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Origin of Georgia - James Edward Oglethorpe-His character and merits-Object of the colony Error of judgment at the first Oglethorpe at the head of the colony - Founding of Savannah-Emigration of Lutherans from Salzburg - Moravians - Jews Highlanders Charles and John Wesley in Georgia - Discontent among some of the colonists - Slavery desired When introduced-Spanish claims to the territory - Oglethorpe's plans Resists Spanish pretensions Attack on St. Augustine Unsuccessful - Spanish expedition against Georgia and Carolina - Oglethorpe's trial-Charges against him-His complete vindication - Whitfield in America― The great revival — Changes in the government-Slow progress of Georgia - Expensiveness of the colony-Royal governor appointed - The people hospitable Value of the land not yet known.

SOME years before the breaking out | nah, to be settled for the purpose just of the third intercolonial war, the named. Liberal contributions were colony of GEORGIA was planted in that made by the nobility and clergy; parwaste and unproductive portion of liament also made a grant; and the Carolina, between the Savannah and warmest interest was excited in favor of the plan. They who thought of political advantages, favored the project because of the service Georgia was likely to prove as a barrier on the south against the Spaniards; merchants were attracted by promises of wine and silk as staples for the new colony; Protestants looked hitherward as a refuge for their persecuted brethren on the continent; those who desired to labor for the conversion of the Indians, had here opened to them a wide field; everything, in short, seemed to favor the undertaking. And the official seal had on one of its faces a group of silkworms with the motto, “non sibi, sed aliis,"-"not for themselves, but for | others."

the Alatamaha rivers. Its ori1732. gin was due to kindly and benevolent motives and desires, notwithstanding the errors of judgment into which its founders fell; and the name of James Edward Oglethorpe will always be held in deserved honor and esteem. This philanthropic man was earnestly intent upon mitigating the evils connected with imprisonment for debt, and hoped also to provide seasonable relief for the struggling poor of England, who might desire to live soberly and industriously, and reap the fruits of their efforts. In conjunction with Lord Percival and other noblemen and gentlemen, Oglethorpe obtained a charter* from parliament of a part of Carolina, south of the Savan

* See the "Historical Collections of Georgia," by Rev. Geo. White, for the Charter of the Colony.

The great error of judgment at the beginning was in confining the emigration to that helpless, inefficient, querulous class of the community, who, by

misfortune and ill success at home, were little fitted to encounter the toils and privations of a new country; the very sort of persons needed as pioneers, such as husbandmen, artificers, and laborers, were the ones excluded from the benefit of the charity. But this error was not of long continuance.

1732.

Oglethorpe offered to endure the fatigue of planting the colony himself. Accordingly, with thirty-five families about a hundred and thirty-five persons-a clergyman, having with him Bibles, Prayer Books, and Catechisms, a person to instruct in cultivation of silk, and several officers of justice, Oglethorpe set sail from Deptford, November 17th, 1732, reached Charleston early in 1733, where he and his company were hospitably entertained, and soon after landed on the shores of the new province. On ascending the Savannah River, a pinecovered hill, somewhat elevated above its level shores, the Yamacraw Bluff, was fixed upon as the seat of the capital, which was laid out in broad avenues and open squares, and named SAVANNAH, after the Indian name of the river. During these operations, Oglethorpe pitched his tent under a canopy of lofty pine trees. He found the spot, on his arrival, occupied by a small body of the Creek Indians, who were easily induced to surrender it and to yield to the settlers an ample extent of territory.* Immediate steps were taken for setting forward the work of

1733.

* For the interesting history of Mary Musgrove,

colonization and settlement. A small battery commanded the river; palisade was erected; an experimental garden was laid out for vines, mulberry trees, etc.; and a storehouse was built. Soon after, a body of German Lutherans, from the valleys of the Western Alps, within the archbishopric of Salzburg, who had been exposed to persecution at home, obtained the sympathy and assistance of the English parliament, who furnished the means for enabling them to emigrate. Headed by their ministers, they left the home of their fathers on foot, and walked to Rotterdam, their place of embarkation, chanting as they went hymns. of thanksgiving for their deliverance. They touched at Dover, where they had an interview with their English patrons; and on reaching Georgia, in March, 1734, formed, at a distance above Savannah, a settlement, piously called Ebenezer, where they were shortly after joined by other members of their community. To these, early in 1735, were added several Moravians, the disciples of Count Zinzendorf. A company of about forty destitute Jews had also been furnished by some of their wealthier brethren with the means of emigrating to Georgia, where, though not encouraged by the trustees, they were allowed to establish themselves in peace.

1734.

Oglethorpe returned to England in April, 1734, and carried with him several Creek chiefs, and some specimens of Georgia silk. The Indians were treated with great attention, and,

who acted as interpreter, and the Rev. Mr. Bosom- deeply impressed with the power and

worth, her husband subsequently, see Mr. White's "Historical Collections of Georgia," pp. 21-31.

wealth of the English, were ready to

CHAP. V.]

1736.

JOHN WESLEY IN GEORGIA.

promise perpetual fidelity. By means of an additional parliamentary grant of £26,000, steps were taken for occupying the region lying near to Florida. Early in 1736, a body of Scotch Highlanders founded New Inverness on the Alatamaha. Oglethorpe returned to Georgia with these settlers, having in his company John and Charles Wesley, afterwards celebrated for their connection with the Methodist movement. Charles Wesley was appointed secretary to Oglethorpe, and John was chosen the parish minister of Savannah. At first he was very popular, and was listened to with great devotion by all classes in the community; but his zeal ere long involved him in difficulties, which led to his leaving Georgia.. He had formed an attachment for a young lady, whose piety at first appeared unquestionable, but proving afterwards not quite equal to what Wesley and his religious associates required, he had been led by principle to break off the connection, and the lady was married to another person. Becoming now more "worldly" than before, she was refused admission to the Lord's Supper by Wesley, as unfit to partake of that solemnity, an exclusion for which her husband brought a suit, and claimed damages to the amount of £1,000. Wesley, charged beside with a number of other

201

ably well contented with their posi-
tion; industry and frugality brought
their
proper reward; but the class of
settlers spoken of above, soon became
clamorous for the privilege of having
rum to use, and the keeping of slaves,
both of which had been expressly for-
bidden from the first by the trustees.
Discontent, and factious language and
action, became quite prevalent among
these; and by constant agitation, dur-
ing ten years or so that followed, their
wishes were yielded to, and slavery
was introduced into Georgia.

Oglethorpe, aware of the importance of strengthening his position, took measures to fortify the colony against the neighboring Spaniards. A fort was erected on an island near the mouth of the Alatamaha River, where a town called Frederica was regularly laid out and built; and ten miles nearer the sea, on Cumberland Island, was raised a battery, commanding the entrance into Jekyl Sound, through which all ships of force must pass to reach Frederica. The Spaniards took umbrage at these proceedings on the part of the English, and sent a commissioner from Havana to demand an evacuation of all the territory south of St. Helena Sound, as belonging to the King of Spain. Oglethorpe, of course, resisted such a demand. He had acquired the veneration of all classes by his benevolent labors, "nobly devoting all his powers to serve the poor, and rescue them from their wretchedness;" and though he himself possessed no share of territory in Georgia, he determined to shelter it, if needful, with his life. The Germans and Scotch were toler-"To me," he said to Charles Wesley,

1737.

abuses of authority, and finding the public feeling decidedly against him, "shook off the dust of his feet," as he phrases it, and left Georgia in disgust. He never afterwards revisited America.

VOL. I.-28

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1742.

Anson's undertakings in despoiling Spanish commerce and colonies, as well as Vernon's efforts in the same line, having proved failures, the Spaniards, in 1742, determined to attack Georgia and Carolina with a force of three thousand men. Nothing but the ignorance of the Spanish commander saved the colonies from impending and fearful disaster; and Oglethorpe was enabled to repel an attack upon Frederica without serious difficulty. Notwithstanding, however, his devotion to the interests of Georgia, Oglethorpe experienced much the same trials as other men placed in the like positions, and was exposed to a large share of petty meanness and ingratitude. The discontented colonists first sent over Thomas Stevens as their agent to England, laden with com

plaints against the trustees in general, which, having been duly examined by the House of Commons, were pronounced to be "false, scandalous, and malicious." Oglethorpe himself, 1743. soon after, went to England, to answer charges brought against his character, which he so effectually succeeded in vindicating, that his accuser, Cook, who was his own lieutenantcolonel, was deprived of his commission. Marrying presently and accepting a home appointment, the founder of Georgia never afterwards revisited America; but he lived long enough to see the establishment of the independence of the United States. Oglethorpe died, July 1st, 1785, at the great age of ninety-seven.

Directly after Wesley's return to England, the equally celebrated George Whitfield embarked for Georgia, and labored very effectively in many ways to set forward the cause of charity and religion. The orphan house near Savannah owed its origin to the labors of Whitfield. Mr. Hildreth devotes a number of pages in his second volume, to an account of the "Great Revival" in New England, consequent upon Whitfield's preaching and influence, aided by such men as Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, and others. On the whole, we deem Mr. Hildreth's account a fair one, though probably not entirely acceptable to any of the par ties whose names he freely uses. ligion, so conspicuous hitherto as the glowing, sometimes lurid, atmosphere of our historical pictures, fades henceforth, almost vanishes away :" because, thenceforth, men were content to give

"Re

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up the idea, which is now scouted at by almost all, that religion and politics must go together, Men now care not whether a man has any religion whatever, so far as political and civil relations are concerned. May not the question be worth considering, whether, in departing from the extreme theocratic views of the Puritans, we have not reached the opposite extreme? Is the atheistical indifferentism of our day a better thing for the good of the community than the stern denunciation of the world, and all connection with it, of former times?

The reader, however, who takes note of the important effect upon a people of all extended religious movements, like the one now under consideration, will, we think, not be displeased to see what Mr. Hinton has to say in regard to the "Great Revival."

"It was in the year 1735, that the first very decided indication of a revival spirit manifested itself at Northampton, Massachusetts, under the ministry of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, afterwards president of the college in New Jersey. It appears to have commenced among the young people of his young people of his congregation. 'Presently,' says Dr. Edwards, 'a great and earnest concern about the things of religion and the eternal world became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of all degrees and ages. All the conversation in all companies, and upon all occasions, was upon these things only, unless so much as was necessary for people to carry on their ordinary secu

* "History of the United States," p. 134.

203

lar business. Other discourse than of the things of religion would scarcely be tolerated in any company. They seemed to follow their worldly business more as a part of their duty, than from any disposition they had to it. The temptation now seemed to lie on this hand, to neglect worldly affairs too much, and to spend too much time in the immediate exercises of religion. But although people did not ordinarily neglect their worldly business, yet there then was the reverse of what commonly is; religion was with all the great concern.' This state of feeling spread rapidly during the following seven years through many of the New England States, and in some of those of New York and New Jersey. "This work,' says Dr. Trumbull,* 'was very extraordinary on many accounts. It was much beyond what had been the common course of Providence. It was more universal than had before been known. It extended to all sorts and characters of people, sober and vicious, high and low, rich and poor, wise and unwise. To all appearance, it was no less powerful in families and persons of distinction, in the places which it visited, than others. In former works of this nature, young people had generally been wrought upon, while elderly people and children had been little affected, if moved at all. But at this time old men were affected as well as others.' 'People, in a wonderful manner, flocked together to places of public worship, not only on the Lord's Day, but on lecture days, so that the places of worship

* "History of Connecticut," vol. ii., p. 141.

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