HOSTILITIES OF THE SPANIARDS.

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Soon after his return, another distinguished Methodist preacher, George Whitefield, arrived in the colony, and formed a project for establishing an orphan house for the education of poor children. He travelled all over the colonies and England, preaching and soliciting subscriptions for this purpose. His eloquence was very efficient in promoting his design; the orphan asylum was established, and still exists, although in no very flourishing

'condition.

Oglethorpe's attention was now directed to the defence of the colony. He erected a fort on the banks of the Savannah, and another near the mouth of the Altamaha, where a town called Frederica was laid out and built. Ten miles nearer the sea, on Cumberland Island, he raised a battery, commanding the entrance to Jekyl Sound, and protecting Frederica from ships of war.

The Spaniards sent a commissioner from Havanna, de manding the evacuation of all the territories south of St. Helena Sound, as belonging to the King of Spain. Oglethorpe, having vainly remonstrated against this claim, 'broke up the conference and returned to England. Here he received the appointment of general and commander in chief of all his majesty's forces in South Carolina and Georgia; and returned with a regiment of six hundred men, designed for the protection of the southern frontier.

The Spaniards, meantime, had been busy in attempting to detach the Creeks from their alliance with the English; but Oglethorpe, on his return, defeated the intrigues, and formed a new treaty of friendship with the chieftains. The Spaniards next employed a most unwarrantable stratagem against the English. Having corrupted an English soldier, who had been in their service, they employed him to excite a mutiny in Oglethorpe's camp, and an audacious attempt was made to assassinate the general. But his life was fortunately preserved, and the principal conspirators were shot.

By a report of the trustees, made in 1740, it appeared that twenty-five hundred emigrants had been sent out to the colony, and five hundred thousand dollars expended on its settlement, without rendering it independent of charitable contributions for support.

What is said of Whitefield ?-What measures of defence were taken by Oglethorpe ?-What was done by the Spaniards ?-By Oglethorpe ?— What force did he bring from England -With whom did he make a new treaty ?-What was attempted by the Spaniards?-What was the result?-What facts were reported by the trustees of Georgia ?

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INVASION OF GEORGIA BY THE INDIANS.

An expedition was undertaken, in 1740, for the reduction of St. Augustine, under the command of Oglethorpe, with an army consisting of four hundred troops, from Georgia and South Carolina, and a large body of auxiliary Indians. Two of the Spanish forts were taken, and St. Augustine was formally besieged. But the Spaniards, famous since the days of Seipio for resisting sieges, maintained their post; and the colonial army was compelled to retire.

In two years afterwards, this invasion was retaliated by a formidable land and naval force, chiefly from Havanna. The army consisted of three thousand men; and their object was to drive Oglethrope from the frontiers, break up the Georgia settlements, and then march on South Carolina and Virginia. As the South Carolinians had not yet sent him any assistance, the founder of Georgia was now left to his own resources.

His ability turned out to be fully equal to the emergency. By a well conceived stratagem, he succeeded in impressing the Spaniards with such a formidable idea of the superiority of his force, that they hastily abandoned the enterprise and returned in disgrace to St. Augustine. The province was thus delivered from a very threatening danger; for the force of the Spaniards was really far superior to that of General Oglethorpe.

The original charter of Georgia had prohibited the introduction of negroes and rum into the colony. The former of these restrictions was believed to have prevented the successful cultivation of their lands; and the latter cut off all commerce with the West Indies. Their lands also were held by a tenure not satisfactory to the inhabitants. The consequence was, that in ten years after their first settlement, the people could, with great difficulty, obtain a scanty subsistence; and new emigrants were discouraged from entering a colony which laboured under such apparent disadvantages. The complaints which were made to the trustees were utterly disregarded; and the colony was suffered to languish under all its discouragements till the year 1753, when the charter was surrendered to the king.

Give an account of the siege of St. Augustine ?-With what force did the Spaniards invade Georgia ?-What was the result ?-What were the subsequent events of Oglethorpe's life -What circumstances retarded the progress of the colony-What was the consequence ?→ When was the charter surrendered ?

Under the royal care the people were favoured with the same liberties and privileges which were enjoyed by the neighbouring colonies, and from this period Georgia rapidly advanced in population and wealth.

CHAPTER XXI.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE OLD FRENCH WAR.

HITHERTO We have regarded the British colonies of North America as distinct communities, and have accordingly traced their histories separately, from the periods of settlement to the middle of the eighteenth century. Although they had thus far acknowledged a general relationship, and in some instances had formed political combinations, yet their remoteness from each other, their several difficulties of early colonisation, and the border wars which they were compelled to wage with the aborigines in their respective neighbourhoods, had thus far prevented them from ever becoming consolidated and united in any common design.

It was perhaps fortunate, that the period had now arrived, when their whole frontier was threatened by an enemy sufficiently formidable to demonstrate the necessity of union and concerted action. They were henceforth to be one people, in war and in peace, bound together by common interests, touched by common sympathies, and nerved by one spirit.

The war with France, commenced in 1754, in which that nation vigorously prosecuted its design of fortifying the territory, which it claimed from Canada to Louisiana, was one in which every colony had a direct and lively interest. It accordingly developed the resources of the whole country, and taught the lesson which, in a subsequent, and more interesting struggle, was of such vital importance, the lesson, namely, that union is strength.

At the period when the war commenced, which was familiarly called, by the revolutionary veterans, the old French war, the French, in addition to their possessions in Canada and Nova Scotia, held a settlement in New

What followed-What circumstance united the British colonies of North America, in a common cause ?-When was the old French war commenced ?

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DESIGN AND CLAIMS OF FRANCE.

Orleans, and a number of others in the surrounding region, to which they had given the name of Louisiana. As their possessions were extended up the Mississippi, they conceived the grand design of forming a complete chain of fortifications from New Orleans to the lakes; thus partially surrounding the English colonies by a bow of which they would constitute the chord.

This project excited the most lively apprehension in the English nation, and its colonies. Having granted charters to the first adventurers, embracing the whole territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the English had advanced towards the west, in the full belief that their title to the country, in that direction, could not be controverted. The French settlements, scattered from Canada to the gulf of Mexico, of course interfered with these pretensions, and if held, would not only limit their territory, but expose the English inhabitants to perpetual incursions of the rival nation and its Indian allies, on the whole western border. The claims of France extended to the Alleghany mountains; and the whole fertile vale of the Mississippi became now the subject of a controversy, which could only be decided by the sword.

The white population of the English colonies, at the commencement of this contest exceeded one million of souls, while that of the French was estimated at only fifty-two thousand.

The governor of New France, a name given to the French possessions collectively, was by no means deterred from his purpose by this great disparity of numbers. While the population of his enemies was scattered over a widely extended territory, and under various local governments, that of his own dominion was all under his own direction, and occupied a comparatively small space. Besides, his own people were military in their spirit and habits, and his alliances with the Indians commanded a much larger number of those barbarous, but efficient auxiliaries, than could be mustered by his opponents. The Five Nations were almost the only Indian allies of the English, while the French were connected by ties of interest and friendship with all the innumerable hordes of the north and west.

How far had the French extended their settlements-What design had they formed ?-Describe the manner in which the claims of France and England conflicted.-What was the population of the English settlements?-Of the French?

PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO COMPANY.

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The command of Lake Champlain had been already attained by the French, who had erected a strong fort at Crown Point. A chain of fortifications had been extended up the St. Lawrence and along the great lakes; and this was designed to be continued down to the Mississippi. The execution of this design was hastened by an act of the English government. The king had granted to a corporation, called the Ohio company, a tract of 600,000 acres of land, lying in the disputed territory; and this company now proceeded to establish trading houses and survey the country.

The governor of Canada, considering this to be an intrusion on the French dominions, wrote to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing them of it, and threatening to seize the English traders, wherever they should be found. This intimation being disregarded, he seized some of the traders, and carried them prisoners to Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, where he was engaged in erecting a strong fort. He also opened a communication from Presque Isle, down French creek and the Alleghany river, to the Ohio, and kept it open by detachments of troops and by entrenchments.

Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, regarding these proceedings as so many acts of aggression on that colony, laid the subject before the assembly, and despatched Major George Washington, (the same who afterwards became so nobly conspicuous in the annals of his country,) with a letter to the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio, requiring him to retire from the dominions of his Britannic majesty. To this letter the French officer replied that he acted under the orders of his general, then in Canada, and should hold himself responsible only to him.

This answer being equivalent to a defiance, the Virginia spirit was roused, and active preparations were instantly commenced for a campaign. Early in the spring of 1754, Major Washington advanced with a detachment of his regiment into the disputed territory, where he fell in with and defeated a party of hostile French and Indians. Being joined by the remainder of his regiment, he pushed forward with the intention of preoccupying the post at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers;

What advantages had the French ?-What was done by the Ohio company-By the governor of Canada ?-What was his next proceed ing-What was done by Governor Dinwiddie ?-By George Washing. ton?-By the French officer ?-What was done in the spring of 1754