Page 75 - Pilgrims in Georgia

R Oglethorpe's later Life

From the inception of the ideals that sparked the proposal of the Georgia colony, the creation of its charter, the

recruiting of colonists, the settling of its people, the provisions for its people, it’s defense, and the plans for it’s
ongoing welfare, Oglethorpe had been as a father to the colony and the same to many of its colonist. So, In 1743
when Oglethorpe left for England, he did not know that he would not be returning to America again. The
Salisburgers who assisted Oglethorpe in this departure left him with a benediction, calling him, “an excellent and
blessed instrument of God.”
All during his oversight of the colony, because support from the Trustees and Parliament had never been sufficient,
Oglethorpe had mortgaged his landholdings back in England to finance the colony's needs. Although he hoped that
Parliament would repay his rising debts, he fully realized that he could lose everything. Oglethorpe believed in the
cause of Georgia—and as long as he had anything that he could mortgage to raise money for the colony, he was not
going to give up. By the time he returned to England the Trustees owed him approximately 92,000 pounds/$150,000.
As his life had been about service, He did not marry until he returned to England. Oglethorpe had been among the
first to articulate the Enlightenment case against slavery, banning it in the Province of Georgia on humanist grounds,
arguing against it in Parliament, and eventually encouraging his friends Granville Sharp and Hannah More to
vigorously pursue the cause. Soon after his death in 1785, they joined with William Wilberforce, who would soon
become the prime champion for the success of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

Eventually, James Oglethorpe began a long and healthy
retirement befriending Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke,
and others who were supporters to varying degrees of
American freedom. On June 1, 1785 John Adams was
received by King George III as the first minister to the

Court of St. James's from the United States of America.
Three days later Oglethorpe visited Adams and expressed
"a great esteem and regard for America, much regret at
the misunderstanding between the two countries, and
was very happy to have lived to see the termination of
it." He had lived to see his infant colony become a free
and independent state. At the age of 88 the General died
suddenly at Cranham Hall on June 30, 1785.