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CHAP. it not be entirely forgot, that the king has dominions in XLVI. this part of America. What defence can they make? 1775. Three regiments, a proper detachment of artillery, with a couple of good frigates, some small craft, and a bomb-ketch, would do the whole business here, and go a great way to reduce Georgia and North Carolina to a sense of their duty. Charleston is the fountainhead from whence all violence flows; stop that, and the rebellion in this part of the continent will soon be at an end."

North Carolina, fourth among the thirteen colonies in importance, ranking next to Pennsylvania, was happy in the natural security of its position, and its comparative unanimity. In the low country, for the distance of a hundred miles from the sea, all classes were penetrated with the enthusiasm for liberty. Men whom the royalists revered as of "the first order of people in the country," of unblemished integrity and earnest character, loyal by nature, gave thoughtful consideration to the political questions in issue, and decided irrevocably against the right of the British parliament to tax the colonies. In Brunswick county, Robert Howe, formerly captain of Fort Johnston, employed himself in training the people to arms; though Martin, the royal governor, held his military talents in light esteem. At Newbern, the capital, whose name kept in memory that its founders were emigrants from the highlands of Switzerland, volunteers openly formed themselves into independent companies. Afraid of being seized, Martin, suddenly shipping his family to New York, retreated to Fort Johnston on Cape Fear river. He had repeatedly offered to raise a battalion from the Scottish High

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landers in Carolina, and declared himself sure of the CHAP. allegiance of the Regulators, who were weary of insurrection and scrupulous about their oaths. Again and 1775. July again he importuned to be restored to his old rank in the army as lieutenant colonel, promising the greatest Oct. consequences from such an appointment. He could not conceal that "the frenzy" had taken possession of all classes of men around him, and that the news of the affair at Lexington had universally wrought a great change, confirming the seditious, and bringing over to them vast numbers of the fickle, wavering, and unsteady multitude. Being absolutely alone, at the mercy of any handful of insurgents who should take the trouble to come after him, his braggart garrulity increased with his impotence; and having formerly called for three thousand stand of arms, he now wrote for fourfold that number, ten thousand at least, to be sent immediately from England, with artillery, ammunition, money, some pairs of colors, and a military commission for himself; promising, with the aid of two regiments, to force a connection with the interior, and raise not the Highlanders alone, but the people of the upper country in such overwhelming numbers, as to restore order in the two Carolinas, "hold Virginia in awe," and recover every colony south of Pennsylvania.

After the termination of the seven years' war, very few of the Highland regiment returned home; soldiers and officers choosing rather to accept grants of land in America for settlement. Many also of the inhabitants of North Western Scotland, especially of the clans of Macdonald and Macleod, listened to overtures from those who had obtained concessions of vast domains, and migrated to Middle Carolina; tearing themselves,

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CHAP. with bitterest grief, from kindred whose sorrow at parting admitted no consolation. Those who went 1775. first, reported favorably of the clear, sunny clime, to where every man might have land of his own; the Oct. distance and the voyage lost their terrors; and from

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the isles of Rasay and Skye whole neighborhoods formed parties for removal, sweetening their exile by carrying with them their costume and opinions, their old Celtic language and songs.

Distinguished above them all was Allan Macdonald of Kingsborough, and his wife Flora Macdonald, the same who in the midsummer of 1746, yielding to a womanly sympathy for distress, had rescued Prince Charles Edward from his pursuers, with a self-possession, fertility of resources, courage, and fidelity, that are never mentioned but to her honor. Compelled by poverty, they had removed to North Carolina in 1774, and made their new home in the west of Cumberland county. She was now about fifty-five, mother of many children, of middle stature, soft features, "uncommonly mild and gentle manners, and elegant presence." Her husband had the graceful mien and manly looks of a gallant Highlander, aged, but still with hair jet black, a stately figure, and a countenance that expressed intelligence and steadfastness. On the third of July he came down to Fort Johnston, and concerted with Martin the raising a battalion of "the good and faithful Highlanders," in which he was himself to be major, and Alexander Macleod, an officer of marines on halfpay, was to be the first captain. They were to wait the proper moment to take the field; but the design, though secretly devised, did not remain concealed;

and rumor added a purpose of inviting the negroes CHAP. to rise.

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The spirit of resistance, quickened by the tidings 1775. July which came in from Bunker Hill, extended itself more to and more widely and deeply. On the waters of Albermarle Sound, over which the adventurous skiffs of the first settlers of Carolina had glided before the waters of the Chesapeake were known to Englishmen, the movement was assisted by the writings of young James Iredell, from England; by the letters and counsels of Joseph Hewes; and by the calm wisdom of Samuel Johnston of Edenton, a native of Dundee in Scotland, a man revered for his integrity, thoroughly opposed to disorder and to revolution, if revolution could be avoided without yielding to oppression. The last provincial congress had invested him contingently with power to call a new one; on the tenth of July he issued his summons to the people of North Carolina to elect their delegates. But two days later, Dartmouth wrote from the king: "I hope that in North Carolina the governor may not be reduced to the disgraceful necessity of seeking protection on board the king's ships;" and just then Martin slunk away from land, and took refuge on board the Cruiser. On the eighteenth a party came down, and, encouraged by the presence of John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, set the fort on fire before his face, and within reach of the guns of the man-of-war.

As soon as the deliberations at Philadelphia would permit, Richard Caswell, a delegate to the general congress, hastened home to recommend and promote a convention, and to quicken the daring spirit of his constituents. He had with reluctance admitted the

CHAP. necessity of American resistance; but having once XLVI. chosen his part, he advocated the most resolute con1775. duct, and even censured the Newbern committee for July allowing the governor to escape.

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On Monday, the twenty-first of August, the people of North Carolina assembled at Hillsborough in a congress, composed of more than one hundred and eighty members. A spirit of moderation controlled and guided their zeal; Caswell proposed Samuel Johnston as president, and he was unanimously elected. In a vituperative, incoherent, interminable proclamation, Martin had warned the people against the convention, as tending to unnatural rebellion; that body, in reply, voted his proclamation "a false and seditious libel," and ordered it to be burnt by the common hangman. They professed allegiance to the king, but in the plainest words avowed the purpose to resist parliamentary taxation "to the utmost." They resolved, that the people of the province, singly and collectively, were bound by the acts of the continental and provincial congresses, because in both they were represented by persons chosen by themselves. A conference was had with the Regulators, whose religious and political scruples were thus removed. The intrigue of Martin with the Highlanders was divulged by Farquhard Campbell, and a committee, on which were many Scots, urged them, not wholly without success, to unite with the other inhabitants of America in defence of rights derived from God and the constitution. The meditated resistance involved the institution of government; a treasury, which for the time was supplied by an emission of paper money; the purchase of ammunition and arms; an embodying of a