Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

62 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
sterling had been expended with little immediate profit. Even the effort
to grow mulberry trees proved abortive. The looms of England were
never overtaxed in weaving Georgia's silk into fabrics. But a colony
was planted in the wilds of America which, in spite of all these dis
couragements, took deep root. Nor is it any small debt which Georgia
owes to her earliest sponsors, all of whom were men of the highest char
acter, of the purest benevolence, of the most exalted patriotism. To the
latest generation, her history will be fragrant with the names of these
English gentlemen.
Subscriptions were next solicited. As an evidence.to the public of
perfect good faith and to prevent any misappropriation of funds an
account was opened with the Bank of England, where a register was
kept in which to record the names of all donors, together with the
amounts subscribed by each to the colonial fund. Eesponses were liberal,
coming not only from individuals but from corporate institutions. Even
Parliament subscribed £10,000, thus attesting its good-will toward the
enterprise and its confidence in the trustees. This spontaneous outpour
ing of gifts was largely the result of an address published by the trus
tees, setting forth the benevolent ends and objects of the undertaking.
The public was informed that money was needed not only to defray the
passage of colonists, hundreds of whom were ready for embarkation,
but to give them subsistence until they could clear their lands and build
their homes; that for success in this great philanthropic enterprise reli
ance was placed, first, in the goodness of divine providence and, second,
in the compassionate disposition of the Christian people of England;
that much could be spared from luxury, by generous tempers, when
such an opportunity was offered them, to provide in perpetuity for a
man or woman with £20 and for a child with £10. The location of the
province, in a temperate zone, its mild climate, its rich soil, its authoriza
tion by the government of England, its management by men of high
official position, its importance in protecting the exposed borders of
South Carolina; and, last but not least, its stimulating and enriching
effect upon the commerce of England.
To aid in the enterprise newspapers gave wide publicity to its benevo
lent designs and ministers from the pulpit preached eloquent sermons in
approval of its philanthropic scope and spirit. Much of this popular
awakening was only the reflex of Oglethorpe's powerful influence; for
his zeal in launching the colony knew no abatement. In a carefully con
sidered tract to which his name was not signed but in which his mind
and heart were reflected as in a mirror and which every one admits that
he not only circulated but prepared, we find a poem from the pen of
Waller, in which occur these lines descriptive of Georgia's environ
ment : *
"So sweet the air, so moderate the clime
None sickly lives or dies before his time
Heaven sure has kept this spot of earth uncursed
To show how all things were created first.''
* A New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia,
London, 1732.