John Andrew Doyle

“ It is true, as Bacon says in his 'Essay on Plantation,' that 'it is a shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum of people and wicked condemned men to be the people whom you plant.' Oglethorpe, however, was careful to introduce certain conditions which lessened, though they could not avert, the evils resulting from his choice of settlers. ”

“ There is an economy of space which is seeming, not real. If history is to be digested it must be taken in, not in essence, but in solution. Many a detail which does not itself abide in the reader's memory nevertheless has formed an important step in the process by which the whole story has got a hold on his mind. Mr. Bancroft's work takes in two matters which may be called controversial. One is the dealing of the early settlers in Oregon with the English traders of the Hudson's Bay Company, the other their conduct towards the natives. ”

“ In all times colonisation has suggested itself as a remedy for the economical ills of old countries. In June 1732 Oglethorpe, with twenty associates, obtained a charter for settling the colony of Georgia in America, a tract lying between the rivers Savannah and Alatamaha, named in honour of George II, who gave Oglethorpe every encouragement. ”

“ O'Kelly was additionally famous in his day as the owner of a talking parrot, which whistled the 104th Psalm, and was among parrots what Eclipse was among racehorses. O'Kelly is described by a contemporary as ‘a short, thick-set, dark, harsh-visaged, and ruffian-looking fellow,’ yet with ‘the ease, the agremens, the manners of a gentleman, and the attractive quaintness of a humourist.’ He evidently showed no wish to turn his back on his poor relations, and it is to his credit that, although a professional gamester, he would never allow play at his own table. ”

“ The British won, and repeated their success in a similar match shot in 1883 at Wimbledon. On that occasion Lord Brownlow, then chairman of the National Rifle Association, was the titular captain of the British team, with Halford as his working subordinate.
In 1880 Halford was appointed a member of the government small arms committee. The introduction of the Lee-Metford rifle as the British service arm was due to the report of that committee. Halford had great knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of gunnery and gunmaking; he was intimate with William Ellis Metford [q. v. Suppl.] ”

“ At the beginning of the movement in 1860 he took command of a company of the Leicestershire volunteers. In 1862 he became colonel of the battalion. In 1868 he resigned, but resumed the office in 1878, and held it till 1891, in which year he became honorary colonel. ”

“ In that autunm war was declared against Spain, and Oglethorpe was ordered to harass St. Augustine. The mode of operation was left to his own choice. The Spaniards struck the first blow. Oglethorpe had fortified and garrisoned Amelia Island, some fifty miles south of Frederica. This the Spaniards attacked, but their only success was to find and kill two invalids straggling in the woods. Oglethorpe soon retaliated with the capture of a Spanish outpost. He then determined to attack St. Augustine. Time was important; Cuba was then under blockade by the English fleet ”

“ This had just passed through a revolution, and now elected Underhill governor, a post which he managed to retain for nearly two years. After further disputes with the government of Massachusetts he moved to New Haven, where in 1643 he served in the assembly as representative for Stamford. In the same year he removed to New Netherlands, and served the Dutch against the Indians. He married a Dutch wife, but in 1653 was expelled from New Netherlands as a seditious character. ”

“ Soon afterwards a friend named Castell, who had fallen into debt, was imprisoned in the Fleet, and, being unable to pay the accustomed fees to the warder, was confined in a house where the small-pox was raging. ”

“ He soon acquired a good reputation, and was chosen in 1634 to represent Boston in the Massachusetts assembly. In 1637 he served with credit in the war against the Pequot Indians. He was appointed captain in command of the New England detachment by Sir Henry Vane, and, after he had effected a junction with the New Hampshire forces under Captain John Mason (1600–1672) [q. v.] ”

“ To make the expedition successful, it was needful that South Carolina should take part in it. But here, as was so often the case in our operations on the northern and western frontier, it was impossible to secure efl^ective co-operation. In May 1740 Oglethorpe set forth with a land force, composed of his own regiment of Georgian militia and of Indian allies, numbering in all two thousand. They were also supported by four king's ships and a small schooner from South Carolina. Oglethorpe advanced as far as St. Augustine without encountering any serious opposition. ”