was dead.

Only a man of the strongest character, and possessing the most
remarkable qualities, could have made such a marked impression on the
political history of a commonwealth.

AFTER THE REVOLUTION.

[Illustration: After the Revolution 152]

The Revolution came to an end in Georgia when, on the 11th of July,
1782, Savannah was taken possession of by the American troops under
General Anthony Wayne. It ended for the whole country when, on the 30th
of November of the same year, the treaty of peace was signed at Paris
between the United States and Great Britain. The King of Great Britain
acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen States, and declared them
free and sovereign. This was a very happy event for the country, and
had been long looked forward to by the people, sometimes doubtfully, but
always hopefully.

But the great victory that had been won found the people of Georgia
prostrate. The little property that they possessed when the war
began had either been spent in maintaining the struggle, or well-nigh
destroyed by the raids of the British and Tories. In the larger
communities of Savannah and Augusta, the citizens had the resources of
trade and commerce to fall back on, but in the smaller settlements
and rural districts the condition of the inhabitants bordered on
destitution.

At the time that Savannah was surrendered to the American troops, there
was almost a famine in the land. The soldiers were without shoes, and
sometimes they were without supplies. The crops were short on account
of the lack of farmers. The condition of the people was quite as bad as
that of the troops, especially when the disbanded militia returned to
their homes. Houses, barns, and fences had been burned; stock and cattle
had been slaughtered or driven away; and there was a great lack of even
the necessities of life.

But those whose energy and spirit upheld them through the long struggle
for independence were not the men to surrender to the hard circumstances
that surrounded them. They went to work as bravely as they had fought;
and the sacrifices they made to peace were almost as severe, though
not so bloody, as those they had made to war. Slowly, but surely and
steadily, they reclaimed their waste farms. Slowly, but surely and
steadily, they recovered from the prostration that the war had brought
on their industries. Slowly, but surely and steadily, the people worked
their way back to comparative prosperity. Ther