USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. I > Part 32
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7 Board of Trade, vii. 21.
436
MACHINATIONS OF GOV. ELLIS'S ENEMIES.
ment made by the officers ; together with other advice, delivered in language which carried much more in its meaning than appeared upon its face, and which, while it studiously avoided names or persons, sufficiently in- dicated who were meant, and made them appear as the authors of all the colonial evils.
It was designed that this insulting letter should be read by a former councillor, one of Little's friends, whom Ellis had suspended from his seat as councillor and judge, who aimed to be elected a member of the Assembly, and then Speaker of the House. Its intro- duction, it was supposed, would cause divisions- these, provoke the Governor to dissolve the Assem- bly ; and then the disorders arising therefrom were to be made the basis of a representation setting forth the feebleness of Ellis's administration, and the necessity of reinstating Reynolds.
The failure of the ex-councillor and ex-judge to secure his election to the Assembly, defeated the daring scheme, and the mild measures of the Gov- ernor soon won over the party of the late chief magis- trate : " That hydra faction," says Ellis, " which had long preyed upon the happiness of the people, seems at present expiring."
Of the bills passed by this legislature, but few have much historical interest. Among the acts, was one entitled a bill for the better settling the province of Georgia, the effect of which was, to afford protection to insolvent debtors for seven years, excepting such only as were indebted to Great Britain, Ireland, and the province of South Carolina. It was certainly holding out a very questionable inducement to settle in Georgia, and was giving invitation to men who in- jured, rather than benefited, the colony. It needed
437
ACTS OF THE ASSEMBLY.
capital, industry, probity : insolvent debtors have none of the first, and not often either of the others. In- dustry might soon create the former-the latter could only spring from the teachings of the Gospel. Ellis, however, thought it necessary, and gave his reasons to the Board of Trade under five heads: 1st. The speedy peopling of the colony ; 2d. The application of creditors who have taken shelter in the neutral islands ; 3d. The encouragement given to this class by the Governor of St. Augustine ; 4th. Because such a settlement, styled New Hanover, did in fact exist to the south of the Altamaha, without the restraint of government ; and 5th. The saving to the country of the personal strength, private property, and needed industry, of many who else would expend all in a neutral or enemy's country.
Another act directed the erecting of log forts in five different districts, viz., Savannah, Augusta, Darien, Ogeechee, and Midway. Another was for the better discipline of the militia, by establishing more frequent musters. Another obliged the inhabitants to carry arms to places of public worship, to prevent surprise from Indians, &c .; and one to discharge the public debt and restore the credit of the province, then at the lowest ebb.
The Assembly was prorogued on the 28th of July, having harmoniously completed the business for which they were convened.
Freed now from the toils of legislative duty, the Governor directed his efforts towards the accomplish- ment of two objects-the preservation of amity with the Spanish Governor in St. Augustine, and securing the friendship of the Indians. In his first letter to the
438
CORRESPONDENCE WITH GOV. OF ST. AUGUSTINE.
Governor of St. Augustine,8 Ellis pays him some well- deserved compliments, expresses his regret at the prospect of soon losing him, and then informs him of reports, that the savages meditate a descent on Florida, and assures him of his strenuous efforts to prevent such barbarities, and to preserve peace and friendship. The reply of Fernez de Herridir is equally courteous, but implies that the disturbances given to the Spaniards were designed and perpetrated by the English, or Indians in the British interest. This accusation Gov- ernor Ellis repelled with much spirit, as also the insinuation of Herridir, that English subjects had illegally taken up and settled lands in the territory of His Catholic Majesty.
He next addressed himself to the more difficult task of quieting the apprehensions, and gaining the confi- dence of the neighbouring Indians. War now existed between France and England. The disasters which befel Braddock on the Monongahela, Mercer at Oswe- go, and Monroe at Fort William Henry, as well as the total military and moral incapacity of the then commander-in-chief, Lord Loudon, roused the spirit of the colonists ; and a change of ministry throwing the conduct of the war on William Pitt, that able minister, with a promptness and energy which marked all his movements, immediately addressed letters to all the provincial Governors, informing them of the King's determination to prosecute the war in the most vig- orous manner, and urging them to raise, officer, and clothe regiments for the defence of their several prov- inces.
The letter sent to Governor Ellis was laid before the Assembly, then in session. Both Houses took it into consideration ; and in an address9 to the Gov-
8 Board of Trade, viii. 5.
9 Ib. vii. 34.
439
1
PLANS FOR CONCILIATING THE INDIANS.
ernor, exhibited in forcible language the impossibility of furnishing any aid, in consequence of the poverty of the inhabitants, the sparseness of the population, and the necessities of their own defence. With a larger frontier exposed to the enemy than any other colony, fewer in number, weaker in resources, and yet pro- tected by only one troop of twenty rangers, raised in the hurry of an alarm, unpaid and undisciplined, and without any ship of war to guard the coast, it was not within the power of the Assembly to give any of the supplies desired ; but on the contrary, they became petitioners, though in vain, for the help they so much
needed. The intrigues of the French with the In- dians, made it all-important that their amity should be secured ; therefore a conference was proposed be- tween Governor Ellis, Governor Lyttleton, of South Carolina, and Colonel Bouquet, the commander of the forces in the southern provinces, to settle upon some plan of operations with the Indians, and such other matters as the occasion demanded. It was agreed that the Creek Indians should visit Charleston, and then Savannah, and by the kind treatment and evidences of strength there seen, impress them with the power and resources of the English.
The interview at Beaufort had the further effect of obtaining from Colonel Bouquet an additional force of one hundred provincial troops of Virginia to be quar- tered in Savannah, and also the placing of the rangers levied by Governor Reynolds upon the King's estab- lishment; which, with the forts erected at Augusta, Ogeechee, Darien, and Midway, and the entrench ments thrown up around Savannah, gave to the col ony a greater strength than it had possessed since the disbanding of the regiment of Oglethorpe.
440
CONFERENCE OF ELLIS WITH CREEK INDIANS.
The Upper and Lower Creek nations, at this time, could bring into the field over two thousand gunmen, quadrupling the military force of the colony ; yet the kind, though firm measures of the Governor, and his unwearied industry, effectually repressed the influence of the French, and held them firm in their alliance to the British crown. A long conference was held by the Governor and Council, with a large body of the chiefs and head men of the Upper and Lower Creeks, beginning on the 25th of October, 1757.10 Aware of the importance of impressing them with ideas of strength, the Governor directed that they should be received by the first regiment of militia under Colonel Jones; that sixteen cannon should be mounted in different batteries, with flags flying over each, and that a battery of seven guns should be raised before his house, to salute them as they entered the town. Accordingly, as they approached, escorted by the rangers, under Captain Milledge, they were met by Captain Bryan and a cavalcade of the principal in- habitants, who welcomed them to Savannah in the Governor's name, and regaled them in a tent pitched for the purpose. This refreshment over, the proces- sion, with the citizens on horseback at the head, and the rangers in the rear, advanced to the town gate, where they were saluted with three cannon from the King's, three from the Prince's, five from Halifax, and five from Loudon's bastions. The citizens paused at the gate, and opening to the right and left, the Indians marched through into the town, where they were received by Colonel Jones, at the head of the regi- ment of foot militia, by whom they were conducted, with drums beating and colours flying, to the council-
10 Board of Trade, vii. 89.
1
441
CEREMONIES OF RECEPTION.
chamber. As the line passed the Governor's house, they were saluted by the battery planted in front, which was followed up by the cannon of the water battery, and the ships in the river. At the council- house the regiment filed off to the right and left, and the Indians, marching through the' lines which, with erect bearing and presented muskets, made a soldier- like appearance, were again received by the company of Virginia Blues, drawn up in front of the steps, who, after giving the salute of a volley, also deployed into parallel columns ; and passing these, they were met by the Governor. There, with extended hand, he thus addressed them : " My friends and brothers, behold my hands and my arms ! Our common enemies, the French, have told you they are red to the elbows. View them ; do they speak the truth ? Let your own eyes witness. You see they are white, and could you see my heart you would find it as pure, but very warm and true to you, my friends. The French tell you, whoever shakes my hands will immediately be struck with disease and die. If you believe this lying, foolish talk, don't touch me. If you do not, I am ready to embrace you."
This singular, but to the Indians striking and appro- priate speech, had a good effect. They all approached the Governor, and shaking his hand, declared that the French had often deceived them in this manner. Other friendly speeches followed, and the ceremonies of the day concluded by the Governor inviting the head men of the twenty-one towns represented to dinner, where they were entertained in the kindest and most pleas- ing manner.
This minute detail of their reception is given as a specimen of the formalities consequent on these inter-
442
REPETITION OF PARADE.
views, and as illustrative of the resources of the colony, and its ability to make a good showing when circum- stances required.
Upon the issue of this council much depended. It was, therefore, attended with more form and circum- spection than usual, and its proceedings were watched with intense interest. On the following Thursday, they were again received with the same military parade ; and after being seated in the council-chamber, which was thronged with spectators, were thus addressed by the Governor :-
" Observe, my friends, how serene and cloudless this day appears ! I cannot but consider it as a good omen of the success of this interview ; and I hope that you are all come with hearts resembling it, unclouded by jealousies, and with dispositions suitable to the good work of tightening the chain, and making the path straight forever between us."
This happy allusion to the day, and the use of these figures of Indian rhetoric, had a pleasing effect, and pre- disposed them to friendly counsels.
Assuring the Governor that they were the mouth of the nation, he opened before them, with great solemnity, a letter which he had prepared, entitled, " A Letter from the great King to his beloved children of the Creek Nation." This letter, breathing much kindness, was received by them with great pleasure. Its words were still more enforced by the earnest language of the Gov- ernor, and were replied to by the Indians, in terms of peace and amity.
The result of this council, which was conducted throughout with great harmony, was the forming of a new treaty of peace and friendship between the Lieu- tenant Governor and the council of the Upper and Lower
443
THIRD SESSION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Creek Indians, on the 3d of November, 1757,11 by which the Indian relations with Georgia were placed upon a better footing than they had been for many years.
At the opening of the year 1758, the Governor was enabled to acquaint the Lords of Trade that the peo- ple of the colony were, in general, contented, and en- joying a great share of happiness and tranquillity, not- withstanding the calamities of the times ; that a visible spirit of industry and improvement was manifested, and that numbers, driven by fear from the frontiers of the northern colonies, were flocking in to Georgia.
The times were, indeed, calamitous and threatening ; but the prudent and judicious course of Ellis preserved Georgia, though the most exposed of all the provinces, from the ruthless attacks of our savage foes.
Thus blessed with peace in the midst of war, the third session of the second General Assembly began in Savannah, on the 11th of January, 1758. The prin- cipal design of convening the Assembly was to enforce a law passed in the time of the Trustees, to prevent an unlicensed intercourse with the Indians in the neigh- bourhood of the province. That law had become obso- lete and impracticable, by reason of the vesting of cer- tain powers in offices that, since the change of govern- ment, ceased to exist. This the out-settlers discovered, and setting up little stores, drew many Indians into the back settlements, got from them their lands, and pro- duced evils which threatened serious consequences to the whole colony.
Other laws were also passed, for regulating Indian affairs ; for prohibiting slaves from being taught handi- crafts ; to limit the time for absentees to make good their claims to lands, and take out the King's grant ; to amend
. 11 Board of Trade, 103
444
PROVINCE DIVIDED INTO PARISHES.
the militia act ; to amend the market act; to enforce the fortification bill; and to divide the province into parishes, and establish the Church of England worship. The title of this last bill was, " An Act for constituting the seve- ral Divisions and Districts of this Province into Parishes, and for establishing Religious Worship therein, accord- ing to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of Eng- land; and also for empowering the Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the respective Parishes to assess Rates for the repair of Churches, the relief of the Poor, and other Parochial Service."
The number of parishes into which the province was divided was eight, viz .: Christ Church, including Savannah, Acton, Vernonburg, Sea Islands, and Little Ogeechee; St. Matthew's, comprising Abercorn and Ebenezer; St. George's, embracing Halifax ; St. Paul's, Augusta ; St. Philip's, Great Ogeechee ; St. John's, Mid- way and Sunbury ; St. Andrew's, Darien ; St. James's, Frederica. This division was necessary for the pur- poses of election and regulation, and was but follow- ing up the plan pursued in most of the British colo- nies. The establishment of the worship of the Church of England by law, was only the nominal transference to His Majesty's province of the statutes of the Brit- ish realm, and was designed, not to interfere with or break down other classes of worshippers, but to pro- vide by law for supplying the settlements with the ministrations of religion. By this law a salary of £25 per annum was given by government to every clergy- man of the Church of England. To have pressed this law upon the consciences of the people, or to have given it a stringent application, would have provoked a just resistance ; for, at Ebenezer, Darien, Savannah, and at Abercorn, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the
445
PETITION OF DISSENTERS.
Moravians, had their places of worship and their minis- tering pastors.
Three years before, a petition signed by forty-three - freeholders and inhabitants had been presented12 to the Governor and Council, setting forth that "they were dissenters from the Church of England, and professors of the doctrines of the Church of Scotland, agreeable to the Westminster Confession of Faith," but having no place of worship, were desirous of obtaining a grant of land whereon to build a house, to be vested in cer- tain trustees therein named. The petition was grant- ed, and a lot assigned, though no immediate steps were taken for the erection of the building. With so many, and such influential dissenters in the colony, it could not have been designed, by the act of the Assembly, to give other than a nominal recognition of the Church of England as the established religion of the realm, and to create certain offices for the better sustaining the interests of the Church, and carrying out the pro- visions of the Gospel. Conformity to the Church of England was made no matter of political privilege, and set up as no test of religious opinion.
The proceedings of this Assembly, which adjourned on the 15th of March, were marked by the same har- mony and good feelings which had characterized the latter part of their former session. As soon as the Assembly rose, Governor Ellis again set out on a tour to the southern parts of the province. At Ogeechee he found the fort erected in a very satisfactory man- ner-a quadrangle, measuring on each side one hun- dred yards, with four bastions pierced for large and small guns. At Midway he was pleased to find that the inhabitants had enclosed their church within a
12 Minutes of Council, 161.
446
GOVERNOR FITS OUT A PRIVATEER.
defence, and erected a battery of eight guns at Sun- bury in a position to command the river. Proceeding on to Frederica, its desolate condition, rendered still more sad by a destructive fire which had wasted nearly all of the town which time had spared, gave him much concern. He also went as far as the south end of Cumberland Island, where Fort William stood ; and he remarks of this place and Frederica, that General Oglethorpe displayed a great deal of skill in his choice of such situations ; and he urges the Board of Trade to make such appropriations as will enable him to re- build and defend these important points, for without them, he adds, " this province, and I believe I may add the next, will be very insecure."
In truth, the maritime defence of the colony was of no value. The men-of-war stationed in Charleston suffered the coast of Georgia to be ravaged with im- punity, and the Spanish privateers even threatened to dismantle Frederica and Fort William. Ellis com- plained of the inefficiency of the King's ships, going only occasionally out, and standing off and on for a few days, and then running back into port and lying idle in the harbour, when the coast was infested with the privateers of the enemy.
Irritated by this inaction, he fitted out a vessel him- self for a six weeks' cruise, carrying fourteen carriage and fourteen swivel guns, and ninety men, under com- mand of tried and determined officers ; showing his promptness in action, and his sense of the danger to which the colony was exposed.
At the next session of the Assembly, which convened on the 13th of November, 1758, the attention of the members was called to the duration of the legislative sessions. As the thing now stood, there was no defi-
447
LIMITATION OF MEMBERSHIP IN ASSEMBLY.
nite limit to the period of membership. This they desired to remedy by fixing a time of service, esteem- ing it to be a great hardship "to be obliged to serve the public at a great expense, and without the least prospect of being at any time relieved."13
The House prepared a bill suitable to their views, limiting the duration of the Assembly to three years, and threatened to do no business unless the Governor would pass it. But, by reasoning with the leaders, he was enabled to pass it over for the present, until he could be instructed thereon by the Lords of Trade. To this body he represented the importance of fixing the time of service at five or seven years, assuring them that if something of this sort was not done, the discon- tents of the people would increase, and be productive of disagreeable consequences. The Assembly was ap- peased in this manner for a little time ; but it was soon revived, and the Governor suffered it to pass both Houses, but then laid it aside, by the parliamentary form, " that he would consider it."
The disappointment in being thus thwarted, drew from them an address to the Governor, in which they entreated him to lay before the Lords of Trade the great inconvenience to which many of the members from the frontier districts were put, in leaving their affairs for such a length of time, and such a series of years; as also the importance of distributing the offices of government more equally among the people. The Governor did urge it upon the Board of Trade, second- ing with much force the representation of the Assembly.
The faithful services of Ellis, and his unremitted devotion to the interests of the province, were duly appreciated by the Lords of Trade; and at their repre-
13 Board of Trade, viii. 92.
448
ELLIS APPOINTED FULL GOVERNOR.
sentation he was, on the 17th of May, 1758, appointed Governor-in-chief of the colony-an honour fairly won by arduous and meritorious service.
One of his first acts as Governor, was to carry out an order of Mr. Pitt, to remove the people who had settled on the lands intervening between the Altamaha and the St. John's. Over three hundred persons had con- gregated thither, and giving to their settlement the ' name of New Hanover, lived under no law and were amenable to no authority.14 The reasons assigned for their removal were, the illegality of their claims, the dangerous consequences to South Carolina and Georgia from the influence which they had with the Indians, and which they would use as freak or favour directed, and the disturbance they might create between the Spanish authorities in Florida and the government of Georgia.
The Governor of South Carolina was to join Ellis in breaking up this marauding settlement; but in order to do it in the most quiet and effectual manner, it was resolved to appoint a deputy from each provincial legis- lature, who should go to the settlement, armed with appropriate powers, to make their observations, and devise such plans as the emergency required. Accord- ing to their instructions, the two commissioners, so soon as they arrived at New Hanover, were to cause their commissions to be read, and after their publication were to give orders in His Majesty's name that they should remove forthwith, appointing a certain day with- in which the removal was to be effected.
The commissioners arrived at New Hanover on the 1st of February, 1759, and found the settlement eligi- bly situated on the banks of the Satilla river, thirty
14 Board of Trade, 49.
449
BREAKING UP OF NEW HANOVER.
miles from its mouth. Here they were kindly received, and found that, though some of the settlers had made valuable improvements, in what the commissioners stated to be " one of the finest parts of North America," " they very submissively agreed to abandon them, con- formable to His Majesty's commands, as signified to them in a notification given to them by the commis- sioners, requiring them to vacate the territory by the first day of March." Proceeding immediately to Cum- berland Island, they repeated the same summons there, but did not meet with the same kindly disposition, " as many of the most profligate and refractory stayed away, and were suspected of having received encouragement from the Governor of Florida to settle there, in con- junction with a number of Spanish families recently sent thither from their islands, purposely to establish a colony in those regions. The unpleasant business was, however, effected; and by the 6th of March, the com- manding officer at Frederica could report that all had vacated New Hanover, and all but one left Cumberland Island, who had remained to take care of the effects. Yet the breaking up of this settlement was only tem- porary in its effects, as many found their way back, and sat down again on the fields which they had been com- pelled to forsake. Nor was it enough for the Board of Trade to break up this heterogeneous population on the outskirts of the colony ; they felt unwilling to intro- duce any settlers of even questionable character, and therefore refused to assent to the act passed the first year of Ellis's administration, making Georgia an asylum for insolvent debtors of the provinces north of South Carolina ; and Ellis, after it had been kept in abeyance for three years, was compelled to admit that it had been of little use ; and it was consequently repealed.
29
450
BOSOMWORTH'S AFFAIR.
He was more successful in settling the long-litigated claim of the Bosomworths, which had been prolonged to this period. Through the medium of Little, over whom they easily acquired an ascendency, they were enabled to obtain the favour of Governor Reynolds, by whom they were encouraged to press their claims, assured of his countenance and support.
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