A Book of the United States / Exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government ... and presenting a view of the republic generally, and of the individual states; together with a condensed history of the land, from its first discovery to the present time. The biography of about two hundred of the leading men: a description of the principal cities and towns; with statistical tables

by Unknown

Oglethorpe gave it to a Spanish prisoner, who, for a small reward together with his liberty, promised to deliver it to the French deserter. On his arrival at the Spanish camp, however, he gave the letter, as Oglethorpe expected, to the commander-in-chief, who instantly put the deserter in irons.This letter perplexed and confounded the Spaniards; some suspecting it to be a stratagem to prevent an attack on Frederica, and others believing it to contain serious instructions to direct the conduct of a spy. While the Spanish officers wore deliberating what measures to adopt, an incident, not within the calculation of military skill, or the control of human power, decided their counsels. Three ships of force, which the governor of South Carolina had sent out to Oglethorpe’s aid, appeared at this juncture off the coast. The agreement of this discovery with the contents of the letter convinced the Spanish commander of its real intention. The whole army, seized with an instant panic, set fire to the fort, and precipitately embarked, leaving several cannon, with a quantity of provisions and military stores; and thus, in the moment of threatened conquest, was the infant colony providentially saved.

Thus was Georgia, with trifling loss, delivered from the most imminent danger. General Oglethorpe not only retrieved, but established his reputation. From the Carolinians, grateful for their preservation, and from the governors of most of the northern colonies, he received cordial congratulations upon his address and good fortune. But on an impeachment brought forward before this invasion, Oglethorpe still felt himself bound in honor to return to England, where, on trial, the charge was adjudged to be false, malicious and groundless, and its author dismissed his majesty’s service. The character of this able general now appeared in its true light; and his contemporaries acknowledged what impartial history records, that to him Carolina was indebted for her safety and repose, as well as Georgia for her existence and protection. After this period general Oglethorpe never returned to the province of Georgia, but upon all occasions discovered in England an uncommon zeal for its prosperity and improvement.

In the year 1749, the colony was exposed to great danger from a quarter as unexpected as it was singular. During the whole of his administration, general Oglethorpe had, from motives of policy, treated an Indian, or rather half-breed woman, called Mary Musgrove, afterwards Mary Bosomworth, with particular kindness and generosity. Finding that she had great influence amongst the Creeks, and understood their language, he made use of her as an interpreter, in order the more easily to form treaties of alliance with them; allowing her for her services one hundred pounds sterling a year. Thomas Bosomworth, who was chaplain to Oglethorpe’s regiment, had married this woman, accepted a tract of land from the crown, and settled in the province. Being unsuccessful in most of his speculations, he had recourse to one of an extraordinary kind. He persuaded his wife to assert herself to be the elder sister of Malatche, the Indian chief, and to have descended, by a maternal line, from an Indian king, who held from nature the whole territory of the Creeks; and therefore to possess a right to them, superior not only to that of the trustees, but also to that of the king. Accordingly, Mary assumed the title of an independent empress, disavowing all subjection or allegiance to the king of Great Britain, otherwise than by way of treaty or alliance, such as one independent sovereign might voluntarily enter into with another; a meeting of all the Creeks was summoned, to whom Mary made a long speech, in which she set forth the justice of her claim, and the great injury she and her beloved subjects had sustained by the loss of their territories, and urged them to a defence of their rights by force of arms. The Indians were fired with rage at the idea of such indignity, and to a man pledged themselves to stand by her to the last drop of their blood in defence of her royal personand their lands; in consequence of which, queen Mary, escorted by a large body of her savage subjects, set out for Savannah, to demand from the president and council a formal acknowledgment of her rights in the province.

Several interviews between the magistrates and the Indian chiefs took place on this strange occurrence, and the president and council were flattering themselves with the idea of an amicable compromise of all the existing difficulties, and rejoicing in the re-establishment of friendly intercourse with the Creeks, when Mary, excited with liquor, and disappointed in her royal views, rushed in amongst them like a fury, told the president that these were her people, that he had no business with them, and that he should soon be convinced of it to his cost. The president calmly advised her to retire to her lodgings, and forbear to poison the minds of the Indians, adding that he would otherwise order her into close confinement; upon which, turning about to Malatche, in great rage, she repeated, with some ill-natured comments, what the president had said; Malatche started from his seat, laid hold of his arms, calling upon the rest to follow his example, and dared any man to touch the queen. The whole house was filled in a moment with tumult and uproar; every Indian having his tomahawk in his hand, the president and council expected nothing but instant death. During this confusion, captain Jones, who commanded the guard, very seasonably interposed, and ordered the Indians immediately to surrender their arms, endeavoring, however, not merely to overawe them, but using prudence to avoid coming to extremities: with reluctance the Indians submitted, and Mary was conveyed to a private room, where a guard was placed over her, and all further communication with the Indians denied her during their stay in Savannah. Ultimately the soi-disant queen was compelled to abandon her pretensions, and the Indians were induced to depart, to the great joy of the inhabitants, who had been so long harassed by their turbulent visit.

The wars to which it had been subject had much retarded the progress of the colony, and in 1752 the trustees surrendered their charter to the king. Georgia thus became a royal government. At this time the whole exports of Georgia did not amount to ten thousand pounds a year.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.

The formation and progress of all the colonies which constituted the North American republic at the era of its independence, have now been traced up to the middle of the eighteenth century. From that period circumstances tended rapidly to promote that federation which eventually effected the independence of the colonies, and laid the basis of their future prosperity; indeed, in the prosecution of the French war, which commenced in 1756, the energies of the colonies were so united in the attainment of one common object, that the generalization of their political history from that period is not only rendered preferable, but almost inevitable.

Not to enter into a detail of the progress of French discovery, it is sufficient to say that France had established settlements on the St. Lawrence and at the mouth of the Mississippi, and formed the bold plan of uniting these points by a chain of forts, stretching across the continent, and intended to confine the English colonists to the eastern side of the Alleghanies.In their northern colonies, the military strength of the French was considerable; Quebec and Montreal were strongly fortified; and at other points, Louisbourg, Cape Breton, and the forts of lake Champlain, Niagara, Crown Point, Frontignac, Ticonderoga, and several others, defended the frontiers. They had also erected a considerable fort at the junction of the Alleghany with the Monongahela, then called Du Quesne, but now forming the site of Pittsburg.

The proceedings of the French in America excited a strong interest in the minds of the British government; and deeming war inevitable, orders were sent to the governors of the several colonies to repel force by force, and to dislodge the French from their posts on the Ohio. These orders were accompanied with a recommendation to form a union of the colonies for more effective defence. Delegates had already been appointed to meet at Albany, for the purpose of conferring with the Five Nations; and governor Shirley recommended that the subject of union should also be discussed at the convention. The commissioners from Massachusetts had ample powers to co-operate in the formation of a plan; those from Maryland were instructed to observe what others did; and those from New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New York, had no instructions at all on the subject.As soon, however, as the friendship of the Indians was thought to be secured by a distribution of presents, the delegates appointed a committee to devise some scheme for the proposed confederation; and the committee recommended the adoption of a government analogous to that of the individual colonies. There was to be a grand council, composed of deputies from the several provinces, and a president-general, appointed by the crown, with the power of negativing the acts of the council. The Connecticut delegates, however, dissented from this plan, because it placed too preponderating a power in the hands of the crown.

It was rejected by the British ministry for the very opposite reason; they suggested, however, that the several governors, with one or two of their counsellors, should meet and adopt such measures as the common safety might demand. But this scheme was defeated by a provision, that they might draw upon the British treasury for all necessary sums, which parliament would undertake to repay by imposing a general tax upon the colonies. The Massachusetts assembly sent special instructions to its agent in London to oppose most strenuously any measure which had for its object the establishment of taxes on the colonies, under whatever plea of utility; and Franklin, to whom the governor of Virginia had sent the proposition of the British minister, states most distinctly in his letter in reply, the reasons which would ever prevent the Americans from consenting to such a proposal. He observes that it would inspire universal discontent among the Americans to attempt the imposition of taxes by a parliament where they were not represented; a point of which neither the colonies nor the British government ever lost sight, from this period till the contest it originated terminated in the entire separation of the former from its dependence on the British crown.