It will naturally be asked, if Whitefield was so happy in his work in Georgia, why did he so soon leave it? An answer to this will be found in the following extract from a paper written some years afterwards. It will be seen, 1. That there were certain things in the government of the country which Whitefield wished to have altered. 2. That he felt it a duty to collect funds for the erection of an orphan house. 3. That it was necessary he should return to England to be ordained a priest. As an explanation of what follows, it may be added here, that the Trustees of Georgia, from the best of motives, had, 1. Prohibited the introduction of ardent spirits,--a prohibition which it was difficult to enforce, and which led to clandestine traffic. 2. They had granted lands to none but _male_ emigrants, and had issued a regulation to the effect that _female_ descendants should not inherit the estates of their ancestors. In families of daughters, this was a grievance that soon created a just discontent. 3. The Trustees also interdicted the introduction of slaves. "Slavery," said Oglethorpe, "is against the Gospel as well as against the fundamental law of England." Besides, he adds, the colony is "an asylum for the distressed, and it is necessary, therefore, not to permit slaves in such a country, for slaves starve the poor labourer." Such were some of the reasons for this interdict; but it is a curious fact, that as early as the year 1736, several "of the better sort of people in Savannah" had sent a petition to the Trustees "for the use of negroes."[141] Not only in one, but in all these respects, Whitefield, oddly enough, sympathised with the malcontent inhabitants of Georgia. Hear what he says:-- "The people were denied the use both of rum and slaves. The lands were allotted them according to a particular plan, whether good or bad; and the female heirs were prohibited from inheriting. So that in reality to place people there, on such a footing, was little better than to tie their legs and bid them walk. The scheme was well meant at home; but was absolutely impracticable in so hot a country abroad. However, that rendered what I had brought over from my friends more acceptable to the poor inhabitants, and gave me an ocular demonstration of the great necessity of an orphan house, which I now determined to set about in earnest. The Saltzburghers at Ebenezer had one; and having heard and read of what Professor Francke had done in that way, in Germany, I confidently hoped that something of the like nature might succeed in Georgia. Many poor orphans were there already, and the number was likely soon to be increased. [141] Bancroft's "History of the United States."