erence to the remarkable effect the establishment of his
colony had on emigration to America. Pennsylvania gave a refuge and home
to the most intelligent and progressive peoples of Europe, chafing under
the religious restrictions which, at home, they could not escape. The
Mennonites, the Dunkers, and the Palatines were among these, but by far
the most important were the so-called Scotch-Irish--Scotchmen who, a
century before, had been sent to Ireland by the English government, in
the hope of establishing there a Protestant population which would, in
time, come to outnumber and control the native Irish. The Scotch were
Presbyterians, of course, and finding the Irish environment distasteful,
began, about 1720, to come to America in such numbers that, fifty years
later, they formed a sixth part of our entire population. Nearly all of
them settled in Western Pennsylvania, from which a steady stream flowed
ever southward and westward, furnishing the hardy pioneers of Kentucky
and Tennessee, and forming the main strength of American democracy. We
shall see, in the chapters which follow, how many of the men eminent in
the country's history, traced their descent from this stock.

* * * * *

One more interesting experiment in colonization, conceived and carried
out by a man of unusual personality, remains to be recorded. James
Oglethorpe, born in 1689, for forty years led the usual life of the
wealthy English gentleman--first the army, then a period of quiet
country life, and finally parliament. There, however, he took a place
apart, almost at once, by his interest in prison reform. The condition
of the English prisons of the day was indescribably foul and loathsome,
and as horror after horror was unearthed by his investigations, a great
project began to take shape in his mind. This was nothing less than the
founding in America of a colony where prisoners for debt should be
encouraged to settle, and where they should be given means to make a new
start in life. For in those days, a man who could not pay his debts was
cast into prison and kept there, frequently in the greatest misery, as
though that helped matters any.

In 1732, Oglethorpe succeeded in securing a charter for such a colony,
which he named Georgia, in honor of the King. Trustees were appointed,
the support of influential men secured, and on November 16, 1732, the
first shipload of emigrants left England. Oglethorpe himself accompanied