The Stavelot Triptych: A Masterpiece of Mosan…

The Georgia Trustees propose three pieces of legislation to the Privy Council in 1735 and have the satisfaction of securing the concurrence of king and council.

An Indian act requires Georgia licenses for trading west of the Savannah River.

Another act bans the use of rum in Georgia.

A third act outlaws slavery in Georgia.

South Carolina protests the Indian act vehemently and objects to the Trustees' order to restrict the passage of rum on the Savannah River.

The Board of Trade sides with South Carolina, and a compromise is reached, allowing traders with Carolina licenses to continue their traditional trade west of the Savannah River.

The Trustees object to the Board of Trade's tampering and refrain from proposing any additional legislation requiring approval of the Privy Council.

The most active members of the Georgia Trust, in terms of their attendance at council, corporation, or committee meetings, are, in order of frequency, James Vernon, the earl of Egmont, Henry L'Apostre, Samuel Smith, Thomas Tower, John LaRoche, Robert Hucks, Stephen Hales, James Oglethorpe, and Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury.

The number of meetings attended over the twenty-year span of Trustee Georgia will range from Vernon's seven hundred and twelve to Shaftesbury's two hundred and sixty-six.

Sixty-one Trustees will attend fewer meetings.

James Vernon, one of the original Associates of Dr. Bray and an architect of the charter, will maintain an interest in Georgia throughout the life of the Trust.

He had arranged the Salzburger settlement and has negotiated with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for missionaries.

He differs from Egmont and Oglethorpe in his willingness to respond to the colonists' complaints.

When Oglethorpe becomes preoccupied with the Spanish war after 1740, Vernon will propose the plan of dividing the colony into two provinces, Savannah and Frederica, each with a president and magistrates.

The Trustees had named William Stephens president in Savannah, and he will serve until 1751, when he is replaced by Henry Parker in the final year of the Trust's tenure.

Oglethorpe neglects to name a president for Frederica, and the magistrates there are instructed to report to Stephens.

The Trustees do not want to appoint a single governor because the king in council has to approve the appointment of governors, and the Trustees prefer to keep control in their hands.

After Egmont's retirement in 1742, Vernon will become the indispensable man.

He will miss only four of one hundred and fourteen meetings during the last nine years of the Trust and supervise the removal of restrictions on land tenure, rum, and slavery.

Egmont, the first president of the Common Council and the dominant figure among the Trustees until his retirement, acts as Georgia's champion in Parliament.

He strongly opposes Walpole's attempts to conciliate Spain at the expense of Georgia.

He has to walk a careful line, however, because the Trustees depend upon Walpole for their annual subsidies.

Other Trustees contribute According to their abilities.

Henry L'Apostre advises on finances, Samuel Smith on religion, and Thomas Tower on legal matters, particularly on instructions to Georgia officials.

Stephen Hales's closeness to the royal family and his standing as a scientist lends prestige to the body of Trustees.

Shaftesbury, a political opponent of Walpole, had joined the Common Council in 1733 and, except for a brief resignation, will remain faithful to the end, leading the negotiations to convert Georgia to a royal colony.

For the entire twenty years, the Trustees will employed only two staff members, Benjamin Martyn as secretary and Harman Verelst as accountant.

Oglethorpe returns in 1637 to England to demand a regiment of regulars from a reluctant Walpole.

Not only does he get his regiment and a commission as colonel, but Egmont persuades Walpole to pay for all military expenses.

Continual complaints by the colonists and the near abandonment of Georgia during the war with Spain have discouraged all but the most dedicated of the Trustees.

Especially embarrassing is the list of grievances presented on the floor of Parliament by Thomas Stephens, son of the Trustees' agent in Georgia, William Stephens.

A committee goes through the motions of looking into the complaints and then exonerates the Trustees.

Stephens is made to kneel in apology on the floor of Parliament.

However, the prestige of the Trustees has been wounded, and their influence in Parliament weakens.

Walpole had lost office in 1742, and the new administration declines the Trustees' request for funding.

Egmont resigns in protest, but not all the Trustees give up.

Under the leadership of Vernon and Shaftesbury, the Trustees conciliate the administration, and the government renews the annual subsidies until 1751, when the Trustees' request will again be denied.

Oglethorpe returns from Georgia in 1743 and will never again show the same enthusiasm for the work of the Trust.

He disagrees with the relaxation of the ban on rum in 1742.