Chapter XI: Part 11

Dec. 26. Fifteen days have elapsed since I wrote the preceding paragraph. Every day since then I have continued to pray about this matter, and that with a goodly measure of earnestness, by the help of God. There has passed scarcely an hour during these days, in which, whilst awake, this matter has not been more or less before me. But all without even a shadow of excitement. I converse with no one about it. Hitherto have I not even done so with my dear wife. From this I refrain still, and deal with God alone about the matter, in order that no outward influence, and no outward excitement ay keep me from attaining unto a clear discovery of His will. I have the fullest and most peaceful assurance, that He will clearly show me His will. This evening I have had again an especial solemn season for prayer, to seek to know the will of God. But whilst I continue to entreat and beseech the Lord, that He would not allow me to be deluded in this business, I may say I have scarcely any doubt remaining on my mind as to what will be the issue, even that I should go forward in this matter. As this, however, is one of the most momentous steps that I have ever taken, I judge that I cannot go about this matter with too much caution, prayerfulness, and deliberation. I am in no hurry about it. I could wait for years, by God's grace, were this His will, before even taking one single step towards this thing, or even speaking to any one about it; and, on the other hand, I would set to work tomorrow, were the Lord to bid me do so. This calmness of mind, this having no will of my own in the matter, this only wishing to tease my Heavenly Father in it, this only seeking His and not my honour in it; this state of heart, I say, is the fullest assurance to me that my heart is not under a fleshly excitement, and that, if I am helped thus to go on, I shall know the will of God to the full. But, while. I write thus, I cannot but add at the same time, that I do crave the honour and the glorious privilege to be more and more used by the Lord. I have served Satan much in my younger years, and desire now with all my might to serve God, during the remaining days of my earthly pilgrimage. I am forty-five years and three months old. Every day decreases the number of days that I have to stay on earth. I therefore desire with all my might to work. There are vast multitudes of Orphans to be provided for. About five years ago, a brother in the Lord told me he had seen in an official Report, that there were at that time six thousand young Orphans in the prisons of England. My heart longs to be instrumental in preventing such young Orphans from having to go to prison. I desire to be used by the Lord as an instrument in providing all the necessary temporal supplies, not only for the 300 now under my care, but for 700 more. I desire to alleviate yet further the sufferings of poor dying widows, when looking on their helpless Orphans, about to be left behind. I desire yet further to assist poor persons to whom destitute Orphans are left, and who are unable to provide for them. I desire to be allowed to provide Scriptural Instruction for a thousand Orphans; instead of doing so for 300. I desire to expound the Holy Scriptures regularly to a thousand Orphans, instead of doing so to 300. I desire that thus it may be yet more abundantly manifest that God is still the hearer and answerer of prayer, and that He is the living God now, as He ever was and ever will be, when He shall, simply in answer to prayer, have condescended to provide me with a house for 700 Orphans, and with means to support them. This last consideration is the most important point in my mind. The Lord's honour is the principal point with me in this whole matter; and just because that is the case, if He would be more glorified by my not going forward in this business, I should, by His grace, be perfectly content to give up all thoughts about another Orphan-House. Surely in such a state of mind, obtained by the Holy Spirit, Thou, O my Heavenly Father, wilt not suffer Thy child to be mistaken, much less to be deluded! By the help of God I shall continue further, day by day, to wait upon Him in prayer concerning this thing, till He shall bid me act.

Jan. 2, 1851. A week ago I wrote the preceding paragraph. During this week I have still been helped, day by day, and more than once every day, to seek the guidance of the Lord about another Orphan-House. The burden of my prayer has still been, that He, in His great mercy, would keep me from making a mistake. During the last week the Book of Proverbs has come in the course of my Scripture reading, and my heart has been refreshed, in reference to this subject, by the following passages: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Prov. iii. 5, 6. By the grace of God I do acknowledge the Lord in my ways, and in this thing in particular; I have therefore the comfortable assurance that He will direct my paths concerning this part of my service, as to whether I shall be occupied in it or not. Further: "The integrity of the upright shall preserve them; but the perverseness of fools shall destroy them." Prov. xi. 3. By the grace of God I am upright in this business. My honest purpose is to get glory to God. Therefore. I expect to be guided aright. Further, "Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established." Prov. xvi. 8. I do commit my works unto the Lord, and therefore expect that my thoughts will be established.--My heart is more and more coming to a calm, quiet, and settled assurance, that the Lord will condescend to use me yet further in the Orphan Work. Here, Lord, is Thy servant!

Jan. 14. Twelve days have passed away since I wrote the last paragraph. I have still, day by day, been enabled to wait upon the Lord with reference to enlarging the Orphan Work, and have been, during the whole of this period also, in perfect peace, which is the result of seeking in this thing only the Lord's honour and the temporal and spiritual benefit of my fellowmen. Without an effort could I, by His grace, put aside all thoughts about this whole affair, if only assured that it is the will of God I should do so; and, on the other hand, would at once go forward, if He would have it to be so. I have still kept this matter entirely to myself. Though it is now about seven weeks, since day by day, more or less, my mind has been exercised about it, and since I have daily prayed concerning it; yet not one human being knows of it. As yet I have not mentioned it even to my dear wife, in order that thus, by quietly waiting upon the Lord, I might not be influenced by what might be said to me on the subject. This evening has been particularly set apart for prayer, beseeching the Lord once more, not to allow me to be mistaken in this thing, and much less to be deluded by the Devil. I have also sought to let all the reasons against building another Orphan-House, and all the reasons for doing so, pass before my mind; and now, for the sake of clearness and definiteness, write them down.

Reasons against establishing another Orphan-House for

Seven Hundred Orphans.

1. Would not this be going beyond my measure spiritually? according to that word: "For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith." Rom. xii. 3.

Answer: If the Lord were to leave me to myself, the tenth part of the difficulties and trials, which befall me now in connexion with the various objects of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, would be enough to overwhelm me; but, whilst He is pleased to sustain me, I am able day by day to pass on peacefully, and am carried through one difficulty after the other: and thus, by God's help, even with my present measure of faith, if continued to me, should be enabled to bear up under other difficulties and trials; but I look for an increase of faith with every fresh difficulty, through which the Lord is pleased to help me.

2. Would it not be going beyond my measure naturally with reference to mental and bodily strength? Answer: Of all the objections against establishing another Orphan-House, there is none that weighs more with me than this; I might say, it is the only real difficulty. This, however, too, I am enabled to put aside and to overcome thus: By husbanding my strength, by great order, by regular habits, by lightening the work as much as possible, and by using every help that I can, I have been enabled to get through a vast quantity of work. My immense correspondence of about 3000 letters a-year, I have been enabled to accomplish without a secretary. The entire management and direction, and the whole vast correspondence of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution has devolved upon myself alone these sixteen years and ten months, and I have been thinking that, by seeking for an efficient secretary, an efficient clerk, and an inspector of the schools, I might, with God's help, accomplish yet more, though much of what I have been doing hitherto would need to be done by others. There have been several other arrangements brought before my mind, since I have been exercised about this matter, whereby, with the blessing of God, the work might be lightened. I should certainly need efficient helpers to carry out the plans before me; but with such, I, as director, might be enabled, by God's help, to accomplish yet more.

3. There must be a limit to my work and service. Answer: That is true, and if I were quite sure that the present state of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution were to be the limit, I would at once lay aside this thing; but I am not sure that I am come as yet to God's limit. All these sixteen years and ten months, the work has been constantly progressing, and the Lord has helped me continually; and now my mind is just in the same way exercised, as when fifteen years ago I began the Orphan Work, and as when thirteen years ago it was enlarged, and as when seven years and nine months since it was still further enlarged, and as when five years and two months since I was led to decide on building the New Orphan-House. Under these circumstances, having been helped through all these difficulties, and seeing such a vast field of usefulness before me, and having so many applications for the admission of very destitute Orphans, I long to be used still further, and cannot say that as yet the Lord has brought me to His limit.

4. Is it not like "tempting God," to think of building another Orphan-House for seven hundred more orphans? Answer: "Tempting God" means, according to the Holy Scriptures, to limit Him in any of His attributes by His grace I do not wish to limit His power or His willingness, to give to me, His poor servant, simply in answer to prayer, all the means, and every other help and blessing which I shall need to build another large Orphan-House.

5. You will not get the means for building and fitting up so large an Orphan-House; and, even if you did, how will you, at the same time, get the means for carrying on the work, which already exists? Answer: Looking at the matter naturally, this is indeed a weighty objection.

The New Orphan-House, with its 300 Orphans only, cost about fifteen thousand pounds to build and to fit up and furnish, and still the expenses are not all met even now. It will in all probability cost several hundred pounds yet. And this large sum was needed, though the style of the building is most simple, and though the field in which it was built was comparatively cheap. After this rate, a building to accommodate seven hundred Orphans, with the necessary ground attached to it for the cultivation of the vegetables used in the Institution, could not be less than thirty-five thousand pounds. Now, looking at it naturally, where is this great sum to come from? Though I looked at all my friends who have given hitherto, and several have done so very liberally, yet there is no natural prospect whatever of receiving this amount; especially if it be kept in mind that six or seven thousand pounds besides, every year, would be needed for carrying on that which is already in existence. I might, therefore, well tremble, looking at the matter naturally, and say, I shall never have the money for this intended Orphan-House for 700 children; for where is this large sum of thirty-five thousand pounds to come from? And even if I were to get the money, will not persons, in giving means for such a Building-Fund, take it away from what they might have given me for carrying on the work which exists already? But whilst thus, naturally, there is no hope of succeeding, I am not in the least discouraged spiritually; for by faith in the living God I say this: He has the power to give me this thirty-five thousand pounds, and much more, were it needed: and He has the power, in the mean time., to give me also all the large sums required, week after week, for meeting the current expenses for the present state of the work. Moreover, I delight in the greatness of the difficulty, as it respects the large sum needed for building and fitting up such an Establishment; for I desire to be most fully assured, from the very outset, that I go forward in this matter according to the Lord's bidding. If so, He will give me the means; if not, I shall not have them. Nor do I mean to apply to any one personally for pecuniary help, but purpose to give myself to prayer for means, as heretofore.

6. Suppose now, you were even to succeed in getting this large Orphan House built, how will you be able to provide for 700 other Orphans? Answer: There is much weight in this objection, looking at it naturally. I am too much a man of business, and too much a person of calm, quiet, cool calculation, not to feel its force. And indeed, were I only to look at the thing naturally, I should at once be ready to own that I am going too far; for the increase of expenditure for the support of these 700 other Orphans could not be less than eight thousand pounds a-year more, so that the current expenses of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution, reckoning its present state, and including those eight thousand pounds, would be about fifteen thousand pounds a-year. Now, I am free to own, that I have no human prospect of obtaining such a sum year by year. But while matters stand thus, looking at them naturally, I see no difficulty at all in them spiritually. If according to the will of God I am enabled to go about this intended second Orphan House; and if, with His help, I shall be enabled to finish it; He will surely provide for those who are gathered together in it, as long as He shall be pleased to enable me to trust in Him for supplies. And here I look back upon the way in which the Lord has led me and dealt with me. When, about seventeen years ago, I took up, in dependence upon the living God for means, two Charity Schools, with which the Scriptural Knowledge Institution commenced (and this involved an expense of less than one hundred pounds a-year), I had no certain prospect of being able to meet even that small sum; but God so helped me, that I had shortly six Charity Schools. He helped me then also, and enabled me to meet all their expenses. When, fifteen years ago, I began the Orphan Work, which was connected with far heavier expenses, I had still less prospect, according to natural reason, of being able to meet them; but I trusted in God, and He helped me, and He not only enabled me to meet the current expenses for thirty Orphans in the first house rented for them, but also soon to open another for thirty-six more, and to meet all those expenses; for as I had begun in faith in the living God, and not by putting my trust in my brethren in Christ, so I was not confounded. After I had gone on some time with these Orphans in the two rented houses, about thirteen years ago the Lord was pleased greatly to encourage me and to increase my faith by a donation of 500l. for the Orphans; for up to that period I had never received more than One Hundred Pounds at once. But this kind donor, a stranger to me up to that time, suggested to me the propriety of investing this sum and using only the interest of it, as I could not expect to have the Orphans supported for a continuance in the way they had been till then; for that such Institutions must depend upon regular subscriptions or funded property, otherwise they could not go on. As, however, this was only a friendly hint, and no condition under which the money was given, I took this 500l. towards fitting up a third house for the reception of thirty more Orphans. From that time the work has been increasing more and more, till it came to what it is at present. Now, suppose I had said, seventeen years ago, looking at matters according to natural reason, "the two Charity Schools are enough, I must not go any further;" then the work would have stopped there. Or, if I had had a little more trust in my exertions or my friends, I might have taken at the utmost one or two steps further. Instead of this, however, I looked in no degree whatever at things according to my natural fallen reason, and trusted not in the circle of my Christian friends, but in the living God; and the result has been, that there have been since 1834 ten thousand souls under our instruction in the various Day Schools, Sunday Schools and Adult Schools; several hundred Orphans have been brought up, and many of them from their very tenderest infancy; several hundred thousand tracts and many thousand copies of the Word of God have been circulated; about forty preachers of the Gospel at Home and Abroad have been, for several years, assisted in connection with the Scriptural Knowledge Institution; and a house has been built and fitted up for the accommodation of 300 destitute Orphans, each of whom has neither father nor mother. How blessed therefore it is to trust in God, and in Him alone, and not in circumstances nor friends There is, however, one thing which I must record here, because it has taken place since I last wrote in my journal on this subject on January 2nd. It is this. During these twelve days I have received for the various objects of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution in smaller donations 64l. 15s. 6 ½ d., also a donation of 150l. and one of 3000l. Is not this a plain proof that God is both able and willing to help simply in answer to prayer? Is not human reason confounded by such instances? When I first began to write these exercises of my mind about another Orphan House, I knew not that on January 4th I should receive a donation of 3000l., yet I was fully assured that God was able to support one thousand Orphans as easily as He did the thirty whom I first received in a rented house. Does He not, however, tell me by all this: Go forward, my servant, and I will help thee?

7. But it might be said, suppose you were able by prayer to obtain this large sum for building a house for seven hundred other Orphans; and suppose you were able to provide for them during your lifetime, what would become of this Institution after your death? Answer: I am quite familiar with this objection, having heard it many times as a reason against the way of obtaining the means for the Scriptural Knowledge Institution, simply by trusting in God, without any funded property, and without looking to regular subscribers; but my reply is this. My business is, with all my might to serve my own generation; in doing so I shall best serve the next generation, should the Lord Jesus tarry. Soon He may come again but, if He tarry, and I have to fall asleep before His return, I shall not have been altogether without profit to the generation to come, were the Lord only to enable me to serve my own generation. Suppose this objection were a sound one, I ought never to have commenced the Orphan. Work at all, for fear of what might become of it after my death, and thus all the hundreds of destitute children without father and mother, whom the Lord has allowed me to care for, during the last fifteen years, would not have been taken up by me. The same argument was again and again used to Franké, my esteemed countryman, who at Hallé, in Prussia, commenced about A.D. 1696, the largest charitable establishment for poor children that, as far as I know, exists in the world. He trusted in God alone. He went on trusting in God alone. And God helped him throughout abundantly. Simply by trust in the living God the Institutions, resembling a large street rather than a house, were erected, and about two thousand children instructed in them. For about thirty years all was going on under his own eye, until 1727, when it pleased God to take His servant to Himself. At his death these Institutions were directed by his truly pious son-in-law. It is true that, at the latter part of the last century, and during the first part of the present, there was little real vital godliness in these Institutions; still they were a temporal blessing to many tens of thousands of young persons even then. So then for several tens of years they were carried on in a truly Godly way, after Franké's death, and when afterwards there was but little real, vital godliness found in these schools, yet tens of thousands of children were benefited at least for this life. Now these Institutions have existed already 150 years, and are in existence still: and, if the Lord Jesus tarry, are likely, humanly speaking, to exist hereafter, as they have existed hitherto. Suppose then, that dear man of God, A. H. Franké, had listened to the suggestions of unbelief, and said, I must not undertake this work, for what will become of it after my death, then all the blessing which spiritually resulted from it to thousands, and all the temporal benefits which have resulted from it to hundreds of thousands, would have been lost. I add, however, this. The New Orphan House has been placed in the hands of eleven trustees, and has been properly enrolled in Chancery, and so also, should God condescend to honour me further in building for Him this intended house for 700 Orphans, it would likewise be placed in the hands of trustees and enrolled in Chancery. One word in conclusion on this subject: let every one take heed lest, in caring about what will become of the next generation, he forget to serve his own generation. The latter each one should seek to do with his might, and thus it should be with each succeeding generation; then, though we be dead, yet should we be speaking. A. H. Franké is long since gone to his rest, but he spoke to my soul in 1826, and he is speaking to my soul now; and to his example I am greatly indebted for having been stirred up to care about poor children in general, and about poor Orphans in particular.

8. The last objection which has occurred to my own mind is, that by building another Orphan House, I should be in danger of being lifted up. Answer: I should be in danger of it indeed, and am in great danger, even were I not in the least degree to go forward. Yea, the tenth part of the honour which the Lord has condescended to bestow upon me, and the tenth part of service with which He has been pleased to intrust me, would be enough, if I were left to myself, exceedingly to puff me up. I cannot say that hitherto the Lord has kept me humble; but I can say, that hitherto He has given me a hearty desire to give to Him all the glory, and to consider it a great condescension on His part that He has been pleased to use me as an instrument in His service. I do not see, therefore, that fear of being lifted up ought to keep me from going forward in this work; but that I have rather to beseech the Lord that He would be pleased to give me a lowly mind, and never suffer me to rob Him of the glory which is due to Him alone.

Jan. 25. Great pressure of work has kept me from going on writing my reasons for establishing another Orphan-House till now, but being more and more convinced that it is of God I should do so, I now proceed in writing.

Reasons for establishing another Orphan House for Seven Hundred Orphans.

1. The many applications for the admission of destitute Orphans, which continue to be made, I consider as a call from God upon me, to do all that is in my power to provide a Home and Scriptural Education for a still greater number of Orphans. Nothing but positive inability to go forward ought to keep me standing still, whilst I have almost daily fresh entreaties to receive Orphans. Since I began writings on this subject in my journal, thirty more Orphans have been applied for, from two years old and upwards. I cannot refuse to help, as long as I see a door open, and opened by God, as I consider, to help them.

2. The moral state of the Poorhouses greatly influences me to go forward. I have heard it again and again, from good authority, that children, placed in the Unions, are corrupted, on account of the children of vagrants, and other very bad young people who are in such places; so that many poor relatives of Orphans, though unable to provide for them, cannot bear the idea of their going there, lest they should be corrupted. I therefore judge that, even for the sake of keeping Orphans of poor yet respectable people from being obliged to mix with the children of vagabonds, I ought to do, to my utmost power, all I can to help them. For this reason, then, I purpose, in dependence upon the living God, to go forward and to establish another Orphan House for seven hundred destitute children, who are bereaved of both parents. When writing thus about the Poorhouses, I do not wish it to be understood in the way of reproof; for I know not how these matters could be altered; but simply state the fact that thus it is.

3. In this purpose I am the more confirmed, since it is a fact, that the Orphan Houses already in existence in the kingdom are by no means sufficient to admit even the most deserving and distressing cases, and far less all that it would be well to provide for. Moreover, there is great difficulty connected with the admission of Orphans into most of the ordinary Orphan Establishments, on account of the votes which must be obtained, so that really needy persons have neither time nor money to obtain them. Does not the fact that there were six thousand young Orphans in the prisons of England about five years ago, call aloud for an extension of Orphan Institutions? By God's help, I will do what I can, to keep poor Orphans from prison.

4. In this purpose I am still further encouraged by the great help which the Lord has hitherto given me in this blessed service. When I look at the small beginning, and consider how the Lord has helped me now for more than fifteen years in the Orphan work; and when I consider how He has been pleased to help me through one great difficulty after another; and when I consider, especially, how, as with an unseen hand, almost against my will and former desires and thoughts, He has led me on from one step to another, and has enlarged the work more and more: I say, when I review all this, and compare with it my present exercise of mind, I find the great help, the uninterrupted help, which the Lord has given me for more than fifteen years, a great reason for going forward in this work. And this, trusting in Him, I am resolved to do.

5. A further reason for going forward in this service I see in the experience which I have had in it. From the smallest commencement up to the present state of the establishment, with its 300 Orphans, all has gone through my own hands. In the work itself I obtained the experience. It has grown with the work. I have been the sole director of the work, under God, from its smallest commencement. Now this is not an every day case. No committee member of a society, no president or vice-president of an institution, except they had been situated as myself, could have this experience. Coupled with this is the measure of gift which the Lord has been pleased to give me for such work, and for the exercise of which I am responsible to Him. These things, in connexion with the former reasons, it appears to me, are a call from God to go forward in a greater degree than ever in this work.

6. The spiritual benefit of still more Orphans is another especial reason, why I feel called to go forward. The Orphans, who have been under my care hitherto, were almost all the children of parents who were naturally weak in body, if not consumptive. The very fact of a child being deprived of both parents when four, five, six, or seven years old, shows that, except the parents lost their lives by casualty, they were constitutionally weak. On this account young Orphans, generally speaking, require particular care as to their health. In this respect I desire to care for them; but there is more than that to be attended to. I further heartily desire to keep them from the corrupting and demoralizing effect of the lowest sort of children in the streets, courts and Unions; but I desire more for them than mere decency and morality. I desire that they should be useful members of society, and that the prisons of the United Kingdom should not be filled with poor, destitute, and homeless Orphans. We bring them up therefore in habits of industry, and seek to instruct them in those things which are useful for the life that now is; but I desire more than this for the Orphans. I cannot be satisfied with anything concerning them short of this, that their souls be won for the Lord. For this reason I long to have them from their earliest days, yea, the younger the better, under my care, that thus, under godly nurses and teachers, they may be brought up in the fear of the Lord. Now as this is the chief and primary aim concerning the dear Orphans, even the salvation of their souls through faith in the Lord Jesus, I long to be more extensively used than hitherto, even that I may have a thousand of them instead of three hundred under my care.

7. But there is one point which weighs more strongly with me than even the last mentioned one. It is this. When I began the Orphan Work more than fifteen years ago, it was for the definite and especial purpose, that, by means of it, the unconverted might see, through the answers of prayer that I received in connection with it, that there is verily reality in the things of God; and that the children of God might have their faith strengthened by means of it, and be encouraged, in all simplicity to deal with God under every circumstance, and trust in Him at all times. But if this would be answered in a measure by the state in which the Orphan Work has been in former times, and more so by what it has been since the erection of the New Orphan House, it would be still more so, by the blessing of God, by my going forward in it to a far greater degree than before. This point, even the glory of God in the manifestation of His readiness to hear prayer, has weighed especially and supremely with me in purposing to enlarge the Orphan Work.

8. Lastly, I am peaceful and happy, spiritually, in the prospect of enlarging the work, as on former occasions when I had to do so. This weighs particularly with me as a reason for going forward. After all the calm, quiet, prayerful consideration of the subject for about eight weeks, I am peaceful and happy, spiritually, in the purpose of enlarging the field. This, after all the heart searching which I have had, and the daily prayer to be kept from delusion and mistake in this thing, and the be-taking myself to the Word of God, would not be the case, I judge, had not the Lord purposed to condescend to use me more than ever in this service.

I, therefore, on the ground of the objections answered, and these eight reasons for enlarging the work, come to the conclusion that it is the will of the blessed God, that His poor and most unworthy servant should yet more extensively serve Him in this work, which he is quite willing to do.

Up to this day, January 25, 1851, I have not spoken to one human being about it. As yet even my dear wife knows not about it. I purpose to keep the matter still for some time entirely to myself, dealing with God alone about it, in order that no outward excitement may be in the least degree a stimulus to me. I still pray to be kept from mistake and delusion in this thing, not that I think I am mistaken or deluded, quite the reverse; but yet I would distrust myself and cling to God, to be kept from mistakes and delusions.

January 31st. For several weeks past I have had no doubt that the Lord would have me to serve Him in the erection and fitting up of another Orphan-House for seven hundred Orphans, and I am quite decided on doing so, with His help, and I am now quiet about it, not because I have the least misgiving in my own mind, but because I know that it is most suitable that I should still for some time continue to deal quietly with God alone about it.

March 5th. Nearly five weeks have passed away since I wrote the last paragraph, and my mind has not been once, during this time, even for a moment, in uncertainty as to what I ought to do. It is now about fifteen weeks since I have been especially praying about this subject, and three months since. I began first to write on the subject in my journal, and about ten weeks since I have had any doubt as to what is the will of the Lord concerning this service. I believe that, altogether unworthy though I am of this great honour, He will condescend to use me further and more extensively than before in caring for destitute children who are bereaved of both parents. And this I purpose to do.

April 5th. Another month has passed away, and my mind is just in the same state as it was when I wrote in my journal on the subject on March 5th.

May 5th. One more month has passed away, and still my mind remains quietly assured that, utterly unworthy though I am to be allowed to go forward in this work, and great though the difficulties are, which must be overcome, yet that it is the will of God I should serve Him in this way. It is now this day five months since I first wrote on this subject in my journal, and longer even than that since it has been before rue, during which time I have day by day prayed concerning this matter.

May 24th. From the time that I began to write down the exercises of my mind on Dec. 5th, 1850, till this day, ninety-two more Orphans have been applied for, and seventy-eight were already waiting for admission before. But this number increases rapidly as the work becomes more and more known.

On the ground of what has been recorded above, I purpose to go forward in this service, and to seek to build, to the praise and honour of the living God, another Orphan-House, large enough to accommodate seven hundred Orphans.

When I published these exercises of my mind, and made known my purpose respecting the intended Orphan-House for 700 Orphans, in the Twelfth Report of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution, the following particulars were added to what has been stated.

1. All this time, though now six months have elapsed since. I first began to be exercised about this matter, I have never once been led to ask the Lord for means for this work, but have only continued day by day to seek guidance from Him as to whether I should undertake it or not.

2. The means requisite, to accomplish the building and fitting up of a house, which shall be really suitable for my intended purposes, though the building be quite simple, cannot be less than Thirty-Five Thousand Pounds, including fifteen or twenty acres of land round the building for cultivation by the spade, in order to obtain out of our own grounds all the vegetables, which are so important to the health of the children.

3. I do not mean to begin the building until I have the means requisite in hand, just as was the case with regard to the New Orphan-House. If God will condescend to use me in building for Him another Orphan-House (as I judge He will), He will give me the means for it. Now though I have not on my mind any doubt left that it is His will I should do so; yet there is one point still wanting for confirmation, and that is that He will also furnish me, without personal application to any one, with all the means requisite for this new part of my service. I the more need also to my own soul this last of all the proofs that I have not been mistaken, in order to have unquestionable assurance that, whatever trials hereafter may be allowed to befall me in connexion with this work, I did not at my own bidding and according to my own natural desire undertake it, but that it was under the guidance of God. The greatness of the sum required affords me a kind of secret joy; for the greater the difficulty to be overcome, the more will it be seen to the glory of God, how much can be done by prayer and faith; and also, because, when God Himself overcomes our difficulties for us, we have, in this very fact, the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not in our own.

4. It is intended to place this Orphan-House also, as was the New Orphan-House, in the hands of godly Trustees.

5. Orphans from any part of the world, provided they speak English, if bereaved of both parents, lawfully begotten, and in destitute circumstances, are intended to be admitted, as is the ease now, irrespective of any sectarian feeling or preference whatever. Neither entrance money nor any particular interest will be required, in order to obtain a ticket for the admission of destitute Orphans, bereaved of both parents, as long as there is room.

6. Individuals who desire to contribute towards the Building Fund for this intended Orphan-House for seven hundred destitute Orphans, are requested to state that the donation is "for the Building Fund." Indeed concerning all the donations for any part of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, it is requested that the donors will kindly state, for what they wish their donations to be applied; or to say expressly that they leave the application of their donations to me, as the various objects may more particularly need help.

Supplies for the School, Bible, Missionary and Tract Fund, sent in answer to prayer, from May 26, 1850, to May 26, 1851.

At the commencement of this period it was my purpose to seek help from the Lord that I might be able, in a still greater degree than before, to assist brethren who labour in the Gospel, at Home and Abroad, in dependence upon God for their temporal supplies, and to labour more than ever in the circulation of the Holy Scriptures and of simple Gospel Tracts. The following extracts from my journal will now show how kind the Lord has been in answering my requests, and in furnishing me with the means for carrying out the desire of my heart.

June 7, 1850. Today I have received 50l. for missions from a Brother whose heart the Lord has inclined to spend, as a steward of God, a second property, with which He has intrusted him.

June 10. Received 150l., the disposal of which was left to me. I took half for the Orphans and half for these objects.

June 11. Received from C. W. 50l. for missions.--By these sums which, besides smaller donations, came in within the first fifteen days of this period, I was able to begin to carry out my purpose; and as the Lord enabled me, without anxious reckoning, to go on giving out as He was pleased to intrust me with means, so again He sent further supplies before all was gone. It is a point of great importance in the divine life, not to be anxiously reckoning about the morrow, nor dealing out sparingly, on account of possible future wants, which never may come; but to consider, that only the present moment to serve the Lord is ours, and that the morrow may never come to us.

July 2. 170l. has come in today. The donor kindly gave me permission to use this amount as might be most needed. I took therefore 80l. of it for the Orphans, the other for these objects.

Of the various donations which came in for these objects, between July 2nd and Aug. 13th, I only mention, that I received on Aug. 5th a silver salver, 2 silver table spoons, a silver sugar spoon, and a silver mustard spoon; all to be sold for missionary purposes. On Aug. 13th a Christian Friend gave me 50l., of which I took one half for missionary operations and the other half for the Orphans, as the donation was left at my disposal as most needed.

Aug. 15. Today I have received from the same donor, who sent me on June 7th 50l., another donation of 110l, of which he wishes me to apply 10l. for the use of the Orphans and 100l. for missionary purposes. This day I have also received a donation of 120l., of which I took half for the Orphans, and half for these objects.--Several other small donations came in on the following day.

Aug. 24. Have received from C. W. 30l., of which the donor kindly intends 10l. for foreign missions, 10l. for the Orphans, and 10l. for my own personal expenses. I have sent out already during this month 170l. to Home and Foreign labourers, and the Lord continues to give me means for this and all the other parts of the work.

Sept. 14. Received again 190l., of which I took half for the Orphans and half for these objects.

Sept. 19. Today I received a registered letter from the donor referred to under June 7th and Aug. 15th containing Four Hundred Pounds and these words:

"Dear Brother,

Herewith I send you 400l., of which three parts are to be expended on missionaries, the rest you may expend on the Orphans, if needed; else the whole to be disposed of to the Lord's ministering servants. I thank you for your prayers that I may not regret this step. Were the Lord to come tomorrow, how glad I should be that the whole was thus sent on before me! . . If yourself or dear brother Craik (to whom give my love in Christ) are at all in need, scruple not to take five pounds each.

Yours in the Lord Jesus,

* * * * *"

I took the whole amount for labourers in the word and doctrine. My soul does magnify the Lord for His condescension in listening to my supplications, and, in answer to them, sending me means, and thus allowing me more and more to help missionary brethren. During the last five weeks I have sent again to them about 300l., but I long to be more than ever their servant. What the donor says about "the money going before him," is in reference to his having now spent two properties for the Lord.

Sept. 27. Still further abundant help. Received from a new donor 200l., which, being left at my disposal as most needed, I took of it 100l. for the Orphans, and 100l. for these objects.

Oct. 9. The Lord condescends to use me more and more as His steward. Today I have again received 200l., which might be used as most needed. I have therefore taken of it 100l. for the Orphans, and the other half for these objects.

Oct. 28. Since Oct. 9th many small donations have come in, chiefly for missions; now today I received again 200l., of which I took one half for the Orphans, and the other half for these objects. By these donations (large and small) the Lord enables me to send more and more help to Home and Foreign labourers. During the last seven weeks, only little, comparatively, has come in for these objects, while several hundred pounds have been expended; yet, through the rich abundance which the Lord had sent me before, I have not only had no lack of means, but had still about 300l. in hand, before this donation was received today. Nevertheless it was very sweet to receive it as the fruit of earnest prayer for several weeks, as so little, comparatively, had come in during the last seven weeks.

Dec. 18. This evening was given to me 90l. As the donor stated in the course of conversation, that he felt especially interested about those brethren who labour in the Gospel in various countries, whom I seek to assist, I took of this sum 60l. for that object, and 30l. for the Orphans.

Jan. 4, 1851. This evening I received Three Thousand Pounds, of which I took half for these objects, and half for the Orphans, as the disposal of it was entirely left to me. I am thus enabled more and more to enlarge the work, and to assist increasingly home and foreign labourers in the Word. When I gave myself more particularly to this part of the work, now about six years since, I had not the least human prospect of being able to do so much; but the Lord has been pleased to condescend to listen to my supplications on behalf of these brethren who trust in Him for their temporal supplies. I am in this way also furnished with means, on a larger scale than ever, to circulate copies of the Holy Scriptures and simple Gospel Tracts, which was always of deep importance, but in these days of increasing darkness more so than ever.

Jan. 11. A further rich supply. I have received 150l., of which I took half for the Orphans and half for these objects, as the disposal of it was left to me.

Feb. 24. The donor, who has spent two properties in the service of the Lord, receiving a present of 100l., sent me today 50l. of it for missions. This instance shows, that if we use the means with which the Lord may intrust us, as stewards for Him, He will make us stewards over more.

Since Feb. 1851, the donor just now referred to has come into the possession of a third property, which likewise, as the two previous ones, he has entirely spent for the Lord.

March 7. Exceedingly little, comparatively, has come in since Jan. 11th; yet, as I had means, I expended them to the full degree in which it appeared to me that the Lord pointed out openings, and, in the meantime, I continued praying for more means. Now the Lord has again given much encouragement for continuing to wait upon Him, by a donation of 200l., received today, of which the donor kindly wishes me to take 20l. for my own personal expenses, and the 180l. to be used as may be most needed, which sum I have divided between the Orphans and the other objects.

April 15. From C. W. 40l. for foreign missions.

April 17. Further supplies for missionary purposes. This evening 1 found a letter containing a check for 50l., of which the donor intends one half for missionary purposes, and the other for the Orphans.