Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

44 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
of which he was to be Governor. It was referred to a committee of the
Privy Council for consideration. The board of trade, while recommend
ing Sir Robert as a proper person for Governor, in order to avoid com
plications, suggested to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina the advisabil
ity of surrendering to the Crown their powers of government over the
places included in the proposed Margravate, reserving to themselves
only the property in the lands. The whole matter was referred to the
attorney-general, who reported that he saw nothing in the cession preju
dicial to the rights of the crown, but he doubted whether the powers
granted to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina could be divided in the
manner proposed. To remove the difficulty he suggested that if the
Lords Proprietors would surrender to his Majesty their powers of gov
ernment over the new province to be erected, reserving to themselves
only the right of property therein they might lease the land on such
terms as they saw fit and then his Majesty could create a new govern
ment upon such conditions and with such powers as he deemed proper.
"Despite the efforts made to induce immigration into the favored
region at the expiration of the three years allowed by the cession from
the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, Sir Robert Montgomery found him
self without colonists. His grant expired and became void by terms of
limitation. His Azilia remained unpeopled, save by the red men of the
forest. His scheme proved utterly Utopian, and it was reserved for
Oglethorpe and his companions to wrest from primeval solitude and
to vitalize with the energies of civilization the lands lying between the
Savannah and the Altainaha. * * * Nevertheless, the attorney-gen
eral's suggestion with respect to surrendering powers to the Crown was
adopted with respect to the whole of Carolina. The disputes and con
flicts between the Lords Proprietor and the colonists continued to be
so constant that .all except .Lord Carteret, taking advantage of the pro
visions of an Act of Parliament, surrendered to the. King, not only their
rights and interests in the government of Carolina, hut also their own
ership of the' soil. The indenture of purchase and sale was duly exe
cuted and the consideration was 22,500 pounds sterling. Thus, for this
small sum, were seven-eighths of the extensive territory constituting the
province of Carolina sold by the Lords Proprietors to the crown. The
other eighth was owned by Lord Carteret, Baron of liawnes. Subse
quently by deed, dated February 28, 1732, he conveyed to the Trustees
for establishing the colony of Georgia in America, the one undivided
eighth part of all lands lying between the Savannah and Altamaha
Rivers. The other seven-eighths was ceded to them by the Crown. With
this explanation, we understand why, in the charter granted by King
George II, dated June 9, 1732, royal cession was made of only seven-
eighths of the lands to be erected into a province to be called Georgia.''