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Tomochechi and his tribe were doomed to be sadly dis- CHAP. appointed.

The genial climate delighted the colonists, and they 1733. went cheerfully to work, building their houses. The chiefs of the lower Creeks came and made a treaty; they acknowledged the English rule from the Savannah to the St. John's, and west to the Chattahoochee, and gave them permission to cultivate the lands not used by their own people. Then came a messenger from the distant Cherokees, pledging the friendship of his tribe. Soon after came a Choctaw chief saying, "I have come a great way; I belong to a great nation; the French are among us; we do not like them; they build forts and trade with us; their goods are poor, and we wish to trade with you." Thus the way was opened for a profitable traffic with the tribes north of the gulf, and west to the Mississippi.

The fame of this delightful land reached Europe, and penetrated even into the fastnesses of the western Alps. There, long ages before the Reformation, a pure gospel had been taught. Now a persecution was raging, and the sufferings of these Christians, now become Lutherans, deeply enlisted the sympathies of the English people. These Germans were invited by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," to emigrate to Georgia, where they could be free from their persecutors, and lands were offered them; but they rejoiced more than all in the opportunity given them to carry the gospel to the Indians. Money was subscribed by the benevolent in England to enable them to travel from Augsburg, across the country to Frankfort on the Main. Nearly one hundred set out on their pilgrimage; they took with them, in wagons, their wives and children; their Bibles and books of devotion. The men as they travelled on foot beguiled the toils of their journey by singing praises to God, and offering prayers for his guiding hand, and his blessing on their enterprise.

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CHAP. They passed down the Main to its junction with the Rhine, and thence floated down to Rotterdam, where they 1733. were joined by two clergymen, Bolzius and Gronau. They sailed to England, and were there met and encouraged by a committee of the trustees, and thence to their distant home across the ocean. The faith that had cheered them on their native mountains, sustained them amid the storms of the Atlantic; when, during a terrible tempest, the waves broke over the ship, and caused an outcry of alarm from the English, they continued their devotions and calmly sung on. When one of them was asked, "Were you not afraid?" "I thank God, no," was the reply. But were not your women and children afraid ? ” No, our women and children are not afraid to die.”

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A passage of fifty-seven days brought them to receive a hearty welcome at Charleston from Oglethorpe, and in 1734. less than a week they were at their journey's end. A suitable place had been chosen for their residence, they founded a village a short distance above Savannah, and significantly named it Ebenezer. In gratitude they raised a monumental stone as a memento of the goodness of God in thus bringing them to a land of rest. They were joined from time to time by others from their native land. By their industry and good morals they secured prosperity, and also the respect of their fellow-colonists.

At the head of boat navigation on the Savannah the town of Augusta was now founded. This soon became an important trading post with the Indians.

Oglethorpe gave himself unweariedly to the work of benefiting those he governed. The success of the enterprise may be safely attributed to his disinterested labors. "He,” said Governor Johnson, of South Carolina, "nobly devotes all his powers to save the poor, and to rescue them from their wretchedness." After the residence of a year and a half he returned to England, taking with him

JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY.

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several Indian chiefs, and raw silk-the product of the CHAP. colony-sufficient to make a robe for the queen.

As an inducement for settlers, the trustees offered to 1734. each one who should emigrate, at his own expense, fifty acres of land. On these conditions came a number of Moravians or United Brethren, with the intention of devoting themselves to the conversion of the Indians. 1735. They formed a new settlement on the Ogeechee, south of the Savannah.

The same benevolent spirit which had relieved poor debtors in prison, now devised measures to ward off one of the most effective causes of debt and wretchedness ; and accordingly the importation of rum into the colony was prohibited. The trustees also forbid negro slavery, "that misfortune of other plantations." They did not wish to see their province "filled with blacks, the precarious property of a few." They looked upon it as cruel and inhuman, and injurious to the poor white settlers," for whom, in trust, they held the colony.

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The next year Oglethorpe returned, with more emi- 1736. grants, among whom was a party of Scotch Highlanders, with their minister, John McLeod. These founded a settlement at Darien, on the Altamaha. There likewise came two young men as preachers to the people, and as missionaries to the Indians. These were the brothers John and Charles Wesley,-men of ardent piety and zealous in the cause of religion, they hoped to make the colony eminent for its religious character. Enthusiastic in their feelings, and perhaps a little wanting in discretion, certainly in experience, they were soon involved in trouble. For a time, John Wesley drew crowds of hearers; places of amusement were almost deserted. We doubt not that he spoke the truth plainly, and in accordance with his duty, but his austere manners and denunciation of sin created him enemies. In one case, his severe exercise of church discipline excited bitter feeling against himself,

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CHAP. and sympathy for the victim of his injudicious zeal. Charles Wesley was, for awhile, the secretary of Ogle1738. thorpe, but in some unexplained manner he gave offence to his patron; at length an explanation took place, and a reconciliation. Kind and gentle in his nature, he was unfitted to endure the hardships to be encountered, and to sympathize with the unpolished colonists of Georgia. After a residence of less than two years, the Wesleys, disappointed in their hopes of doing good there, left the colony forever. In their native land they became the founders of the denomination of Methodists, who have been, in that very colony, as well as in others, among the foremost in carrying the gospel to destitute settlements. Thus their labors were blessed, their prayers were answered, and their hopes realized; but, as is often the case in the ways of Infinite Wisdom, not in the form and manner in which they expected.

Just as the Wesleys, on their return home, were passing up the channel, their friend and fellow-laborer, the celebrated George Whitefield, the most eloquent preacher of his day, was leaving England to join them in Georgia. Whitefield had commenced preaching when a mere youth, and by his wonderful eloquence drew great crowds. He first preached in the prisons, and then to the poor in the open fields. Now he felt it his duty to visit the colonies. When he arrived in Georgia, his sympathies were much enlisted in behalf of the destitute children, left orphans. He visited the Lutherans at Ebenezer, where he noticed their asylum for poor children, and determined, if possible, to found a similar one. By his fervent zeal in the cause he obtained sufficient funds in England and America. The institution was founded a few miles from Savannah. During his lifetime it flourished; at his death it began to languish, and finally passed out of existence.

The Spaniards were not pleased with the encroachments of the English upon what they deemed their terri

ENGLISH TRADERS; WAR WITH SPAIN.

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tory, and they sent commissioners to protest against it, CHAP and to demand the surrender of all Georgia and part of Carolina. When this was unheeded, they prepared to ex- 1738. pel the invaders. There were other causes, which made it evident that war would soon take place between the mother countries, in which the colonies would certainly become involved.

The European governments restricted the commerce of their colonies so as to make them subserve their own interests. Those belonging to Spain must trade only with the port of Cadiz, and the merchandise shipped to them was sold at enormous prices. The English traders persisted in smuggling goods into the Spanish ports. To accomplish this they resorted to various stratagems. By treaty, an English vessel was permitted to come once a year to Portobello and dispose of her cargo; but this vessel was followed by others; they came in the night time, and slipped in more bales to supply the place of those sold, and continued to do this, till the market was supplied. Sometimes, under the pretence of distress, ships would run into Spanish ports, and thus dispose of their cargoes.

Though Spain was rich and feeble, she was haughty and cruel; and when any of these worthies, who were engaged in violating her laws, were caught, they were severely dealt with. Sometimes they were imprisoned, and sometimes their ears were cropped. This exasperated the traders, and though justly punished, they came with the assurance of ill-treated men, to ask protection from their own government. They were looked upon as martyrs to the cause of free commerce, and merchants, in defence of such men as these, did not blush to clamor for war, in the face of justice and national integrity. In truth, the English government connived at this clandestine trade, and secretly rejoiced at the advantage gained over her rival. By this connivance at injustice she gave