The Moravians in Georgia | Page 4

those who may find in it something of explanation, something of interest, concerning the Moravian settlement in Georgia, and the broader history which the story touches on every side.
Adelaide L. Fries. August, 1904.

Table of Contents.

Chapter I.
Antecedent Events. The Province of Georgia. The Salzburgers. Unitas Fratrum. Halle Opposition.

Chapter II.
Negotiations with the Trustees of Georgia. The Schwenkfelders. Preliminary Steps. The "First Company".

Chapter III.
The First Year in Georgia. The Voyage. Making a Start. Aim and Attainment.

Chapter IV.
Reinforcements. The "Second Company". Four Journals. Organization.

Chapter V.
The Second Year in Georgia. The English Clergymen. Work Among the Indians. The "Society". Rumors of War.

Chapter VI.
Disintegration. Spangenberg's Visit. A Closing Door. Wesley, Ingham and Toeltschig. The Negro Mission.

Chapter VII.
Conclusion. Later Attempts in Georgia. The Savannah Lands. Arrivals, Departures, Deaths. Summary.

The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740.

Chapter I.
Antecedent Events.

The Province of Georgia.
It was in the year 1728 that the English Parliament was persuaded by James Oglethorpe, Esq. -- soldier, statesman and philanthropist, -- to appoint a committee to investigate the condition of the debtors confined in the Fleet and Marchalsea prisons. The lot of these debtors was a most pitiable one, for a creditor had power to imprison a man for an indefinite term of years, and the unfortunate debtor, held within the four walls of his prison, could earn no money to pay the debt that was owing, and unless friends came to his rescue, was utterly at the mercy of the oft-times barbarous jailor. The Committee, consisting of ninety-six prominent men, with Oglethorpe as Chairman, recommended and secured the redress of many grievances, and the passing of better laws for the future, but Oglethorpe and a few associates conceived a plan which they thought would eradicate the evil by striking at its very root, the difficulty which many found in earning a living in the overcrowded cities.
In 1663 King Charles II. had granted to eight "Lords Proprietors" the portion of North America lying between the 31st and 36th degrees of latitude, enlarging the boundaries in 1665 to 29 deg. and 36 deg. 30 min. By 1728 most of these Lords Proprietors had tired of their attempt to govern the colonies they had established in "Carolina", and in 1729 seven of the eight sold their interest to the English crown, the district being divided into "North Carolina", "South Carolina", and a more southerly portion, nominally included in the latter, which was held in reserve.
To this unused land the thoughts of Oglethorpe turned, and he and his friends addressed a memorial to the Privy Council, stating "that the cities of London, Westminster, and parts adjacent, do abound with great numbers of indigent persons, who are reduced to such necessity as to become burthensome to the public, and who would be willing to seek a livelihood in any of his majesty's plantations in America, if they were provided with a passage, and means of settling there." They therefore asked for a grant of land lying south of the Savannah River, where they wished to establish a colony in which these unfortunate men might begin life anew, and where Protestants, persecuted in some parts of Europe, might find a refuge. They also offered to take entire charge of the affair, and their petition, after passing through the usual channels, was approved by the King, George II, a charter was prepared, and the great seal was affixed June 9th, 1732.
This instrument constituted twenty-one noblemen and gentlemen a body corporate, by the name and style of "The Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America", and in them was vested full authority for the collecting of subscriptions and the expending of moneys gathered, the selection of colonists, and the making and administering of laws in Georgia; but no member of the corporation was allowed to receive a salary, or any fees, or to hold land in the new province. The undertaking was to be strictly for the good of others, not for their own pecuniary benefit. The charter granted to them "all those lands, countries, and territories situate, lying and being in that part of South Carolina, in America" between the Savannah and Altamaha, gave them permission to take over any British subjects, or foreigners willing to become such, and guaranteed to each settler the rights of an English subject, and full liberty of conscience, -- Papists alone excepted. This apparently pointed exception was natural enough, since from a political standpoint the new colony was regarded as a valuable guard for the Protestant English Colonies on the north, against the Indians and Roman Catholic colonists to the south, who had been keeping the border settlers in a continual state of uneasiness, even in times of nominal peace. Moreover England had not forgotten the terrible experience of the latter half of the preceding century, when it was war to the death between Catholic and Protestant,