TO prove this Charge, we shall only transcribe some Passages from a Piece of Prose, and some from a Piece of Poesie; by which Specimens, the Reader may judge of some considerable Number which were dispers'd and vended of the same Stamp.

THE First are from a Pamphlet printed at LONDON, 1733, entitled, A new and accurate Account of the Provinces of SOUTHCAROLINA and GEORGIA. The Author has not thought fit to favour us with his Name; but it is easy to conceive, that we, who suspected no Artifice or Design, must conclude, that it came from the best Authority, from the Circumstances of its being dispersed publickly, and not being contradicted, and from the Author's intimate Acquaintance (at least so pretended) with all the Trustees Measures and Designs. After a high Encomium upon the Trustees, Page 7, he says, 'The Air of GEORGIA is healthy, being always serene and pleasant, never subject to ex'cessive Heat or Cold, or sudden Changes of Weather; the Winter is regular and short, and the Summer cooled with refreshing Breezes; it neither feels the cutting North-west Wind that the Virginians complain of, nor the intense Heats of Spain, Barbary, Italy and Egypt. The soil will produce any Thing with very little Culture.-Page 19, 'All sorts of Corn yield an amazing Increase; One Hundred fold is the common Estimate; tho' their Husbandry is so slight, that they can only be said to scratch the Earth, and meerly to cover the Seed: All the best sort of Cattle and Fowls are multiplied ' without Number, and therefore without a Price: Vines are Natives here.'-Page 21, 'The Woods near Savannah are not hard to be clear'd; many of them have no Under-Wood, and the Trees do not stand generally thick on the Ground, but at considerable Distances asunder: When you fall the Tim<ber for Use, or to make Tar, the Root will rot in four or five Years; and in the mean Time you may Pasture the Ground; but if you would only destroy the Timber, it's done by half a Dozen Strokes of an Ax surrounding each Tree a little above the Root, in a Year or two the Water getting into the Wound rots the Timber, and a brisk Gust of Wind fells many Acres 'for you in an Hour, of which you may make one bright Bonfire. Such will be frequently here the Fate of the Pine, the Wall-nut, the Cypress, the Oak and the Cedar. Such an Air and Soil can only be described by a Poetical Pen, because there is no Danger of exceeding the Truth; therefore take WALLER'S Description of an Island in the Neighbourhood of CAROLINA, to give you an Idea of this happy Climate: The Spring which but salutes us, here, 'Inhabits there, and courts them all the Year:

6

6

.

6

B

C

C

Ripe Fruits and Blossoms on the same Tree live :
At once they promise what at once they give.
'So sweet the Air, so moderate the Clime,
'None sickly lives, or dies before his Time;
'Heav'n sure has kept this Spot of Earth uncurst,
To shew how all Things were created first.

Page 27, 'The Indians bring many a Mile the whole Deer's Flesh, which they sell to the People who live in the Country, for the Value of Six-pence Sterling; and a Wild Turkey of Forty Pound weight, for the Value of Two-pence.'-In Page 32, the Author when recommending the Georgia Adventure to Gentlemen of decayed Circumstances, who must labour at Home or do worse, states the following Objection, viz. If such People 'can't get Bread here for their Labour, how will their Condition be mended in GEORGIA?' Which he solves in the following Manner, The Answer is easy; Part of it is well attested, and 'Part self-evident; they have Land there for Nothing, and that Land so fertile, that as is said before, they receive an Hundred 'fold Increase, for taking a very little Pains. Give here in England ten Acres of good Land to one of those helpless Persons, and I doubt not his Ability to make it sustain him, and by his own Culture, without letting it to another; but the 'Difference between no Rent and rack'd Rent, is the Difference between Eating and Starving.'-Page 32, 'These Trustees not only give Land to the Unhappy who go thither, but are also impowered to receive the voluntary Contributions of charitable Persons, to enable to furnish the poor Adventurers with all Necessaries for the Expence of their Voyage, occupying the Land, and supporting them till they find them'selves comfortably settled; so that now the Unfortunate will not be obliged to bind themselves to a long Servitude to pay for their Passage; for they may be carried gratis into a Land ' of Liberty and Plenty, where they immediately find themselves in the Possession of a competent Estate, in an happier Climate than they knew before, and they are unfortunate indeed if here they cannot forget their Sorrows.'-Nay, as if such Assertions as these were not powerful enough to influence poor People, Calculations are subjoin'd, to demonstrate, that a Family consisting of one poor Man, his Wife, and Child of seven Years old, in Georgia earn sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum, and this abstracted from Silk, Wine, &c-Page 41, 'Now this very Family in Georgia, by raising Rice and Corn sufficient for its Occasions, and by attending the Care of their Cattle and Land (which almost every one is able to do in some tolerable Degree for himself) will easily produce in gross Value the Sum of sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum; nor is this to be wondered

6

may

6

In Georgia an Hundred Families earn,

C at, because of the valuable Assistance it has from a fertile Soil ' and a Stock given gratis ; which must always be remembred in this Calculation.

The Calculation of One Hundred such Families when for

mally extended, stands thus,'-Page 43,

6 In London One Hundred

6 poor Men earn

• One Hundred Woman and, One Hundred Children, S

• One Hundred Men for Labour,

l. s d.

500 00 0

500 00 0

1000 00 0

1200 00 0

BUT we must conclude this Head, lest we tire the Reader. We shall now beg Leave to quote a few Poetical Accounts of this Paradise of the World, and of the Fatherly Care and Protection we might depend on from Mr. Oglethorpe. An Hundred Hackney Muses might be instanced; but we shall confine ourselves to the celebrated Performance of the Rev. Mr. SAMUEL WESLY, where we might well expect a sufficient Stock of Truth_and Religion, to counter-balance a Poetical Licence. Vide a Poem entitled, GEORGIA, and Verses upon Mr. OGLETHORPE'S second Voyage to GEORGIA. Printed LONDON, 1736.

EE where beyond the spacious Ocean lies

A wide waste Land beneath the Southern Skies;
"Where kindly Suns for Ages roll'd in vain,
'Nor e'er the Vintage saw, or rip'ning Grain ;
Where all Things into wild Luxuriance ran,

⚫ And Barthen'd Nature ask'd the Aid of Man.
In this sweet Climate and prolifick Soil,
He bids the eager Swain indulge bis Toil;
In free Possession to the Planter's Hand,
Consigns the rich uncultivated Land.

• Go you, the Monarch cries, go settle there,
Whom Britain from her Plenitude can spare ;
Go, your old wonted Industry pursue;
'Nor envy Spain the Treasures of Peru.

• But not content in Council here to join,
A further Labour OGLETHORPE, is thine:

• In each great Deed thou claimst the foremost Part,
'And Toil and Danger charm thy gen'rous Heart :

He comes, whose Life, while absent from your View,
Was one continued Ministry for you;

For you were laid out all his Pains and Art,
Won ev'ry Will and softened ev'ry Heart.

With what paternal Joy shall he relate

How views its Mother Isle your little State:
Think while he strove your distant Coast to gain,
How oft he sigh'd and chid the tedious Main!
Impatient to survey, by Culture grac'd,

Your dreary Wood Land and your rugged Waste.
Fair were the Scenes he feign'd, the Prospects fair;
And sure, ye Georgians, all he feign'd was their.
" A Thousand Pleasures crowd into his Breast ;
But one, one mighty Thought absorbs the rest,
And gives me Heav'n to see, the Patriot cries,
Another BRITAIN in the Desert rise.

Again,

With nobler Products see thy GEORGIA teems,
Chear'd with the genial Sun's director Beams;
There the wild Vine to Culture learns to yield,

And purple Clusters ripen through the Field.

Now bid thy Merchants bring thy Wine no more

Or from th' Iberian or the Tuscan Shore:

'No more they need th' Hungarian Vineyards drain,
And France herself may drink her best Champain.
'Behold! at last, and in a subject Land,
Nectar sufficient for thy large Demand;
Delicious Nectar, powerful to improve
Our hospitable Mirth and social Love:

This for thy jovial Sons.-Nor less the Care
Of thy young Province, to oblige the FAIR;
Here tend the Silk Worm In the verdant Shade,
The frugal Matron and the blooming Maid.

FROM the Whole, we doubt not, the Reader will look upon us as sufficiently punished for our Credulity: And indeed, who would not have been catch'd with such Promises, such Prospects? What might not the Poor Man flatter himself with, from such an Alteration in his Situation? And how much more might a Gentleman expect from a plentiful Stock of his own, and Numbers of Servants to set up with? Could a Person with the least Faith, have question'd the Committing his Interests to such Guardians, and such a tender Father as Mr. Oglethorpe was believed to be? Whether he has acted that generous, that humane, that fatherly Part, the following NARRATIVE must determine.

As for those Poetical Licences touching the Wine and Silk; we do not transcribe them as a Reflection upon the Author; but as a Satyr upon the Mismanagement of those Manufactures ;

since no Measures were taken that seem'd really intended for their Advancement.

WE no wise question the Possibility of advancing such Improvements in GEORGIA, with far less Sums of Money, properly applied, than the Publick has bestow'd: But not even the Flourishing of Wine and Silk, can make a Colony of British Subjects happy, if they are deprived of the Liberties and Properties of their Birth-right.

WE have endeavour'd to the Utmost to be tender of Characters; but as we undertake to write an Account of Facts and Truths; there is no Help for it, when those Facts and Truths press home.

IT is a common Satisfaction to Sufferers, to expose to the Publick, the Rocks upon which they split, and the Misfortunes by which they suffered; and it may well be allow'd us, to publish the Causes to which we attribute the Ruin of that Settlement and ourselves; and more especially as we are Prosecutors for Justice from higher Powers; which we doubt not receiving as the Case deserves.

WE hope the Truth of the following Narrative, will recommend itself to the Perusal of the candid Reader. The fatal Truths of this Tragedy hath already been sealed with the Death of Multitudes of our Fellow-Creatures; but still (Thanks to the Providence of the Almighty) some survive to attest and confirm the Truth of what is herein contain'd, against any Persons or Names, however great, however powerful. Our Circumstances and Sincerity will excuse our Want of that Politeness and Accuracy of Stile, which might have represented our Case to greater Advantage, to the Courteous Reader, whom we shall no longer detain from the Subject in Hand.