USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 28
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On this trip to England, Colonel Oglethorpe's accounts were audited ; and it was found that he had kept careful accounts, for he had vouchers for all but £464 of the large sums that had passed through his hands.tt
Since the notes or sola bills issued by the trustees had been so drawn that only Oglethorpe could issue them, and that he could do it only when in Georgia, the form was now changed to enable him to issue them anywhere. He was desired to issue quite a number of them in blank so that they could be sent to Georgia for use by Messrs. Stephens, Cau- ston, and Parker as need should develop. Oglethorpe was to be in- demnified against the sola bills he endorsed; and the three officials in
* B. T., Ga., IX, Oct. 22, 1736.
+ C. R. I: 266-267.
# B. T., Ga., IX: Verelst to Causton, May 27, 1737.
** C. R. V: 66.
tt C. R. II: 244.
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Savannah would have to account for them .* This was another step in the separating of Oglethorpe from the active management of the colony. Before this all expenses were to pass under his eye, while after this he would have little knowledge of the ordinary expenses.
This tendency, however, was not continuous. Oglethorpe gave as undivided attention to the civil affairs of the colony for awhile after his return to Georgia in September, 1738, as at any time during his connec- tion with it. There had never been any adequate executive authority in Savannah; and, after the settlement in the southern part of the province was made, not even Oglethorpe's influence was felt to any degree. Thomas Causton had exercised almost despotie power, and he had got- ten the finances of the colony into a most deplorable condition. By order of the trustees, he was arrested by Oglethorpe, and held under bond until the matter could be investigated.t Affairs seemed in such desperate straits that Oglethorpe felt called on to pledge his personal credit to insure a feeling of confidence on the part of the people. He offered to advance to the trustees the income from his estates and his salary for the year. ¿ They appreciated his work and expressed their feelings to him on several occasions. On February 3, 1739, Accountant Verelst wrote, "The Trustees are sensible of the difficulties you labor under and the dangers you are exposed to; *
* They much ap- prove of your conduct under these hardships and are truly animated with a most commendable zeal for the preservation and welfare of that province which you have endured so many fatigues, and gone through so many eminent dangers in the establishing of." ** Later they express appreciation also for the generous advances of money with which to finance the colony, and they promise to reimburse him as soon as the accounts could be presented to them, but they urge that he do not run beyond the computed rate of expenses. tt It is evident that they are fear- ful that one who is so generous with his own money may be too much inclined to spend too freely the money of others which he had in charge.
A service of quite a different sort was performed by him in his visit to Coweta in order to meet with the Creek Nation, obtain new land grants from them, and renew the treaty of peace and friendship. The long journey of 500 miles through the wilderness was successfully made, and the objects of the trip were fully realized. ## Colonel Oglethorpe was a master hand in winning the confidence and support of the red men ; and his services were especially important just at this time, as the war with Spain was imminent.
Toward the close of 1739 there developed a somewhat serious dis- agreement between Oglethorpe and the trustees as to the amount of an- thority he was to exert in Georgia. On July 4, 1739, the colonel wrote to the trustees that things were in bad shape in the province. He repre- sented that magistrates generally were using their powers to get income for winking at those who disobeyed the laws or they expected large
* C. R. II: 237-238.
t Ibid., 247.
# B. T., Ga., XXI: Oglethorpe to Trustees, Oct. 19, 1738.
** Ibid., Verelst to Oglethorpe, Feb. 3, 1739,
tt Ibid., June 11, 1739.
## C. R. V: 226.
Vol. 1-13
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allowances for doing their duty. They were banding together to allow persons to escape who were indebted to the trust. There was a general need of a more steady way of doing things, but the people were denying that he had authority over them. Ile also strongly opposed any changes in the land laws, urging that those who complained in the matter were those who made the least improvement as things were." He made it plain that he felt that he ought to be allowed to take affairs in hand and to straighten them out; and the trustees understood perfectly well his meaning, but they were not inclined to yield to him.
They agreed with him that a steady and regular manner of doing things ought to be observed, but they said that this would result best from a faithful performance of the commands of the trustees. First of all, the estimate of expenses ought to be earefully considered and ought not to be exceeded. All funds misapplied are at the peril of the official neglecting or disobeying in the matter. They seem to doubt somewhat the charges he makes against the officials in Georgia, asking him to make specific and personal charges. They regretted that the people denied authority in him. They declared that such must belong to the factious element of the settlers. The wiser part must understand that he neither could nor would exceed the power given him by the trustees who would uphold the powers flowing from themselves. They likewise did not agree with his advice concerning the changes in the land laws, admitting that the complainants made little improvements, but thinking that this was due to discouragement in regard to the laws.t
At the same time, Oglethorpe was sent a report of the Committee on Accounts to whom had been assigned the duty of checking up his ac- counts recently submitted. The report made a number of criticisms as to the colonel's policies and expenditures. For instance, it criticized him for hiring men to work when there were so many trust servants in the colony ; it seemed unreasonable to the committee that he should pur- chase posts when the servants could so easily cut them; it appeared unnecessary to purchase cattle when there were more than 1,000 head in the province; and lastly that receipts for a number of expenditures did not appear, though the committee did not doubt that they had been properly expended. ¿
The letter as first prepared by the trustees was harsher than the one sent as summed up above. It was softened by the Earl of Egmont, but still it was severe enough to much displease Colonel Oglethorpe. The trustees felt that he wanted to act in all things at his pleasure and to spend whatever money seemed to be needed, while they felt seriously the need of strict economy ; they thought also that he wrongfully applied some of the trust money for defense that ought to have been looked after by the general government of Great Britain. They had been fol- lowing almost absolutely his advice in regard to the regulations they would pass for the provinces; and now they felt that he had made mis- takes in regard to several matters. He had always advocated maintain- ing strictly the original provisions as to land tenures, rum, negroes, and
* B. T., Ga., XXI: Oglethorpe to Trustees, July 4, 1739.
+ C. R. V: 267-268.
+ C. R. II: 310-311.
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Indian trade; and he had advocated not yielding to South Carolina in the quarrel between the two colonies. They were ready to break away from his advice in regard to land and the South Carolina quarrel, as they were soon to do in other respects .*
The next month the trustees arranged that the sola bills which were used for money in the colony should be endorsed by three of the officials in Savannah. Up to this time, Oglethorpe alone had had this power. Now he was totally excluded from handling the money, though he could still make accounts subject to approval by the trustees. The Earl of Egmont in commenting on this exclusion of the colonel mentioned that it "was thought a prudent and necessary step." t They also requested him through their accomptant that he would be careful to distinguish in his expense accounts between items that pertained to defense, which would be paid from the British treasury, and those that belonged to the strictly civil affairs for which the trust was responsible. }
One or two other incidents may be cited showing a slight irritation between Oglethorpe and the home board. In May, 1740, the latter learned that the general had employed a jailer and provost-marshal at Savannah and that he had disposed of certain trust servants. Both of these things had been done without leave of the trustees and without informing them of the matter; and they were displeased at the occur- rences .**
Again in the same year, the trustees felt that Oglethorpe was acting without his authority and without reason in withholding from the peo- ple a deed poll that had been sent over in 1739. This related to certain indulgences granted by the trustees to the settlers in regard to the land tenures. Notice of the grants had been sent to Secretary Stephens at Savannah, and the people were expecting the deed; but Oglethorpe did not like the regulations, preferring to stand by the original rules, and so it was claimed by the trustees that he wilfully kept back the deed, to the discouragement both of the people and of the trustees.tt
On December 17, 1740, through their accomptant they wrote to the magistrates at Savannah that they did not desire General Oglethorpe to interpose in their civil concerns while he was employed in his military ones, which were distinct services. They expected their orders to be obeyed by those to whom they might be sent without giving the general the trouble of being consulted and without waiting for his directions therein, which the trustees did not expect from him nor reasonably could. ¿¿ This was not liked by General Oglethorpe, but it was judged most necessary by the board of trustees for the general was too far away and his mind was too much occupied with military concerns to attend to matters in the northern part of the province .***
The situation had not been formally discussed in the meetings of the trustees, so far as the records show, until December 19, 1740, two
* C. R. V: 247, 259, 266.
t Ibid., 287.
# B. T., Ga., IX: Verelst to Oglethorpe, June 11, 1740.
** C. R. V: 346.
tt Ibid., 211.
## B. T., Ga., X: Verelst to Oglethorpe.
C. R. V: 290-291.
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days after the letter just mentioned had been sent. On that day Mr. Vernon, a personal friend of General Oglethorpe and one of the staunch- est supporters of the province, took advantage of a full board to express his sentiments on the conditions in Georgia. He frankly said that some one ought to be given more power and authority than any one in the colony had under the existing constitution. The change was imperative in order to get the orders of the trust obeyed. He pointed out that Oglethorpe was neglecting certain things that he had been asked to look after. He was assuming too much authority, expecting that no compli- ance should be given the trustees' orders until confirmed by him. The trustees had already removed him from the financial affairs of Georgia, and it was now time to remove from the other civil concerns .*
At the next meeting of the trustees, Mr. Vernon again brought up the matter, saying that much disgrace and mischief had befallen both the trustees and the colony by reason of Oglethorpe's intervention in the execution of the commands sent to Georgia. He instanced the case of the light house which they had asked him to look after in vain, and which would probably cost £1,500 to repair when it ought not to have cost over #200. Ile declared that matters of the utmost importance were delayed in order that he might be consulted because there was a misconceived notion that he had the final control of matters ordered by the trust. On this ground, information in regard to the colony had been delayed; and yet it was of vital importance in order that the province might be set in the best light before Parliament. He proposed to invest some one in Georgia with powers superior to any possessed there at that time, and to make him entirely independent of General Ogle- thorpe. He did not wish a governor, proposing instead that the prov- ince be divided into two counties with a president over each. He sug- gested that Oglethorpe might be complimented by making him president in the southern division. All present seemed to approve his ideas, and he was asked to embody them in a definite plan.t
Turning now to Georgia, we may understand why General Ogle- thorpe was neglecting somewhat to look after the lighthouse and other affairs that had been committed to him on the civil side. As soon as he returned from the visit to the Creek Nation at Coweta, he heard that war had been declared between England and Spain; and he at once began to make active preparations for it. From that time till he left Georgia in 1743, he was occupied nearly all the time with military eares. In partial justification at least of the expenditures complained of by the Committee of Accounts, it may be noted that the English govern- ment was very grudging at times of the financial aid it lent General Ogle- thorpe for defending the province and for prosecuting the war; and so he felt constrained to get it elsewhere trusting that it would be later repaid. He advanced large sums for the purpose himself, and he used some of the trust money in the same way, violating his instructions no doubt and yet feeling that it was necessary.
No detailed account can be given of his expedition into Florida.
* Ibid., 413.
t Ibid., 415-416.
+ A. W. I. XXV: 175, 186.
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It may well be doubted whether his service in this particular was of value to the province. He did not succeed in securing and holding the cordial assistance of South Carolina or of the British fleet; and so the expedition failed, in spite of his own earnestness and activity. It might be argued with some plausibility that his taking the offensive in this campaign prevented the Spanish from invading Georgia; but it seems more likely that this provocation and the fact that the English were not very successful led to the Spanish invasion in 1742.
The repelling of the Spanish in the latter attempt was the high water mark of his career, and it was of genuine service to Georgia. He drove off a superior force of the enemy by a stratagem that was well con- ceived and well executed. The strictly military features of the cam- paign reflect little credit on him, for they were insignificant; but the general results were very important, as much so as if a decisive battle had been won by the English, since the Spanish retired to trouble Geor- gia no more during the remainder of the proprietary period. In this campaign, as in the former one in Florida, General Oglethorpe was act- ing as an officer in the British regular army; and, while his services affected Georgia, he was not acting in any capacity as a Georgian or as an official of the province.
For his bravery and good service in repulsing the enemy, the king of his own accord promoted Oglethorpe to be a brigadier-general .* He was much troubled, however, about the state of his accounts with the treasury department; and so he sought leave to come to England for the purpose of settling the financial difficulties and of answering several charges that had been preferred against him. On July 23, 1743, he left the province never to return. He was easily cleared of the charges against him; and he held the command of his regiment in Georgia in name at least until it was disbanded in 1748.
Resuming our study of his relations to the trustees after 1740, we find that in spite of his exclusion from civil affairs he could not refrain entirely from interfering to some extent; and this was still resented by the trustees. Toward the close of 1741, the general wrote to President Stephens at Savannah signifying his pleasure that a certain lot in Sa- vannah be granted to one Papott; but the president and assistants over- ruled the request, assigning to him their reasons therefor.t About four months later, he wrote them that notwithstanding the reasons given by them his request might and ought to be granted; but they again denied his authority to direct their action by refusing to accede to his proposal. ¿ At almost the same time that the above request was made by Oglethorpe, he wrote another letter to President Stephens signifying his pleasure that certain money sent to the colony by the trustees should be turned over to an agent he was sending to receive and apply it. The trustees had already given directions as to the application of the funds; and the president and assistants in this matter also denied the request of the general, directing that the president "do pursue his first orders received from the trust without variation therefrom." **
* C. R. V: 679.
+ C. R. VI: 16.
# Ibid., 29.
** Ibid., 16.
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On June 18, 1742, the Earl of Egmont received a letter from him, possibly written in consequence of the above incidents. In this letter he said that Colonel Stephens and every one in the magistracy in Geor- gia ought not to act without his directions since they plunged everything into a strange confusion .*
It is probable that he tried to exercise again some authority in the southern part of the province at least; for on May 10, 1743, the trustees wrote to Bailiff Hawkins, of Frederica, on the subject. They expressed astonishment that any one should think that General Oglethorpe, be- cause a trustee, was vested with power superior to that of a magistrate. They asserted that no single trustee had any power at all, and they further said that no single person had any power at all except what had been given by the collective body of trustees. No single individual had power at all. The opposite doctrine would cause endless confusion. Gen- eral Oglethorpe himself would set him straight in that matter.t The Earl of Egmont explained that this letter was sent because Oglethorpe was interposing without authority and was looked upon by some as hav- ing a power superior to that of a magistrate. ¿
After General Oglethorpe reached England, though fresh from a victorious campaign that had saved Georgia from invasion, he was not received and thanked as on the former visits he had made to England. There was certainly less cordiality between him and the general body of the trustees, to whatever cause the lack of harmony may be attributed. He attended the meetings of the board and of the common council with much less regularity, going to thirty-four of the 103 meetings of the former, and to nine of the 26 council meetings, held after his return to England. ITis attendance before he left for Georgia the first time was, as we have seen, about 90 per cent of the possible meetings; and it was 63 per cent on his last trip; while now his attendance had fallen to 34 per cent. In the beginning, he had been on almost every important com- mittee, while after his final return to England he was not appointed on any committee of the common council and on only two of the general board of trustees .**
His lack of harmony with his associates is shown even more strikingly perhaps in the dissent which he several times entered to matters passed in the meeting. It was one of the two general by-laws adopted by the trustees that any member who dissented from a resolution should have the privilege in the same meeting of entering the simple words, "I, A. B., do dissent from the foregoing resolution." tt With the exception of a single instance, Oglethorpe was the only trustee who availed himself of the privilege of thus putting his opposition on record; and it may be worth while to note the matters on which he thus differed from his col- leagues. On January 19, 1745, steps were taken to abolish the town court of Frederica, the action being partly due to the fact that two of the three bailiff's had come to England on military business. At the same time, a motion was made to prohibit any one in military employ-
* C. R. V: 637.
+ B. T., Ga., X: Martyn to Hawkins, May 10, 1743.
+ C. R. V: 689.
** C. R. I: 501, 510.
tt Ibid., 31.
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ment from being employed as a magistrate in Georgia. The matters were postponed for final settlement; but the general desired leave to dis- sent to all the resolutions .*
On January 30 following, the subjects were again discussed; and it was decided that if any of the magistrates of Georgia should accept military employment they would become incapable of holding or exer- cising their civil offices. It was further decided that dormant commis- sions be sent over for men to take the places of any magistrates who should thus change to the military service. As might have been ex- pected from his former action, Oglethorpe dissented from the resolu- tions. +
Again on May 24, 1748, he dissented to the proceedings of the day. On this occasion, the principal point under discussion was the distribu- tion of Indian presents by a joint commission from South Carolina and Georgia. ¿ In expressing opposition to this plan, he may have been moved by his early hostility to making any concessions to South Caro- lina in regard to the Indian trade, for we have noted that he was per- sistent on that subject. On the same day, he presided at a meeting of the common council and dissented likewise from the proceedings of the day. It is very difficult to see any reason for his behavior on that occa- sion. Only routine matters were passed upon, and nothing involving any disputed principle was seemingly discussed or put through .** This was the next to the last meeting of the common council that he attended, and it was only a short while until he stopped attending the meetings of the general board. So far as the records show, his last meeting with the trustees was at the anniversary sermon on March 16, 1749.tt
During the remaining years of the trust, Oglethorpe was in England and was taking an active part in Parliamentary affairs, ¿¿ and of course it is interesting to ascertain why he did not keep up his connection with the affairs in Georgia. His regiment was disbanded in 1748, and that severed one connection that he had had with the province. We have noted also that he was not in accord with several of the measures being adopted at that time by the trustees. There was one other circumstance that may help to explain his absence from the councils of the trust. He was having a disagreement with the trustees in regard to financial mat- ters. Late in 1744 he was asked to render an account of the various orders for money or other articles given by him to Thomas Causton, *** and there is no record of any settlement as to that.
On July 6, 1751, the accomptant was instructed to call on General Oglethorpe for the balance due from him to the trust of about £1,412, because the money was urgently needed for carrying on the colony.ttf The general replied that the balance of accounts was in his favor, and that even if that were not true the claim of the trustees on him was not
* Ibid., 463.
t Ibid., 464-465.
# Ibid., 516.
** C. R. II: 489.
tt C. R. I: 529. ## Wright, 363-370.
*** C. R. II: 441.
ttt C.R. I: 563.
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payable until the account was allowed at the government treasury on the auditor's statement of it. To this the trustees replied that he was mis- taken as to their claims not being payable; he had been allowed enough from the treasury department to repay the money of the trustees which he had used for the military service, and the trust is in great need of money to carry on the colony .*
Oglethorpe responded to this request with a letter dated August 17, 1751, in which he reiterates his claim that the balance of accounts as already submitted is in his favor. Besides, he says that there is an addi- tional account of expenditures made by him for the trustees which he has not yet presented, owing to the fact that he had an account to pass with the government at the time it would ordinarily have been sub- mitted to the trust. He abstains from presenting it until the government matter is settled when his claims and those of the trust may be set one against another. Under date of a week later, the trustees reply, ex- pressing great surprise that he had any further demands to make upon them. They are the more surprised because he was present on the 17th of January, 1749, when his accounts were delivered, examined and determined, and at that time he had made no mention of anything fur- ther. They, therefore, request that he let them know what these demands are as soon as possible, the circumstances of the trust not admitting of any delay. t
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