Oroth. See Heub.
Or'pah (Heb. Orpah', '^5'?>', supposed to be trans-
posed for mS", a gazelle; Sept. 'Op(pci), a Moabitish woman, wife of Chilion, son of Naomi, and thereby sis- ter-in-law to Ruth. B.C. cir. 1360. On the death of their husbands Orpah accompanied her sister-in-law and her mother-in-law on the road to Bethlehem. But here her resolution failed her. The offer which Naomi made to the two younger women that they should re- turn " each to her own mother's house," after a slight hesitation, she embraced. '' Orpah kissed her mother- in-law," and went back " to her people and to her gods," leaving to the unconscious Ruth the glory, which she might have rivalled, of being the mother of the most illustrious house of that or any nation (Ruth i, 4, 14). — Smith. See Ruth,
Orphan. The customary acceptation of the word orphans is well known to be that of " children deprived of tlieir parents;" but the force of the Greek word 6p- (pdvovQ (rendered cowforlless in the king James ver- sion, John xiv, 18) implies the case of those who have lost some dear protecting friend ; some patron, though not strictly a father: and in this sense it is used, 1 Thess. ii, 17 : " We also, brethren, being taken away from our care over you," awopfaviaSi'iVTiq. Corre- sponding to this import of the word it may be used by Christ in the passage of John's Gospel. — Calmet.
Orphanages or Orphan Asylums, a term ap- plied to those philanthropic institutions which provide a home for orphaned children until their education or training has fitted them for safe contact with the world at large.
The history of the origin of orphan asylums is very uncertain. What the Romans understood hy 2iueri (or puelhe) alimentarii cannot properly be compared to our institutions called orphanages. Trajan, who did much to protect orphans, both the Antonines, and Alexander Severus, established foundations for them ; but such in- stitutions do not seem to have been frequent till the in- troduction of Christianity, which gave encouragement for the founding of so many institutions beneficial to mankind. See Asylums; Hospitals. In the Middle Ages orphan asylums became quite frequent, especially in thriving and opulent cities of the Continent, and en- actments were secured in the Church to take proper care of children berelt of their parents (comp. Lea, ^Stud- ies ill Church History, p. 74). In Germany and Italy many orphanages date from the 16th and 17th centu- ries, but by far the most famous of the institutions which originated in that period is the Orphan House at Halle founded by A. II. Francke (q. v.) in 1698. In many respects it is the most noted of all orphanages. The Orphan House founded at Ashley Down, near Bris- tol, England, by George JluUer (see his Life of Trust), stands perhaps second on the list. Both these institu- tions are noted not only for their extensive orphan la- bors, but also for their missionary enterprise at home and abroad. But while the former has largely devoted itself also to educational and business cntttprises (see Hurst's Hagenbacli, Church History of the ISth and 19th Centuries, i, 130, 140, 306), Jluller's single and small Orphan House, founded in 1836, on his own premises, has grown to five ori)hanages, each one of extensive proportions, and each filled to its utmost capacity with indigent beneficiaries, and all these supported, not, as in the former, by endowment and tratiic, but by un- asked-for contributious to Muller; "all," as he believes, "in answer to prayer and faith." The five orphanage buildings have cost over. f 500,000; the balance of the receipts has gone to meet the current expenses during the thirty-seven years of the history of the enterprise. Whatever has been received beyond what has been needed for present use has not been funded for possible future need — for no future lack has been apprehended — but has been immediately applied in missionary ^vork in various parts of the country. As many as 150 mis- sionaries have been aided by the "surplus" funds. During the year ending May 26, 1874, Muller received
ORPHANS
457
ORPHEUS
£37,855 15s. Gd., with which 189 missionaries and 122 schools were supported in wliole or in part, 2261 or- phans maintained, and 47,413 Bibles or parts of the Bi- ble, and 3,775,971 tracts and books distributed. From the beginning up to May, 1874, he had instructed in all 38,800 children in tlie various schools entirely sup- ported by the institution (as Mr. INIuller is pleased to designate it), besides tens of thousands benefited in other schools assisted by its funds, not only in Great Britain, but in Spain, Italy, India, and British Guiana. Added to this, more than 407,000 Bibles and Testa- ments in various languages, and 50,000,000 religious tracts, have been issued and distributed through its agency, 190 missionaries supported j^ear by year, and 4408 orphans brought np. In most of the institutions the care of the orphan is relinquished only to a compe- tent person, usually one following a trade. The boy or girl, however, is more or less under the eye of the or- phange until the apprenticeship is satisfactorily com- pleted. The Jews, noted for their philanthropic la- bors, have adopted tliis Christian institution, and have founded several large orphanages. One of their most noted is at Berlin, called the "Auerbach'scheWaiseuan- stalt."