_Without any one having been personally applied to for anything_ by me, the sum of L102,714, 9s. 6d. has been given to me for the orphans, _as the result of prayer to God_, since the commencement of the work, which sum includes the amount received for the building fund for the houses already built and the one to be built. It may also be interesting to the reader to know that the total amount which has been given for the other objects, since the commencement of the work, amounts to L38,297, 12s. 111/2d.; and that which has come in by the sale of Bibles since the commencement amounts to L2,222, 4s. 31/2d.; by sale of tracts, L2,294, 6s. 111/2d., and by the payments of children in the day schools, from the commencement, L2,138, 11s. 41/4d.
During the past twenty-two years the Spirit of God has been again and again working among the orphans who were under our care, so that very many of them have been brought to the knowledge of the Lord; but we never had so great a work, and at the same time one so satisfactory, _within so short a time_, as during the past year. I will enter somewhat into details for the benefit of the reader. There are one hundred and forty elder girls in the new Orphan House No. 1, of whom, at the beginning of the last period, ten were considered to be believers.
On May 26, 1857, the death of an orphan, Caroline Bailey, took place. The death of this beloved girl, who had known the Lord several months before she fell asleep, seems to have been used by the Lord as a means of answering in a goodly measure our daily prayers for the conversion of the orphans. It pleased God at the beginning of the last period mightily to work among the orphans, so that all at once, within a few days, without any apparent cause, except it be the peaceful end of the beloved Caroline Bailey, more than fifty of these girls were brought to be under concern about their souls, and some with deep conviction of sin accompanying it, so that they were exceedingly distressed. And how is it now? my readers may ask; for young persons are often apparently much concerned about the things of God, but these impressions pass away. True, dear reader, I have seen this myself, having had to do with many thousands of children and young persons within the last thirty years. Had, therefore, this work among the orphans begun within the last few days, or even weeks, I should have passed it over in silence; but more than a year has now elapsed since it commenced, and it will, therefore, give joy to the godly reader to hear that in addition to those ten who were previously believers, and of whom one has been sent to service, there are twenty-three girls respecting whom for several months there has been no doubt as to their being believers; two died in the faith within the year; and there are thirty-eight more who are awakened and under concern about their souls, but respecting whom we cannot speak as yet so decidedly. All this regards only one branch of the Orphan Establishment, the elder girls of the House No. 1. In addition to this, I am glad also to be able to state that among the other girls in the New House No. 2, and among the boys also, some are interested about the things of God; yea, our labors begin already to be blessed to the hearts of some of the new received orphans.
Continuing the narrative of the progress of the new Orphan Houses, Mr. M. writes under date of Oct. 29, 1858:--
In the last Report I stated that I was looking out for land for the third house. Regarding this, I waited day by day upon God. But for many months it pleased him to exercise my faith and patience. When, more than once I seemed to have obtained my desire, I again appeared further from it than ever. However, I continued to pray and to exercise faith, being fully assured that the Lord's time was not yet come, and that, when it was, he would help. And so it proved. At last, in September, 1858, I obtained eleven and a half acres of land, quite close to the new Orphan Houses No. 1 and No. 2, and only separated from them by the road. On these eleven and a half acres of land a house is built. The price for house and land was three thousand six hundred and thirty-one pounds fifteen shillings, being more money than I should have seen it right to expend on the site, had it not been of the utmost importance that the third house should be quite near the other two, to facilitate the superintendence and direction of the establishment. Thus, at last, this prayer also was answered, concerning which I had been waiting upon God for so many months, and concerning which the difficulties as to sight and reason seemed so great, but respecting which my mind was continually at peace; for I was sure that, as I was doing God's work, he would, in his own time, help me in this particular also. The longer I go on in this service, the more I find that prayer and faith can overcome every difficulty.