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This communication was received on the 16th of February, 1757. Resigning the government into the hands of his successor, he embarked for England in a merchant ship, the Charming Martha. Captured in transitu by a French privateer, he was carried into the port of Bayonne. Thus delayed, he did not reach London until the 7th of July. During his imprisonment he was stripped of all his possessions. To the charges preferred against him Governor Reynolds prepared and submitted an elab- . orate reply. In that defense he claimed that while he might have committed mistakes, he had never been guilty of anything criminal, or of any willful disobedience of orders. With great propriety he entreated the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations to remember the fact that he was the first royal governor, and to consider the difficult task he had to perform in framing the earliest laws, in establishing a police, in adapting a constitution, and in selecting competent persons to fill the various minor offices of trust. ITis defense, as a whole, did not excul- pate him in the eyes of the Board of Trade. He was allowed to resign his gubernatorial commission and to resume his rank in the Navy.
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In reviewing the conduct of Governor Reynolds it must be admitted that to one of his calling the position of governor of a province was peculiarly trying. In the language of Bishop Stevens,1 " unused to legislative bodies, unconversant with courts of law, unversed in the functions of his office, he was transferred 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 establish- ing 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 adequate to the duties which his station required, and yielding to the machina- tions of his private secretary he made himself obnoxious by de- volving upon a parasite powers which he himself should have used with knowledge and discretion." Once again afloat, how- ever, he took his place among the trusted officers of the greatest naval power of the world, and died an admiral of the blue.
1 History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 425. New York. MDCCCXLVII.
CHAPTER XXXII.
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR ELLIS ARRIVES IN GEORGIA AND IS HEARTILY WEL- COMED. - TEMPER OF THE COLONY. - PRUDENCE AND IMPARTIALITY OF THE NEW CHIEF MAGISTRATE. - HE VISITS THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER AND RECOMMENDS THE REMOVAL OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT FROM SAVAN- NAH TO HARDWICKE. - COURTESIES EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - GEORGIA DIVIDED INTO EIGHT PARISHES. - LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS. - PROVISION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, IN- CORPORATION, AND SUPPORT OF CHURCHES. - ELLIS' REPORT OF THE CON- DITION OF THE PROVINCE IN 1758. - ELLIS COMMISSIONED GOVERNOR. - GEORGIA UNABLE TO ASSIST IN THE WAR AGAINST THE FRENCH IN AMER- ICA. - CONFERENCE AND TREATY WITH THE INDIANS AT SAVANNAH. - ED- MUND GREY AND HIS ADHERENTS. - HEAT AT SAVANNAH. - GOVERNOR ELLIS IN ILL-HEALTH SOLICITS A RECALL. - JAMES WRIGHT APPOINTED HIS SUCCESSOR. - DEPARTURE OF GOVERNOR ELLIS.
AVOIDING the errors which had been committed by Captain Reynolds in the administration of governmental affairs in Geor- gia, and cognizant of the unsettled condition of the public mind in that province, Governor Ellis at the outset appears to have formed a resolution to act the part of a pacificator and, by a firm, impartial, and yet conciliatory course, to accommodate all divis- ions of sentiment, and to unify the inhabitants in a general ef- fort to promote peace, good order, and prosperity. The official duties which were now to claim his attention were to him quite novel. His tastes had hitherto led him in the paths of scientific inquiry and geographical discovery. His had been the life of a student and of an author.
When not forty years old he was entrusted by Parliament with the conduct of an important expedition in quest of a new passage to the Pacific. For more than a twelvemonth, in the execution of this commission, did he endure the dangers and the rigors of frozen seas. The results of his observations and discoveries were communicated in a publication which attracted general notice and elicited much commendation not only in England, but also in France, Germany, and Holland. So highly were his services and attainments appreciated both by the learned of England and by the government itself that at the bands of the former he was
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complimented with a fellowship of the Royal Society, and by the latter was rewarded with the appointment of deputy commissary general.
Through the influence of the Earl of Halifax he was selected as the successor of Governor Reynolds : and the " London Gazette " in noticing his promotion speaks of him as an " active, sensible, and honest man."
Although royal assent to this advancement was signified on the 3d of August, 1756, the year was hastening to its close be- fore the governor found a suitable opportunity for departing upon his mission. Arriving in Charlestown late in January, he was there the recipient of many courtesies extended by the Caro- lina authorities. It was not until the 16th of February, 1757, that he reached Savannah. As he landed from his barge, welcoming shouts ascended from the assembled multitude. Wearied with and disappointed at the rule of Governor Reynolds, the inhab- itants longed for the advent of the new chief magistrate from whom so much was expected. They received him with open arms. Amid the joy of the present and the anticipations of the future the sorrows of the past were forgotten.
Pausing not to dally with the salutations of the citizens, with genuine civility he at once repaired to the residence of Governor Reynolds and there paid his formal respects. Then it was that he gratefully responded to the general welcome supplemented by thunders of artillery from the land battery and from the ship- ping in port. Accompanying Captain Reynolds to the chamber where the members of council were assembled, he produced his commission as lieutenant-governor of the province. It was pub- licly read. He took the oaths of office. The great seal was delivered into his custody ; and so the ceremony of his induction into the gubernatorial chair of Georgia was ended. The evening was given up to illuminations, the firing of guns, and to lusty cheers. Little, the marplot, was publicly burned in effigy. Soon from the freeholders of Savannahi, of Ogeechee and Midway dis- tricts, from the Masonic fraternity, and from other organized societies came congratulatory addresses complimentary to the lieutenant-governor and anticipatory of the benefits which would flow from the reforms it was confidently believed he would inaugurate. Among those who, in an organized capacity, ten- dered a welcome was a band of school-boys, associated together as a military company. Having first paraded before his excel- lency and secured his commendation of their soldierly appearance
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and well-executed manœuvres, through their captain these boys presented this address : -
" SIR, - The youngest Militia of this Province presume by their Captain, to salute your Honour on your arrival. Although we are of too tender years to comprehend 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 episode Governor Ellis cherished among the most pleas- ing incidents connected with his early sojourn in the colony.
Prior to leaving England he had endeavored to familiarize himself with the pressing wants of the colony, and to acquire an intelligent apprehension of the causes which produced its existing distractions. The lamentable state of the public defenses and the absence of military stores were within his knowledge. He had also been made acquainted with the malevolent influences which the French were seeking to exert over the minds of the Cherokees, and with the jealousies entertained by the Spaniards. It was evident that the continued good-will of the natives could be thoroughly retained only through the liberal use of acceptable gifts. Before sailing for Georgia he had therefore addressed a memorial to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations requesting them without delay to forward five hundred muskets with which to arm the militia of the province, to send additional presents for the Indians, and to dispatch a ship of war to protect the coast.
This application was heeded, and the speedy fulfillment of his request at the outset not only rendered the province more capa- ble of self-protection, but confirmed the confidence of the colo- nists both in his inclination to promote their welfare and in his ability to compass their security.
One of his earliest public acts was to reinstate two members of council who, without just cause, had been removed by Governor Reynolds. This he did with such fairness and impartiality that no umbrage was taken.
The temper of the community is thus reported in an early com- munication : " I found the people here exceedingly dissatisfied with each other, and an almost universal discontent arising from the late proceedings, and persons in power. Few approached me that were not inflamed with resentment and liberal in invec- tives ; urgent that I should take some immediate and very violent steps, such as a total change in public officers, and the dissolution
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of the Assembly." The sound judgment exercised and the wise course pursued by him under these delicate and trying circum- stances are certified by the following extract from one of his letters to the Board of Trade : "Sensible of my own inexperience and of the violence of such counsels, fearful of being misled, and aiming rather at healing the wounds and extinguishing 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."
This conduct, calm, conservative, self-reliant, deliberate, dis- passionate, and statesmanlike, produced an effect most beneficial. The tool of no faction, the instrument of no party, he sought only the public good. The colonists quickly recognized his merit, his impartiality, his integrity, his zeal for the common weal, and accorded to him a place high in their respect and affection.
He took occasion without delay to memorialize the Board of Trade upon the necessity of at once furnishing the colony with a chief justice so that judicial proceedings might be conducted with becoming uniformity, dignity, and fairness. During the pre- ceding administration the legal rights of parties had, on various occasions, failed of proper assertion, and sometimes the suprem- acy of the bench within its legitimate sphere was openly disputed and violently set at naught. His representations also with re- gard to maintaining amicable relations with the Indians, rebuild- ing the forts on the frontiers, enlisting troops to defend them, and in respect to the encouragement of silk culture, were intelli- gent and emphatic.
That the members of the General Assembly might enjoy a respite from their labors and have time for reflection before en- tering upon the business to which he purposed inviting their attention, Governor Ellis by a short message, sent in on the 17th of February, 1757, adjourned that body until the 8th of March, and, prior to its assembling, continued its recess until the 16th of June.
In April he visited the southern parts of the colony and formed the personal acquaintance of many of its inhabitants residing at points remote from Savannah, the commercial metropolis and still the capital of the province. So impressed was he with the
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ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR ELLIS.
central location of Hardwicke on the Great Ogeechee, with its commercial advantages, and with the fertility of the adjacent lands, that he sympathized fully in the suggestion which had been made by Governor Reynolds that the capital of Georgia should be transferred from Savannah and established at this point. Clinging to this scheme, and hoping that it would commend it- self to the approbation of the Board of Trade, Governor Reynolds had sadly neglected the public buildings at Savannah. The in- habitants, too, believing that the seat of government was soon to be thence removed, ceased to be interested in extending and beautifying their town. As has already been intimated, the Fila- ture was then out of repair. Christ Church was so much de- cayed that it had to be propped up to keep it from falling down, and the prison " was shocking to humanity." 1
Upon the assembling of the Upper and Lower Houses on the 16th of June, 1757, the governor addressed them as follows : -
" Gentlemen of the Council and of the Commons House of As- sembly.
" The Honour his Majesty has been graciously pleased to con- fer on me in appointing me to preside in the Government of this Province calls in a particular Manner for the Exertion of my best Abilities to approve myself not unworthy of so distinguish- ing a Mark of the Royal Favour.
" Persuaded I am that the surest Means of doing this will be to consult your Felicity and the general Welfare of this Infant Colony.
" Directed by these Considerations I shall always be glad of your Advice and Assistance, and shall esteem every Proposal of yours of the same Tendency as the most important Service you can render me.
"I can 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 con- cerns your Happiness or the publick Utility : sincerely inclined to concur with you in every just and necessary Measure, and fully resolved that if unfortunately my Wishes and Endeavours prove fruitless, to be the first to solicit my Recall.
" From such Dispositions on my Part I would willingly hope that you will not be wanting on yours ; I flatter myself that your Zeal for the publick Good is at least equal, and that you come
1 Sec Stevens' History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 433. New York. MDCCCXLVII.
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together in the most dispassionate Temper, divested of Preposses- sion, Animosity and Distrust, - Heartily disposed to cooperate with me in promoting the publick Service by establishing Order, mutual Confidence and domestic Tranquillity, as there never was a Conjuncture when these were more immediately necessary.
" However interesting 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 spend your Time, so valuable to yourselves and the Public, in the Pursuit of Things trivial or unreasonable, 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 People who have great and daily Obli- gations to your Mother Country for Support and Protection in this your exposed and hopeless State; that you have a consti- tutional Dependence upon her, calculated for your Advantage, Security, and the general Good ; and that from a suitable and becoming Conduct alone you will be entitled to, and may rea- sonably expect a Continuation of her Regard and Assistance ; and every Sort of Encouragement and Indulgence from me that his Majesty's Instructions (framed upon the purest principles of Equity and the strictest Regard to your Happiness) can au- thorize.
" It is evident how much you have been the object of the royal Attention and Favour by the late Establishment of a regular System of Government among you, wherein your Interest and Convenience were principally consulted.
" It is further manifested by the Readiness with which the late supply of Arms and Ammunition were granted and Presents for securing the Indians in your Alliance and Defence at a Time of great Exigence when the very Existence of the State is threatened by the Efforts of a powerful and implacable Enemy.
" These Considerations ought to inspire you with the deepest Sentiments of Gratitude, and these Sentiments will be best shown in the Discharge of those Duties you owe yourselves and your Country upon this important Occasion.
"As I know how precious your Time now is, I call you to- gether but for a short Sitting, although upon Points of the last Consequence to your present Safety, Credit, and future Pros- perity.
" Gentlemen, it would be needless to represent to you the dan-
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ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR ELLIS.
gerous Situation you are in, and the absolute Necessity there is of exerting Yourselves vigorously, by employing in the most speedy and efficacious Manner every Means in your Power that may tend to avert those affecting Calamities that have already been so severely felt by some and are justly dreaded by all his Majesty's American Subjects, notwithstanding his paternal En- deavours to prevent them.
" The Chief Part of these Misfortunes may not improperly be ascribed to the shameful Neglect, not to say Perverseness of those who suffer, and by whose timely Efforts and Attention they might in a great Measure have been prevented.
"Instructed by so fatal an Example, and urged by so many pressing and alarming Circumstances, I doubt not that you will distinguish yourselves by an uncommon Zeal and Alacrity in con- certing and carrying into Execution such Measures as are most suitable to the dangerous Crisis.
" When Alarms are sounding from every Quarter, and when so active and formidable an Enemy is upon your Borders, pro- jecting by every Means that inveterate Malice can suggest the Accomplishment of your Ruin, no Time is to be lost.
"I am sensible it is but little you are able to do, yet that Lit- tle should be done with Spirit and Cheerfulness becoming Eng- lishmen who know how to prize the peculiar and inestimable Blessings they enjoy.
" The Construction of Log Forts in proper Situations would certainly contribute to your Safety by affording Places of Re- treat where, upon any sudden Emergency, a short stand might be made until Suecour could arrive : and any Encouragement that can be given toward procuring an Accession of Inhabitants would accelerate your Prosperity, add to your Strength, and be the best Security in Times to come.
" These weighty Considerations naturally suggest the Expedi- ency and Necessity of framing forthwith such Laws as shall be most conducive to those salutary Ends.
" Gentlemen of the Commons House of Assembly.
" I have ordered the State of the publick Debt to be laid be- fore you, and I rely upon your taking the most effectual and least burthensome Method for its Discharge and for preventing the like Incumbrances for the future. As the Maintenance of the publick Faith and Credit of this Province is at all Times essen- tially necessary, more especially at the present when your Safety is so closely connected with it, I therefore hope it will constitute a capital object of your Deliberations.
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" Gentlemen of the Council and of the Commons House of As- sembly.
" I defer matters of a more general Nature to a future Occasion when the Season will admit of a longer Absence from your pri- vate Concerns, and have now only to recommend to you in the strongest Manner Unanimity and Dispatch, and you may depend on my ready Concurrence in everything that can promote your real Happiness."
Upon an assembly lately at variance with the chief magis- trate of the colony, and sometimes suffering from a lack of unity among its members, this affectionate, high-toned, and patriotic speech from the new governor produced a profound and most favorable impression. Mr. Habersham, Mr. Knox, Mr. Harris, Mr. Clifton, and. Mr. James Mackay were appointed to prepare and present to the governor an address of thanks. This was done in the following terms : -
" May it please your Honour.
" We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Coun- cil of Georgia in General Assembly met, beg Leave to return your Honour our unfeigned Thanks for your affectionate Speech to both Houses at the opening of this Session.
" With Hearts overflowing with Gratitude to the best of Kings for his paternal Goodness in taking the distressed Circumstances of this Province into his royal Consideration and appointing your Honour to preside over us, we take this first Opportunity of con- gratulating your Honour upon your safe Arrival in this Prov- ince, and promise to ourselves from your Honour's distinguished Abilities, acknowledged Probity, and unwearied Application, that the Day of your Arrival will prove the Era of the Prosperity of this Colony.
" We beg Leave to assure your Honour that we shall at all Times esteem it our indispensable Duty to offer you our best Ad- vice and Assistance, and shall also chearfully cooperate with you in every just and necessary Measure for the general Welfare and Felicity of this infant Colony ; not doubting but your Wishes and Endeavours will merit the Divine Favour, and that your Honour will prove a long and lasting Blessing to this Province.
" We are truly sensible of our exposed and helpless State, and the great Necessity there is for Unanimity and mutual Confi- dence in this Time of publick Danger, and we do with the great- est Sincerity assure your Honour that we will, to the utmost of our Power, studiously avoid every Occasion of Altercation and
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the Pursuit of Things trivial or unseasonable, and that we shall ever retain the most grateful Remembrance of the great Obliga- tions we have to our Mother Country for Support and Protection, and of her constant Attention to our Safety so recently manifested by the very seasonable Supply of Arms and Ammunition, and Presents for securing the Indians in our Alliance and Defence in this critical Conjuncture ; constantly bearing in Mind our Con- stitutional Dependence on her, and endeavouring to frame our Condnet so that it may intitle us to a Continuance of her Regard and Assistance and to the royal Favour and Indulgence.
" The distressed and calamitous Condition of many of his Maj- esty's Subjects on this Continent deeply affects us, and we shall, with the greatest Readiness, concur in every Measure in our Power to enable your Honour to defeat the Machinations of our Enemies and to avert those Evils their Malice may suggest for the Accomplishment of our Ruin.
" We are sorry to say that little is in our Power, but that Little we shall do with Spirit and Alacrity, accounting the Preserva- tion of those invaluable Blessings, our Religion, Laws, and Lib- erties, our nearest Concern.
" We shall give immediate Attention to the framing of such Laws as may best tend to the Security of this Province and the Increase of its Inhabitants, and shall readily join in effectually supporting the public Credit, and preventing future Incum- brances." 1
The pledges thus given were honestly and patriotically ob- served. During the administration of Governor Ellis harmony and good-will obtained between the executive and the houses constituting the General Assembly. Even the efforts of Little, who had so long disturbed the public tranquillity, to poison the minds of some of the legislators and to excite a prejudice against the new chief magistrate failed to engender any distrust or to cause a division in the sentiments of the assembly. He had been unmasked. The day of his influence and power was over. Those who had of late fattened by the favor of Governor Reynolds deserted the cause of the deposed chief magistrate, and Governor Ellis was soon able to report the " hydra faction which had long preyed upon the happiness of the people seems at present ex- piring."
Regularly were the sessions of the General Assembly held dur- 1 See MS. Journal of the Council in Assembly for the Province of Georgia, pp. 163-171.
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ing Governor Ellis' term of office, and its deliberations were characterized by harmony, ability, and honesty.
One of the most interesting acts passed by the legislature dur- ing this administration was that dividing the several districts of the province into parishes, providing for the establishment of religious worship according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and empowering the church-wardens and vestrymen of the respective parishes to assess rates for the repair of churches, the relief of the poor, and for other parochial ser- vices. This act was approved on the 17th of March, 1758. Ac- cording to its provisions the " Town and Distriet of Savannah ex- tending up the Savannah river, and including the islands therein, as far as the southeast boundary of Goshen, from thence in a southwest line to the river Great Ogeechee, and from the town of Savannah eastward as far as the mouth of the river Savannah, including the sea islands to the mouth of the river Great Ogee- chee, and all the settlements on the north side of the said river to the western boundaries thereof," constituted the parish of CHRIST CHURCH.
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