Having accomplished the great design of settling the Colony of Georgia, watched over its nascent feebleness, cherished its growth, defended it from invasion, vindicated its rights, and advanced its interests and welfare, Oglethorpe resigned the superintendence and government into other hands, and retired to his country seat at Godalming, “to rest under the shade of his own laurels.”

In March, 1744, he was appointed one of the officers under Field Marshal, the Earl of Stair, to oppose the expected invasion from France.

Having been so happy as to form a tender attachment to an amiable lady, which was reciprocated, he married, on the 15th of September, 1744, Elizabeth, the only daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Baronet, of Cranham Hall, Essex.

His chief residence was at his country seat; but he spent his winters in the venerable family mansion in St. James, Westminster, London, to attend his duties as member of Parliament and enjoy the society of men of the first respectability for rank, talents, and literature.

On the 25th of March, 1745, he was promoted to the rank of Major General; and the Rebellion breaking out in that year, he was placed at the head of four companies of cavalry, one of which bore the title of “Georgia Rangers." They had been raised at the expense of some loyal individuals, to act against the insurgents; “and,” (says an Historian who had the best authority for the declaration,) “they did very signal service to their country.” Their uniform was blue, faced with red; and they wore green cockades. They did not encamp with the foot, but were quartered in the towns.

As this expedition was commenced late in the fall, the King’s troops were retarded in their operations by the rigor of the season, their late forced marches, and a most uncomfortable diarrhoea, which prevailed among the soldiers; but good quarters, proper refreshments, and the extraordinary care of their officers, relieved these difficulties, and put the army into so good a condition as enabled them to go through the campaign with fewer inconveniences and much less loss than could reasonably be expected, considering the great hardships and excessive fatigues to which they were exposed.

As soon as Marshal Wade had intelligence at Newcastle of the route which the rebels had taken, he resolved, notwithstanding the severity of the season, to march thence to the relief of Carlisle. Accordingly, on the 16th of November, the army began to move for that purpose. His Excellency intended to have begun his march as soon as it was light; but, moving from the left, the troops which had the van, delayed their motions several hours, to the great prejudice of the expedition; for the weather being extremely cold, and the travelling impeded by a deep snow, or made rough by frozen ground, the troops suffered very much. The Major Generals Howard and Oglethorpe, and the Brigadiers, Cholmondley and Mordaunt, marched on foot at the head of the infantry to encourage the soldiers. It was eight at night and very dark before the front line got into the camp at Ovington; and though the soldiers resolutely pressed forward, yet, the roads being terribly broken and full of ice, it was foreseen that many of the last column might drop, through excessive fatigue; and therefore the Major Generals Huske and Oglethorpe sent out countrymen with lights and carts to assist the rear guard, and bring up the tired men. In this service they were employed till near nine the next morning.

On the 17th the Marshal continued his march to Hexham, where he arrived, with the first line, about four in the afternoon, but the rear of the army did not come up till near midnight. Having received intelligence that Carlisle had surrendered, he resolved to march back to Newcastle; but, the weather continuing bad, and the roads become in a manner impassable, he did not arrive there with his army till the 16th; and, even then, the forces under his command were so exhausted by fatigue, and lamed by travelling, that, if it had not been for the great care taken of them by the people of Newcastle, they must have been, not only disheartened, but disqualified for service.

In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland’s army was forming in Staffordshire; for, upon the approach of the Rebels, it was resolved that his Royal Highness should be sent down to command the forces in that part of the kingdom; and he arrived at Litchfield on the 28th of November.

Towards the latter end of the month, the army, under the command of Marshal Wade, began to move; the cavalry having reached Darlington and Richmond by the 25th. On the 29th the infantry was at Persbridge, whence he proposed to march to Wetherby, and there canton the whole army in the adjacent villages; looking upon this as the most convenient station either for distressing the enemy, should they attempt to retire, or for cooperating with the forces of his Royal Highness, as occasion should render necessary.

On the 8th of December the Marshal held a council of war, at Ferry-bridge, to consider of the most effectual means for cutting off the Highlanders on their retreat; and, in this council it was resolved to march directly to Wakefield and Halifax into Lancashire, as the most likely way of intercepting the rebels. Having arrived at Wakefield on the 10th, and having advice that the main body of the rebels was at Manchester, and their van-guard moving from thence towards Preston, and finding that it was now impossible to come up with them, he judged it unnecessary to fatigue the forces by hard marches, and, therefore, detaching Major General Oglethorpe, on the 11th, with the cavalry under his command, he began the march, with the rest of the forces to Newcastle. On the 13th a great body of the horse and dragoons under Oglethorpe arrived at Preston, having marched a hundred miles in three days over roads naturally bad, and at that time almost impassable with snow and ice; “which,” says the Historian, “was a noble testimony of zeal and spirit, especially in the new raised forces.”

His Royal Highness immediately gave his orders for continuing the pursuit of the rebels, with the utmost diligence. Accordingly Oglethorpe advanced towards Lancaster; which place the Duke reached on the 16th. Oglethorpe, continuing his pursuit at the heels of the rebels, arrived on the 17th in front of a village called Shap, where their rear was supposed to be, just before night-fall, in very bad weather. Here he held a consultation with his officers, in which it was decided that the lateness of the hour, and the exhaustion of the troops, rendered it inexpedient to make the attack that night. He, therefore, entered the neighboring village to obtain forage, and to refresh. Meanwhile the Duke pressed on; and, next morning, when he came to Shap, found that it had been abandoned by the rebels; but was surprised at seeing on his right, towards the rear, an unexpected body of troops. It turned out to be Oglethorpe’s corps, which, from being the van-guard of the army, had thus unaccountably become the rear. Vexed at the disappointing occurrence, he caused Oglethorpe to be arraigned before a Court Martial, for having “lingered on the road.” His trial came on at the Horse-guards on the 29th of September, and ended the 7th of October, 1746; when “he was honorably acquitted, and his Majesty was graciously pleased to confirm the sentence."

CROKER, in a note to his edition of BOSWELL’s Life of Johnson, Vol. I. page 97, says that “though acquitted, he was never again employed. It is by no means surprising that this neglect should have mortified a man of Oglethorpe’s sensibility; and it is to be inferred, from Mr. Boswell’s expressions, that, late in life, he had in vain solicited for ’some mark of distinction, ’to heal his wounded feelings.” The last intimations are confuted by the advancements in military rank stated in the following pages of these memorials. The “mark of distinction,” deserved, perhaps expected, but certainly not “solicited,” might be that of Knight, a title worn by his father, as also by the father of his wife.]

As a still higher proof that he stood high in public estimation, on the 13th of September, 1747, he was made Brigadier General in the British army.

On the establishment of the British Herring Fishery, in 1750, he took a very considerable part, and became one of the Council; in which situation, on the 25th of October he delivered to the Prince of Wales the Charter of incorporation in a speech which was printed in the public journals.

In 1754 he was candidate for the borough of Haslemere, which he had represented in former Parliaments; but on the close of the poll, the numbers were found to be for J. Moore Molyneaux, 75; Philip Carteret Webb, 76; Peter Burrel, 46; and Oglethorpe only 45.

On February 22d, 1765, he was raised to the rank of General of all his Majesty’s forces; and for many years before his death was the oldest general officer on the staff.

Here, perhaps, is the proper place to introduce an anecdote given by Major McCall, in his History of Georgia, Vol. I. , too striking to be omitted. “At the commencement of the American Revolution, being the senior officer of Sir William Howe, he had the prior offer of the command of the forces appointed to subdue the Rebels. He professed his readiness to accept the appointment, ’if the Ministry would authorize him to assure the Colonies that justice should be done them.’ His proposal appeared to be the result of humanity and equity. He declared that ’he knew the Americans well; that they never would be subdued by arms; but that obedience would be secured by doing them justice.’ A man with these views was not a fit instrument for the British Government, and therefore, agreeably to his own request, he was permitted to remain at home.”

McCALL refers to “the Annual Register,” for his authority; but, after careful searching, I do not find the statement. The intermediate comments, and the last sentence, are undoubtedly the Major’s. The anecdote is also related in RAMSAY’s History of the United States, Vol. III. .

I much doubt, however, that an official offer was made to him, as he was too old to engage in such a service; and deem the statement not sufficiently authenticated to be relied on.

He continued to reside, principally, at Cranham Hall, in Essex, a fine country seat of which he became possessed by his marriage with the heiress of Sir Nathan Wright. In this beautiful retreat, favored with the enjoyment of uninterrupted health, the possession of worldly competence, and the heart-cheering comforts of connubial life, he looked back upon the chequered scene of his former services with lively gratitude that he had escaped so many dangers, and been an honored instrument of effecting so much good; and the present happy condition of his lot was heightened by its contrast with past hardships, fatigues, and perils.

He passed his winters in London, where he enjoyed the acquaintance and even intimacy of some of the most honorable and distinguished characters of the day. “A gentleman and a soldier, he united the virtue of chivalrous honor and magnanimity with the acquirements of learning and that love of polite literature which associated him with the first scholars of the age.” One who knew him intimately has said, “This extraordinary person was as remarkable for his learning and taste, as for his other eminent qualities; and no man was more prompt, active, and generous in encouraging merit."

To the celebrated Dr. Johnson he was respectfully attached; and was fond of having him often as a guest. Boswell has detailed some pleasing particulars of these interviews; and, after relating one, adds in a note the following remarks: “Let me here pay a tribute of gratitude to the memory of that excellent person, my intimacy with whom was the more valuable to me, because my first acquaintance with him was unexpected and unsolicited. Soon after the publication of my ‘Account of Corsica,’ he did me the honor to call on me, and approaching me with a frank, courteous air, said, ’Sir, my name is Oglethorpe, and I wish to become acquainted with you.’ I was not a little flattered to be thus addressed by an eminent man, of whom I had read in Pope from my early years,

“Or, driven by strong benevolence of soul,
Will fly like Oglethorpe from pole to pole.”

“I was fortunate enough to be found worthy of his good opinion, insomuch that I was not only invited to make one of the many respectable companies whom he entertained at his table, but had a cover at his hospitable board every day when I happened to be disengaged; and in his society I never failed to enjoy learned and animated conversation, seasoned with genuine sentiments of virtue and religion."

Dr. Warton, referring to Oglethorpe, says, “I had the pleasure of knowing him well;” and, in a note upon the couplet quoted from Pope, says, “Here are lines that will justly confer immortality on a man who well deserved so magnificent an eulogium. He was, at once, a great hero, and a great legislator. The vigor of his mind and body have seldom been equalled. The vivacity of his genius continued to great old age. The variety of his adventures, and the very different scenes in which he had been engaged, made me regret that his life has never been written. Dr. Johnson once offered to do it, if the General would furnish him the materials. Johnson had a great regard for him, for he was one of the first persons that highly, in all companies, praised his ‘London.’ His first campaign was made under Prince Eugene against the Turks, and that great General always spoke of Oglethorpe in the highest terms. But his settlement of the Colony of Georgia gave a greater lustre to his character than even his military exploits.”

With Goldsmith, too, he was intimate. In the lately published biography of this poet by Prior, referring to the occasional relief contributed to him in his exigences, it is added, “Goldsmith was content, likewise, to be made the channel of conveyance for the bounty of others, as we find by a letter of General Oglethorpe, a distinguished and amiable man, at whose table he met with good society, and spent many agreeable hours, and who now, at an advanced period of life, displayed the same love for the good of mankind, in a private way, that he had exerted on a more extended scale.” With the letter he sent five pounds, to be distributed in aid of a charitable institution, in whose behalf Goldsmith seems to have taken an active interest; and the letter concluded with this kindly expressed invitation; “If a farm, and a mere country scene will be a little refreshment from the smoke of London, we shall be glad of the happiness of seeing you at Cranham Hall.”

It is asserted that “his private benevolence was great. The families of his tenants and dependants were sure of his assistance whilst they deserved it; and he has frequently supported a tenant, whose situation was doubtful, not merely forbearing to ask for rent, but lending him money to go on with his farm."

Of his public liberality, repeated mention has been made in the course of this work, more particularly in the settlement of Georgia; in the furtherance of which he not only bore his own expenses, but procured various outfits. He also contributed pecuniary assistance and conferred favors to encourage exertion, or reward well doing. No one excelled him in those smaller attentions to the interests and gratification of his friends and acquaintance; which, though they do not of themselves constitute a great character, are, certainly, very pleasing recommendations of it.

It is not denied that he had his imperfections and errors; and some, for which the plea of human frailty alone may not be a sufficient excuse. He was rather passionate in his temper, impatient of contradiction, and quick in his resentments; but, upon any ingenuous concession, was placable and ready to admit an apology. To the humble offender he was reconcilable, and to the submissive, magnanimous. In the heyday of life, a soldierly pride, or military point of honor, sometimes betrayed him into indiscretions or involved him in rencounters, to which, as he became more mature in age and in judgment, a dignified sense of true greatness rendered him superior. Some instances of rashness have been noted by Walpole with unsparing vituperation; and some self-complacent or boasting sallies, have been pointed at by Croker with a sarcastic sneer. But, admitting that these were far from being venial faults, yet it would be very uncharitable now to recall them from the forgetfulness and forgiveness in which they have long been passed over; especially as they were fully redeemed by noble qualities and beneficent deeds. Surely, he who was celebrated by Pope and Thompson, honored by the Reverend Dr. Burton, vindicated and praised in Parliament by the excellent Duke of Argyle, and favored by the regards of Dr. Johnson, “the English moralist," must have had a large prevalence of what, in the opinion of the best judges, is estimable in disposition and conduct, and irreproachable in character!

He had a pleasing talent at narrative, and when animated by the cheering attention of his friends, he would give full scope to it. Anecdotes of times past, incidents and scenes of his eventful life, and occurrences which had passed under his observation, when detailed by him at length, and set off with his amusing episodical remarks and illustrations, made him a most entertaining chronicler. These were sometimes enlivened with a sportive humor that gave a charm to the social hour, and contributed to the amusement of his guests and friends. If in his extreme old age he indulged in egotisms or loquacity, still his observations were those of one who had seen and read much, and was willing to communicate his acquired knowledge and the results of his observation and experience; and few who attended to him, did so without receiving information and entertainment. Even his old stories of his own acting, served to confirm what he said, and he made them better in the telling; so that he was rarely troublesome with the same tale told again, for he gave it an air of freshness.

Polite in his address and graceful in his manners, the gallant veteran was a favorite visiter in the parties of accomplished ladies that occasionally met at the house of Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Garrick, Mrs. Boscawen, and Mrs. Carter. Hannah More, in a letter to her sister, in 1784, says, “I have got a new admirer; it is the famous General Oglethorpe, perhaps the most remarkable man of his time. He was foster-brother to the Pretender; and is much above ninety years old; the finest figure you ever saw. He perfectly realizes all my ideas of Nestor. His literature is great; his knowledge of the world extensive; and his faculties as bright as ever. He is one of the three persons still living who were mentioned by Pope; Lord Mansfield and Lord Marchmont are the other two. He was the intimate friend of Southern, the tragic poet, and all the wits of that time. He is, perhaps, the oldest man of a Gentleman living. I went to see him the other day, and he would have entertained me by repeating passages from Sir Eldred. He is quite a preux chevalier, heroic, romantic, and full of the old gallantry." In another letter, she mentions being in company with the General at Mrs. Vesey’s, where the Dutchess of Portland and Mrs. Delany were present, and where “Mr. Burke talked a great deal of politics with General Oglethorpe. He told him, with great truth, that he looked upon him as a more extraordinary person than any he had ever read of, for he had founded the province of Georgia; had absolutely called it into existence, and had lived to see it severed from the Empire which created it, and become an independent State."

The late President, John Adams, saw Oglethorpe in 1785, a short time before his decease. Within a day or two after his arrival in London, as Ambassador from the United States, had been announced in the public prints, the General called upon him; as was very polite and complimentary. “He had come to pay his respects to the first American Ambassador and his Family, whom he was glad to see in England; expressed a great esteem and regard for America; much regret at the misunderstanding between the two countries; and felt very happy to have lived to see the termination of it." There was something peculiarly interesting in this interview. He who had planted Georgia, and provided for it during the earliest stages of its dependent condition as a Colony, held converse with him who had come to a Royal Court, the Representative of its NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE!

A writer in the year 1732, and within the month on which the charter for Georgia was issued, made the following remarks: “If the Trustees give liberty of Religion, establish the people free, fix an agrarian law, and go upon the glorious maxims of liberty and virtue, their Province, in the age of a man, by being the asylum of the unfortunate, will become more and more advantageous to Britain than the conquest of a kingdom." The suggestion here made was seasonable and judicious; and the prospective intimation was a prophecy, accomplished in a sense not imagined, and surely not anticipated by the writer. The Province did become, whilst its founder was yet living, and therefore “in the age of a man,” a highly advantageous acquisition to Great Britain in a commercial relation; and, though dismembered from the Empire, an important independent State.

This remarkable man, abstemious in his mode of living, regular in his habits, and using much exercise, enjoyed good health to extreme old age; and such was his activity, that he could outwalk persons more than half a century younger. At that period of advanced life, when the weight of years usually bears down the elasticity of the mind, he retained all that spring of intellect which had characterized the promptitude of earlier days; his bodily senses seemed but little impaired; and his eye-sight served him to the last.

He died at his seat at Cranham, of a violent fever, 30th of June, 1785.

“And dropt like Autumn fruit, which, ripening long,
Was wondered at because it fell no sooner."

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

The preceding pages have given details of some principal actions and exploits of a very remarkable man; whose projects, dictated by benevolence and inspired by philanthropy, were all prospective. Their first, and, apparently, principal object, was to provide relief for the indigent, and an asylum for the oppressed. Their second, to unite the pensioners on the liberally contributed bounty, in a social compact for mutual assistance, and a ready cooperation for the general good. But even this, beneficent as it was, fell short of his aim. He considered himself to be engaged in forming a Colony, destined to extend and flourish under the salutary principles of order and justice, and the sustaining sanctions of civil law, and a form of government, which his breast swelled with the patriotic hope, would be well constituted and wisely administered.

This very statement of the origin of these political institutions, bears on it the indications of their perpetuity, especially as the freedom obtained for the first emigrants from rigorous exaction in their native country, was remembered and cherished in that which they settled, till it formed the constituents of civil liberty, which at length “threw off every yoke,” for the attainment of NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

Hence, his agency, services and expenditures in settling the Province of Georgia, his disinterested devotedness to its establishment and progressive welfare, and his bravery and personal exposure in its defence, enrolled among the important achievements of his long and eventful life, constitute the most splendid trophy to his fame, and will ensure to his name a memory as lasting as that of America itself.

On a mural tablet of white marble, in the chancel of Cranham Church, is the following inscription, drawn up by CAPEL LOFFT, Esq.

Near this place lie the remains of JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE, Esq. who served under Prince Eugene, and in 1714 was Captain Lieutenant in the first troop of the Queen’s Guards. In 1740 he was appointed Colonel of a Regiment to be raised for Georgia. In 1745 he was appointed Major General; in 1747 Lieutenant General; and in 1760, General of his Majesty’s forces. In his civil station, he was very early conspicuous. He was chosen Member of Parliament for Haslemere in Surry in 1722, and continued to represent it till 1754. In the Committee of Parliament, for inquiring into the state of the gaols, formed 25th of February, 1728, and of which he was Chairman, the active and persevering zeal of his benevolence found a truly suitable employment, by visiting, with his colleagues of that generous body, the dark and pestilential dungeons of the Prisons which at that time dishonored the metropolis; detecting the most enormous oppressions; obtaining exemplary punishment on those who had been guilty of such outrage against humanity and justice; and redressing multitudes from extreme misery to light and freedom.

Of these, about seven hundred, rendered, by long confinement for debt, strangers and helpless in the country of their birth, and desirous of seeking an asylum in the wilds of America, were by him conducted thither in 1732.

He willingly encountered in their behalf a variety of fatigue and danger, and thus became the founder of the Colony of Georgia; a Colony which afterwards set the noble example of prohibiting the importation of slaves This new establishment he strenuously and successfully defended against a powerful attack of the Spaniards. In the year in which he quitted England to found this settlement, he nobly strove to secure our true national defence by sea and land, a free navy without impressing a constitutional militia. But his social affections were more enlarged than even the term Patriotism can express; he was the friend of the oppressed negro, no part of the globe was too remote, no interest too unconnected, or too much opposed to his own, to prevent the immediate succor of suffering humanity. For such qualities he received, from the ever memorable John, Duke of Argyle, a full testimony, in the British Senate, to his military character, his natural generosity, his contempt of danger, and regard for the Public. A similar encomium is perpetuated in a foreign language; and, by one of our most celebrated Poets, his remembrance is transmitted to posterity in lines justly expressive of the purity, the ardor, and the extent of his benevolence. He lived till the 1st of July, 1785; a venerable instance to what a duration a life of temperance and virtuous labor is capable of being protracted. His widow, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nathan Wright of Cranham hall, Bart. and only sister and heiress of Sir Samuel Wright, Bart. of the same place, surviving, with regret, but with due submission to Divine Providence, an affectionate husband, after an union of more than forty years, hath inscribed to his memory these faint traces of his excellent character.

“Religion watches o’er his urn,
And all the virtues bending mourn;
Humanity, with languid eye,
Melting for others’ misery;
Prudence, whose hands a measure hold,
And Temperance, with a chain of gold;
Fidelity’s triumphant vest,
And Fortitude in armor drest;
Wisdom’s grey locks, and Freedom, join
The moral train to bless his shrine,
And pensive all, around his ashes holy,
Their last sad honors pay in order melancholy."

OBITUARY NOTICE OF MRS. ELIZABETH OGLETHORPE, WITH EXTRACTS FROM HER WILL. COPIED FROM THE GENTLEMAN’S MAGAZINE FOR 1787, PAGE 1025

October 26th, 1787, died, at her seat, Cranham Hall, Co. Essex, aged 79, Mrs. Elizabeth Oglethorpe, widow of the late General Oglethorpe. She was daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Bart., (nephew to the Lord Keeper,) by Abigail, his fourth wife, who survived and married Mr. Tryst. Sir Nathan, by his first wife, (Anne Meyrick) had two sons; Nathan, who succeeded him in title, and who married a daughter of Sir Francis Lawley, and died in April, 1737; and John, who died without issue. By his second wife, (Elizabeth Brage) he had a son, Benjamin, who died before him. By his third wife, (Elizabeth Bowater) he had no issue. By the fourth he had a son, Samuel, and Mrs. Oglethorpe. Sir Nathan, the son, had one son and two daughters; and the son dying without issue, his half-brother, Samuel, succeeded to the title and part of the estate. He dying a bachelor, Mrs. Oglethorpe became his heir, and has died without leaving any child. September 15, 1744, she married the late General Oglethorpe, who died July 1,1785; and to her magnanimity and prudence, on an occasion of much difficulty, it was owing that the evening of their lives was tranquil and pleasant, after a stormy noon. Very many and continual were her acts of benevolence and charity; but, as she would herself have been hurt by any display of them in her lifetime, we will say no more. Not to have mentioned them at all would have been unjust to her memory, and not less so to the world, in which such an example may operate as an incitement to others to go and do likewise.

By her will, which is very long, and dated May 30, 1786, and has four codicils, the last dated September 11, 1787, she leaves her estate at Westbrook, in Godalming, Co. Surrey, bequeathed to her by the General, to his great nephew, Eugene, Marquis of Bellegarde, in France, then in the Dutch service, but born in England, and his heirs, with all her plate, jewels, &c.; to her nephews, John and Charles Apreece, and their sister Dorothy, wife of Cole, an annuity of L100 amongst them, and the survivor for life; and if either John or Charles succeed to the Baronet’s title, the annuity to go over to the other; but if their sister survive, she to have only L200 per annum; also four annuities, of L50 each, to four of her female friends or neighbors. All these annuities are charged on the Cranham estate, which she gives in trust to Sir George Allanson Wynne, Bart., and Mr. Granville Sharpe, for the use of her nephew, Sir Thomas Apreece, of Washingley, Co. Huntingdon, for life, remainder in tail to his issue male or female, remainder to his brothers John and Charles, and sister Dorothy, successively, remainder to her own right heirs. The manor of Canewdon Hall, Essex, to be sold to pay legacies, viz.: L100 to Sir G.A. Wynne; L1000 to the Princess of Rohan, related to her late husband; L500 to the Princess de Ligne, her late husband’s niece; L1000 to Samuel Crawley, Esq., of Theobalds, Co. Herts; L500 among the Miss Dawes’s, of Coventry; L500 to James Fitter, Esq., of Westminster; L500 to the Marquis of Bellegarde. The manor of Fairstead Hall, Co. Essex, to Granville Sharpe, for life, paying L50 per annum to his friend Mr. Marriott, relict of General Marriott, of Godalming, and to settle the said estate to charitable uses after his death, at his discretion. To Edward Lloyd and Sarah his wife, her servants, L500; and L10 each, to other servants. By a codicil: to Maria Anne Stephenson L1000 stock out of any of her property in the funds; to Miss Lewis, who lives with Mrs. Fowle, in Red-lion square, and to Miss Billinghurst, of Godalming, L50 each; to the poor of Cranham, Fairstead, Canewdon, and Godalming, L20 each; her turn of patronage to the united livings of St. Mary Somerset and St. Mary Mounthaw, in London, to the Rev. Mr. Herringham, of South Weald. By another codicil, L1000 more to the Marquis of Bellegarde; L1000 to Count Bethisy; L200 to Granville Sharpe. By another, revokes the legacies to the Princess de Ligne and Count Bethisy, and gives them to the two younger daughters of the Marquis of Bellegarde, at the age of 21, or marriage. As the Marquis resides in France, and it may be inconvenient to him to keep the estate, she gives the manors of Westbrook and Brimscombe, and Westbrook-place in Godalming, in trust to G. Sharpe, and William Gill, Esqrs., and their heirs, to be sold, and the money paid to the Marquis. Her executors are Mr. Granville Sharpe, and Mrs. Sarah Dickinson, of Tottenham; the latter residuary legatee.

At the foot of the monument erected to the memory of General Oglethorpe, was added the following inscription:

“His disconsolate Widow died October 26,1787,
in her 79th year,
and is buried with him,
in the vault in the centre of this Chancel.
Her fortitude of mind and extensive charity
deserve to be remembered,
though her own modesty would desire them to
be forgotten.”

OGLETHORPE’S ACCOUNT OF CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

This article is extracted from SALMON’S Modern History, Vol. III. page 770, 4th edition; where it is introduced in these words: “The following pages are an answer from General OGLETHORPE to some inquiries made by the author, concerning the State of Carolina and Georgia.”

Carolina is part of that territory which was originally discovered by Sir Sebastian Cabot. The English now possess the sea-coast from the river St. John’s, in 30 degrees, 21 minutes north latitude. Westward the King’s charter declares it to be bounded by the Pacific ocean.

Carolina is divided into North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; the latter is a province which his Majesty has taken out of Carolina, and is the southern and western frontier of that province, lying between it and the French, Spaniards, and Indians.

The part of Carolina that is settled, is for the most part a flat country. All, near the sea, is a range of islands, which breaks the fury of the ocean. Within is generally low land for twenty or twenty-five miles, where the country begins to rise in gentle swellings. At seventy or eighty miles from the sea, the hills grow higher, till they terminate in mountains.

The coast of Georgia is also defended from the rage of the sea by a range of islands. Those islands are divided from the main by canals of salt water, navigable for the largest boats, and even for small sloops. The lofty woods growing on each side of the canals, make very pleasant landscapes. The land, at about seven or eight miles from the sea, is tolerably high; and the further you go westward, the more it rises, till at about one hundred and fifty miles distance from the sea, to the west, the Cherokee or Appallachean mountains begin, which are so high that the snow lies upon them all the year.

This ridge of mountains runs in a line from north to south, on the back of the English colonies of Carolina and Virginia; beginning at the great lakes of Canada, and extending south, it ends in the province of Georgia at about two hundred miles from the bay of Appallachee, which is part of the Gulf of Mexico. There is a plain country from the foot of these mountains to that sea.

The face of the country is mostly covered with woods. The banks of the rivers are in some places low, and form a kind of natural meadows, where the floods prevent trees from growing. In other places, in the hollows, between the hillocks, the brooks and streams, being stopt by falls of trees, or other obstructions, the water is penned back. These places are often covered with canes and thickets and are called, in the corrupted American dialect, swamps. The sides of the hills are generally covered with oaks and hickory, or wild walnuts, cedar, sassafras, and the famous laurel tulip, which is esteemed one of the most beautiful trees in the world. The flat tops of the hillocks are all covered with groves of pine trees, with plenty of grass growing under them, and so free from underwood that you may gallop a horse for forty or fifty miles an end. In the low grounds and islands in the river there are cypress, bay-trees, poplar, plane, frankincense or gum-trees, and aquatic shrubs. All part of the province are well watered; and, in digging a moderate depth, you never miss of a fine spring.

What we call the Atlantic ocean, washes the east and southeast coast of these provinces. The gulf stream of Florida sets in with a tide in the ocean to the east of the province; and it is very remarkable that the banks and soundings of the coast extend twenty or twenty-five miles to the east of the coast.

The tides upon this coast flow generally seven feet. The soundings are sand or ooze, and some oyster banks, but no rocks. The coast appears low from the sea, and covered with woods.

Cape Fear is a point which runs with dreadful shoals far into the sea, from the mouth of Clarendon river in North Carolina. Sullivan’s Island and the Coffin land are the marks of the entry into Charlestown harbor. Hilton head, upon French’s island, shows the entry into Port Royal; and the point of Tybee island makes the entry of the Savannah river. Upon that point the Trustees for Georgia have erected a noble signal or light-house, ninety feet high, and twenty-five feet wide. It is an octagon, and upon the top there is a flag-staff thirty feet high.

The Province of Georgia is watered by three great rivers, which rise in the mountains, namely, the Alatamaha, the Ogechee, and the Savannah; the last of which is navigable six hundred miles for canoes, and three hundred miles for boats.

The British dominions are divided from the Spanish Florida by a noble river called St. John’s.

These rivers fall into the Atlantic ocean; but there are, besides these, the Flint and the Cahooche, which pass through part of Carolina or Georgia, and fall into the gulf of Appellachee or Mexico.

All Carolina is divided into three parts: 1. North Carolina, which is divided from South Carolina by Clarendon river, and of late by a line marked out by order of the Council: 2. South Carolina, which, on the south is divided from 3. Georgia by the river Savannah. Carolina is divided into several counties; but in Georgia there is but one yet erected, namely, the county of Savannah. It is bounded, on the one side, by the river Savannah, on the other by the sea, on the third by the river Ogechee, on the fourth by the river Ebenezer, and a line drawn from the river Ebenezer to the Ogechee. In this county are the rivers Vernon, Little Ogechee, and Westbrook. There is the town of Savannah, where there is a seat of judicature, consisting of three bailiffs and a recorder. It is situated upon the banks of the river of the same name. It consists of about two hundred houses, and lies upon a plain of about a mile wide; the bank steep to the river forty-five feet perpendicularly high. The streets are laid out regular. There are near Savannah, in the same county, the villages of Hampstead, Highgate, Skidoway, and Thunderbolt; the latter of which is a translation of a name; their fables say that a thunderbolt fell, and a spring thereupon arose in that place, which still smells of the bolt. This spring is impregnated with a mixture of sulphur and iron, and from the smell, probably, the story arose. In the same county is Joseph’s town and the town Ebenezer; both upon the river Savannah; and the villages of Abercorn and Westbrook. There are saw mills erecting on the river Ebenezer; and the fort Argyle, lies upon the pass of this county over the Ogechee. In the southern divisions of the province lies the town of Frederica, with its district, where there is a court with three bailiffs and a recorder. It lies on one side of the branches of the Alatamaha. There is, also, the town of Darien, upon the same river, and several forts upon the proper passes, some of four bastions, some are only redoubts. Besides which there are villages in different parts of Georgia. At Savannah there is a public store house, built of large square timbers. There is also a handsome court house, guard house, and work house. The church is not yet begun; but materials are collecting, and it is designed to be a handsome edifice. The private houses are generally sawed timber, framed, and covered with shingles. Many of them are painted, and most have chimneys of brick. At Frederica some of the houses are built of brick; the others in the Province are mostly wood. They are not got into luxury yet in their furniture; having only what is plain and needful. The winter being mild, there are yet but few houses with glass windows.

The Indians are a manly, well-shaped race. The men tall, the women little. They, as the ancient Grecians did, anoint with oil, and expose themselves to the sun, which occasions their skins to be brown of color. The men paint themselves of various colors, red, blue, yellow, and black. The men wear generally a girdle, with a piece of cloth drawn through their legs and turned over the girdle both before and behind, so as to hide their nakedness. The women wear a kind of petticoat to the knees. Both men and women in the winter wear mantles, something less than two yards square, which they wrap round their bodies, as the Romans did their toga, generally keeping their arms bare; they are sometimes of woolen, bought of the English; sometimes of furs, which they dress themselves. They wear a kind of pumps, which they call moccasons, made of deer-skin, which they dress for that purpose. They are a generous, good-natured people; very humane to strangers; patient of want and pain; slow to anger, and not easily provoked, but, when they are thoroughly incensed, they are implacable; very quick of apprehension and gay of temper. Their public conferences show them to be men of genius, and they have a natural eloquence, they never having had the use of letters. They love eating, and the English have taught many of them to drink strong liquors, which, when they do, they are miserable sights. They have no manufactures but what each family makes for its own use; they seem to despise working for hire, and spend their time chiefly in hunting and war; but plant corn enough for the support of their families and the strangers that come to visit them. Their food, instead of bread, is flour of Indian corn boiled, and seasoned like hasty-pudding, and this called hommony. They also boil venison, and make broth; they also roast, or rather broil their meat. The flesh they feed on is buffalo, deer, wild turkeys and other game; so that hunting is necessary to provide flesh; and planting for corn. The land belongs to the women, and the corn that grows upon it; but meat must be got by the men, because it is they only that hunt: this makes marriage necessary, that the women may furnish corn, and the men meat. They have also fruit-trees in their gardens, namely, peaches, nectarines, and locust, melons, and water-melons, potatoes, pumpkins, onions, &c. in plenty; and many kinds of wild fruits, and nuts, as persimons, grapes, chinquepins, and hickory nuts, of which they make oil. The bees make their combs in the hollow trees, and the Indians find plenty of honey there, which they use instead of sugar. They make, what supplies the place of salt, of wood ashes; use for seasoning, long-pepper, which grows in their gardens; and bay-leaves supply their want of spice. Their exercises are a kind of ball-playing, hunting, and running; and they are very fond of dancing. Their music is a kind of drum, as also hollow cocoa-nut shells. They have a square in the middle of their towns, in which the warriors sit, converse, and smoke together; but in rainy weather they meet in the King’s house. They are a very healthy people, and have hardly any diseases, except those occasioned by the drinking of rum, and the small pox. Those who do not drink rum are exceedingly long-lived. Old BRIM emperor of the Creeks, who died but a few years ago, lived to one hundred and thirty years; and he was neither blind nor bed-rid, till some months before his death. They have sometimes pleurisies and fevers, but no chronical distempers. They know of several herbs that have great virtues in physic, particularly for the cure of venomous bites and wounds.

The native animals are, first the urus or zoras described by Cæsar, which the English very ignorantly and erroneously call the buffalo. They have deer, of several kinds, and plenty of roe-bucks and rabbits. There are bears and wolves, which are small and timorous; and a brown wild-cat, without spots, which is very improperly called a tiger; otter, beavers, foxes, and a species of badger which is called raccoon. There is great abundance of wild fowls, namely, wild-turkey, partridges, doves of various kinds, wild-geese, ducks, teals, cranes, herons of many kinds not known in Europe. There are great varieties of eagles and hawks, and great numbers of small birds, particularly the rice-bird, which is very like the ortolan. There are rattlesnakes, but not near so frequent as is generally reported. There are several species of snakes, some of which are not venomous. There are crocodiles, porpoises, sturgeon, mullet, cat-fish, bass, drum, devil-fish; and many species of fresh-water fish that we have not in Europe; and oysters upon the sea-islands in great abundance.

What is most troublesome, there, are flies and gnats, which are very numerous near the rivers; but, as the country is cleared, they disperse and go away.

The vegetables are innumerable; for all that grow in Europe, grow there; and many that cannot stand in our winters thrive there.