Page images
PDF
EPUB

part of the said five hundred, and plant two thousand white mulberry trees, or plants thereupon; and on every hundred of the other three hundred acres, one thousand white mulberry trees, or plants, when cleared, and preserve the same quantity from time to time thereupon; the trustees, obliging themselves to furnish the plants; that they should not alienate the said five hundred acres of land, or any part thereof for any term of years, or any estate or interest in the same, to any person or persons without special leave; that they should not make pot-ash in partnership without leave, but might make it themselves, not in partnership. On the termination of male descendants, who alone could inherit the land thus granted, the land to revert to the trust, and that they should not depart the said province without licence. Each servant serving four years, should be entitled to twenty acres of land, on the conditions before mentioned.

In the year 1735, the British parliament granted large sums of money, for settling and securing the colony of Georgia. The trustees thought it prudent to strengthen the southern part of the province by making a settlement on the Alatamaha river, to which they were the more strongly inclined by a memorial sent to the king from the governor and council of South-Carolina, dated 9th April 1734, wherein; after thanking his majesty for his peculiar favor and protec

tion, and especially for his most benign care, so wisely calculated for the preservation of SouthCarolina, by his royal charter to the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia; and after representing the practices of the French and Spaniards, to seduce the Indians who were in amity with South-Carolina; the attention of the French to improve their settlements, and their late increase in number, near Carolina; the defenceless condition of the province, and the danger of the inhabitants from their slaves, and the ruinous situation of the West India trade, in case the French should possess themselves of Carolina; they add that the harbours and ports of Carolina and Georgia, enable his majesty to be absolute master of the passage through the gulf of Florida, and to impede at his pleasure, the transportation home, of the Spanish treasure, which, should his majesty's enemies possess, would then prove so many convenient harbours for them, to annoy a great part of the British trade to America, as well as that which was carried on through the gulf to Jamaica.

The British government having appropriated large sums of money to the settlement of Georgia, and deeming its rapid increase in population of the utmost importance to the other colonies, became more vigorous in their efforts. The first embarkations of poor people, collected from towns and cities, had been found equally idle, and useless members of society abroad, as

they had been at home, and their conduct tended rather to destroy than to promote the trustees intentions. A hardy bold race of men, accustomed to rural economy, and laborious pursuits, they were persuaded would be much bet ter adapted, both for cultivation and defence. To find men possessed of these qualifications, the trustees turned their eyes to Germany and the high lands of Scotland, and resolved to send over a number of Scotts and Germans to their

infant province. When they published their terms at Inverness, one hundred and thirty highlanders accepted the proposals, and were transported to Georgia-a township on the Alatamaha, was allotted for the residence of the former; on which dangerous situation they settled and built a town, which they called New Inverness, (now Darien) about the same time one hun dred and seventy Germans embarked with Oglethorpe, who settled at Ebenezer so that Georgia had received from the old world, in the space of three years, about six hundred inhabitants, near two hundred of whom were Germans. Af. terwards several adventurers from Scotland and Germany, followed their countrymen, and the trustees flattered themselves with the hope of soon seeing their colony in a flourishing condition.

When Oglethorpe arrived in Georgia, the 5th of February 1736, he brought over a number of guns for the batteries and forts, erected and to be

K

erected at Savannah, Augusta, Frederica, and other places. The fort at Augusta was intended for the protection of the Indian trade, and was considered a proper place for holding treaties with the several Indian tribes. Frederica on St. Simons' island at the mouth of the Alatamaha, was a regular work of Tappy (a composition of oyster-shells and lime) with four bastions, mounted with several pieces of cannon-on the south end of the island ten miles from the fort, a battery called fort St. Simons, was raised, commanding the entrance of Jekyl sound: ten thousand pounds were granted by the British government towards building and garrisoning these works.

The celebrated John Wesley accompanied Oglethorpe to Georgia, with an intention of making religious impressions on the minds of the Indians as well as the colonists. Himself and followers before he left England, were distinguished by a more than common strictness of religious life-they received the sacrament of the Lord's supper every week; observed all the fasts of the church; visited the prisons; rose at 4 o'clock in the morning and refrained from all amusements. From the exact method in which they disposed of every hour, they acquired the appellation of methodists, by which their followers have since been denominated. Wesley had drawn over a considerable number of proselytes and created many unpleasant divisions amongst

the people in Georgia; he was charged with requiring too much of their time from necessary labor, to attend his prayers, meetings and sermons, at improper hours, tending to propagate a spirit of indolence and hypocrisy amongst the abandoned, by adhering to his novelties. That he had an undue influence over the public funds, which was exercised exclusively in favor of his own sect, and that he excommunicated all such as differed with him in his creed and shut them out from religious ordinances, contrary to the spirit and tenderness authorised by the christian religion. He was also charged with an attempt to establish confessions, penance, mortifications, &c. and appointed deaconesses, with sundry other innovations, which he called apostolick constitutions: that his schemes seemed judiciously calculated to debase and depress the minds of the people, to break down the spirit of liberty, and humble them with fastings, penances, drinking water, and a thorough subjection to the spiritual jurisdiction, which he asserted was to be established in his own person; and when this should be accomplished, the minds of the people would be equally prepared for the reception of civil or religious tyranny-that jesuitical arts were used to bring his schemes to perfection; party divisions were made in private families; spies engaged in their houses; servants bribed to communicate family secrets to him, and that those who had given themselves up to his spiritual guidance,

« PreviousContinue »