USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume I > Part 9
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" The four great Parks or rather Forests are each four miles square, that is 16 Miles round each Forest, in which are prop- agated Herds of Cattle of all sorts by themselves not alone to serve the uses of the District they belong to, but to store such New Ones as may from Time to Time be measured out on Afflu- ence of People.
" The Middle hollow Square, which is full of streets crossing each other, is the City, and the Blank which runs about it on the outside surrounded with Trees, is a large void Space which will be useful for a thousand Purposes, and, among the rest, as being airy and affording a fine Prospect of the Town in drawing near it.
" In the Centre of the City stands the Margrave's House, which is to be his constant Residence, or the Residence of the Governour, and contains all sorts of public Edifices for Dispatch of Business ; and this again is separated from the City by a Space like that which, as above, divides the Town from the Country."
Sir Robert, continuing his "Discourse," which was in reality intended as an attractive manifesto to invite immigration, en- larges upon the profits which might, in this charming country, be readily realized from the cultivation of rice, coffee, tea, figs, raisins, currants, almonds, olives, silk, and cochineal. From the manufacture of potash great gain was anticipated. Liberal offers were made to all who might feel disposed to become col- onists in the Margravate of Azilia, and ample guaranties were given for the protection of person and property.
Although subscription books were opened at the Carolina Coffee House in Birchin Lane, near the Royal Exchange, it does not appear that much stock was taken in the enterprise.
To the king Sir Robert addressed a petition specifying the tract of land, called Azilia, with which he had been invested by the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, declaring that he had a bond fide intention of founding a colony there, and requesting the privilege of establishing in the city of Edinburgh a lottery of one hundred thousand tickets, at the rate of forty shillings per ticket, for the purpose of raising funds with which to defray the expense of the adventure.
A memorial was received from the Lords Proprietors explain- ing the proposal of Mountgomery " for settling the most South-
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MOUNTGOMERY'S SCHEME A FAILURE.
ern parts of Carolina," of which he was to be the governor. It was referred to a committee of the Privy Council for considera- tion. The board of trade, while recommending Sir Robert as a proper person for governor, in order to avoid the inconveniences arising from proprietary and charter governments, suggested to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina the advisability of their sur- rendering to the' Crown their powers of government over the places intended to be erected into a new government, reserving to themselves only the property in the lands. The whole matter was referred to the attorney-general, who reported that, after examining the lease and release from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, and the charter of Carolina, he saw nothing in the ces- sion prejudicial to the rights of the Crown, if his majesty thought fit to approve of the appointment of a governor for life. He doubted, however, whether the powers granted to the proprietors for the government of Carolina could be divided as proposed by the case. He also regarded it as questionable whether the Lords Proprietors alone could exempt the new colony from liability to the present laws of Carolina which were framed for the reg- ulation of the entire province. To remove all difficulty, he suggested that if the Lords Proprietors would surrender to his majesty their powers of government over the territory to be erected into a new province, reserving to themselves only the right of property, they might then lease the land on such terms as they saw fit, and that his majesty might create a new gov- ernment upon such conditions and with such powers as he deemed proper.
Despite the efforts made to induce immigration into this fa- vored region, at the expiration of the three years allowed by the concession from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, Sir Robert Mountgomery found himself without colonists. ITis grant ex- pired and became void by the terms of its own limitations. His Azilia remained unpeopled save by the red men of the forest. His scheme proved utterly utopian, and it was reserved for Ogle- thorpe and his companions to wrest from primeval solitude, and to vitalize with the energies of civilization, the lands lying be- tween the Savannah and the Alatamaha.
On more than one occasion during its ante-colonial period was the territory of Georgia the theatre of war and bloodshed. Ex- cited by the French and Spaniards to open hostility against the English settlers in Carolina, and sometimes provoked to acts of violence by the rapacity and frauds of traders who, not content
76
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.'
with barter on the outskirts of civilization, penetrated into the heart of the Indian nations dwelling beyond the Savannah, the natives indulged in predatory excursions against their white neighbors. These evoked counter expeditions which generally resulted in the discomfiture of the weaker race. Thus the Appa- lachian Indians, because of their connection with the Spanish, having become insolent and troublesome, Governor Moore of South Carolina, at the head of a body of white troops and Indian allies, invaded their territories, laid such of their towns as were situated between the Savannah and the Alatamaha rivers in ashes, killed and captured several hundred of them, and com- pelled the province of Appalachia to submit to Englishi rule. IIe also conducted within the region subsequently ceded to the trus- tees for the establishment of the colony of Georgia some fourteen hundred Indians who placed themselves under his protection. "This exertion of power in that quarter," says Mr. Hewatt, " was attended with good effects, as it filled the savages with terror of the British arms and helped to pave the way for the English colony afterwards planted between these rivers." After their defeat by Governor Craven, the Yemassees abandoned their homes in Carolina and, retreating to Florida, allied themselves to the Spaniards, by whom they were welcomed with ringing bells and salvos of artillery.
Although a treaty of peace had been signed at Seville in 1729 between the English, French, and Spaniards, the accommodation of existing difficulties amounted in fact to little more than a truce. The Spaniards from the south and the French on the west were still busy in their efforts to monopolize the Indian trade and to form alliances with the Cherokees. It was deemed important by the British government to share in this trade, and to win the Cherokees over to friendship and to an acknowledg- ment of at least a quasi allegiance to the Crown. Accordingly, Sir Alexander Cuming, of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was dis- patched on a secret mission to compass these desiderata. Depart- ing from Charles-Town, South Carolina, with a small retinue, on the 13th of March, 1730, he penetrated into the heart of the Cherokee nation. At Keowee he found a large number of Indians assembled in their council house. Upon inquiry he learned that the disposition of the Cherokees towards the English was hostile. He further ascertained that the Lower Creeks, in sympathy with the French, were exerting themselves to induce the Cherokees to join them. Presents were expected from the
77
EMBASSY OF SIR ALEXANDER CUMING.
French, and upon their arrival it was confidently anticipated that the Cherokees would proclaim their hatred against the English. The situation of affairs was precarions. Sir Alexander resolved to play a bold part. At night, unheralded, he entered into the council house where above three hundred Indians were con- vened, and demanded from them an acknowledgment of the king of England's authority over them and their country. Surprised at the audacity of the stranger they at once submitted. Upon an intimation from Sir Alexander that if they violated the pres- ent promise their nationality would be destroyed, they declared upon bended knees their solemn intention to observe the vow of allegiance to the English Crown. Expresses were dispatched requiring the three head men of the nation to meet Sir Alex- ander at Nequassee on the 3d of April, and directing them to bring full power and assurance from the three settlements that what had been promised should be performed. The Indian traders at Nequassee and Joseph Cooper, the interpreter, who were eye-witnesses of what transpired on this occasion, declared they would not have believed it possible had they not themselves beheld the occurrence. They further asserted that if they had been made acquainted with what Sir Alexander purposed doing they would not have dared to have entered the council house with him. Taken by surprise and amazed at the heroism of Sir Alexander, the Indians quickly yielded to his demand. Standing up bravely in their midst he delivered his address through an interpreter. Although armed with pistols, gun, and sword, he permitted them to remain concealed under his great-coat, and made no attempt by show of weapons to intimidate the red Inen.
During the next thirteen days he journeyed through the do- mains of the Cherokees, visiting their chief cities, and making friends of their kings, head warriors, and medicine men. He learned that the Cherokees were governed by seven mother towns, viz .: Tanassie, Kettooah, Ustenary, Telliquo, Estootowie, Keeowec, and Noyohee, each having a king and a head war- rior.
On the morning of the 3d of April he repaired to Nequassee, where he found a large concourse of Indians gathered from all parts of the nation in obedience to the summons issued from Keeowee. It was a day of the greatest solemnity, rendered memorable by singing, dancing, feasting, speeches, the creation of Moytoy as emperor, and then by a resignation of crown,
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
eagles' tails, scalps, and other emblems to Sir Alexander in token of submission to the sovereignty of King George. This submission was made on the knee by all the Cherokees present. Sir Alexander thereupon caused a document to be drawn up detailing the event and its significance. It was attested by him- self, eleven companions, and by the leading Indians present.
His mission having been successfully accomplished, Sir Alex- ander retraced his footsteps, reaching Charlestown on the 20th of April and bringing with him seven prominent members of the Cherokee nation. The emperor Moytoy also accompanied him, and would have gone with him to England had he not been pre- vented by the sickness of his wife. Having tarried two weeks in Charlestown Sir Alexander, taking with him the seven In- dians, on the 4th of May went on board the man-of-war Fox and set sail for Dover, where the ship safely arrived on the 5th of June. Thence he proceeded immediately to London by post, and the Cherokees were brought up in the ship.1 The names of these Indians were respectively Ok-Oukah-Ulah, K. Skalilos- ken, Ketagustah, T. Tathlowe, C. Clogoittah, K. Kollannah, U. Ukwaneequa, and O. Onaconoa. Portraits were painted of them, attired in English garments and standing amid the tall trees of the park in London. Of this painting a fine engraving was made, impressions of which are now very scarce. From one of those engravings we borrow the following legend which, in a few words, narrates the reception and entertainment of these sons of the forest during their sojourn in the capital of the United Kingdom : -
"The above Indian kings or chiefs were brought over from Carolina by Sir Alexander Coming, Bart. (being the chiefs of the Cherrokee Indians) to enter into Articles of Friendship and Commerce with his Majesty. As soon as they arriv'd they were conducted to Windsor & were present at the Installation of Prince William & the Lord Chesterfield. The Pomp and Splendor of the Court and ye Grandeur not only of the ceremony as well of the Place was what struck them with infinite Surprise and Wonder. They were handsomely entertain'd at his Majesty's Charge, and Cloathed with these Habits out of ye Royal Wardrobe. When the Court left Windsor they were brought to Town and proper Lodgings & Attendance provided for them near Covent-
1 See Early History of Georgia, em- year 1730, etc. By Samuel G. Drake. bracing the Embassy of Sir Alexander Cum- Boston. 1872. ing to the Country of the Cherokees in the
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CHEROKEE CHIEFS IN LONDON.
Garden. They were entertain'd at all ye publick Diversions of the Town, and carried to all Places of Note & Curiosity. They were remarkably strict in their Probity and Morality. Their Behaviour easy & Courteous : and their Gratitude to his Majesty was often express'd, in a publick Manner, for ye Many Favours they receiv'd. On Monday Sept. 7, 1730, Articles of Friendship and Commerce were accordingly propos'd to them by ye Lds Commis- sioners for Trade and Plantations weh were agreed on Two Days after, viz : on ye 9th at Whitehall and Sign'd on ye Part of their Lordships by Alured Popple Esq"; upon weh Ketagustah, after a short Speech in Complement to his Majesty, concluded by laying down his Feathers upon ye Table & said: This is our Way of Talking weh is ye same Thing to us as ye Letters in ye Book are to you ; and to you, Beloved Men, we deliver these Feathers in Confirmation of all that we have said."
Having been generously entertained in England for some four months, these Indians, early in October, departed for Charles- town, whence they returned to their homes in Upper Georgia im- pressed with the wealth and power of the English nation, gratified at the liberal reception accorded to them, and resolved to per- petuate the friendly relations they had promised to maintain.
This embassy of Sir Alexander Cuming and this introduction of these chiefs to a personal acquaintance with the majesty of the home government and. the wonders of its metropolis, exerted a beneficial influence upon the entire Cherokee nation. It brought about a complete pacification most valuable to the exposed settle- ments of Carolina, and all important to those colonists who were soon to establish their first town upon Yamacraw Bluff.
The protracted Indian wars maintained by Carolina and the. effort to protect her coast against the incursions of pirates mate- rially reduced the resources of the province, and engendered in the mind of the English population a painful sense of insecurity. In this emergency the legislature, memorializing the Lords Pro- prietors, and representing to them the enfeebled condition of the colony and the manifest dangers which threatened its destruction, implored their paternal assistance and protection. Apprehending that the proprietors might hesitate to pledge their English es- tates in order to raise funds requisite for the relief of their Caro- lina plantations, then in such a precarious situation, the legisla- ture instructed its appointed agent, in case he failed in securing succor from the Lords Proprietors, to apply to the Crown for relief. The inhabitants generally were grievously annoyed at
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
and thoroughly dissatisfied with the posture of affairs. Incensed against a proprietary government which was either unable or un- willing to protect them, and which discountenanced any appeal to the Crown, they were unanimous in the opinion that the king should be immediately advised of their unfortunate condition and that his intervention should be earnestly sought.
About the middle of the year 1715 the Carolina agent, in the prosecution of his mission, waited upon the Lords Proprietors and represented the heavy calamities under which the colony was laboring. He further acquainted them with the fact that the Yemassees, instigated by Spanish emissaries, were claiming whole districts by virtue of their ancient occupancy of them, and that, having formed an alliance with other Indian nations, they were asserting their rights with force of arms. He insisted that under the circumstances prompt assistance should be rendered.
The answer of the proprietors being evasive and unsatisfac- tory, the agent at once petitioned the House of Commons in be- half of the distressed Carolinians. Thereupon the Commons addressed the king, beseeching his kind interposition and praying early assistance for the colony. The matter was referred by the king to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, who, in their report, suggested that the province of Carolina being a proprietary government, if the English nation was to be at the expense of its protection, its government ought to be vested in the Crown.1
Advised of this, Lord Carteret addressed to them a commu- nication in which he uses the following language : "We, the Proprietors of Carolina, having met on this melancholy occasion, to our great grief find that we are utterly unable of ourselves to afford our Colony suitable assistance in this conjuncture ; and, unless his Majesty will graciously please to interpose, we can fore- see nothing but the utter destruction of his Majesty's faithful subjects in those parts." The Lords of Trade inquired what sum would be necessary for the relief of the colony, and asked whether the government of the province of Carolina ought not to be surrendered to the Crown, if Great Britain should agree to bear the expense of its defense. To this Lord Carteret responded that the proprietors preferred that his majesty, in the exercise of his superior judgment, should determine what amount should be granted. He added, in case the money advanced from the public
I See An Historical Account of the Rise olina and Georgia, vol. i. ch. v. London. and Progress of the Colonies of South Car- MDCCLXXIX.
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SURRENDER BY THE LORDS PROPRIETORS.
treasury for the benefit of the colony was not repaid within a reasonable time, his majesty would certainly have an equitable right to take the government of Carolina under his immediate protection. Within a short time a bill was introduced into the House of Commons for the better regulation of the charters and proprietary governments of his majesty's plantations in America. Its chief object was to supplant them with royal governments. Although it was apparent to those best capable of forming a val- uable opinion on the subject that it was for the interest alike of Crown and plantations that the mother country should, at the earliest practicable moment, purchase these American colonies, delay occurred. In Carolina matters grew from bad to worse. There the disputes and conflicts between the Lords Proprietors and the colonists continued to be so constant and of such a pro- nonneed character that all the proprietors, except Lord Carteret, taking advantage of the provisions of an act of Parliament, sur- rendered to the king not only their rights and interest in the government of Carolina, but also their ownership of the soil. The indenture of purchase and sale was executed on the 25th of July in the third year of the reign of his majesty King George II. The consideration paid amounted to &£22,500. Thus, for this small sum, were seven eighths of the extensive territory, constituting the province of Carolina, sold by the Lords Proprie- tors to the Crown. The other eighth interest was owned by Lord Carteret, Baron of Hawnes. Subsequently, by deed dated the 2sth of February, 1782, he conveyed to the trustees for establish- ing the colony of Georgia in America the one undivided eighth port of all lands lying between the Savannah and Alatamaha rivers. The other seven eighths of this territory were ceded to them by the Crown. With this explanation we understand why in the charter granted by King George II., dated the 9th of June, 1732, royal cession was made of only seven eighths of the lands to be erected into a province south of and entirely distinct from Carolina, and to be called GEORGIA.
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CHAPTER IV.
JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE. - ENGLISH PRISONS. - MISERIES OF IN- SOLVENT DEBTORS. - SCHEME FOR THE COLONIZATION OF GEORGIA. -- ROYAL CHARTER GRANTED TO OGLETHORPE AND HIS ASSOCIATES. - ANAL- YSIS OF THAT CHARTER.
THE scheme which culminated in planting a colony on the right bank of the Savannah River, at Yamacraw Bluff, originated with James Edward Oglethorpe, a member of the English House of Commons, and " a gentleman of unblemished character, brave, generous, and humane." He was the third son of Sir Theoph- ilus, and the family of Oglethorpe was ancient and of high re- pute. It appears from the parish register of St. James', West- minster, that the Founder of the Colony of Georgia was born on the 1st of June, 1689. At an early age a matriculate of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he soon quitted that seat of learning for an active military life. A love of arms was with him a mat- ter of inheritance, for his father had attained the rank of major- general in the British service and held the office of first equerry to James II .. who entrusted him with a command in the army assembled to oppose the Prince of Orange.1 For a few years he served abroad as a gentleman volunteer. As an illustration of his self-possession, courage, and readiness, while still a youth, to redress a personal affront, this anecdote, related by Boswell in his "Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson," 2 may be accepted : " The general told us that when he was a very young man, I think only fifteen, serving under Prince Eugene of Savoy, hie was sit- ting in a company at table with a prince of Wirtemberg. The prince took up a glass of wine and, by a fillip, made some of it fly in Oglethorpe's face. Here was a nice dilemma. To have challenged him instantly might have fixed a quarrelsome char- acter upon the young soldier; to have taken no notice of it might have been considered as cowardice. Oglethorpe there- fore, keeping his eye upon the prince and smiling all the time as if he took what his highness had done in jest, said, 'Mon
1 Wright's Memoir of Cion. James Ogle-
thorpe, p. 3. London. 1867.
2 Vol. iii. pp. 217, 218. Murray's edi- tion. London. MDCCCLI.
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JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE.
Prince ' (I forget the French words he used ; the purport how- ever was), ' that 's a good joke, but we do it much better in England,' and threw a whole glass of wine in the prince's face. An old general, who sat by, said, ' Il a bien fait, mon prince, vous lavez commencé ; ' and thus all ended in good humour."
Entering the English army as an ensign in 1710, he retained that rank until peace was proclaimed in 1713. The following year he became captain-lieutenant of the first troop of the queen's life guards. Preferring active service abroad to an idle life at home, he soon repaired to the Continent to perfect himself in the art of war under the famous Prince Eugene of Savoy who, upon the recommendation of John, Duke of Argyle, gave him an ap- pointment upon his staff, first as secretary and afterwards as aid- de-camp. It was a brave school, and his alertness, fidelity, and fearlessness secured for him the good will, the confidence, and the commendation of his illustrious commander. Upon the con- clusion of the peace of 1718, he returned to England versed in the principles of military science, accustomed to command, inured to the shock of arms, instructed in the conduct of campaigns, the management of sieges, and the orders of battle, and possessing a reputation for manhood, executive ability, and warlike knowl- edge not often acquired by one of his years.
His brother Theophilus dying, he succeeded to the family es- tate at Westbrook. The tradition is still current in the neighbor- hood that the Pretender was for some time secreted in the old mansion, with its park of noble trees, overlooking the ancient town of Godalming.
In October, 1722, he was elected a member for Haslemere in the county of Surrey. This venerable borough and market-town he continued to represent, through various changes of administra- tion, for two and thirty years.1 Beginning his political career at a time when the Jacobites were meditating the restoration of the Stuarts, and a high Tory in principles, his parliamentary course, from its inception, was independent and consistent. While evinc- ing a loyal interest in all questions of general significaney, his energies were mainly enlisted in proposing and supporting meas- ures for the benefit of commerce and the redress of grievances. Ilis sympathies were specially engaged for the relief of unfortu- nate debtors, and his labors expended in the reformation of abuses which then disgraced the conduct of prisons within the realm. In this philanthropic mission, self-imposed, he became
1 Wright's Memoir of General James Oglethorpe, p. 12. London. 1867.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
most deeply interested. Sad indeed was then the lot of all who found themselves unable to respond to their pecuniary obliga- tions. Arrested and imprisoned at the instance of exacting cred- itors, they were powerless to liberate themselves from the dis- agreeabilities of a sponging-house or the greater horrors of a prison. The laws then contained no provisions for the relief of honest debtors, - for a judicious discrimination between fraud and misfortune. The hardships and barbarities inflicted upon confined debtors by the warden of the fleet, the infamous and extortionate Bambridge, by the butcher Acton, of the Marshalsea, and by others, were such as to shock common humanity and cur- dle the blood in all honest veins. In the long catalogue of bru- talities which have scandalized the annals of civilized nations few, if any, can be named more abhorrent than those which were then perpetrated in English prisons. Among the maladministra- tions of justice which have disgraced officers and imposed unlaw- ful and grievous burthens upon the unfortunate, none can be remembered more appalling than those which at this period char- acterized the conduct of both judges and jailors within the pre- cincts of the city of London. Once within prison walls, to the confined, - be he Robert Castell, skilled in architecture and born to competency, whose only offense was that in the pursuit of his ingenious and liberal calling he incurred debts he was unable to pay, or Captain John Macpheadris, a flourishing merchant, who failed because he had become surety to the Crown for a friend, or Sir William Rich, or Oliver Read, or the most infamous thief, pirate, smuggler, or murderer, - small-pox, fever, filth, shackles, thumbscrews, iron skull-caps, and often death were meted ont withont discrimination by keepers who, save in form, bore no resemblance to humanity. The extortions practiced by these wardens were incessant and monstrous. Their treatment of the prisoners committed to their care was most inhuman. In- solently did they batten upon the fears and the slender purses of the immured, and their administration of the jails and sponging- houses of London was a disgrace to humanity and a blot upon civilization.
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