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 Thornwell Orphs 
 
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 TllORNWEI I. OKI'IIAXS' SKMIXARY.
 
 J 
 
 Almighty God Careth for Me. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 GOD'S WORK THROUGH HIS PEOPLE 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 THORKWELL ORPHANAGE, 
 
 BEING 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF A GRATEFUL HEART. 
 
 ClINTON, S. C: 
 
 THORNWEIL ORPHANAGE PRESS. 
 
 1888. 
 
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 INTRODUCING THE WRITER. 
 
 I am constrained to put the story of God's work for 
 
 the Thornwell Orphanage into the shape of a personal 
 
 narrative because it is so interwoven with my personal 
 
 i2 experience that there is no other way to do it. But I 
 
 " am to tell you not of what I have done, but o£ what the 
 
 ^ Lord has done for the cause that I love best of any in 
 
 '? this world. 
 J.J 
 
 -* I propose to let you, my friendly reader, into the 
 inner secrets of a histoiy that is not full of startling 
 ?«" adventure, or sudden surprises, or wonderful opportuni- 
 ^ ties, but deals with what may be the experience of any 
 § one who will walk in the simple, plain path of that 
 duty that comes to all alike. 
 
 ^ George Muller, in the wonderful record of his great 
 " work in Bristol, England, declares that for his success 
 o he depended on pra^^er simply and only ; that he made 
 the Lord alone the recipient of the cry of his complaint ; 
 and that his great Orphan-Houses are not a testimony 
 of the love of God's people for the orphan, but of God's 
 willingness to answer prayer. How few there are that 
 can attain to so magnificent faith ! Yet that such is 
 possible, his life-work wonderfull}^ demonstrates. 
 
 448S64 
 
 ca
 
 Preface. 
 
 The lesson to be taught in tfie pages that follow, is 
 slightly different. They will not only testify that 
 God is a prayer-hearing God, but that also He has given 
 His children a part in the work of his Church. Labor, 
 to be acceptable to God, must have these qualities : it 
 must be built on faith ; baptized with prayer ; wrought 
 in humility, self-denial and patience. To all men, such 
 labor is possible — even the humblest. The success that 
 follows is' a testimony that the blessed Saviour whom 
 we serve is the living God.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BY WAY OF GETTING THE STORY BEGUN. 
 
 T is one of the most precious recollections of my 
 life that I was ushered into this world amid the 
 surroundings of a Christian home. I have often 
 ul heard men boast from the pulpit of the vileness of 
 their lives, from which the grace of God saved 
 them. Even so noble a man as George Muller 
 holds himself as a brand plucked from the burn- 
 ing. God does not call upon us to publish our 
 shame abroad in this manner, even as He does 
 not approve the Pharisee's prayer, "Lord I thank 
 thee that I am not as other men are," or even of the 
 young man's glad assertion, "All these have I kept 
 from my youth up." I gratefully thank God that 
 amid the innumerable things I have to thank Him for, 
 one is that he shielded my early life from great 
 sin, and brought me at a very early age to love the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. I think his protecdng care is as 
 wonderfully manifested in covenng the heads of his 
 little children from every storm as in resuscitadng black- 
 ened souls which the lightning of sin has scarred and 
 scorched.
 
 6 ''Ai7t I My Brother's Reef erf 
 
 I remember when I was but a little lad how bravel}'' 
 I could lie alone in the night, banishing the goblins of 
 the dark that an excited imagination and a naturally 
 timid disposition would conjure up, by appl3ang to my 
 heart this thought, — "The Lord is the strength of my 
 life, of whom shall I be afraid?" Nor has any thought 
 been so strong as this through all the years that have 
 Ibllowed. I have been in perils oft, but amid every 
 danger from the flash of lightning, the wild beast of the 
 forest, the storm-beat sea, or the mountain's slippery 
 pathway, r have felt that " The' Lord careth tor me " 
 
 Reader, that sentence I wish to have in your lips as 
 well as mine. It is the orolden thread that binds the 
 pages of this book together. It is the voice that is 
 uttered from ever^r stone that makes up the buildings of 
 the Thorn well Orphanage. 
 
 Once there came to me this thought : — It God cares 
 forme, ought I not to care for others? The first question 
 that man ever put to God was this, "Am I my brother's 
 keeper?" The last command ever given in holy writ 
 answered it, "Let him that heareth say, Come!" It 
 was that answer that lead me as a boy to work in the 
 Sunday-school, and while yet beardless, to endeavor to 
 tell others of the goodness of God. It is needless to 
 say that it was that which lead to tliis work for oiphans. 
 The Thomwell Orphanage has set to itself this delight-
 
 Thormvcll. 7 
 
 fill task, — to show to the Church its duty to God's 
 helpless children, because he careth for us. 
 
 After graduating at Charleston College in 1861. I 
 went, in the fall of the same year, to the Theological 
 Seminary. Columbia, as a student for the Presbyterian 
 mmistry. The Professors at that time were, the 
 modest, but withal profoundly learned Howe, the pol- 
 ished Leland, Woodrow the accurate and thoughtful, 
 Adger, a yery Nestor in things ecclesiastical, Cohen, 
 the dispenser of Hebrew roots, and last, and though 
 last, yet first, Thorxwell, idolized by us all as the 
 Augustine, the Calvin, the Melancthon — all in one — o\ 
 the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 On the 2nd day of August, 1862, I made this entry 
 in my journal. I was not then a man as the law counts, 
 but the impressions of early life become the profounder 
 conyictions of maturer years : 
 
 "The sad news reached us this day, of the death on 
 yesterday, at Charlotte, N. C, of Dr. James H. Thorn- 
 well. As I write this sentence, my eyes are wet with 
 tears and my heart depressed with sorrow. Confession 
 like this is but the confession of many another through- 
 out this South-land. The greatest man in the South- 
 ern Confederacy is dead. I saw him last just before 
 the exercises of the Seminary closed for this session. 
 Laying his hand on m}' head, he said solemnly.
 
 8 Dead, Yet Living. 
 
 " G(jd bless, 3'ou, Bro. Jacobs, and make you useful." 
 I will prize these words as the blessing of the greatest 
 man that I have ever known. What a cause of re- 
 gret to the world is this death! He was nature's 
 nobleman. A more talented, and yet mdre humble 
 man, \ never heard of. A more genial companion, 
 a sincerer Christian, could not exist. Dr. Thc)rnwell 
 is fit for Heaven, and now he is sitting down with 
 Luther, Calvin and Knox ; with Paul and Peter ; nay, 
 more, with the holy and ever beloved treasure of his 
 heart, Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant I " 
 
 The death of Dr. Thornwell was felt by all his 
 students as a personal loss. When ten years after- 
 ward, I suggested this name as the one our Institution 
 should honor, I felt as if it were almost a sacrilege to 
 connect a name so dear to my heart with a fledgeling 
 that the world thought would die in its infancy. The 
 name of Thornwell has a ring in the ears of his old 
 students that is unlike that of an}' other name. We 
 think of him as the founder of modern Presbyterian 
 modes of thinking.
 
 "TTT 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A VILLAGE CHURCH AT THE BOTTOM OF IT. 
 
 In 1864, the little village of Clinton some- 
 times asked itself if it were 
 a village at all. About 
 77 thirty families composed 
 the hamlet. The worn out 
 and broken down Laurens Railway drag- 
 ged its slow length through it from west to 
 east, riie best men in the village were soldiers on 
 the Potomac or about Charleston. Business was 
 absolutely dead. The only life in the village was giv- 
 en it by a few godly women and a handful of 
 Charleston refugees. It contained a small Methodist 
 Church, a Presbyterian Church with 47 members, 
 including soldiers, a school-house, and two Baptist 
 churches in the suburbs, about four miles away. 
 
 On the 27th of May, the tercentenary of John 
 Calvin's death (1564), Presbytery met to ordain me 
 Pastor of this church, and of the churches of Shady 
 Grove and Duncan's Creek, and on the next da}^ the 
 28th, I was formally placed in charge of the church.
 
 lo Beginning to Live. 
 
 I found a thoroughly disorganized community, a 
 church that aUhough it was nine years old, had not 
 yet learned what it meant, to be a church of Christ. 
 The town itself had a very unsavory name abroad, 
 and was proclaimed by its enemies as " the worst 
 hole in South Carolina." Liquor asserted its right 
 to rule. Human life was not accounted high in 
 value. Only a few days before the ordination, a 
 murdered man was found on the church grounds. 
 But there were some of God's own in Clinton, men 
 and women with backbone, and these only needed a 
 link to bind them together, a tool, as it were, with 
 which to work, in order to pull down the wrong, and 
 to erect in its stead the right. 
 
 I need not rehearse the eight years of pastoral 
 labor that followed. First, we had a vigorous sab- 
 bath school planted. What wondrous changes that 
 school has wrought ! What faithful and rewarded 
 toil has been bestowed through it upon our young 
 people. The prayer-meeting followed with its hal- 
 lowing influences. Then the church began to leai-n 
 to give of its substance, a thing almost unheard of 
 before. Even the great work of God among the 
 heathen had often met the sneer of " Cui bono?" 
 Who would have dreamed in those days that our 
 church should yet strive to lead its sister churches of
 
 An Enemy Laid Low. 1 1 
 
 the Presbytery as a Missionary churcli and should 
 rejoice to send one of its own sons to the forefront? 
 
 It would not be jutl to the memory of those days to 
 forget how bravely the Church fought on the side of 
 Temperance. Sometimes victory was snatched from 
 us just as our hands touched it, but we knew the 
 power of the Devil's curse of drink. The gallant 
 Bell was our leader. True men stood with him, and 
 at last after fifteen years of battle, the bar-rooms were 
 closed, the town swept of its vileness as though a 
 cyclone had struck it, and the keys turned in the lock 
 of a Legislative enactment. 
 
 It may seem a little strange, but it is nevertheless 
 true, that in those days our church needed to unite 
 the people in matters of temporal progress. Of 
 course she must provide a Cemetery for the dead. 
 But she also did her part in giving Railroads to the 
 living. It IS not with boasting that this is written, 
 but ordy as a candid fact of history, that Clinton was 
 made a town, a town of happy homes, by the Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 The village lies at an altitude of 800 feet above sea- 
 level. Mountain breezes fr'om far-away peaks ?weep 
 over it. Puve water and good health is the rule. I 
 came first to Clinton because of these things needed 
 by an enfeebled constitution. I found congenial 
 
 X
 
 12 A Proposition Stated. 
 
 spirits among my congregation. I accepted no in- 
 ducements to go away because I loved them. I was 
 willing to share their poverty and suffer lack of all 
 things with them, believing that the time would come 
 when I could demonstrate to the world that a little 
 village church could be made a tower of strength, a 
 blessing to those within it, and a lighthouse to all about 
 it. 
 
 Why should our young ministers seek for fat places 
 in the Kingdom of God ; or why, with ambitious ideas 
 lilled, should they long for posts of honor and fame? 
 It should content us to work just where the Master 
 puts us, trusting Him that He who knows all our 
 need, will give us fat things if they be good for us, 
 and honor and fame therewith, if they be for His 
 glory.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THEY UNDERTOOK TO BUILD AN ORPHAN'S HOME. 
 
 1HAD always had a fondness for types. In earlier 
 days I had been much about the offices of the 
 Charleston Courie?- and the Columbia Daily Caro- 
 hniati, serving as a Reporter. There I had gained 
 some practical knowledge of the art, but it was not 
 this inborn fondness for typography that induced me 
 in 1866 to purchase a small press and a few fonts of 
 type. I wished to have some means of laying print- 
 ed thoughts before my people and the community. 
 The True Witness, a little four- paged weekly, lived 
 only a year. In 1867 it gave way to an agricultural 
 paper, controlled by my brother. In 187 1 the agri- 
 cultural feature was dropped, the name was changed 
 to Our Monthly, and it eventually became what it 
 is now, a vehicle for religious thought, and of infor- 
 mation about the work we were tr3ang to do as a 
 church for the Master. 
 
 I found Our Monthly an invaluable assistant. 
 Through its columns the scheme was worked up for 
 
 y
 
 14 Immanuel Wichern. 
 
 the establishment of the CHnton High School (after- 
 wards College) Association, which has since done so 
 much for the development of a Presbyterian College 
 in this town. 
 
 In the October number, 1872, of Our Monthly, 
 the same in which the announcement was made of 
 the organization of the Clinton High School Asso- 
 ciation, appeared an article under the head of 
 " Christ's Little Ones." It was as follows : 
 
 " In 1832, a noble-hearted German, Immanuel 
 Wichern, established a home for destitute orphan 
 children on a plan of his own. He was opposed to 
 the gathering together of a great crowd of children 
 in one Institution, but was of the opinion that twenty- 
 four was as many as ought to be crowded into one 
 building. He was also of the opinion that the home 
 should be largely self-supporting, at least to the 
 extent of requiring the children to labor on the 
 Rauhe House farm and in the shops and offices con- 
 nected with it. 
 
 " Greatly would our heart delight us to have the 
 same experiment tried in our own land * * * We 
 proposed, two years ago, such an Institution under 
 the fostering care of the Presbyterians in this State. 
 Is there love enough for God's orphan children to
 
 The First Step Taken. 15 
 
 enable us to give some of the little remnant of 
 our former wealth for this noble purpose?" 
 
 This article was the result, trifling as it may seem, of 
 six months of prayer, consultation and study. The very 
 first entry in the records of the Thornwell Orphanage 
 is to this efliect : 
 
 [ Extract from the Minutes of Session, Clinton 
 Presbyterian Church.] 
 
 '•Sept. I, 1872. The Moderator stated that he had 
 received a letter from Dr. J. W. Parker, of the 
 Palmetto Orphan-House, inviting this church to co- 
 operate in maintaining that home. During the dis- 
 cussion which ensued, the formation of an orphan's 
 home under Presbyterian control, to be located in 
 Clinton, was suggested. Much conversation was 
 held on this pomt, and it was finally resolved that 
 the Pastor should draft a plan to be presented at 
 the next meeting, on which such a home might be 
 established." 
 
 Owing to the sickness of the Pastor nothing was 
 done till 
 
 " Oct. 20, 1872. The Pastor presented his report 
 in regard to the Orphans' Home, which was very 
 fully discussed and finally adopted."
 
 1 6 The Workers. 
 
 Until the 8th of Januaiy, 1873, all the work of organ- 
 ization was carried out by the Session of the Clinton 
 Church, but as it was deemed best that another organ- 
 ization should take its place, on the 8th of January, the 
 Board of Visitors of the Thornwell Orphanage, was 
 officially organized and held its first meeting. 
 
 My thoughts go up with sweet gratitude to God 
 for the noble band of workers that on that day put 
 their hand to the wheel. Foremost among us was the 
 enthusiastic Bell, now we tmst, among the gloritied 
 saints of God. There were the Holmeses, father and 
 son, the older was the founder of the Clinton Church, 
 the younger was the first Principal of our newly organ- 
 ized High School. There were also with us the ener- 
 getic Phinney, the sagacious Boozer, the quiet, but 
 faithful Bailey, the God-fearing Copeland, the three 
 Youngs, not of one blood according to the flesh, but 
 one in faith and hope and good works ; McClintock and 
 Foster, the aged and beloved and now glorified ; Green, 
 the thoughtful and zealous West. There, too,was Blakely 
 the beloved. Alas, the grave has closed over him. His 
 sun set at midday. There was Copeland the younger, 
 wise in counsel, Bailey and McCrar}^ on whom the 
 mantle of our sainted Treasurer fell. And aftenvards 
 there came to us Lee the Learned, and Owings the true 
 and tried, and Watts who now leads the orphan lads to 
 weedy battles. Faithful co-laborers I who could not ac-
 
 I 
 
 Now, Brethren, Forward! ly 
 
 complish projects for the Master with such as you to help? 
 Month by month, through all these years you met and 
 worked and prayed. Rain did not hinder you. You 
 came when sick and tired and busy. You asked no 
 glory ; no reward ; but only to stand by your Pastor, as 
 one man, and like Hur and Aaron of old, to hold up 
 his hands, when he was ready to faint. 
 
 I remember as though it were but yesterday, the as- 
 sembly of this band of workers in my parlor. The plan 
 was presented. The time came to vote upon it. It was a 
 solemn moment. I told the brethren present that if they 
 voted Aye, it meant that I and they must cast in our lot 
 together for life ; that we were the least among the thou- 
 sands of Israel, that neither Pastor nor people were 
 known to the Church, that our poor litde congregation 
 was struggling for very life, having just called its Pastor 
 for all his time ; and that we must look forward to years 
 of unremitting toil. There was this to encourage, — the 
 cause was one on which we could ask God's blessing, 
 and assuredly if we asked, we should receive. The 
 vote w^as taken. Each one present answered, A3'e. 
 And our dear Bro. Bell said, " Now, Brethren, 
 foi'ward I " 
 
 A few davs afterwards Our Monthly published the 
 tidings. Our first article appeared in the Sotithern 
 Presbyterian. The world knew- that <a little people in
 
 i8 Waiting. 
 
 Clinton had determined to lead the great Synods of 
 South Carolina and Georgia, and God's people ever}^- 
 where in a movement to extend the aid of the Church to the 
 widow and the fatherless ; the widow indirectly through 
 her children. We wondered if the answer would be 
 decisive. 
 
 To stand upon the mountain-top and look down over 
 the vast prospect, one is overwhelmed for a moment 
 with the glorious panorama. It seems an easy thing to 
 have thus reached that high pinnacle ; but to stand at 
 the mountain's base and look up to its lofty crags, scan- 
 ning the innumerable steps and besetting dangers that 
 lie between, strikes the faint heart with dismay. Let 
 not him that putteth off his armor boast as him that 
 putteth it on ; and, yet, poor as we were, we dared to 
 boast ! * We dared to say of the long way to the 
 mountain's crest, — "It is nothing!" Our soul did 
 make her boast in God ; and each one of us said. Where 
 He leads, we will follow. 
 
 One of our earliest circulars closed with this sentence, 
 " Dear friend, wherever you may be, pray for the suc- 
 cess of our Orphanage. If you cannot give silver and 
 gold, give us at least your prayers. If you pray aright, 
 God will turn these prayers of yours into silver and 
 gold, for He has the treasury, and He is the God of the 
 fatherless."
 
 Called to Believe. 19 
 
 And, yet, when this was resolved on, and when 
 these tnistful words were written, there was not one 
 dollar in the treasury, nor promise of one. It is easy to 
 believe after the event. We were called to believe, and 
 to risk our all upon it, where, as yet, no ray betokened 
 the coming sun.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE LITTLE RED LEDGER. 
 
 There lies before me as I write, a little 
 red ledger of 200 pages. 
 
 The hand that made the entries irl it is 
 
 now silent in the dust. It is the account book 
 
 |1i of Wm. B. Bell, Treasurer. On that first 
 
 y 
 
 day of October, 1872, when we held our 
 
 If 
 
 inform. al meeting, needing something for 
 postage and printing, we chipped in our dollars to the 
 little collection basket. On this first page I find this 
 first record, Wm. B. Bell, $1.00. 
 
 I turn the page, and now the accounts of the Thorn- 
 well Orphanage begin. I read, Willie Anderson, 50 
 cts. I remember it all. We were sitting at a widow's 
 fireside. The Orphanage ( at most an unknown word ) 
 was the topic. Little Willie put one arm on m}^ shoul- 
 der and the other hand fast gripped about something in 
 my lap. " Well, Willie, lad ! what have you there, and 
 what is it all about?" He blushed and opened his 
 hand, and there la}- in the orphan's palm that silver 
 half-dollar. It was the first gift that came. It was the 
 first drop of the shower.
 
 The Synod Approves. 21 
 
 I can cover with my hand every entry on the first 
 page of this ledger, and yet it is the record of /wo 
 mont It's gifts! Seventy-eight dollars and sixty cents in 
 all . There are just twenty-five entries . The first gift by 
 mail is James McElroy, of Charleston. Here is Dr. 
 
 B. Adger, $5.00. It was the sole return for the 
 first public speech I ever made for the orphans. 
 Scene : Columbia Church ; the Synod in session. 
 Dear Bro. Riley had just helped us much with this 
 resolution, 
 
 Resolved: That the Synod of South Carolina 
 heartily approves of the proposition to establish the 
 Thornwell Orphanage under the care of the Presby- 
 terians of this State, and commends it to the Christ- 
 ian liberality of our people. 
 
 The resolution was voted in by a few feeble ayes, — 
 no nays. Then our dear old professor rose and 
 backed his vote with his dollars. 
 
 On that same little page I find that there were 
 gifts from other states than our own ; a nameless 
 friend from New York, another from Maryland ; 
 three from Illinois, one from the District of Columbia. 
 Strange enough, all were from states that might have 
 been called the hostile North. The other gifts of 
 those two months were mainly from our little village.
 
 22 Showers of Blessing. 
 
 Friendship Church, in Laurens County, was the first 
 church to take up a formal collection. 
 
 What heart-stirring thoughts swarm up from the 
 pages of this little red Ledger ! How we thumbed 
 and studied those pages to see whether we with our 
 little company of donors could turn an army of doubt- 
 ers into friends ! What searchings of heart ! What 
 prayers I The names we read, too ! Of this first 
 page of helpers, heaven has reaped a harvest. Twelve 
 out of the twenty -five are among the saints of God. 
 
 But the year 1873 opened with much encoarage- 
 ment. Gifts from Clinton first came in. Mississippi 
 responded. Laurensville Presbyterians bade us God 
 speed with a goodly list of Donors. Friendship, 
 which church I was then supplying for a Sunday in 
 each month, filled up a page. The month footed up 
 $160. The showers were falling. 
 
 The whole of this first year of effort was occupied 
 in raising funds for the purchase of a piece of ground 
 on which to build. Many lots were examined. The 
 one at last chosen is a beautiful spot along Broadway, 
 Clinton. It is an irregularly shaped block of land, 
 containing 125 acres, part woodland, part open, near 
 the railway station, not far from the church. The 
 Lord himself seemed to have directed us to it. Time 
 was offered us in which to pay for it, and fifteen
 
 A Foothold. 23 
 
 bundled dollars was set as the price By the first of 
 August, twelve hundred dollars, all our collection, 
 had been deposited in the savings bank at Laurens 
 C. H. On the 8th of August, the gentleman from 
 whom the titles were to be had, rode into Clinton and 
 offered these titles to the Board on payment of the 
 full amount. It was determined to close the trade at 
 once ; the $375 necessary to that end was borrowed, 
 and that with a check on the savings bank was ten- 
 dered in payment. To our surprise this latter was 
 refused. And along with it the demand that the pay- 
 ment must be made that day or the trade would bs 
 off. Vexed at what seemed trilling, theie was noth- 
 ing for it but an immediate ride to Laurensville, nine 
 miles away. Even there, difficulties awaited the 
 collection of money from the bank. Wearied with the 
 day's work, the settlement was at last made and the 
 titles passed. What gratitude filled our hearts when 
 we found, a few days afterward, that the Bank had 
 closed its doors and gone into bankruptcy. Then we 
 knew that our Orphanage had been saved. Was it 
 by an accident.'* Nay, verily, — by the direct inter- 
 vention of the good hand of our God. The gentleman 
 from whom we purchased, had " builded better than 
 he knew ! " The Lord had sent him. 
 
 The year closed with the report from the Treasui'er 
 that he had received in the twelve-month, $1360. 
 
 r
 
 24 
 
 God's Providence 
 
 A part of this had been received as the result of ad- 
 dresses delivered at Friendship, Laurensville, Green- 
 wood, Newberry, Shady Grove, Charleston, Rocky 
 Springs, and elsewhere, but the greater portion was 
 the result of the warm-hearted work of many who 
 now enrolled themselves as co-workers with us. I 
 read over the list of our earlier helpers amid thanks- 
 giving and tears ! I see loving hands that helped in 
 the toiling, now crossed forever upon the breast. But 
 there are some who still abide. One young lady, 
 Miss Lizzie Brearly, of Sumter, appears in the re- 
 cords of each year's work. Little by little, she has 
 collected more than six hundred dollars.
 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STONE AFTER STONE FROM THE QUARRY. 
 
 NOTHER year had opened. 
 
 As yet we had lived by faith only. The time 
 had now come to arise and build. 
 
 Earl}' in 1874, ^ P^^^" of oxen was purchased ; Mr. 
 G. C. Young's granite-quarry, freely tendered, was 
 a busy scene of blasting. In the first week of the 
 new year the first load of rock was delivered. Hav- 
 ing decided to build of granite, we were now hard 
 put to it to find workmen. Workmen in stone were not 
 to be had. It was our heart's desire to build solidly, 
 and yet the prospect was against us. 
 
 It was then that one of those singular coincidences 
 occurred that compel us to believe that the Lord was 
 caring for us On the 28th of January there arrived 
 a batch of forty-eight emigrants, the first that had 
 come and the last to come. Among these, two excel- 
 lent stone masons were found. These two were to 
 build the Orphanage, and then to disappear as thev 
 came, one to parts unknown and the other in the 
 silent grave.
 
 26 Corner-stone Day. 
 
 We had no architect. It was proposed to build 
 simply and cheaply and as we received the money. 
 We began without a dollar in the treasury. We only 
 knew that God was helping us. We do not blame 
 others because they could not see anything but fool- 
 hardiness in our plans. They looked at the men. 
 They could not see that the men were looking at 
 God. A friend of mine stopped me on the street one 
 day and begged me to give up this project. Said he, 
 " It will ruin you ! " I told him " It were well to be 
 ruined working for God." He shrugged his shoul- 
 ders and turned his back. Another bantered me 
 with the loan often dollars, at double interest, I not 
 to return it if the Orphanage should ever be open- 
 ed. I took the money. He has given up hope of 
 seeing it. 
 
 At length the 28th of May had dawned upon us. It 
 was the loth anniversary of my ordination. How 
 time was passing ! The day was a lovely one. At 
 the Methodist Chu»ch a great crowd of people were 
 assembled. They wore the regalia of the Good 
 Templars and Grangers and were from all parts of 
 the country. Forming in procession, they were 
 joined by bands of children bearing sunday- 
 school banners. They marched down Main Street. 
 When opposite the Masonic Lodge, that fraternity fell 
 into line. The roads were filled with carriages ; the
 
 Set in Place. 27 
 
 sidewalks with people. This was the day we had 
 been planning for. The friends of the Orphanage 
 were gathered to testify their willingness to work. 
 The Coruerstone was laid at 12 m., Hon. B. W. Ball 
 presiding. A great feast was spread by the Ladies' 
 Society of Earnest Workers, and best of all, nearly 
 six hundred dollars was that day placed in the 
 treasury. The immediate results of the day was to 
 give us courage to go forward. The Lord was giving 
 us favor in the sight of His people, and the people 
 were giving us their money. Col. Ball, on leaving 
 Clinton that evening handed me a bill for the treasuiy. 
 Speaking of it afterwards, he said, — " I did it to 
 encourage you all, not that I thought the Orphanage 
 would ever be built." Oh God, bless these dear 
 friends, and remember it for their good, even though 
 their faith was in men and not in Thee ! 
 
 When the first of October came, completing the 
 second year of our orphan work, our Tieasurer re- 
 ported $1,846 as the receipts. Here was progress. 
 Our land with accrued interest and taxes had all been 
 paid for, and the Home of Peace had been completed 
 to the level of the second story. We were working 
 upward. 
 
 It would not be true to say that in all this time we 
 had no anxieties. But there was never a doubt but
 
 28 How Long? 
 
 that God would bring us to the accomplishment of 
 our desires. Our fear was that we should not please 
 God. We knew that God would help us, if v^e acted 
 honorably toward Him. 
 
 We had set the first day of January, 1875, as the 
 day of our opening. But Messrs. Young and Bell, 
 who now contracted to build the house, were delayed 
 in their work. Again we hoped that the 28th of May 
 would see the doors open. Again hope deferred 
 made the heart sick. In the meanwhile, orphans 
 were applying for admission, and friends were asking 
 "When?" and "How Long?" 
 
 The delay was better for us than we knew. Our 
 own minds were not all of a unit. I felt that I want- 
 ed to swing clear away from the traditional Oiphan 
 Institution, and to found a Home-School that would 
 have nothing of the Employment- bureau about it. 
 I never could see why orphans should be treated like 
 criminals, or made to feel that they were objects of 
 charity. Throw up your hands in holy horror at that 
 iconoclastic error I But I stand to it You shall not 
 treat my children as though they deserved nothing 
 but pity. They shall hold up their heads. They 
 shall feel that they are men. Bind them out ! Nay, 
 verily, not it I live to prevent it. I am writing about 
 my own flesh and blood, and am not saying this of
 
 Our Plans Fixed. 29 
 
 my orphans. And, yet, why not of my orphans? 
 They are God's children, and shall not God's children 
 be treated as well as mhicP 
 
 At length we all came to an understanding. We 
 were to have a new idea for the world's people to cry 
 down. The Church, the dear old Presbyterian 
 Church, (God bless her) was to adopt these orphans; 
 they were to be her own ; she was to put spirit into 
 them ; to give them a true home ; to educate them 
 well, to do the best for them in that line that could be 
 done ; and having so fitted them for life's work, train- 
 ing head, heart and hand, to bid them God-speed as 
 they took up their weapons and entered into the bat- 
 tle of life. We were to have our children to work ; — 3'es, 
 — work is noHIe ; Jesus worked. It would make them 
 feel honest, independent, self-reliant, to work. But 
 there w^as to be no reformatoiy discipline ; no institution- 
 life ; no law or ordinance that m}- own children could not 
 endure. 
 
 There was another hindrance. We had no Matron. 
 We had tried one and another. We had failed every- 
 where. One letter was sent to us that had it been re- 
 ceived, would have prevented what afterwards happen- 
 ed. But it was missent to another office, though most 
 plainly directed. In the meanwhile, the first of October 
 was nigh at hand. It v/as the da}' fixed for opening.
 
 30 Who Should he Matron 
 
 It was most unexpectedly to me that she who now for 
 nearly eleven years had been to me "starlight, moon- 
 light, sunlight ''freely offered herself. I could not un- 
 derstand it all at first. It seemed hard to give up a 
 sweet home, a cosy fireside, my literary leisure, and 
 to mix up my little ones with the children of strangers. 
 Ah! were they not God's children? "Was there a 
 lamb in all his flock, I would disdain to feed?" And 
 so it all came about in God's way, which was wiser 
 than our way, that we were to come close in to the 
 heart of the work. 
 
 As September drew to its close, the contractors were 
 prepared to give us the use of the building. We were 
 $2,000 behind in the payments for it ; but no papers 
 were passed ; there was nothing to bind us or any one. 
 Already several orphans were at vay house ready for 
 the transfer. The third year ended, and the Treasurer 
 reported. One large gift of five hundred dollars from "A 
 friend in earnest'' had been received. It cheered our 
 hearts. This had been set aside for the endowment of the 
 Orphanage. Besides, we had received $2,837.25, 
 For all this I had made personal appeal to no one. I 
 had laid our wants before God's people through the 
 printed page, and left the rest with them. 
 
 Three long years of patient labor ! Brethren beloved, 
 my fellow workers together with God, how often I have
 
 The Master's Way. 
 
 31 
 
 thouf^hl over those years of the trial of our patience I 
 They seemed hard then. But the Master was reining 
 us, and fitting us to understand that His care of us does 
 not prechide us altogether from the ills of life. It 
 even said that whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. 
 
 IS
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AT LENGTH THE GLAD DAY CAME. 
 
 SHALL I ever for- 
 get that first day 
 of October, 1875? 
 That day, the dream 
 of five years and the 
 toil of three, were 
 ^ to meet in a waking reality. 
 
 There was another great gather- 
 ing. From all about us, and from 
 every house in Clinton, came dona- 
 tions for the orphans. Little chil- 
 dren brought chickens and eggs. 
 One brought a coftee grinder, anoth- 
 er a sieve, and so on. The older 
 people brought barrels of flour, a 
 great tub of lard, rolls of yellow 
 butter, a hogshead of syrup, clothing, 
 bed-quilts. I see now the beaming 
 face of dear " Aunt Sake " (she was 
 Aunt Sake to all of us, — a very mother in Israel) as she 
 busied herself in sorting the great pile of things and
 
 
 O 
 
 o
 
 Feathering the Home-Nest. 33 
 
 arranging them for the eye of a curious pubHc. Blessed 
 woman ! you have passed beyond the stars, and the hea- 
 vens hold you, but earth still cherishes your precious 
 memory. You were the Deborah and Dorcas of our Israel, 
 and tears rained down, when the clods covered you. 
 
 But from afar came gifts also. How cosy our bright 
 little school-room looked, witli its new furnitiu-e from 
 the pious women of the old Second Church of Charles- 
 ton. There was another Charleston church (Glebe 
 St.) that had fitted up a room for the first group of 
 orphan girls. Laurens and Cross Hill had done their 
 part. Clinton had filled the kitchen and larder. Ave- 
 leigh spread the dining-room table. It was our joy, 
 too, to welcome Rev. James H. Thorn well, on whom 
 the mantle of his father's heart rested. My own dear 
 father, an old man then, his head now whitened with 
 80 winters, was there to give his paternal blessing. 
 
 The day and the labors of preparation prostrated me ; 
 and I could take no part in the public ceremonies. But 
 when night fell, there was a little gathering about my 
 sick bed. Nearest sat the precious wife, whose love 
 and wise thoughtfulness had made me what I was that 
 was worthy ; my own little band of four gave way for 
 the time, that a half timid circle of little ones might 
 press about her. There was little Ella, with her round 
 bright face; Fannie and Mattie, our " elder sisters, "
 
 34 The First Prayer. 
 
 ■ 
 
 sat next. Walter stood behind. Alfred was already 
 tall, and his face showed the honor that was in him. 
 There too was Johnnie, as full of fun as the days were 
 long ; Flora, bright, impulsive, earnest ; and Annie, 
 the sweet little pet of the household, — these made up 
 the happy group that formed that first night's opening 
 audience. Lowry, the hopeful, earnest young Christian, 
 who presided over our High School (he is a Pastor 
 now) and Miss Emma, whom the children loved from 
 that veiy night as teacher seldom is loved ; — these all 
 knelt together, as I, prostrate in bed, bound them to- 
 gether with cords of faith. 
 
 They have all gone out from the home nest, but there 
 is not one of that little company that has not been true 
 to God and duty. Married people are they now. One 
 of that group is waiting for us in heaven. 
 
 We began this work all so new, with heavy pressure 
 on us of a debt of $2,000, which all our money receipts 
 were pledged to satisfy ; the building itself was unfinish- 
 ed and in the woods. But the Lord had touched our 
 hearts and made us willing to bear and to work. Every 
 shoulder was put to the wheel. The little ones that 
 were with us caught at once the spirit of the enterprise. 
 They were to be color-bearers. 
 
 One day, as I was sitdng in m}' library, the little 
 girls of the household|^came in, in a body.
 
 The Children Take Charge. 35 
 
 " Heigh I " said I, "What is the meaning of this 
 committee of the whole ? " 
 
 Mattie was spokesman. — "Mr. Jacobs, what does it 
 cost to feed one of us a year? " 
 
 "Well, my little one, I hardly know how to guage 
 your appetites, but I guess, all round, about sixty 
 dollars." 
 
 "And what do you have to pay the old Mauma that 
 cooks for us?" 
 
 "There," said I, "you get me. Let me see, sixty 
 dollars in money, sixty dollars in what she eats, and I 
 really do not know how much in ' pickings and scra- 
 pings.' " 
 
 She clapped her Httle hands in glee. "Mr. Jacobs, 
 this is what we have to offer ! Send off the cook, and 
 take two more orphans, and let us do the cooking ! " ' 
 
 Ah, how proudly that fair young face shone as she 
 tried to stretch up her lithe young form an inch or two 
 higher. Blessings on the child I 
 
 That was the way it all came aJaout that our girls 
 took hold of their duties. The boys were not to be be- 
 hind, and when January came, a "colored brother" 
 had to seek another position. The children were divi- 
 ded into companies of twos and threes, each with a child-
 
 36 Tom Scott. 
 
 monitor in charge. What an eas}^ time President and 
 Matron were having ! The children were running the 
 machinery of the Institution. 
 
 It was just before Christmas that the Lord sent Bro. 
 Tom Scott to us. Who is Tom Scott? Not to know 
 him argues yourself unknown. Well, Tom Scott was 
 everything. He had even tried to teach school. He 
 was a painter. He was a trader. He had once been 
 born in London. He was wide awake all over. He 
 loved the Orphanage with all his heart. He was very 
 fond of reading histor)^ He knew just how to collect 
 money. He didn't care a straw for worldly pelf. He 
 did'nt expect to get married. 
 
 You say, That account is very much mixed up. So 
 was Tom Scott. But the Lord had use for him. 
 
 I remember when he came to me once and said, — 
 " You preached last night that the Lord would take any 
 sort of a man?" "Yes." "That he would give his 
 salvation to any that wanted it?" "You are right." 
 " That he only asked in return an entire surrender?" 
 "I did." "Then," he answered, "give us your 
 hand on that — I take him at his word ! " A few days 
 after he united with the Church, he came back. 
 "You said in your sermon last night that the Lord 
 had use for everybody." " Yes." " Then here I am. 
 Give me His marching orders."
 
 God's Care. 37 
 
 And so our dear faithful, willing, energetic brother 
 threw in his lot with us as general fac-totum, super- 
 cargo, steward and right hand man": 
 
 That year passed quickly and busily by. New 
 children came. Many friends bade us God-speed. 
 Little improvements were added. 
 
 God's people had come to our help. $1,687.22 had 
 been given to the support fund. A " friend in ear- 
 nest," the same whose generous gift had given life to 
 our enterprise, now added a Thousand Dollars to our 
 endowment fund, while nearly, if not fully, fifteen 
 hundred dollars worth of provisions and furniture and 
 clothing had been sent in. It so happened that it was 
 during that year that we needed much of this latter 
 class of gifts, for all our cash receipts were to go to 
 meet our indebtedness to our contractors. Was it 
 not wonderful that God who alone knew this, should 
 have provided for the wants of our household in a 
 way that he has never done since, and thus enabled 
 us to sweep away the burden of debt. Shout it to the 
 heavens, oh men, and sing it, ye seraphs, God careth 
 for us ! 
 
 448864
 
 CHAPTER VII . 
 
 THE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION. 
 
 When it was first proposed to found an 
 Endowment Fund for the Orphanage, 
 -some objected. Was it not better to walk 
 wholly by faith and not at all by sight? 
 Would it not be better for both the Orphanage and the 
 Lord's people that the one should depend for daily 
 bread upon the other? It would give occasion for the 
 continual exercise of Christian charity. George 
 Muller decided against endowment. And, indeed, 
 there is much to be said on that side. 
 
 But there is likewise much to be said on the other. 
 God's care is as much needed to preserve buildings 
 and endowments as it is to give daily bread. God's 
 mercy is as much shown by giving one as the other. 
 
 This thought came to me, — Why not have both? 
 There are certain promises that must be made in 
 order to have efficient work, — such as the salary and 
 support of matrons and teachers. There is also the 
 need of frequent repaiis and incidentals that do not 
 appeal to the sympathies of God's people. We 
 thought to raise a fund that we have fixed at Fifty
 
 God Anstvers Prayer. 39 
 
 Thousand dollars, (the tenth of which has been re- 
 ceived) to meet these lesser bills, and to provide that, 
 come what might, the support of a number of orphans 
 would be assured. This would give a nucleus only, 
 leaving great margin of percentage for the exhibition 
 of the charities of God's people. 
 
 Now, I want to say here, once for all, and with an 
 emphasis as violent'as a peal of thunder, that our ex- 
 perience has shown a thousand times over, that God 
 answers prayer. On the truth of that proposition one 
 may dare hang his faith in God's word, and in con- 
 sequence, the salvation of his soul. All men's ex- 
 periences may not be alike. But this has happen- 
 ed to me till repetition would make it a weary 
 tale; — I have needed, say, $200 for some special 
 object, perhaps to meet a call for provisions. I have 
 asked just that money of my God, telhng Him the 
 day and hour when I must have it. The answer 
 came in such a way that sent the electric flash of 
 conviction to my soul that God was caring tor us. 
 It was no distrust of Him, therefore, but what we 
 believed to be the guidance of His providence that 
 led to the founding of our endowment. 
 
 And here a difficulty met us. 
 
 There was coming upon us the care of an annually 
 increasing family that needed large gifts for their
 
 40 Pyramids of Pennies. 
 
 suppoit. An appeal for an endowment would cut off 
 this support. Personal appeals I would not make. 
 Indeed I could not, for my pastoral work, my fre- 
 quent preaching, and now my personal care of the 
 Orphanage household, forbade any ?uch endeavor. 
 
 Then it was remembered that the first three gifts 
 to the Orphanage were from children, " Why can- 
 not our children the youth of oyr Sabbath-schools, 
 give us an endowmeut? " That settled it. 
 
 So the inuumerable mites began to flow in. I look 
 through the veil upon a picture. I see multitudes of 
 pure, sweet hands of childhood ministering I They 
 aic piling up little pyramids of pennies, nickles and 
 dimes. They are building up the '' Children's En- 
 dowment Gift." Angels are hanging over it. It is 
 as sweet incense before the altar of God. 
 
 Thus we began the new year with this new plan to 
 win the sweet hearts of God's blessed children to do 
 work for children. It was my own sabbath-school 
 that laid in the first gift in the foundation of this en- 
 terprise. Even the orphans helped to swell the gift. 
 
 We also found that this new movement did not in- 
 terfere with the support of our household. Now, 
 first, also, the plan inaugurated by the dear old 2nd 
 Lhurch, of Charleston, of selecting one child to be 
 supported by a society, church, sunday-school or
 
 Changes. 41 
 
 individual. This is after the manner of an endowment 
 tliat brings us very near to the people of God. Their 
 love is our endowment. The interest comes with a 
 steady flow. In that first year, there were four church- 
 es and individuals to take up this work for God, and all 
 four abide wnth us to this day. 
 
 The year was an uneventful one of steady work. 
 God's litde children paid into their gift fund, $333.10 
 The receipts for the support amounted to $1,458. A 
 friend gave $100 to finish oft' the attic stoiy of the 
 building. A Charleston gentleman presented a $200 
 bond to our Endowment. A change had also occurred 
 in our household. Miss Thorn well had taken the place 
 of our first teacher, Miss Witherspoon. She was rap- 
 idly winning her way to our hearts. 
 
 I love full well to tell of the goodness of God to these 
 children. But I love better still to tell these father- 
 less ones, as I meet them each day, of what the 
 Lord is doing for them. To care for an orphan's body 
 is an easy matter. Indeed, a little roughness will drive 
 him to do that for himself. To cut and polish the bright 
 gem of his mind till it shines with thousand-faced lustre, 
 that is labor. But there is a secret still bevond this. It 
 is to find the child's soul and to hold it up to the eternal 
 Sun, till a light comes down into it that innumerable 
 storm-clouds can only make to burn the brighter.
 
 42 No Longer Orphans. 
 
 God seems to say to me every day, "Teach my 
 children my law ! " It was for this that the Thorn- 
 well Orphanage was founded, and it must save the 
 children. There has never passed a year since the 
 opening that some of the orphans have not pressed into 
 the Kingdom, yet there has never been a "revival" 
 among them. It has been so easy for them to feel that 
 they are God's own precious children. They attend 
 the church and sunday-school as equals with others. 
 They mingle freely in social intercourse with Clinton 
 people. No badge was set upon them. They were 
 not marked and labelled as " Orphans. " They were 
 not orphans, — God is their father. Therefore, they 
 must love Him and serve Him. Of the twenty-one 
 children that began our third year with us, every single 
 one became a member of the church. 
 
 The year was one of quiet, faithful, persistent labor. 
 The school was putting in telling work. The children 
 daily rolled up their sleeves and went at it like little 
 men and women in Kitchen, Laundry, Garden and 
 Printing Office. If the thoughtless grumbled, the older 
 silenced them. " God is caring for us," they said, " we 
 must do our part." Manual labor schools are usually, 
 a failure. The motive is absent. But here the motive! 
 is, — " Because God and His Church are helping us, we 
 will help ourselves. To the work ! To the work ! "
 
 Steadij Work. 43 
 
 The eyes of my readers would be weary if I were to 
 spread before them all the incidents of each passing 
 year. The improvements of those early days were ef- 
 fected through great toil. I remember taking a friend 
 to the front of the building.. He noticed five bolt holes 
 through the stone wall. — " What are they for? " " They 
 are left to bolt the frame work of the wooden piazza to 
 the stone work, w^ien we build one." " When 30U 
 build one? — It will never be built ! " But it w^as built, 
 and a neat little kitchen tacked on at the rear of the 
 house. They cost only $300. We thought we were 
 doing great things then. And were we not? — The 
 Lord had given us twenty-one precious children to train 
 for the Kingdom, and $1,949.31, wherewith to make 
 provision for them.
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 A THICK CLOUD. 
 
 MY neighbor who has lost a Httle finger, tells me that 
 he misses it every day, — he feels as though a great 
 part of him were gone. 
 
 I never dreamed when 1879 dawned upon our happy 
 household, that the desire of my soul and the staff and 
 stay of those many orphans should wath speaking eyes, 
 wave us a fond farewell, as she placed her frail hand 
 in God's. Blessed Master, the misery of that hour 
 could never have been borne, but for the othei* arm 
 wherewith Thou didst bear up the sufferer. It was a 
 time of sohd darkness that encompassed him, with only 
 the little light within the soul, where Thou didst dwell, 
 oh m}' God. 
 
 Pardon me, my reader. I have no right to say these 
 things here, but that I saw the orphans, orphaned 
 again, their tears washing the face of her who had loved 
 them so, who had given up all for them, and whose fair 
 hand would nevermore caress them. God pity the man 
 who loses a faithful wife. God pit}^ the children that 
 lose a faithful mother.
 
 FAITH COTTAGE
 
 Little Frank Cripps. 45 
 
 We buried her. And then all the beauty in the 
 children's character shone out. Our zealous teacher. 
 Miss Thornwell, with courage worthy of her glorified 
 father, took all the tasks of the house upon herself. 
 The children went like clock-work with a soul in it, 
 to their duties. And when Mrs. Lee came to take the 
 reins in her'hand, it seemed as natural a transition as 
 for to-day's sun to follow yesterday's. 
 
 Tiiere was a little lad that had come to our Orphan- 
 age, who from the very first had won his way to our 
 hearts. Little Frank loved everything. He would 
 put his arms about the neck of " Calfie " and pour 
 his words into its senseless ears. If the pigs saw him 
 they ran squealing after him. They knew who was 
 their friend. He would fill his hands with fodder and 
 hunt up " old Charlie " that he might see him happy 
 with his crunching of the ctisp blades. Every dumb 
 thing, and things that were not dumb, loved him. 
 Frank's story was a long one and a sad one. I need 
 not tell it. We called him " our little Spaniard " for 
 Frank's mother was a Castilian, and his birth-place 
 Mexico, and thither he fondly dreamed he would one* 
 day carry the story of Jesus. But the Master had 
 chosen Frank to keep company with his dear second 
 mother in heaven. (Oh, how she loved him !) It was 
 on the 8tii of September that the wild alarm wrung a 
 storm of tears from the eyes of our orphan household,
 
 46 The Dark Hour. 
 
 —"Frank is dying ! Surely he is dying, for we can- 
 not wake him ! " And then a few moments after, 
 " Frank is dead? " He had passed away and none 
 knew what ailsd him. 
 
 In those days God was teaching u? to say, " Shall 
 we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we 
 not likewise receive evil?" I copy this sentence from 
 Frank's Bible. Years ago his little hands turned its 
 pages. To-day, if we could be with him, he could 
 explain to us that soul-piercing mystery. 
 
 How quickly these children, gathered from many 
 States and different surroundings, learn to love each 
 other. They are not strangers. Their attachments 
 become like bars of iron for firmness. Alone in the 
 great world, the heart cries out for partnership. 
 They find it in this sweet home-circle and are glad. 
 Let none wonder, then, that this dear child should 
 have been mourned with love that was true and deep. 
 
 Who would have thought that a little life like that 
 of Frank's should have had a noble purpose to serve 
 in the economy of God's Kingdom. Yet, it was to 
 be even so. 
 
 A dream had come into our hearts that possibly 
 some day God would open up a way to add a second 
 cottage to our establishment, in which a family could 
 be set off for themselves. We had put it aside as not
 
 Faith Cottage, 47 
 
 to be thought of. When, however, Mrs. Burt, of 
 Philadelphia, sent us a check for $155 43 to be used 
 as a memorial of little Frank Cripps, we saw that 
 God's time had come. We did not know just whence 
 a sum of which that would be one-tenth, should come ; 
 nor did we wish to make special appeals for it, for 
 fear, (how little we knew God's Church!) that we 
 would be thought too avaricious for the fatherless. 
 And so we lay the matter before God and asked His 
 guidance. By faith the walls of Jericho tell down, 
 and by faith can these walls be built up. Faith Cot- 
 tage shall it be called. " Ask and ye shall receive," 
 
 V5 
 
 our motto. 
 
 So the Board said to me, " Go forward ! " and I 
 obeyed. The boys themselves were filled with en- 
 thusiasm for the scheme. The wagon was put to 
 its best work to haul in rock for the building. Clin- 
 ton sent her teams to aid us. 
 
 The year 1880 dawned upon us and found us busy. 
 The whole of the previous year had only placed 
 $1763 in our treasury. The annual income had been 
 decreasing for two years. Times were very hard. 
 
 Often we needed to go to go to God for strength. 
 We had met with newspaper persecution. Friends 
 had grown cold. Death had done its sad work in 
 our household. But what is faith worth if it cannot
 
 48 The New Cornerstone 
 
 see in the dark. Lord, Thou didst mean to teach us 
 that no stone should go into these buildings that Thou 
 didst not place there. If this was to be God's work 
 why should he not do it in His own way? His way 
 might puzzle the workmen. Let them wait. They 
 would thus best learn that it was Another working, and 
 not themselves. Were there no hindrances, there 
 could be no faith. 
 
 Inch by inch the new building progressed. On the 
 28th of July our church filled out the 25th year of its 
 organic life. The afternoon of that day was selected 
 as a suitable occasion to put the corner-stone in place. 
 It was exceedingly unlike the former ceremony 
 Now, only the Church took part. She had given it 
 birth. She now blessed it with her prayers. But 
 around the President was gathered a happy group of 
 four and twenty orphans, whose voices were lifted up 
 to the blue skies in sweet thanksgiving. 
 
 Bro. Scott builded with his own hands and infused 
 heartiness into the workmen. The methods of con- 
 crete building had to be studied and then put into 
 practice. It was well and faithfully done. The an- 
 nual "New Year's Day," Oct. ist, brought the 
 Board together to hear the sum of their 8th year's 
 work.
 
 Summing Up. 
 
 See what God and faith had wrought. For Faith 
 Cottage, $1,072.34 had been received. To the en- 
 dowment $447.59 had been added. While for the 
 support fund the gifts had run up to $2,185.78. 
 Evidently it would not be a mistake to enlarge the 
 number ef our ward ■. 
 
 4. 
 
 ' fa
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LENGTHENING OUR CORDS. 
 
 MARBLE slab with this simple in- 
 scription 
 
 FAITH COTTAGE 
 1880 
 
 Ask and ye shall receive 
 
 Is seen by any one who ascends the steps 
 into the portico of that building. Lest 
 men should be silent, the stone utters its testimony to 
 the goodness of God. 
 
 On the 2ist of March, 1881, our hive swarmed, and 
 the boys, with genial, kind-hearted Gus Holmes as 
 their elder brother, moved in, bag and baggage. The 
 litde printers shouldered their tjpe cases, their galleys 
 and their shooting sticks. The great press was mount- 
 ed on a wagon and escorted over in state. The 
 President's office was lodged in the ''parlor" and 
 the press in the " kitchen. " 
 
 On that day, when all the bills were in and the 
 workmen dismissed, we iound that all accounts footed 
 up $1500.38, and our receipts showed just 1500.38 
 to meet them. 
 
 \
 
 Getting Acquainted. 51 
 
 We had gathered of God's manna in our vessels of 
 Faith, anh lo I there was no lack, neither was there 
 any over. 
 
 Would you like now to walk in among the children 
 and see them for a moment, as we leave these shift- 
 ing scenes behind us. Some that we met five years 
 ago, are gone. Little Annie is now a sweet, fair- 
 faced young lady ; this is Mollie, — Ah, Mollie, we 
 little thought you and Gus would play us such a trick. 
 Married, eh? I do not think one could help loving 
 Minnie, — "little" Minnie we called her, (what is 
 that? _y<?« would'nt call her so?) Here too is our 
 poetess ; and this one is to be our old maid ; and this 
 one makes the little boys stand around (she is in 
 Arkansas now). You want to see the boys? They 
 are gone to Enoree to-day. Up long before day. Even 
 staid Sam is with them ; Darby, and Will, and Tom, 
 and Ben, and Allie, and Ellerbe, and the rest of them. 
 Oft^for a roval fish and a plunge in the rushing waters. 
 We can trust them, never fear, if they are or-p/ians! 
 Ah, boys, you are all men now. 
 
 " Swifter than a weaver's shuttle" (so says the blessed 
 Word), are our lives. We felt it to be so, and when, 
 just after the doors of Faith Cottage were opened and 
 the lads trooped in, there came a new ciy to us, — ''Our 
 school-room is too strait for us. We be too manv I "
 
 52 Another Door Ajar. 
 
 We had cleared away the iiibbish and moved aback of 
 the new building, the embracing fence. That night the 
 Board met. I thought to burst a bomb-shell among 
 them. "Brethren," I said, "our school-room is too 
 small. Our classes ti"ead upon each other. We need 
 a school-house; one worthy of the name of Thornwell, 
 with hall and libraiy, museum and class-rooms." 
 The bomb-shell didn't burst. " We knew it," they 
 said, "it is high time!" They had faith. If they 
 could trust me, could not I trust God? I laid the mat- 
 ter down at Jesus' feet. I told Him what His orphans 
 needed. And He too knew it before I did. "Then, 
 Master, lead and let me follow ! " 
 
 While I was rousing up to this new toil, — that year, the 
 9th year of our endeavor, the 5th of our orphan-work, 
 ended. God had given me $2,244.19 for the orphans, 
 $500 for Faith Cottage and $1,644.96 for the endow- 
 ment. And there had also been, while I waited, $106 
 sent in for the new building. , 
 
 I look over those figures for the endowment, and I 
 read between them a golden thread of providence. At 
 one end Mrs. Nettie F. McCormick is disentan^linff the 
 skein. Judge Cothran aiding, and presently the knot 
 falls apart, and a thousand golden dollars pour down into 
 the oi"phans' treasury. The Lord is able to help b}^ few 
 as well as by man3^ One can chase a thousand, and 
 two put ten thousand to flight.
 
 '• 
 
 Pay Every Saturday Night. 53 
 
 For a second time the Master has sent a liberal donor 
 to build up our endowment. And this too, was; a 
 woman. Forget not this, it was a woman that brought 
 into the world the Son ol' God I 
 
 How deep is a human heart I None can see the 
 storms of the soul. Neither can any see its sunshine. 
 It is easy now "to build the Orphans' Seminary" on 
 paper. But the work of building in stone and 
 mortar was not so easy. From October to March 
 we were busy collecting money and material. The 
 boys were giants among the rocks. Ben was fa- 
 mous among the boys, and boasted with honest pride 
 of the great loads he hauled. Mr. Scott took charge of 
 the workmen. We were to build a great house. It 
 was to be the largest of the buildings, with a handsome 
 hall for gathering, and a bell tower from which we were 
 to see the mountains. We began the work with but 
 little money. Why should that trouble us? We would 
 not need to pay the workm.en till Saturday. If our 
 Master thought best, we could stop the work whenever 
 it pleased Ilim. It was His work, not ours. If it went 
 forward, there were to be 94 weeks (we didn't know 
 it then), at the end of eveiy one of which His Bank 
 must honor our drafts. 
 
 Now this is the proposition. We were to erect and 
 furnish a house Uiat would cost us more than Fi\e
 
 54 Another Cornerstone. 
 
 Thousand Dollars. We must receive, then, on every 
 Saturday for 94 weeks, sixty dollars, over and above 
 the cost of caring for a household of more than forty 
 persons. How often it happened, that on Monday 
 morning, when the workmen assembled, there was not 
 a dollar in the treasury. And yet, never once was a 
 hand turned away unpaid on Saturday night, or his pay 
 kept back for a single hour. Even the most astonishing 
 surprises lose their force as they become the usual current 
 of atfairs. But the demonstration loses none of its force 
 to those who were actors here. We have just taken it 
 now to be the most natural thing in the world to believe 
 this time thing : There is a God on earth and he cares 
 for us. 
 
 We laid the corner-stone of the Orphans' Seminary 
 in the presence of a great crowd on the afternoon of our 
 eighteenth sunday-school anniversary, May nth, 1882. 
 We love thus to lam our memories together. Mrs. 
 Thornwell, the venerable widow of the honored and 
 illustrious, was with us. Bell, now of the Church tri- 
 umphant, laid the stone in place. The 01-phans sang 
 out their joy, and the multitudes added. 
 
 Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
 Praise Him all creatures here Ijelow, 
 Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
 Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
 
 The Year's Close. 55 
 
 On the 17th of September, the last stone was put into 
 the walls, the masons discharged, and the carpenters 
 called in. Six months of work condensed into six lines. 
 From that completed wall went up this cr}-, " Master, I 
 need three thousand dollars more. To Thee this is 
 nothing. Lord, open Thy people's hearts that they 
 may pour out the measure." That prayer was an- 
 swered. 
 
 We had received during the year $2,986.95 for tlie 
 support fund ; $879.58 for the endowment, and $1,879- 
 75 for the Orphans' Seminary. The support fund had 
 not been hurt (there were thirty-six orphans nowj by 
 our building operations. 
 
 This fall we lost the services of our faithful and affec- 
 tionate matron, Miss Annie Starr. 
 
 Mrs Lucy Boyd, as full of energy as an egg of meat, 
 took her place among the girls; and unseltish Mrs. Eliza 
 Fuller, among the boys. Our own Laura was enrolled 
 among our teachers. Our Orphanage had at last begim 
 to give to the Church a return for its money.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BORDERS ENLARGED. 
 
 i 
 
 I TO human soul can do a grander 
 thing than to open its doors, wel- 
 coming the King of glor}- in. As 
 each year went by, we saw our children 
 one by one, coming to know Him as their 
 Father. We find that the records of the 
 church contain the names of these father- 
 less ones on every page. It is a precious 
 privilege to be the means in God's hands 
 of photographing upon the sensitive plate of 
 the orphan's heart, the image of its Re- 
 deemer. But there was a joy for which 
 I longed that was possibl}' even greater 
 than this. How often I had asked of m}'- 
 divine Lord that He woura give His Holy 
 Spirit in such measure to His orphans that they should 
 be willing with flaming torches to illumine tjie way of 
 souls to the cross. When Sam Fulton came to me, and 
 in his plain, straight-forward, matter-of-fact waj^ told 
 me that he asked no higher honor, no greater privilege 
 in this life than to preach the gospel, " Now," said I,
 
 ' .1 . . 
 
 
 V 
 
 ^^\^'^ 

 
 Clinton College. 57 
 
 '* Oh Lord, Thou art keeping Thy covenant with Thy 
 
 servant." I had consecrated this Orphanage to His 
 
 Church, pleading most earnestly that the gift might be 
 
 accepted as a means to an end, — and that end, the 
 
 furtherance of the Lord's work in this world. When I 
 
 entered the ministry, I believed that I had received the 
 
 highest office on earth. Eternity will show that to tell 
 
 men of Jesus Christ is a privilege that angels covet. I 
 
 now see no higher aim for this Institution than that it 
 
 should lead its children to seek this post of honor, as 
 
 commissioned officers to herald salvation to a perishing 
 
 w'orld. 
 
 It was in October, 1880, that the same noble band of 
 
 Christian workers that had founded the Orphanage, as- 
 sociating others with themselves, had altered the title of 
 their High-School Association by striking out the word 
 High School and inserting College. A charter was 
 obtained, and the Presbyterinn College of South Caro- 
 lina came into being. In its inception it stniggled 
 wdth many difficulties, against which our beloved and 
 faithful President Lee contended manfully. The wisdom 
 of this organization now became apparent. Mr. Fulton 
 was enrolled among its students and began his prepara- 
 tory studies. He was to be the first gift of College and 
 Orphanage to the Christian ministry. 
 
 In the meanwhile the work on the new Orphans' 
 Seminar}' went bravely on. Eighty-five thousand feet
 
 58 An Episode. 
 
 of lumber, a ton and a half of nails and a thousand 
 wagon loads of stone and sand were used in its construc- 
 tion. Burdette had tied himself to the lofty pinnacle of 
 the steeple, and hanging in mid-air had set in its finial, 
 calling out at the same time, " Yonder the mountains I" 
 Scott had swept his paint brush over all. Riddell 
 looked on his completed job with a satisfied eye. [Ah ! 
 he had won the heart of little rosy-cheeked Ella, as the 
 job went on. These carpenters need watching!] Al- 
 ready in our eagerness to observe a holiday, on the 28th 
 of July, (the 28th birth-day of our church). Rev. James 
 H. Thornwell had filled our eyes with tears and brought 
 a glow to our cheeks as his persuasive eloquence filled 
 the Chapel at its dedication. Again orphan voices 
 rang out, and orphan prayers filled the room. 
 
 I have before me the "black Ledger" in which were 
 kept the accounts for this building. I read this cheering 
 entry 
 
 By cash forward, $4,703 75 
 
 By Dr. as per acc't. p. 4, 700 00 
 
 By cash balance, 3 75 
 
 And then in a brave, bold hand, these lines, unusual in 
 commercial books, are added : 
 
 "Oh God, with grateful, humble thanks to Thee for 
 all Thy goodness, I close this account. Thy love has 
 set each stone of this building in its place. Consecrate 
 the house and let its work be glorious, for yesus' sake.''''
 
 Oov. Hugh S. Thompson, 59 
 
 On the I St of October, the eleventh 3'ear of our work 
 ended and the eighth of our household life. The people 
 gathered that evening in crowds to the Orphans' Chapel. 
 Even the galleries were a dense mass of humanity. The 
 evening train had brought in our honored Governor, 
 Piugh S. Thompson. There was no one in the State 
 that we deemed more suitable than one whose life had 
 been a life spent in educating children and youth, to 
 open formally our school in its new home. He came 
 amid our thanks and \N'ent away with our blessings. 
 
 The morrow came and the children found themselves 
 in new and better quarters. The old trampling of class 
 on class was done away. Each child knew^ his place. 
 Three school-rooms instead of one, were filled. In the 
 second story, a handsome collection was formed as the 
 beginning of a Museum ; and in the third, the " Nellie 
 Scott" Library already had a thousand volumes, suited 
 for children's reading, on its shelves. Ah I how our 
 children revel in those books. 
 
 When the year had ended and we counted up the 
 gifcs of God's dear people, we found that they had given 
 us $2,771.25 to provide for our forty-two children; 
 $225.10 for our furnishing fund ; and $2,478.71 for the 
 Seminary building. As I read over the list of those who 
 freely gave their treasure for this cause, my heart yearns 
 with love towards them. On page after page, year fol-
 
 6o Spreading Out. 
 
 lowing year, I find the same familiar names repeated. 
 New ones came in, and they too continue on. Some 
 drop out, and the star against them tells us that their 
 address is changed. They are forever with the Lord. 
 He who cared for them on earth, is caring for them in 
 heaven. 
 
 The Seminary was now built and occupied. It had 
 ample room for one hundred and fifty^ children ; that 
 if Museum and Library were elsewhere provided 
 for. Yet our tw^o and forty children filled our tw'o 
 houses even after I had moved my own little famil}' to 
 a cottage that I had built beyond the fence. Whoever 
 w^ould read the signs of God's dealings with us, could 
 see in them this foregone conclusion, that we must 
 lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes of the 
 tent, that others might come in and get the blessing. 
 And now^ events suddenly came thick and fast about us. 
 
 Before the paint was dry upon the Seminary the busy 
 bees of the Home of Peace were buzzing about our 
 ears, "Our kitchen, our Laundr}^, our store-room is 
 overcrowded." The very sides of the little rooms they 
 used seemed bursting with the merr}- laughter of our 
 little cooks and washer-women. We had to build a 
 " Bee-Hive." A thousand flying leaves flew from our 
 press, and the winds boie them North, South, East and 
 West. And then the winds of divide love blew them
 
 It Came by Chance? 6i 
 
 back, and before October came, half the thousand 
 dollars was laid up in store. 
 
 In August of that year, there "happened" (out / 
 upon the word ! ) another thing. Again God touched 
 a Christian woman's heart, and fifteen hundred dol- 
 lars came with earnest of more to follow, wherewith 
 to build another house, our McCormick Cottage! 
 Never was the finger of Gad more evident than in 
 this wise foundation. We almost saw Him — we did 
 see Him in His providence. 
 
 Events, too, were hastening together in another 
 field, that seemed to call for this new house, that it 
 might do its part in a new combination. 
 
 But another year was with the recording angel. A 
 new set of workers had taken the place of the old. 
 We had bidden farewell with great regret to Miss 
 Thornwell, (it was the same old, old story of Hymen ;) 
 and to our Mrs. Boyd, the very exponent of good 
 sense and energy. Mrs. Simonton's unwearying 
 hand was now at the helm of our domestic affairs ; and 
 Mrs. Liddell brought her zeal for knowledge to the 
 help of our orphan-school. There are man}^ good 
 women in God's world and they love to work. 
 
 Our Treasurer reported $3,399.26 for the orphans. 
 $1 ,247.09 for the endowment ; $425 for the Bee-Hive ;
 
 62 
 
 Summed Up. 
 
 $286.40 for the Orphans' Seminary building fund ; 
 $643.57 for the furnishing fund, and $1500 for the 
 McCormick Cottage. Oh, my soul ! praise thou the 
 name of the Lord, thy God. He it is that said, 
 " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OUR TWIN SISTER. 
 
 1WAS sitting one evening in company with my two 
 friends, M. S. Bailey and J. W. Copeland. We 
 had covered, in our con veisation, the past history of 
 our Orphanage, and the sigh had escaped me, that 
 while we had cultivated God's orphan vineyard, 
 "mine vineyard, which is mine," had I not kept. 
 The school wherein were gathered the children 
 church, was an unsightly barn, and its advan- 
 tages far inferior to what they should be. Then 
 was discussed also, at length, the value of the 
 united strength that our twins, the Orphanage and 
 the College, might wield for God, if their influence 
 were thrown togtther. It was shown that we could 
 do nothing without a costly building, costly at least 
 for us. Before we separated, these two gentlemen, 
 with a very little help from the third, had subsctibed 
 $1,350. It was conditioned that the building should 
 be upon the Orphanage premises ; that it should be 
 built by Clinton capital ; that its administration should 
 be in harmony with that of the Orphanage ; that the 
 Orphanage should have the right to four scholarships 
 in its Collegiate department, and that all candidates
 
 / 
 
 64 The Warp and the Woof, 
 
 for the ministry should be educated free of charge. 
 Thus was organized a movement that was to make 
 possible our hope for the education of our orphan 
 boys in the higher branches ; to provide an easy 
 highway for those desiring it, into the ministry ; and 
 along with it the elevation of the entire community 
 throuo-h the establishment of a Christian College in 
 its midst. 
 
 But far away to the North matters were also focus- 
 ing. Mrs. M'Cormick had a friend, a young archi- 
 tect of New York city, Mr, A. Page Brown, who 
 through her, became interested in our work, — a wheel 
 within a wheel. He had already prepared plans for 
 the McCormick Cottage. In the winter of ' 84 he 
 visited us, and saw our struggles and heard our hopes. 
 Of his own free offer, we soon became possessors of 
 his completed plans for the College, building. In the 
 meanwhile the subscription list had swelled to over 
 four thousand dollars. 
 
 On the loth of February, our Bee-Hive with its 
 wind-mill, its furnished Laundry, and its bright new 
 range, completed at a $i,goo cost, with $500 for 
 furnishing, was taken possession of by our girls. 
 One old gentlemen, interested in apiculture, opened 
 wide his mouth before the new building and asked, 
 '* What does Mr Jacobs want of such a big bee-hive? "
 
 Mccormick home
 
 3Iore Cornerstones. 65 
 
 Another looked with awe-struck surprise at the re- 
 volving wheel of the wind-mill, the first that he had 
 ever seen, and asked with a shade of doubt in his 
 voice, "And can that thing raise the wind?" He 
 knows better now. 
 
 On the 15th of February, the anniversary of the 
 birth of Hon. C. H. McCormick, Judge J. S. Cothran, 
 now of the U. S. Congress, came to us amid a blinding- 
 sleet, and gave an eloquent address on the occasion 
 that should have laid the cornerstone of the McCor- 
 mick Cottage. The stone was not actually put in place 
 till our now fiimous festal day, May 28th, when each 
 child put a stone and a trowel full of mortar in the 
 building, and together we sang a hymn of praise to 
 our own God. 
 
 It was more than a month before this (nth of April), 
 that the Presbytery of Enoree, in session in the Clinton 
 Church, receded one afternoon from its business. There 
 was a solemn assembly in the Orphans' Chapel. Rev. 
 Robert H. Nail (now of Texas) delivered a glowing 
 appeal on Presbyterian education ; Rev, B. G. Clifibrd, 
 Moderator, then filled the box and gave it to the Chair- 
 man of the building Committee. The w^hole company 
 adjourned to the College site, and the cornerstone of 
 the Clinton Presbyterian College at last w^as laid. 
 Blessed be God for that day !
 
 66 A Storm of Stones. 
 
 x\nd now rang out the sound of hammer and trowel. 
 Our Scott was in his element. Hands were coming 
 and going. Plans were spread out upon the stones, and 
 the building committee puzzled themselves over the 
 Ureat mass of such literature that our New York friend 
 was sending us. 
 
 How often in the history of human lives do the bitter 
 providences of God prove to be blessings ! We were 
 placing the last trowel full of mortar on the completed 
 College walls. Twenty workmen were in and about 
 them . Then suddenly there was a bowing of the brick 
 pillars in the open arches of the dooi'ways. There v/as 
 a mighty crash and a great cloud of dust. When this 
 had cleared away, our e3^es dazed with the confusion, 
 took in the crushincr fact that the whole front of the 
 building lay a mass of stone and broken timber on the 
 ground. Our first thought was for the workmen, — 
 thank God, not a hair of any of them was hurt. And 
 then the second came, how shall we repair this disaster? 
 Our Master answered it by putting into the hearts of 
 the people to treble the amount needed for replacing. 
 Solid stone pillars, filled with historic associations, for 
 they had once upheld the courts of justice at Laurens- 
 ville, now took the place of the brick. We thanked 
 God for the misfortime and that it came just when it 
 did, instead of a few weeks, months, or years later.
 
 Disasters End in Blessings. 67 
 
 God's work was going 011, too, among the orphans. 
 Many this year offered their hearts to Christ. Another 
 of our boys pledged his hfe, through Presbytery, to the 
 gospel ministry. The list of those who alone were 
 supporting an orphan child was increased to Nineteen. 
 The Libraiy had grown to 1600 volumes. We had re- 
 ceived when the annual meeting came, $4,419.96 for 
 our 01-phans ; Mrs. McCormick had added $1,050 to 
 her building fund ; $1,400 had been received for the 
 Bee-Hive and other purposes ; $486.26 had been added 
 to our endow^ment ; a total of more than $7,000. Lord, 
 Thou hast audited the accounts of that year, and Thou 
 knowest how faithfully w^e sought to make each dime 
 do all that was latent in it.
 
 Is the reader weaiy with thi 
 How much more weai 
 we with all that stone a 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 "THE REGIONS BEYOND." 
 
 this ston'? 
 ^ar}^ were 
 and lum- 
 ber ! What hours of close and care- 
 ful planning to make both ends 
 meet I At length, thank God, the 
 work was done. You, reader, 
 reach the consummation easil}', — I must cross a year to 
 do it. 
 
 Because there was an upheaval of young faces clam- 
 oring for their new and cos}' class rooms, we opened 
 the College first. The}- placed the opening on March 
 15th, my birthday. Thus they told me that I was some 
 day to be only a memory, having laid down forever this 
 busy pen. Wh}- should I not be reminded by such an 
 incident to 
 
 " Louden my cry to God, to men, 
 
 And so fulfil my trust. 
 I, too, must lie, breath gone, mouth stopped, 
 
 And silent in the dust ! " 
 
 But there was only happiness and no fear of the 
 future on that dav. President Smith was there, filled
 
 By One As Well As By Another. 69 
 
 with his nativ^e earnestness. Prot". Lee saw at last the 
 consummation of his ten years of hope and fear, — the 
 hope reahzed, the tear gone. Prof. Barnes seemed 
 swimming in a halo of Greek accents and Latin roots. 
 The ladies of the primary department added their 
 charms to the day. We dedicated the house with 
 praise and pra^^er, and turned it over to the live teach- 
 ers and a hundred pupils, among whom were four of 
 our orphan household. 
 
 I had sometimes thought that my brethren possibly 
 were right when they said that if I ware taken away, 
 this work might stop. The Master proved to me by 
 His tender meijpy during this year, that He was using me 
 and that He could use another just as well. A friend 
 taking time by the forelock, sent me to get health and 
 wider views in Europe. I was away for months. I 
 returned on that night that the earth throbbed through 
 all our coasts and toppled dear old Charleston from her 
 foundations. It was a joy to find no harm wrought at 
 the Orphanage, and that God's care had been through 
 all those months over our children. For the first 
 August in twelve years the treasury was full and there 
 was no lack of anything. To the endowment, the year 
 had added $749. The support fund had received 
 $4,051.09. The building fund had received $1,254.74. 
 
 It was not till the following January (1886), that the 
 great move was made.
 
 7o A Moving Time. 
 
 All through the fall we had been busy, finishing up 
 Faith Cottage, painting, plastering and whitewashing 
 at the McCormick House, and altering and adorning 
 the Home of Peace. But we had had another project 
 on foot. We had gathered up the remnants of stone 
 and stuff, left over from our greater building and were 
 preparing a tast}- house of six rooms for our Printing 
 Office. 
 
 Then came the change. Our bo3's marched out of 
 their old home, and took charge, with a hymn of praise, 
 of their new and handsome hall. They spread out all 
 over it, and because there was room, other orphan lads 
 came and threw in their lot with them. Once more 
 Kit and Bally backed their wagon to the door and car- 
 ried their heavy loads of type and presses to the fair 
 rooms where they are yet to do noble work. 
 
 Then came a troop of little ones, — we call them our 
 "little delights" — and their sweet faces filled Faith 
 Cottage, as their songs, its hall and passages. 
 
 They of the Home of Peace, dear girls who bear the 
 heavy burden of the work, settled down to steady duty, 
 and as I walk among them daily, I read in their bright 
 faces lessons about the dear Lord who cares for the 
 sparrows, who says to these orphans, yes, to the hum- 
 blest among them, — " Ye are of more value than many 
 sparrows^"
 
 Out 071 the Farm. 71 
 
 How quickly fly the years ! October, 1887, has 
 passed. It left its precious finiit, — a famil}'^ of over 50 
 children, with teachers and officers, 6^, It found our 
 farm, with "Uncle Billy" as the children call him, at 
 the head, improved with barns, fences, wood-house, 
 cows with luscious milk, and golden grain, sweeping in 
 soft green waves from hill to hill. A thousand dollars 
 for farm buildings and the like, had been sent in ; 
 $4,551.80 for the orphans, and $1,062.45 for the endow- 
 ment. 
 
 I have said but little in these pages about God's work 
 among the heathen. And, yet, next to these dear or- 
 phans, and the work in my own church-fold, nothing 
 lies so deeply down among my heart's best loves. It 
 was a joy to see my orphans giving their little mites in- 
 to the weekly offering. I was glad when our girls came 
 to ask permission that they might organize a Society of 
 their own ; for they wanted to share in this great gospel 
 work. But when our dear young brother Fulton, whom 
 God had permitted us to His Church, came with his 
 fixed and settled purpose to bear the cross beyond the 
 Pacific to Japan just waking from the sleep of ages, 
 what could I say? Hesitate? Resist? Only for one 
 moment. Go, dear young brother. God has given us 
 the glorious honor. The honor may like a crown, bear 
 heavily, but it is the King's gift, and we cry Hallelujah !
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A PREFACE OF THINGS TO COME. 
 
 [T is not my time, but your patience, 
 reader, that I would spare. There are 
 a thousand things that I would tell you 
 of our daily life. How often we boys and 
 girls rehearse the incidents of the passing 
 da3^s. We walk among the flowers. We 
 stroll down to the great poplar. We have 
 a hundred little notes to compare about the Anniversary, 
 and the Cornerstone day (May 28th), and Commence- 
 ment, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Oh ! Christ- 
 mas and the Christmas tree and the stockings, the fire- 
 works and the hubbub. It would take a book to tell of 
 that. Sometimes we step into our boys' prayermeeting, 
 or gather for a grand singing in the chapel. Or we 
 bring before us the laughing faces of the Lucy's, the 
 Mary's, the Irene's, the Johnnie's, the Willie's, the 
 Minnie's, the Susie's, the Carrie's, the Hattie's — and — 
 all the rest. 
 
 I would like to tell you of our future plans ; how 
 we hope some day for other cottages with groups of 
 God's own little ones in them ; and for a neat stone
 
 The Future 73 
 
 Library building, filled with books and happiness. — 
 How we are planning for a technical school, where 
 the boys will learn to draw and model, and then to 
 execute in wood and iron ; and the girls to handle 
 skilfully pencil and graver, and to ring the rapid 
 clicks on telegraph and type-writer ; how we are even 
 now building, as each day brings the gifts, our new 
 Memorial Hall, with our true friend. Page Brown, 
 as architect, and only our all-glorious Treasurer to 
 provide the funds. 
 
 But I write out none of these things. Part of them 
 would unfold the secrets of little hearts ; part would 
 trench on prophecy, and part would be just the story 
 of to-day, which is not yet history. 
 
 Already, the walls of the new building are nearing 
 completion ; — a solid granite stnacture that will at 
 least out-last every inhabitant now on earth. More than 
 two thousand dollars have been spent upon it ; nearly 
 that sum, of which hardly a dollar is on hand, will yet 
 be needed. The work will not stop. That is the 
 Lord's method of dealing with us. 
 
 As we finish this book, the thirteenth year of our 
 orphan-work is ending. It has been a year of grace. 
 Many of our children have found Jesus to be their own 
 Saviour. God's people have provided for them. For 
 our farm buildings ; they gave $588.72, for the Memo-
 
 74 'I'he Last Year was the Best. 
 
 rial Hall, $2,056.11. To the endowment, the little 
 people of the Sabbath-school added $751.41, while for 
 the care of our seventy-two souls, $5,533.64 were 
 poured into our Treasury. 
 
 It suits us better, in these closing lines, to turn your 
 thoughts away from the work and the workers to 
 your God and our God, — and to ask you now, as you 
 lay down this book, have we not proved our cause? 
 Is it not true that there is a King in heaven, and that 
 King, our Father who careth for us? 
 
 Never was truer word spoken than the assurance the 
 Psalmist took to himself, "I am poor and needy, yet 
 the Lord thinketh upon me." It v^as a profound faith 
 in this sentiment that inspired the builders of this Or- 
 phanage. It is the assurance we have of his presence 
 that maintains the work day by day. We have ceased 
 to recognize any element of doubt in this proposition. 
 It has become to us an axiom. Others may doubt. 
 For us, to doubt would be a crime. 
 
 Reader, have you ever doubted Him? If ever you 
 are tempted so again, I beg you step off the train at 
 Clinton. Look southward. You see a tower just to 
 the right of the stieet, and a square building appar- 
 ently closing the avenue. Step briskly toward them. 
 Lift the latch and enter the gate. You pass house
 
 Almighty God Careth for Me. 
 
 75 
 
 after house, whose names are now familiar to you, 
 and you hear the ring of hammer and trowel on our 
 new building. And now as you lay your hand on 
 the gray granite or the glittering flint of these houses, 
 say to yourself, It is as true as this solid stone on 
 which my hand resteth, that Almighty God careth 
 
 FOR ME.
 
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