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old tracts are written, they nevertheless reveal the high motives that influenced the writers, and the broad and humane benefits they hoped would accrue to England from their efforts in planting colonies in the new world. The first tract in the series (printed in 1717) "A Discourse Concerning the Designed Establishment of a Colony to the South of Carolina, " has for us a certain provincial interest, as the author, Sir Robert Montgomery, gives this account of his ancestry and the motives that influenced him to embark in a colonization scheme:—

It will perhaps afford some satisfaction to know that my design arises not from any sudden motive, but a strong bent of genius I inherit from my ancestors, one of whom was among those Knights of Nova Scotia purposely created near a hundred years ago for settling a Scots' colony in America; but the conquest of that country by the French prevented his design, and so it lies on his posterity to make good his intentions for the service of his country.

Notwithstanding Sir Robert's eloquent appeal for his colony, which he named the "Margravate of Azilia," and his bold assertion, "that it lies in the same latitude with Palestine herself, that promised Canaan which was pointed out by God's own choice to bless the labors of a favorite people," his scheme perished, and not until 1732 was a permanent English settlement established south of Carolina, when James Oglethorpe that year arrived at the mouth of the Savannah river with a band of Englishmen and founded the colony of Georgia.

The high hopes and lofty aspirations of those brave adventurers are recorded in the pages of their tracts. Although disappointment, failure, and in many cases ruin came to some of them in their lifetime, by their efforts, and by the genius which guided them, the world has been made wealthier and wiser; the freedom and the peaceful security of mankind have been made permanent through their sacrifices, and the dominion of the Anglo-Saxon race has been assured.