and at once to take the first
rank in the list of provinces depending on the British crown. Its
beauties and greatness were lauded by poets, statesmen and divines. It
attracted attention throughout Europe, and to that promised land there
pressed forward Swiss, German, Scotch and English alike. The benevolence
of England was aroused, and the charities of an opulent nation began to
flow towards the new plantation. The House of Parliament granted
L10,000, which was augmented, by private subscription, to L36,000.

Oglethorpe had implicit faith in the enterprise, and with the first
shipload, on board the Ann, he sailed from Gravesend November 17, 1732,
and arrived at the bar, outside of the port of Charleston, South
Carolina, January 13, 1733. Having accepted of a hearty welcome, he
weighed anchor, and sailed directly for Port Royal; and while his colony
was landing at Beaufort, he ascended the boundary river of Georgia, and
selected the site for his chief town on the high bluff, where now is the
city of Savannah. Having established his town, he then selected a
commanding height on the Ogeechee river, where he built a fortification
and named it Fort Argyle, in honor of the friend and patron of his early
years.

Within a period of five years over a thousand persons had been sent over
on the Trustee's account; several freeholders, with their servants, had
also taken up lands; and to them and to others also, settling in the
province, over fifty-seven thousand acres had been granted. Besides
forts and minor villages there had been laid out and settled the
principal towns of Augusta, Ebenezer, Savannah, New Inverness, and
Frederica. The colonists were of different nationalities, widely variant
in character, religion and government. There were to be seen the
depressed Briton from London; the hardy Gael from the Highlands of
Scotland; the solemn Moravian from Herrnhut; the phlegmatic German from
Salzburg in Bavaria; the reflecting Swiss from the mountainous and
pastoral Grisons; the mercurial peasant from sunny Italy, and the Jew
from Portugal.

The settlements were made deliberately and with a view of resisting any
possible encroachments of Spain. It was a matter of protection that the
Highlanders were induced to emigrate, and their assignment to the
dangerous and outlying district, exposed to Spanish forays or invasions,
is sufficient proof that their warlike qualities were greatly desired.
Experience also taught Oglethorpe th