10. General Condition.-None of the colonies, except perhaps New York, was better off for natural advantages than Pennsylvania. The climate was a mean between that of New England and the southern colonies. Timber was plentiful, the soil was fertile, and the rivers offered easy means of carriage. Philadelphia, the capital, was the best laid out and handsomest town in the colonies. The inhabitants were of various races and religions. Besides the Quakers, who for a long time formed the greater part of the population, there were Swedes, Germans and Welsh. As in New England, there seem to have been few very rich men or great landed proprietors. In this, and in the general mode of life among the settlers, Pennsylvania resembled New York and the New England colonies.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA AND THE SPANISH WAR.

Motives for settlement (1)—first settlement (2)—German and Scotch emigrants (3)-dispute between Oglethorpe and the settlers (4) dealings with the neighbouring Spanish colonists (5)-alliance with the Indians (6)—war with Spain (7)—invasion of Georg a (8)- Oglethorpe's departure (9)— Georgia becomes a royal colony (10).

1. Motives for Settlement.-Virginia and Georgia, the first and last of the English colonies in Ameria, resemblę one another in their origin. All the settlements that came between were either founded, like Maryland and Carolina, for the profit of the proprietors, or like Pennsylvania and the

New England colonies, as a refuge for a religious sect. Virginia and Georgia alone were established as homes for the poor and needy. In one point however they differed. Virginia was colonized by a company of merchants, who looked to their own gain as well as to the good of the settlers. The founders of Georgia were benevolent men, who did not aim at any profit to themselves, but only at founding a home for those who had no means of livelihood in England. Georgia may also be likened to a still earlier class of settlements, those planned by Gilbert and Raleigh. For it was meant to serve, and it did serve, as a military outpost to guard the older colonies, especially South Carolina, against Spanish invasion. About 1730, some benevolent persons were struck by the evil state of English prisons. At that time men could be, and commonly were, imprisoned for debt. The prisons in which they were confined were shamefully managed. They were dens of filth, and no heed was given to the health of the prisoners. About that time also many wild and foolish schemes of speculation had been set on foot, and had led to the ruin of many. Thus the debtors' prisons were unusually full, and their condition was worse than ever. One of the first to call attention to this was James Oglethorpe, a man of high birth and good education, an officer in the army, and a member of Parliament. From the outset of his public career, he devoted himself to bettering the lot of the wretched and helpless, and was described by Pope as

"Driven by vast benevolence of soul."

By the account which he gave of the evil state of prisons, he got a committee of the House of Commons appointed, with himself as chairman, to inquire into the matter. He was not content with lightening the sufferings of those unhappy debtors. He bethought him of some means whereby those who could find no livelihood in England could be put in the

way of earning their bread, and so be saved from debt. To found a colony specially fitted for such a class seemed the readiest cure for the evil. Moreover Oglethorpe, being a good soldier and a patriotic man, thought that the same scheme might be turned to account as a check on the Spaniards, who, as we have seen, threatened the southern counties of Carolina. In 1732, Oglethorpe and other benevolent men formed a company to carry out this plan. They obtained a charter and a grant of all the land between the rivers Savannah and Alatamaha, to form a province called Georgia, in honour of the King. Thirteen trustees were appointed, with full power to manage the affairs of the colony. At first they were to appoint the Governor and other officers. After four years these appointments were to be made by the Crown. Laws were to be made by the company and approved of by the Privy Council. The settlers themselves were to have no share in the government. Lest the company should try to make profit out of their scheme, no member of it was to hold any paid office in the colony. All the arrangements kept in view the two main ends, to make Georgia both a fit settlement for needy men working with their own hands and a strong outpost against the Spaniards. Most of the settlers were to be poor people, released debtors and bankrupt tradesmen, and those who, having large families, were in receipt of parish relief. These were to be sent out at the expense of the company. But, beside these, the company were ready to receive settlers who might choose to go out at their own expense. Still they wished to make it specially a poor man's settlement. With this view they prohibited slavery, as likely to interfere with free labour and to give rich men an advantage. Besides, a revolt of the slaves would have been specially dangerous with neighbours like the Spaniards on the frontier. No one was to hold more than five hundred acres of land, and, in order to keep

up the number of proprietors, no land was allowed to be sold, and, if a man left no son, his lot was to become the property of the company. The object of this rule was to ensure a sufficient number of men fit for service in war. For the same reason all the settlers were to be drilled as soldiers. As some of the settlers were likely to be of unsteady habits, no rum was to be imported. The company hoped to have among their settlers some German Protestants, many of whom had lately been driven from their homes by fierce persecution, and with this view a clause was inserted in the charter providing that all foreigners who settled in Georgia should have the same rights as English citizens. So too men of all religions, except Roman Catholics, were to enjoy equal rights. To guard against any dispute with its English neighbours, the colony was set free by the Crown from any right which Carolina might have claimed over the land south of the Savannah.

2. First Settlement.-Oglethorpe was appointed Governor of the colony, with power to choose a site for a settlement, and to manage all public affairs. On the 16th of November, 1732, he sailed from Gravesend with a hundred and twenty emigrants. On the 13th of January they landed in Carolina, where they were kindly received. Oglethorpe went up the river Savannah to select a place for a settlement. He chose a piece of high ground, round which the river flowed in the shape of a horse-shoe. It was about ten miles from the sea, and commanded a view of the river to its mouth. This was an advantage, as there was always a danger of the settlement being attacked by the Spaniards from the sea. The town was to be called Savannah, after the river. At the same time Oglethorpe made an alliance with the chief of the Creeks, the most powerful Indian nation in that quarter. On the Ist of February the colonists arrived at Savannah. The people of Carolina assisted them with supplies of food.

In May Ogle

thorpe held a conference with the Creeks. They promised not to meddle with the English settlers, and to let them occupy any land that they did not need for themselves. Presents were then exchanged; the Indians gave buckskins ; Oglethorpe, guns, ammunition, cloth, and spirits.

3. German and Scotch Emigrants. Next year a band of German emigrants came over. They had been driven from Salzburg by a persecuting archbishop. Oglethorpe gave them their choice of land, and they settled about twenty miles west of Savannah. They were well received both by English and Indians, and soon formed a prosperous settlement. In April, 1734, Oglethorpe returned to England, taking with him some of the Creek chiefs. The trustees now began to learn that men who had failed in England were not very likely to succeed in a colony. Accordingly they sent out some more German Protestants and a number of Scotch Highlanders. The latter, from their hardihood and warlike habits, were specially fitted for a colony which was likely to have to defend itself by arms. On his return to Georgia, Oglethorpe set to work to colonise the southern frontier. He planted a body of emigrants on an island at the mouth of the Alatamaha, and called the settlement Frederica. This was intended to guard the colony against an attack from the south. The Highlanders were posted on the river sixteen miles inland. Another settlement called Augusta was founded two hundred and thirty miles up the river Savannah to guard the western frontier. Augusta and Frederica were both fortified, and other forts were erected near the mouth of the Alatamaha.

4. Dispute between Oglethorpe and the Settlers.-In the meantime disputes had arisen at Savannah. Some of the settlers drew up a statement of their grievances, and laid it before the trustees. Their chief complaints were that Causton, whom Oglethorpe had left in charge of affairs, was tyrannical