Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

202 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
own money he was perfectly willing to make such expenditures, and so
he was not likely to think it wrong to do so with that of the trust or of
the government. Thus he had serious trouble himself because of his
accounts, and he made trouble for the trustees.
If he was unsuccessful in Georgia, he was not more to blame than the
trustees themselves, and perhaps he was not so much .at fault as they.
He was placed by them in a most embarrassing position, being sent to
take charge of the colony and yet clothed with most insignificant powers.
He could .accomplish little if he stayed within his commission from
them, and if he exceeded it he was open to censure, especially if his
transgression proved troublesome in any way. They gave him very few
instructions, but they were ready enough to expect that he act wisely
without them. If he could have been appointed a regular governor of
the province, with powers similar to those of the governor of South
Carolina or of other provinces, and with sufficient assistants to help him,
he would no doubt have made an excellent record in most respects, but
the trustees were unwilling to surrender much power to anyone in the
colony, .and no member of the trust could fully occupy the position of
governor on account of the charter provisions.
Therefore in our judgment it would have been better for the province
if Oglethorpe had never gone to Georgia, or at least if he had gone there,
only as the commander of the regiment and without any civil authority
at all. Of course his help at the outset would have been greatly missed,
and the first year might not have been so successful as it was. If Ogle
thorpe had not gone, however, it would have been necessary for the trus
tees to send some other person of experience and ability to manage the
expedition, as it could not have been trusted to the raw colonists them
selves. Such a person would have been responsible to the trustees, as
Oglethorpe was not; from him they could have required frequent and
regular reports, as they did not feel free to require of Oglethorpe and
as they did not get from him. Such a person, whether actually bearing
the title of governor or not, would have centralized authority to some
extent, and he would have been steadily in the province, whereas Ogle
thorpe did not feel bound to remain there and did not actually reside in
Savannah, the central place of government, more than one year out of
the ten that he was connected with the province. The trustees would
have felt it necessary to send full instructions to such an official, as
they did later to President Stephens, while they expected Oglethorpe
to know what to do from his general knowledge of their purposes, and
greater definiteness and certainty were much needed in the colony.
If the trustees had been compelled thus to appoint a governor, they
might have put themselves into more cordial relations with the board of
trade and the ministry in England, and so might have been aided rather
than injured by the suggestions from these sources, as they feared they
would be.*
It is unlikely that any person could have been found who had the
natural qualifications and the enthusiasm possessed by Oglethorpe, and
therefore so fit to be a governor, but whatever he lacked in personal fit
ness and zeal might be atoned for by the other advantages mentioned
*C. E. V: 415-416.
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