“A Gentleman who may be justly termed the Romulus, father and founder of Georgia; a gentleman who, without any view but that of enlarging his Majesty’s dominions, propagating the Protestant religion, promoting the trade of his country, and providing for the wants and necessities of indigent christians, has voluntarily banished himself from the pleasures of a Court, and exposed himself repeatedly to the dangers of the vast Atlantic ocean in several perilous and tedious voyages; instead of allowing himself the satisfaction which a plentiful fortune, powerful friends, and great merit entitle him to in England, has inured himself to the greatest hardships that any the meanest inhabitant of this new Colony could be exposed to; his diet has been mouldy bread, or boiled rice instead of bread, salt beef, pork, &c., his drink has been water; and his bed the damp earth, without any other covering than the canopy of heaven to shelter him:  and all this to set an example to this new Colony how they might bear with such hardships in their new settlement.”

A recent publication bestows also a tribute of commendation, in the following terms:  “As governor of the new Colony, he was exposed to numberless difficulties and vexations; but persevered with great ardor in the scheme, and expended large sums out of his private fortune with a view to ensure its success."[1]

[Footnote 1:  GEORGIAN AERA; or Memoirs of the most eminent persons who have flourished in Great Britain from the accession of George I. to the death of George IV.  Lond. 1834. 4 vol.  Vol.  II. p. 43.]

I give, also, an extract from “lines to General Oglethorpe, on the settlement of Georgia,” published in the South Carolina Gazette, June, 1733.

  “The fame of Tyrants should, if justice swayed,
  Be bowled through deserts their ambition made;
  But OGLETHORPE has gained a well-earned praise,
  Who made the heirs of want, the lords of ease: 
  The gloomy wood to plenteous harvests changed,
  And founded cities where the wild beasts ranged. 
  Then may the great reward assigned by fate
  Crown his own wish to see the work complete!”

CHAPTER XVII.

Oglethorpe’s residence in England—­Marriage—­Military appointments—­A Major General under the Duke of Cumberland for the suppression of the rebellion in 1745—­Arraigned at a Court Martial and acquitted—­Domestic and social life, and character—­Death.

Having accomplished the great design of settling the Colony of Georgia, watched over its nascent feebleness, cherished its growth, defended it from invasion, vindicated its rights, and advanced its interests and welfare, Oglethorpe resigned the superintendence and government into other hands, and retired to his country seat at Godalming, “to rest under the shade of his own laurels.”

In March, 1744, he was appointed one of the officers under Field Marshal, the Earl of Stair, to oppose the expected invasion from France.