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Page 66
Many were the gibes and high was the glee on that occasion; pointed
were the jokes aimed at young Bienville on his being thus transformed
into a matrimonial agent and _pater famili�_. The intentions of the
King, however, were faithfully executed, and more than one rough but
honest Canadian boatman of the St. Lawrence and of the Mississippi
closed his adventurous and erratic career and became a domestic and
useful member of that little commonwealth, under the watchful influence
of the dark-eyed maid of the Loire or of the Seine.
[1] From Gayarr�'s "History of Louisiana" (1847). La Salle's
expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi, when he took
possession of the country in the name of the King of France, had
taken place in 1682. Louis XIV in 1689 sent out an expedition to
colonize the lower Mississippi. It comprized about two hundred men
and was commanded by Sieur d'Therville. Among his companions were
two brothers, one of whom, Sieur de Bienville, was the real
founder of New Orleans, and long served as Governor of Louisiana.
Gayarr� describes the arrival and experiences of these brothers.
Gayarr� lived in New Orleans. He began to practise law there in
1880, and afterward served as reporter of the State Supreme Court.
He died in 1895.
OGLETHORPE IN GEORGIA
(1733)
BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS[1]
General James Edward Oglethorpe, the founder of the Colony of Georgia,
was among the few really good and great men that history tells us of.
We need to keep a close eye on the antics of history. She places the
laurels of fame in the hands of butchers, plunderers, and adventurers,
and even assassins share her favors; so that, if we are going to enjoy
the feast that history offers us, we must not inquire too closely into
the characters of the men whom she makes heroes of. We find, when we
come to look into the matter, that but few of those who figured as the
great men of the world have been entirely unselfish; and unselfishness
is the test of a man who is really good and great. Judged by this test,
General Oglethorpe stands among the greatest men known to history....
Born in 1689, Oglethorpe entered the English army when twenty-one years
of age. In 1714 he became captain-lieutenant of the first troop of the
Queen's life guards. He shortly afterward joined Eugene on the
continent, and remained with that soldier until the peace of 1718. On
the death of his brother he succeeded to the family estate in England.
In 1722 he was elected to Parliament from Haslemere, County of Surrey,
and this borough he represented continuously for thirty-two years. His
parliamentary career was marked by wise prudence and consistency; and
his sympathies were warmly enlisted for the relief of unfortunate
soldiers, and in securing reform in the conduct of prisons. In this way
Oglethorpe became a philanthropist, and, without intending it,
attracted the attention of all England. Pope, the poet, eulogizes his
"strong benevolence of soul."
In that day and time men were imprisoned for debt in England. The law
was brutal, and those who executed it were cruel. There was no
discrimination between fraud and misfortune. The man who was unable to
pay his debts was judged to be as criminal as the man who, though able,
refused to pay....
This condition of affairs Oglethorpe set himself to reform; and while
thus engaged he became imprest with the idea that many of the
unfortunates, guilty of no crime, and of respectable connections, might
benefit themselves, relieve England of the shame of their imprisonment,
and confirm and extend the dominion of the mother country in the New
World, by being freed from the claims of those to whom they owed money,
on condition that they would consent to become colonists in America. To
this class were to be added recruits from those who, through lack of
work and of means, were likely to be imprisoned on account of their
misfortunes. Oglethorpe was also of the opinion that men of means,
enterprise, and ambition could be enlisted in the cause; and in this he
was not mistaken.
He had no hope whatever of personal gain or private benefit. The plan
that he had conceived was entirely for the benefit of the unfortunate,
based on broad and high ideas of benevolence; and so thoroughly was
this understood that Oglethorpe had no difficulty whatever in securing
the aid of men of wealth and influence. A charter or grant from the
government was applied for, in order that the scheme might have the
sanction and authority of the government. Accordingly a charter was
granted, and the men most prominent in the scheme of benevolence were
incorporated under the name of "The Trustees for establishing the
Colony of Georgia in America." Georgia in America was, under the terms
of the charter, a pretty large slice of America. It embraced all that
part of the continent lying between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers,
and extending westly from the heads of these rivers in direct lines to
the South Seas; so that the original territory of Georgia extended from
ocean to ocean.
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