[843] As Captain-General he was entitled to command all the land and naval forces of the province, and by him were all officers of the militia to be appointed. As Governor-in-chief he was a constituent part of the General Assembly, and possessed the sole power of adjourning, proroguing, convening, and dissolving that body. It rested with him to approve or to veto any bill passed by the Council and the Assembly. All officers who did not receive their warrants directly from the Crown were appointed by him: and if vacancies occurred, by death or removal, in offices usually filled by the immediate nomination of the King, the appointees of the governor acted until the pleasure of the home government was signified. He was the custodian of the Great Seal, and as Chancellor exercised within the province powers of judicature similar to those reposed in the High Chancellor of England. He was to preside in the Court of Errors, composed of himself and the members of Council as judges, hearing and determining all appeals from the superior courts. As Ordinary, he collated to all vacant benefices, granted probate of wills, and allowed administration upon the estates of those dying intestate. By him were writs issued for the election of representatives to sit in the Commons House of Assembly. As Vice-Admiral, while he did not sit in the court of vice-admiralty,—a judge for that court being appointed by the Crown,—in time of war he could issue warrants to that court empowering it to grant commissions to privateers. With him resided the ability to pardon all crimes except treason and murder. It was optional with him to select as his residence such locality within the limits of the province as he deemed most convenient for the transaction of the public business, and he might direct the General Assembly to meet at that point. He was invested with authority, for just cause, to suspend any member of Council, and, in a word, might “do all other necessary and proper things in such manner and under such regulations as should, upon due consideration, appear to be best adapted to the circumstances of the colony.” The King’s Council was to consist of twelve members in ordinary and of two extraordinary members. They were to be appointed by the Crown, and were to hold office during His Majesty’s pleasure. In the absence of the governor and lieutenant-governor, the senior member of the Council in Ordinary administered the government. When sitting as one of the three branches of the legislature the Council was styled the Upper House of Assembly. It also acted as Privy Council to the governor, assisting him in the conduct of public affairs. In this capacity the members were to convene whenever the governor saw fit to summon them. When sitting as an Upper House, the Council met at the same time with the Commons House of Assembly, and was presided over by the lieutenant-governor, or, in his absence, by the senior member present. The forms of procedure resembled those observed in the House of Lords in Great Britain.
The qualification of an elector was the ownership of fifty acres of land in the parish or district in which he resided and voted; that of a representative, was the proprietorship of five hundred acres of land in any part of the province. Writs of election were issued by order of the Governor in Council under the Great Seal of the province, were tested by him, and were returnable in forty days. When convened, the Representatives were denominated the Commons House of Assembly. Choosing its own speaker, who was presented to the governor for approbation, this body,—composed of the immediate representatives of the people, and conforming in its legislative and deliberative conduct to the precedents established for the governance of the English House of Commons,—when convened, continued its session until dissolved by the governor. It claimed and enjoyed the exclusive right of originating bills for the appropriation of public moneys. Thus constituted, the Upper and Lower Houses formed the General Assembly of the province and legislated in its behalf. Bills which passed both Houses were submitted to the governor for his consideration. If approved by him, the Seal of the Colony was attached, and they were duly filed. Authenticated copies were then prepared and transmitted for the information and sanction of the Home Government.
Provision was also made for the establishment of a “General Court,” of a “Court of Session of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery,” and of courts of inferior jurisdiction. There was also a “Court of Admiralty.”
The presiding judge was styled Chief-Justice of Georgia. He was a “barrister at law” who had attended at Westminster, was appointed by warrant under His Majesty’s sign-manual and signet, and enjoyed a salary of £500, raised by annual grant of Parliament. The assistant justices were three in number. They received no salaries except on the death or in the absence of the chief-justice, and held their appointments from the governor.
Arrangements were also made for appointment of Collectors of Customs, of a Register of Deeds, of a Receiver of Quit Rents, of a Surveyor-General, of a Secretary of the Province, of a Clerk of Council, of a Provost Marshal, of an Attorney-General, and of other necessary officers.
The device approved for a public seal was as follows: On one face was a figure representing the Genius of the Colony offering a skein of silk to His Majesty, with the motto, “Hinc laudem sperate Coloni,” and this inscription around the circumference: “Sigillum Provinciæ nostræ Georgiæ in America.” On the other side appeared His Majesty’s arms, crown, garter, supporters, and motto, with the inscription: “Georgius II. Dei Gratia Britanniæ, Franciæ, et Hiberniæ Rex, Fidei Defensor, Brunsvici et Luneburgi Dux, Sacri Romani Imperii Archi Thesaurarius et Princeps Elector.”
[844] Cf. Chapter IV., on “Ancient Florida,” by Dr. John G. Shea, in Vol. II.; and a chapter in Vol. I.
[845] [Sabin, xii. no. 51194; Barlow, no. 809; Carter-Brown, iii. no. 224; Brinley, no. 3911; Murphy, no. 1743; Rich (1835), p. 25. This tract is reprinted with the plan in Force’s Tracts, vol. i. There is a copy in Harvard College library [12354.7]. Coming within the grant to Mountgomery and lying “within a day’s rowing of the English habitations in South Carolina” are certain islands called by Sir Robert, St. Symon, Sapella, Santa Catarina, and Ogeche, which were described in a tract printed in London in 1720, called A description of the Golden Islands with an account of the undertaking now on foot for making a settlement there. (Cf. Carter-Brown, iii. no. 266.)
There is in Harvard College library a tract attributed to John Burnwell, published also in 1720 in London: An account of the foundation and establishment of a design now on foot for a settlement on the Golden Islands to the south of Port Royal, in Carolina. (Sabin, iii. no. 10955.)—Ed.].
[846] [This plan is reproduced in Jones’ History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 72; and in Gay’s Pop. Hist. of the U. S., iii. 142.—Ed.]