This indictment by one who had been treated with great kindness, and who owed his preferment to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to the particular favor of the General, was not only ungrateful, but insidious and base.
The faithful Annalist of America, the Reverend Doctor Holmes, closes his reference to this transaction with this just and honorable reflection: "By the decision of this board, the character of this able General now appeared in resplendent light; and his contemporaries acknowledged, what impartial history must record, that to him Carolina was indebted for her safety and repose, as well as Georgia for existence and protection."[1]
[Footnote 1: American Annals, II. 19.]
And here closes the history of the settlement of Georgia; in a great degree the project and the furtherance of one man, who must be allowed to possess the foremost rank among those, who, by well-concerted plans, and judicious and persevering measures for their accomplishment, have high claims on public gratitude, as warm and devoted patriots, and enlightened philanthropists. Embracing in one comprehensive view the effectual relief of the reduced or neglected, the planting of a Colony, and the promotion of its progressive improvement and welfare, it is the appropriate praise of the founder of Georgia, that, with a sagacity and foresight which are never sufficiently to be admired, a zeal and fortitude never exceeded, and a devotedness to the object which never relaxed, he commenced and carried on the arduous enterprise.
In "An account, showing the progress of the Colony of Georgia in
America from its first establishment; published by order of the
Honorable, the Trustees," London, 1741, is the following eulogy of
Oglethorpe, made by those who best knew how truly it was deserved.
"A Gentleman who may be justly termed the Romulus, father and founder of Georgia; a gentleman who, without any view but that of enlarging his Majesty's dominions, propagating the Protestant religion, promoting the trade of his country, and providing for the wants and necessities of indigent christians, has voluntarily banished himself from the pleasures of a Court, and exposed himself repeatedly to the dangers of the vast Atlantic ocean in several perilous and tedious voyages; instead of allowing himself the satisfaction which a plentiful fortune, powerful friends, and great merit entitle him to in England, has inured himself to the greatest hardships that any the meanest inhabitant of this new Colony could be exposed to; his diet has been mouldy bread, or boiled rice instead of bread, salt beef, pork, &c., his drink has been water; and his bed the damp earth, without any other covering than the canopy of heaven to shelter him: and all this to set an example to this new Colony how they might bear with such hardships in their new settlement."
A recent publication bestows also a tribute of commendation, in the following terms: "As governor of the new Colony, he was exposed to numberless difficulties and vexations; but persevered with great ardor in the scheme, and expended large sums out of his private fortune with a view to ensure its success."[1]
[Footnote 1: GEORGIAN AERA; or Memoirs of the most eminent persons who have flourished in Great Britain from the accession of George I. to the death of George IV. Lond. 1834. 4 vol. Vol. II. p. 43.]
I give, also, an extract from "lines to General Oglethorpe, on the settlement of Georgia," published in the South Carolina Gazette, June, 1733.
"The fame of Tyrants should, if justice swayed,
Be bowled through deserts their ambition made;
But OGLETHORPE has gained a well-earned praise,
Who made the heirs of want, the lords of ease:
The gloomy wood to plenteous harvests changed,
And founded cities where the wild beasts ranged.
Then may the great reward assigned by fate
Crown his own wish to see the work complete!"