The Project Gutenberg eBook, Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe, by Thaddeus Mason Harris
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe
Release Date: January 11, 2004 [eBook #10677]
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIALS OF JAMES OGLETHORPE
***E-text prepared by Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIALS OF JAMES OGLETHORPE,
FOUNDER OF THE COLONY OF GEORGIA, IN NORTH AMERICA.
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES; OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY AT ATHENS, GREECE; OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY; THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY; THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY; AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
TO THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENTS, THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS
TO I.K. TEFFT, ESQ., WILLIAM B. STEVENS, M.D., AND A.A. SMETS, ESQ., _OF SAVANNAH_;
WITH A LIVELY SENSE OF THE INTEREST WHICH THEY HAVE TAKEN IN THE PUBLICATION OF THIS WORK, THIS PAGE IS INSCRIBED BY THEIR OBLIGED AND GRATEFUL FRIEND,
"Thy great example will in glory shine, A favorite theme with Poet and Divine; Posterity thy merits shall proclaim, And add new honor to thy deathless fame."
[Illustration: GEN. JAMES OGLETHORPE. _This sketch was taken in February preceding his decease when he was reading without spectacles at the sale of the library of Dr. S. Johnson.
Having visited the South for the benefit of my health, I arrived at Savannah, in Georgia, on the 10th of February, 1834; and, indulging the common inquisitiveness of a stranger about the place, was informed that just one hundred and one years had elapsed since the first settlers were landed there, and the city laid out. Replies to other inquiries, and especially a perusal of McCall's History of the State, excited a lively interest in the character of General OGLETHORPE, who was the founder of the Colony, and in the measures which he pursued for its advancement, defence, and prosperity. I was, however, surprised to learn that no biography had been published of the man who projected an undertaking of such magnitude and importance; engaged in it on principles the most benevolent and disinterested; persevered till its accomplishment, under circumstances exceedingly arduous, and often discouraging; and lived to see "a few become a thousand," and a weak one "the flourishing part of a strong nation."