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196 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
days after the letter just mentioned had been. sent. On that day Mr.
Yemen, a personal friend, of General Oglethorpe and one of the staunch-
est supporters of the province, took advantage of a full board to express
his sentiments on the conditions in Georgia. He frankly said that some
one ought to be given more power and .authority than any one in the
colony had under the existing constitution. The change was imperative
in order to get the orders of the trust obeyed. He pointed out that
Oglethorpe was neglecting certain things that he had been asked to look
after. He was assuming too much authority, expecting that no compli
ance should be given the trustees' orders until confirmed by him. . The
trustees had already removed him from the financial affairs of Georgia,
and it was now time to remove from -the other civil concerns.*
At the next meeting of the trustees, Mr. Vernon again brought up
the matter, saying that much disgrace and mischief had befallen both
the trustees and the colony by reasoii of Oglethoxpe's intervention in. tlie
execution of the commands sent to Georgia. He instanced the ease of
the light house which they had asked him to look after in vain, and
which would probably cost £1,500 to repair when it ought.not to have
cost over £200. He declared that matters of the utmost importance
were delayed in order that he might be consulted because there was a
misconceived notion that he had the final control of matters ordered
by the trust. On this groxind, information in regard to the colony had
been delayed; and yet it was of vital importance in order that the
province might be set in the best light before Parliament. He proposed
to invest some one in Georgia with powers superior to any possessed there
at that time, and. to make him entirely independent of General Ogle
thorpe. fie did not wish a governor, proposing instead that the prov
ince be divided into two counties with a president over each. He sug
gested that Oglethorpe might be complimented by making him president
in "the southern division. All present seemed to approve his ideas, and
he was asked to embody them in a definite plan.f
Turning now to Georgia, we may understand why General Ogle
thorpe was neglecting somewhat to look after the lighthouse and other
affairs that had been committed to him on the civil side. As soon as
he returned from the visit to the Creek Nation at Coweta, he heard that
war had been declared between England and Spain; and he at once
began to make active preparations for it. From that time till he left
Georgia in 1743, he was occupied nearly all the time with military cares.
In partial justification at least of the expenditures complained of by
the Committee of Accounts, it may be noted that the English govern
ment was very grudging .at times of the financial aid it lent General Ogle
thorpe for defending the province and for prosecuting the war; and so
he felt constrained to get it elsewhere trusting that it would be later
repaid. He advanced large sums for the purpose himself, and he used
some of the trust money in the same way, violating his instructions no
doubt and yet feeling that it was necessary. $
No detailed account can be given of his expedition into Florida.
* Ibid., 413.'
t Ibid., 415-416.
t A. W. I. XXV: 175, 186.