The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740.




Chapter I. Antecedent Events.



The Province of Georgia.

It was in the year 1728 that the English Parliament was persuaded
by James Oglethorpe, Esq. -- soldier, statesman and philanthropist, --
to appoint a committee to investigate the condition of the debtors
confined in the Fleet and Marchalsea prisons. The lot of these debtors
was a most pitiable one, for a creditor had power to imprison a man
for an indefinite term of years, and the unfortunate debtor,
held within the four walls of his prison, could earn no money
to pay the debt that was owing, and unless friends came to his rescue,
was utterly at the mercy of the oft-times barbarous jailor. The Committee,
consisting of ninety-six prominent men, with Oglethorpe as Chairman,
recommended and secured the redress of many grievances, and the passing
of better laws for the future, but Oglethorpe and a few associates
conceived a plan which they thought would eradicate the evil
by striking at its very root, the difficulty which many found
in earning a living in the overcrowded cities.