USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. I > Part 31
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To this remonstrance, Little sent a long and very im- pertinent reply ; which, notwithstanding the many in- decorous reflections which it made on individual mem- bers of the Assembly, was, by order of the Governor, spread in full on the pages of the journal.
The Council very properly remonstrated32 against
31 Minutes of Council, 224.
32/Ib. 235.
421
LITTLE'S ASSEMBLY.
such unwarrantable proceedings, and closed their pro- test by requesting him to remove Little " from his pub- lic employments and your Excellency's council."
The Governor in reply made a speech to the Coun- cil, characterized by haughtiness and disdain ; to which the Council answered by a dignified and spirited ad- dress, maintaining their former position, and represent- ing the evil which the course of the Governor was bringing upon the colony. There was a tone of firm- ness and independence about the remonstrances of the Council that evidenced how deeply they felt aggrieved, and how earnestly they laboured for the interests of Georgia. Though not at first successful, they event- ually realized their hopes.
Notwithstanding these serious charges of the Coun- cil, Little contrived, by a variety of adroit manœuvres and artful machinations, to obtain in November, 1756, an Assembly of his creatures; eleven of the seven- teen members enjoying some office or perquisite direct- ly depending on the will of the Governor. Of this Assembly, Little managed to be chosen Speaker, and, on the 12th of January, 1757, a committee was appoint- ed by the House of Representatives, "to enquire into the state of the province." The object of all this was to draw up a paper, sanctioned by legislative authority, which should contradict the various representations that had been sent to England against Reynolds and Little, and set forth the flourishing state of the colony under his administration ; and they went so far that, at the close of their three months' session, they pre- sented an address of thanks to His Majesty for his gracious appointment of Governor Reynolds, copies of which they transmitted to the Secretary of State, and to the Lords of Trade and Plantations.
422
OBJECTIONS TO GOVERNOR REYNOLDS.
But all these fictitious efforts were of no avail, for while such legislative falsehoods were concocted to up- hold the Governor, the order for his recall had already gone forth and was then on the Atlantic.
It was objected to Governor Reynolds, that he de- volved his power and authority almost entirely upon his fawning secretary ; that he endeavoured in every way to humble and depreciate the Council, his legisla- tive advisers ; that he appointed judicial and ministe- rial officers of justice without the advice and consent of Council ; that he caused to be entered, or left out, in the journals, whatsoever he pleased; that he dissolved the best Assembly which Georgia could produce, and thereby left the taxes of the colony, and the support of government unprovided for, merely to frustrate an enquiry into Mr. Little's conduct. In these and vari- ous other ways he conducted himself in such an inde- corous, unjustifiable, and unofficer-like manner, as to provoke dissensions, harass the colony, drive off its settlers, and interrupt the course of justice and legis- lation, as guaranteed to the province by the King, and as signified to the colony by the royal instructions of the Governor. These complaints were too earnest and too truthful to be passed over by the Lords of Trade. They referred them to the King, and he ordered the Board, August 3d, 1756, " that they should immediately direct Governor Reynolds to come to England to an- swer for his conduct in his government."33 Accordingly, on the 5th of August, the Lords of Trade sent him the order of His Majesty that he should return to Eng- land, " to the end that an account of the present situa- tion and circumstances of the province, and his con- duct in the administration of government there, might
33 Board of Trade, vi. 60.
423
ARTICLES EXHIBITED AGAINST HIM.
be laid before His Majesty for his further directions thereupon."34
The Governor received this letter on the 16th of February, 1757, and, resigning the government into the hands of Henry Ellis, the Lieutenant Governor, he em- barked in a merchant ship, "the Charming Martha," which, on the 9th of May, was captured by a French privateer and carried into Bayonne in France. In this capture he lost everything he had with him, and did not reach London until the 7th of July.
Here he found fourteen articles drawn up against him for mal-administration of his office in Georgia ; evidently based on the letter of Mr. Bryan, one of the Council, to the Earl of Halifax, and the memorial of Mr. Kellet, provost marshal to the Board of Trade, which representations that body laid before the Lords Justices of Council.
To these charges Governor Reynolds drew up an elaborate reply, and on several of them vindicated himself triumphantly. But his defence, as a whole, was lame and ineffectual; and not being satisfactory to the Board of Trade, he was allowed to resign his gubernatorial commission, having held it a few months short of four years.
In the conclusion of his defence, Governor Reynolds remarks, that he " may have been guilty of mistakes, but not of anything criminal or of wilful disobedience of orders;" and, with great propriety, he entreats the Lords of Trade to remember the condition of the colony when he was appointed to it-the fact that he was the first King's Governor they had ever received, and the difficult task which such an officer " has to per- form who is to frame the first laws which regulate the
34 Board of Trade, viii. 19.
424
EFFECT OF POPULAR COMMOTIONS.
police, and constitution of government ; and that, in a country so poorly inhabited, where very few people are to be found capable of executing even the most inferior public offices." Such an appeal as this was right, and should have great weight in the judgment which we form of the official character of Governor Reynolds.
On the part of the people, no sooner did they learn the intention of the King to erect it into a separate province, than, intoxicated with the idea of royal gov- ernment, they imagined it to betoken every blessing, and looked with excited expectations to the benefits which would follow its establishment. They did not reflect, that the changes which they desired could only be gradually introduced; and that he who attempted them, and failed, would only be the victim of their dis- appointment, and plunge them deeper than ever in pub- lic and private distress.
All violent popular commotions, like a too-excited condition of mind, generally have disastrous reactions. The Georgians expected too much of Governor Rey- nolds; and because the anticipated benefits did not immediately appear, their hasty spirits magnified every minor evil, distorted each official act, and the blame which belonged to their own impatience and want of self-control, was laid upon the Governor. Disappoint- ment gave bitterness to their anger, and revenge pointed every shaft of malice.
When the news of Governor Reynolds' appointment reached Georgia, it was hailed with joy. Lands were taken up, settlers flocked in, trade increased, and pros- perity began to manifest itself in the once desolate places of Georgia. But the indications for good soon vanished. The Governor did not come up to their
425
RESUMES HIS NAVAL RANK.
high-wrought expectations; and that was crime enough in the eyes of most of the colonists to demand his impeachment.
On the part of the Governor, it should be considered, that his position was one peculiarly trying. Unused to legislative bodies, unconversant with courts of law, unversed in the functions of his office, he was trans- ferred from the quarter-deck of a man-of-war to the helm of a royal province; and was required to begin, arrange, digest, and carry out the many necessary steps and changes in the first establishing of a new and, to the people, untried form of government. This required a patience, energy, knowledge, and firmness, which Governor Reynolds did not possess. He was not ade- quate to the duties which his station required; and yielding to the machinations of his private secretary, he made himself obnoxious, by devolving upon a para- site, powers which himself should have used with knowledge and discretion.
Governor Reynolds now resumed his rank in the navy, in which, prior to going to Georgia, he had dis- tinguished himself, in an engagement with a French ship-of-war, which he captured, and carried into Eng- land.
In 1759, he commanded the Firme, of sixty guns, in the fleet of Sir Edward Hawke, off Brest; and as the French, in their design of invading His Majesty's dominions of Great Britain, purposed, in consequence of being so closely watched at Brest, to make their principal embarkation of troops35 at Vannes, in Lower . Brittany, where they had assembled a large number of transports, Sir Edward Hawke detached Capt. Rey-
35 Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs, London, 1804, ii. 322.
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426
HIS DEATH.
nolds, in the Firme, with three ships of fifty guns, seven frigates, and a fire-ship,36 of which squadron Capt. Rey- nolds was made commodore, to watch their motions and prevent their sailing. Commodore Reynolds con- tinued the blockade of Quiberon Bay all summer, and only resigned his place to Capt. Duff when the state of his vessel caused him to return to England to refit. In November, however, when the news ran through Eng- land that the French fleet, long locked up by Sir Ed- ward in Brest, had sailed, Reynolds was again sent out in the Firme, to join the admiral; but arrived too late to share in the great victory which the English had already obtained, on the 20th of November. In 1775, he was made Rear Admiral of the Blue ; and from this lowest grade of admirals, he was subsequently appoint- ed Admiral of the Blue, and died in January, the year following.37
36 Beatson's Naval and Military Me- 37 Gent. Magazine, Feb., 1788. moirs, iii. 240.
CHAPTER III.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR ELLIS.
ON the recall of Governor Reynolds, Henry Ellis was appointed (August 15th, 1756) Lieutenant Gov- ernor of Georgia.
This gentleman, born about the year 1720, early distinguished himself as a student of the natural sciences, and by his enthusiasm for geographical dis- coveries. In 1746 he was selected by the committee of Parliament "for prosecuting discoveries, to find a new passage to the Pacific," as their agent to take charge of the expedition, and direct and control its movements. As a stimulus to this daring enterprise, government had offered a reward of £20,000 sterling to the successful discoverer of this long sought for, but yet unfound, passage. Two vessels, the Dobbs, Cap- tain Moore, and the California, Captain Smith, were fitted out for this expedition, and to Ellis was en- trusted the duty of making draughts of all the newly discovered countries ; the bearings and distances of headlands ; to mark the soundings, rocks, and shoals upon the coast; to examine the water, the variations of the compass, the different nature of the soils ; and to collect birds, animals, minerals, plants, and every other kind of natural curiosity-directing the entire movements of the vessels, being the one with whom rested the responsibility of the whole undertaking.
428
ELLIS SAILS FOR NORTH-WEST COAST.
On the 24th of May, 1746, he sailed from England, and in July following, after escaping many imminent dangers, entered the straits of Hudson.
For more than a year he made the most vigorous and untiring efforts to find out the wished-for passage, braving the rigours of an arctic winter, and the varied terrors of navigation in such high latitudes ; but he was compelled to relinquish the search and return to Eng- land, (October 14th, 1747.)
The next year he published a relation of his voyage and discoveries, which was so well received that it was translated into the French, Dutch, and German languages. The merit of this performance and the value of the services which he had rendered the cause of science being so great, he was, in 1749, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, thus evincing the estima- tion in which he was held by the most learned and scientific body in Great Britain. The government also rewarded his services in its behalf, by appointing him " deputy commissary-general," a post at once lucrative, responsible, and honourable.
Through the influence of his godfather,1 the Earl of Halifax, he received the nomination for the vacant government of Georgia, and was confirmed in it by the King. The gazette of the day,2 noticing his ap- pointment to Georgia, adds, " where such an active, sensible, and honest man, is much wanted."
Being detained some time in England waiting for a convoy, he did not reach Charleston until January 27th, 1757, where he was received with much courtesy and
1 MS. Letter of Genl. Jos. Reed, dated London, 11th June, 1764. Mr. R. (subsequently President of Penn.,) was then a student in the Temple,
London. I am indebted for this ex- tract to the Hon. Wm. B. Reed of Philadelphia.
2 Lond. Gaz., Aug. 15th, 1756.
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429
RECEPTION OF ELLIS IN SAVANNAH.
attention. Here he tarried only long enough to refresh himself after his weary voyage, and departing for Geor- gia, landed at Savannah on the 16th of February, being welcomed to his province with all possible marks of respect and gladness. Nearly all the people had assem- bled on the quay to witness his arrival, and sent up long and thrilling shouts as he stepped on shore. But he declined receiving their proffered honours until he should have waited on the Governor, to whom he immediately paid his respects, and was then saluted by the cannon from the battery, and from all the ships in port. He then accompanied Reynolds to the coun- cil-chamber, where his commission as Lieutenant Gov- ernor was read in the presence of the members; and when he had taken the required oaths, his Excellency delivered to him the great seal of the province, and he became invested with the full powers of govern- ment.
In the evening the town was illuminated, and the discharge of guns, the glaring of bonfires, the oft- repeated huzzas, testified the universal joy which his presence diffused. At the same time, Little was burnt in effigy, as " a tyrant in himself, and a pro- moter of it in his master."
The freeholders of Savannah, of Ogeechee, of Mid- way, the Georgia Society, the Masonic fraternity, the General Assembly, each offered him addresses, con- gratulating him on his arrival, and themselves on the appointment of a Governor, famed for his high char- acter, public spirit, and benevolent disposition. There was allusion in each of these addresses, to the low state of the colony, and to the distressed condition of its most important interests ; and all evidenced the high expectations which they had of his willingness
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430
JUVENILE SOLDIERS ADDRESS ELLIS.
to redress evils, and of his ability to reform whatever had hitherto retarded the growth and prosperity of the colony. When Governor Reynolds first arrived they hailed his entrance upon the government with fullest enthusiasm; but those hopes, so ardent and elevated, had been crushed by his tyranny : shall they allow themselves to be again as buoyant in their expectations, and revive again their long-buried hopes ? Yes! they hoped out of very despair. It is to be doubt- ed, however, whether any of these addresses gave Gov- ernor Ellis more sensible pleasure than that offered to him by a band of juvenile soldiers, who, to the number of thirty-two, had enrolled themselves into a company under the direction of their schoolmaster. This youth- ful corps, having first paraded and exercised before the Governor, with great applause, presented to him, by their captain, the following address :-
"SIR :- The youngest militia of this province pre- sume, by their captain, to salute your Honour on your arrival. Although we are of too tender years to com- prehend the blessing a good Governor is to a province, our parents will doubtless experience it in its utmost extent, and their grateful tale shall fix your name dear in our memories."
This address was received by Governor Ellis with assurances of his countenance and encouragement in their military performances.
The enthusiastic reception given to Lieut. Governor Ellis, spoke loudly to the ear of Governor Reynolds how unwelcome had been his administration. It was the spontaneous outburst of a whole people, suddenly released from the quarter-deck tyranny and insolence of a duped and ill-guided Governor, and now happily
431
CONDITION OF THE COLONY.
transferred to the mild rule and equitable sway of one, who, while he had the ability to govern, and the firm- ness to control, had also the virtues which give lustre to power, and nobility to office. He found the colony in the most distracted state; small in numbers, weak in defences, feeble in resources, split up into factions, and disordered in all its arrangements. Of this he was aware before he entered upon his duties, and resolving to do to the utmost of his abilities, he addressed a me- morial to the Earl of Halifax, and to the rest of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, prior to his departure for Georgia,3 setting forth the defence- less state of the colony, its importance to Great Brit- ain, as well as its being a barrier against the Indians, French and Spaniards; and on these grounds besought their Lordships to procure five hundred stand of arms for the inhabitants, a ship of war to protect the coast, and suitable presents to secure the interests of the In- dian tribes.
His representation was successful; and the supplies and stores he asked for were sent to Georgia. This was a pleasing earnest of his zeal, and warranted the people in expecting great things from his administra- tion. Indeed, his first official act in Georgia was the reformation of abuses perpetrated by his predecessor.
Reynolds had removed two members of the Council on unjust pretexts, and appointed others in their place. So soon as Ellis came into power, he reinstated the former members, and though this reversal took place under the eye of Reynolds, he did it " with such ap- parent justice and impartiality that no umbrage was taken even by these gentlemen."4
" I found the people here," says Ellis, " exceedingly
3 Board of Trade, vi. 60.
4 Ib. vii. 107.
432
WISE SUGGESTIONS OF THE GOVERNOR.
dissatisfied with each other, and an almost universal discontent arising from the late proceedings and per- sons in power. Few approached me that were not in- flamed with resentment, and liberal in invectives ; urgent that I should take some immediate and very violent steps, such as a total change in public officers, and the dissolution of the Assembly."
It required firmness of nerve and decision of char- acter, to act rightly at such a time, to avoid leaning to one side or the other, when to be neutral was to be esteemed an enemy of both. Happily for the colony she had such a Governor ; and in his first letter to the Board of Trade he evinced a circumspection and judg- ment which his modesty and diffidence only served to heighten. "Sensible of my own inexperience, and of the violence of such counsels, fearful of being misled, and aiming rather at healing the wounds, and extin- guishing the flame of party, than stirring it anew, I forebore making any material alteration until I should be qualified to act from observation and experience, in order that the changes I shall then make may rather be attributed to my own judgment than to the advice of designing and interested people. This suspense will give time for men's passions to subside, and for truth to appear through the cloud of party prejudice that at present obscures it."5 Such was the wise and judicious manner in which Ellis began his adminis- tration.
The state of the judiciary early arrested his atten- tion, and he urged upon the Board of Trade the ne- cessity of having a chief justice for the province; for the irregular and unprecedented proceedings of the
5 Board of Trade, 108.
433
VISITS SOUTHERN PART OF GEORGIA.
several courts, owing to the ignorance and partiality of those who presided in them, made the legal interests of the colony exceedingly precarious and unequitable. On the one side, to show the power of the people, the grand jury undertook to present the Speaker of the Assembly as a public nuisance ; and on the other, a man was hung two days before the time appointed by the judges, by order of Governor Reynolds, to evince the superiority of the commander-in-chief to all legal tribunals.
The importance of sustaining amicable relations to the Indians-of erecting several forts on the frontier-of having a few troops of rangers to garrison and defend them-of encouraging the silk culture-were strenu- ously set forth in his representations to the Lords Com- missioners.
In April, he visited the southern portion of his prov- ince, and was quite gratified with much that he beheld. He also, as well as Reynolds, adhered to the design of transferring the capital of the colony to Hardwicke, which he conceived possessed many decided advan- tages over the town of Savannah. The depth of water in the river, its more central position, its greater dis- tance from Charleston-the proximity to which, he argued, restricted the commerce of Savannah-the convenience of its harbour as a naval station, and the fertility of its adjacent lands, were the principal motives which operated with him to enforce the plan suggested by his predecessor. As a consequence of clinging to this scheme of removal, Governor Reynolds had neglect- ed repairing the public buildings of Savannah, and its inhabitants had ceased enlarging and beautifying a town. so soon to be deserted. The Filature was out of repair, the church was so decayed that it was only kept from.
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434
CONVENES THE ASSEMBLY.
falling down by surrounding it with props, and the prison " was shocking to humanity."
Unwilling to dissolve the Assembly which had been elected under the writs issued by Governor Reynolds, and wishing for a subsidence of popular feeling, conse- quent on a change of rulers, before they met, he ad- journed it from time to time, that he might be better prepared to guide them aright in that important train of legislation which the necessities of the colony re- quired. When prepared for this difficult task, he called this body together, on the 16th of June, when they accordingly met in Savannah. His opening speech was something more than a mere formal address ; it was an earnest and heartfelt appeal, coming from one who aimed at the public weal, to the exclusion of all minor and private views. "I can," he says,6 " with unfeigned sincerity, declare, that I enter upon this station with the most disinterested views, without prejudice to any man or body of men, or retrospect to past transactions or disputes, but animated with the warmest zeal for whatever concerns your happiness or the public utility, sincerely inclined to concur with you in every just and necessary measure, and fully resolved, that if, unfor- tunately, my wishes and endeavours prove fruitless, to be the first to solicit my recall."
Not only did he express these proper views respect- ing his own feelings and purposes, but in tones of like earnestness, he told the two houses-" However inter- esting the objects that used to engage your thoughts may seem, they certainly bear no proportion to those that now demand your attention. Your religion, your liberty, your all, is at stake. I do, therefore, earnestly exhort you to study your true interests, only not to
6 Min. of Council in Assembly, 164.
435
FEELINGS OF GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL.
spend your time, so valuable to yourselves and the pub- lic, in the pursuit of things trivial or unseasonable, that may defeat the great ends of your meeting. Lay aside your jealousies of each other and of government, and do not forget that you are a people who have great and daily obligations to your mother country, for support and protection in this your exposed and helpless state."
The Council replied to this address in a strain of com- pliment, prompted at once by a personal regard to the Governor, and by the fact of their deliverance from the many troubles they had formerly experienced. "With hearts overflowing with gratitude to the best of kings, for his paternal goodness in taking the distressed cir- cumstances of this province into his royal consideration, and appointing your Honour to preside over us, we take this opportunity," they replied, " of congratulating your Honour upon your safe arrival in this province ; and promise to ourselves from your Honour's distinguished abilities, acknowledged probity, and unwearied appli- cation, that the day of your arrival will prove the era of the prosperity of this colony."
Such were the promises and hopes under which this Assembly met; but a scheme was soon discov- ered to disturb the government, laid by the late administration, and fostered by some of the creatures of Reynolds' party who lingered in Georgia. Little, the late speaker, addressed a letter to the Assembly,7 wherein he warns them " not to censure their own conduct " by reversing the representation of the state of the province, and the address of the last session to the Governor ; to beware of the insinuations of the new Governor ; to distrust the professions of attach-
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