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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 217
the charitable side o£ the enterprise. During the early years of the
undertaking he 'was instrumental in securing many gifts for carrying
on the work. He does not seem to have taken much part in the discus
sions or debates as to policies to be pursued, and his opinions on them
are not cited in the records. He was interested with Vernon in the
religious welfare of the people in Georgia, consulting the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel and aiding in the settlement of foreign
Protestants in Georgia.
Concerning the work of James Oglethorpe as a trustee, Chapter II
of this work gives ample information. Had he been as interested after
1743 as he was when the work was first begun, he would have ranked
with Vernon and Egmont in his attendance, and his right to the first
place among the trustees could hardly have been questioned. As it is,
whatever place of honor is assigned him must be limited to his activi
ties during the first decade of the trust.
Anthony Ashley Cooper, fourth Earl of Shaftesbury, was one of the
mainstays of the trustees after the Earl of Egmont resigned from the
common council. Shaftesbury seems to have acted always in perfect
harmony with Vernon, and he was the latter's most frequent associate
during the closing years of proprietary management. His service in
the common council was not continuous. Elected in 1733, he served
until the question of the convention with Spain was settled in Parlia
ment in 1739. Being a member of the minority at that time, he was
greatly exasperated that so many of the members of the common coun
cil supported Walpole in the vote on the convention and he resigned
in disgust his place on the council. The resolution, to resign was hastily
reached, being brought about by the influence of Lord Limerick and
other minority leaders; and, while it was much resented by his fellow
members who felt that they had a right to vote in Parliament as they
pleased, the trustees were disposed to overlook his rashness on account
of his youth and the influence of older men.*
The next year through the influence of the Earl of Egmont, Shaftes
bury was persuaded to return to the common council. He was warmly
welcomed and his rejoining the body gave credit to the sinking fortunes
of the trustees; for, as one of them described him, he was a "nobleman
of all amiable qualities and not one vice.'' t His high rank and known
character made hitn useful in all committee service affecting the vari
ous departments of the government, and he was the leader in the negoti
ations which resulted in the British government's assuming the sup
port and control of the province in 1752.1
Among the seventy-one trustees who were appointed or elected dur
ing the twenty ye.ars of the trust, there were many men who were influ
ential, interested and active during certain portions of the time, but
who withdrew from the common council so soon, or were elected to
office so late, that they did not exercise sufficient influence on the whole
course of executive management to be ranked with those whom we have
been considering. A few of these ought to be mentioned. Among
* Ibid., 132-133.
t Ibid., 318, 325.
t O.K. I: 569 et seq.