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76 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Pulse and Plants which all thrive. Within the Garden there is an arti
ficial Hill, said by the Indians to be raised over the Body of one of their
ancient Emperors. I had like to have forgot one of the best Regulations
made by the Trustees for the Government of the Town of Savannah. I
mean the utter Prohibition of the Use of Rum, that flattering but deceit
ful liquor which has been found equally pernicious to the Natives and
new Comers, which seldom fails by Sickness or Death to draw after it
its own Punishment."*
Oglethorpe, later in the summer, visited Charleston where he ad
dressed the General Assembly and thanked the Province of South Caro
lina through its assembled law-makers for the many courtesies extended
to him and to the Colony of Georgia. On this visit Governor Johnson
met him at the water's edge. Besides another generous appropriation
from the General Assembly, Oglethorpe also received a handsome dona
tion from the-people of Charleston. But while Oglethorpe's settlement,
due to its peculiar location, was likely to prove of special benefit to South
Carolina, it was also regarded with favor by the colonies further to the
north; nor was it long before Pennsylvania and Massachusetts sent
addresses to Georgia, expressing an interest in the colony's welfare and
offering to its founder not only felicitations but practical encouragement.
* Charles 0. Jones, Jr., "History of Georgia," Vol. I, p. 170.
CHRIST CHURCH, SAVANNAH: WHERE THE GEORGIA COLONISTS FIRST WORSHIPPED
GOD.—To quote a distinguished local historian *: "On the orignial .spot where the
Colonists established a house of worship stands today the beautiful and classic
proportions of Christ Ctareh. Here Wesley preached and Whitefield exhorted—
the most gifted and erratic characters in the early settlement of Georgia. Wesley
came to these shores with a fervor amounting almost to religious mysticism. He
thought his mission was to Christianize the Indians. No priest of Spain ever carried
the Cross among the Aztecs and Incas of Mexico and Peru with greater zeal; but
his career in Georgia was checkered and unfruitful. Though a man of gifts he
suspended his work among the Indians because he.could not learn the language;
and his ministry among the whites was characterized by a severity which made it
unpopular. He seems to have been a martinet in the pulpit. He became embroiled
with his parishioners and left Savannah between two suns. Yet Bishop Candler
probably spoke the words of truth when, from the pulpit of Wesley Monumental
Church, in November, 1899, he said: 'No grander man ever walked these historic
streets than John Wesley.' " t
On February 26, 1838, the corner stone of the present handsome edifice was laid.
It is the third religious structure which has occupied this time-honored site since
the days of Oglethorpe. The plans were drawn by James Hamilton Couper, Esq.,
a noted planter; and the building committee appointed to supervise the work con
sisted of the following substantial members of the parish: William Scarborough,
who built the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; Dr. Theodosius Bartow,
father of the afterwards celebrated Col. Francis S. Bartow, who fell at Manassas;
William Thorne Williams, Robert Habersham and William P. Hunter. The rector
at this time was the Eev. Edward Neufville, and his vestrymen were: Dr. George
Jones, a United States senator; William Thorne Williams, Robert Habersham,
""Pleasant A. Stovall, in a chapter on "Savannah," written for Historic Towns
of the Southern States, pp. 308-310, New York, 1904.
t It must not be forgotten that Wesley and Whitefield were both ministers of the
Church of England. Though holding peculiar views and belonging to a society
called in derision '' Methodists,'' they both lived and died Episcopalians. Wesley
and Whitefield also differed between themselves. The former was Arminian, the
latter Calvinistic in theological doctrine.