Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/380

Rh better class” of people endeavoured to introduce negro slaves, Oglethorpe resolutely opposed it; declared that if slaves were introduced into Georgia, he would no longer concern himself with the colony. He continued stedfast, enforcing his determination by his almost arbitrary power, although many of the planters, in the belief that they could not successfully cultivate the land with white labourers, threatened to leave the colony.

Oglethorpe continued with unabated activity to labour for the well-being and prosperity of Georgia, extending and securing its boundaries, establishing towns, and regulating the commonwealth. He visited the Evangelical brethren at Ebenezer, laid out the streets for their new town, and praised their good management. Within a few years the product of raw silk within this little colony had increased to ten thousand pounds weight yearly, beside which indigo had become a staple article of traffic. In the most earnest manner these colonists opposed the use of negro-slaves, maintaining that the whites could, equally well, labour under the sun of Georgia. Their religion united them with each other; they settled their disputes among themselves. Every occurrence in life became significant of a divine providence, and the fervency of their worship disturbed not the calmness of their judgment. They had peace, and were happy.

From the Moravian towns, Oglethorpe journeyed southward, passing through the narrow inland channels where the shores were covered by woods of pine, evergreen oaks and cedars, which grew down to the water's edge, and which resounded with the melody of birds. On St. Simon's island, fire having cleared the grass from an old Indian field, the streets of Frederica were laid out, and, amid the carolling of hundreds of birds, a fort was constructed on a bluff commanding the river.

The highlands of Scotland had already sent a company of bold mountaineers, who sought for a home under