Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe Part 19

In 1740 he was appointed Colonel of a Regiment to be raised for Georgia.

In 1745 he was appointed Major General; in 1747 Lieutenant General; and in 1760, General of his Majesty's forces.

In his civil station, he was very early conspicuous.

He was chosen Member of Parliament for Haslemere in Surry in 1722, and continued to represent it till 1754.

In the Committee of Parliament, for inquiring into the state of the gaols, formed 25th of February, 1728, and of which he was Chairman, the active and persevering zeal of his benevolence found a truly suitable employment, by visiting, with his colleagues of that generous body, the dark and pestilential dungeons of the Prisons which at that time dishonored the metropolis; detecting the most enormous oppressions; obtaining exemplary punishment on those who had been guilty of such outrage against humanity and justice; and redressing mult.i.tudes from extreme misery to light and freedom.

Of these, about seven hundred, rendered, by long confinement for debt, strangers and helpless in the country of their birth, and desirous of seeking an asylum in the wilds of America, were by him conducted thither in 1732.

He willingly encountered in their behalf a variety of fatigue and danger, and thus became the founder of the Colony of Georgia; a Colony which afterwards set the n.o.ble example of prohibiting the importation of slaves This new establishment he strenuously and successfully defended against a powerful attack of the Spaniards.

In the year in which he quitted England to found this settlement, he n.o.bly strove to secure our true national defence by sea and land, --a free navy-- without impressing a const.i.tutional militia.

But his social affections were more enlarged than even the term Patriotism can express; he was the friend of the oppressed negro,-- no part of the globe was too remote,-- no interest too unconnected,-- or too much opposed to his own, to prevent the immediate succor of suffering humanity.

For such qualities he received, from the ever memorable John, Duke of Argyle, a full testimony, in the British Senate, to his military character, his natural generosity, his contempt of danger, and regard for the Public.

A similar encomium is perpetuated in a foreign language;[1]

and, by one of our most celebrated Poets, his remembrance is transmitted to posterity in lines justly expressive of the purity, the ardor, and the extent of his benevolence.

He lived till the 1st of July, 1785; a venerable instance to what a duration a life of temperance and virtuous labor is capable of being protracted.

His widow, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nathan Wright of Cranham hall, Bart.

and only sister and heiress of Sir Samuel Wright, Bart.

of the same place, surviving, with regret, but with due submission to Divine Providence, an affectionate husband, after an union of more than forty years, hath inscribed to his memory these faint traces of his excellent character.

"Religion watches o'er his urn, And all the virtues bending mourn; Humanity, with languid eye, Melting for others' misery; Prudence, whose hands a measure hold, And Temperance, with a chain of gold; Fidelity's triumphant vest, And Fort.i.tude in armor drest; Wisdom's grey locks, and Freedom, join The moral train to bless his shrine, And pensive all, around his ashes holy, Their last sad honors pay in order melancholy."[2]

[Footnote 1: Referring to the encomium of the Abbe Raynal, in his _Histoire Philosophique et Politique_.]

[Footnote 2: These last verses were added by the old friend of the General, the Rev. Moses Browne.]

OBITUARY NOTICE

OF

MRS. ELIZABETH OGLETHORPE,

WITH EXTRACTS FROM HER WILL.

OBITUARY NOTICE

COPIED FROM THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE FOR 1787, PAGE 1025

October 26th, 1787, died, at her seat, Cranham Hall, Co. Ess.e.x,[1]

aged 79, Mrs. Elizabeth Oglethorpe, widow of the late General Oglethorpe. She was daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Bart., (nephew to the Lord Keeper,) by Abigail, his fourth wife, who survived and married Mr. Tryst. Sir Nathan, by his first wife, (Anne Meyrick) had two sons; Nathan, who succeeded him in t.i.tle, and who married a daughter of Sir Francis Lawley, and died in April, 1737; and John, who died without issue. By his second wife, (Elizabeth Brage) he had a son, Benjamin, who died before him. By his third wife, (Elizabeth Bowater) he had no issue. By the fourth he had a son, Samuel, and Mrs.

Oglethorpe. Sir Nathan, the son, had one son and two daughters; and the son dying without issue, his half-brother, Samuel, succeeded to the t.i.tle and part of the estate. He dying a bachelor, Mrs. Oglethorpe became his heir, and has died without leaving any child. September 15, 1744, she married the late General Oglethorpe, who died July 1,1785;[2] and to her magnanimity and prudence, on an occasion of much difficulty, it was owing that the evening of their lives was tranquil and pleasant, after a stormy noon. Very many and continual were her acts of benevolence and charity; but, as she would herself have been hurt by any display of them in her lifetime, we will say no more. Not to have mentioned them at all would have been unjust to her memory, and not less so to the world, in which such an example may operate as an incitement to others to go and do likewise.

[Footnote 1: This old mansion, situated on a pleasant rising ground, was built about the end of the reign of James I. In the hall is a very fine whole-length picture of Mr. _Nathan Wright_, a considerable Spanish merchant in the beginning of Charles the First's time, who resided long in that country, by Antonio Arias, an eminent painter of Madrid; and the more curious, as perhaps there is not another picture of that able master in England. _Gentleman's Magazine_, LV. 518.]

[Footnote 2: The date for the time of the death of General Oglethorpe, which is given on the 296th page of this volume, was taken from the public Gazettes. As it took place late in the night, it might be rather uncertain as to its being the close of one day or the beginning of another. But the above, corroborated by the testimony of the monumental inscription, must be correct. I regret, however, that I did not perceive it sooner. T.M.H.]

By her will, which is very long, and dated May 30, 1786, and has four codicils, the last dated September 11, 1787, she leaves her estate at Westbrook, in G.o.dalming, Co. Surrey, bequeathed to her by the General, to his great nephew, Eugene, Marquis of Bellegarde, in France, then in the Dutch service, but born in England, and his heirs, with all her plate, jewels, &c.; to her nephews, John and Charles Apreece, and their sister Dorothy, wife of ---- Cole, an annuity of 100 amongst them, and the survivor for life; and if either John or Charles succeed to the Baronet's t.i.tle, the annuity to go over to the other; but if their sister survive, she to have only 200 per annum; also four annuities, of 50 each, to four of her female friends or neighbors.

All these annuities are charged on the Cranham estate, which she gives in trust to Sir George Allanson Wynne, Bart., and Mr. Granville Sharpe, for the use of her nephew, Sir Thomas Apreece, of Was.h.i.+ngley, Co. Huntingdon, for life, remainder in tail to his issue male or female, remainder to his brothers John and Charles, and sister Dorothy, successively, remainder to her own right heirs. The manor of Canewdon Hall, Ess.e.x, to be sold to pay legacies, viz.: 100 to Sir G.A. Wynne; 1000 to the Princess of Rohan, related to her late husband; 500 to the Princess de Ligne, her late husband's niece; 1000 to Samuel Crawley, Esq., of Theobalds, Co. Herts; 500 among the Miss Dawes's, of Coventry; 500 to James Fitter, Esq., of Westminster; 500 to the Marquis of Bellegarde. The manor of Fairstead Hall, Co.

Ess.e.x, to Granville Sharpe, for life, paying 50 per annum to his friend Mr. Marriott, relict of General Marriott, of G.o.dalming, and to settle the said estate to charitable uses after his death, at his discretion. To Edward Lloyd and Sarah his wife, her servants, 500; and 10 each, to other servants. By a codicil: to Maria Anne Stephenson 1000 stock out of any of her property in the funds; to Miss Lewis, who lives with Mrs. Fowle, in Red-lion square, and to Miss Billinghurst, of G.o.dalming, 50 each; to the poor of Cranham, Fairstead, Canewdon, and G.o.dalming, 20 each; her turn of patronage to the united livings of St. Mary Somerset and St. Mary Mounthaw, in London, to the Rev. Mr. Herringham, of South Weald. By another codicil, 1000 more to the Marquis of Bellegarde; 1000 to Count Bethisy; 200 to Granville Sharpe. By another, revokes the legacies to the Princess de Ligne and Count Bethisy, and gives them to the two younger daughters of the Marquis of Bellegarde, at the age of 21, or marriage. As the Marquis resides in France, and it may be inconvenient to him to keep the estate, she gives the manors of Westbrook and Brims...o...b.., and Westbrook-place in G.o.dalming, in trust to G. Sharpe, and William Gill, Esqrs., and their heirs, to be sold, and the money paid to the Marquis. Her executors are Mr. Granville Sharpe, and Mrs.

Sarah d.i.c.kinson, of Tottenham; the latter residuary legatee.

At the foot of the monument erected to the memory of General Oglethorpe, was added the following inscription:

"His disconsolate Widow died October 26,1787, in her 79th year, and is buried with him, in the vault in the centre of this Chancel.

Her fort.i.tude of mind and extensive charity deserve to be remembered, though her own modesty would desire them to be forgotten."

OGLETHORPE'S

ACCOUNT OF

CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

This article is extracted from SALMON'S _Modern History_, Vol. III.

page 770, 4th edition; where it is introduced in these words: "The following pages are an answer from General OGLETHORPE to some inquiries made by the author, concerning the State of Carolina and Georgia."

ACCOUNT OF CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

Carolina is part of that territory which was originally discovered by Sir Sebastian Cabot. The English now possess the sea-coast from the river St. John's, in 30 degrees, 21 minutes north lat.i.tude. Westward the King's charter declares it to be bounded by the Pacific ocean.

Carolina is divided into North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; the latter is a province which his Majesty has taken out of Carolina, and is the southern and western frontier of that province, lying between it and the French, Spaniards, and Indians.

The part of Carolina that is settled, is for the most part a flat country. All, near the sea, is a range of islands, which breaks the fury of the ocean. Within is generally low land for twenty or twenty-five miles, where the country begins to rise in gentle swellings. At seventy or eighty miles from the sea, the hills grow higher, till they terminate in mountains.

The coast of Georgia is also defended from the rage of the sea by a range of islands. Those islands are divided from the main by ca.n.a.ls of salt water, navigable for the largest boats, and even for small sloops. The lofty woods growing on each side of the ca.n.a.ls, make very pleasant landscapes. The land, at about seven or eight miles from the sea, is tolerably high; and the further you go westward, the more it rises, till at about one hundred and fifty miles distance from the sea, to the west, the Cherokee or Appallachean mountains begin, which are so high that the snow lies upon them all the year.

This ridge of mountains runs in a line from north to south, on the back of the English colonies of Carolina and Virginia; beginning at the great lakes of Canada, and extending south, it ends in the province of Georgia at about two hundred miles from the bay of Appallachee, which is part of the Gulf of Mexico. There is a plain country from the foot of these mountains to that sea.

The face of the country is mostly covered with woods. The banks of the rivers are in some places low, and form a kind of natural meadows, where the floods prevent trees from growing. In other places, in the hollows, between the hillocks, the brooks and streams, being stopt by falls of trees, or other obstructions, the water is penned back. These places are often covered with canes and thickets and are called, in the corrupted American dialect, swamps. The sides of the hills are generally covered with oaks and hickory, or wild walnuts, cedar, sa.s.safras, and the famous laurel tulip, which is esteemed one of the most beautiful trees in the world. The flat tops of the hillocks are all covered with groves of pine trees, with plenty of gra.s.s growing under them, and so free from underwood that you may gallop a horse for forty or fifty miles an end. In the low grounds and islands in the river there are cypress, bay-trees, poplar, plane, frankincense or gum-trees, and aquatic shrubs. All part of the province are well watered; and, in digging a moderate depth, you never miss of a fine spring.

What we call the Atlantic ocean, washes the east and southeast coast of these provinces. The gulf stream of Florida sets in with a tide in the ocean to the east of the province; and it is very remarkable that the banks and soundings of the coast extend twenty or twenty-five miles to the east of the coast.

The tides upon this coast flow generally seven feet. The soundings are sand or ooze, and some oyster banks, but no rocks. The coast appears low from the sea, and covered with woods.

Cape Fear is a point which runs with dreadful shoals far into the sea, from the mouth of Clarendon river in North Carolina. Sullivan's Island and the Coffin land are the marks of the entry into Charlestown harbor. Hilton head, upon French's island, shows the entry into Port Royal; and the point of Tybee island makes the entry of the Savannah river. Upon that point the Trustees for Georgia have erected a n.o.ble signal or light-house, ninety feet high, and twenty-five feet wide.

It is an octagon, and upon the top there is a flag-staff thirty feet high.

The Province of Georgia is watered by three great rivers, which rise in the mountains, namely, the Alatamaha, the Ogechee, and the Savannah; the last of which is navigable six hundred miles for canoes, and three hundred miles for boats.

The British dominions are divided from the Spanish Florida by a n.o.ble river called St. John's.

These rivers fall into the Atlantic ocean; but there are, besides these, the Flint and the Cahooche, which pa.s.s through part of Carolina or Georgia, and fall into the gulf of Appellachee or Mexico.