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Parson and Squire 6r the glory of God and peace and goodwill among men." Although this change hardly made him as worldly as the stereotypical English parish priest, it represented a softening of previous positions and made him more comfortable dealing with the day..to..day activities of those under his charge. John Wesley was beginning to act like the parson James Oglethorpe had envisioned.44 Squire Oglethorpe did not remain in Georgia to see how well or how poorly Parson Wesley ultimately played his role. In late Novem.. ber 1736, he sailed for England, leaving government in the hands of magistrates whom the minister initially praised as being "not only regu.. lar in their own Conduct but desirous and watchful to suppress . . . whatever [was] openly III in the conduct of others." Wesley was still dis.. appointed that he had "less Prospect of preaching to the Indians, than [he] had the first Day [he] set Foot in America," but he appeared to accept his leader's priorities and soon reports reached England of how civil and religious authorities were cooperating "both to repress open vice and immorality, and promote the glory of God by establishing peace and mutual goodwill among men." Then when it appeared that the parson..squire arrangement Oglethorpe had sought was becoming reality, in his absence John Wesley, like Quincy before him, became associated with malcontents "who were closely link'd in opposing the Magistrates in the Execution of Justice." Thus "the Town was divided, and very few remained neutre, but expoused one Party or the other." This political indiscretion, augmented by his well..known personal quar.. reI with Chief Magistrate Thomas Causton, his niece Sophy, and her husband, discredited the parson in the eyes of those Georgians to whom the Trustees listened. With his reputation suffering both at home and abroad, Wesley concluded that his only recourse was to return to En.. gland, and in December 1737 he took his leave of Georgia.45 Wesley's departure acknowledged what most Georgians no doubt knew already-that despite some deceptive successes, the parson..squire arrangement could not survive without James Oglethorpe. He alone had the prestige and the power to assume the principal role, but he was unable (or at least unwilling) to delegate his patriarchal authority to those who governed in his stead. This failure reveals as much about the evolution of Georgia's sociopolitical system as it does about the singular significance of James Edward Oglethorpe. One might have ex... peeted the vacuum left when Oglethorpe departed to have worked to 62 Harvey H. Jackson the advantage of the Anglican church and its ministers, for his absence seemed to place them in a position to playa part in colonial affairs at least equal to that of magistrates, inasmuch as civil officers were gener.. ally the ministers' social, and certainly their intellectual, inferiors. But these officials were not ready to share their new authority and the status it conveyed. Oglethorpe and Wesley learned this when the squire, on the advice of his parson, attempted to administer justice outside the recently established civil order. How quickly and firmly, albeit politely, the magistrates challenged this intrusion into what they now considered their affairs made it clear they were prepared to defend their prerogatives against all assaults-even those by James Oglethorpe. Thus the minis.. ters found themselves subject to the authority of men like calico printer Causton, which made them more receptive to malcontent agitation against Trustee policy and those who enforced it.46 But even when Oglethorpe was present, the Anglican ministers re.. ceived less support than they wanted or expected. Religion was high on his list of priorities only when it served the needs of Georgia, and it shrank in importance when the colony was calm and the people or... derly. This attitude was apparent not only from the way Oglethorpe personally dealt with the clergy, and from his less than admirable atten... dance at worship, but also from the material assistance he provided. Despite specific instructions and sufficient contributions, no Anglican church was built in Georgia during these initial years. Early in 1735 Quincy acknowledged the disadvantage at which this placed him when he complained of how dissenters were "talk[ing) much of Building a meeting house and getting a Minister," and he expressed his belief that "if we had a Church it would lend very much to keep the English Dis.. senters especially in our Communion." But by this time Oglethorpe had apparently concluded...

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