suggest. Probably, in many instances,
they were glad to accompany the husband and father into serfdom. Warrants
could not be served on Sunday, one day of the seven being reserved when
the wretched debtor might rest in security, and the hunted criminal
forget that he was outlawed.

* * *

While other colonies were founded as places of refuge for Christians
oppressed on account of their religion, Georgia had its origin in the
humane desire of General James Edward Oglethorpe to establish an asylum
for poor debtors, with whom the prisons of England were over-crowded, the
colony also to be a haven for the Protestants of Germany and other
continental States. The proprietors of the Carolinas surrendered their
charters to the crown in 1729, and King George II was, therefore, free to
grant, June 9, 1732, a charter for a corporation for twenty-one years "in
trust for the poor," to found a colony in the disputed territory south of
the Savannah, to be called Georgia, in honor of the king. The trustees,
appointed by the crown, possessed all the power both of making and
executing laws. The people of Charleston, South Carolina, gave welcome to
Oglethorpe and his immigrants, for South Carolina had been greatly
harassed by the Spaniards to the south, and by the powerful tribes of
Indians who occupied a large portion of the proposed colony. General
Oglethorpe laid the foundation of the future State on the site of
Savannah, and notwithstanding grievous restrictions on the ownership of
land, the colony attracted many settlers from England, Scotland and
Germany. The Spaniards invaded Georgia in 1742 with a fleet of
thirty-five vessels from Cuba and a land force three thousand strong.
Oglethorpe had but a small body of troops, chiefly Scotch Highlanders,
but by courage and strategy he inflicted a sanguinary defeat on the
Spaniards at the place called the "Bloody Marsh." Ten years later, in
1742, Georgia became a royal province, and secured the liberties enjoyed
by other American provinces under the crown.

SECOND PERIOD.

The Struggle for Empire.

CHAPTER XIII.

Struggle for Empire in North America--The Vast Region Called Louisiana
--War Between England and France--New England Militia Besiege Quebec
--Frontenac Strikes the Iroquois--The Capture of Louisburg--The Forks
of the Ohio--George Washington's Mission to the French--Braddock's
Defeat--Washington Prevents Utter Disaster--Bar