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Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 103<br />

tocrat whom he met and, in a thousand gentle ways, made it apparent<br />

to all that, savage though he was, without <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>of</strong> courts or <strong>the</strong><br />

training <strong>of</strong> schools, he was not a stranger to gentleness, hut an inate<br />

nobleman, a forest-born Chesterfield. He was pr<strong>of</strong>oundly impressed<br />

by <strong>the</strong> magnificence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> English capital but surprised that short<br />

lived people should build such long-lived structures. For years <strong>the</strong><br />

visit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se <strong>Georgia</strong> Indians remained a fragrant tradition in <strong>the</strong> life<br />

<strong>of</strong> London. Royally entertained for foxir months by <strong>the</strong> English people,<br />

<strong>the</strong>y were eager at <strong>the</strong> expiration <strong>of</strong> this time to return home; for,<br />

while <strong>the</strong>re had been no diminution <strong>of</strong> hospitality, <strong>the</strong>y felt <strong>the</strong> lure<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> home land; <strong>the</strong>y longed once more to hear <strong>the</strong> music <strong>of</strong> murmur<br />

ing waters, to lie down beneath a canopy <strong>of</strong> whispering oaks.<br />

Loaded with presents <strong>the</strong> Indians returned to <strong>Georgia</strong> on a vessel<br />

bearing fifty-six Salzburgers, besides not .a few English emigrants who<br />

went over at <strong>the</strong> expense <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> corporation. The vessel on which <strong>the</strong><br />

Indians returned to <strong>Georgia</strong> was <strong>the</strong> Prince <strong>of</strong> Wales, commanded by<br />

Capt. George Dunbar. It anchored safely at Savannah, on December<br />

27, 1734. The handsome gifts brought home by Tomo-chi-chi, coupled<br />

with <strong>the</strong> wonderful stories which he never tired <strong>of</strong> narrating, went far<br />

toward confirming <strong>the</strong> friendship <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Creeks.<br />

Oglethorpe, resuming his seat in <strong>the</strong> House <strong>of</strong> Commons, caused two<br />

measures to be introduced and passed for <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> re-enforcing<br />

certain regulations already made by <strong>the</strong> trust. Both were prohibitory<br />

measures, one forbidding <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> slavery into <strong>the</strong> province,<br />

<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r an importation <strong>of</strong> rum. Upon a moderate use <strong>of</strong> English beer<br />

no restriction was placed. Edmund Burke always doubted <strong>the</strong> wisdom<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se measures which he thought ill-adapted to conditions in America,<br />

an opinion in which he was sustained by later developments.<br />

Not only did <strong>the</strong> trustees approve with great unanimity what had<br />

been done by Oglethorpe but <strong>the</strong>y also readily endorsed his plan for<br />

constructing fortifications on <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn frontier <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> province. At<br />

<strong>the</strong> suggestion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> common council, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se, a stronghold to be<br />

erected on St. Simon's Island, opposite <strong>the</strong> mouth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Altamaha,<br />

was to be called Frederica.<br />

While Oglethorpe was in England some excellent specimens <strong>of</strong> raw<br />

silk were received from <strong>the</strong> province. Accompanied by Sir Thomas<br />

Lombe, <strong>the</strong> trustees exhibited one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se samples to <strong>the</strong> queen who<br />

was so pleased with its quality that she ordered a handsome costume to<br />

be made <strong>of</strong> <strong>Georgia</strong> silk, in which she appeared on her birthday at <strong>the</strong><br />

royal court.<br />

More stringent rules were adopted at this time for <strong>the</strong> colony's regu<br />

lation. As might have been anticipated, some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> emigrants sent<br />

over by <strong>the</strong> trust had proved a worthless sort. Consequently it was<br />

necessary to use greater vigilance in selecting <strong>the</strong> beneficiaries <strong>of</strong> such<br />

a favor and to draw <strong>the</strong> reins <strong>of</strong> government with a firmer hand. To<br />

this end <strong>the</strong> trustees cautioned Thomas Gauston to keep a watchful eye<br />

on <strong>the</strong> province and to employ <strong>the</strong> utmost wisdom, fidelity and zeal in<br />

discharging <strong>the</strong> duties <strong>of</strong> his <strong>of</strong>fice; but to this solemn trust, as we shall<br />

see later, he was destined to prove recreant.<br />

We have already observed how <strong>the</strong> Salzburgers found a, home in<br />

<strong>Georgia</strong>. Not unlike <strong>the</strong>se pious German peasants was ano<strong>the</strong>r Protes-

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