USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume I > Part 11
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The corporation and its successors, during the twenty-one years sequent upon the grant of the charter, were empowered, through officers by them from time to time appointed, to train, instruct, exercise, and govern a militia for the special defense of the colony ; to assemble in martial array, upon an emergency, all the inhabitants capable of bearing arms, to repulse as well on land as at sea any enemy either within or without the confines of the province, and in all fitting ways and enterprises to slay and con- quer any who in a hostile manner might attempt the invasion, detriment, annoyance, or destruction of the plantation. Martial law might be proclaimed in seasons of actual hostilities, invasion, or of rebellion.
The duty of erecting forts and of fortifying towns, of supplying
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PROVISIONS OF THE CHARTER.
them with ordnance and ammunition, and of garrisoning them, was also imposed upon the corporation which stood charged alike with the maintenance of good order within the confines of the ceded territory and with the protection of its coast and boundaries from the incursions of marauders, pirates, savages, and enemies. The governor of South Carolina was named as the commander- in-chief of the militia of Georgia. All orders issued by him were to be respected.
Free importation and exportation of goods and products were authorized. Vessels conveying them were not compelled to first touch at a Carolina port.
Upon the expiration of the term of twenty-one years specified in the charter, it was provided that such form of government would then be adopted and such laws promulgated for the regula- tion of the colony and the observance of its inhabitants as the Crown should ordain. Thereafter the governor of the province, and all its officers, civil and military, were to be nominated and commissioned by the home government.
These letters patent conelude with a royal promise that they would be upheld according to their true intent and meaning ; and that they would be construed in all courts and elsewhere in a sense most favorable, beneficial, and advantageous to the corpo- ration and its successors.
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CHAPTER V.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHARTER BY THE CORPORATORS. - THEIR ORGANIZA- TION PERFECTED. - THE CORPORATE SEAL. - SUBSCRIPTIONS SOLICITED. - THE SCHEME OF COLONIZATION AS UNFOLDED BY THE TRUSTEES. - OGLE- THORPE'S APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC. - MARTYN'S REASONS FOR ESTABLISHI- ING THE COLONY OF GEORGIA.
THE projected colony was called GEORGIA in honor of the reigning monarch of England, who had graciously sanctioned a charter so liberal in its provisions, and granted a territory so extensive and valuable for the encouragement of the plantation. Compared with other instruments of like character, it will be freely admitted that these letters patent embrace all that could have been asked from the Crown, that in their scope they are generous and comprehensive, and that they contain unusual pledges of a charitable and disinterested nature on the part of those who sought the concession and were charged with the exe- cution of the enterprise.
In July, 1732, the corporators convened for a formal accept- ance of the charter, and to perfect an organization under its provisions. The letters patent having been read, the right hon- orable Lord Viscount Percival exhibited a certificate from the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by which it appeared that he had qualified himself as president of the corporation and taken the oath for the faithful observance of the trust. He then ad- ministered the oath of office to such of the trustees as were present. Frequent meetings were held for the transaction of business connected with the rapid and orderly development of the scheme of colonization. The Bank of England was desig- nated as financial agent and custodian of all moneys which might be contributed in aid of the colony. Benjamin Martyn was elected secretary, and the following gentlemen formed the com- mon council : the right honorable Anthony, Earl of Shaftsbury ; the right honorable John, Lord Viscount Percival ; the right honorable John, Lord Viscount Tyrconnel ; the right honorable James, Lord Viscount Limerick ; the right honorable George, Lord Carpenter; the honorable Edward Digby, Esq., James Ogle-
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THE CORPORATE SEAL.
thorpe, Esq., George Heatlicote, Esq., Thomas Tower, Esq., Robert Moore, Esq., Robert Hncks, Esq., Rogers Holland, Esq., William Sloper, Esq., Francis Eyles, Esq., John Laroche, Esq., James Vernon, Esq., Stephen Hales, A. M., Richard Chandler, Esq., Thomas Frederick, Esq., Henry L'Apostre, Esq., William Heathcote, Esq., John White, Esq., Robert Kendal, Esq., alder- man, and Richard Bundy, D. D.1
The corporate seal adopted had two faces. That for the au- thentication of legislative acts, deeds, and commissions contained this device : two figures resting upon urns, from which flowed streams typifying the rivers forming the northern and southern boundaries of the province. In their hands were spades, suggest- ing agriculture as the chief employment of the settlers. Above and in the centre was seated the genius of the colony, a spear in her right hand, the left placed upon a cornucopia, and a liberty cap upon her head. Behind, upon a gentle eminence, stood a tree, and above was engraven this legend : COLONIA GEORGIA AUG. On the other face - which formed the common seal to be affixed to grants, orders, and certificates - were seen silk-worms in the various stages of their labor, and the appropriate motto NON SIBI SED ALIIS. This inscription not only proclaimed the dis- interested motives and intentions of the trustees, but suggested that the production of silk was to be reckoned among the most profitable employments of the colonists.
Aware of the fact that the mulberry-tree was indigenous to Georgia, and informed that the climate was favorable to the silk-worm, the trustees were encouraged by Sir Thomas Lombe to believe that raw silk of a superior quality could be readily pro- duced in the province, and that thus vast sums, which were an- nually expended in the purchase of foreign silks, might be saved to the nation. Oglethorpe was firmly persuaded that England could thus be most materially benefited, and the trustees re- solved to engage persons in Italy, acquainted with the method of feeding the worms and winding the threads from the cocoons, to accompany the first settlers and instruct them in the various necessary processes.2
That the public might be intelligently advised of the benev- olent character and scope of the undertaking, and rest assured
1 Reasons for Establishing the Colony
2 Sce Wright's Memoir of Gen. James of Georgia, with Regard to the Trade Oglethorpe, p. 52. London. 1867. of Great Britain, etc., p. 3. London, MDCCXXXIII.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
that any pecuniary assistance rendered would be faithfully ap- plied, a commission of leading citizens was organized to solicit subscriptions. To prevent any misappropriation of funds a special account was opened with the Bank of England, where a register was kept of the names of all benefactors and the amounts of their several donations. The trustees contributed generously of their private means. Liberal responses were received from in- dividuals and public institutions ; and, as an honorable indorse- ment of the scheme and of its managers, Parliament donated the sum of £10,000. So charitable was the design, so unselfish the attitude of the trustees, and so manifest were the benefits which might reasonably be expected from a proper administration of the trust that the great heart of the nation beat in sympathy with the project. Even the pulpit raised its voice in commendation of the proposal.
In an account of their designs, addressed to the public, the trustees, after explaining the need for funds not only to defray the passage of the colonists, but also to support them while en- gaged in a new and unsubdued region in felling trees, building houses, fortifying settlements, and tilling the land preparatory to the first harvest, declare their intention "to relieve such unfor- tunate persons as cannot subsist here, and establish them in an orderly manner so as to form a well-regulated town. As far as their fund goes, they will defray the charges of their passage to Georgia ; give them necessaries, land, and subsistence till such time as they can build their houses and clear some of their land. They rely for success first on the goodness of Providence, next on the compassionate disposition of the people of England ; and they doubt not that much will be spared from luxury and su- perfluous expenses, by generous tempers, when such an opportu- nity is offered them by the giving of £20 to provide for a man or woman, or £10 to a child, forever.
" In order to prevent the benefaction given to this purpose from ever being misapplied, and to keep up, as far as human precaution can, a spirit of disinterestedness, the Trustees have established the following method : That each benefactor may know what he has contributed is safely lodged and justly ac- counted for, all money given will be deposited in the Bank of England and entries made of every benefaction in a book to be kept for that purpose by the Trustees; or, if concealed, the names of those by whose hands they sent their money. There are to be annual accounts of all the money received, and how
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DESIGNS OF THE TRUSTEES.
the same has been disposed of, laid before the Lord High Chan- cellor, the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, the Master of the Rolls, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, or two of them, and copies of these will be transmitted to every considerable bene- factor.
" By such a Colony many families, who would otherwise starve, will be provided for, and made masters of houses and lands ; the people in Great Britain to whom these necessitous families were a burthen, will be relieved ; numbers of manufacturers will be here employed for supplying them with clothes, working tools, and other necessaries ; and by giving refuge to the distressed Saltzburghers and other persecuted Protestants, the power of Britain, as a reward for its hospitality, will be increased by the addition of so many religious and industrious subjects.
" The Colony of Georgia lying in about the same latitude with part of China, Persia, Palestine, and the Madeiras, it is highly probable that when hereafter it shall be well-peopled and rightly cultivated, England may be supplied from thence with raw silk, wine, oil, dyes, drugs, and many other materials for manufac- tures which she is obliged to purchase from sonthern countries. As towns are established and grow populous along the rivers Savannah and Alatamaha, they will make such a barrier as will render the southern frontier of the British Colonies on the Con- tinent of America safe from Indian and other enemies."
This account discusses also the benefit which will accrue to home manufacturers by an increased supply of the crude ma- terial at reduced prices. It declares that by the execution of their designs the trustees will be instrumental in the conversion of the Indians, and in the reformation, perhaps, of some of the colonists, who will be encouraged to lead sober, industrious, and religious lives. After contemplating with satisfaction the prob- ability that the colonization of Georgia would prove more speedy and successful than the settlement of the other plantations in America, and after expressing the hope that the province would soon be able to take care of itself in a pecuniary point of view, the address concludes with the following appeal : " There is an occasion now offered for every one to help forward this design ; the smallest benefaction will be received and applied with the utmost care : every little will do something ; and a great num- ber of small benefactions will amount to a sum capable of doing a great deal of good."
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
Oglethorpe, ever on the alert, not only intervened by personal influence, spoken argument, and private contribution, but pre- pared and circulated a carefully considered tract 1 by which he anonymously, yet none the less earnestly, sought to enlighten the public mind in regard to the colony, the nature and situation of its lands, and the benefits which would inure to England from its successful foundation.
Upon the temperature, climate, and natural products of the region he dwells with genuine rapture, concluding this part of his description with Waller's account of the delights experienced on an island in the neighborhood of Carolina : -
" The lofty Cedar which to Heav'n aspires, The prince of trees, is fuel for their fires. The sweet Palmettoes a new Bacchus yield, With leaves as ample as the broadest shield, Under the shadow of whose friendly boughs They sit carousing where their liquor grows. Figs there unplanted thro' the fields do grow Such as fierce Cato did the Romans show : With the rare fruit inviting them to spoil Carthage, the mistress of so rich a soil. With candid Plantines and the Juicy Pine, On choicest Melons and sweet Grapes they dine, And with Potatoes fat their lusty swine. - The kind spring which but salutes us here Inhabits there and courts them all the year. Ripe fruits and blossoms on the same trees live, At once they promise, what at once they give. So sweet the air, so moderate the clime, None' sickly lives, or dies before his time. Heav'n sure has kept this spot of earth uncurs't, To show how all things were created first."
Of the health of the country he speaks in unqualified praise. In proof of the longevity of the natives, he cites the case of one of the Florida kings, mentioned by Purchas, who, three hundred years old, had a father, then living, fifty years older than him- self.
Maintaining the proposition that persons reduced to poverty at home, detracting from the wealth of the nation and impair- ing its prosperity, would be greatly benefited by a removal to the new settlement, he writes thus: "Let us in the mean time cast our eyes on the multitude of unfortunate people in the king- dom, of reputable families, and of liberal or, at least, casy educa- tion ; some undone by guardians, some by lawsuits, some by ac-
1 A New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia, etc. London. 1732.
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OGLETHORPE'S COMMENDATIONS.
cidents in commerce, some by stocks and bubbles, and some by suretyship. But all agree in this one circumstance that they must either be burthensome to their relations or betake them- selves to little shifts for sustenance which ('tis ten to one) do not answer their purposes, and to which a well-educated mind de- scends with the utmost constraint. What various misfortunes may reduce the rich, the industrious, to the danger of a prison, to a moral certainty of starving! These are the people that may relieve themselves and strengthen Georgia by resorting thither, and Great Britain by their departure. I appeal to the recollec- tion of the reader (tho' he be opulent, tho' he be noble) does not his own sphere of acquaintance (I may venture to ask), does not even his own blood, his set of near relations furnish him with some instances of such persons as have been here described ? Must they starve ? What honest mind can bear to think it ? Must they be fed by the contributions of others ? Certainly they must, rather than be suffered to perish. Are these wealth to the nation ? Are they not a burthen to themselves, a burthen to their kindred and acquaintance, a burthen to the whole con- munity ?
" I have heard it said (and 'tis easy to say so) let them learn to work : let them subdue their pride and descend to mean em- ployments, keep ale-houses, or coffee-houses, even sell fruit, or clean shoes for an honest livelihood. But alas! these occupa- tions, and many more like them, are overstocked already by peo- ple who know better how to follow them than do they whom we have been talking of. Half of those who are bred in low life and well versed in such shifts and expedients, find but a very narrow maintenance by them. As for labouring, I could almost wish that the gentleman or merchant who thinks that another gentleman or merchant in want can thresh or dig to the value of subsistence for his family or even for himself, I say I could wish the person who thinks so were obliged to make trial of it for a week, or (not to be too severe) for only a day. He would find himself to be less than the fourth part of a labourer, and that the fourth part of a labourer's wages could not main- tain him. I have heard it said that a man may learn to labour by practise ; 'tis admitted. But it must also be admitted that before he can learn he may starve. Suppose a gentleman were this day to begin, and with grievous toil found himself able to earn three pence, how many days or months are necessary to form him that he may deserve a shilling per diem ? Men whose
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
wants are importunate must try such experiments as will give immediate relief. 'Tis too late for them to begin to learn a trade when their pressing necessities call for the exercise of it.
"Having thus described (I fear too truly) the pitiable condition of the better sort of the indigent, an objection rises against their removal upon what is stated of their imbecility for drudg- ery. It may be asked if they can't get bread here for their labour, how will their condition be mended in Georgia ? The answer is easy. Part of it is well attested, and part self evident. They have land there for nothing, and that land is so fertile that (as is said before) they receive an hundred-fold increase for tak- ing very little pains.
"Give here in England ten acres of good land to one of these helpless persons and I doubt not his ability to make it sustain him, and this by his own culture without letting it to another. But the difference between no rent and rack-rent is the difference between eating and starving. If I make but twenty pound of the produce of a field, and am to pay twenty pound for it, 'tis plain I must perish if I have not another fund to support me. But if I pay no rent the produce of that field will supply the mere necessities of life.
" With a view to the relief of people in the condition I have de- scribed, his majesty has this present year incorporated a consid- erable number of persons of quality and distinction and vested a large tract of South Carolina in them, by the name of Georgia, in trust to be distributed among the necessitous. These trustees not only give land to the unhappy who go thither, but are also impowered to receive the voluntary contributions of charitable persons to enable them to furnish the poor adventurers with all necessaries for the expense of the voyage, occupying the land, and supporting them till they find themselves comfortably settled. So that now the unfortunate will not be obliged to bind themselves to a long servitude to pay for their passage, for they may be car- ried gratis into a land of liberty and plenty where they imme- diately find themselves in possession of a competent estate, in a happier climate than they knew before, and they are unfortunate indeed if here they can't forget their sorrows."
In this practical, cogent manner did Oglethorpe appeal to the impoverished, and seek to influence the better class of the un- fortunate in England to become friends of and participators in the proposed colonization.
Then addressing himself to a consideration of the question of
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MARTYN'S REASONS.
emigration from a political and economical point of view, he demonstrates very clearly that many who at home were not only unable to earn a subsistence, but were a positive incubus upon the fortunes and industry of others, yielding no taxes or revenues to the government, might, in the new province of Georgia, under the charitable administration of the trustees, maintain them- selves in comfort, enrich the mother county by the products of their labor, and extend the dominion of the realm.
Alluding to the condition of the Salzburgers, martyrs in the cause of truth and conscience, and gratefully acknowledging the sympathy and valuable cooperation of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, he sees, in the accession of colonists from this source, the advancement of Christianity, the rapid conversion of the natives, relief from religions persecu- tion, and sure increase of the wealth and trade of Great Britain. " Subjects thus acquired," says he, " by the impolitic persecu- tions, by the superstitious barbarities of neighboring princes, are a noble addition to the capital stock of the British Empire."
The tract concludes with an encouraging view of the advan- tages which would accrne to the commerce and wealth of Eng- land from the production of silk, rice, cotton, wine, lumber, and other articles of trade and consumption.
The designs of the trustees were further unfolded in a publi- cation made by Benjamin Martyn, secretary of the Board, en- titled " Reasons for Establishing the Colony of Georgia with Regard to the Trade of Great Britain," etc.,1 a contribution of no little merit and importance. In this work the profits to be realized from silk production in Georgia are carefully considered, and the expectations of the trustees are confirmed by a letter from Sir Thomas Lombe, the inventor of silk-throwing machin- ery of curious and intricate structure, in which he declares that the silk, raised in Carolina, possesses as much natural strength and beauty as the silk of Italy, and ventures the opinion that its culture in Georgia would be attended with success if proper measures were adopted for the instruction and encouragement of those who were to be employed about it. Looking eagerly to the development of this industry, the trustees, at the outset, pro- cured from Italy a sufficient quantity of silk-worm eggs, and en- gaged the services of competent Piedmontese to accompany the colonists and acquaint them with all necessary information on the subject. We will hereafter learn that in the development of
1 London. MDCCXXXIII.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
their plans the trustees established formal rules for the propaga- tion of white mulberry trees.
Having discussed at considerable length the benefits which might be confidently anticipated from a trade in indigo, cochi- neal, olives, dyeing-woods, medicinal herbs, wine, flax, corn, and other products, and having reviewed the advantages which would accrue to England upon the establishment and development of Georgia as a home for the unfortunate, the oppressed, and the enterprising, Martyn concludes with this appeal to the charity and patriotism of the nation : -
"As the Mind of Man cannot form a more exalted Pleasure than what arises from the Reflexion of having relieved the Dis- tressed ; let the Man of Benevolence, whose Substance enables him to contribute towards this Undertaking, give a Loose for a little to his Imagination, pass over a few Years of his Life, and think himself in a Visit to Georgia. Let-him see those, who are now a Prey to all the Calamities of Want, who are starving with Hunger, and seeing their Wives and Children in the same Dis- tress ; expecting likewise every Moment to be thrown into a Dungeon, with the cutting Anguish that they leave their Fami- lies expos'd to the utmost Necessity and Despair: Let him, I say, see these living under a sober and orderly Government, set- tled in Towns, which are rising at Distances along navigable Rivers ; Flocks and Herds in the neighbouring Pastures, and adjoining to them Plantations of regular Rows of Mulberry- Trees entwin'd with Vines, the Branches of which are loaded with Grapes; let him see Orchards of Oranges, Pomegranates, and Olives; in other Places extended Fields of Corn, or Flax and Hemp. In short, the whole Face of the Country chang'd by Agriculture, and Plenty in every Part of it. Let him see the People all in Employment of various Kinds, Women and Children feeding and nursing the Silkworms, winding off the Silk, or gathering the Olives; the Men ploughing and planting their Lands, tending their Cattle, or felling the Forest, which they burn for Potashes, or square for the Builder; let him see these in Content and Affluence, and Masters of little Possessions which they can leave to their Children; and then let him think if they are not happier than those supported by Charity in Idle- ness. Let him reflect that the Produce of their Labour will be so much new Wealth for his Country, and then let him ask himself, Whether he would exchange the Satisfaction of having contrib- uted to this, for all the trifling Pleasures the Money, which ho has given, would have purchas'd.
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MARTYN'S REASONS.
"Of all publick-spirited Actions, perhaps none can claim a Preference to the Settling of Colonies, as none are in the End more useful. . . . Whoever then is a Lover of Liberty will be pleas'd with an Attempt to recover his fellow Subjects from a State of Misery and Oppression, and fix them in Happiness and Freedom.
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