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•w wwuxwiun Bethesda, Georgia’s Oldest Orphanage, Founded By Whitefield, Matchless Orator-Preacher & & ® •© #■•• o -e- f •#•#••• #'C* #•«• # • ••• I By FLORENCE L. TUCKER. Written for Sunny .Touth IIE oldest existing charita ble institution in the state of Georgia, and one of the oldest in the United States, is that founded by t lie Rev. George Whitefield, near Savannah, in 1740— the man whose eloquence and zeal swept like a flume throughout the colonies, and whose fame 135 years after lil? death is nr re enduring as time goes on. It J!s touching to stand before this plain brick building and recall the love of the great-hearted man who, without money or means of his own, determined to build a home for the orphaned poor—poor, indeed, in the new country where for some years there was not over-much comfort among the peo ple; to remember how for thirty years he labored for it with never-failing devo tion, and his last breath was a prayer to Heaven for the preservation of his “family," as he called the children there, with their teachers, and other members that made up the household. HIS PERSONALITY. We think of Whitefield, the most of us perhaps, in a hazy sort of way—as a great preacher who held thousand? spell, bound with his matchless voice and burn ing earnestness—this much we have read; but we have no realization until we have studied his life and works among us of what a live personality he was, and what a power among the brave colonists who with all their courage yet needed his strong and dauntless spirit in buf feting the adverse Waves that beat hard upon their homesick souls His Influ ence oifPr men was marvelous wherever he went—among the highly cultured of England or the colliers who gathered to hear him in the fields, the scholars at Princeton or the liberated debtors in the little town of Savannah. It was significant of the roan’s true nature that coming to Georgia at the early age of 24 he should have been so strongly impressed tio an undertaking which was to be his dearest interest throughout life. Arrived at Savannah to assume his curacy, he found the poor little ones, as he wrote afterwards, “tub bed out here and there,” receiving the hurt of bad examples, and forgetting in such homes as they had what they had learned at school. Without loss of time, he determined to provide a house and land for them—a home—where they might be taught to labor, and to read and write, and be brought up as Christian children should. When Mr. Whitefield accepted the cura cy he refused a salary, and so a grant of 500 acres of land was given him, on which he might erect his orphan house. Renting a temporary place, he installed a number of orphans, and returning to England began the appeals to generosity which were to be his only resource. On Kennington common, after a sermon and appeal to the unlettered masses for his orphans across the sea, the first collection for 111em was taken, amounting to £4. 7 ; and this was followed by the one on Moorfit Id which was nearly £53—£20 of it being In half pence, making in bulk more than one man could carry. At both of these places, it i* claimed, the • *•«•£•«>« O -a-6'4 singing of the people could be heard for 2 miles, and the voice of Mr. Whlte- licid, which ha? perhaps never been ex celled in power or melodious quality, 'for I mile. Ills open air audiences reached as high as 20.000, and by the time he was lvady to return to America up wards of £1.000 had been collected, an amount rue buying capacity of which was considerably more then than now. LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS. During his absence James Habersham, whom Mr. Whitefield had brought over in 1733 to be school master in the colony, selected a plot of latiTl containing the 500 acres allowed in the grant, and the work of clearing and stocking it was begun. In Januayf following the first collection in America for the proposed home was made in Charleston, £70 being secured, upon which occasion the great preacher, it was thought by many, spoke as never man spoke before. This seems to have been the impression wher ever he talked. Some years afterwards 'Benjamin Franklin testified materially to his eloquence. Franklin favored the placing of the orphanage at Philadel phia, and failing to move Whitefield’s de termination, rcfused to give him any lieip. According to liis own account, he chanced to be present shortly after at one of the services, and seeing that a col lection would be taken, he resolved that nothing should be gotten of him. “I had in my pocket a handful of copper money," he said in relating the circum stance, “ three or four silver dollars, and live pistoles in gold. As he proceeded i began to soften and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his ora tory made me ashamed of that, and de termined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably that I emptied my Pocket into fh e colletor's dish—gold and all.” On March 25. 1740, with his own hands Mr. Whitefield laid the first brick of his “Bethosda—House of Mercy”—in the hope that it might lie that to many souls. Part of the house he proposed should be used as tin infirmary -for poor people and sick servants, and lie itoped the Indians would also send their childrui here for Instruc tion. Of the forty boys and girls who went into the new home, there were English, French, Dutch, Scotch and American children. One of the little girls received shortly afterwards from Phila delphia (they came from anywhere in the colonics, and even from England) some years later became the wife of Janu s HaberSham. This receiving the or phans from everywhere alike was hut lilting, as the contributions came large ly from New England and, as we have seen, the mother country. The maintenance of an institution like this in so young a settlement, it can be understood, was on somewhat of a preca rious basis—there was no se.ttled income, and often little coming in. While the main house was in building the Spaniards carried away a schooner laden with 10.- C00 bricks, and a considerable amount of provisions. The latter would have oc casioned serious need hut for the timely arrival of rice and bread sent by a planter in South Carolina. At times, too, when there was want of food, the Indians supplied it, bringing generous quantities Rev. George Whitefieli, Founder of Bethesda Orphanage. Bethesda Orphanage, Oldest Charitable Instl ,in Georgia. of venison. Wool o. n cotton was also given to be spun and woven for clout ing. EVER LOYAL. On one occasion, being in Bermuda in the hope of restoring his impaired health, he received there upwards of £100 sterl ing, and so with every place where he chanced to be—Bethesda and its needs were ever uppermost in his mind and heart. His efforts were unceasing, but as the number cff inmate? grew and ex penses steadily increased, it was a heavy burden upon him to pay off indebtedness and keep down the accumulation of same. In a strait especially stressing He even sold the whole of his household furni ture. Slow and tedious as travel was in that day, Mr. Whitefield Journeyed back and fortli throughout the length and breadth of the colonies, and made repeated trips to England, necessitating prolonged ab sences—during the war between England and France he was kept in England eight years—but never flagging in his tireless work for the betterement of mankind 'Wheresoever, or failing to send back remittances to Bethesda. In London he established an alms house for poor wid ows, the poor and destitute of every clime and station appealed to him. and lie was ever as ready to relieve bodily as spiritual needs. And at last, when about to depart for what proved to he his last visit to England, he had tliA deep satisfaction of leaving with all ar rears paid off, Die houses in good repair, with provisions and clothing, and some cash on hand, for the next year’s ex penses. Mr. Whitefield. himself an Oxford man and a scholar, was deeply desirous that. Bethesda should become a college. In 1746-47 a Latin school was opened there, ■and the following year, being then in England, lie undertook measures to brin" about the establishment of a higher in stitution of learning. The plan, which at first met with favor, had eventually, however, to bo abandoned. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. Thirty years Mr. \\ hitcfield was the devoted father of the orphanage, through out the better part of his life was it his chief care and joy. and when his last illness overtook him, even then his face was turned toward his loved “Penlel." as he called it, hoping to spend Christmas with “his dear family.” At Newbury- port, Massachusetts, his remnant of strength failed him, and he lay down In death, and was buried before the pulpit of the Old South church. His death spread grief in every' place where he was- known, and in Savannah the sorrow of the people was universal and deep. Services were held in the church, the pulpit, desk and organ loft being covered with black; the governor and council in deep mourning convened at the state house, and marched in pro cession to the church, where they sat In pews draped in mourning; the organ played a funeral dirge, and two sermons were preached. In the tribute paid by the Reverend Mr. Ellington, he said, “In him met the finished and complete gen tleman and the real and true Christian.’ It has been Mr. Whitefieid's expressed wetir-.. L i be placed, if he died in En« land. In the vault beside his wife in Tottenham Court chapel, London. He had also expressed the hope that if death come to him in America he might lie in the Old Smith church, which was dear to him, and which had been huil led largely through his instrumentality. And so it was. On the second day of Octo ber, 1770. he was interred, about Vo.000 people attending the services; bells were tolled, guns fired £w-3 the shipping, flags placed at half mast, and with every at testation of sorrow one of the greate-t mm of his age was laid away, and the people of America and of Great Britain mourned with a common grief. He was buried in gown, cassock, bands and wig, and in a mahogany-stained cof fin. His two intimate friends, Parsons and Prince, pastors- of the church, were subsequently placed in the crypt with him. The original tomb, built in i770, was located in front of the pulpit, as it then stood, in the northeast side of the building and was reached by a trap-door in the aisle. But In 1829 the house was remodeled, the remains were placed in new coffins-, and removed to the new crypt, which is seven feet square, with a flight of steps leading down into it, and lighted by gas, MANY PILGRIMS. Visitors come here from everywhere, sometimes whole assemblies of religious bodies, tile registry shows the names of thousands, many distinguished persons of foreign lands, as well as our own coun try. The lids of the three coffins are left off, exposing to view through the glass the head an.,1 chest of eaeh body. The skull of Whitefield was some years ago removed and taken to Boston that some casts might ho made from it, one of which is to lie seen in the crypt, bu: it was’safely brought back, as was the arm stolen long ago and eventually re turned. The theft of the arm was a remarka ble and mysterious occurrence. In IS36 it was seen in England by a Mr. Robert Philip, who, to induce the culprit to re turn the limb, promised to conceal his name if it was done. Accordingly it was shipped in a box to Rev. Dr. Stearns, who, apprehensive lest the consignment be an infernal machine, and being the ig norant as well as unwilling consignee, re fused to open it. He kept it for some months, until finally a, letter came stat ing that the bone had been sent, and asking if It was received. Being thus as sured the box was opened and the arm restored to its place in the coffin. it had been the custom In early years to permit visitors to touch the body, or skeleton, which had made the theft pos sible. The name of the guilty perron, it is believed, was Bolton. UNMERCIFUL DISASTER. Mr. Whitefield, at his death, bequeathed Bethesda to the Countess Selina Hunt ingdon; who spared neither thought nor money in -the furtherance of the institu tion’s interest, but misfortune appeared to have marked it for its own. Shortly after the founder’s death the buildings were struck by lightning and burned. a. ig ii. a be- ha ) brer* rF Ti the British army destroyed them. A For Lady' Huntingdon’s death the state gov ernment, as successors to the trust claimed the property, and an attempt was made to establish a r-tato institution at Bethesda, but a second time lire dam aged the main building, and a hurricane laid waste the outhouses and planta tion. The legislature now ordered the property sold, and the proceeds divided among several charitable institution?, one of them the Union Society, probably the oldest char^tabSe organization in America. This looked like the end of all White- field’s plans and hopes, and for a time it seemed so. But the Providence that had watched over the work for fifty years did not forget now; though tempo rarily the. home was lost it was to be restored, and placed permanently in hands than which none better—the Union Society, a history of which is one long unbroken story of deeds of love and humanity, now took charge of the work. Though it was 45 years before the so ciety was able to buy back for Bethesda 125 acres of the original site and con struct anew buildings for a home. At last it was done, other lands of the original grant were donated, and Be'!ios- da, Whitefield’s orphan house, the ward of two continents, was restored. During th“ civ 1 : the nearness to th best to remove longer received thi war, on ennui, t of coast, it was thought boys (girls were no the home), and the place was occupied by confederate sol diers. Later during the federal occupan cy a detachment of federals was housed here As soon as practicable after the close of the war the home was reestab lished and the boys returned to it. Since which time it has prospered, sheltering hundreds of orphaned boys, and sending the mout into the world honorable and useful citizen?-. At present the home is tilled to its capacity, even to crowding, and plenty and promise are its happy lot. A worthier charity our country does not possess, nor one more deserving, consid ering its founder, its beginning and its- long life, of our unswerving allegiance and fostering care. The city of Savannah, city of monu ments as it is, has no shaft or stone, no enduring memorial save that whose foundations were laid with hi? own hand, to finis noble benefactor, one of the. greatest men that place—or America— has ever known. Yet he needs none other. In this country Bethesda will ever suggest Whitefield and Whitefield Be. thesda—and may one live ns long as the undying memory of the other. ABLE SURGEONS AMONG OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS party of Johns Hopkins students were talking about “immunity" last night. One of them re marked that a dog’s saliva has a perfect bactericidal and healing power and suggested that perhaps It would make a good anti septic, although it seeeme 1 that no bacteriologist hud caught the hint contained in the simple process of a dog’s licking a sore, a. process seen every day. This idea was discussed generally. The young man who first, mentioned it took down a pile of old magazines and after a diligent searclt produced a paper by Doctor George M. Gould. Here is a part of it: When we commence observation of the origin of medical discovery and treat ment we are struck by the fact that 'our brothers the animals' were first in learning not a little of medical art. It has been noticed that birds often show u true surgical instinct. M. Tati a on several occasions has killed woodoo -k that were when shot convalescing from wounds previously received, and in every Instance found the old Injury neatly dressed with down plucked from the stems of feathers and skilfullly arranged over the wound, evidently by the beak of the birds. In some instances a solid plaster was thus formed and in others ligatures had been applied to wounded or broken limbs. Ten times in his experience he has found birds whose limbs had been broken by shot with the fractured ends neatly ap proximated and litigated together—a statement that is vouched for by no less a naturalist than Fulbert Dumonteil. BEES WILL SEEK ASTRINGENTS. “Doctor James Weir says that when bees are attacked with diarrhoea they at once begin to suck astringent pieces of the dogwood, poplar, wild cherry or hickory and rapidly cure themselves. Their instinct carries them so ftir that in winter if they should happen to be afflicted with diarrhoea they will read ily drink a decoction of wild cherry if it is placed in the hive. Moreover, they seem to know that filth is a source of further believes that •r animals have diseov- materia mediea that nized by human phy- dogs "1 lector Weir many of the high erod and use a should be sicians. For instance, dogs willl seek out and devour the long blades cf couch-grass (triticum repens) when they are constipated; horses and mules will eat clay when they have ‘scours’; cattle, with eczema have Been seen to plaster hoof and joint with mud. He speaks of seeing a cow break tlvia ice on a pond and treat her itching joint to a mud poultice. Cats will go miles when they are ‘under the weather’ for a dose of catnip. CURATIVE POWERS OF SALIVA. “The saliva of animals seems to have a distinct curative action. Dogs, ca-s, cattle, rodents, monkeys, all lick their wounds when they can get at them, and soon effect euros. Weir also tells of ai large dog-faced monkey who scratched his shoulder badly on a projecting nail in his cage. He immediately went to a corner and, seizing a handful of clear, sawdust, pressed it on the bleeding scratch. In a few moments the bleeding ceased and the blood dried, leaving a coating under which the healing vas prompt. “Rev. Egevton R. Young, a missionary in northwestern Canada, shows us that the surgical instincts of the dog may become so far developed as to produce a real surgeon doctor. One of his dogs spontaneously took up this work ants became so expert that the Indians called him Muskeke Atim, the surgeon. Galls, wounds, frozen feet, etc., in the other dogs were successfully an I systematically treated by ’Doctor’ Rover. The wounds or sores that could not he reached by the dog s own tongue did not heal. The fact shows that. In a -fa e of health and with pure food, the dog’s saliva has a perfect bactericidal and healing power. Perhaps it would make an ideal antiseptic. No bacteriologist, has caught the hint.—Baltimore News.