The Address of both Houses of Assembly in Georgia.
To his Excellency James Wright, Esq. Captain General and Governor in Chief of his Majesty’s province of Georgia.
May it please your Excellency,
WE his Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the council and commons house of assembly of Georgia, in general assembly met, beg leave to acquaint your Excellency, that with the highest satisfaction we learn, that the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield has applied for lands, in order to the endowment of a College in this province. The many and singular obligations Georgia has continually laid under to that reverend gentleman, from its very infant state, would in gratitude induce us, by every means in our power, to promote any measure he might recommend; but in the present instance, where the interest of the province, the advancement of religion, and the pleasing prospect of obtaining proper education for our youth, so clearly coincide with his views, we cannot in justice but request your Excellency to use your utmost endeavours to promote so desirable an event, and to transmit home our sincere and very fervent wishes, for the accomplishment of so useful, so beneficent, and so laudable an undertaking.
By order of the upper House.
James Habersham, President.
December 20, 1764.
By order of the Commons House.
Alex. Wylly, Speaker.
To which his Excellency was pleased to return the following Answer.
Gentlemen,
I AM so perfectly sensible of the very great advantage which will result to the province in general, from the establishment of a seminary for learning here, that it gives me the greatest pleasure to find so laudable an undertaking proposed by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield. The friendly and zealous disposition of that gentleman, to promote the prosperity of this province, has been often experienced; and you may rest assured, that I shall transmit your address home, with my best endeavours for the success of the great point in view.
James Wright.
December 20, 1764.
A Letter to his Excellency Governor Wright, giving an account of the steps taken, relative to the converting the Georgia Orphan-House into a College: Together with the literary correspondence that passed upon that subject, between his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Reverend Mr. Whitefield.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans xii. 14.
Honoured Sir,
AS your Excellency, together with the members of his Majesty’s honourable council, and house of representatives, were pleased at my late visit to the Orphan-house, not only highly to approve of, but also deeply to interest yourselves in the design of converting the present Georgia Orphan-house into a college; so I am persuaded, you make no doubts but that ever since my arrival in England, July 1765, I have exerted my utmost efforts in endeavouring to bring this important affair to a desirable issue. To mention all the various circumstances which have occurred during that interval, to impede and retard its more speedy prosecution, would be tedious and unnecessary: I would therefore only inform your Excellency, that about fifteen months ago, a memorial was delivered into the hands of the late clerk of his Majesty’s most honourable privy council. That this memorial was by him transmitted to the Lord President, and by his Lordship referred to the consideration of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury; that by his Grace’s permission a literary correspondence ensued; but as that correspondence, and with that, the negociation itself seems at an end, I think it my duty, not only to lay an account of the whole before your Excellency in particular; but, through your Excellency’s hands, before his Majesty’s council and house of representatives of the colony of Georgia, together with all the other American colonists, and the public in general, on both sides the water, who have so liberally contributed to the promoting this design.
To the King’s most Excellent Majesty.
The Memorial of George Whitefield, Clerk,
Sheweth,
THAT about twenty-six years ago, your memorialist, assisted by the voluntary contributions of charitable and well disposed persons, at a very great expence, and under many disadvantages, did erect a very commodious house, with necessary out-buildings, suitable for the reception of orphans and other poor and deserted children; and that with the repair of the buildings, purchase of negroes, and supporting a large orphan family so many years, he hath expended upwards of twelve thousand pounds sterling, as appears by the accounts, which from time to time have been audited by the magistrates of Savannah, and which are humbly presented with this memorial.
That your memorialist, since the commencement of this institution, hath had the satisfaction of finding, that by the money expended thereon, not only many poor families were assisted and thereby kept from leaving the colony in its infant state; but also that a considerable number of poor helpless children have been trained up, who have been, and are now useful settlers in this and the other neighbouring provinces; that in order to render the institution aforesaid more extensively useful, your memorialist, as he perceived the colony gradually rising, hath for some years past designed, within himself, to improve the original plan, by making further provision for the education of persons of superior rank, who thereby may be qualified to serve their king, their country, and their God, either in church or state.
That in his late visit to Georgia, he did with inexpressible pleasure see the province in a very flourishing state; but with concern perceived that several gentlemen had been obliged to send their sons to the northern provinces, who would much rather have had them educated nearer home; and thereby prevent their affections being alienated from their native country, and also considerable sums of money from being carried out of Georgia into other provinces.
Your memorialist begs leave further to observe, that there is no seminary for academical studies as yet founded southward of Virginia; and consequently if a college could be established (especially as the addition of the two Floridas renders Georgia more centrical for the southern district) it would not only be highly serviceable to the rising generation of the colony of Georgia, but would probably occasion many youths to be sent from the neighbouring southern provinces for education. The many advantages accruing to Georgia thereby, must necessarily be very considerable.
That in consideration of the foregoing premises, your memorialist, in December 1764, presented a memorial to his Excellency the Governor, and the honourable the council of the province of Georgia, praying that two thousand acres of land might be granted in trust, towards carrying on the desirable end of founding a College; which motion was not only immediately complied with, but the general assembly being then sitting, an address, a copy of which is herewith also sent, was presented from them to his Excellency, expressing their unanimous and highest approbation, with a desire that his Excellency would use his endeavours to have this affair forwarded at home with all possible expedition. That upon the arrival of your Memorialist, he was informed that this address was remitted to, and laid before the Lords Commissioners for trade and plantations; and having received repeated advices, that numbers both in Georgia and South-Carolina are waiting with impatience to have their sons initiated in academical exercises; your Memorialist therefore prays, that a charter upon the plan of New-Jersey College may be granted; upon which your Memorialist is ready to give up his present trust, and make a free gift of all lands, negroes, goods, and chattels, which he now stands possessed of in the province of Georgia, for the present founding, and towards the future support of a College, to be called by the name of Bethesda College in the province of Georgia.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
June 17, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
I THINK myself highly honoured in the L—— P——t’s referring a late memorial to your Grace’s consideration; and as highly obliged to your Grace, for the deep attention your Grace hath given to the copy of an intended charter presented to your Grace by the E—— of D——h. The inclosed will shew, what an almost implicit regard hath been paid to your Grace’s wise remarks, and judicious corrections. I wish it could have been altogether implicit; but circumstances are such, (as hath been hinted to your Grace by L—— D——h) that I cannot, in honour and conscience, oblige the master of the Georgia College to be a member or minister of the church of England. Such an obligation, I am persuaded, hath greatly retarded the progress of the College of New-York; as on the contrary, the letter signed by your Grace, Proprietor Pen, and the late Dr. Chandler; engaging, that institution shall be continued on a BROAD BOTTOM, hath as much promoted the growth of the College of Philadelphia. The trustees of that seminary (as your Grace is pleased to observe) have agreed, “That their Provost shall always be a minister of the established church.” But then I would beg leave to reply, that they are not thereto enjoined by their charter. That is entirely silent concerning this matter: their agreement is purely voluntary. The wardens of the College of Georgia will not be prohibited by charter, from following the example of the trustees of the College of Philadelphia. It is more than probable they will never need it. The first Master will assuredly be a clergyman of the church of England. By far the majority of the intended wardens, are, and always will be members of that communion; and consequently the choice of a Master will always continue to run in that channel. My heart’s desire is, that some worthy duly qualified minister of the church of England may be always and readily found for that grand purpose. But lest this should not always be the case, I dare not, as persons of all denominations have been contributors, confine or fetter the future electors. The monies gained by the New-York lotteries, for the erecting a college in New-York, were thrown in by persons of all religious persuasions, in confidence, that the College would hereafter be founded on an enlarged basis. And therefore, very great numbers, may it please your Grace, think, and for ever will think themselves injured, by its being confined within its present contracted boundary. Hence it is, that many fine promising youths are almost daily sent from the college in their native city, to that of New-Jersey. I dread giving the same occasion of resentment and offence: and therefore am determined to avoid it in the wording of the Georgia College charter. For the same reasons, I dare not enjoin the daily use of our church liturgy. I love to use it, I have fallen a martyr, in respect to bodily health, to the frequent reading it in Tottenham-Court chapel; and it has been constantly read twice every Sunday in the Orphan-house, from its first institution to this very day. The Wardens, when the power is devolved on them, may determine this point as they please; but I cannot enjoin it by charter: and have therefore, in this present draught, not only omitted the paragraph concerning public prayer, but also that concerning doctrinal articles. Perhaps your Grace may judge, that, all things considered, saying nothing about either, may be a proper medium. Your Grace further wisely observes, “That his Majesty should be very well advised, whom he names for the first Master.” I trust he will. I believe the Right Honourable the Earl of D——h will vouchsafe to interest himself in the choice, and likewise be so good as to present the first Master to your Grace’s approbation. The terms of [♦]the charter being not as yet settled, the choice of a Master cannot as yet be fixed upon. When the former are ascertained, the latter may more easily be applied for. In the mean while your Grace may be assured, that the lot will not fall upon me. Alas! my shoulders are too weak for the support of such an academical burden: my capacity, may it please your Grace, is by no means extensive enough for such a scholastic trust. To be a presbyter at large, is the station, which I think divine Providence hath called me to, for near these thirty years past. During that space, I trust my eye hath been in some degree single, and my views disinterested; and my highest, my only ambition, during the feeble remains of my future pilgrimage, I trust, will be this, That the last glimmerings of an expiring taper may be blessed, and owned by the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, to guide some wandering sinners to the practical knowledge of himself. I desire to bless his name, that I have been spared long enough to see the colony of the once despised Georgia, and the yet more despised Orphan-house, advanced to such a promising height. My honoured friend and father, good Bishop Benson, from his dying bed, sent me a benefaction for it of ten guineas, and poured forth his most fervent dying breathings for its future prosperity. That your Grace may yet live many years, to be happily instrumental in promoting its welfare, both spiritual and temporal, when turned into a college, is the earnest prayer of, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful, obliged son and servant,
G. W.
Tottenham-Court Road,
June 17, 1767.
[♦] removed duplicate “the”
The Archbishop to Mr. Whitefield.
To the Reverend Mr. Whitefield,
THE Archbishop of Canterbury hath put Mr. Whitefield’s draught of a charter for a College in Georgia, into the hands of the Lord President; who hath promised to consider it: but desires to know from Mr. Whitefield, what present endowment, and to what value, he proposes for his College.
July 1, 1767.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
London, July 4, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
MY obligations are much increased by your Grace’s putting the last draught of the Georgia College so speedily into the hands of the Lord President. As by this, (I presume) it hath been honoured by your Grace’s, so I make no manner of doubt, but it will also meet with his Lordship’s approbation. In obedience to your Grace’s desire, I herewith send your Grace an account of “what present endowment, and to what value, I propose for the intended College.” Upon a moderate computation, may it please your Grace, I believe its present annual income, is between four and five hundred pounds sterling. The house is surrounded with eighteen hundred acres of land; a plan of which, and likewise of the house itself, I herein inclose, and humbly present for your Grace’s inspection. The number of negroes young and old, employed on various parts of these lands, in sawing timber, raising rice for exportation, and corn with all other kinds of provision for the family, is about thirty. Besides these, the College will be immediately possessed of two thousand acres of land near Altamaha, which were granted me by the Governor and Council, when I was last at Georgia; and a thousand acres more, left, as I am informed, by the late reverend and worthy Mr. Zubberbuler. So that, by laying out only a thousand pounds in purchasing an additional number of negroes, and allowing another thousand for repairing the house, and building the two intended wings, the present annual income may very easily and speedily be augmented to a thousand pounds per annum. Out of this standing fund, may be paid the salaries of the Master, professors, tutors, &c. and also small exhibitions be allowed for some orphan or other poor students, who may have their tutorage and room-rent gratis, and act as servitors to those who enter commoners. What these salaries and exhibitions ought to be, may at a proper season be submitted to your Grace’s future consideration. At present, I would only further propose, that the negroe children belonging to the College, shall be instructed, in their intervals of labour, by one of the poorer students, as is done now by one of the scholars in the present Orphan-house. And I do not see why an additional provision may not likewise be made for educating and maintaining a number of Indian children, which, I imagine, may easily be procured from the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, and the other neighbouring nations. Hence the whole will be a free-gift to the colony of Georgia: a complex extensive charity be established; and at the same time, not a single person obliged, by any public act of assembly, to pay an involuntary forced tax towards the support of a seminary, from which many of the more distant and poorer Colonist’s children cannot possibly receive any immediate advantage; and yet the whole Colony, by the christian and liberal education of a great number of its individuals, be universally benefited. Thus have I most readily, and I humbly hope, gratefully complied with your Grace’s desire, which to me is as a command. I am constrained to trespass on your Grace’s patience, whilst I congratulate your Grace on the goodness of God, who, amongst many other signal marks of his peculiar providence, hath honoured your Grace, in making you an happy instrument of establishing two Northern-American Colleges; the one at New-York, and the other at Philadelphia: and if (as I pray may be the case) your Grace should yet be made further instrumental in establishing a third College in the yet more southern, but now flourishing colony of Georgia, I trust it will be an additional gem in the crown, which I earnestly pray that God, the righteous judge, may give your Grace in that day. In his great name, I beg leave to subscribe myself, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful, obliged son and servant,
G. W.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
Tottenham-Court, September 1, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
AS I am going out of town for a few weeks, I beg leave humbly to enquire, whether my L—— P——t hath considered the draught of the charter sent him by your Grace some weeks ago. The Governor, Council, Assembly, and other inhabitants of Georgia, wait with impatience to have this affair brought to a desired issue; and therefore I humbly hope your Grace will excuse the freedom of the request now made by, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful, obliged son and servant,
G. W.
The Archbishop to Mr. Whitefield,
Lambeth, September 18, 1767.
To the Reverend Mr. Whitefield.
THE Archbishop of Canterbury sends Mr. Whitefield the enclosed letter from the Lord President, which he received this day, and which he desires may be returned to him.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
Tottenham-Court, October 13, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
BY a series of unaccountable incidents and mistakes, your Grace’s letter, with that of the L—— P——t, did not reach me till this afternoon. I have made bold to copy the letter; and in obedience to your Grace’s command, herewith return the original. Its contents shall be immediately and duly considered, and an answer very speedily remitted to your Grace. In the mean time, with most humble thanks for the zeal and punctuality shewn by your Grace in the prosecution of this important affair, and earnestly begging an interest in your Grace’s prayers, that I may be kept from erring on the right hand, or the left, in this final discharge of my public trust, I beg leave to subscribe myself, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most obedient and dutiful son and servant,
G. W.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
Tottenham-Court, October 16, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
AFTER earnest application to the Father of mercies for direction, I have endeavoured as in his presence, duly to consider and weigh the contents of the L—— P——t’s letter, which your Grace was so condescending as to transmit for my perusal. His L——p therein, is pleased to inform your Grace, “That he observes, that the second draught of Mr. Whitefield’s charter, differs from that of New-York; in not requiring the head of the College to be a member of the church of England, which his Lordship thinks so material a qualification, that for one, he should not be for dispensing with it. And his L——p is also of opinion, that the public prayers should not be extempore ones, but the liturgy of the church, or some part thereof, or some other settled and established form.” Thus far his L——p. And, as I profess myself to be a presbyter of the same communion with his L——p, I cannot but applaud his L——p’s zeal for, and watchfulness over, the honour of the established church. But if his L——p would be so good as to take a particular view of the point of light in which I stand, I cannot help flattering myself, but that his L——p will be so far from thinking, that being a member of the church of England is a qualification not to be dispensed with in the head of the intended College; that on the contrary, it ought not so much as to be mentioned, or insisted upon in the charter at all. For not to trouble your Grace with a repetition of the reasons urged against such a restraining clause, in my letter of June 17; I would beg leave further to observe to your Grace, that by far the greatest part of the Orphan-house collections and contributions came from Dissenters, not only in New-England, New-York, Pensylvania, South-Carolina, and Scotland, but in all probability here in England also. Most of these places I have visited since the several audits of the Orphan-house accompts, and acquainted with the design of turning it into a College; and likewise the address of the Council and Assembly of the province of Georgia, with his Excellency Governor Wright’s answer, highly approving and recommending the design, have been published. Being frequently asked, “Upon what bottom the intended College was to be founded;” I not only most readily and repeatedly answered, “Undoubtedly upon a broad bottom;” but likewise, in most of the above-mentioned places, have solemnly declared from the pulpit, that it should be upon a broad bottom, and no other. This, I judged, I was sufficiently warranted to do, from the known, long established, mild, and uncoercive genius of the English government; also from your Grace’s moderation towards protestant Dissenters; from the unconquerable attachment of the Americans to toleration principles, as well as from the avowed habitual feelings and sentiments of my own heart. This being the case, may it please your Grace, I would humbly appeal to his L——p, whether I can answer it to my God, my conscience, my king, my country, my constituents, and Orphan-house benefactors and contributors, both at home and abroad, to betray my trust, forfeit my word, act contrary to my own convictions, and greatly retard and prejudice the growth and progress of the intended institution, by narrowing its foundation, and thereby letting it fall upon such a bottom, as I am persuaded will give a general disgust, and most justly open the mouths of persons of all denominations against me. This, as I acquainted your Grace, in the same letter referred to above, is what I dare not do. And therefore, as your Grace by your silence seems to be like-minded with the L——d P——t; and as your Grace’s and his L——p’s influence will undoubtedly extend itself to others of his Majesty’s most Honourable Privy-Council, I would beg leave, after returning all due acknowledgments, to inform your Grace, that I intend troubling your Grace and his Lordship no more about this so long depending concern. As it hath pleased the great Head of the church in some degree to renew my bodily strength, I purpose now to renew my feeble efforts, and turn the charity into a more generous, and consequently into a more extensively useful channel. If I know any thing of my own heart, I have no ambition to be looked upon at present, or remembered for the future, as a founder of a college; but I would fain, may it please your Grace, act the part of an honest man, a disinterested minister of Jesus Christ, and a truly catholic, moderate presbyter of the church of England. In this way, and in this only, can I hope for a continued heart-felt enjoyment of that peace of God, which passeth all understanding, whilst here on earth, and be thereby prepared to stand with humble boldness before the awful, impartial tribunal of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls at the great day. That your Grace may shine as a star of the first magnitude in that day, is the sincere prayer of, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful obliged son and servant,
G. W.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
Tottenham-Court, November 11, 1767.
May it please your Grace,
THE bearer is my humble friend; one who hath been with me several years, and been my companion in travel through the continent of America. If your Grace would be so good as to send by him the plans and papers relating to the Orphan-house, it would much oblige, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful humble servant,
G. W.
P. S. I know not whether your Grace or the Lord President hath the copy of the New-Jersey College charter. I gave it to Mr. Secretary Sharp, in order that your Grace and his Lordship might see it. Mr. Sharp being dead, obliges me to trouble your Grace with this particular: I should not otherwise have taken the freedom.
Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.
Tottenham-Court, February 12, 1768.
May it please your Grace,
AS not only the Governor, Council and Assembly of Georgia, have been for a long season, and are now waiting for an account of what hath been done in respect to the affair of the intended Bethesda college, I find myself under a necessity of giving them and the contributors, on this, as well as the other side of the water, a plain narration of the steps I have been taking; and at the same time I intend to lay before the public a draught of the future plan, which, God willing, I am now determined to prosecute. And as the letters which I have had the honour of writing to your Grace, contain most of what I have to say on this subject, I suppose your Grace can have no objection against my publishing those letters, together with the answers returned, and the issue of the correspondence. To prevent your Grace’s having further trouble, as I hear your Grace is at present much indisposed, I shall look upon silence as an approbation, at least as a tacit allowance of what is designed by, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful son and servant, in the King of kings and Lord of lords,
G. W.
Thus, may it please your excellency, concluded my correspondence with his Grace, and I humbly hope, the province of Georgia, in the end, will be no loser by this negociation. For, God willing, I now purpose to add a public academy, to the Orphan-house, as the college[¹] of Philadelphia was constituted a public academy, as well as charitable school, for some time before its present college charter was granted by the honourable proprietors of Pensylvania in the year 1755.
[¹] This college was originally built, above twenty-eight years ago, for a charity school and preaching place for me, and ministers of various denominations, on the bottom of the doctrinal articles of the church of England. The trustees, as a public and standing acknowledgment of this, have inserted a clause in their Grant, for leave for a part of the building still to be allowed for that purpose. Accordingly I preached a sermon in it, for the benefit of their charity children, when I was last at Philadelphia, before a very large auditory, and Dr. Smith, the present Provost, read prayers.
In pursuing a like plan, the present Georgia Orphan-house estate, which for near these three years hath been in a state of suspense, may be vigorously and properly improved, and thereby an ample and lasting provision made for the future maintenance and education of many poor, indigent, and orphan, as well as more opulent students. Proper masters likewise may now be sent over to instruct, and prepare for academical honours the many youths, who are at this time both in Georgia and the adjacent provinces, waiting for admission. In the mean time, a proper trust may be formed to act after my decease, or even before, with this proviso, that no opportunity shall be omitted of making fresh application for a college charter, upon a broad bottom, whenever those in power shall think it for the glory of God, and the interest of their king and country to grant the same. And thus, may it please your Excellency, my beloved Bethesda will not only be continued as a house of mercy for poor orphans, but be confirmed as a seat and nursery of sound learning, and religious education, I trust, to the latest posterity. That this may be the happy case, as I am persuaded is the desire of your Excellency, his Majesty’s Honourable Council, and house of representatives, in the province of Georgia, so it shall still be, to my latest breath, as it hath been for many years, the earnest endeavour and incessant prayer of,
May it please your Excellency, Your Excellency’s, &c.
G. W.
Commons House of Assembly, Monday, January 29, 1770.
MR. Speaker reported, that he with the house having waited on the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of his invitation, at the Orphan-house academy, heard him preach a very suitable and pious sermon on the occasion; and with great pleasure observed the promising appearance of improvement towards the good purposes intended, and the decency and propriety of behaviour of the several residents there; and were sensibly affected, when they saw the happy success which has attended Mr. Whitefield’s indefatigable zeal for promoting the welfare of the province in general, and the Orphan-house in particular.
Ordered, That this report be printed in the Gazette.
John Simpson, Clerk.
Extract from the Georgia Gazette.
Savannah, January 31, 1770.
LAST Sunday his Excellency the Governor, Council and Assembly, having been invited by the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, attended at divine service in the chapel of the Orphan-house academy, where prayers were read by the reverend Mr. Ellington, and a very suitable sermon was preached by the reverend Mr. Whitefield from Zechariah ivth chapter 9th. and part of the 10th verses; “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know, that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you; for who hath despised the day of small things?” to the general satisfaction of the auditory; in which he took occasion to mention the many discouragements he met with, well known to many there, in carrying on this institution for upwards of thirty years past, and the present promising prospect of its future and more extensive usefulness. After divine service, the company were very politely entertained with a handsome and plentiful dinner; and were greatly pleased to see the useful improvements made in the house, the two additional wings for apartments for students, one-hundred and fifty feet each in length, and other lesser buildings, in so much forwardness, and the whole executed with taste and in a masterly manner; and being sensible of the truly generous and disinterested benefactions derived to the province through his means, they expressed their gratitude in the most respectful terms.
| Orphan-House, in Georgia, Dʳ. | Orphan-House, in Georgia, Cʳ. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling, | Sterling, | ||||||||
| l. | s. | d. | l. | s. | d. | ||||
| To cash received from the 15th December, 1738, to the 1st Jan. 1745–6, by public Collections, private Benefactions, and annual subscriptions, per accompt |  | 4982 | 12 | 8 | By cash paid sundries by particular accompts examined, from the 15th December, 1738, to the 1st Jan. 1745–6, for buildings, cultivation of lands, infirmary, provisions, wearing apparel, and other incident expences | | 5511 | 17 | 9¼ |
| To ballance super-expended, Jan. 1, 1745–6. | | 529 | 05 | 1¼ | |||||
| £. | 5511 | 17 | 9¼ | ||||||
SAVANNAH in GEORGIA.
S. L.
THIS day personally appeared before us Henry Parker and William Spencer, bailiffs of Savannah aforesaid, the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, and James Habersham, Merchant of Savannah aforesaid, who, being duly sworn, say, That the accompts relating to the Orphan-house, now exhibited before us, of which the above is an abstract, amounting on the debit side (namely, for collections and subscriptions received) to the sum of four thousand nine hundred eighty-two pounds twelve shillings and eight pence, sterling, and on the credit side, (namely, for disbursements paid) to the sum of five thousand five hundred eleven pounds seventeen shillings and ninepence farthing, sterling, do, to the best of their knowledge, contain a just and true account of all the monies collected by, or given to them, or any other, for the use and benefit of the said house; and that the disbursements, amounting to the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully applied to and for the use of the same. And the Reverend Mr. Whitefield further declareth, that he hath not converted or applied any part thereof to his own private use and property, neither hath charged the said house with any of his travelling, or any other private expences whatsoever.
George Whitefield,
James Habersham.
SAVANNAH in GEORGIA.
THIS day personally appeared before us, Henry Parker, and William Spencer, bailiffs of Savannah aforesaid, William Woodrooffe, William Ewen, and William Russel of Savannah aforesaid, who being duly sworn say, That they have carefully and strictly examined all and singular the accompts relating to the Orphan-house in Georgia, contained in forty-one pages, in a book entitled, Receipts and disbursements for the Orphan-house in Georgia, with the original bills, receipts, and other vouchers, from the fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty eight, to the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-five; and that the monies received on account of the said Orphan-house, amounted to the sum of four thousand nine hundred eighty-two pounds twelve shillings and eight-pence, sterling, as above; and that it doth not appear, that the Reverend Mr. Whitefield hath converted any part thereof to his own private use and property, or charged the said house with any of his travelling, or other private expences; but, on the contrary, hath contributed to the said house many valuable benefactions; and that the monies disbursed on account of the said house, amounted to the sum of five thousand five hundred eleven pounds seventeen shillings and ninepence farthing, sterling, as above, which we, in justice to the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, and the managers of the said house, do hereby declare, appear to us to be faithfully and justly applied to and for the use and benefit of the said house only.
William Woodrooffe,
William Ewen,
William Russel.
Sworn this 16th day of April, 1746, before us, bailiffs of Savannah; in justification whereof we have hereunto fixed our hands, and the common seal.
Henry Parker,
William Spencer.
General Accompt of Monies expended and received for the Use of the Orphan-house in Georgia, from January 7th, 1738–9, to February 9th, 1765.
| Dʳ. | Cʳ. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| l. | s. | d. | l. | s. | d. | ||
| 1746, April 16. To sundries expended as per audit this day | 5511 | 17 | 9¼ | 1746, April 16. By sundry receipts per audit | 4982 | 12 | 8 |
| 1752, Feb. 25. To ditto | 2026 | 13 | 7½ | 1752, Feb. 25. By ditto | 1386 | 8 | 7½ |
| 1755, Feb. 19. To ditto | 1966 | 18 | 2 | 1755, Feb. 19. By ditto | 1289 | 2 | 3 |
| 1765, Feb. 9. To ditto | 3349 | 15 | 10 | 1765, Feb. 9. By ditto | 3132 | 16 | 0¼ |
| 10,790 | 19 | 6¾ | |||||
| By the Rev. Mr. Whitefield’s benefactions, being the sums expended more than received, as appears from the several former audits, now carefully examined, | |||||||
| viz. Folio 65 — 1169 10 1¼ Ditto 81 — 400 5 4¾ Ditto 98 — 494 10 4 | 2064 | 5 | 10 | ||||
| 12,855 | 5 | 4¾ | 12,855 | 5 | 4¾ | ||
Georgia ss.
BEFORE me, the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior, one of the assistant justices for the province aforesaid, personally appeared the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield and Thomas Dixon of the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn, declare that the accompts relating to the Orphan-house, from folio 82, to folio 98, in this book, amounting on the debit side to three thousand three hundred and forty-nine pounds fifteen shillings and ten pence, sterling, and on the credit side to three thousand one hundred and thirty-two pounds sixteen shillings and one farthing, sterling, contain, to the best of their knowledge, a just and true account of all the monies collected by, or given to them, or any other, for the use or benefit of the said house; and that the disbursements amounting to the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully applied to and for the use of the same.
Signed,
George Whitefield,
Thos. Dixon.
February 9, 1765.
Sworn this 9th day of February, 1765, before me; in justification whereof I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.
Signed N. Jones. Sealed.
Georgia ss.
BEFORE me, the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior, personally appeared James Edward Powell and Grey Elliot, Esqrs. members of his Majesty’s honourable council for the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn, declare that they have carefully examined the accompts containing the receipts and disbursements, for the use of the Orphan-house in the said province, and that comparing them with the several vouchers, they find the same not only just and true in every respect, but kept in such a clear and regular manner, as does honour to the managers of that house; and that on a careful examination of the several former audits, it appears that the sum of two thousand and sixty-four pounds, five shillings and ten pence, has at several times been given by the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield for the use of the said house; and that in the whole the sum of twelve thousand eight hundred fifty-five pounds five shillings and four pence three farthings, has been laid out for the same house since 7th January, 1738–9, to this day:—Also that it doth not appear that any charge has ever been made by the said Reverend Mr. Whitefield, either for travelling charges or any other expences whatever, and that no charge of salary has been made for any person whatever, employed or concerned in the management of the said house. February 9th, 1765.
Signed,
James Edward Powell,
Grey Elliot.
Sworn this 9th day of February, 1765, before me; in justification whereof, I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.
Signed N. Jones. Sealed.
| Dʳ. | Cʳ. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Accompt of monies expended for the Orphan-house, taken from the authentic book, from Dec. 1738, to February 1770. | Monies received for the use of the same, taken from the authentic book, from Dec. 1738, to February 1770. | ||||||
| l. | s. | d. | l. | s. | d. | ||
| 1746 April 16. To Sundries, per audit, this day, | 5511 | 17 | 9¼ | By Benefactions and Collections, in England | 4471 | 0 | 6¼ |
| 1752 Feb. 25 Dᵒ —— | 2026 | 13 | 7½ | Dᵒ —— Scotland | 978 | 2 | 5½ |
| 1755 Feb. 19 Dᵒ —— | 1966 | 18 | 2 | Dᵒ —— Georgia | 275 | 5 | 7¼ |
| 1765 Feb. 9 Dᵒ —— | 3349 | 15 | 10 | Dᵒ —— Charles-Town | 567 | 1 | 9¾ |
| 1770 Feb. 2 Dᵒ —— | 2548 | 17 | 0½ | Dᵒ —— Beaufort | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Dᵒ —— Boston, New-York, Philad. &c. | 1809 | 6 | 10½ | ||||
| Dᵒ —— Lisbon | 3 | 12 | 0 | ||||
| 8120 | 19 | 10½ | |||||
| By cash, received for payment of boarders cocoons, rice, lumber, [♦]indigo, provisions, &c. | 3983 | 19 | 3 | ||||
| By the Reverend Mr. Whitefield’s benefactions, being the sums expended, more than received, as appears by the several audits, carefully examined, | 3299 | 3 | 3¾ | ||||
| 15404 | 2 | 5¼ | 15404 | 2 | 5¼ | ||
[♦] “indico” replaced with “indigo”
Georgia
BEFORE the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior assistant Justice for the province aforesaid, personally appeared, the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield and Thomas Dixon, of the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn, declare that the accompts relating to the Orphan-house, from folio 101 to folio 109 in this book, amounting, on the debit side, to two thousand five hundred forty-eight pounds seventeen shillings and one half-penny, sterling, and on the credit side, to one thousand three hundred thirteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence three farthings, sterling, contain, to the best of their knowledge, a just and true account of all the monies collected by, or given to them, or any others, for the use or benefit of the said house; and that the disbursements, amounting to the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully applied to and for the use of the same.
George Whitefield,
Thomas Dixon.
February 2, 1770.
Sworn this 2d day of February, 1770, before me; in justification whereof I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.
N. Jones. Seal.
5th and last audit, 1770.
Georgia.
BEFORE the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior assistant Justice, &c. personally appeared, James Edward Powell and Grey Elliot, Esquires, members of his Majesty’s council for the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn, declare that they have carefully inspected and examined the accompts, containing the receipts and disbursements, for the use of the Orphan-house in the said province. And find the sums expended for the use of the same, from the 9th February 1765, to this day, amount to two thousand five hundred forty-eight pounds seventeen shillings and one half-penny, sterling; and the sums received, to one thousand three hundred thirteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence three farthings, sterling; and that the whole of the sums expended on account of the institution, amount to fifteen thousand four hundred and four pounds two shillings and five-pence farthing, sterling, and the whole receipts, to the sum of twelve thousand one hundred four pounds nineteen shillings and one penny half-penny, sterling; and the benefactions of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield thereunto, have, at different times, amounted to the sum of three thousand two hundred ninety-nine pounds three shillings and three-pence three farthings, sterling, as clearly appears by a general account thereof stated by us. And that in this our last, as well as each preceding audit, no charge whatever has been made by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, either for travelling charges or otherwise, nor any other charge for the salary of any person whatever, employed or concerned in the management of the said Orphan-house; and that clear and distinct vouchers for the whole amount of the sums expended, have been laid before us, except for four articles, amounting together to forty pounds one shilling and one penny, being monies expended and paid by the said Mr. Whitefield on several occasions, the particulars of which were laid before us, but no receipt had been by him taken for the same.
James Edward Powell,
Grey Elliot.
February 2, 1770.
Sworn this 2d day of February, 1770, before me; in justification whereof, I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.
N. Jones. Seal.
Schedule of all the Lands possessed by, and belonging to the late Reverend George Whitefield, in Georgia.
Lands granted by his Majesty to the late Reverend George Whitefield, in trust for the Orphan-house, or for the endowment of a College in Georgia.
A TRACT of 500 acres, called Bethesda, on which the Orphan-house and additional buildings are erected.
Another of 419 acres, called Nazareth.
Another of 400 acres, called Ephrata, on which are the principal planting improvements.
1319 acres.
These lands are granted in trust to the deceased, for the use of the Orphan-house, and adjoin each other: the grants are dated 13th of April, 1761.
Another of 500 acres, called Huntingdon, and adjoins on one corner to Ephrata.—This grant is dated 13th of April, 1761.
Another of 1000
Another of 500
Another of 500
2000
These 3 tracts, amounting to 2000 acres are contiguous, and are granted to the deceased in trust for the endowment of a college. The grants are dated 6th of August, 1765.
Another of 1000 acres, left by the Reverend Bartholomew Zouberbuhler, deceased, late minister of Savannah, by Will, for the endowment of a college, but conditionally.
The habendum of the three grants, amounting to 1319 acres of land, for the use of the Orphan-house, run in the following words: “To have and to hold the said tract of four hundred acres of land, and all and singular other the premises hereby granted, with the appurtenances, unto the said George Whitefield, his heirs and assigns for ever, in free and common soccage:—In trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Orphan-House,—he the said George Whitefield, his heirs or assigns, yielding and paying, &c.”
And the three grants, together amounting to 2000 acres of land, for the endowment of a college, are thus expressed: “To have and to hold the said tract of one thousand acres of land, and all and singular other the premises hereby granted, with the appurtenances, unto the said George Whitefield, his heirs and assigns for ever, in free and common soccage: In trust for the endowment of a college in our said province,—he the said George Whitefield, his heirs and assigns, yielding and paying, &c.”
So that it plainly appears, these lands cannot be aliened or appropriated to any other use, than the purposes for which they were granted.
Extract from an account of the state of the family at the Orphan-house in April 1770.
| Whites. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Managers and carpenters | 9 | |
| Boys | 15 | |
| Girl | 1 | |
| Negroes. | ||
| Men | 24 | Of which 16 are young, and fit for any labor; 7 are old, but capable of some service, and 1 so old as to be useless. |
| Women | 11 | 8 of these are capable of the usual labor, 2 are old and assist in the business of the house, and 1 almost incapable of any service. |
| Children | 15 | Of whom, those that are capable are employed about something useful, as far as their strength and abilities will permit. |
| 75 | ||
By an authentic account of the state of the family at the Orphan-house, from the year 1739 to 1770,
140 Boys
43 Girls
183 Total.
have been clothed, educated, maintained and suitably provided for.
N. B. The Spanish war; the fluctuating state of the colony for years; the long suspense in which Mr. Whitefield was kept by government at home, as to his intended plan of improvement at the Orphan-house; and other particulars which are noticed, and may be observed in his letters, prevented the accession of a greater number of orphans; but to the honour and usefulness of the institution, it ought to be remarked, that many poor children, besides what are numbered in this list, were occasionally received, educated, and maintained at the Orphan-house.
Copy of a paper, endorsed College Rules, taken from the original in Mr. Whitefield’s hand-writing, 1770.
MORNING prayer to begin constantly, every day in the year, at half after five. The first bell to ring exactly at 5 o’clock. The form as follows: A psalm or hymn; the general confession, introduced with “Let us pray.” If any scholar of the house, or any other person not in priest’s orders, doth officiate, then that collect, “O God, whose nature and property, &c.” or that out of the commination-office, “O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully hear our prayers, &c.” Then must follow the Lord’s prayer, Gloria Patri, “O come let us sing unto the Lord, &c.” or the Te Deum, or Song of the Three Children, or Benedictus; then the second lesson for the day, with a few short practical remarks; then a suitable prayer, with singing a short doxology; and thus to conclude, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us, the Founder of this institution, the Master, Wardens, and all its benefactors, and all mankind, now, henceforth, and for evermore.” If no one is capable of using free prayer, then shall follow the apostles creed, the collect for the week, the third collect for grace; the three prayers for the king, royal family, and clergy, turned into one; “O God, the creator;” the general thanksgiving, the prayer of St. Chrysostom, and “Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as before.
The same order in the evening, only to repeat the Magnificat, &c. before the reading of the second lesson.
On Wednesday and Friday morning, the hymn, the litany, the general thanksgiving, prayer of St. Chrysostom, and concluding prayer.
On Sunday morning, a short prayer with a psalm or hymn early in the morning. Full prayers and sermon at ten: the same at three in the afternoon. A short prayer, and a hymn, at half after six in the evening. The first lesson to be read at dinner; the same at supper: a short hymn at each meal. One of the orphans to read and give out the hymn, or any other substituted by the master; and also to read the second lesson in chapel.
Great care to be taken, that all read, write, speak, and behave properly.
All the statutes to be in English, and read to every scholar or student at admission, and thrice a year, at Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, publicly.
No cards, dice, or gaming of any kind to be allowed, on pain of expulsion, or dismission, by masters, tutors, professors, students or any officer or member of the college whatsoever. No music but divine psalmody; such as Butt’s Harmonia sacra, Knibb’s and Madan’s collection of tunes.
All are to be taught Bland’s Manual Exercise, by some deputed officer, but not bound to attend on musters or other exercises, unless on account of an alarm.
Nobody shall be suffered to run in arrears above half a year: some caution money to be paid down.
All students to furnish their own rooms, but to lie on mattresses, and the successors to pay thirds.
No one suffered to go to town without express leave from the master, or persons deputed by him.
Breakfast at seven o’clock, dinner at twelve, supper at six, through all the year; the utmost neatness to be observed and maintained in every room.
All orphans and students shall be obliged to learn and repeat, and, if capable, to translate into Latin all the thirty-nine articles, or those specified in the act of toleration. The homilies to be read publicly, distinctly, frequently and carefully, every year, by the students, deputed in rotation. All to be first thoroughly instructed in the history of Georgia, and constitution of England, before they are taught the history of Greece and Rome. Kimber’s history of England is a good one for beginners, then may follow Rapin’s. The young negro boys to be baptized and taught to read. The young negro girls to be taught to work with the needle. The following divinity books to be read, Henry’s Comment,—Doddridge and Guise,—[♦]Burkitt,—Clark’s Bible,—Wilson’s Dictionary,—Professor Franck’s Manuductio, especially the preface de Impedimentis Studii Theologici,—Doddridge’s Rise and Progress,—Boston’s fourfold State,—ditto, on the Covenant,—Jenks, on the righteousness of Christ, and his Meditations,—Hervey’s Meditations, and Theron and Aspasio,—Bishop Hall’s Contemplations, and other works,—Edwards’s Preacher,—Trapp on the old and new Testament,—Poole’s Annotations,—Warner’s Tracts,—Bishop Leighton’s Comment on St. Peter’s 1st Epistle,—Bishop Pearson on the Creed,—Edwards’s Veritas redux,—Owen and Bunyan’s works.
[♦] “Burkit” replaced with “Burkitt” for consistency
Copy of a paper, intitled, “Subjects for Annual Prizes at the Orphan-house, Bethesda College,” in the hand-writing of Mr. Whitefield, inclosed with and referred to in his Will[¹].
[¹] “Whatever profits may arise from the sale of my books, or any manuscripts, that I may leave behind, I give and bequeath —— towards paying off my arrears that may be due on the account of the Orphan-house academy, or for Annual Prizes, as a reward for the best three Orations that shall be made in English, on the subjects mentioned in a paper annexed to this Will.”
Subjects for Annual Prizes at the Orphan-house, Bethesda College.
ON every 27th of December, the Founder’s birth-day,—an Oration on the Mercy of God, in preparing Habitations and Places of Education for poor Orphans, “In thee the fatherless find mercy,” by an Orphan.
Another on our Lord’s Nativity,—by an Orphan.
On the Anniversary, March 25,—Orations on the benefit of erecting, founding, and contributing towards Seminaries of sound Learning, and religious Education.—On the Benefit of an Union between Great Britain and her Colonies.—The Rise and Progress of the Colony of Georgia.—The Rise and Progress of Commerce and Religion in the other American Colonies,—by Orphans or Students.
On the 5th of November,—an Oration on the glorious Revolution, and the infinite Mercy of God, in delivering Great Britain from Popish Tyranny and arbitrary Power, by Orphan or Student.
On Easter Monday,—an Oration on the Resurrection,—by Orphan or Student.
On Whitsunday,—an Oration on the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles,—by Orphan or Student.
All the Exercises to be closed with an Application, Exhortation, and Prayer, by the Master of the College.
The following Speech was also found in Mr. Whitefield’s own Writing, delivered by an Orphan after Mr. Whitefield’s Sermon preached before the Governor, &c. &c. January 28, 1770[¹].
[¹] For the Sermon, the Reader is referred to the last volume of this work.
WHEN I consider where I stand, and before whom I am about to speak, no wonder that previous to my rising, a trembling seized my limbs; and now, when risen, a throbbing seizes my heart, and as a consequence of both, shame and confusion cover my face. For what am I? (a poor unlettered orphan, unlearned almost in the very rudiments of my mother tongue, and totally unskilled in the persuasive arts of speaking) that I should be called to speak before such a venerable, august assembly, as is this day convened under Bethesda’s roof. But when I reflect, that I stand up at your command, Reverend Sir, to whom, under God, I owe my little all, and when I further reflect on the well-known candour of those that compose this venerable, august assembly, my trembling begins to abate, my throbbing ceases, and a gleam of hope breaks in, that the tongue of the stammerer will in some degree be able to speak plain. But where shall I begin, and how shall I express the various emotions, that within the space of the last hour have alternately agitated and affected my soul? If the eye, as I have been taught to think, is the looking-glass of the soul; and if the outward gestures, and earnest attention, are indications and expressive of the inward commotions and dispositions of the human heart, then a heart-felt complacency and joy hath possessed the souls of many in this assembly, whilst the reverend Founder hath been giving from the pulpit such a clear, succinct, and yet withal affecting account of the rise and progress of this Orphan-house academy, and of the low estate of this now flourishing colony, when the first brick of this edifice was laid. All hail that happy day! which we now commemorate, when about thirty-two years ago, in faith and fervent prayer, the first brick of this edifice was laid. Many destitute orphans were soon taken in, and without any visible fund, in the dearest part of his Majesty’s dominions, more than fifty labourers were employed, and honourably paid, and a large orphan-family, for these many years, hath been supported, cloathed, and brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. O could these walls speak! could every chamber, every corner of this fabric speak! what agonizing supplications, what inwrought energetic prayers would they tell us they had been witness to, and also of the blessed fruits, of which we are now partakers. Behold! a once infant, deserted, despised colony, not only lifting up its drooping head, and in some degree over-topping, at least for trade, and increase and extent of commerce, vying with some of its neighbouring provinces. Behold the once despised institution! (the very existence of which was for many years denied) through the indefatigable industry, unparalleled disinterestedness, and unwearied perseverance of its reverend Founder, expanding and stretching its wings, not only to receive a larger number of helpless orphans like myself, but to nurse and cherish many of the present rising generation, training them up to be ornaments both in church and state. For ever adored be that Providence, that power and goodness, which hath brought matters to such a desirable and long expected issue! Thanks, thanks be rendered to your Excellency, for the countenance you have always given to this beneficial plan, for laying the first brick of yonder wings this time twelvemonth, and for the favour of your company on this our anniversary. Thanks to you, Mr. President[¹], who have long been a fellow-helper in this important work, and have now the pleasure of seeing the fruit of all your labours. Thanks to the Gentlemen of his Majesty’s Honourable Council, and to the Members of the General Assembly, who so warmly recommended the utility of this institution. Thanks to you, Sir, who first opened it by preaching. Thanks to you, who left your native country, and without fee and reward have for many years laboured and watched over us in the Lord. Thanks to all who have this day honoured us with your presence. And above all, thanks, more than an orphan tongue can utter, or orphan hearts conceive, be, under God, rendered unto you, most honoured Sir, who have been so happily instrumental, in the hands of a never-failing God, in spreading his ever-lasting gospel.
[¹] The Honourable James Habersham, President of his Majesty’s council, and Mr. Whitefield’s Executor in Georgia.
Savannah, March 27, 1771.
MONDAY last being the anniversary of laying the foundation of the Orphan-house, the new and very decent chapel lately erected there was opened. On this solemnity his Excellency the Governor, many of the Gentlemen of the Council, and a very great number of the principal inhabitants of the province, were present. The company being seated in the chapel, and the orphan children having sung a short hymn, the following address, with great propriety, and to the universal satisfaction of the audience, was delivered by Peter Edwards, one of the orphans:
“May it please your Excellency,
Reverend Gentlemen,
Gentlemen and Ladies,
In obedience to the commands of my superiors, and relying also on the candour and benevolence of your Excellency and this polite and respectable company, I beg leave, with all humility, to make this public address. It may not be improper to mention, that on this day, thirty-two years ago, the foundation of this house was laid by the reverend Founder, whose death we orphans in particular cannot sufficiently lament; that also on this day, two years past, your Excellency honoured this place with your presence, and condescended to lay the foundation of the two wings, superadded to the Orphan-house, for the accommodation of young gentlemen intended to be educated in academical learning, to enable them to move in a superior sphere of life; and we are now met to open and solemnly dedicate this new and convenient chapel to the service of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The many and great advantages accruing from the establishment of public schools in every government, is obvious, and in a young province, as this is, it must be of the highest importance to its future prosperity and welfare, which is the professed design of this charitable institution; an institution evidently calculated to promote the happiness of society, by providing for, and instructing such poor children, as would otherwise, in all appearance, be brought up in ignorance, and become of little use and value to mankind. They are here early taught their duty to God, and their country, and the respect they owe to those in authority over them. God has various, and to us unthought-of ways, which we poor short-sighted beings cannot fathom, to effect his purposes; but I hope I may be allowed to say, that, in all human probability, great might have been the blessing to this noble undertaking, had it pleased divine Providence to have prolonged the valuable life of the deceased Founder: but he is now no more. We have, however, no doubt of the great Father of the fatherless supplying his loss; and that your Excellency, and all well-disposed persons, especially the good people of this province, will espouse our cause, and promote our welfare. Agreeable to the plan of our deceased Benefactor, an Academy is now begun to be superadded to the Orphan-house, and gentlemen of this province will have an opportunity of educating their sons under their immediate inspection, and will not be under the necessity of sending them at a great distance for that purpose, or be constantly labouring under the painful anxiety of knowing of their health and welfare, besides being probably at a greater and more uncertain expence.
The utility of this, it is humbly presumed, wants no recommendation: it is natural to love the place where we received our education, and passed our first years. If parents would therefore have the pleasure of seeing the daily progress their children make in knowledge; if they desire they should love and revere them, and have a peculiar regard for the place of their nativity; if they would preserve them from the improper liberties they may take, when removed from their authority; it surely must be most eligible to let them spend their early years under the shadow of their wings, and within the reach of their parental admonitions.
May it please your Excellency,
I have now in charge to return your Excellency, with all deference and humility, our most grateful acknowledgments for your kind patronage and countenance; and to assure your Excellency, that we do and will constantly pray for your happiness, wherever Providence may please to place you, unfeignedly wishing, that your Excellency may continually experience that heart-felt satisfaction which can only dwell in the breast of the humane and benevolent; and we are persuaded, when you return to your native country, our cause will not be forgotten by your Excellency.
Honourable Sir,[¹]
We should be highly wanting in gratitude, if, on this occasion, we omitted to acknowledge your unwearied and unabating attention to serve this institution from its first foundation; and we are happy that God has been pleased to preserve your life to succeed our kind Founder, and carry into execution his truly generous intentions. Your disinterested regard to promote our real welfare is well known, and therefore I shall forbear to add, only that for your happiness, and long continuance amongst us, we daily pray.
[¹] The Honourable James Habersham.
Reverend Gentlemen,
Gentlemen and Ladies,
Permit me to return you our best thanks for the very kind regard you have shewn us, and to assure you, that we will endeavour to deserve the continuance of your friendship and favour.
Sir, and Gentlemen,[¹]
We cannot, we must not, Sir, omit to give our public testimony of your unwearied diligence and attention to cultivate and improve our minds in solid learning and useful knowledge; and, Gentlemen, it would be unjust, if we did not make the same acknowledgment for your constant care to make our situation, in regard to our bodies, easy, comfortable, and every way convenient, and as we have nothing to repay you, but our prayers for your welfare, both in time and eternity, and our best thanks, we hope you will kindly accept this tribute of our grateful hearts.
[¹] The Tutor and the Managers.
Young Gentlemen, (the Boarders.)
You are happy in having parents, who have both inclination and means to pay for your education. I have none. But to you, Gentlemen, I must own my obligation for having the opportunity of an education I could not, from my situation, have expected, had not your parents enabled our worthy Executor to employ so able a Tutor, as we now have, to instruct us, and I hope we shall shew, that his assiduity, care and pains, will have the desired effect.
My fellow Orphans,
What shall I say to excite your gratitude? I hope the memory of our late Benefactor, who has laboured incessantly for me, for you, and many others, who have partaken of the benefit of this institution, since its first foundation, will be deeply engraven in our hearts, and remembered with the greatest reverence and gratitude. This is all we have in our power, in return for such unmerited favours, and if this, our small tribute, should be wanting, we must, we shall be justly deemed the most ungrateful to our deceased Benefactor, who encountered innumerable, uncommon, and unknown difficulties, in carrying on this institution, notwithstanding he was maligned, traduced, and persecuted, with unrelenting virulence, as a cheat, an impostor, a public robber, and as one, who, under the specious pretence of promoting a charitable design, was amassing great wealth to himself; all which he bore with an uncommon degree of patience. Let me add, that God has been graciously pleased to provide for you, and for me, beyond many, very many in our circumstances. We are here daily taught the great and fundamental truths of the gospel of the Son of God, have plenty of the necessaries of life, and are carefully educated to qualify us to get a comfortable subsistence, and make us useful members of society. Let us therefore make a proper improvement of these mercies, and let us, my dear fellow Orphans, be thankful to God, the Father of all, for them, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service, and by walking before him in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
May it please your Excellency,
Reverend Gentlemen,
Gentlemen and Ladies,
I fear I have trespassed on your patience, and humbly entreat you to pardon the poor attempt of a youth unaccustomed to speak before so respectable an audience.”
After this the Rev. Mr. Edward Ellington, minister of the parish of St. Bartholomew, in South Carolina, read prayers, and preached a sermon very suitable to the occasion, from Matthew xviii. 20. Divine service being ended, the young gentlemen of the academy repeated several passages taken from some of the most approved English authors, in such a manner as appeared agreeably to engage the attention and to meet with the entire approbation of the company. Then Mr. Edward Langworthy, their Tutor, addressed the company as follows:
“May it please your Excellency,
Gentlemen and Ladies,
Having observed the attention of your Excellency to the exercises of this morning, and the marks of pleasure and approbation so visible in all the Gentlemen and Ladies now present, I think it my duty, with the warmest gratitude, to acknowledge the honour your Excellency and this respectable audience have conferred on this institution. The young gentlemen that just now spoke before your Excellency, have not been long under my tuition; they are indeed young, and scarce initiated in the first principles of literature; however, I flatter myself that these feeble attempts will be favourably received, and that hereafter they will be enabled to exhibit something more worthy of your attention and approbation.
It affords me the highest satisfaction, when I reflect, that divine providence hath honoured me with the care and direction of them, and I cannot but make a tender of my sincere and best respects to you, our worthy Executor, and to their worthy parents and friends, for the great confidence reposed in me. Duly sensible of the important trust committed to every preceptor, I shall, in the fear of God, do my utmost to form their tender minds, and to impress on them such principles as may tend to advance their happiness in private, as well as in public life: and I hope, from their proficiency, the Gentlemen of this province will be induced to promote with all their influence the growth and prosperity of our present undertaking.
The strict and virtuous education of youth is a point of great consequence in every country, and those that are employed therein do certainly merit the attention and encouragement of the public in proportion to their faithfulness; for my part, I do most chearfully dedicate my whole time to this laborious work, and am determined to pursue it with the greatest assiduity and diligence, being convinced that I can in no other way do more good to the true interest of my fellow beings, or do more service to the province.
It is undoubtedly the indispensible obligation of every one entrusted with the business of education, to satisfy the public with respect to their abilities and intentions, and therefore I hope to convince you that no pains will be spared, and no time lost, and that whatever is useful in the sciences, or ornamental in life, will here be inculcated both by precept and example. Authors in the several branches of knowledge will be regularly read, and the sacred scriptures constantly explained: these can bestow understanding upon all men; they are the universal logic, since none can read them without either acquiring a greater exactness of thought, or being invited to contract a greater rectitude of manners.
Our time being so far elapsed, permit me, in the behalf of these poor Orphans, and in the name of every member concerned in this Seminary, most heartily to thank your Excellency, and all the Gentlemen and Ladies now before me, for their kind attendance on this solemnity. With sentiments of the most unfeigned gratitude we would express our sense of it, and hope for the continuance of your esteem and friendship.
And I should be greatly wanting in respect and duty to you, Reverend Sir, and indeed justly incur the displeasure of all concerned in the management of this institution, if I did not now embrace the opportunity of returning you their and my humblest thanks for your kind and friendly assistance.
May what you and others have done on this Anniversary, terminate in the glory of the great Head of the church, who is God over all, blessed for evermore.”
Between the exercises of the day, the Orphan children sung several short hymns adapted to the occasion, with one of which the solemnity was closed. The company were afterward entertained with a plain and plentiful dinner in the Great Hall, and unanimously expressed their satisfaction of the proceedings of the day, and especially of the decency and order with which the whole was conducted.
End of the Third Volume.
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