This article is extracted from SALMON'SModern History, Vol. III. page 770, 4th edition; where it is introduced in these words: "The following pages are an answer from General OGLETHORPE to some inquiries made by the author, concerning the State of Carolina and Georgia."
Carolina is part of that territory which was originally discovered by Sir Sebastian Cabot. The English now possess the sea-coast from the river St. John's, in 30 degrees, 21 minutes north latitude. Westward the King's charter declares it to be bounded by the Pacific ocean.
Carolina is divided into North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; the latter is a province which his Majesty has taken out of Carolina, and is the southern and western frontier of that province, lying between it and the French, Spaniards, and Indians.
The part of Carolina that is settled, is for the most part a flat country. All, near the sea, is a range of islands, which breaks the fury of the ocean. Within is generally low land for twenty or twenty-five miles, where the country begins to rise in gentle swellings. At seventy or eighty miles from the sea, the hills grow higher, till they terminate in mountains.
The coast of Georgia is also defended from the rage of the sea by a range of islands. Those islands are divided from the main by canals of salt water, navigable for the largest boats, and even for small sloops. The lofty woods growing on each side of the canals, make very pleasant landscapes. The land, at about seven or eight miles from the sea, is tolerably high; and the further you go westward, the more it rises, till at about one hundred and fifty miles distance from the sea, to the west, the Cherokee or Appallachean mountains begin, which are so high that the snow lies upon them all the year.
This ridge of mountains runs in a line from north to south, on the back of the English colonies of Carolina and Virginia; beginning at the great lakes of Canada, and extending south, it ends in the province of Georgia at about two hundred miles from the bay of Appallachee, which is part of the Gulf of Mexico. There is a plain country from the foot of these mountains to that sea.
The face of the country is mostly covered with woods. The banks of the rivers are in some places low, and form a kind of natural meadows, where the floods prevent trees from growing. In other places, in the hollows, between the hillocks, the brooks and streams, being stopt by falls of trees, or other obstructions, the water is penned back. These places are often covered with canes and thickets and are called, in the corrupted American dialect, swamps. The sides of the hills are generally covered with oaks and hickory, or wild walnuts, cedar, sassafras, and the famous laurel tulip, which is esteemed one of the most beautiful trees in the world. The flat tops of the hillocks are all covered with groves of pine trees, with plenty of grass growing under them, and so free from underwood that you may gallop a horse for forty or fifty miles an end. In the low grounds and islands in the river there are cypress, bay-trees, poplar, plane, frankincense or gum-trees, and aquatic shrubs. All part of the province are well watered; and, in digging a moderate depth, you never miss of a fine spring.
What we call the Atlantic ocean, washes the east and southeast coast of these provinces. The gulf stream of Florida sets in with a tide in the ocean to the east of the province; and it is very remarkable that the banks and soundings of the coast extend twenty or twenty-five miles to the east of the coast.
The tides upon this coast flow generally seven feet. The soundings are sand or ooze, and some oyster banks, but no rocks. The coast appears low from the sea, and covered with woods.
Cape Fear is a point which runs with dreadful shoals far into the sea, from the mouth of Clarendon river in North Carolina. Sullivan's Island and the Coffin land are the marks of the entry into Charlestown harbor. Hilton head, upon French's island, shows the entry into Port Royal; and the point of Tybee island makes the entry of the Savannah river. Upon that point the Trustees for Georgia have erected a noble signal or light-house, ninety feet high, and twenty-five feet wide. It is an octagon, and upon the top there is a flag-staff thirty feet high.
The Province of Georgia is watered by three great rivers, which rise in the mountains, namely, the Alatamaha, the Ogechee, and the Savannah; the last of which is navigable six hundred miles for canoes, and three hundred miles for boats.
The British dominions are divided from the Spanish Florida by a noble river called St. John's.
These rivers fall into the Atlantic ocean; but there are, besides these, the Flint and the Cahooche, which pass through part of Carolina or Georgia, and fall into the gulf of Appellachee or Mexico.
All Carolina is divided into three parts: 1. North Carolina, which is divided from South Carolina by Clarendon river, and of late by a line marked out by order of the Council: 2. South Carolina, which, on the south is divided from 3. Georgia by the river Savannah. Carolina is divided into several counties; but in Georgia there is but one yet erected, namely, the county of Savannah. It is bounded, on the one side, by the river Savannah, on the other by the sea, on the third by the river Ogechee, on the fourth by the river Ebenezer, and a line drawn from the river Ebenezer to the Ogechee. In this county are the rivers Vernon, Little Ogechee, and Westbrook. There is the town of Savannah, where there is a seat of judicature, consisting of three bailiffs and a recorder. It is situated upon the banks of the river of the same name. It consists of about two hundred houses, and lies upon a plain of about a mile wide; the bank steep to the river forty-five feet perpendicularly high. The streets are laid out regular. There are near Savannah, in the same county, the villages of Hampstead, Highgate, Skidoway, and Thunderbolt; the latter of which is a translation of a name; their fables say that a thunderbolt fell, and a spring thereupon arose in that place, which still smells of the bolt. This spring is impregnated with a mixture of sulphur and iron, and from the smell, probably, the story arose. In the same county is Joseph's town and the town Ebenezer; both upon the river Savannah; and the villages of Abercorn and Westbrook. There are saw mills erecting on the river Ebenezer; and the fort Argyle, lies upon the pass of this county over the Ogechee. In the southern divisions of the province lies the town of Frederica, with its district, where there is a court with three bailiffs and a recorder. It lies on one side of the branches of the Alatamaha. There is, also, the town of Darien, upon the same river, and several forts upon the proper passes, some of four bastions, some are only redoubts. Besides which there are villages in different parts of Georgia. At Savannah there is a public store house, built of large square timbers. There is also a handsome court house, guard house, and work house. The church is not yet begun; but materials are collecting, and it is designed to be a handsome edifice. The private houses are generally sawed timber, framed, and covered with shingles. Many of them are painted, and most have chimneys of brick. At Frederica some of the houses are built of brick; the others in the Province are mostly wood. They are not got into luxury yet in their furniture; having only what is plain and needful. The winter being mild, there are yet but few houses with glass windows.
The Indians are a manly, well-shaped race. The men tall, the women little. They, as the ancient Grecians did, anoint with oil, and expose themselves to the sun, which occasions their skins to be brown of color. The men paint themselves of various colors, red, blue, yellow, and black. The men wear generally a girdle, with a piece of cloth drawn through their legs and turned over the girdle both before and behind, so as to hide their nakedness. The women wear a kind of petticoat to the knees. Both men and women in the winter wear mantles, something less than two yards square, which they wrap round their bodies, as the Romans did their toga, generally keeping their arms bare; they are sometimes of woolen, bought of the English; sometimes of furs, which they dress themselves. They wear a kind of pumps, which they call moccasons, made of deer-skin, which they dress for that purpose. They are a generous, good-natured people; very humane to strangers; patient of want and pain; slow to anger, and not easily provoked, but, when they are thoroughly incensed, they are implacable; very quick of apprehension and gay of temper. Their public conferences show them to be men of genius, and they have a natural eloquence, they never having had the use of letters. They love eating, and the English have taught many of them to drink strong liquors, which, when they do, they are miserable sights. They have no manufactures but what each family makes for its own use; they seem to despise working for hire, and spend their time chiefly in hunting and war; but plant corn enough for the support of their families and the strangers that come to visit them. Their food, instead of bread, is flour of Indian corn boiled, and seasoned like hasty-pudding, and this called hommony. They also boil venison, and make broth; they also roast, or rather broil their meat. The flesh they feed on is buffalo, deer, wild turkeys and other game; so that hunting is necessary to provide flesh; and planting for corn. The land[1] belongs to the women, and the corn that grows upon it; but meat must be got by the men, because it is they only that hunt: this makes marriage necessary, that the women may furnish corn, and the men meat. They have also fruit-trees in their gardens, namely, peaches, nectarines, and locust, melons, and water-melons, potatoes, pumpkins, onions, &c. in plenty; and many kinds of wild fruits, and nuts, as persimons, grapes, chinquepins, and hickory nuts, of which they make oil. The bees make their combs in the hollow trees, and the Indians find plenty of honey there, which they use instead of sugar. They make, what supplies the place of salt, of wood ashes; use for seasoning, long-pepper, which grows in their gardens; and bay-leaves supply their want of spice. Their exercises are a kind of ball-playing, hunting, and running; and they are very fond of dancing. Their music is a kind of drum, as also hollow cocoa-nut shells. They have a square in the middle of their towns, in which the warriors sit, converse, and smoke together; but in rainy weather they meet in the King's house. They are a very healthy people, and have hardly any diseases, except those occasioned by the drinking of rum, and the small pox. Those who do not drink rum are exceedingly long-lived. Old BRIM emperor of the Creeks, who died but a few years ago, lived to one hundred and thirty years; and he was neither blind nor bed-rid, till some months before his death. They have sometimes pleurisies and fevers, but no chronical distempers. They know of several herbs that have great virtues in physic, particularly for the cure of venomous bites and wounds.
[Footnote 1: That isthe homestead.]
The native animals are, first the urus or zoras described by Caesar, which the English very ignorantly and erroneously call the buffalo. They have deer, of several kinds, and plenty of roe-bucks and rabbits. There are bears and wolves, which are small and timorous; and a brown wild-cat, without spots, which is very improperly called a tiger; otter, beavers, foxes, and a species of badger which is called raccoon. There is great abundance of wild fowls, namely, wild-turkey, partridges, doves of various kinds, wild-geese, ducks, teals, cranes, herons of many kinds not known in Europe. There are great varieties of eagles and hawks, and great numbers of small birds, particularly the rice-bird, which is very like the ortolan. There are rattlesnakes, but not near so frequent as is generally reported. There are several species of snakes, some of which are not venomous. There are crocodiles, porpoises, sturgeon, mullet, cat-fish, bass, drum, devil-fish; and many species of fresh-water fish that we have not in Europe; and oysters upon the sea-islands in great abundance.
What is most troublesome, there, are flies and gnats, which are very numerous near the rivers; but, as the country is cleared, they disperse and go away.
The vegetables are innumerable; for all that grow in Europe, grow there; and many that cannot stand in our winters thrive there.
APPENDIX. This portion of the work contains additional notes, original documents, and notices of some of the distinguished friends of Oglethorpe.
No. I
The following genealogical memoranda are taken principally, from a note in Nichols'sLiterary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. II. p. 17, on his having given the title of a book ascribed to the subject of the foregoing memoir
"This truly respectable gentleman was the descendant of a family very anciently situated at Oglethorpe, in the parish of Bramham, in the West Riding of the County of York; one of whom was actually Reeve of the County (an office nearly the same with that of the present high-sheriff) at the time of the Norman Conquest. The ancient seat of Oglethorpe continued in the family till the Civil Wars, when it was lost for their loyalty; and several of the same name died at once in the bed of honor in the defence of monarchy, in a battle near Oxford.
"William Oglethorpe, (son of William) was born in 1588. He marriedSusanna, daughter of Sir William Sutton, Knight and sister to LordLexington. He died in November, 1634 leaving two children, Sulton,born 1612, and Dorothy (who afterwards married the Marquis of Byron, aFrench nobleman,) born 1620.
"Sutton Oglethorpe, being fined £20,000 by the Parliament, his estates at Oglethorpe, and elsewhere, were sequestered, and afterwards given to General Fairfax, who sold them to Robert Benson of Bramham, father of Lord Bingley of that name. Sutton Oglethorpe had two sons, Sutton, and Sir Theophilus. Sutton was Stud-master to King Charles II.; and had three sons, namely, Sutton, Page to King Charles II.; John, Cornet of the Guards; and Joseph, who died in India.
"Sir Theophilus was born in 1652; and was bred to arms. He fought, under the Duke of Monmouth, in the affair at Bothwell bridge, where a tumultary insurrection of the Scots was suppressed, June 22, 1679. He commanded a party of horse at Sedgmoor fight, where the Duke was defeated, July 6, 1685; and was Lieutenant Colonel to the Duke of York's troop of his Majesty's horse-guards, and Commissioner for executing the office of Master of the Horse to King Charles II. He was afterwards first Equerry and Major General of the army of King James II.; and suffered banishment with his Royal Master." After his return to his native country he purchased a seat in the County of Surrey, called "the Westbrook place," near adjoining the town of Godalming; a beautiful situation, in a fine country. It stands on the slope of a hill, at the foot of which are meadows watered by the river Wey. It commands the view of several hills, running in different directions; their sides laid out in corn fields, interspersed with hanging woods. Behind it is a small park, well wooded; and one side is a capacious garden fronting the south-east.
Sir Theophilus was for several years a member of Parliament for Haslemere, a small borough in the south-west angle of the county of Surrey. This place was, afterwards, in the reigns of Anne, George I., and George II., successively represented by his three sons, Lewis, Theophilus, and James. He died April 10,1702, as appears by a pedigree in the collection of the late J.C. Brooke, Esq., though the following inscription in the parish church of St. James, Westminster, where he was buried, has a year earlier.—"Hie jacet THEOPHILUS OGLETHORPE, Eques auratus, ab atavo Vice-comite Eborum, Normanno victore, ducens originem. Cujus armis ad pontem Bothwelliensem, succubuit Scotus: necnon Sedgmoriensi palude fusi Rebellos. Qui, per varies casus et rerum discrimina, magnanimum erga Principem et Patriam fidem, sed non temerè, sustinuit. Obiit Londini anno 1701, aetat. 50."
Sir Theophilus married Eleanora Wall, of a respectable family inIreland, by whom he had four sons and five daughters; namely, Lewis,Theophilus, Sutton, and James; Eleanora, Henrietta, Mary, andFrances-Charlotte.
I. LEWIS, born February, 1680-1; admitted into Corpus Christi College, in the University of Oxford, March 16,1698-9. He was Equerry to Queen Anne, and afterwards Aid-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough; and, in 1702, member of Parliament for Haslemere. Having been mortally wounded in the battle of Schellenburgh, on the 24th October, 1704, he died on the 30th.
The following inscription to his memory is placed below that of SirTheophilus.
"Hujus claudit latus LUDOVICUS OGLETHORPE, tam paternae virtutis, quam fortunae, haeres; qui, proelio Schellenbergensi victoria Hockstatensis preludio tempestivum suis inclinantibus ferens auxilium vulnere honestissima accepit, et praeclarae spe Indolis frustrata.—Ob. XXII aetatis, Anno Dom. 1704.
"Charissimo utriusque marmor hoc, amantissima conjux et mater possuit,Domina Eleonora Oglethorpe."
II. THEOPHILUS, born 1682. He was Aid-de-camp to the Duke of Ormond; and member of Parliament for Haslemere in 1708 and 1710. The time of his death is not recorded. He must have died young.
III. ELEONORA, born 1684; married the Marquis de Mezieres on the 5th of March, 1707-8, and deceased June 28, 1775, aged 91. The son of this lady was heir to the estate of General Oglethorpe. He is mentioned, in the correspondence of Mr. Jefferson, as highly meritorious and popular in France, (1785.)
IV. ANN [mentioned in Shaftoe's narrative.]
V. SUTTON, born 1686; and died in November, 1693.
VI. HENRIETTA, [of whom we have no account.]
VII. JAMES, [see the next article.]
VIII. FRANCES-CHARLOTTE … Married the Marquis de Bellegarde, aSavoyard.[1] To a son of this union is a letter of General Washington,dated January 15, 1790, in the 9th volume of Sparks'sWritings ofWashington, p. 70.
[Footnote 1:Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. LVII. p. 1123.]
IX. MARY, who died single.
The ARMS of the family are thus described: "Argent, a chevron, between three boar's heads, erased, sable armed, or, lingued proper."
CREST. "A boar's head, as before, holding an oaken branch, vert, fructed or."
There are great difficulties in ascertaining the age of Oglethorpe. The newspapers, soon after his decease, in 1785. and theGentleman'sandLondon Magazine, contain several articles about it.
While these inquiries, investigations, and statements were going the round of all the periodicals of the day, it is unaccountably strange that the family did not produce the desired rectification, and yet more surprising that in the inscription on the monument erected to his memory by his widow, and which was drawn up by her request, she should not have furnished the writer with the date of his birth, and the years of age to which he had arrived.
TheLondon Gazette, first announcing his death, stated itone hundred and four years. TheWestminster Magazinefor July 1785, (a periodical published in the very neighborhood of the old family mansion,) in the monthly notice of deaths, has "June 30th, General Oglethorpe, aged 102. He was the oldest general in England." And I have a fine engraved portrait of him taken in February preceding his decease, or which is inscribed "he died 30th of June, 1785, aged 102." A writer in theGentleman's Magazinefor September, 1785 p. 701, who was one of the first emigrants to Georgia, and personally and intimately acquainted with the General, declares that "he lived to benear a hundred years old, but was notone hundred and two, as has been asserted."
In the Biographical Memoir of him in the 8th volume of theEuropean Magazine; in NICHOLS'sAnecdotes of Literatureand in McCALL'sHistory of Georgia, his birth is said to have been in 1698; and yet it is asserted by the best authorities, that he bore the military rank of Ensign in 1710, when, according to their date of his nativity, he could have been buttwelve years of age; and this before his entering College at Oxford.
Again, some make him Captain Lieutenant in the first troop of the Queen's Guards in 1714; the same year that others put him to College. According to such statements, he must on both these military advancements, have been of an age quite too juvenile for military service, and more so for military rank. And yet, to account for his obtaining such early, and, indeed, immature promotion, the writers suggest that "he withdrew precipitately from the sphere of his education." But I see no reason for supposing that he left the University before he had completed the usual term of residence for obtaining a degree; though he did not obtain that ofMaster of Artstill the 31st of July, 1731.[1]
[Footnote 1: SeeCatalogue of Oxford Graduates.]
PRIOR, inThe Life of Goldsmith, page 457, expressly says thatOglethorpe, "after being educated at Oxford, served under PrinceEugene against the Turks."[1]
[Footnote 1: About this time he presented a manuscript French paraphrase of the Bible, in two folio volumes, finely illuminated, to the library of Corpus Christi College in Oxford. "The gift of James Oglethorpe, Esq., Member of Parliament." GUTCH'sAppendix to Wood's History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls in the University of Oxford.]
Again, CROKER has a long note upon a passage in Boswell'sLife of Johnson, II. p. 173, to invalidate a narative of Oglethorpe's respecting a writing of Colonel Sir Thomas Prendergast, who was killed at the battle of Malplaquet, on the 31st of August, 1709, which thus concludes: "At the battle of Malplaquet, Oglethorpe wasonly eleven years old. Is it likely that Oglethorpe, at the age ofeleven years, was present at Pope's interview with Colonel Cecil? And, even if he were, what credit is to be given to the recollections, after the lapse of sixty-three years, of what a boy ofelevenheard?"[1]
[Footnote 1: CROKER means that the time when Oglethorpe told the story to Dr. Johnson wassixty-threeyears after the battle of Malplaquet, when the event referred to took place.]
In reply to this, I would observe, that it is not even probable, as this statement would imply, that the interview of Pope with Colonel Cecil was directly after the battle. There might have been intervening years. Moreover, Croker goes upon the presumption that the birth of Oglethorpe was in 1698. Now, to assign his birth to that year would make him onlyeighty-seven yearsold when he died; but Dr. Lettsom, in "a letter on prisons," in theGentleman's Magazine, Vol. LXXI. p. 21, has this remark: "I spent an evening, which agreeably continued till two o'clock in the morning, with the late General Oglethorpe, when this veteran was in theninety-sixthyear of his age; who told me, that he planted Georgia chiefly from prisons." And Hannah More writes of being in company with him when he wasmuch above ninety yearsof age. He was, therefore, born before 1698. And, finally, the record of his admission into Corpus Christi College, at Oxford, decides the matter beyond all controversy; and, by certifying his age to besixteen, proves that he was born insixteen hundred and eighty-eight. For themonthandday, I receive the testimony of William Stephens, Esq., Secretary for the affairs of the Trustees in Georgia, in the first volume of his Journal. On Thursday, December, 21st, [1738,] he makes this record.
"Another heavy rain of all last night, and this whole day's continuance; which, whatever impediments it might occasion to our other affairs, was no hindrance to our celebration ofthe General's birth-day, as had been always the custom hitherto; and in the very same manner as we did last year, under the discharge of cannon, &c." And McCall, who has namedDecember21st, says, "I am indebted to the Encyclopedia Perthensis, and to the Journal of a private gentleman in Georgia, where his birth-day was celebrated, for the date which I have inserted."[1]
[Footnote 1:History of Georgia, Vol. I. p. 321.]
This assignment will tally with the other dates and their attendant circumstances; allow time, with becoming propriety, for finishing his education at the University; and show that he was not so precocious a soldier as has been represented, but that, instead of thejuvenileage ofeleven, he entered the army at themanlyage oftwenty-one.
Memorandum. This attempt to ascertain the exact age of Oglethorpe, was written in 1837. I have, since then, received the following letter, dated London, October 2d, 1840.
My Dear Sir.In compliance with your request, I. have been, this morning,to the vestry of St. James, Westminster, where I examinedthe record of Oglethorpe's baptism, of which the following isan exact copy in substance and form.
Bapt. | June 16892. | James Oglethorpe of Sir Theophilus and| his lady Elinor, b. 1.
I certify that the above is a true extract from the RegisterBook of Baptisms belonging to the Parish of St. James,Westminster.J.G. GIFFORD,Preacher and Assistant.
Hence it appears that Oglethorpe was born onthe firstofJune, 1669, and baptized on thesecond. I was assured byMr. Gifford that this is the true meaning of the record; andI observed in the Register Book that other names were recordedin like manner. There were several other baptisms thesame day, with different days of birth.Most truly your friend and obedient servant,JARED SPARKS.
This will be deemed decisive; though to me not entirely satisfactory. I think I see cause for questioning the "b.1." not theirimport, but theircorrectness: occasioned either for family reasons, or that the date given at the font either was not distinctly heard by the officiating clergyman, or misremembered at the time when the entry was made in the Book. Besides, there would seem no occasion for the presentation so immediately after the birth; for, according to custom, it is very unusual beforethe eighth day. On the other hand, from the statement of Nichols, Vol. II. p. 19, that of the children of Sir Theophilus, "the five eldest were born at St. James London," we may infer that JAMES, who was thesixthin the order of births in the family, was born at Godalming. This is proved, also, by Shaftoe's narrative, which mentions the going down of the mother to London, in consequence of the sickness and death of one of the nurslings. Now, though the main statement of that document may not be true, such an incidental circumstance as this, which has no direct bearing on "the vexed question," may be admitted. If, therefore, born at Godalming, he could not be taken to London, for baptism,on the day after his birth. And, admitting that his nativity was on the 21st of December, the season of the year alone would be sufficient reason for deferring the public ceremony till after the inclement weather, and the opportunity favored for having it in the Parish Church, where all the other children had been baptized.
After all, the fact that on theninthof July,seventeen hundred and four, he wassixteen yearsold, as is testified on the Record of his admission into College, is incompatible with the date of June 1st, 1689, for the day of his birth, but consistent with that of December 21st, 1688.
To adjust all these discrepancies respecting the time of his birth, and others of the time of his death, one needs the ingenuity of the Benedictins of St. Maur, who published a 4to volume with this title: "L'art de verifier les dates des faits historiques."
CHARLES MORDAUNT,Earl of Peterborough. This great man died on his passage to Lisbon, 25th of October, 1735, aged 77. To bravery and heroism, he added a penetrating genius and a mind highly polished and well instructed in ancient and modern literature, as hisFamiliar Epistles, preserved among those of his friend Pope, fully evince.
Of REV. GEORGE BERKELEY, D.D., the celebrated Dean of Derry, and afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, I give the following particulars.
His learning and virtues, his lively and agreeable conversation, introduced him to the acquaintance, and procured him the esteem and friendship of many great and learned men, and among others the Earl of Peterborough, who made him his Chaplain, and took him as a companion on a tour of Europe in 1714-15. Soon after his return, the Dean published a proposal for the better supplying of the churches in the American Plantations with Clergymen, and for instructing and converting the savages to Christianity, by erecting a College in Bermuda. The first branch of this design appeared to him in the light of importance; but his principal view was to train up a competent number of young Indians, in succession, to be employed as missionaries among the various tribes of Indians. It appeared to be a matter of very material consequence, that persons should be employed in this service who were acquainted with the language necessary to be used; and he had also a strong persuasion that such missionaries as he proposed would be much better received by the savages than those of European extraction. These Indian lads were to be obtained from the different tribes in the fairest manner, and to be fed, clothed and instructed at the expense of the Institution.
The scheme, for some time, met with all the encouragement that was due to so benevolent a proposal. The King granted a charter; and the Parliament voted a very considerable sum to be obtained from the sale of lands in St. Christophers. Such a prospect of success in the favorite object of his heart, drew from Berkeley some beautiful verses, "in which," a writer of the day remarks, "another age, perhaps, will acknowledge the old conjunction of thepropheticcharacter with that of thepoetic, to have again taken place."
In consequence of this encouragement, he resigned his rich Deanry; and in execution of his noble design, embarked in the latter part of Autumn, 1728; his lady and her sister accompanying him; and arrived at Newport, in Rhode Island, in February following. This situation he pitched upon with a view of settling a correspondence there for supplying his College. He purchased a country-seat and farm in the neighborhood, where he resided about two years and a half. His residence in this country had some influence on the progress of literature, particularly in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The presence and conversation of a man so illustrious for talents, learning, virtue, and social attractions, could not fail of giving a spring to the literary diligence and ambition of many who enjoyed his acquaintance.
Finding, at length, that the promised aid of the ministry towards his College would fail him, he embarked at Boston in September 1731, on his return to England. At his departure he distributed the books which he had brought with him, among the Clergy of Rhode Island. He sent, as a gift to Yale College, a deed of his farm; and afterwards made a present to its Library of about a thousand volumes.
Immediately after his arrival in London, he returned all the private subscriptions that had been advanced for the support of his undertaking.
The fund, which had been calculated upon for his College, had been chiefly appropriated as a marriage portion of the Princess Ann, on her nuptials with the Prince of Orange. There remained, however, £10,000, which General Oglethorpe had interest enough in Parliament to obtain for the purpose of carrying over and settling foreign and other Protestants in his new Colony of Georgia in America;[1] "having first paid Dean Berkeley the compliment of asking his consent to the application for the money, before he moved for it in Parliament."
[Footnote 1: SeeJournal of the House of Commons, May 10, 1733.]
He passed the latter part of his life at Oxford; and deceased January 14th, 1753, aged 74.
The character of this worthy prelate was expressed in few words by Bishop Atterbury, who, having heard much of him, wished to see him. Accordingly, he was one day introduced to him by the Earl of Berkeley. After some time, Mr. Berkeley quitted the room; on which the Earl said to the Bishop, "Does my cousin answer your Lordship's expectations?" The Bishop, lifting up his hands in astonishment, replied, "So much understanding, so much knowledge, so much innocence, and such humility, I did not think had been the portion of any but angels, till I saw this gentleman."
Mr. Pope sums up Bishop Berkeley's character in one line. After mentioning some particular virtues that distinguished other Prelates, he ascribes
"To Berkeley every virtue under heaven."
I close these memoirs of the early companion, and congenial and lasting friend of Oglethorpe, with the verses referred to, written by him.
The muse, disgusted at an age and time,Barren of every glorious theme,In distant lands now waits a better clime,Producing subjects worthy fame.
In happy climes, where from the genial sunAnd virgin earth such scenes ensue,The force of art by nature seems outdone,And fancied beauties by the true:
In happy climes, the seat of innocence,Where nature guides and virtue rules;Where men shall not impose, for truth and sense,The pedantry of courts and schools:
There shall be seen another golden age,The rise of empire and of arts;The good and great inspiring epic page,The wisest heads and noblest hearts.
Not such as Europe breeds in her decay,Such as she bred when fresh and young,When heavenly flame did animate her clay,By future ages shall be sung.
Westward the course of empire takes its way,—The four first acts already past,A fifth shall close the drama with the day,—Time's noblest offspring is the last.
[See History and Proceedings of the House of Commons.]
Against the banishment of Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester.April 6, 1723.
On ecclesiastical benefices.
On the preference of a militia to a standing army. Plea in behalf of the persecuted Protestants in Germany January, 1731-2.
On the bill for the better securing and encouraging the trade of the sugar Colonies. January 28, 1732.
On the petition of Sir Thomas Lombe relating to his silk winding machine.
On the petition from the proprietors of the Charitable Corporation, complaining of the mismanagement of their directors &c. February, 1732.
On a second reading of the sugar colony bill.
On the motion for an address of thanks in answer to the King's speech.January 27, 1734. [His speech fills more than three pages.]
On the motion in the grand committee on the supply for granting thirty thousand men for the sea service for the year 1735. February 7th, 1734-5. [This speech fills six pages and a half.]
Against committing the bill for limiting the number of officers in theHouse of Commons.
On Sir J. Barnard's motion for taking off such taxes as are burdensome to the poor and the manufacturers.
Against the act for disabling Alexander Wilson, Esq., from the holding office, &c.
On the petition, in 1747, of the United Brethren to have theAct for naturalizing foreigners in North America, extended to them and other settlers who made a scruple of performing military service.
On another petition of the United Brethren presented 20th of February, 1749.
[All the speeches in both Houses of Parliament on each of these petitions, were printed in theUniversal Magazinefor the months of April and May, 1749.]
He spoke on other occasions, to have indicated which would have required more research than I could spare.
This committee consisted of the following gentlemen:
James Oglethorpe, Esquire, Chairman,The Right Honorable the Lord Finch,The Right Honorable Lord Percival,Sir Robert Sutton, Knight of the Bath,Sir Robert Clifton, Knight of the Bath,Sir Abraham Elton, Baronet,Sir Gregory Page, Baronet,Sir Edmund Knatchbull, Baronet,Vultus Cornwall, Esquire,General Wade,Humphry Parsons, Esquire,Captain Vernon,Robert Byng, Esquire,Judge Advocate Hughes.
On Thursday, the 27th of February, they went to the Fleet prison to examine into the state of that gaol, in order for the relief of the insolvent debtors, &c., when the irons were ordered to be taken off Sir William Rich, Baronet. The next day, the same committee went a second time to the Fleet prison, where, upon complaint made to them that Sir William Rich was again put in irons, they made report thereof to the House of Commons, who thereupon ordered Mr. Bambridge, the warden of the Fleet, to be taken into the custody of their sergeant at arms.
"On Thursday, the 20th of March, Mr. Oglethorpe from the committee appointed to inquire into the state of the gaols of this kingdom, made a REPORT of some progress they had made, with the RESOLUTIONS of the committee thereupon, and he read the Report in his place, and afterwards delivered the same (with two appendixes) in at the table, where the Report was read, and the resolutions of the committee being severally read a second time, were agreed to by the House, in substance as follows, viz.:
"Resolved,nemine contradicente, that Thomas Bambridge, the acting Warden of the prison at the Fleet, hath wilfully permitted several debtors to the crown in great sums of money, as well as debtors to divers of his Majesty's subjects to escape; hath been guilty of the most notorious breaches of his trust; great extortions, and the highest crimes and misdemeanors in the execution of his said office; and hath arbitrarily and unlawfully loaded with irons, put into dungeons, and destroyed prisoners for debt under his charge, treating them in the most barbarous and cruel manner, in high violation and contempt of the laws of this kingdom:
"Resolved,nemine contradicente, that John Higgins, Esq., late warden of the prison of the Fleet, did during the time of his wardenship, wilfully permit many in his custody to escape, and was notoriously guilty of great breaches of his trust, extortions, cruelties, and many other high crimes and misdemeanors, &c., &c.
"And that James Barnes, William Pindar, John Everett, and Thomas King were agents of, and accomplices with the said Thomas Bambridge in the commission of his said crimes.
"At the same time, upon a motion made by Mr. Oglethorpe, by direction of the committee, it was unanimously resolved to address his Majesty that he would be graciously pleased to direct his Attorney General forthwith to prosecute, in the most effectual manner, the said Thomas Bambridge, John Higgins, James Barnes, William Pindar, John Everett, and Thomas King for their said crimes.
"It was also ordered that the said Bambridge, Higgins, Barnes, Pindar, Everett, and King be committed close prisoners in His Majesty's gaol of Newgate.
"Then, upon Mr. Oglethorpe's motions, two bills were ordered to be brought in, one to disable Thomas Bambridge from holding or executing the office of Warden of the Prison of the Fleet, or to have or exercise any authority relating therein. The other, for better regulating the prison of the Fleet, and for more effectually preventing and punishing arbitrary and illegal practices of the Warden of the said prison.
"In the last place the Commons ordered the Report from the Committee relating to the Fleet prison to be printed." [N.B. The substance of this report is given in BOYER'sPolitical State of Europe, Vol. XXXVII. p. 359-377.]
The labors of Oglethorpe and his associates to correct prison abuses, were warmly acknowledged by their country, and were the grateful theme of the poet. They were alluded to by THOMSON in the following strain:
"And here can I forget the generous handWho, touched with human woe, redressive searchedInto the horrors of the gloomy jail?Where misery moans unpitied and unheard,Where sickness pines, where thirst and hunger burn,And poor misfortune feels the lash of vice?
* * * * *
"Ye sons of mercy! yet resume the search,Drag forth the legal monsters into light;Wrench from their hands oppression's iron rodAnd bid the cruel feel the pains they give!"
[Winter, l. 359-388.]
"The wretched condition of confined debtors, and the extortions and oppressions to which they were subjected by gaolers, thus came to be known to persons in high stations, and this excited the compassion of several gentlemen to think of some method of relieving the poor from that distress in which they were often involved without any fault of their own, but by some conduct which deserved pity rather than punishment."
In a very excellent publication entitled "Reasons for establishing the Colony ofGEORGIA,with regard to the trade of Great Britain, the increase of our people, and the employment and support it will afford to great numbers of our own poor, as well as foreign Protestants," by BENJAMIN MARTIN, Esq.Lond. 1733; are some remarks in reference to the release of insolvent debtors from gaol, which I deem it proper to extract and annex here; and the rather, because the work is exceedingly rare.
After describing the deplorable condition of those who are in reduced circumstances, and need assistance and would be glad of employment, the writer refers to the situation of those who are thrown into prison for debt, and judges that the number may be estimated atfour thousand every year; and that above one third part of the debts is never recovered hereby; and then adds, "If half of these, or only five hundred of them, were to be sent to Georgia every year to be incorporated with those foreign Protestants who are expelled their own country for religion, what great improvements might not be expected in our trade, when those, as well as the foreigners, would be so many new subjects gained by England? For, while they are in prison, they are absolutely lost,—the public loses their labor, and their knowledge. If they take the benefit of the Act of Parliament that allows them liberty on the delivery of their all to their creditors, they come destitute into the world again. As they have no money and little credit, they find it almost impossible to, get into business, especially when our trades are overstocked. They, therefore, by contracting new debts, must return again into prison, or, how honest soever their dispositions may be, by idleness and necessity will be forced into bad courses, such as begging, cheating, or robbing. These, then, likewise, are useless to the state; not only so, but dangerous. But these (it will be said) may be serviceable by their labor in the country. To force them to it, I am afraid, is impracticable; to suppose they will voluntarily do it, I am sure is unlikely. The Colony of Georgia will be a proper asylum for these. This will make the act of parliament of more effect. Here they will have the best motive for industry; a possession of their own, and no possibility of subsisting without it.
"I have heard it said that our prisons are the properest places for those that are thrown into them, by keeping them from being hurtful to others. Surely this way of thinking is something too severe. Are these people, with their liberty to lose our compassion? Are they to be shut up from our eyes, and excluded also from our hearts? Many of very honest dispositions fall into decay, nay, perhaps, because they are so, because they cannot allow themselves that latitude which others take to be successful. The ways that lead to a man's ruin are various. Some are undone by overtrading, others by want of trade; many by being responsible for others. Do all these deserve such hardship? If a man sees a friend, a brother, a father going to a prison, where felons are to be his society, want and sickness his sure attendants, and death, in all likelihood his only, butquickrelief; if he stretches out his hand to save him from immediate slavery and ruin, he runs the risk of his own liberty, and at last loses it; is there any one who will say, this man is not an object of compassion? Not so, but of esteem, and worth preserving for his virtue. But supposing that idleness and intemperance are the usual cause of his ruin. Are these crimes adequate to such a punishment as confinement for life? But even yet granting that these unhappy people deserve no indulgence, it is certainly imprudent in any state to lose the benefit of the labor of so many thousands.
"But the public loss, by throwing men into prison, is not confined to them only. They have many of them wives and children. These are, also, involved in their ruin. Being destitute of a support, they must perish, or else become a burden on their parishes by an inability to work, or a nuisance by their thefts. These, too, are useless to society.
"In short, all those who can work yet are supported in idleness by any mistaken charity, or are subsisted by their parishes, which are at this time, through all England overburdened by indolent and lazy poor, who claim and are designed only for impotent poor;—all those who add nothing by their labor to the welfare of the state, are useless, burdensome, or dangerous to it. What is to be done with these necessitous? Nobody, I suppose, thinks that they should continue useless. It will be then an act of charity to these, and of merit to the public, for any one to propose, forward, and perfect a better expedient for making them useful. If he cannot, it is surely just to acquiesce, till a better be found, in the present design of settling them in Georgia." p. 16-21.
"In 1719, a silk-throwing mill was erected at Derby, and from that time to the beginning of the present century, various improvements were introduced.
"The following account of the first silk mill erected in England will be interesting. At the commencement of the last century, a person of the name of Crochet erected a small mill near the present works, with the intention of introducing the Italian method of spinning into this country. About 1715, a similar plan was in the contemplation of a mechanic and draughtsman named John Lombe, who travelled into Italy to procure drawings and models of the machines necessary for the undertaking. After remaining some time in that country, and gaining as much information as the jealousy and precautions of the merchants of Italy would allow, he returned with two natives, accustomed to the manufacture, into this country, and fixed upon Derby as a proper place to establish his works. He agreed with the corporation for an island, or rather swamp, in the river, 500 feet long and 52 feet wide, at the rent of about £8 yearly. Here he established his silk mills, and in 1718 procured a patent to enable him to secure the profits for fourteen years. But Lombe did not live much longer; for the Italians, exasperated at the injury done to their trade by its introduction into England, sent an artful woman over, who associated with the parties in the character of a friend, and, having gained over one of the natives who had originally accompanied Mr. Lombe, administered a poison to him, of which, it is said, he ultimately died. His death, however, did not prove fatal to his scheme; for his brother, and afterwards his cousin, carried on the business with energy, and employed more than three hundred persons. A little before the expiration of the Patent, Sir Thomas Lombe petitioned for a renewal of it; but this was refused, and instead of it, £14,000 was granted him, on condition that he should allow a complete model of the works to be taken; this was accordingly done, and afterwards deposited in the town for public inspection.
"This extensive mill stands upon a huge pile of oak, double planked and covered with stone-work, on which are turned thirteen stone arches, which sustain the walls.
"The spinning mills are eight in number, and give motion to upwards of 25,000 reel bobbins, and nearly 3000 star wheels belonging to the reels. Each of the four twist mills contains four rounds of spindles, about 389 of which are connected with each mill, as well as the numerous reels, bobbins, star wheels, &c. The whole of this elaborate machine, though distributed through so many apartments, is put in motion by a single water-wheel twenty-three feet in diameter, situated on the west side of the building."
[Treatise on the Manufactures and Machinery of Great Britain, by P. BARLOW, Esq., F.R.S., &c., in theEncyclopedia Metropol. Part VI. "Mixed Sciences."]
"Sir Thomas Lombe, Alderman of Bassishaw Ward, died, at his house in Old Jury, London, on the third of January 1739, aged 81. A gentleman of great integrity and honor. He was the senior Alderman, next the chair. Worth £120,000 sterling."
There is an account of the riot, and of all the particulars attending the murder of Captain Porteous, at the close of the 9th volume of theHistory of the Proceedings of the House of Commons, from page 506 to 545; and a concise narrative in theHistory of England, by Lord MAHON, Vol. II. p. 285-298. He introduces it by the following remarks: "Some years back, the real events might have excited interest; but the wand of an enchanter is now waved over us. We feel the spell of the greatest writer that the world has seen in one department, or Scotland produced in any. How dull and lifeless will not the true facts appear when no longer embellished by the touching sorrows of Effie, or the heroic virtue of Jeanie Deans!" He refers, in a note, to chapter VI. ofThe Heart of Mid Lothian, by Sir WALTER SCOTT, and to "his excellent narrative" in the 2d series of theTales of a Grandfather, from p. 231 to 242, the end of the volume. See also the able speech of Mr. LINDSAY, in theParliamentary History, p. 254.
It is worthy of remark that the Bill was carried in Committee by the least possible majority. One hundred and thirty-one members voted for reporting the Bill as amended; the same number voted against it. And, though it is customary for the Chairman to give his vote on the side of mercy, he voted in favor of the Bill. It is further remarkable, that two Scots members, the Solicitor General, and Mr. Erskine of Grange, were then attending an appeal in the House of Lords, and were refused leave of absence in order to be at this discussion, otherwise the Bill would have been entirely lost.
About the end of the month of August, 1732, Sir Gilbert Heathcote acquainted the court of directors of the Bank of England, that his Majesty had granted a charter for establishing a regular colony in Georgia; that the fund was to arise from charitable contributions which he recommended to them, shewing the great charity of the undertaking and the future benefit arising to England, by strengthening all the American Colonies, by increasing the trade and navigation of the kingdom, and by raising of raw silk, for which upwards of £500,000 a year was paid to Piedmont, and thereby giving employment to thousands of tradesmen and working people. Then Sir Gilbert gave a handsome benefaction to the design, and his example was followed by the directors then present, and a great many others belonging to that opulent society; and James Vernon, Robert Hucks, and George Heathcote, Esquires, paid into the Bank (the treasury for this use) £200 each for the charity, which was conducted by the following gentlemen as trustees:
Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, Francis Eyles, Esq.John Lord Viscount Purceval, John Laroche, Esq.John Lord Viscount Tyrconnel, James Vernon, Esq.James Lord Viscount Limerick, Stephen Hales, A.M.George Lord Carpenter, Richard Chandler, Esq.Edward Digby, Esq. Thomas Frederick, Esq.James Oglethorpe, Esq. Henry L'Apostre, Esq.George Heathcote, Esq. William Heathcote, Esq.Thomas Towers, Esq. John White, Esq.Robert Moore, Esq. Robert Kendal, Esq.Robert Hucks, Esq. Richard Bundy, D.D.William Sloper, Esq.
Collections were made all over England, and large sums raised, and the Parliament gave £10,000, which enabled the trustees to entertain many poor people that offered, and to make provision for their transportation and maintenance till they could provide for themselves.
[OLDMIXON, I. p.526.
"Those who direct this charity have, by their own choice, in the most open and disinterested manner, made it impossible for any one among them to receive any advantage from it, besides the consciousness of making others happy. Voluntary and unpaid directors carry on their designs with honor and success. Such an association of men of leisure and fortune to do good, is the glory and praise of our country."]
[Sermon before the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia, by THOMAS RUNDLE, D.D.,Bishop of Londonderry, Ireland. Lond. 1734, page 16.]
As Oglethorpe's going along with this new Colony proceeded merely from his public spirit, and from a disinterested and generous view of contributing all that was in his power, towards the benefit of his country, and the relief of his distressed countrymen, it met with just and deserved applause. In one of the public prints of the day the following encomium was inserted.
"Whether it is owing to an affectation of being thought conversant with the ancients, or the narrowness of our minds, I know not, but we often pass over those actions in our contemporaries which would strike us with admiration in a Greek or a Roman. Their histories perhaps cannot produce a greater instance of public spirit than what appeared in an evening paper of Saturday, the 18th instant, that 'James Oglethorpe, Esq., one of the Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia, is gone over with the first embarkation at his own expense.' To see a gentleman of his rank and fortune visiting a distant and uncultivated land, with no other society but the miserable whom he goes to assist; exposing himself freely to the same hardships to which they are subjected, in the prime of life, instead of pursuing his pleasures or ambition; on an improved and well concerted plan, from which his country must reap the profits; at his own expense, and without a view, or even a possibility of receiving any private advantage from it; this too, after having done and expended for it what many generous men would think sufficient to have done;—to see this, I say, must give every one who has approved and contributed to the undertaking, the highest satisfaction; must convince the world of the disinterested zeal with which the settlement is to be made, and entitle him to the truest honor he can gain, the perpetual love and applause of mankind.
"With how just an esteem do we look back on Sir Walter Raleigh for the expeditions which he made so beneficial to his country! And shall we refuse the same justice to the living which we pay to the dead, when by it we can raise a proper emulation in men of capacity, and divert them from those idle or selfish pursuits in which they are too generally engaged? How amiable is humanity when accompanied with so much industry! What an honor is such a man! How happy must he be! The benevolent man, says Epicurus, is like a river, which, if it had a rational soul, must have the highest delight to see so many corn fields and pastures flourish and smile, as it were, with plenty and verdure, and all by the overflowing of its bounty and diffusion of its streams upon them.
"I should not have written so much of this Gentleman, had he been present to read it. I hope to see every man as warm in praising him as I am, and as hearty to encourage the design he is promoting as I really think it deserves; a design that sets charity on a right foot, by relieving the indigent and unfortunate, and making them useful at the same time."[1]
[Footnote 1: Transcribed into thePolitical State of Great Britain, for February, 1733, Vol. XLV. p.181.]
On the 13th of January, 1732-3, the Governor of South Carolina published in their Gazette the following advertisement.
Whereas I have lately received a power from the Trustees for establishing a Colony in that part of Carolina between the rivers Alatamaha and Savannah, now granted by his Majesty's Charter to the said Trustees, by the name of the Province of Georgia, authorizing me to take and receive all such voluntary contributions as any of his Majesty's good subjects of this Province shall voluntarily contribute towards so good and charitable a work, as the relieving poor and insolvent debtors, and settling, establishing, and assisting any poor Protestants of what nation soever, as shall be willing to settle in the said Colony; and whereas the said intended settlement will, in all human appearance, be a great strengthening and security to this Province, as well as a charitable and pious work, and worthy to be encouraged and promoted by all pious and good Christians; I have, therefore, thought fit to publish and make known to all such pious and well disposed persons as are willing to promote so good a work, that I have ordered and directed Mr. Jesse Badenhop to receive all such subscriptions or sums of money as shall be by them subscribed or paid in for the uses and purposes aforesaid; which sums of money (be they great or small,) I promise them shall be faithfully remitted to the Trustees by the aforesaid charter appointed, together with the names of the subscribers, which will by them be published every year; or, (if they desire their names to be kept secret) the names of the persons by whom they make the said subscriptions.
The piety and charity of so good an undertaking, I hope will be a sufficient inducement to every person to contribute something to a work so acceptable to God, as well as so advantageous to this Province.
A Copy of the Letter of the Governor and Council of South Carolina, to Mr. Oglethorpe.
Sir—We cannot omit the first opportunity of congratulating you on your safe arrival in this province, wishing you all imaginable success in your charitable and generous undertaking; in which we beg leave to assure you that any assistance we can give shall not be wanting in the promotion of the same.
The General Assembly having come to the Resolutions inclosed, we hope you will accept it as an instance of our sincere intentions to forward so good a work; and of our attachment to a person who has at all times so generously used his endeavors to relieve the poor, and deliver them out of their distress; in which you have hitherto been so successful, that we are persuaded this undertaking cannot fail under your prudent conduct, which we most heartily wish for.
The rangers and scout-boats are ordered to attend you as soon as possible.
Colonel Bull, a gentleman of this Board, and who we esteem most capable to assist you in the settling of your new Colony, is desired to deliver you this, and to accompany you, and render you the best services he is capable of; and is one whose integrity you may very much depend on.
We are, with the greatest respect and esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servants.
Council Chamber, 26 January, 1733.
Copy of the Assembly's Resolutions.
The Committee of his Majesty's Honorable Council appointed to confer with a Committee of the lower House on his Excellency's message relating to the arrival of the Honorable James Oglethorpe, Esq., report—
That agreeable to his Majesty's instructions to his Excellency, sent down together with the said message, we are unanimously of opinion that all due countenance and encouragement ought to be given to the settling of the Colony of Georgia.
And for that end your Committee apprehend it necessary that his Excellency be desired to give orders and directions that Captain McPherson, together with fifteen of the rangers, do forthwith repair to the new settlement of Georgia, to cover and protect Mr. Oglethorpe, and those under his care, from any insult that may be offered them by the Indians, and that they continue and abide there till the new settlers have enforted themselves, and for such further time as his Excellency may think necessary.
That the Lieutenant and four men of the Apalachicola Garrison be ordered to march to the fort on Cambahee, to join those of the rangers that remain; and that the Commissary be ordered to find them with provision as usual.
That his Excellency will please to give directions that the scout-boat at Port Royal do attend the new settlers as often as his Excellency shall see occasion.
That a present be given Mr. Oglethorpe for the new settlers of Georgia forthwith, of an hundred head of breeding cattle and five bulls, as also twenty breeding sows and four boars, with twenty barrels of good and merchantable rice; the whole to be delivered at the charge of the public, at such place in Georgia as Mr. Oglethorpe shall appoint.
That periauguas be provided at the charge of the public to attend Mr. Oglethorpe at Port Royal, in order to carry the new settlers, arrived in the ship Anne, to Georgia, with their effects, and the artillery and ammunition now on board.
That Colonel Bull be desired to go to Georgia with the Honorable James Oglethorpe, Esq., to aid him with his best advice and assistance in settling the place.
Extract of a Letter from His Excellency Robert Johnson, Esq., Governor of South Carolina, to Benjamin Martyn, Esq., Secretary to the Trustees, &c.
CHARLESTOWN, Feb. 12, 1733.
Sir—I have received the favor of yours, dated the 20th of October, and the duplicate of the 24th. I beg you will assure the Honorable Trustees of my humble respects, and that I will attach myself to render them and their laudable undertaking all the service in my power.
Mr. Oglethorpe arrived here with his people in good health the 13th of January. I ordered him a pilot, and in ten hours he proceeded to Port Royal, where he arrived safe the 19th, and I understand from thence, that, after refreshing his people a little in our barracks, he, with all expedition, proceeded to Yamacraw, upon Savannah River, about twelve miles from the sea, where he designs to fix those he has brought with him.
I do assure you, that upon the first news I had of this embarkation, I was not wanting in giving the necessary orders for their reception; and, being assisted at Port Royal, (although they were here almost as soon as we heard of their design of coming,) not knowing whether Mr. Oglethorpe designed directly there, or would touch here.
I am informed he is mighty well satisfied with his reception there, and likes the country; and that he says things succeed beyond his expectation; but I have not yet received a letter from him since his being at Port Royal.
Our General Assembly meeting three days after his departure, I moved to them their assisting this generous undertaking. Both Houses immediately came to the following resolution; that Mr. Oglethorpe should be furnished at the public expense, with one hundred and four breeding cattle, twenty-five hogs, and twenty barrels of good rice; that boats should also be provided at the public charge to transport the people, provisions and goods, from Port Royal to the place where he designed to settle; that the scout-boats, and fifteen of our rangers, (who are horsemen, and always kept in pay to discover the motions of the Indians,) should attend to Mr. Oglethorpe, and obey his commands, in order to protect the new settlers from any insults, which I think there is no danger of; and I have given the necessary advice and instructions to our out garrisons, and the Indians in friendship with us, that they may befriend and assist them.
I have likewise prevailed on Colonel Bull, a member of the Council, and a gentleman of great probity and experience in the affairs of this Province, the nature of land, and the method of settling, and who is well acquainted with the manner of the Indians, to attend Mr. Oglethorpe to Georgia with our compliments, and to offer him advice and assistance; and, had not our Assembly been sitting, I would have gone myself.
I received the Trustees commission; for the honor of which I beg you will thank them. I heartily wish all imaginable success to this good work; and am, Sir,
Your most humble Servant,
P.S. Since writing the above, I have had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. Oglethorpe, who gives me an account that his undertaking goes on very successfully.
Creeks, so called by the English, because their country lies chiefly among rivers, which the American English call "creeks;" but the real name is Musogees. Their language is the softest and most copious of all the Indians, and is looked upon to be the radical language; for they can make themselves understood by almost all the other Indians on the Continent. They are divided into three people, Upper, Lower, and Middle Creeks. The two former governed by their respective chiefs, whom they honor with a royal denomination; yet they are, in the most material part of their government, subordinate to the Chief of the latter, who bears an imperial title. Their country lies between Spanish Florida and the Cherokee mountains, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. They are a tall, well-limbed people, very brave in war, and as much respected in the South, as the Iroquois are in the North part of America.
[History of the British Settlements in North America, Lond. 1773, 4to, p. 156. ADAIR, 257. BARTON's Views, &c., Introduction XLIV. and Appendix 9.]
There seems to be a door opened to our Colony towards the conversion of the Indians. I have had many conversations with their chief men, the whole tenor of which shews that there is nothing wanting to their conversion but one who understands their language well, to explain to them themysteriesof religion; for, as to themoralpart of Christianity, they understand it, and do assent to it. They abhoradultery, and do not approve ofa plurality of wives.Theftis a thing not known among the Creek Indians; though frequent, and even honorable among the Uchees.Murderthey look on as a most abominable crime: but do not esteem the killing of anenemy, or one that has injured them, murder. The passion ofrevenge, which they callhonor, anddrunkenness, which they learn from our traders, seem to be the two greatest obstacles to their being truly Christians: but, upon both these points they hear reason; and with respect to drinkingrum, I have weaned those near me a good deal from it. As forrevenge, they say, as they have no executive power of justice amongst them, they are forced to kill the man who has injured them, in order to prevent others doing the like; but they do not think any injury, exceptadultery, ormurder, deserves revenge. They hold that if a man commits adultery, the injured husband is obliged to have revenge, by cutting off the ears of the adulterer, which, if he is too strong or sturdy to submit to, then the injured husband kills him the first opportunity he has to do it with safety. In cases of murder, the next in blood is obliged to kill the murderer, or else he is looked on as infamous in the nation where he lives; and the weakness of the executive power is such, that there is no other way of punishment but by the revenger of blood, as the Scripture calls it; for there is no coercive power in any of their nations; their kings can do no more than to persuade. All the power they have is no more than to call their old men and captains together, and to propound to them the measures they think proper; and, after they have done speaking, all the others have liberty to give their opinions also; and they reason together with great temper and modesty, till they have brought each other into some unanimous resolution. Then they call in the young men, and recommend to them the putting in execution the resolution, with their strongest and most lively eloquence. And, indeed, they seem to me, both in action and expression, to be thorough masters of true eloquence. In speaking to their young men, they generally address the passions. In speaking to the old men, they apply to reason only. [He then states the interview with the Creeks, and gives the first set speech of Tomo Chichi, which has been quoted.] One of the Indians of the Cherokee nation, being come down, the Governor told him that "he need fear nothing, but might speak freely," answered smartly, "I always speak freely, what should I fear? I am now among friends, and I never feared even among my enemies." Another instance of their short manner of speaking was when I ordered one of the Carolina boatmen, who was drunk and had beaten an Indian, to be tied to a gun till he was sober, in order to be whipped. Tomo Chichi came to me to beg me to pardon him, which I refused to do unless the Indian who had been beaten should also desire the pardon for him. Tomo Chichi desired him to do so, but he insisted upon satisfaction. Tomo Chichi said, "O Fonseka," (for that was his name,) "this Englishman, being drunk, has beat you; if he is whipped for so doing, the Englishmen will expect that, if an Indian should insult them when drunk, the Indian should be whipped for it. When you are drunk, you are quarrelsome, and you know you love to be drunk, but you don't love to be whipped." Fonseka was convinced, and begged me to pardon the man; which, as soon as I granted, Tomo Chichi and Fonseka ran and untied him, which I perceived was done to show that he owed his safety to their intercession.