Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

230 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
difficulties arose. The joyful acclamations of the populace which had
waited upon his arrival had, during this interval, changed into an equally
sincere desire for his departure. He had delegated the duties of his
office, in large measure, to his secretary, Dr. William Little, a surgeon in
the. navy, who was even less competent than Governor Reynolds, who was,
in fact, not above crooked dealings, but who exercised a powerful in
fluence over his chief. It was charged to the account of Governor Rey
nolds that for the purpose of frustrating an inquiry into the conduct of
Doctor Little, he had dissolved the general assembly, with only half the
taxes for the past year collected and with those for the current year
unraised; that he paid little or no regard to the king's council, whose
dignity he brought into contempt; that he inserted or omitted what he
pleased in making up the journal of council; that he transcended his
powers in filling offices Avhich fell within the gift of the Crown; and that,
to epitomize a multitude of complaints, his administration of the gov
ernment was incompetent, partial and tyrannical.
. These charges are all set forth in a letter addressed to the board of
trade, under date of July 7, 1756, by Alexander Killet, provost marshal
of the province and a member of the king's council. His majesty, King
George II, having been memorialized by the board of trade, it was there
upon ordered that Governor Reynolds embark at once for England to
answer these charges. At the same time, the "recommendation of
Henry Ellis, Esq., to be appointed lieutenant-governor during the ab
sence of Mr. Reynolds" was approved. The royal signature was in a
few day's thereafter affixed to the latter's commission.
Governor Reynolds left for England on a merchant vessel, the
Charming Martha, soon after the lieutenant-governor's arrival. En
route home he was captured by a French privateer and carried to
Bayonne, where his personal belongings were appropriated by his cap
tors. Due to this somewhat unpleasant interruption he did not reach
England until midsummer. Governor Reynolds made a straightforward
defense before the board of trade, admitting his mistakes but denying
that he had been guilty of any criminal misconduct. He called attention
to the difficulties of his task in undertaking to organize a new govern
ment, without precedents to guide him, with savage tribes to conciliate
and with only limited means at his disposal. On the whole, he made a
good impression upon the board of trade, though his defense did not
• completely exonerate him; and it was deemed best to permit him to
resign his office .as governor and to resume his rank as a naval officer.
Bishop Stevens finds much to extenuate in the conduct of Governor
Reynolds. Says he:
"Unused to legislative bodies, unconversant with courts of law, un
versed in the functions of his office, he was transferred from the quarter
deck of a man-of-war to the helm of a royal province, and was required
to begin, arrange, digest, and carry out the many necessary steps and
changes in the first establishing of a new, and to the people untried,
form of government. This required a patience, energy, knowledge, and
firmness which Governor Reynolds did not possess. He was not adequate
to the duties which his station required, and yielding to the machina
tions of his private secretary he made himself obnoxious by devolving