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ner of waging war, and presented it to the gene ral in his camp, as a trophy of valor; but he rejected it with abhorrence, calling them barbarous dogs and bidding them begone: at this disdainful behavior, the Chickesaws were offended, declaring if they had carried the head of an Englishman to the French, they would not have treated them with contempt: perhaps on this occasion the general discovered more humanity than policy: the Indians soon after deserted him; about the same time the vessel stationed at the Matanzas being ordered off, some small vessels from the Havanna with provisions, and a reinforcement of men got into Augustine, by that narrow channel, to the relief of the garrison. A party of the Creeks having surprised one of their small boats, brought four Spanish prisoners to the general, who informed him that the garrison had received seven hundred men, and a large supply of provisions; then all prospects of starving the enemy being lost, the army began to despair of forcing the place to surrender. The Carolina troops enfeebled by the heat, dispirited by sickness, and fatigued by fruitless efforts, decamped in large bodies. The navy being short of provisions, and the usual season of hurricanes approaching, the commander judged it imprudent to bazard the ships any longer on the coast. Last of all, the general himself, sick of a fever, and his regiment worn out with fatigue and rendered unfit for action by a flux, with sorrow and regret re

turned to Frederica the 10th of July. Thus ended the unsuccessful expedition against Augustine, to the great disappointment of Carolina and Georgia, and the extreme mortification of the general. Many illiberal reflections were thrown out against Oglethorpe for his conduct during the whole enterprise; scarcely one of his measures escaped the animadversions of those who felt an interest in the success of the undertaking: every silly babbler pointed out a plan, which if pursued, must have been successful; when perhaps the truth was, that under all circumstances, there were but few generals, who could have conducted the enterprise with more skill, than Oglethorpe. Taking into view that he had only four hundred regular troops; that the remainder were undisciplined militia and Indians; that his enemy was secured by an impenetrable castle, finished in the highest order, well manned and provided; it only appears astonishing that he returned without a defeat, and the destruction of his army.

CHAPTER IV.

WHEN the general returned from Augus tine, he was bitterly and cruelly attacked by newsmongers and pamphleteers, as will be seen by the dedication of a pamphlet printed in SouthCarolina, of which the following is a copy: this pamphlet is probably from the pen of the " Plain Dealer."

"To his excellency James Oglethorpe, Esq. general and commander in chief of his majesty's forces in South-Carolina and Georgia, and one of the honorable trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America, &c.

May it please your Excellency,

"As the few surviving remains of the colony of Georgia, find it necessary to present the world, particularly Great-Britain, with a true state of the province, from its first rise to its present period; your excellency of all mankind, is best entitled to the dedication, as the principal author of its present strength and affluence, freedom and prosperity; and though incontestible truths will recommend the following narrative to the patient and attentive reader; yet your name sir, will be no little ornament to the frontispiece, and may possibly engage some courteous perusers a little beyond it. That dedication and flattery are synonimous, is the complaint of every dedicator, who concludes himself ingenious and fortunate, if he can discover a less trite and direct

method of flattering than is usually practiced; but we are happily prevented from the least intention of this kind, by the repeated offerings of the muses and news-writers to your excellency in the public papers; it were presumptuous even to dream of equaling or increasing them: we there fore flatter ourselves, that nothing we can advance will in the least shock your excellency's modesty; nor nothing but your goodness will pardon any deficiency of elegance and politeness, on account of your sincerity and the serious truths with which we have the honor to approach you.

"We have seen the ancient custom of sending forth colonies, for the improvement of any distant territory, or new acquisition, continued down to ourselves; but to your excellency alone it is owing, that the world is made acquainted with a plan, highly refined from those of former projectors. They fondly imagined it necessary to communicate to such young settlements, the fullest right and properties, all the immunities of their mother countries, and privileges rather more extensive: by such means indeed, these colonies flourished with early trade and affluence: but your excellency's concern for our perpetual welfare, could never permit you to propose such transitory advantages for us: you considered riches like a divine and a philosopher, as the irritamenta malorum, and knew that they were disposed to inflate weak minds with pride, to pamper the body with luxury, and introduce a long variety of

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evils. Thus have you protected us from our selves, as Mr. Waller says, by keeping all earthly comforts from us: you have afforded us the opportunity of arriving at the integrity of the primitive times, by entailing a more than primitive poverty upon us. The toil that is necessary to our bare subsistence, must effectually defend us from the anxieties of any further ambition: as we have no properties to feed vain glory and beget contention; so we are not puzzled with any system of laws, to ascertain and establish them the valuable virtue of humanity is secured to us by your care to prevent our procuring, or so much as seeing any negroes, (the only human creature proper to improve our soil) lest our simplicity might mistake the poor Africans for greater slaves than ourselves: and that we might fully receive the spiritual benefit of those wholesome austerities, you have wisely denied us the use of those spirituous liquors, which might in the least divert our minds from the contemplation of our happy circumstances.

"Our subject swells upon us; and did we al low ourselves to indulge the inclination, without considering our weak abilities, we should be tempted to launch out into many of your excellency's extraordinary endowments, which do not so much regard the affair on hand; but as this would lead us beyond the bounds of the dedication, so would it engross a subject too extensive for us, to the prejudice of other authors and pan

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