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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 219
tliis general rule, Adam Anderson. was in a measure an exception. He
was a clerk in the South Sea House, and he was afterwards an author
of some note; but he seems to have been of comparatively little influ
ence in. the Georgia board, his faithful attendance being his principal
merit.
Three members elected to the trust during its declining years deserve
special mention. These were Samuel Lloyd, Edward Hooper, and
Anthony Ewer, all of whom were of great assistance to Vernon and
Shaftesbury in maintaining the work of the board at a time when some
of its older friends were falling away.
On the whole, the trustees were an able set of men. They repre
sented well the leading political and religious beliefs of England, and
they included persons of varied experience and. occupations in life.
Since they were thus varied in their personnel, it is not strange that
there were among them causes of misunderstanding and disputes. The
most serious of the disagreements among the members of the trust grew
out of politics centering about the support of Walpole or opposition to
him. We have seen that feeling over this matter caused the with-
draiwal of some members from the common council. Perhaps next in
importance to the political differences were those over religious matters.
The large majority of the trustees were members of the Church of
England, and they were anxious that it prevail in Georgia,- but there
were also many Presbyterians and other non-conformists on the board,*
and these were disgusted with the resolution of the majority of the
corporation to support a church establishment. Whether this differ
ence caused the withdrawal of members or not, it produced a coolness
among- some of them.f
Less can be said of the self-sacrifice of the Georgia trustees than of
their ability. Of the seventy-one who were chosen, thirty-six seem to
have contributed no money to the enterprise, and the whole sum con-
tributed, according to their own accounts, was only about £900 from
their own resources. $ The test of contributing money is not final as
to the interest a man may have in an enterprise, but when the under
taking is charitable in its aims and dependent on charity for its support,
the amount given by the trustees may be some measure of the regard in
which the colony was held by its managers. The attendance percentage
of the whole body of trustees on the meetings of the corporation was
only 17 per cent of what it might have been, as shown on pages 101-104
herein. It was the case with many of the trustees that as soon as their
vanity was satisfied by their election to so honorable a body as the
Georgia board they lost much of their interest in the work-, and when
affairs in the colony went badly and when debts began to accumulate,
such members ceased entirely to act with their colleagues. It was only
. a small handful that stuck to their duty through fair weather and foul
until the end. And yet who can blame the trustees for quitting their
task? No financial rewards awaited them, and little honor was attached
to the office after the early years. The duties were arduous and the
* Wvight 165.
tC.B. V: 116.
i Bouverie, one of the Trustees, gave £1000; but it was from a fund in his pos
session left for charity; it did not come out of his own resources.