"Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives, "I am glad to see the respect which you have expressed in your vote to the Honorable Mr. Oglethorpe, a member of that wise and august body, the Parliament of Great Britain; but, as there is no money in the treasury to defray the charge of the reception and entertainment of that honorable gentleman, I have taken early care to invite him to my house, when he may come into this Province, and I shall endeavor to entertain him in such a manner as may express the great esteem which I have of his attachment to his Majesty and to his Royal House, and of his regard to this Province, as well as of his great merit. And this I will do at my own charge, till the treasury may be supplied. And for these reasons I have not made your vote an order of this Court." The Editor of the publication, entitled "_The Political State of Great Britain_," makes the following remarks upon these doings of the Legislature of Massachusetts:[1] [Footnote 1: Vol. XLVIII. p. 173.] "This expression of gratitude towards Mr. Oglethorpe shows that the gentlemen who are members of the House of Representatives in that Colony, are men of good sense as well as lovers of their country; and there is certainly no greater incitement to generous and public spirited actions than that of public acknowledgment and praise." Circumstances, however, prevented his making a visit, so earnestly expected, and which would have been so mutually gratifying. On Wednesday, January 23, 1734, Oglethorpe set out on an exploratory excursion, to view the southern frontiers, in a row-boat commanded by Captain Ferguson, attended by fourteen companions and two Indians; followed by a yawl loaded with ammunition and provisions. They took "the inland passages." Thus are named the passes between the belt of "sea-islands" and the main land. For the distance of seven miles from the ocean along the whole coast, there is a margin of islands and marshes, intersected by rivers, creeks, and inlets, communicating with each other, and forming a complete inland navigation for vessels of one hundred tons. Having reached the north-west coast of the islands of Ossabaw, St. Catherine, and Sapelo, they passed the entrances of Vernon river, of the Ogechee, and of the northern branches of the Alatamaha; and, on the 26th landed on the first Albany bluff of St. Simons, where they lay dry under the shelter of a large live oak tree, though it rained hard. The next day they proceeded to the sea point of St. Simons, in order to take an observation of the latitude. They afterwards discovered an island, of which the general asked the name, and, finding that it had none, he called it JEKYL, in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyl, his respected and particular friend[1]. They reconnoitred various other places, and the mouths of rivers; and, on their return went up the Ogechee to Fort Argyle, where they lay in a house and upon beds, "for the first time since they left Thunderbolt[2]."