizations and iti. ns, 4 0'clook—Procession moves to tort grounds over th rouw takon by Binan Alien, May 1, ie br "draws * stand. “Ue Seloume—eune ‘Dye vasolluated bands Addresses by prominent men. Music. | Grand parede and military tactics Kanks broken and pixces of special interest visited, Escorting of guesis to cars and boats. PARTING SALUTE, Among the many prominent people to be pres- entmay be mentioned the names of Governor Tilden, of New York: Governor Peck, of Vermont, and ex-Governor Stuart, ofthe same State, who Will furniah the oration of the occasiop. Every- thing promises an tmmense concourse of people aud exercises of the most extraordinary interest. THE NATION'S JUBILEE. THE GREAT CENTENNIAL RALLY AT STEINWAY HALL—EXHIBITION OF THE GREAT TREES OF CALIFORNIA AND OUR LUMBER RESOURCES, The great Centennial meeting to be held at } Steinway Hall on the 22d of this monta promises tobe @ decided success. Among the prominent speakers on that occasion will ve Mr, William M, Evarts, Judge Van Cott aud other distinguished citizens who have identified themselves with the patriotle undertaking. Admission will be by Uckets, to be had on application to the Executive Committee, and it 18 expected that all the great commercial and financial bodies of the city, the Chamber of Commerce, the Proauce Exchange, the Stock Exchange, <c., will be fully represented, The meeting will be an admirabie medium of ex- pressing the views of the commercial and finan- clat world concerning the neeas of the Centennial and the part New York intends tu take ac the ex- sition, It is expected that this meeting will largely enhance the interest in the Centennial Among all classes of the comimunity. THE BECEPTION OF NEW XORK AND NEW ENGLAND MERCHANTS—A GREAT GATHERING OF LEAD- ING CAPITALISTS, PHILADELPHIA, May 7, 1875, The reception to the merchants of New York and New Engiand on Tuesday next by the mer- chants of Pailadeiphia, for the purpose of arousing interest in the Centennial and visiting the grounds for the Exhibition, at Fairmount Park, will be Ametoworthy event, It will be a larger gathering of grést capitalists and merchants than has ever assembled in this city. The preparations for it are ona mammoth acalc. The guests {rom New York and New England alone wili be one hundrod in number; {from the leading merchants’ hous they will come over from New -York in a special train provided by the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad which will take them direct to tue grounus as Fairmount, and will make tae distance irom New York in one bour and forty minutes, the iastest ti rT made on t road, The visitors will be re the grounds by che Philadelphia merchants and conducted over the grounds, aiter which there wili be a col- lation Belmont, with speeches of welcome, aud a history of the Centennial move- ment, witn interesting Information about its present condit! ACTION OF THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY IN RE- LATION TO THE ANNIVERSIMY. On the occasion of the sixty-ninth annual meet- ing of the New Bngland Society, which was heid at Delmonico’s on tne 22d day o/ December, 1874, it was unanimously resolved, ‘that it be referred to the Board of oOm- cers to consider what means, i any, hundredth anniversary of the battle of Bunker ul, on the 17th day of June, 1875” The Board of Officers, in accordance with tho resolu. | tion, have now determinea to partictpate in the | rand celebration to tuke place in Boston on that ay, and, at taeir last meeting. appointed the following named gentlemen to serve as mem- bers of a Committee o! Arrangements:—Hon, isaac H, Batley, Hon. Benjamin Poelps, Daniel F. Appleton, L. B. Wyman, William Borden, Jonn T. | Denny and L. P. Hubbaro. Last evening a spectal meeting of the society was held at Dejmonico’s, | Mr. Isaac H. Batley in the caair. Coloue! EB. L. Gaul offered the following resolu- tion, Which Was adopted :— Resolved, That wo accept the escort tendered by the id 3, the occasion of our proposed trip to Bosion on the 17th of June. On motion of Mr, Benjamin K. Pheips, seconded by Alderman O, P, C, Billings, an additional com- mittee of seven were appointed operate with tae commitree already « dectea, Tue membe: of rs | who propose participating in the celevration, aua who lave Hot as yet signified their iutentioa to do 80, UFO Tequested to ineet at the store of Oliver Ditson, No. 711 Broaaway, at jour o’ciock on next Tuesday afteravon, The members vi the joint committee Will meet at the same piace, at the same hour. PRESENTATION OF COLORS, The Twenty-second regiment became the willing gbests last evening of the ladies connected with the Lady Washington Department of the Homa@o- pathic Hospital Fair. Previous to the foal closing of the Jair 1t was aeemed a good idea by the lady managers to place & maguificest staud of colors on exhibition, 10 be donated to the regiment ov- @ MOS’ Votes, at the rate of $i vote. Lastevening the regimeut, doder command of Colonel Josiaa Porter, assembied at the Armory in Fourteenth street for the purpose vf receiving the stana of colors they nad thus galantiy wou. ent Was formed ou three sides Of a Judge Joun RK, who had been preseated two coore—voth State United States—accompanied by @& tull #ec oj regimentai guidous. Coldnel Porter responded on pevall of his regiment, gratefully thanking ladies connected witu the jair, Judge Brads, their representative, afd the fiieods of ae regiment in general for their kinduess, Tee regiment wow Then disinissed, and jo & lew Minutes aferward the “Delendams’ and their fair iriends were e joying themselves im dancin, Giumore’s fine band O1 sixty pieces Jurnished tae ma: excellent styl 2 SHOOTING AFFRAY. Magnus Kirk, asatlor on board the steamenip Erlo, reveatly arrived irom Liverpool, went wi aparty vf (elow tara into the Liquor salvon, No. 318 West street, yesterday aiternoom oud bézan drinking. A dispare so0m arose and a Gene ensued, In tl scul one of tue men drew & revolver and discharged it twice, ON O: the valid Ontering the shoulder of Kirk, passing tarough aod .odging fa his v Wo Oiner grazing his Neck. Lmumeoiately alter tha sneoting (he party separated, vil of the ors leaving the wa excepting Kirk, who was taken fo tho Bi preciuci wiativa Lous ad Ris ree dressed by Police Surgeon » He Was soem removed w Helevue lus to Go | in | MECKLENBURG. The Genuine and the Apocryphal Decla- | rations of Independence. ARGUMENT OF DANIEL R. GOODLOE. —_———+ The Certificate of John MeKnitt dlexander— | Proofs of Spuricusyess. H —-—_— CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE CONTROVERSY. WaRRENTON, N. C., May 2, 1975, ‘To THB Epiror oF THs HERALD;— The “Declaration of independence,” which pur- | ports to have been made by the people of Mecklen- | | burg county, North Carolina, May 20, 1776, is not universally received as genuine; while another declaration, put forth by the same people on the Sist day of the same month and year, ts aamitted | on all hands to be wnat it claims to be—tne proors of its genuineness being printed copies, found in several contemporary newspapers, published in | | charieston, New York and Boston, One of these | newspapers, the New York Journal, tor the year | | 1775, was in the possession of the late Mr, Peter | | Force, and was doubtless embraced in the vast historical collection sold by his executors to the — | Congress Library about five years ago. The most | | material of this series of resoives of May 31 may be | | seen in tnis New York Journalof June 29, They | | were founa vy Mr, Force about the year | | 1836, and were republished by vim in his | “American Archives,” and [ believe also in the newspapers of that day. In 1847 Mr. Bancroft, while Minister to England, obtained a copy of the whole series, twenty in number, from the Britisn | State Paper Office. They were found preserved in | the South Carolina Gazette of June, 1775, and along | with thei, a copy of the note of the royal Gov- | ernor Wrignt, of Georgia, to the Earl of Dart- | | mouth, Secretary of State, transmitting the “ex. | traordinary resolves by the people in Chariotte- | | town, in Mecklenburg county.” No historical | | event, thereiore, can be established on more satis- | factory proofs than those on which these Meck. | | lenburg resolves of May 31, 1775, are seen to rest. But in the course of fifty years, among a people so | little adaicted to writing, printing and publishing | as those of North Caroliua, all printed evidence of | this memorable event, so nonorable to the people | of the county, and of the State, had been lost to the public view; and, worst of all, the original manuscript records of the County Committee of | Safety, which tssued the resolves, were de- | stroyed by fire, in April, 1800, with the house of Mr. | John McKnitt Alexander, In whose care they were | placed. Tuese resolves are signed “by erder of | the committee, Eph. Brevard, Clerk of the Com- | mittee.” | THB DISCOVERY OF THE M’KNITT ALEXANDER DEO- | LARATION. rom the date of the destruction of th rece | ords, in April, 1800, until about the year 1935, when Mr. Force found four or five of the principal | resolves, with the preamble, in the New York | Journal, a8 above explained, they were entirely ost sight of, and were only treasured, with tho | | stirring events by which they were accompanied, | in the faging memories of a-few venerable pa- | triots, who participated in or witnessed taem. It | was in this long, oblivious interval between the publication of the resolves, May 31, 1775, and their | | aiscovery by Mr.Force, amid the heaps of news- paper files he had gathered from every part of the | country, that the paper known as the “Mecklen- burg Declaration,” of May 20, of the same year, | made its appearance, ‘The Raleigh Register, of | April 30, 1819, forty-four years after the event, | first published to the world this pretentious paper, accompanied by what purports to be the report | of proceedings of a public meeting of delegates | | elected by the several captains’ companies of the | | coumty @f Meckleaburg, These proceedings are | \Pat forth in the usual form and dated May 20, 1775. | Avram Alexander's name appears as chairman, a that of Johu MoKnitt Alexander as secretary. resolutions said to be adopted are in form and | substance an absolute and trrevocaole “Declara- | tion of Independence,” and embrace many of the characteristic forms of speech with whict the pub- lic is familiar as the language of tne American Declaration. Antedating, as the Mecklenburg paper does, by more than a year, the declaration made at Plaiiadelphia by the American Congress, ite appearance at once raised thé questions whether Mr. Jetferson, the author of the latter document, had been gullty of plagiarism, and how 1 Bappened that neither during the Revolutionary | era nor subsequentiy, up to the year 1819, no one out of North Carolina had ever seen or heard of this startiing manifesto. JOHN ADAM3 ON THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. It wassoon republished in Massachusetts, and met tne eye of ex-President John Adams, Tne ef | fect was to rekindle the fres of youthiul patriot- | ism in his venerable breast. Ina letterto Thomas | Jefferson, who was also on the Presidential retired | list, the enthusiasm of the sage of Quincy over the Oiscovery was only equalled by his amazement. | | How had be failed to meet with it in that crisis of | the Revolution? And would he not have made the halis of Vongress echo its stiring sentiments? How | could it have escaped the observation of all the earnest advocates Of independence in Massachu- | setts, in Virginia, and other States? He would have had {t pubiished in every Whig newspaper on | the Continent, 4c. Such, ia snbstance, were the emotions of enthusiasm inspired by this “Meck- lenvurg Deciaration of Independence” of May | 20, 1775, im the mind of Mr. Adams. In bis first | letter to Mr. Joferson on this subject, tu June, 1819, he manifests an uomtstakable readiness to believe in the geuuineness of the document, put not without an expression Of Ris amazement that it never before saw the light, The reader who is familiar wito the history of the two men— | Of woeir early /riendship, tueir subsequent rivairy and ationation, and, still later, when the polittoal batties of lie wore at an end, of their not too cor | dial reconciliatioa~cannot fall to detect in this | letter of Mr. Adams a degree of lurking satisiac- tion at the thought that his successfal rival would | Wince under the implied imputation of plagiar- jem, which the document, if genuine, would sus- tain, That this was bis feeling is manifest from a letter to William Bontley, written tn Jaly follow- ing, in whisa be says that Mr. Jefferson “must have seen {t, in the time or it, for he has copied the Spicit, the sonse and tho expressions of it ver tim into his Declaration of the 4th of July, 1776, But & montn later Mr. Adams bad changed lis wind, as appears frdm a letier dated Angast 21, to the same gentleman, lo Which he says, “I cannot believe that they (the resolutions) were known to oue member of Congress ou the 4th of July, 1770, Eitoer these resolutions area plagiarism jrom Mr. Jemerson's Declaration of Independence, or Mr. Jederson's Declaration of Independeuce is a pla- gia‘ism from those resolutions, 1 could #8 soun believe that the dozen flowers ot hydrangea now before my eyos were the Work of chance us that the Meckienvurg resolutions and Mr. Jeiferson’s Declaration were not{ derived the one trom the the other.’ Mr. Ad@tus, therefore, regardea “Mecklenburg Deciaration” as spurious, could not believe that it had beem seen vy one member of Congress on the 4tn of Jaly, 1770, ME, JEFFERSON'S POSITION, Mr. Jefferson was doubtiews ag much annoyed as Mr. Adams anticipated, and replied to the latter 1m One of his trenchant letters, In which he pointed out many facts tending to prove the docament to be spurious. This correspondence was not mate puv.io antil about tie year 1890, jour years after the death of those emin ten, which ocourred simditaneousiy ou July 4 1826, Au angry controversy immediately sprung: up, aod every North Jarolinian = eit bound tO Vindioate (he gemuinenoss of tm “Mecklenburg Declaration,” while the ardent ad. | mirers Ol Jefferson Were prone to be thoreduious, © Ou he 000 side Wore tie sojomD assevorations of @ Rumver of he Most Fespectabie men 1 wate, Who declared thas they were present im | | aoa See Charlotce, sue county town of Mecaienourg, of 1h 20th of May, 1775, and of others chat it wasin May, or at least prior to July 4, 1776; that a declaration of independence of Great Britain was mad¢ adopted; that a revolutionary goVv- ernment was established; that men werd appointed to collect arms and ammani- lion, and thas a messenger was appointed ta } convey the proceedings of the meeting to the Con- | Kress then sitting at Pavadelphta, ‘The people of North Carolina who knew these venerabie patriots could not and cannot doubt that they spoke the trutn to the bess of their knowledge and belies It Was impossivle thas #0 many good men should conspire to mvent or to sustain a gigantic lmpod« ture or a fraud of any Kind, SHA MARKS OF SPURLOUSNRES. On the other side were the marks of spurious- ness already alluded to—the suspicious points of resemblance to the immortal Declaration of the American Congress, coupled, with puerilities of which a man of sense and education would be ta- capable; the incredible statement that absolate and irrevocable imdependence could have been declared in North Carolina in 1775, and sent by express to Pluladelplia, aud yet that the startling fact never came to the knowledge of any member ol the American Congress, or to any one, so far aa can be ascertained, outside of the limited circle of those actually present; that, as was allegod by its earlier defenders (and by its latest, Mr. Wheeler), it was privted in the Cape Fear Mercury, and sent in that journal by the Royal Governor, Martin, to the British govern- mens, but thac it failed to awaken any sensa- Mon on that side of the Atlantic, and that all trace of it bas been lost. These are formida< ble and, to the minds of disinterested persons, fatal objections to the genuineness of the “*‘Meck- lenburg Deciaration’? of May 20, 1775; and there are others to be stated, which the inquiry has de- veloped, equally and some of them even more trreconcilabie with the asserted validity of thas document. GOOD FAITH OF THE WITNESSES. But I would have no one imagine that im held- ing this adverse opinion I for @ moment doubt the entire good faith of all the witnesses whose certificates and letters were secured by the friends of the ‘Declaration.’ They bore testi- mony to the reality of an event which had oc. curred from forty-five to fifty-ve years before their several statements were written, It is im- possible that they couid do more than recall the more striking circumstances, ‘The day of the mont and the language employed in a string of resolu- tions fre not among the salient facts. But & general notion of what was done and the names of the principal actors who figured on the oc- casion are the things that would be remembered. Again, the witnesses speak of several meetings preliminary to tne main one, and their contra dictory statements as to who took the lead in what each seems to regard 2s the principal event show that their iailing powers of memory re called aifferent days. These contradictory state- ments will be poiated out in the proper place. 1t Will appear that the powers of recollection of the witnesses were forestalied, and, thereby, prob- ably imposed on, by the very fact that the pubil- cation in the Raleigh Register, which they were called on to verify, suggested the day and the names of the officers of the meeting. It will also be shown that the two witnesses—Captain Jack and the Rev. Mr. Cammins—who gave their state- ments at the earliest dates—viz., in 1819—withoug the opportunity of refreshing their memories, or of having them imposed on by the publication in the Register, could not give the date of the meeting and gave other names than those setfortu in Mr, Alexander’s report as tne leading characters or actors. Finally, it will be shown that Mr. Alexander himself admitted in writing that the paper which passes for the genu- | ine “Mecklenburg Declaration of Indepeadence,”” of May 20, 1775, was written by him from memory tn 1800, six months after the original was de- atroyed by fire, ana twenty-five years alter ite date! This fact aione proves to a demonstration that all the witnesses who bore testimony to the genuineness of the “Deciaration” were betrayed {nto an error by having seen the pimalated docu- ment. THE GSNUINE DOCUMENT. In view of these facts, it is tortuuate for the good name and fame of the county of Meckl burg that the genuine document has been rescaed yrom the oblivion im which it lay buried for sixty years, Thanks to the research of Mr, Force and Mr. Bancroft we have now for many years, had possession of the genuine Mecklenburg re- solves, which, to all practical intents, was a final severance ofthe tie which bound the peopie to Great Britain, though 1t was mot quite thatia form. The people of Mecklenburg are entitied to the imperishable honor arising from the fact that their ancestors were the firtto cut loose from all dependence on the mother country and to take the most aavanced step in the direction of inde- pendence, in the year 1775, The event is worthy tobe kept in perpetual remembrance. At the same time it is due to truth to say that the people of no part of the Union risked so much and dared | go mach in the cause of liberty, prior to 1776, as those of Massachusetts. Her Suffolk county reso- lutions of September, 1774, which were in #ub+ stance adopted first by the other counties, and then by the Provincial Congress, defied and cust- off Britisn authority in the presence of @ formdad- able British army. They declared open resistance tosach of the British officials as acknowledged ir obligation 10 obey and enforce the several acts of the British Parliament by which tne port of Boston was closed, the charter of the colony altered and flagitious viola- tors of the laws protected and screened irom trial. A receiver goneral for the province was ap- pointed by the Provincial Congress in tne foliow- ing winter to take charge of the revenues, and provision was made for the reorganization of the militia, sabject to the control of the Congress ahd independe: {the Crown, Yet, along with these deiensive measures, iting im actual war, there was @ certain degree of verbal respect suown to tie British government, and especially to the King. The course pursued by Massacbu- setts at tia time was similar to the nullification pians of Souch Carolina in 1882, which contem plated forcible resistance to what was regarded wt unconstitutional laws and maladministration, while obediencd was to be yielded im all other respects, The Mecklenburg resolves of May 31 are more in the nature of a secession ‘rom all inter, cour a connection with the motner country, Dut not witnogs an eye to the possible adjustment of the quarrel.” All Britisu law and authority wae suspend au independent, though temporary, government was set up, to continue in force Until @ More permanent one should be established vy the Provincial of Continental Congress, and subject to the will of these bodies until Great Britain shoulda abandon her arbitrary pola) toward the colonies. SOME REMARKABLE DISCREPANCIES. If Wo suppose the paper to be genuine, by whion lt appears that the people of Mecklenburg deciared independence on the 20th of May, and constituted the delegates present & milli aud civil government of tue county, it follows necessartly, thac their seif-constituted oligarony Was overthrown on the Sist of the same month by the Committee of Safety, Which on that day, ar may be seen in the resolves quoted on the pre coding page, orderea an election of military and civil oflcera to All the ideatical places aud to per jorm the auties whiea the modest men of the 20ta had itoposed on themecives, And wite sv big @ Band did the committee act, a appears from the resolves, that they withheld auy, even the slightest recognition of thew pred ecessora@ of the 20th or of their transcendeutiy im portaut “Declaration of Independence,” and o the miittary government whtca they establisned on that day. Tho resoives of May 91 being india puvably geuuine it ts incumoent on the advocate of the 2th of May papers to explain tis very ex waordinary omission. Tuey are expected aiso t account for the equally strango discrepaucy whic! exists Vetween tue two documents, in that thy ope earliest in date declares absolute independ ened and perpetual separation from Great Britain: while the other, only eleven days subsequently, merely suspends Beitivn laws amd autuority, aad comtemplates (he possibility of a retura to alle Manes, it filows, also, from the rebrand inenoss Of Wwe 4th Of Mey paper toms —