chose they might move to the tract
any time during the two years. They might go to Tomochichi's Indians
whenever they saw fit and he consented. Other Indians could not be
visited in time of war, but in peace four Moravians should be licensed
to go to them, on the same footing as the English ministers. Those
living with Tomochichi were not included in this number. "As the
Moravian Church is believed to be orthodox and apostolic" no one should
interfere with their preaching the Gospel, or prevent the Indians from
attending their services in Savannah, or elsewhere. The title to their
five hundred acre tract was secured to the Moravians, even in case the
Count's male line should become extinct.
Reference to military service is conspicuous by its absence, and at the
very time that these resolutions were being framed, assurance on that
one point was being desperately needed in Savannah.
Rumors of War.
In February, 1737, that which Spangenberg had feared came upon the
Moravians,--military service was peremptorily demanded of them, the
occasion being a fresh alarm of Spanish incursions.
The feud between the colonists of Spain and England was of long
standing, dating back to rival claims to the New World by right of
discovery. The English asserted that through the Cabots they had a
right to the greater part of North America, and a grant to the Lords
Proprietors of Carolina, in 1663, named the 31 degree of latitude as the
southern boundary. Another patent two years later set the line at the
29 degree, but that availed nothing as it included the northern part of
Florida, where the Spanish were already settled in considerable numbers.
No other nation questioned the English claim to the sea-board as far
as the 31 degree, which was well south of the Altamaha, but the Spanish
greatly resented the settlements in Carolina, as encroaching on their
territory, though successive treaties between the two Governments
had virtually acknowledged the English rights. With the two nations
nominally at peace, the Spanish incited the Indians to deeds of
violence, encouraged insurrection among the negro slaves, welcomed those
who ran away, and enlisted them in their army. Now and then the Governor
of Carolina would send a force, which would subdue them for a time, but
the constant uncertainty made Carolina welcome the Georgia colony as a
protection to her borders.
The settlement of Georgia gave further offense to Spain, and her
subje
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