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.