442. Letter Ccccxl.
LETTER CCCCXL.
T o the Honourable Trustees for Georgia.
Cambuslang, Aug. 17, 1742.
Honoured Gentlemen, SOME letters, which I received last week from Georgia, occasion my troubling you with this, which I doubt not will meet with a candid reception at your hands. I find that Mr. H―― and Mr. B―― have been taken up by a warrant, and were imprisoned above a week, for a thing which, I believe, none of you, honoured gentlemen, will judge cognizable by the civil magistrate. It seems that Mr. B――, in a private conversation with Mr.
O――, (who, I suppose, is the present minister of Savannah) told him, "He was no 'christian'; that he wondered at the impudence of young men in subscribing articles they did not believe; and that he should think it his duty to warn his friends not to hear him." I acknowledge that such language was too harsh; but Mr. H――, who did not say near so much, was linked in the same prosecution, and imprisoned with him. Mr. J――, who was then at Frederica, being informed of it, declared such a procedure to be illegal; and
his Excellency General Oglethorp, desired my friends to lay the matter before the board of the Honourable Trustees. I being now upon the spot, they have sent to me a very particular account of what has passed; which, if you please, honoured gentlemen, I will transmit unto you, or, when I come to London, will wait upon you in person. I find also, that my friends were denied a copy of the proceedings of the court: in which, I am persuaded the honourable gentlemen to whom I am writing, will think they have been wronged. My friends require no satisfaction, but only desire such a proceeding may be animadverted upon; knowing that otherwise it will be a great discouragement to people's settling in Georgia. I am sorry also to inform you, honoured gentlemen, that five very small children, (Swiss or Dutch) whose parents lately died in their passage from England, have had their goods sold at Vendue, and are bound out till the age of twenty-one years. This I think directly contrary to the grant given me by you, honoured gentlemen; for thereby I was impowered to take as many orphans into the house as my fund would admit of. The magistrates, I understand, have also been at the Orphan-house, and claim a power to take away the children when they please, whether the children chuse it, or complain of illtreatment, or not. This grieves some of the children, and makes others of them insolent, who are hereby taught, that they have a power to go away when they will. This, honoured gentlemen, must be very discouraging to those who are entrusted with their education; and who, I am persuaded, aim at nothing but the glory of God, the welfare of the colony, and the salvation of the children's souls. I suppose that the magistrates (I mean Mr. P―― and Mr. T――) have taken such a liberty from the instructions which were sent, honoured gentlemen, from you some time ago. But Mr. J―― has told them, they have misunderstood you; and his Excellency General Oglethorp
I find has wrote to you, honoured gentlemen, about it. By the accounts I have, our plantation thrives well; and Mr. H―― hopes we shall do with white servants alone. I do assure you, honoured gentlemen, I will do all I can, with the most disinterested views, to promote the good of Georgia: only I beg the management of the Orphan-house, and orphans, may be secured to me and my successors for ever; and that the magistrates be not suffered to disturb us, when there is no ground of complaint. They acknowledged, when at the Orphan-house last, that the children were taken good care of, both as to their bodies and souls; and will it not then, honoured gentlemen, tend much to the welfare of the colony, that the Orphan-house should meet with all possible encouragement. His Excellency
General Oglethorp has informed my friend Mr. H――, that, if I desired it, he thought you would grant me a greater tract of land, which I should be obliged to give away in a certain term of years, and that we might have our own magistrates, as have the people of Ebenezer. Whether I shall desire such a favour, I know not; but, if I should, I desire to know, what you, honoured gentlemen, would say to it. Many have applied to me to settle in Georgia; hitherto I could give them no encouragement. I wish I may be enabled to give them a great deal for the future. Indeed, honoured gentlemen, I do not desire to find fault. I doubt not but you have been prejudiced both against me and my friends. The event will shew what friends we are to Georgia. The Orphan-house will certainly be of great utility to the colony; and the children educated therein, I trust, will be the glory of the society to which they belong. They are bred up to industry, as well as to other things; and are taught to fear God, and honour the king. I am glad to hear that you have lately sent over a gentleman who (I suppose) will do justice. I think I desire nothing else; and heartily pray God to bless
him, and you, honoured gentlemen, and all that are concerned in the management of Georgia affairs. I hope to be in town in about two months; in the mean while, I would beg the favour of a line by your secretary; and also entreat you, honoured gentlemen, to write to the magistrates of Savannah, to let the Orphan-house managers alone. If I or my friends should happen to say or do any thing amiss, I assure you, honoured gentlemen, you shall have all possible satisfaction given you by them, and also by, honoured gentlemen, Your very humble servant, G. W.