tious conduct of the people generally about Sa vannah, who he considered as useless in Georgia, as they had been in England; that two of the magistrates had encouraged a settlement of papists in the neighborhood of the Orphan-house, whose tenets and conduct had become injurious and offensive to the institution; that after an experiment of nine years, to the loss of many hundreds of poor souls, he thought it was time that the chimerical scheme of settlement by the trustees should be relinquished or altered; that the general had been surrounded by a parcel of parasites who had only flattered and deceived him. "I once thought it was unlawful and unjust to keep slaves, but am now inclined to think, God may have a higher end in permitting them to be, brought into a christian country, than merely to support their masters. Many of the poor slaves in America have already been made free men of the heavenly Jerusalem, and possibly a time may come, when many thousands may embrace the gospel, and thereby be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God." He mentions many other considerations in justification of a limited use of negroes in a colony, which is incapable of advantageous cultivation without them: he closes this letter by respectfully assuring the general, of the candor of its contents in conformity with his request.

Frederica was settled by general Oglethorpe in February, 1736, on the island of St. Simons,

south of the Alatamaha, and on the west side of that island about the centre. It stands upon a high bluff, compared with the marshes in its front: the shore is washed by a fine river which communicates with the Alatamaha, and enters the ocean through Jekyl sound, at the south end of the island. It forms a bay before the town, and is navigable for vessels of large burthen. The town was defended by a pretty strong fort of tappy, and several eighteen pounders were mounted on a ravelin in front, which commanded the river. The fort was surrounded with regular ramparts, had four bastions of earth, stockaded and turfed, and a palisaded ditch which included the store-houses: two large and spacious buildings of brick and timber, with several pieces of ordnance mounted on the rampart the town was also surrounded by a rampart, with flankers of the same thickness with that round the fort, in form of a pentagon, and a dry ditch. The whole circumference of the town was about one mile and a half, including the camp for general Oglethorpe's regiment at the north side of the town; the parades on the east, and a small wood to the south, which was left for the conveniency of fuel and pasturage, and served as a blind to the enemy in case of an attack from shipping coming up the river. The town had two gates called the town and water posts; next to the latter was the guard-house, under which was a prison, handsomely built of brick at the north end the

barracks were built of tappy, and near them the magazine: a road was opened to the southward to the plantations of captain Demere, Mr. Hawkins, and general Oglethorpe: the latter at a little distance resembled a neat little country village; farther on were several families of Saltzburghers. Bachelors redoubt was on the main, where was kept a look out of rangers; a corporal's guard was kept at Pike's bluff on the north, and a canal was cut through the general's island, to facilitate the communication with Darien. Frederica was laid out with spacious streets, named after the officers and margined with orange trees. The civil government, as in other parts of the province, was administered by three magistrates or justices, assisted by a recorder, constables and tything-men. At the south point of the island, was a little town called St. Simons; near it a small battery was built as a watch-tower to discover vessels at sea, and upon such discovery an alarm gun was fired, and a horse-man sent with notice to head-quarters, about nine miles distant. In case an enemy appeared, the number of guns fired, gave notice of the number of vessels. A work was also built on the north end of Jekyl island, where a brewery was established to make beer for the troops: on the north end or high point of Cumberland island, a small battery was erected to protect the inland navigation, as well as St. Andrew's sound; at the south end was a work of considerable regu

larity and strength, called fort William, commanding the entrance to St. Mary's. Fort George was built at the mouth of St. Johns river, near Oglethorpe's hill. The garrison was withdrawn in conformity with one of the stipulations in the treaty of September, 1736. A stronger proof cannot be given of general Oglethorpe's indefatigable zeal and industry, than that all these fortifications were erected in seven months.

The settlement on St. Simons island being on the frontier, as well as the one at Darien on the Alatamaha, afforded abundant scope for the exercise of a warlike temper; and having received a severe blow from the garrison at Augustine, the higlanders anxiously waited for an opportunity of revenging the massacre of their beloved friends at fort Moosa; and the time was approaching to give them what they desired. Though the territory granted by the second charter to the proprietors of Carolina extended far to the south of the river Alatamaha, the Spaniards had never relinquished their pretended claim to that part of the province of Georgia. The Spanish ambassador at the British court, had declared that his catholic majesty had as good a claim to the territory in question, as he had to Madrid, and that he would as soon think of surrendering the one as the other, to Great-Britain. The squadron commanded by Admiral Vernon, had for some time occupied so much of their attention in the West-Indies, that none of the Spanish fleet could

be spared to maintain their supposed right: but no sooner had the greatest part of the British fleet left those seas and returned to England, than the Spaniards turned their attention to Georgia, and commenced preparations for dislodging the English settlers in that province. Finding that threats and menaces could not terrify Oglethorpe into compliance with their demands, they determined to try the force of arms. They were aware that the general had made himself unpopular in South-Carolina by the failure of his attack upon. St. Augustine, and of the disgust entertained by the settlers of Georgia, against the plan of the trustees government, from which they had formed an antipathy to his person; and determined to take advantage of such a favorable moment to destroy his little army and settlement. Accordingly an armament was prepared at Havanna to be sent against him to expel him by force of arms from their frontiers with this view, two thousand troops commanded by Don Antonio de Rodondo, embarked at Havanna, and arrived about the first of May, at St. Augustine : but before this formidable fleet and armament had reached their destination, they were discovered by captain Haymer of the Flamborough man of war, who was cruising on that coast; and advice was immediately sent to general Oglethorpe of their arrival in Florida.

The general had now a fair opportunity of testing his military talents; such an army as this,