THE EARLY ARISTOCRACY.
Lord Clarendon and several other noblemen in 1663 obtained from Charles
II. a grant of lands lying south of Virginia which they called Carolina
in honor of the king, whose name was not really Carolina. Possibly that
was his middle name, however, or his name in Latin.
The Albemarle Colony was first on the ground. Then there was a Carteret
Colony in 1670. They "removed the ancient groves covered with yellow
jessamine" on the Ashley, and began to build on the present site of
Charleston.
The historian remarks that the growth of this Colony was rapid from the
first. The Dutch, dissatisfied with the way matters were conducted in
New York, and worn out when shopping by the ennui and impudence of the
salesladies, came to Charleston in large numbers, and the Huguenots in
Charleston found a hearty Southern welcome, and did their trading there
altogether.
We now pass on to speak of the Grand Model which was set up as a
five-cent aristocracy by Lord Shaftesbury and the great philosopher
John Locke. The canebrakes and swamps of the wild and snake-infested
jungles of the wilderness were to be divided into vast estates, over
which were proprietors with hereditary titles and outing flannels.
This scheme recognized no rights of self-government whatever, and denied
the very freedom which the people came there in search of. So there were
murmurings among those people who had not brought their finger-bowls and
equerries with them.
[Illustration: ARISTOCRACY SNUBBED.]
In short, aristocracy did not do well on this soil. Baronial castles,
with hot and cold water in them, were often neglected, because the
colonists would not forsake their own lands to the thistle and
blue-nosed brier in order to come and cook victuals for the baronial
castles or sweep out the baronial halls and wax the baronial floors for
a journeyman juke who ate custard pie with a knife and drank tea from
his saucer through a King Charles moustache.
Thus the aristocracy was forced to close its doors, and the arms of Lord
Shaftesbury were so humiliated that he could no longer put up his dukes
(see Appendix).
There had also been a great deal of friction between the Albemarle or
Carteret and the Charleston set, the former being from Virginia, while
the latter was, as we have seen, a little given to kindergarten
aristocracy and ofttimes tripped up on their parade swords while at the
plough. Of course outside of this were the plebeian people, or
copperas-culottes, who did the work; but Lord Shaftesbury for some time,
as we have seen, lived in a baronial shed and had his arms worked on the
left breast of his nighty.
So these two Colonies finally became separate States in the Union,
though there is yet something of the same feeling between the people.
Wealthy people come to the mountains of North Carolina from South
Carolina for the cool summer breezes of the Old North State, and have to
pay two dollars per breeze even up to the past summer.
Thus there was constant irritation and disgust up to 1729 at least,
regarding taxes, rents, and rights, until, as the historian says, "the
discouraged Proprietors ceded their rights to the crown."
[Illustration: TWO DOLLARS PER BREEZE.]
It will be noticed that the crown was well ceded by this time, and the
poet's remark seems at this time far grander and more apropos than any
language of the writer could be: so it is given here,--viz., "Uneasy
lies the head that wears a seedy crown." (See Appendix.)
The year of Washington's birth, viz., 1732, witnessed the birth of the
baby colony of Georgia. James Oglethorpe, a kind-hearted man, with a
wig that fooled more than one poor child of the forest, conceived the
idea of founding a refuge for Englishmen who could not pay up. The laws
were very arbitrary then, and harsh to a degree. Many were imprisoned
then in England for debt, but those who visit London now will notice
that they are at liberty.
[Illustration: OGLETHORPE'S WIG.]
Oglethorpe was an officer and a gentleman, and this scheme showed his
generous nature and philanthropic disposition. George II. granted him in
trust for the poor a tract of land called, in honor of the king,
Georgie, which has recently been changed to Georgia. The enterprise
prospered remarkably, and generous and charitable people aided it in
every possible way. People who had not been able for years to pay their
debts came to Georgia and bought large tracts of land or began
merchandising with the Indians. Thousands of acres of rich cotton-lands
were exchanged by the Indians for orders on the store, they giving
warranty deeds to same, reserving only the rights of piscary and
massacre.
[Illustration: NOT PAID THEIR DEBTS FOR YEARS.]
Oglethorpe got along with the Indians first-rate, and won their
friendship. One great chief, having received a present from Oglethorpe
consisting of a manicure set, on the following Christmas gave Oglethorpe
a beautiful buffalo robe, on the inside of which were painted an eagle
and a portable bath-tub, signifying, as the chief stated, that the
buffalo was the emblem of strength, the eagle of swiftness, and the
bath-tub the advertisement of cleanliness. "Thus," said the chief, "the
English are strong as the buffalo, swift as the eagle, and love to
convey the idea that they are just about to take a bath when you came
and interrupted them."
The Moravians also came to Georgia, and the Scotch Highlanders. On the
arrival of the latter, the Georgia mosquitoes held a mass meeting, at
which speeches were made, and songs sung, and resolutions adopted making
the Highland uniform the approved costume for the entire coast during
summer.
[Illustration: THE MOSQUITOES LIKED THE COSTUME.]
George Whitefield the eloquent, who often addressed audiences (even in
those days, when advertising was still in its infancy and the advance
agent was unheard of) of from five thousand to forty thousand people,
founded an orphan asylum. One audience consisted of sixty thousand
people. The money from this work all went to help and sustain the orphan
asylum. While reading of him we are reminded of our own Dr. Talmage, who
is said to be the wealthiest apostle on the road.
The trustees of Georgia limited the size of a man's farm, did not allow
women to inherit land, and forbade the importation of rum or of slaves.
Several of these rules were afterwards altered, so that as late as 1893
at least a gentleman from Washington, D.C., well known for his truth
and honesty, saw rum inside the State twice, though Bourbon whiskey was
preferred. Slaves also were found inside the State, and the negro is
seen there even now; but the popularity of a negro baby is nothing now
to what it was at the time when this class of goods went up to the top
notch.
Need I add that after a while the people became dissatisfied with these
rules and finally the whole matter was ceded to the crown? From this
time on Georgia remained a royal province up to the Revolution. Since
that very little has been said about ceding it to the crown.
North Carolina also remained an English colony up to the same period,
and, though one of the original thirteen Colonies, is still far more
sparsely settled than some of the Western States.
Virginia Dare was the first white child born in America. She selected
Roanoke, now in North Carolina, in August, 1587, as her birthplace. She
was a grand-daughter of the Governor, John White. Her fate, like that of
the rest of the colony, is unknown to this day.
* * * * *
The author begs leave to express his thanks here for the valuable
aid furnished him by the following works,--viz.: "The Horse and his
Diseases," by Mr. Astor; "Life and Times of John Oglethorpe," by
Elias G. Merritt; "How to Make the Garden Pay," by Peter Henderson;
"Over the Purple Hills," by Mrs. Churchill, of Denver, Colorado,
and "He Played on the Harp of a Thousand Strings, and the Spirits
of Just Men Made Perfect," by S. P. Avery.