Show eity CITY OF THE d i T 1 i art frt k arow fama andon bondora society the city of the orphans is situate oa on ashley down near bristol this down being a breezy eminence on which until lately the farmer grazed his cattle to trace the origin of this city w we e must go back to the year 1835 in which year a poor prussian george muller who was then living in bristol and who had come to england a few years before in connection with a missionary project conceived that it was his duty to do something towards providing for the numerous orphans who are aro to be found in our large cities at the time tb that at mr muller began to think of this work he was a minister to a small sect known as the brethren and had for a fellow labourer laboureur the late henry craik the well known hebrew scholar and brother of the late professor craik craid author of the Pursuit of knowledge under difficulties 11 mr muller had no salary whatever in connection with his ministry he andar and mr craik having resolved not to accept a salary but to leave their needs to be supplied as the brethren voluntarily should decide this arrangement produced very curious results sometimes mr muller was very well off but as he never made his wants known to anybody and never on principle asked anybody for anything his means were occasionally very ver Y low on these occasions his outward appearance pe arance indicated the emptiness of his exchequer and individual members of his congregation were in the habit when they met him with a shabby coat on of taking 9 him to the tailors and buying him a new one but poverty never affected the cheerful spirit of george muller in march 1836 he was living at no 6 wilson street bristol and this house he resolved to transform into an orphanage on the lith of april he began to take the children in and by the esth of the following month he had for his guests no less than twenty six orphan children who had lost both father and mother by death mr position was at this time a very remarkable one he had no regular income himself hin self aud and was in fact a poor man how was he to provide for the twenty six orphans that he had taken into his house he resolved to carry out the same principle in respect to the orphans as he had done in respect to himself that is never to ask anybody vor for tor assistance and never to make it known publicly who had given him anything if anybody sent him a present for the orphans whether it was in in money oney or goods it was never acknowledged in connection with the donors donoll name name but only with initials persons who gave for mere ostentation had consequently no chance of being advertised in connection with the orphanage for whether a large or small amo amount was given givens nothing more than the donors initials initia s were made public under these singular circumstances mr muller opened his orphanage some people thought that the orphanage was a freak of fanaticism and und others predicted that an institution founded on such principles could not exist but others again who saw what a large number of children mr muller had to feed sent him assistance in money in flour in draper esac c still there was a continual chorus of de predators who said the thing must fail fall but instead of heeding these mr muller who found that more children were brought to him than could be accommodated in his house he rented a second house and in a short time he had this one as full as the first the wants of this orphan community were literally supplied from day to day by gifts from the public but nobody was asked for anything A family of nifty fifty or sixty consumed a good deal of food the amouta for clothing them was no itlo inconsiderable trifle the rent of two houses involved expenses and as mr miller had engaged nurses and teachers for the orphans there was a further outlay in this direction it was no wonder that even persons who were friendly to the yong institution should have doubts as to its endurance there was no list of subscribers no income of any kind except the promiscuous gifts ite 0 of f t the he public who were never solag solicited c d t to 0 give mr muller however did not share these doubts he relied solely on the efficacy of prayer and believing that the care of orphans was a worthy work for a christian minister he had no doubt that the means of providing for the orphans bould be forthcoming hel hei help heip p came to nim in the most extraordinary way many people whom he had never baes saes asen sent money monay for the support of the or ails alls anonymous al donors conors dropped cash and add trinkets into his letter ietter box and occasionally he had ii a considerable sum on hand band but still there were periods when mr muller was down to his last penny and did not know where he would obtain the next meal for his orphans ph ns in these periods people said he ha had gone too far and while they were discussing what would becom 6 of the children at the breakup break brenk up lip of the institution mr muller opened a third house for boys and took in more orphans the fact was that as the character of the institution became known applications were made on an behalf of or orphans and mr muller having these cases brought before him was not disposed to refuse the children admission ordinary prudence would have hesitated but mr muller seemed to lack this depending soley solemon on his prayer and before the end of december 1837 he had seventy nine orphans under his care surely then it was time to stop iri iii july and august 1838 mr muller had frequently not a penny in hand and as be he made it a rule never to go into debt the necessities of the institution had to be supplied by the donations as t they he yc came e in day by dar day and often hour by b Y hour ho at these times nearly everybody b 0 dy I 1 lost heart in the work except mr muller in his published narrative referring to this period we often find entries which show the extreme necessities of the institution yet strange stran geto to say y there was never a single instance in in which the children lacked either food or clothing under the date august 18 1838 for instance we find 1 I have not a penny in hand band for the orphans on august the 20 he was again 16 penniless I 1 today to day I 1 was again without a single penny when 43 3 was sent from clapham with a box of new clothes for the orphans in the same samo year on of november lie he makes this entry never was so reduced in funds as today to day there was not a single halfpenny half penny in hand between the matrons matrona of three houses but before the day was over funds were forthcoming to meet the wants of the day at the end of 1838 IM there were in the three houses so 86 orphans 31 in the girls orphan house 01 31 in the infant or phan house 24 in the boys orphan house A man who has a family of nine even when he has a fair income thinks he has a good many mouths to nil ll 11 but the remarkable peculiar peculiarly ty of mr case was that be he had a family of nearly ninety lodged in three large houses that he provided them with wholesome food in abundance and also with clothing come whatever it is true that for many years his means were very low but it is equally true that in his need help always came sometimes he had hel hei help heip p from strangers for even in these early days of the institution it became known that the poor prussian whose heart yearned for the orphans had bad a family of nearly ninety depending solely upon the public for luport sometimes a five or ten pound note was dropped anonymously into his letter box other contributors who hail had observed mr work sent him presents of oatmeal of treacle of vinegar of cloth of shoes ae c but there was no oste osce latious publicity to be got out of the contrib contris u eions whether they amounted to hundreds of pounds or to a single penny nothing but the initials of the donor being given in the account in any case ease nor had the donors any right of nomination in respect to td candidates for the institution all mr muller asked of persons who brought orphans to him was are both the childs parents dead was the child born in wedlock Is the child destitute if these questions were satisfactorily answered there was nothing said about the favor of subscribers or the religion of the deceased parents the children were taken into the houses so long as there was room for them in accordance with the order in which application a ile lie atlon was made for them mr M ris rib plan was a literal application of the familiar phrase first came first served and from that plan he has never deviated in 1839 there was a repetition of the previous years expert experience ence d ally daily necessities strangely met and the unfailing confidence con eon ald ence enee of mr muller on february ard 3rd he had not a penny in hand and on the there is similar report in the narrative the same thing occurred at various subsequent dates up to the end of the year and all through 1840 1841 and 1842 about the middle of 1813 1843 there were many application for the admission of orphans but as the three houses were as full as they could be having regard to the be althof the children mr muller to ment of the neighborhood rented an other house and this coohe soon filled A i 1 1 4 with or orphans phani up to this time these strangely supported orphan houses had been a marvel to everybody some had scoffed at the efm eff marts efforts of the poor prussian minister but many struck with the true humanity of his daily life his most tender care of the fatherless and motherless family df of which he had taken charge helped him some sent him silver spoons and half worn trinkets and jewelry poor men saved a portion of their wages for him rich men gave to him liberally but as his expense was great all be he got occasionally failed him and then the institution seemed on the verge of dist distraction ruction but only to prove once more that there was in it a principle of vitality which however incomprehensible it might be to observers was nevertheless real but although the helpers were many and were continually increasing the institution was not without its difficulties in 1844 on the second of april mr muller wiltes writes in his narrative the need of today to day was xa 5 Os gd yesterday I 1 had paid away all the money in hand band but in the afternoon there came in by sale of articles given for the benefit of the orphans xa 2178 ad by the boxes in the orphan houses as ad and by needlework odthe of the orphans as sid so that we were enabled to meet the demands of the da day hanot on the loth of june he had not a penny left and on the of june he had only for the next days maintenance of the orphans timely help came however and the children I 1 who knew nothing of the poverty of their protector never went without a single meal OD OCL the of july mr muller writes today to day two orphans were brought from bath for though we are BO so poor the work goes foward toward and children are received as long as there is room the poverty and the expansion in fact went along together mr plan being to take in children irrespective of his present means so iong long as he had space in his hig houses to accommodate them at the end of july 1844 mr muller had bad received in donations xa 7 ios ad without having applied to anybody for a single 8 subscription and he had then in his four houses orphans exhausted his means notwithstanding the liberal donations he received one dambe day he was comparatively rich another day he was exceedingly poor under the date august 7 he writes in his narrative there came in when there was not one penny in my hands as andas and as ad I 1 also fondd as in the boxes in my house los ios was given apts 3 the profit of the sale of ladies bags and as ad as the tho produce of a forfeit box at a young ladies school likewise were given to me two gold rings two gold watch keys a pair eair of earrings ear rings a gold brooch two waist buckles a pair of bracelets a watch hook hoogand I 1 and a broken brooch thus we have a little towards the need of tomorrow all through 1844 there were occasional days when the funds were exhausted and other days when there was abundance of means and these vicissitudes vici asit udes continued through 1845 and 1846 in the latter year mr muller resolved to build a house specially adapted for the orphans the large number of children be he then had in his four houses in wilson street were found to be a great inconvenience to the neighborhood bo in consequence of the noise they made during their play hours and there was also defects in the houses in respect of ventilation the houses not having been built for so large a number of inmates mr muller accordingly bought a field at ashley down and in july 1847 1647 commenced to build his new house and thus laid the foundation of what we have called the city of the orphans the new house was built to accommodate children namely orphan girls above seven years of age 80 orphan boys above seven beven and SO 80 male and female infant orphans this building cost over and mr muller transferred his orphans to it from the four houses in wilson street in june 1849 the size and accommodation of the house may be estimated when it is stated that it contains about large window slighting work rooms schoolrooms school rooms bakery store rooms teachers rooms play rooms dormitories ac there are also connected with it large open playgrounds with swings jumping boards ac for the children since the opening of this new orphan house at ashley down in 1849 the progress of mr work is one of the most lhost extraordinary ro romances minces that avd ever was vaa written it was remarkable that he should have been supplied with I 1 t IR W 1 the meaos means of building building tyl tys the e baist faist first lar lat large g e house at ashley downa considering that he never asked any man for help but what followed was still more remarkable he had not had possession of the new house bouse long before he had it filled to its utmost capacity with children etwas it was wonderful to see three hundred orpha orphan nii s amply provided for in such a noble house through the instrumentality of one man a simpleminded simple minded man who prayed forbell when he needed it and andt andi believed that his need would be supplied As soon as his new house was full Mr A Muller found that he had to turn away from his doors many orphans who were just as worthy of admission as those lie he had under his care he had a great responsibility for child ah 1 ren is no small family lut but but the insaf fici ency of his house hoube gave him erea krea grea A anxiety when father mathew set out on his great crusade against intemperance he lit made use of the memorable words here goes in the name of god 41 mr muller on finding the house containing his WO loo children too tho small resolved to build another saying that it was gods work and not hib his he made his second house larger than his first and boon soon filled it with more children making a total of TOO still the orphans came to his doors and in spite of the warning of people who said the institution was already too large he resolved to build a third house larger than either of the othe other r two for the accommodation of more orphans this also he soon filled thus increasing his hia family to 1150 number One Number two aud and humi ber her three as the houses are called bave bavo been in full operation for some I 1 years and as the three proved anad equate mr muller resolved to build two more houses number four and number five so that he mi might lit increase his bia family to upwards or of 2000 and these two new houses are now almost completed and in a few months will be e fully occupied when mr mul ler had forty orphans people said he had too many what will they say now to his 2100 the objectors have disappeared a p pe r ed and the institution is accepted e e pt e ai as a great fact |