The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-08-21 00:00:00

TFIE POWER OF FAITH.

George Mailer received the first shilling for the
establishment of an orphanage on the 7th December in
1835, and on the 11th April, 1836, he opened the hones
in which he had lived. No. 6, Wilson-street, for the re-
option of orphans Sines then he boa, as most of our
readers are aware, built three large orphan booms on
Ashley Down, Bristol, and is now building a fourth i
house, which sto be followed by a fifth. There are in
the institution at the present tints 1,150 endues, and
when the two new houses are finiand there will he so-
oommodation In the five houses for 2,000 children.
And all this has been done, and is being doors, without
the public having been asked for • single farthing.
Without having personally applied to =yeas, Mr.
Mailer has received for the orphans nearly • quarter of
a million of money, and this vast sum has been con-
tributed for the most part by persons to whom Mr.
Mullis must necessarily be an entire stranger. Such •
fact may well arrest attention. How is it that so many
people in all parts of the world have resolved to help
on On work in which Mr. Muller is engaged? How I.
It that the letter-box in Mr. MuUer's private
boom in Paull-street has become the receptacle into
which all sorts of people drop large and small sums of
money and all manner of arteries anonymously! There
WI be no suspicion of eelf-glorification in these masa,
for Mr. Muller discloses the names of those who
aid him, and consequently those who give must give
from higher motives than those who subenribe to •
good work ostentationaly. In the "Brief Narrative
of Facto" just published by George Moller, there
ars some strange things recorded in coanecitiois with
the anooymons donors who supply the means which
sustain the institution, as the extracts which we give
below will show. The "Narrative" is intensely interest-
ing. During the year donations have oome from all
parte of Great Britain, from tin East Indies, from
Aratralia. from Natal from Demerara, from New
Liaised, from the United' State.' from Gibraltar, from
Smyrna, in Asia, front the Cats, of Good Hope, and
many other out-of-the-way places. The donations vary
In amount from a few ooppers to a thousand pounds,
and many people seed article. which are to be sold for
the benefit of the institution. A doctor at Glasgow
sends an Albert (mord and • quantity of jewelry- " Mary
mends a gold chain, • elver bracelet, and two silver
studs; another donor mends photographic albums • "
Servant of the Lord Jesus" sands two &Milani te.th sot
I. gold, and "M. R." sends two seta of artificial teeth;
another person 000 tributes several plated articles sad •
table cover; another • quantity of silver plate; norther
sends fans, spectacles, a telescope, • brooch, and • card
case; another sends • pair of silk stocking.; an Riney-
mons donor leaves at Mr. Muller's hoses two diamond
rings, two gold Omelet; and • quantity of other gold
jewellery. Nearly • thousand pounds was realized for
articles of this kind during the year. A serious part of
the "Narrative" is that which gives the reasons or
motives which lead the donors to contribute, and the
manner in which they seek to aid the institution.
A Devaashire sontributer nada Ell 9a. Od., with a
letter stating that be has resolved to give • tenth
of his income, and ha. committed this resolution to
writing " lest he may he tempted to give less than re-
solved upon." An Oxfordshire sends £7 10a. instead of
Insuring • crop of 310 acres against hail. A pergola at
Coventry forwards Et instead of insuring the donor's life.
A Wilta.ire shoemaker gives • penny " on every pair of
hoots shove two shilliap." From Leicestershire there
comes El, as a thankoffenng to the Lord "for merelfelly
our dear little Rhoda from Manta death by •
preserving
A gentleman in London seeds nD
as • thaskoffering for his wife having been brought out
of the perils of child-birth." A poor working man at
Hereford scads 51. as an acknowledgement of his fat pig
having been kept free from disease. A man in lion-
montlishire contributes "as • theekollering for •
'even be, of income." A shipowner sends large sums
Instead of insuring his vessels ; another person sends the ,
first fruits of a owing machine Several fanners send I
contribution instead at insuring their cattle horn the
rinderpeat. Some cultivate potatoes and onions for the
orphans ; and one Scotch gentleman cultivates ferns,
whisk he sells mid sends the produos to Mr. Mallet.
Others dedicate • brood of chickens, an apple or pear
tree, for the benefit of the orphans. A manufacturer
gives the vinegar used in the institution, another arm
gins the Winn for baking, another gives malt, sad
another the blacking which is used. Ono donation of
Pe. VIA accompanied -by the following letter:—"
On reading of the great work you have undertaken,
and the various males* which induced people to lead
their contributions towards maintaining the poor Haile
orphans under your care, I mads a vow that every night
one who is dearer to me them life (and who of late bee
indulged in the intoxicating imp) same bows sehurs I
would put by threepense. Although the vow has base