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From Charity to Justice
How NGOs Can Revolutionise
Our Response to
Extreme Poverty
Vincent Fang
From Charity to Justice

“This impressive work is important reading for those interested in understanding


why poverty is problematic and how we might aim to combat it. The role NGOs
can play in transforming our responses to extreme poverty provides an especially
welcome and original contribution.”
—Professor Gillian Brock, the University of Auckland, New Zealand
Vincent Fang

From Charity
to Justice
How NGOs Can Revolutionise Our Response
to Extreme Poverty
Vincent Fang
University of Auckland
Auckland, New Zealand

ISBN 978-981-16-1432-3 ISBN 978-981-16-1433-0 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1433-0

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for
general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and informa-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
For Maggie and Meadow
Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to my Ph.D. supervisor, Associate Professor


Katherine Smits, and my co-supervisor, Professor Gillian Brock. They
have offered detailed, insightful feedback to the manuscript of this book,
written as my Ph.D. thesis. Conversations with them have opened up
my mind and encouraged me to consider issues and arguments I have
overlooked.
Professor Lisa Ellis, and another anonymous Ph.D. examiner have
provided very useful comments, and I thank them for their compliments
as well as critical suggestions.
I have benefited immensely from discussion with faculty members and
peer students as a Ph.D. candidate at the Politics department, University
of Auckland. In particular, I thank Professor Martin Wilkinson and Dr.
Stephen Winter’s comments and suggestions. I also appreciate the support
from my dear friend, office mate and cosmopolitan comrade, Dr. Jordan
Hanford.
Also, my M.A. supervisor Dr. Alasdair Cochrane and my friend Dr.
Qiuyang Yu, who I know from the University of Sheffield from 2012 to
2013, deserve special recognition, for introducing me to the intellectually
stimulating world of political theory. Despite its scarcity of jobs, this field
is still infinitely appealing thanks to the abundance of abstract arguments.
Last, I am deeply indebted to my family for all their help and support.
My parents have cultivated a rather intellectual environment for me since

vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

childhood, and have always encouraged me to realise my intellectual ambi-


tion. My dear wife Maggie has made enormous sacrifice by moving with
me from China to New Zealand and working for a long period of time
as the sole breadwinner in the family. I am eternally grateful for her
emotional support throughout the writing. And my daughter Meadow,
thank you for coming into my life and giving me another reason to try to
make the world a better place.
Contents

1 Introduction 1
1 The Research Problem 1
2 Methodological Remarks: Political Theorising “Getting
Real” 5
3 Mapping the Book 9
References 13
2 Extreme Poverty as a Problem for the Global North 15
1 Introduction 15
2 A Tale of Two Narratives of Global Poverty 15
3 Understanding Poverty 22
4 The Idea of “Global Poverty” 28
5 Reducing Global Poverty: The Common Factor 33
6 “Politics, Politics, Politics” 45
References 46
3 The Moral Demands of Extreme Poverty 53
1 Introduction 53
2 The Utilitarian Approach: Singer’s Principle of Sacrifice 54
3 The Human Rights Approach and Campbell’s Principle
of Humanity 56
4 Rawls: Duty of Assistance 60
5 Pogge’s Harm Principle and Ecumenical Approach 62

ix
x CONTENTS

6 David Miller: National Responsibilities in the Global


Context 69
7 Normative Theory and Practical Change 73
References 80
4 From the Motivational Gap to the Agency Gap 83
1 Introduction: The Conundrum of Motivating
Cosmopolitanism 83
2 The Rationalist Approach 85
3 The Sentimentalist Approach 87
4 Effective Altruism 89
5 The “Thick Cosmopolitanism” Approach 92
6 Constructing Global Solidarity 95
7 Constructing a Hobbesian Community 100
8 Towards the Cosmopolitan Agency Gap 106
References 111
5 Charity to Justice: Lessons from History 115
1 Introduction: The Historic Shift 115
2 Early Ideas of Charity and Justice as Responses
to Poverty 116
3 The Secularisation of Charity 119
4 The Stigmatised Poor: Debating Public and Private Aid 122
5 A Brief Recap 127
6 How the Shift Occurred: Into the Nineteenth Century 128
7 Reflection on the Paradigm Shift: Four Catalytic
Factors 134
8 Assessing Global Poverty Against the Four Factors 142
References 144
6 NGOs and the Cosmopolitan Agency Gap 147
1 Introduction 147
2 Theorising NGO Evolution: Towards the Fourth
Generation 148
3 From Grassroots to Prominence: The Stories of Five
NGOs 153
4 From Charity to Justice: Mobilising Global Citizens 160
5 Strong in Slogan, Slow in Change 166
CONTENTS xi

6 Breaking the Charity Paradigm: A Reform Around


the Corner? 170
References 173
7 A Sector to Be Reformed: NGOs’ Questionable Public
Engagement 179
1 Introduction 179
2 “Two Parallel Universes” 179
3 Understanding the Fundraising Imperative:
A Collective Action Explanation 183
4 Communicating Global Poverty with Shackles 191
5 Flimsy Solidarities 195
6 A Reform Proposal: Practical and Normative
Considerations 202
References 209
8 Towards the Cosmopolitan Avant-Garde NGO:
A Statist Account of Public Engagement 215
1 Introduction 215
2 Statist Cosmopolitanism 216
3 Ypi’s Cosmopolitan Avant-Garde Agency 219
4 Reflections on Ypi’s Cosmopolitan Avant-Garde:
Rightfully Statist, Wrongfully Optimistic 223
5 Understand the Audience: The Implications
of Thoughtlessness for Global Poverty 232
6 Defamiliarisation: From Art to Political
Communication 239
7 Heuristic Communication 247
8 Deliberation to Change the State from the Bottom 260
9 Some Practical Considerations 263
10 Summary of Chapter 266
References 267
9 Concluding Remarks 275
Reference 281

Index 283
List of Tables

Chapter 7
Table 1 NGO imperatives 187

Chapter 8
Table 1 Two kinds of imperatives for development NGOs 243
Table 2 Applying the principle of defamiliarisation to everyday topics 252

xiii
CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1 The Research Problem


In the chilly spring of 2013, I was studying my master’s degree in
Sheffield. There was an Oxfam shop near where I lived, and every week,
I spent half a day there at the till, serving customers and greeting donors,
with a green Oxfam badge pinned to my shirt. One day during my coffee
break, I was reading a brochure about how Oxfam was using the dona-
tions to help the Syrian children, when the store manager entered and
started a conversation.
“I assume you are studying here? What do you study?” The kind lady
asked.
I said I was studying Politics.
“Oh, that’s interesting, but do you know Oxfam is an apolitical
organisation?” She commented, with detectable pride glowing on her
face.
“Huh?” I responded with a sound of disbelief. I thought I misheard
what she said.
“Apolitical. You know what it means? Oxfam has nothing to do with
politics. We don’t take any side in politics.” She explained patiently.
“Well I know what apolitical means, but I don’t think that is true or
possible.” I replied.
A short debate ensued.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1


Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
V. Fang, From Charity to Justice,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1433-0_1
2 V. FANG

I had just completed an essay in my Human Rights module discussing


Peter Singer and Thomas Pogge’s arguments on the duties the affluent
owed to the global poor. Armed with newly acquired knowledge of
normative political theory, I insisted that transferring wealth from the
West to relieve the suffering of the Syrian victims of the civil war was
well within the realm of the political. In addition, I argued, Oxfam
often worked with governments in developing countries and the United
Nations. She maintained that Oxfam did not engage with the dirty poli-
tics played by Bashar al-Assad, or his armed opponents, or any foreign
powers backing them. Neither of us persuaded the other, and we ended
up agreeing to disagree, with the conclusion that we had different
conceptions of what politics was about.
Upon reflection, there is indeed a major gap between our conceptions
of politics. The Oxfam manager takes politics to be the corrupting power
play between politicians that ordinary citizens and organisations are not
part of and should stay clear of. On this conception, anything that is
intrinsically good and idealistic, say, feeding thousands of starving Syrian
kids, is not part of politics. I do not deny that a big chunk of politics is
rampant with things that cannot withstand ethical scrutiny, but my under-
standing of politics contains an additional, explicitly moral dimension:
when we take other people’s interests into account, when we see suffering
and injustice and we make an instinctive or deliberate choice of which
side to stand on, when we suspect questionable deals are being made by
politicians behind the scenes and we call them “dirty politics”, we are
expressing our political opinions and being political. Some opinions are
superficial; others are the results of careful deliberation. Some opinions
are misguided and misinformed; others are based on solid facts and valid
analysis. Nevertheless, they are all part of the extremely colourful, diverse
spectrum of “the political”. Recognition of what counts as political is no
small matter. These personal opinions lie behind every vote; aggregated,
they are the cornerstone of every demonstration, reform, and revolution,
and in many cases prove to be an effective antidote to the dirtiness in the
world of politics.
Severing this moral dimension from the political therefore reduces
the chance to make politics less “dirty”. It is particularly problematic
when a manager of major humanitarian and development organisation
takes its causes to be apolitical. Our globalised world is not just. Despite
its unprecedented affluence, over 700 million people struggle to meet
their basic needs with less than US$1.90 a day. It is indeed laudable to
1 INTRODUCTION 3

make private donations to alleviate this massive suffering, but providing


palliative care should not prevent one from looking for cures for the
root causes. Unfortunately, these root causes lie exactly within the prob-
lematic—if not dirty, politics—the kind of politics that squanders on
developing more advanced weapons to kill yet becomes stingy on meeting
basic human needs, the politics that becomes awkwardly evasive when
facing the lingering legacies of colonialism, the politics that acquiesces in
higher powers making international rules and poorer countries losing out
in the lopsided game. Extreme poverty has its domestic causes, but these
interact with, and are often enhanced by international politics.1 Failing
to recognise the political nature of extreme poverty makes its eradica-
tion, a goal shared by Oxfam and many other international development
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), much less achievable.
The Oxfam manager’s position on reducing poverty and alleviating
distant suffering is nevertheless reflective of a prevailing and deeply
entrenched charity culture in the global North. Development organisa-
tions such as Oxfam are more commonly known as “charities”. Charities
hire professional fundraisers to approach pedestrians and place advertise-
ments on the internet, TV and newspapers to compete for donations,
and people who donate to them are thanked for their “generous and
charitable” action. In these charity appeals, extreme poverty is reduced
to a problem “out there” like a natural phenomenon that private dona-
tions can apparently reduce with great efficiency and effect; politics, local
or global, is deliberately left out of the picture.2 It is beyond the life
experience of citizens in affluent countries to imagine extreme poverty—
living without adequate food, clean water, a shelter, basic education,
equal respect and social recognition, a peaceful environment or all of
these combined. They have not bothered to understand more either.
Why would they, when they have been told repeatedly that money out
of their pocket is the quick fix? It has become a near knee-jerk response
to associate imagery of poverty and suffering in exotic lands with calls
for charitable donations. This impression was so hardwired since the
1982 Live Aid charity event that many people thought the Make Poverty

1 I will discuss the causes of extreme poverty in Chapters 2 and 3.


2 I will discuss the problems of charity appeals in Chapter 7.
4 V. FANG

History campaign in 2005 was another round of fundraising for Africa—


even though the latter event deliberately avoided raising funds, in order
to echo its theme “Justice not Charity”.3
Indeed, charity and justice are two distinct paradigms on poverty. As a
matter of charity, global poverty is about one group of individuals lacking
the means to live and another group lacking the generosity to give. No
question needs to be asked about the causes of poverty—if it persists, it
is because the rich are not charitable enough, hence the relentless charity
appeals attempting to get more donors on board. The government has
little to do in this essentially depoliticised space. As a matter of justice,
poverty becomes an entirely different problem: we become curious about
why it exists, and we grow suspicious of the fairness of the broader polit-
ical and economic system that largely determines who gets what. Through
this lens, poverty in many cases turns out to be the avoidable result of
exploitation, discrimination and exclusion. Setting eyes on the big picture,
we discover, with great surprise, that the most commonly cited cause of
poverty—laziness—pales in the face of an overwhelmingly adverse envi-
ronment. Global poverty as a matter of justice calls attention to its root
causes, and how the global North has benefited from and participated in
causing it. It calls for critical reflection on and recognition of enforce-
able obligations on the part of the affluent. Most importantly, it calls for
structural changes including but not limited to greater measures of global
wealth redistribution and fairer terms of international economic coopera-
tion. If we want extreme poverty to be perpetually eradicated, it will have
to be addressed in the justice paradigm.
Finding ways to achieve a paradigm shift from charity to justice in the
global North will be the central research problem in this book. I intend to
take up the torch from the “Justice not Charity” global campaign in 2005,
and explore ways to encourage citizens in the global North to recog-
nise that extreme poverty, a problem seemingly so distant in their daily
lives, is in fact, much more relevant and demands extensive actions from
them. To be clear, the focus of this research is not effective methods of
poverty reduction, or causes of and solutions to extreme poverty. Nor is
this research concerned with exactly what kind of obligations the global
North owes to the South. These topics are all important areas of research

3 Andrew Darnton, “Make Poverty History End of Year Notes from the Public Percep-
tions of Poverty Research Programme,” accessed 23 August 2019, https://celebrityand
development.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/andrew-darnton-make-poverty-history.pdf.
1 INTRODUCTION 5

and have yielded large bodies of literature. However, they are not the
central concern in this book. I will overview these topics in the next two
chapters, but I do this only to pave the way for my later arguments on
how we can communicate ethical implications of global poverty to audi-
ences in the global North in a more politically engaging, informative way,
so that charity as a paradigm finally gives way to justice.

2 Methodological Remarks:
Political Theorising “Getting Real”
Although this book is theoretical in nature, it differs from other theo-
retical works in that it is driven by pragmatism. Normative political
theorists are skilled at offering value-laden critiques and diagnosis of the
status quo and depicting a morally desirable state of being. But what
is notably missing from such normative analysis is how we could move
from the regrettable reality to the moral ideal. On this subject, political
theorists often seem to assume that the appeal of the utopia would by
itself be adequate to motivate people to make whatever practical changes
we will need. I differ from them in thinking that utopian appeal is far
from enough, and that bridging the gap between reality and ideal with
pragmatism is exactly what we need.
Fortunately, I am not alone in this more pragmatic position. There
has been growing discussion around the practical impact of global justice
theories, or the regrettable lack thereof, in recent years. The impres-
sion that many such theories are too abstract, utopian, and unrealistically
moralistic has begun to take hold, inviting increasing critical reflections
from across the field on whether global justice theories should “get real”.
As Jonathan Floyd notes, three factors motivate this internal reflection:
political ambition (we want to be more relevant!), philosophical curiosity
(we haven’t thought much about this before) and a crisis of confidence
(is there any point to what we’re doing?).4

4 Jonathan Floyd, “Should Global Political Theory Get Real? An Introduction,” Journal
of International Political Theory 12, no. 2 (2016): 95.
6 V. FANG

Attempts to “get real” tend to go in two directions, following David


Miller’s survey of the debate.5 In one direction, global justice polit-
ical theorists are urged to join the “non-ideal movement”—they are
encouraged to quit their unhelpful musings on developing a theory of
perfect justice built on the assumption of perfect compliance. Instead they
should turn to theorise for the real world brimming with non-compliance,
moral failures and collective action problems.6 Non-ideal theories, as is
often argued, must be better informed by empirical findings from social
sciences on human psychology and behaviour, as well as cultural, political
and institutional constraints before entering the normative terrain and
prescribing realistically achievable changes in actions and institutions that
we ought to pursue.
Down the other “get real” pathway, it is recommended that theorists
better incorporate the long-standing realist tradition into their thinking.
Political theory should not be treated as applied moral philosophy, it is
argued, as political outcomes are not just determined by what is just
and right—but also by might. To achieve real impact, political theorising
should give more recognition to the perpetual disagreement, pursuit of
power, conflicts of interest and differing perceptions of legitimacy that
mark the real world of political struggles, and accordingly reduce the
weight assigned to moral claims. In particular, proponents of global
justice should recognise that their moral doctrine, cosmopolitanism, is
not universally accepted but “contested and controversial” in a world of
competing moral first principles.7 Self-righteous cosmopolitans can ask as
many moral actions from individuals, politicians and states as they want,
but the plain truth is that “if they may only ask, none need listen”.8 It
is therefore insufficient, from the political perspective, to merely provide
arguments on what is morally right to do; such recommendations must be

5 David Miller, “How ‘Realistic’ Should Global Political Theory Be? Some Reflections
on the Debate so Far,” Journal of International Political Theory 12, no. 2 (2016): 217–
233.
6 The concept of “non-ideal movement” is mentioned in Shmuel Nili, “Global Justice
and Global Realities,” Journal of International Political Theory 12, no. 2 (2016): 200–
216. Amartya Sen is another influential advocates for political theory to go non-ideal.
7 Matt Sleat, “The Value of Global Justice: Realism and Moralism,” Journal of
International Political Theory 12, no. 2 (2016): 174.
8 Geoffrey Hawthorn, “Running the World Through Windows,” in Daniele Archibugi
ed., Debating cosmpolitics (London: Verso Books, 2003), 20.
1 INTRODUCTION 7

accompanied by considerations on why the particular political agents will


act accordingly, or how they could be persuaded, motivated, accustomed,
coerced or even intimidated to comply.
In conceiving, designing and completing this essentially theoretical
project, I have drawn on both strands of recommendations, in order to
maximise its practical potential. The framing of the research problem, to
begin with, is informed by the realist assumption that to seek change
in a system, we must locate and influence the key political actors who
wield more power. We could establish from existing literature that a wide
variety of proposals on reducing extreme poverty has been discussed, from
radically reforming global economic order, to improving governance in
poor countries, to establishing a global redistributive system, to better the
current foreign aid regime.9 While some measures focus on local reforms
in poor countries, others with greater potential impact take aim at the
economic and political interactions between poor and affluent countries
or target the global system that acts as the institutional background of said
interactions. Who are the key political players in the latter case? It does not
even take a degree in politics to know that the global North, or the devel-
oped countries, exert political power disproportionately large to their
geographical size and population. To seek change that has the maximum
impact, one must therefore seek to change these Northern countries. Are
they obligated to change? Yes, for various compelling reasons if we look
at the normative global justice literature that examines the moral duties
owed by the global North to the global poor. However, here emerges the
realist concern about the moralistic global justice literature. On the issue
of extreme poverty, the global North could achieve immense impact, and
should strive to do so, but they are not acting as we would have wished.
Foreign aid expenditure remains meagre and contested, and there is little
detectable intent to push for a fairer global order or global redistribu-
tion of any kind. Hence the general question: How can we get the global
North to do what is morally expected? Phrased specifically for the problem
of global poverty, it becomes my research question: How can a paradigm
shift in the global North from charity to justice be achieved with regard
to extreme global poverty?

9 I will discuss these solutions in Chapter 2.


8 V. FANG

In addressing this research question, I am informed by both realist


and non-ideal methodological recommendations: I pay continued atten-
tion to both how practical constraints could thwart our attempt to seek
change, and how social science insights could inform and facilitate this
attempt. In Chapter 4, I conduct a survey of various strategies for moti-
vating cosmopolitanism. While I do not reject more moralistic strategies
and agree that a sense of justice can indeed lead to political action, I
also elaborate on how coercive institutions can align self-interest with the
discharge of otherwise neglected duties of justice. I argue that the various
economic, ecological and military risks that individuals pose to each other
beyond borders can be staged in a way that exploits selfish interests in
the service of global justice demands. On this basis, I recommend that
we further explore a strategy of building a Hobbesian global commu-
nity. In the same chapter, I also identify a crucial practical constraint on
the motivational strategies proposed so far: we have yet to find suitably
motivated and resourced political agents to test and perform these strate-
gies. I call this problem the “agency gap”. Similarly, in Chapter 5, after
examining the historical evolution of the ideas of charity and justice, I
draw attention to how mature and capable bureaucracies enable coercive
taxation for redistributive justice. I further discuss how a community of
fear—the better-off social members’ fear of the poor taking their property
through violence and revolution—sustains redistributive justice. Rejecting
a moralistic account that regards the nation as a solidary community of
mutual care, I am able to identify other factors that have contributed to
the welfare states we see today.
In Chapters 6 and 7, I argue that development NGOs are suitable
agents to fill the agency gap. I acknowledge their ambition, motivation
and effort to mobilise citizens in the global North to join the cause of
ending extreme global poverty. However, I caution against the notion
that NGOs are motivated purely by their ideals. Rather, they are deeply
mired in a competitive development sector and many of their highly crit-
icised actions result from seeking organisational survival. Despite efforts
to overcome this constraint and better engage the Northern publics, they
have only achieved rather limited success. I examine this collective action
problem in depth in Chapter 7. Based on social science research on this
classic issue, I propose that the multiple NGOs join hands to build a single
avant-garde NGO tasked with public engagement.
A key realist insight is that rights and duties of justice are only empty
talk if they are not guaranteed by and discharged through a coercive
1 INTRODUCTION 9

authority. In seeking to transform theoretical duties of global justice into


real actions, we must then recognise the role of the one and only polit-
ical entity that enjoys legitimate coercive power—the state. Therefore, in
Chapter 8, I defend what Ypi calls a “statist” account of cosmopolitanism
with the argument that the most plausible way to realise global justice is to
change the state to gradually live up to cosmopolitan values. To do this,
the avant-garde NGO bears the important responsibility of mobilising
citizens behind its cause. However, I reject Ypi’s intellectual optimism
about global justice, arguing that cosmopolitanism has been waning in
recent years, and that ordinary citizens oppose this sensible moral doctrine
not based on considered judgements but because of their lack of informed
thinking on politics. Based on this diagnosis, I develop an account of
public engagement that aims to disengage the publics from their unre-
flectively received political opinions and re-engage them to think about
ideological alternatives. Much of this discussion draws on social sciences
research—in particular, social psychology. For instance, as it is widely
agreed that human beings do not respond in a friendly and reasoned way
to explicit attempts of persuasion, I develop a strategy called “heuristic
communication” that aims to provide various kinds of assistance or cues
for individuals to form or discover more considered alterative political
beliefs for themselves.
These are the major “realist and non-ideal moments” in my research.
While both methodological directions remain contested and the debate
ongoing, I believe they are credible suggestions that anyone interested in
global justice should bear in mind, particularly in the course of theorising.

3 Mapping the Book


The nine chapters of this book cover a broad range of topics from the
history of political thought, to contemporary theories of global justice, to
studies on development NGOs. Before I introduce the remaining chap-
ters, it might be helpful to quickly summarise the logic that connects these
chapters and highlight the focus on practical change: facing millions in
extreme deprivation, we have policy instruments and reform proposals
(Chapter 2), we have a strong moral mandate (Chapter 3), we have
achieved impressive success at the national level before (Chapter 5), we
have political agents eager to bring about change (Chapter 6), why aren’t
we motivated enough to act (Chapter 4)? Are the political agents we
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students, who may have their tutorage and room-rent gratis, and act
as servitors to those who enter commoners. What these salaries and
exhibitions ought to be, may at a proper season be submitted to your
Grace’s future consideration. At present, I would only further
propose, that the negroe children belonging to the College, shall be
instructed, in their intervals of labour, by one of the poorer students,
as is done now by one of the scholars in the present Orphan-house.
And I do not see why an additional provision may not likewise be
made for educating and maintaining a number of Indian children,
which, I imagine, may easily be procured from the Creeks,
Choctaws, Cherokees, and the other neighbouring nations. Hence
the whole will be a free-gift to the colony of Georgia: a complex
extensive charity be established; and at the same time, not a single
person obliged, by any public act of assembly, to pay an involuntary
forced tax towards the support of a seminary, from which many of
the more distant and poorer Colonist’s children cannot possibly
receive any immediate advantage; and yet the whole Colony, by the
christian and liberal education of a great number of its individuals, be
universally benefited. Thus have I most readily, and I humbly hope,
gratefully complied with your Grace’s desire, which to me is as a
command. I am constrained to trespass on your Grace’s patience,
whilst I congratulate your Grace on the goodness of God, who,
amongst many other signal marks of his peculiar providence, hath
honoured your Grace, in making you an happy instrument of
establishing two Northern-American Colleges; the one at New-York,
and the other at Philadelphia: and if (as I pray may be the case) your
Grace should yet be made further instrumental in establishing a third
College in the yet more southern, but now flourishing colony of
Georgia, I trust it will be an additional gem in the crown, which I
earnestly pray that God, the righteous judge, may give your Grace in
that day. In his great name, I beg leave to subscribe myself, may it
please your Grace,

Your Grace’s most dutiful, obliged son and servant,

G. W.

Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.

Tottenham-Court, September 1, 1767.

May it please your Grace,

A S I am going out of town for a few weeks, I beg leave humbly to


enquire, whether my L―― P――t hath considered the draught
of the charter sent him by your Grace some weeks ago. The
Governor, Council, Assembly, and other inhabitants of Georgia, wait
with impatience to have this affair brought to a desired issue; and
therefore I humbly hope your Grace will excuse the freedom of the
request now made by, may it please your Grace,

Your Grace’s most dutiful, obliged son and servant,

G. W.
The Archbishop to Mr. Whitefield,

Lambeth, September 18, 1767.

To the Reverend Mr. Whitefield.

T HE Archbishop of Canterbury sends Mr. Whitefield the enclosed


letter from the Lord President, which he received this day, and
which he desires may be returned to him.

Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.

Tottenham-Court, October 13, 1767.

May it please your Grace,

B Y a series of unaccountable incidents and mistakes, your


Grace’s letter, with that of the L―― P――t, did not reach me
till this afternoon. I have made bold to copy the letter; and in
obedience to your Grace’s command, herewith return the original. Its
contents shall be immediately and duly considered, and an answer
very speedily remitted to your Grace. In the mean time, with most
humble thanks for the zeal and punctuality shewn by your Grace in
the prosecution of this important affair, and earnestly begging an
interest in your Grace’s prayers, that I may be kept from erring on
the right hand, or the left, in this final discharge of my public trust, I
beg leave to subscribe myself, may it please your Grace,

Your Grace’s most obedient and dutiful son and servant,

G. W.

Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.

Tottenham-Court, October 16, 1767.

May it please your Grace,


A FTER earnest application to the Father of mercies for direction, I
have endeavoured as in his presence, duly to consider and
weigh the contents of the L―― P――t’s letter, which your Grace
was so condescending as to transmit for my perusal. His L――p
therein, is pleased to inform your Grace, “That he observes, that the
second draught of Mr. Whitefield’s charter, differs from that of New-
York; in not requiring the head of the College to be a member of the
church of England, which his Lordship thinks so material a
qualification, that for one, he should not be for dispensing with it. And
his L――p is also of opinion, that the public prayers should not be
extempore ones, but the liturgy of the church, or some part thereof,
or some other settled and established form.” Thus far his L――p.
And, as I profess myself to be a presbyter of the same communion
with his L――p, I cannot but applaud his L――p’s zeal for, and
watchfulness over, the honour of the established church. But if his
L――p would be so good as to take a particular view of the point of
light in which I stand, I cannot help flattering myself, but that his
L――p will be so far from thinking, that being a member of the
church of England is a qualification not to be dispensed with in the
head of the intended College; that on the contrary, it ought not so
much as to be mentioned, or insisted upon in the charter at all. For
not to trouble your Grace with a repetition of the reasons urged
against such a restraining clause, in my letter of June 17; I would
beg leave further to observe to your Grace, that by far the greatest
part of the Orphan-house collections and contributions came from
Dissenters, not only in New-England, New-York, Pensylvania, South-
Carolina, and Scotland, but in all probability here in England also.
Most of these places I have visited since the several audits of the
Orphan-house accompts, and acquainted with the design of turning it
into a College; and likewise the address of the Council and
Assembly of the province of Georgia, with his Excellency Governor
Wright’s answer, highly approving and recommending the design,
have been published. Being frequently asked, “Upon what bottom
the intended College was to be founded;” I not only most readily and
repeatedly answered, “Undoubtedly upon a broad bottom;” but
likewise, in most of the above-mentioned places, have solemnly
declared from the pulpit, that it should be upon a broad bottom, and
no other. This, I judged, I was sufficiently warranted to do, from the
known, long established, mild, and uncoercive genius of the English
government; also from your Grace’s moderation towards protestant
Dissenters; from the unconquerable attachment of the Americans to
toleration principles, as well as from the avowed habitual feelings
and sentiments of my own heart. This being the case, may it please
your Grace, I would humbly appeal to his L――p, whether I can
answer it to my God, my conscience, my king, my country, my
constituents, and Orphan-house benefactors and contributors, both
at home and abroad, to betray my trust, forfeit my word, act contrary
to my own convictions, and greatly retard and prejudice the growth
and progress of the intended institution, by narrowing its foundation,
and thereby letting it fall upon such a bottom, as I am persuaded will
give a general disgust, and most justly open the mouths of persons
of all denominations against me. This, as I acquainted your Grace, in
the same letter referred to above, is what I dare not do. And
therefore, as your Grace by your silence seems to be like-minded
with the L――d P――t; and as your Grace’s and his L――p’s
influence will undoubtedly extend itself to others of his Majesty’s
most Honourable Privy-Council, I would beg leave, after returning all
due acknowledgments, to inform your Grace, that I intend troubling
your Grace and his Lordship no more about this so long depending
concern. As it hath pleased the great Head of the church in some
degree to renew my bodily strength, I purpose now to renew my
feeble efforts, and turn the charity into a more generous, and
consequently into a more extensively useful channel. If I know any
thing of my own heart, I have no ambition to be looked upon at
present, or remembered for the future, as a founder of a college; but
I would fain, may it please your Grace, act the part of an honest
man, a disinterested minister of Jesus Christ, and a truly catholic,
moderate presbyter of the church of England. In this way, and in this
only, can I hope for a continued heart-felt enjoyment of that peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, whilst here on earth, and be
thereby prepared to stand with humble boldness before the awful,
impartial tribunal of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls at the
great day. That your Grace may shine as a star of the first magnitude
in that day, is the sincere prayer of, may it please your Grace,
Your Grace’s most dutiful obliged son and servant,

G. W.

Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.

Tottenham-Court, November 11, 1767.

May it please your Grace,

T HE bearer is my humble friend; one who hath been with me


several years, and been my companion in travel through the
continent of America. If your Grace would be so good as to send by
him the plans and papers relating to the Orphan-house, it would
much oblige, may it please your Grace,

Your Grace’s most dutiful humble servant,

G. W.

P. S. I know not whether your Grace or the Lord President hath


the copy of the New-Jersey College charter. I gave it to Mr. Secretary
Sharp, in order that your Grace and his Lordship might see it. Mr.
Sharp being dead, obliges me to trouble your Grace with this
particular: I should not otherwise have taken the freedom.

Mr. Whitefield to the Archbishop.

Tottenham-Court, February 12, 1768.

May it please your Grace,

A S not only the Governor, Council and Assembly of Georgia, have


been for a long season, and are now waiting for an account of
what hath been done in respect to the affair of the intended
Bethesda college, I find myself under a necessity of giving them and
the contributors, on this, as well as the other side of the water, a
plain narration of the steps I have been taking; and at the same time
I intend to lay before the public a draught of the future plan, which,
God willing, I am now determined to prosecute. And as the letters
which I have had the honour of writing to your Grace, contain most of
what I have to say on this subject, I suppose your Grace can have
no objection against my publishing those letters, together with the
answers returned, and the issue of the correspondence. To prevent
your Grace’s having further trouble, as I hear your Grace is at
present much indisposed, I shall look upon silence as an
approbation, at least as a tacit allowance of what is designed by,
may it please your Grace,

Your Grace’s most dutiful son and servant, in the King of


kings and Lord of lords,

G. W.

Thus, may it please your excellency, concluded my


correspondence with his Grace, and I humbly hope, the province of
Georgia, in the end, will be no loser by this negociation. For, God
willing, I now purpose to add a public academy, to the Orphan-
house, as the college ¹ of Philadelphia was constituted a public
academy, as well as charitable school, for some time before its
present college charter was granted by the honourable proprietors of
Pensylvania in the year 1755.

¹ This college was originally built, above twenty-eight years


ago, for a charity school and preaching place for me, and
ministers of various denominations, on the bottom of the
doctrinal articles of the church of England. The trustees,
as a public and standing acknowledgment of this, have
inserted a clause in their Grant, for leave for a part of the
building still to be allowed for that purpose. Accordingly I
preached a sermon in it, for the benefit of their charity
children, when I was last at Philadelphia, before a very
large auditory, and Dr. Smith, the present Provost, read
prayers.

In pursuing a like plan, the present Georgia Orphan-house


estate, which for near these three years hath been in a state of
suspense, may be vigorously and properly improved, and thereby an
ample and lasting provision made for the future maintenance and
education of many poor, indigent, and orphan, as well as more
opulent students. Proper masters likewise may now be sent over to
instruct, and prepare for academical honours the many youths, who
are at this time both in Georgia and the adjacent provinces, waiting
for admission. In the mean time, a proper trust may be formed to act
after my decease, or even before, with this proviso, that no
opportunity shall be omitted of making fresh application for a college
charter, upon a broad bottom, whenever those in power shall think it
for the glory of God, and the interest of their king and country to
grant the same. And thus, may it please your Excellency, my beloved
Bethesda will not only be continued as a house of mercy for poor
orphans, but be confirmed as a seat and nursery of sound learning,
and religious education, I trust, to the latest posterity. That this may
be the happy case, as I am persuaded is the desire of your
Excellency, his Majesty’s Honourable Council, and house of
representatives, in the province of Georgia, so it shall still be, to my
latest breath, as it hath been for many years, the earnest endeavour
and incessant prayer of,

May it please your Excellency, Your Excellency’s, &c.

G. W.

Commons House of Assembly, Monday,


January 29, 1770.

M R. Speaker reported, that he with the house having waited on


the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, in consequence of his invitation,
at the Orphan-house academy, heard him preach a very suitable and
pious sermon on the occasion; and with great pleasure observed the
promising appearance of improvement towards the good purposes
intended, and the decency and propriety of behaviour of the several
residents there; and were sensibly affected, when they saw the
happy success which has attended Mr. Whitefield’s indefatigable
zeal for promoting the welfare of the province in general, and the
Orphan-house in particular.

Ordered, That this report be printed in the Gazette.

John Simpson, Clerk.

Extract from the Georgia Gazette.

Savannah, January 31, 1770.

L AST Sunday his Excellency the Governor, Council and Assembly,


having been invited by the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield,
attended at divine service in the chapel of the Orphan-house
academy, where prayers were read by the reverend Mr. Ellington,
and a very suitable sermon was preached by the reverend Mr.
Whitefield from Zechariah ivth chapter 9th. and part of the 10th
verses; “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this
house, his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know, that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you; for who hath despised the day
of small things?” to the general satisfaction of the auditory; in which
he took occasion to mention the many discouragements he met with,
well known to many there, in carrying on this institution for upwards
of thirty years past, and the present promising prospect of its future
and more extensive usefulness. After divine service, the company
were very politely entertained with a handsome and plentiful dinner;
and were greatly pleased to see the useful improvements made in
the house, the two additional wings for apartments for students, one-
hundred and fifty feet each in length, and other lesser buildings, in so
much forwardness, and the whole executed with taste and in a
masterly manner; and being sensible of the truly generous and
disinterested benefactions derived to the province through his
means, they expressed their gratitude in the most respectful terms.
Orphan-House, in Georgia, Dʳ. Orphan-House, in Georgia, Cʳ.
Sterling, Sterling,
l. s. d. l. s. d.
To cash received from By cash paid sundries
the 15th December, by particular
1738, to the 1st Jan. accompts
1745‒6, by public examined, from the
Collections, private 4982 12 8 15th December,
Benefactions, and 1738, to the 1st
5511 17 9¼
annual subscriptions, Jan. 1745‒6, for
per accompt buildings, cultivation
of lands, infirmary,
To ballance super- provisions, wearing
expended, Jan. 1, 529 05 1¼ apparel, and other
1745‒6. incident expences
£. 5511 17 9¼

SAVANNAH in GEORGIA.

S. L.
T HIS day personally appeared before us Henry Parker and
William Spencer, bailiffs of Savannah aforesaid, the
Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, and James Habersham,
Merchant of Savannah aforesaid, who, being duly sworn, say, That
the accompts relating to the Orphan-house, now exhibited before us,
of which the above is an abstract, amounting on the debit side
(namely, for collections and subscriptions received) to the sum of
four thousand nine hundred eighty-two pounds twelve shillings and
eight pence, sterling, and on the credit side, (namely, for
disbursements paid) to the sum of five thousand five hundred eleven
pounds seventeen shillings and ninepence farthing, sterling, do, to
the best of their knowledge, contain a just and true account of all the
monies collected by, or given to them, or any other, for the use and
benefit of the said house; and that the disbursements, amounting to
the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully applied to and for the use of
the same. And the Reverend Mr. Whitefield further declareth, that he
hath not converted or applied any part thereof to his own private use
and property, neither hath charged the said house with any of his
travelling, or any other private expences whatsoever.
George Whitefield,
James Habersham.

SAVANNAH in GEORGIA.

T HIS day personally appeared before us, Henry Parker, and


William Spencer, bailiffs of Savannah aforesaid, William
Woodrooffe, William Ewen, and William Russel of Savannah
aforesaid, who being duly sworn say, That they have carefully and
strictly examined all and singular the accompts relating to the
Orphan-house in Georgia, contained in forty-one pages, in a book
entitled, Receipts and disbursements for the Orphan-house in
Georgia, with the original bills, receipts, and other vouchers, from the
fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and thirty eight, to the first day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-five; and that the
monies received on account of the said Orphan-house, amounted to
the sum of four thousand nine hundred eighty-two pounds twelve
shillings and eight-pence, sterling, as above; and that it doth not
appear, that the Reverend Mr. Whitefield hath converted any part
thereof to his own private use and property, or charged the said
house with any of his travelling, or other private expences; but, on
the contrary, hath contributed to the said house many valuable
benefactions; and that the monies disbursed on account of the said
house, amounted to the sum of five thousand five hundred eleven
pounds seventeen shillings and ninepence farthing, sterling, as
above, which we, in justice to the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, and the
managers of the said house, do hereby declare, appear to us to be
faithfully and justly applied to and for the use and benefit of the said
house only.

William Woodrooffe,
William Ewen,
William Russel.

Sworn this 16th day of April, 1746, before us, bailiffs of


Savannah; in justification whereof we have hereunto fixed our hands,
and the common seal.
Henry Parker,
William Spencer.

General Accompt of Monies expended and received for the


Use of the Orphan-house in Georgia, from January 7th,
1738‒9, to February 9th, 1765.

Dʳ. Cʳ.
l. s. d. l. s. d.
1746, April 16.
To sundries
1746, April 16. By sundry
expended 5511 17 9¼ 4982 12 8
receipts per audit
as per audit
this day
1752, Feb. 25.
2026 13 7½ 1752, Feb. 25. By ditto 1386 8 7½
To ditto
1755, Feb. 19.
1966 18 2 1755, Feb. 19. By ditto 1289 2 3
To ditto
1765, Feb. 9.
3349 15 10 1765, Feb. 9. By ditto 3132 16 0¼
To ditto
10,790 19 6¾
By the Rev. Mr. Whitefield’s
benefactions, being the
sums expended more
than received, as
appears from the several
former audits, now
carefully examined,
viz. Folio 65 — 1169
10 1¼
Ditto 81 — 400
2064 5 10
5 4¾
Ditto 98 — 494
10 4
12,855 5 4¾ 12,855 5 4¾

Georgia ss.
BEFORE me, the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq.
senior, one of the assistant justices for the province
aforesaid, personally appeared the Reverend Mr. George
Whitefield and Thomas Dixon of the province aforesaid, who being
duly sworn, declare that the accompts relating to the Orphan-house,
from folio 82, to folio 98, in this book, amounting on the debit side to
three thousand three hundred and forty-nine pounds fifteen shillings
and ten pence, sterling, and on the credit side to three thousand one
hundred and thirty-two pounds sixteen shillings and one farthing,
sterling, contain, to the best of their knowledge, a just and true
account of all the monies collected by, or given to them, or any other,
for the use or benefit of the said house; and that the disbursements
amounting to the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully applied to and
for the use of the same.

Signed, George Whitefield,


Thos. Dixon.

February 9, 1765.

Sworn this 9th day of February, 1765, before me; in justification


whereof I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.

Signed N. Jones. Sealed.

Georgia ss.
B EFORE me, the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq.
senior, personally appeared James Edward Powell
and Grey Elliot, Esqrs. members of his Majesty’s
honourable council for the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn,
declare that they have carefully examined the accompts containing
the receipts and disbursements, for the use of the Orphan-house in
the said province, and that comparing them with the several
vouchers, they find the same not only just and true in every respect,
but kept in such a clear and regular manner, as does honour to the
managers of that house; and that on a careful examination of the
several former audits, it appears that the sum of two thousand and
sixty-four pounds, five shillings and ten pence, has at several times
been given by the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield for the use of the
said house; and that in the whole the sum of twelve thousand eight
hundred fifty-five pounds five shillings and four pence three farthings,
has been laid out for the same house since 7th January, 1738‒9, to
this day:—Also that it doth not appear that any charge has ever been
made by the said Reverend Mr. Whitefield, either for travelling
charges or any other expences whatever, and that no charge of
salary has been made for any person whatever, employed or
concerned in the management of the said house. February 9th,
1765.

Signed, James Edward Powell,


Grey Elliot.

Sworn this 9th day of February, 1765, before me; in justification


whereof, I have caused the seal of the general court to be affixed.

Signed N. Jones. Sealed.


Dʳ. Cʳ.
General Accompt of monies
expended for the Orphan-house, Monies received for the use of the
taken from the authentic book, same, taken from the authentic book,
from Dec. 1738, to February 1770. from Dec. 1738, to February 1770.
l. s. d. l. s. d.
1746 April 16. To By Benefactions and
Sundries, per 5511 17 9¼ Collections, in 4471 0 6¼
audit, this day, England
1752 Feb. 25 Dᵒ
2026 13 7½ Dᵒ ―― Scotland 978 2 5½
――
1755 Feb. 19 Dᵒ
1966 18 2 Dᵒ ―― Georgia 275 5 7¼
――
1765 Feb. 9 Dᵒ Dᵒ ―― Charles-
3349 15 10 567 1 9¾
―― Town
1770 Feb. 2 Dᵒ
2548 17 0½ Dᵒ ―― Beaufort 16 10 7
――
Dᵒ ―― Boston,
New-York, 1809 6 10½
Philad. &c.
Dᵒ ―― Lisbon 3 12 0
8120 19 10½
By cash, received for
payment of boarders
cocoons, rice, lumber, 3983 19 3
♦indigo, provisions,
&c.
By the Reverend Mr.
Whitefield’s
benefactions, being
the sums expended,
3299 3 3¾
more than received,
as appears by the
several audits,
carefully examined,
15404 2 5¼ 15404 2 5¼

♦ “indico” replaced with “indigo”

Georgia
B EFORE the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior
assistant Justice for the province aforesaid, personally
appeared, the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield and Thomas
Dixon, of the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn, declare that
the accompts relating to the Orphan-house, from folio 101 to folio
109 in this book, amounting, on the debit side, to two thousand five
hundred forty-eight pounds seventeen shillings and one half-penny,
sterling, and on the credit side, to one thousand three hundred
thirteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence three farthings,
sterling, contain, to the best of their knowledge, a just and true
account of all the monies collected by, or given to them, or any
others, for the use or benefit of the said house; and that the
disbursements, amounting to the sum aforesaid, have been faithfully
applied to and for the use of the same.

George Whitefield,
Thomas Dixon.

February 2, 1770.

Sworn this 2d day of February, 1770, before


me; in justification whereof I have caused
the seal of the general court to be affixed.

N. Jones. Seal.

5th and last audit, 1770.

Georgia.
B EFORE the Honourable Noble Jones, Esq. senior
assistant Justice, &c. personally appeared, James
Edward Powell and Grey Elliot, Esquires, members of his
Majesty’s council for the province aforesaid, who being duly sworn,
declare that they have carefully inspected and examined the
accompts, containing the receipts and disbursements, for the use of
the Orphan-house in the said province. And find the sums expended
for the use of the same, from the 9th February 1765, to this day,
amount to two thousand five hundred forty-eight pounds seventeen
shillings and one half-penny, sterling; and the sums received, to one
thousand three hundred thirteen pounds nineteen shillings and
sixpence three farthings, sterling; and that the whole of the sums
expended on account of the institution, amount to fifteen thousand
four hundred and four pounds two shillings and five-pence farthing,
sterling, and the whole receipts, to the sum of twelve thousand one
hundred four pounds nineteen shillings and one penny half-penny,
sterling; and the benefactions of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield
thereunto, have, at different times, amounted to the sum of three
thousand two hundred ninety-nine pounds three shillings and three-
pence three farthings, sterling, as clearly appears by a general
account thereof stated by us. And that in this our last, as well as
each preceding audit, no charge whatever has been made by the
Rev. Mr. Whitefield, either for travelling charges or otherwise, nor
any other charge for the salary of any person whatever, employed or
concerned in the management of the said Orphan-house; and that
clear and distinct vouchers for the whole amount of the sums
expended, have been laid before us, except for four articles,
amounting together to forty pounds one shilling and one penny,
being monies expended and paid by the said Mr. Whitefield on
several occasions, the particulars of which were laid before us, but
no receipt had been by him taken for the same.

James Edward Powell,


Grey Elliot.

February 2, 1770.

Sworn this 2d day of February, 1770, before


me; in justification whereof, I have caused
the seal of the general court to be affixed.

N. Jones. Seal.
Schedule of all the Lands possessed by, and belonging to the late
Reverend George Whitefield, in Georgia.

Lands granted by his Majesty to the late Reverend George


Whitefield, in trust for the Orphan-house, or for the endowment of
a College in Georgia.

A TRACT of 500 acres, called Bethesda, on which the Orphan-


house and additional buildings are erected.

Another of 419 acres, called Nazareth.

Another of 400 acres, called Ephrata, on which are the principal


planting improvements.

1319 acres.

These lands are granted in trust to the deceased, for the use of
the Orphan-house, and adjoin each other: the grants are dated 13th
of April, 1761.

Another of 500 acres, called Huntingdon, and adjoins on one


corner to Ephrata.—This grant is dated 13th of
April, 1761.

These 3 tracts, amounting to 2000 acres are


Another of 1000 contiguous, and are granted to the deceased in
Another of 500 trust for the endowment of a college. The grants
Another of 500 are dated 6th of August, 1765.
2000

Another of 1000 acres, left by the Reverend Bartholomew


Zouberbuhler, deceased, late minister of
Savannah, by Will, for the endowment of a
college, but conditionally.

The habendum of the three grants, amounting to 1319 acres of


land, for the use of the Orphan-house, run in the following words: “To
have and to hold the said tract of four hundred acres of land, and all
and singular other the premises hereby granted, with the
appurtenances, unto the said George Whitefield, his heirs and
assigns for ever, in free and common soccage:—In trust
nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Orphan-House,—he the
said George Whitefield, his heirs or assigns, yielding and paying,
&c.”

And the three grants, together amounting to 2000 acres of land,


for the endowment of a college, are thus expressed: “To have and to
hold the said tract of one thousand acres of land, and all and
singular other the premises hereby granted, with the appurtenances,
unto the said George Whitefield, his heirs and assigns for ever, in
free and common soccage: In trust for the endowment of a college in
our said province,—he the said George Whitefield, his heirs and
assigns, yielding and paying, &c.”

So that it plainly appears, these lands cannot be aliened or


appropriated to any other use, than the purposes for which they were
granted.
Extract from an account of the state of the family at the
Orphan-house in April 1770.

Whites.
Managers
and 9
carpenters
Boys 15
Girl 1
Negroes.
Of which 16 are young, and fit for any labor; 7 are old, but
Men 24
capable of some service, and 1 so old as to be useless.
8 of these are capable of the usual labor, 2 are old and assist
Women 11 in the business of the house, and 1 almost incapable of
any service.
Of whom, those that are capable are employed about
Children 15 something useful, as far as their strength and abilities will
permit.
75

By an authentic account of the state of the family at the Orphan-


house, from the year 1739 to 1770,

have been clothed, educated, maintained and suitably


140 Boys provided for.
43 Girls
183 Total.

N. B. The Spanish war; the fluctuating state of the colony for


years; the long suspense in which Mr. Whitefield was kept by
government at home, as to his intended plan of improvement at the
Orphan-house; and other particulars which are noticed, and may be
observed in his letters, prevented the accession of a greater number
of orphans; but to the honour and usefulness of the institution, it
ought to be remarked, that many poor children, besides what are
numbered in this list, were occasionally received, educated, and
maintained at the Orphan-house.

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