In South Carolina. 109 



ogy"], asking leave for me to preach a charity-sermon on this occa- 

 sion, in the Abbey Church. This was granted, and I accordingly 

 began immediately to compose a suitable discourse; but, knowing 

 my first stay in Georgia would be short, on account of my return- 

 ing to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent first to go and 

 see for myself, and defer prosecuting the scheme till I returned to 

 England. 



During Mr. "Whiteneld's absence from Georgia, and 

 while he was preaching his " charity-sermon " in En- 

 gland, Mr. James Habersham, whom he had left as su- 

 perintendent at Savannah, had selected for the Orphan 

 House a tract of land of five hundred acres, granted by 

 the trustees, about ten miles from the town, and had 

 already begun to clear and stock it. Accordingly, the 

 25th of March was appointed for laying the foundation 

 of the building, to be called Bethesda House of Mercy. 

 "We went to Bethesda, and with full assurance of 

 faith laid the first brick of the great house. The work- 

 men attended with me, kneeled down and prayed. 

 After we had sung a hymn suitable to the occasion, I 

 gave a word of exhortation to the laborers, and bade 

 them remember to work heartily, knowing that they 

 worked for God." The building was sixty by forty 

 feet, with foundation and chimneys of brick, the rest 

 of the superstructure of wood. A colonnade sur- 

 rounded it, which made a pleasant retreat in summer. 

 The hall and all the apartments were very commodi- 

 ous, and handsomely furnished. On the ground-floor 

 the entrance-hall was a chapel ; on the left was a libra- 

 ry, and behind it the orphans' dining-room; on the 

 right, Mr. "Whiteneld's two parlors, with the staircase 

 between them. On the second and third floors were 

 Mr. "Whiteneld's chamber, the manager's room, two 

 bed-chambers for the boys, the same number for the 

 girls, and five other chambers for general use. In 



