done the work. Oh! I shall never get a man who can fill your place.'
* * * * *
In due course, Hiram left for Burnsville. The prayers and good wishes of
the village went with him. Mary Jessup was disconsolate; but why? Hiram
had never committed himself. All the girls said: 'What a fool she is to
think he was going to marry any body older than himself!' and they
laughed about Mary Jessup.
NEWBERN AS IT WAS AND IS.
That part of North-Carolina borders on the Sound, has within the past
six months became the theatre of events of the most exciting nature, in
which Newbern, its principal town, has borne a prominent part.
It may be interesting to review its history. The earliest notice of it
dates back to the explorations of Raleigh's colony in 1584, when they
visited an Indian town named Newsiok, 'situated on a goodly river called
the Neus,' but the adventurers did not examine the river, and more than
a century elapsed before any further record of the visit of white men
occurred. The north-eastern counties had, however, been partially
settled by refugees from Virginia, where in the absence of law and
gospel they became as degraded a community as there was on the
continent. Their descendants have, to a considerable extent, overrun the
South to the Mississippi and on to Texas.
But it was the good fortune of the counties on the Neuse to derive their
immigrants from and to have their institutions formed by a better class
than the inferior families of Virginia, further degraded by a residence
in Eastern North-Carolina, at that period known as the harbor for rogues
and pirates.
The earliest settlers on the Neuse were French Huguenots, who first
located on the James River, in Virginia, but were afterwards induced by
the proprietors of Carolina to accept grants of land in what is now
known as Carteret County, to which place they removed in 1707. In 1710
a colony from Switzerland and Germany, under the management of Baron de
Graffenreid and Louis Michell arrived, and were settled between the
Neuse and the Trent, and in the triangle formed by these rivers, laid
out a town with wide streets and convenient lots, which in remembrance
of the capital in the Old World, was called New-Bern.
The settlers who already resided north of New-Bern soon rebelled against
their local government, and by continued depredations on the Indian
tribes in their vicinity at last brought on a fearful war, during which
a large part of both the white and red men were exterminated, so that
many of the poor Swiss and German Protestants found they had only
escaped their vindictive persecutors at home to find a bloody grave in
the forests of Carolina.
After the surrender of their grant to the crown by the lords proprietors
of Carolina, in 1729, a better state of affairs succeeded, and a more
energetic government, with its blessings and prosperity was the result.
The country was then settled and Newbern gradually rose to be a place of
importance, and subsequently the capital of the province.
The first printing-press in the province was established in 1764, and
the first periodical, _The North-Carolina Magazine_, issued the same
year, but it is doubtful if any book excepting the State laws was ever
published there. A public school was incorporated the same year, and
Newbern became the principal seat of education and social intelligence
in the province. As the seat of government and the residence of the
royal Governors, it attracted much wealth, and developed a degree of
culture which it has retained to a later day.
Arthur Dobbs, for a long period the Colonial Governor, was at this time
closely identified with the history of Newbern. He was 'by birth an
Irishman, and by nature an aristocrat.' He died at an advanced age in
1764.
In 1765, William Tryon succeeded Dobbs as Governor of North-Carolina. He
first resided at Brunswick, on the Cape Fear River, then a town of note,
but now a complete ruin, and where among its remains are still seen the
massive walls of St. Philip's Church, built by his request, at the
expense of the British government.
As Newbern was a more central position, and possessed more social
advantages, Tryon took up his abode there, not, however, till he had
made himself odious by irritating the people of the western part of the
province into a rebellion, and had butchered many who were contending
only for justice and their rights.
Tryon was aristocratic, tyrannical, and vindictive. To gratify his pride
he conceived the idea of erecting a magnificent palace, and to obtain an
appropriation from the Provincial Assembly he exhausted all his promises
and intrigues. In this effort on the legislators he was aided by the
blandishments of his lady and her sister, Miss Wake, relatives of Lord
Hillborough, and he was finally successful. The result was, that he
erected in Newbern, in 1770, the most elegant and expensive building on
the continent, the cost of which was far beyond the resources of the
province. The plans of it, which are still preserved, show that the old
descriptions of its splendor are not overwrought. Its foundations can
still be traced, and a part of one of the wings, though in a dilapidated
state, is yet in existence.
A Provincial Congress was held at Newbern, in August, 1774, of which
John Harvey was President. In April, 1779, they elected delegates to the
famous Continental Congress which met at Philadelphia, and Newbern was
for some time the most important place in the province.
During the Revolution, the State was twice invaded by the British, and
many towns suffered severely, but Newbern being remote from the seat of
war, did not particularly feel its effects.
It is somewhat strange that in Newbern secession once found its
strongest opposition, and finally its death-blow. It will be
recollected that North-Carolina once extended to the Mississippi, and
included all of what is now the State of Tennessee, the whole of which
territory was ceded to the United States in 1784. It was then partially
settled, and before the general Government had accepted the grant, the
residents established a temporary government, and formally seceding from
North-Carolina, formed 'the State of Franklin.'
On the 1st of June, 1785, the Legislature assembled at Newbern, when
Governor Martin addressed them on this subject. Declaring that 'by such
rash and irregular conduct a precedent is formed for every district and
even for every county in the State, to claim the right of separation and
independence for any supposed grievance as caprice, pride, and ambition
may dictate, thereby exhibiting to the world a melancholy instance of a
feeble or pusillanimous government, that is either unable or dares not
restrain the lawless designs of its citizens,' he advocated putting down
the movements by force if necessary. But the leaders were not to be
dissuaded from their ambitious purpose, and being joined by a few
adjoining counties in Virginia, they elected General Sevier, a hero of
the Revolution, as Governor, and the insurrection assumed a formidable
shape. But the old State met the trouble energetically, and after
exhausting all proper conciliatory measures, Sevier, with several of the
leaders, was arrested, their councils became divided, and the rebellion
was crushed. The leaders asked and obtained pardon, and an act of
amnesty was passed, so that in the subsequent political changes the
matter was forgotten.
For a long period Newbern has been the residence of wealthy and
influential families. George Pollock, a descendant of one of the
original proprietors, who died some thirty years ago, dwelt there. He
owned immense tracts of the best land in the State, and over a thousand
slaves.
There, too, was the home of Judge Gaston, a learned lawyer and a most
estimable man, who, though a Roman Catholic, was respected by all sects
and conditions, even in those days of fierce sectaries. John Stanly for
a long time gave celebrity to Newbern as a lawyer and legislator, his
oratorical powers being second to those of no man in the State. He was
the father of Edward Stanly, now appointed to act as military Governor
of the State.
The country around Newbern was originally moderately fertile, but much
of it has become exhausted by reason of improper tillage. The forests
which were once a vast extent of stately pines, and from which great
quantities of turpentine and tar were for a century and a half exported,
are now little better than barren fields. Pine lumber and staves have
long been a large article of export, which with corn and cotton make up
nearly all the articles sent abroad. But the pines are now nearly
exhausted, the trade in naval stores and lumber lessened, and in
consequence a better state of agriculture has commenced. It is found
that by the aid of fertilizers good crops of cotton can be raised on the
pine lands and the fields kept in an improving condition. For the last
thirty years it can hardly be said that the town has improved; indeed,
as a whole it has hardly held its own. Still it is a place of wealth and
comfort. There is an air of respectability in its ancient and stately
buildings, its wide streets, and abundant shade-trees, and it is as
healthy as any Southern town can be.
Some twenty years ago Newbern had what no other Southern town possessed,
a commerce of its own, that is, vessels built, owned, and sailed by its
own people. Many of these--then engaged in the West-India trade--were
partly manned by slaves who belonged to the proprietors of the vessel or
its captain, and at times, when other seamen could not be procured,
these slaves were allowed to make a voyage to a Northern port, but as
their value yearly augmented, and the risk of their suddenly
disappearing, not again to visit 'Dixie,' increased in a corresponding
ratio, they gradually retired to other duties where their services were
less precarious.
And here I will relate an anecdote which an old salt once told me when I
was strolling along the wharves of this ancient town in his company.
In consequence of a bar, or 'swash,' which stretches inside Ocracoke
Inlet, (at that time the only passage to the sea,) the vessels take in
but a part of their cargoes at Newbern, while lighters with the
remainder accompany them across the 'swash,' where the lading is
completed. Quite a number of small craft are thus constantly employed,
and they are generally manned and commanded by slaves. In this trade was
once engaged 'Jack Devereaux,' an intelligent black man who formerly
belonged to the Devereaux family--one of the F.F.s of Newbern--but who
had latterly become the property of H---- & C----, a mercantile firm
then doing a flourishing business there. He was captain of a famous
lighter, which for its enormous carrying capacity had received the
cognomen of 'Hunger and Thirst.' In due time the firm of H---- &
C----dissolved, and C---- 'moved West,' leaving an undivided half of
Captain Jack in the hands of his attorney. Jack had sailed the craft 'on
shares,' and compromised his services by monthly wages to his masters,
and so had gradually accumulated some hundreds of dollars. Not fancying
his new share-holder, he concluded to invest his hard-earned dollars in
his own bone and muscle, or in other words, buy half of himself. After
considerable higgling, he made the bargain, paying five hundred dollars
for the share. On the next trip to the bar, as the entrance to the sea
is usually called, there came up one of those sudden hurricanes known as
a Southeaster, whose force nothing can withstand. The small craft was
foundered, and Jack, after floating for a long time on a plank, finally
drifted on to a sand-spit, and was saved.
Finding a passage home, he landed on the 'old County Wharf,' a
melancholy, disheartened, and depressed individual, and without
conferring with a single person, made his way to the attorney, from whom
he had so lately purchased himself, and by dint of persuasion succeeded
in having the trade canceled and his money returned. Jack was then
himself again. He recounted over and over his adventures by flood and
field to his wondering friends, and said no man, white or black, could
imagine the trouble he felt when floating on that plank, the waves
breaking over him every moment, when he considered he had just bought
half of 'dat nigger' that was now going to destruction, and paid all the
money he had for him. But he had 'traded back,' and then if he was
drowned, 'he wouldn't lose a cent by it.' It was long after this event
when he told me he would never again risk a cent in 'nigger' property,
it was too 'onsartin' entirely. Jack was a good deal of a wag, and told
this story with a gusto I can not describe.[A] But if Captain Jack is
still on this 'side of Jordan,' he has doubtless ere this found 'nigger'
property still more 'onsartin.'
Let us, however, turn from the past to the present condition of affairs
in Newbern. Secession would never have originated there. When
South-Carolina passed its act of folly and madness, it met with a firm
opposition from the old Whig party, which still had here a vital
existence. Every exertion was made throughout the State to repel the
insidious influences of the demagogues of South-Carolina and Virginia,
and but for the Jesuitical management of the politicians at Richmond,
the 'Old North' would have remained loyal. But all the efforts of the
true Union men could not avail in warding off the storm that swept over
the South; and the Convention at Raleigh passed, or rather was forced to
assent to, the Act of Secession, on the twentieth of May, 1861. In
August the fortifications below Newbern were commenced, and continued
for some months, and well garrisoned, till they were supposed capable
of defending the town against any force that might be brought against
it. General Burnside, however, attacked them on the fourteenth of March,
1862, and after a sharp battle the rebels fled, and he occupied the old
place as a military conquest. All the wealthy and prominent citizens
fled, and have not returned.
The present condition of things will not long continue; a more permanent
government, either civil or military, will soon be established, and with
it must come a new era which will settle for all time the destiny of
Newbern.
Should the leading men of the town and all Eastern North-Carolina make
an effort and throw off the incubus that slavery has for a century
placed over it, a bright career of prosperity would open before them. A
new emigration, bringing energy and industry, would restore their
worn-out lands, drain their swamps, educate their youth, and make
Newbern echo with the hum of manufactures and commerce. The enterprise
of such a people would soon open a channel from the Neuse to Beaufort
harbor, and so avoid the shoals and dangers of Ocracoke and Hatteras,
and with the present railroads, make it the port of exchange for a wide
extent of country. The times are propitious; already the true men of the
State--and their name is legion--are anxiously awaiting the fall of
Richmond, when they will decide for the old flag and the Union, never
again to repudiate it.
* * * * *
OUR BRAVE TIMES.
I wonder if we, as a people, have any conception of the grandeur and
glory of the Times in which we are living; if we at all appreciate the
importance of the history which is being lived all around us; if we feel
the colossal magnitude of the every-day events which so crowd upon us
that we have hardly time to grasp them; if we are fully aware of the
infinite possibilities of what has been so well called this 'fearfully
glorious present'? I think not, and I do not know that it is possible
for us to do so. Only when we look back upon it from the hight of the
far-off future, shall we see the country through which we are journeying
in all its grand, sweeping outlines, its majestic proportions, and its
imperial tints of coloring. The days of peace and tranquillity in a
nation as in a life are robed in colors sweet and grateful to the
eye--softened hues of green and gold--but the days of war and
tribulation are days of scarlet and crimson, and all that can be seen in
heaven and earth is black and flame; but the days when Right achieves
great triumphs, even through bloodshed and desolation, are days of
imperial purple, hues royal in their magnificence. Thank Heaven that,
through the days of blood and black, we have at last reached the purple
days of life as a nation. A little more than a year of war, and now the
skies are brightening. Thank God! for they have been black, black, black
with horror and suffering and crime. And yet such a year as this, I am
almost persuaded, is worth a score of years of peace. It certainly has
achieved more for truth and humanity and God than the score of years
which preceded it. As a nation, we had become almost despicable. Such
supple, yielding slaves of 'Democratic' demagogues; such cringing,
fawning, knee-bending, hand-kissing agents of the diabolical, traitorous
Slave-Power; such apologists and supporters of Wrong; such
pusillanimous, weak-hearted advocates of the unpopular Right; such
slaves to Cotton and its threats, that we had almost lost the God-given
independence of American freemen, and seemed--thank God! events have
proved only _seemed_--to be entirely given up to money and mechanics,
to have become, indeed, a nation of peddlers. So much so, indeed, that
our prophets were stoned in their own lands, our apostles stricken down
in the national councils, and the few voices that were raised for God
and humanity, from out the miry slough of a trafficking age, were almost
unheard in the general din which went up from all the nations, and the
burden of whose song seemed to be: 'There is no God but Cotton, and we
are all his prophets.' But the moment the first gun was fired, how all
this changed! How regally the whole nation rose up! How magnificently
she threw off the garment of rags and filth which had hidden her fair
proportions, and donned the imperial toga of humanity, and wrapping the
rich folds of the gorgeous mantle around her, stood out before the world
in all the dignity of freedom and virtue--a form which made the whole
earth glad and the heavens clap their hands in exultation. What giant
leaps the nation made in manhood and heroism, strides following each
other thick and fast, until the most cynical of the doubters of humanity
began to open their eyes, and acknowledge that they would not have
thought her capable of such unexampled deeds. The national heroism which
the Northern people have displayed is indeed unparalleled. They have
risen up as one man to the support of the Government. They have offered
property and life and the most sacred treasures of the heart upon the
shrine of constitutional liberty. At the sound of the drum, they have
left the farm and the barn, the anvil and the mill, the church and the
forum, and formed into the grand army of invincibles which, at the word
of command, have marched forward, conquering and resistless. They have
borne patiently with delay and defeat, with blunders and crimes, with
humiliation and taxation, and have, in short, proved themselves
_Americans_ worthy of the name. Of course, national heroism has inspired
individual heroism, and to-day the country blazes from frontier to
metropolis with gallant records of daring deeds. Their number is
infinite; they can not be individually remembered, but only massed
together, one sublime mosaic by which the gallantry and heroism of the
free, untrammeled North is proved. We doubt not there is a leaf for each
hero in the heroic record of heaven, and the due share of hero-worship
paid to each by those angels who love to pore over the chronicles of
earth. And we mourn less over the coming of this war at the present time
than we should, did we not perceive that sooner or later it was
inevitable. It was written in the fate-book of God. Never before was war
so emphatically a war of principle. It mitigates the suffering much to
know this. It is something to know that all the brave men who have
fallen have fallen for the right; and when we believe so, we do firmly
believe that their death will give liberty and happiness to millions yet
to be. We can not think but that their lives are well spent. There are
some who are written upon God's muster-scroll as martyrs to liberty. Who
would not esteem it a happiness and a glory to belong to this Old Guard,
who from age to age have rallied and rallied and rallied to the support
of liberty, to the rescue of this holy sepulchre from the hands of
desolators and barbarians, who have ever fought where the fight was
thickest, have ever been the advance-guard of the world in its onward
progress, and been enshrined in the great heart of the world, there to
glow like the stars forever and ever? Is it a hardship to die that one
may live forever? Is it a hardship to die that millions who now live in
wailing and woe, in chains and degradation, may live in happiness and
freedom in all time to come? The voice of the great army of American
freemen rolls back the answer, like the majestic anthem of the sea, No!
a deep, continuous no, which echoes from the broad Atlantic to the
sunset-dyed Pacific, from the summits of Nevada to the great lakes of
the North. Yes, I tell you the whole people feel the depth and
sacredness of this war; they feel it to be, as Carlyle said of the
French Revolution, 'truth, though a truth clad in hell-fire.'