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A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia -Intro and Preface

Source: A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America #173

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[Simplified by Amy, Intro and preface only here; the rest is divvied up into the chronology]

A True and Historical NARRATIVE Of the COLONY of GEORGIA, 
In America, From the First Settlement thereof until this present Period: Containing The most authentick Facts, Matters, and Transactions therein: TOGETHER WITH His Majesty's Charter, Representations of the People, Letters, &c. And A Dedication to His Excellency General Oglethorpe.

By
Patrick Tailfer, M. D.
Hugh Anderson, M. A.
Da. Douglas, and others,

Landholders in Georgia, at present in Charles-Town, in South-Carolina.
—Qui Deorum Muneribus sapienter uti, Duramq; callet Pauperiemq; pati, Pejusq; Letho
Flagitium timer, Non ille pro caris Amicis Aut Patria timidus Perire. H. 4 O.
Charles Town, South Carolina: Printed by P. Timothy, for the Authors, 1741.
P. Force, Washington, 1835.

To His Excellency James Oglethorpe, Esq; General and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Forces in SOUTH CAROLINA and GEORGIA; and one of the Honorable Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America, & c.

DEDICATION TO OGLETHORPE

Hopefully your name will attract more readers to this narrative
May it please Your Excellency,
AS the few surviving Remains of the Colony of Georgia find necessary to present the
World (and in particular Great Britain) with a true State of that Province from its first Rise to its present Period, Your Excellency (of all Mankind) is best entitled to the Dedication, as the principal Author of its present Strength and Affluence, Freedom and Prosperity: And though incontestable Truths will recommend the following NARRATIVE to the patient and attentive Reader; yet your Name, SIR, will be no little Ornament to the Frontispiece, and may possibly engage some courteous Perusers a little beyond it.

Hopefully we won’t flatter you too much
THAT Dedication and Flattery are synonymous is the Complaint of every Dedicator,
who deems himself ingenuous and fortunate if he can discover a less trite and direct
Method of flattering than is usually practiced; but we are happily prevented from the least Intention of this kind by the repeated Offerings of the Muses and News-Writers to Your Excellency in the public Papers: It would be presumptuous even to dream of equaling or increasing them; We therefore flatter ourselves that Nothing we can say will in the least shock Your Excellency's Modesty; not doubting but your Goodness will pardon any Deficiency of Elegance and Politeness on account of our Sincerity and the serious Truth we have the Honor to approach you with.

Other colonies have been established without rules and saw early success
WE have seen the ancient Custom of sending forth Colonies for the Improvement of any distant Territory or new Acquisition continued down to ourselves; but to Your Excellency alone it is owing that the World is made acquainted with a Plan highly refined from those of all former Projecters. They fondly imagin'd it necessary to communicate to such young Settlements the fullest Rights and Properties, all the Immunities of their Mother Countries, and Privileges rather more extensive: By such Means indeed, these Colonies flourish'd with early Trade and Affluence;

Oglethorpe protected us from corruption by keeping us poor
but Your Excellency's Concern for our perpetual Welfare could never permit you to propose such transitory Advantages for us: You consider'd Riches like a Divine and Philosopher, as the Irritamenta Malorum, and knew that they tend to inflate weak Minds with Pride to pamper the body with Luxury, and introduce a long Variety of Evils. Thus have you Protected us from ourselves, as Mr. Waller says, by keeping all Earthly Comforts from us: You have afforded us the Opportunity of arriving at the Integrity of the Primitive Times, by intailing a more than Primitive Poverty on us: The Toil that is necessary to our bare Subsistence must effectually defend us from the Anxieties of any further Ambition: Since we have no Properties to feed Vain-Glory and beget Contention, we are not puzzled with any System of Laws to ascertain and establish them:

You have kept us humble and focused by forbidding slaves and alcohol
The valuable Virtue of Humility is secured to us by your Care to prevent our procuring, or so much as seeing, any Negroes, (the only human Creatures proper to improve our Soil) lest our Simplicity might mistake the poor Africans for greater slaves than ourselves: And so that we might fully receive the Spiritual Benefit of those wholesome Austerities, you have wisely denied us the Use of such Spirituous Liquors as might in the least divert our Minds from the Contemplation of our Happy Circumstances.

We could go on forever about your greatness, but we could never do it justice
OUR Subject swells upon us; and if we allowed ourselves to indulge our Inclination without considering our weak Abilities, we would be tempted to expound upon many of
Your Excellency's extraordinary Endowments which do not so much regard the Affair at Hand. Not only would that lead us beyond the Bounds of a Dedication, but it would also engross a Subject too extensive for us, to the Prejudice of other Authors and Panegyrists; We shall therefore confine ourselves to that remarkable Scene of Your Conduct, whereby Great Britain in general and the Settlers of Georgia in particular are laid under such inexpressible Obligations.

Just look at how strong we are at a phase when other colonies have failed
BE pleased then, Great SIR, to accompany our heated Imaginations in taking a View of
this Colony of Georgia! this Child of your auspicious Politicks! arrived at the utmost Vigor of its Constitution, at a phase when most former States have been straggling through the Convulsions of their Infancy. This early Maturity however, lessons our Admiration, that Your Excellency lives to see (what few Founders ever aspired after) the great Decline and almost final Termination of it. So many have finish'd their Course during the Progress of the Experiment, and such Numbers have retreated from the Fantoms of Poverty and Slavery which their cowardly Imaginations pictur'd to them; that you may justly vaunt with the boldest Hero of them all, — Like Death you reign O'er silent Subjects and a desert Plain.

Despite your catch-all mode of government, our colony is becoming a ghost town
YET must your Enemies (if you have any) be forced to admit that no ordinary Statesman could have orchestrated so capacious a Scheme, such a copious Jumble of Power and Politicks. We shall content ourselves with observing that all those beauteous Models of Government which the little States of Germany exercise, and those extensive Liberties which the Boors of Poland enjoy, were design'd to work together in your System; If we consider all the different modes of Government, we must have been strangely unlucky to have miss'd out on the best, despite the fact that we seemed to have had a great Variety; for under the Influence of our Perpetual Dictator, we have seen something like Aristocracy, Oligarchy, as well as the Triumvirate, Decemvirate and Consular Authority of famous Republics, which have expired many Ages before us: Is it any wonder that we share the same Fate? Do their Towns and Villages exist but in Story and Rubbish? We are all over Ruins; our Public-Works, Forts, Wells, High-Ways, Light-House, Store and Water-Mills, &c. are dignified like theirs, with the same venerable Desolation. The Log-House indeed is likely to be the last forsaken Spot of your Empire; yet even this, thro' the Death or Desertion of those who should continue to inhabit it, must suddenly decay; the Bankrupt Jailor himself shall be soon denied the Privilege of human Conversation; and when this last Moment of the Spell expires, the whole shall vanish like the Illusion of some Eastern Magician.

Don’t worry, you’ll still be immortalized through the memoirs of America
BUT don’t let this single thought give you fear that your Services to Mankind and to the Settlers of Georgia will be buried in Oblivion; for if we diminutive Authors are allow'd to prophesy (as you know Poets in those Cases formerly did) we may confidently predict that as long as the Memoirs of America continue to be read in English, Spanish, or the Language of the Scots High Landers, Your Excellency's Exploits and Epocha will be transmitted to Posterity.

Any intelligent person will agree with our tribute
SHOULD Your Excellency apprehend the least Tincture of Flattery in anything already
hinted; we may sincerely assure you, we intended nothing that our Sentiments did not very strictly attribute to your Merit; and in such Sentiments, we have the Satisfaction of being fortified by all Persons of Impartiality and Discernment.

Enough with the praises
But to trespass no longer on those Minutes which Your Excellency may suppose more
significantly employ'd on the Sequal; let it suffice for now to assure you that we are
deeply affected with your Favours; and though unable of ourselves properly to acknowledge them, we shall embrace every Opportunity of Recommending you to higher Powers, who (we are hopeful) will reward Your Excellency according to your MERIT.

May it please Your Excellency, Your Excellency's Most devoted Servants, The Land-
Holders of Georgia, Authors of the following Narrative.

PREFACE.

The whole world is watching Georgia. Why so late with this report?
THE Colony of Georgia has afforded so much subject of Conversation to the World that there is no question that a true and impartial Account of it from its first Settlement to its present 'Period will be generally welcomed; all the more so since the Subject has
up to now been so much disguised and misrepresented in Pamphlets, Poems, Gazettes and Journals. IF ask'd Why this Narrative has not been publish'd to the World sooner? We assign two Reasons which (we doubt not) will be satisfactory.

None of the Trustees ever came to see if Oglethorpe’s schemes matched our circumstances
First, A Number of Honorable Gentlemen accepted the Charge of Trustees for executing the Purposes in his Majesty's most gracious Charter; Gentlemen, whose Honor and Integrity we never did or yet do call in question: But, to our great Misfortune, none of that honorable Body, (excepting Mr. Ogelthorpe) ever had Opportunity of Viewing the Circumstances of the Colony and judging for themselves as to the Necessities thereof. How far Mr. Oglethorpe's Schemes were consistent with the Welfare or Prosperity of it will best appear from the following Narrative.

The board only listened to Oglethorpe, and he would not listen to us
WHEN Experience gradually unfolded to us the Alterations we found absolutely necessary for our survival, we made all dutiful and submissive Applications to these our Patrons, in whom we placed so much Confidence: This Course we judged the most proper and direct, and therefore repeated these our dutiful Applications both to the Body of the Trustees and to Mr. Oglethorpe; but alas! our Miseries could not alter his Views of Things, and therefore we could obtain no Redress from him; and we found the honorable Board to be prejudiced against our Petitions (no doubt) through Misinformations and Misrepresentations; and this (we are confident) a further Enquiry and Time will convince them of.

We should be commended for not going over the Board’s heads
THE inviolable Regard we paid to the honorable Board kept us from applying to any
other Power for Redress, whilst the least Hopes Could be entertained of any from them:
And we make no doubt but that our Moderation in this respect will recommend us to all
Persons of Humanity.

If we had spoke out sooner, our corrupt judges would have punished us
A SECOND Reason is that we had daily Occasion of seeing our supreme court who ruled over us with unlimited Power exercising illegal Acts of Authority, by Threatenings, Imprisonments, and other Oppressions. Therefore, we had Reason to believe that any further Steps to obtain Relief might subject us to similar Effects of arbitrary Power; so, until now, when a Handful of us have Escaped to Land of Liberty (after having made Shipwreck of our Time and Substance in that unhappy Colony) we had no Power to represent the State of that Settlement to the World or apply to higher Powers for Redress.

This narrative will satisfy Brits who are surprised that we could not succeed with all these benefits
WE hope the Perusal of the following Sheets will rectify two sorts of Readers
in their Surprise in relation to the Colony of GEORGIA: Those of Great Britain who
have never known this Part of the World except by Description; and those of America: The First are no doubt surprised to think it possible that so pleasant and temperate a Clime, so fruitful a Soil, such extensive Privileges, all which were publicly given out, and such considerable Sums of public and private Benefaction, have not satisfied and enriched us: Them we refer to the following Narrative for Satisfaction.
This narrative will also satisfy Americans who are surprised that so many of us could be so duped
The American Reader, on the other Hand, must be equally surprised to find that so many people could be so fooled and blindfolded as to expect to live in this Part of America by Cultivation of Lands without Negroes, and much more without Titles to their Lands, and laid under a Load of Grievances and Restrictions: And though these were redress'd, How could Persons their Senses ever imagine that Fifty Acres of Pine-Barren not worth Fifty Six pences (and whereof many Thousands may be purchased at half that Rate in the neighboring Province) could maintain a Family of white People and such Duties and Quit-Rents in a few Years as the richest Grounds in Carolina or other Provinces in America will never bear? To these last we shall only beg leave to observe that such fatal Artifice was used, (we shall not say by whom) such specious Pretenses were made use of, and such real Falsities advanced, and the smallest Foundations of Truth magnified to Hyperbole that we, who had no Opportunity of knowing otherwise or means of learning the real Truth, and without Suspicion of Artifice or Design, easily believed all these and fell into the Decoy.

All men are hopeful; some prey on other’s hopes
THE Mind of Man is Naturally curious and enterprising; we easily feed our Wishes into
Realities, and affect and look upon every Novelty in the most favorable Light; how easy then is it for Cunning and Artifice to latch on to the weak Sides of our Fellow-Creatures, as we catch Fish with a Hook baited to their particular Gout?
Listen to the amazing opportunity propagated by this anonymous 1733 brochure
TO prove this Charge, we shall only transcribe some Passages from a Piece of Prose
and some from a Piece of Poesie; by which Specimens the Reader may judge of some
considerable Number which were dispersed and vended of the same Stamp. THE First are from a Pamphlet printed at London, 1733, entitled, A new and accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia. The Author has not thought fit to favor us with his Name; but it is easy to conceive that we, who suspected no Artifice or Design, would conclude that it came from the best Authority, from the Circumstances of its being dispersed publicly and not being contradicted, and from the Author's intimate Acquaintance (at least so pretended) with all the Trustees’ Measures and Designs. After a high Encomium upon the Trustees, 
Page 7, he says, 
“The Air of Georgia healthy, being always serene and pleasant, never subject to excessive Heat or Cold or sudden Changes of Weather; the Winter is regular and short, and the Summer cooled with refreshing Breezes; it neither feels the cutting Northwest Wind that the Virginians complain of, nor the intense Heats of Spain, Barbary, Italy and Egypt. The soil will produce anything with very little Culture.”
— Page 19, 
All sorts of Corn yield an amazing Increase; One Hundred fold is the common Estimate; though their Husbandry is so slight that they can only be said to scratch the Earth and neatly cover the Seed: All the best sort of Cattle and Fowls are multiplied without Number, and therefore without a Price: Vines are Natives here.”
— Page 21,
“The Woods near Savannah are not hard to be cleared; many of them have no Under-Wood, and the Trees do not stand generally thick on the Ground, but at considerable Distances asunder: When you fall the Timber for Use, or to make Tar, the Root will rot in four or five Years; and in the meantime you may Pasture the Ground; but if you would only destroy the Timber, it's done by half a Dozen Strokes of an Ax surrounding each Tree a little above the Root, in a Year or two the Water getting into the Wound rots the Timber, and a brisk Gust of Wind fells many Acres for you in an Hour, of which you may make one bright Bonfire. Such will be frequently here the Fate of the Pine, the Walnut, the Cypress, the Oak and the Cedar.”
Such an Air and Soil can only be described by a Poetical Pen because there is no Danger of exceeding the Truth; therefore, take WALLER'S Description of an island in the Neighborhood of CAROLINA to give you an Idea of this happy Climate: 
“The Spring which but salutes us here 
Inhabits there and courts them all the Year. 
Ripe Fruits and Blossoms on the same Tree live; 
At once they promise what at once they give. 
So sweet the Air, so moderate the Clime, 
None sickly lives or dies before his Time; 
Heav'n sure has kept this Spot of Earth uncursed.”
To show how all Things were created first. Page 27, 
“The Indians bring many a Mile the whole Deer's Flesh, which they sell to the People who live in the Country for the Value of Six-pence Sterling; and a Wild Turkey of Forty Pound weight for the Value of Two-pence.”
—In Page 32, the Author when recommending the Georgia Adventure to Gentlemen of decayed Circumstances who must labor at Home or do worse states the following Objection:
“If such People can't get Bread here for their Labor, how will their Condition be mended in Georgia?” 
Which he solves in the following Manner: 
“The Answer is easy; Part of it is well attested and Part self-evident; they have Land there for Nothing, and that Land so fertile, that as is said before, they receive a Hundred fold Increase for taking very little Pains. Give here in England ten Acres of good Land to one of those helpless Persons, and I doubt not his Ability to make it sustain him, and by his own Culture, without leasing it to another; but the Difference between no Rent and rack'd Rent, is the Difference between Eating and Starving.”
— Page 32, 
“These Trustees not only give Land to the Unhappy who go there, but are also empowered to receive the voluntary Contributions of charitable Persons to furnish the poor Adventurers with all Necessaries for the Expense of their Voyage, occupying the Land, and supporting them till they find themselves comfortably settled; so that now the Unfortunate will not be obliged to bind themselves to a long Servitude to pay for their Passage; for they may be carried gratis into a Land of Liberty and Plenty, where they immediately find themselves in the Possession of a competent Estate, in a happier Climate than they knew before, and they are unfortunate indeed if here they cannot forget their Sorrows.”
— Nay, as if such Assertions as these were not powerful enough to influence poor People, Calculations are attached to demonstrate that a Family consisting of one poor Man, his Wife, and Child of seven Years old may in Georgia earn sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum, and this abstracted from Silk, Wine, &c
— Page 41, 
“Now this very Family in Georgia, by raising Rice and Corn sufficient for its Occasions, and by attending the Care of their Cattle and Land (which almost everyone is able to do in some tolerable Degree for himself) will easily produce in gross Value the Sum of sixty Pounds Sterling per Annum; nor is this to be wondered at, because of the valuable Assistance it has from a fertile Soil and a Stock given gratis; which must always be remembered in this Calculation. The Calculation of One Hundred such Families when formally extended, stands thus,
—Page 43,
In London One Hundred poor Men earn 	500 00 0
One Hundred Woman and, ‘One Hundred Children, 	500 00 0
Total	1000 00 0

In Georgia a Hundred Families earn, 
One Hundred Men for Labor, 	1200 00 0
Ditto for Care of their Stock ‘at leisure Hours, 	1200 00 0
One Hundred Woman and ‘One Hundred Children, 	2400 00 0
Land and Stock in ‘themselves, 	1200 00 0
Total, 	6000 00 0

One last temptor, Reverend Samuel Wesley
BUT we must conclude this Head, lest we tire the Reader. We shall now beg Leave to
quote a few Poetical Accounts of this Paradise of the World, and of the Fatherly Care and
Protection we might depend on from Mr. Oglethorpe. A Hundred Hackney Muses might
be referenced, but we shall confine ourselves to the celebrated Performance of the Rev.
Mr. Samuel Wesley, where we might well expect a sufficient Stock of Truth and Religion to
counter-balance a Poetical License. Vide a Poem entitled, GEORGIA, and Verses upon
Mr. Oglethorpe's second Voyage to Georgia. Printed London, 1736.
‘SEE where beyond the spacious Ocean lies 
‘A wide waste Land beneath the Southern Skies; 
‘Where kindly Suns for Ages rolled in vain, 
‘Nor e'er the Vintage saw, or ripening Grain; 
‘Where all Things into wild Luxuriance ran, 
‘And Burdened Nature asked the Aid of Man. 
‘In this sweet Climate and prolific Soil, 
‘He bids the eager Swain indulge his Toil; 
‘In free Possession to the Planter's Hand, 
‘Consigns the rich uncultivated Land. 
‘Go you, the Monarch cries, go settle there, 
‘Whom Britain from her Plenitude can spare; 
‘Go, your old wonted Industry pursue; 
‘Nor envy Spain the Treasures of Peru. 
‘—
‘But not content in Council here to join, 
‘A further Labor Oglethorpe, is thine: 
‘In each great Deed thou claimest the foremost Part, 
‘And Toil and Danger charm thy generous Heart:
‘But chief for this thy warm Affections rise; 
‘For oh! thou viewest it with a Parent's Eyes: 
‘For this thou tempest the vast tremendous Main, 
‘And Floods and Storms oppose their Threats in vain. 
‘—
‘He comes, whose Life while absent from your View
‘Was one continued Ministry for you; 
‘For you were laid out all his Pains and Art, 
‘Won every Will and softened every Heart.
‘With what paternal Joy shall he relate 
‘How views its Mother Isle your little State: 
‘Think while he strove your distant Coast to gain 
‘How oft he sighed and chid the tedious Main!
‘Impatient to survey, by Culture graced, 
‘Your dreary Woodland and your rugged Waste.
‘Fair were the Scenes he feigned, the Prospects fair; 
‘And sure, ye Georgians, all he feigned was their. 
‘A Thousand Pleasures crowd into his Breast; 
‘But one, one mighty Thought absorbs the rest, 
‘And gives me Heaven to see, the Patriot cries, 
‘Another Britain in the Desert rise. 
‘—Again, 
‘With nobler Products see thy Georgia teems, 
‘Cheered with the genial Sun's director Beams; 
‘There the wild Vine to Culture learns to yield, 
‘And purple Clusters ripen through the Field. 
‘Now bid thy Merchants bring thy Wine no more 
‘Or from the Iberian or the Tuscan Shore: 
‘No more they need the Hungarian Vineyards drain, 
‘And France herself may drink her best Champaign. 
‘Behold! at last, and in a subject Land, 
‘Nectar sufficient for thy large Demand; 
‘Delicious Nectar, powerful to improve 
‘Our hospitable Mirth and social Love: 
‘This for thy jovial Sons.
—Nor less the Care 
‘Of thy young Province, to oblige the Fair; 
‘Here tend the Silk Worm In the verdant Shade, 
‘The frugal Matron and the blooming Maid.

Who wouldn’t be duped by all that?
FROM the Whole, we doubt not, the Reader will look upon us as sufficiently punished for
our Credulity: And indeed, who would not have been caught with such Promises, such
Prospects? What might not the Poor Man flatter himself with from such a change in
his Situation? And how much more might a Gentleman expect from a plentiful Stock of his
own and Numbers of Servants to set up with? Could a Person with the least Faith have questioned Committing his Interests to such Guardians and such a tender Father as
Mr. Oglethorpe was believed to be? Whether he has acted out that generous, that humane,
that fatherly Part, the following Narrative must determine.

It wasn’t the land that failed, it was the management
As for those Poetical Licenses regarding the Wine and Silk; we do not transcribe them as a Reflection upon the Author; but as a Satyr upon the Mismanagement of those Manufactures, since no Measures were taken that seemed really intended for their Advancement. WE don’t even question the Possibility of advancing such Improvements in Georgia with far less Sums of Money properly applied than the Public has bestowed: But not even the Flourishing of Wine and Silk, can make a Colony of British Subjects happy if they are deprived of the Liberties and Properties of their Birth-right.

We don’t want to slander, but the truth will deliver justice
WE have tried hardest to be careful with reputations; but as we undertake to write an Account of Facts and Truths; there is no Help for it when those Facts and Truths press home. IT is a common Satisfaction to Sufferers to expose to the Public the Rocks upon which they split and the Misfortunes by which they suffered; and it may well be allowed us to publish the Causes to which we attribute the Ruin of that Settlement and ourselves; even more so since we are  prosecutors for Justice from higher Powers, which we expect we will receive as the Case deserves.

We hope these truths expose this great tragedy
WE hope the Truth of the following Narrative will attract the attention of the candid Reader. The fatal Truths of this Tragedy has already been sealed with the Death of Multitudes of our Fellow-Creatures; but still (Thanks to the Providence of the Almighty) some survive to attest and confirm the Truth of what is herein contained against any Persons or Names, however great, however powerful. Our Circumstances and Sincerity will excuse our lack of eloquence which might have represented our Case better to the casual Reader, whom we shall no longer detain from the Subject in Hand.

A TRUE AND HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, &C.

It’s hard to be impartial when you’re been wronged
NOTHING is more difficult for Authors than to divest themselves of Bias and Partiality,
especially when they themselves are Parties or Sufferers in the Affair being described.

People will probably assume we are skewing the story
IT is possible people may assume this about us, the Publishers of this Narrative; it may be imagined that the Hardships, Losses and Disappointments we have met with in the Colony of Georgia will naturally sour our attitude and cause us to represent everything in the worst Light.

To avoid being discredited as biased, we tried to use as few names and supporting documents as possible
Since the Probability of those assumptions is very obvious to us, we have to the utmost of our Power guarded against the weak Side of ourselves; and to convince the World of our Sincerity, we shall no further descend into the Grievances of particular Persons than is absolutely required to make our General Narrative intelligible; and to a faithful Detail of Public Vouchers, Records, Extracts, Missives, Memorials and Representations, shall only adjoin so much of History as may be necessary to recount the most material Events and complete the Connection.

We hope that a totally objective narrative will result in repair rather than revenge
WE hope that an Information founded upon the strictest Truth will effectually introduce any further Steps that Providence shall enable us to take towards procuring the Redress of our Grievances. While we had the least Hopes of Redress from our immediate Superiors and Patrons, and when we began to despair of Relief by that Channel, we dared not appeal to any other Tribunal because we would expose ourselves to the dreadful revenge of those who had reduced us to Poverty by Oppression: Sure enough, every time we applied for Redress, we were brow-beat, obstructed, threatened, and branded with opprobrious Names, such as proud, idle, lazy, discontented and mutinous People, and several other Appellations of that kind; and were always afterwards harassed by all Means whatsoever, several Instances of which will appear to the Reader in the Sequel.

We are now safe to speak out, despite it being too late for many of our dead neighbors
OUR recent Retreat from that Confinement to a Land of Liberty enables us to speak
the Truth; and though our Endeavors are too late to relieve the Dead, the Dying, and those many now dispersed in all the Corners of his Majesty's Dominions; yet they may be the Means of ushering in Sympathy and Assistance to the Survivors and multitudes of Widows and Orphans of the Deceased from the Humane and Generous.
We aim to keep this as objective as possible in order keep our audience’s attention
AS our sole Design is to give a plain Narrative of the Establishment and Progress of the Colony of GEORGIA from its Rise to its present Period; we shall court no other Ornaments than those of Truth and Perspicuity; and shall endeavor to carry the Reader's Attention consistently from the first to the last Motions we make mention of.

[1732 – THE ROYAL CHARTER OF GEORGIA]