Part 18 (1/2)
In the Thirty-fourth Annual Report of the society for 1840, we find the following record of G.o.d's goodness:
”On no former occasion has the board of direction been privileged to make to the friends and patrons of this inst.i.tution a more favorable report than the present. The orphan's home is completed, and the beautiful building on the banks of the Hudson is alike an ornament to the city and a memorial of the liberality of its inhabitants.
Within it are found, not only ample accommodations for a numerous family, but a place for the Lord, a habitation for the orphans' G.o.d.
On the 19th of November last the chapel was opened for religious wors.h.i.+p; the services were performed by reverend clergy of different denominations; and a highly respectable and apparently gratified audience attended. All the children, one hundred and sixty-five in number, were present, from the infant in arms to the youth who will this day p.r.o.nounce the valedictory.
”To those who have witnessed the progress of this inst.i.tution from the _small frame-house_ of 1806 to the n.o.ble edifice of 1840, accompanied by the recollection that the door has never been closed against the dest.i.tute orphan, how deep must be the conviction of an overruling Providence--the truth of the declaration, that G.o.d is the father of the fatherless in his holy habitation, and the fulfilment of his gracious promise, 'Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive.' Nor is the orphan family merely furnished with sufficient accommodation for dwelling and moral and religious education: the grounds afford ample room for exercise and recreation; the garden supplies them with fruit and vegetables; and there being pasture for several cows, wholesome milk is added to their simple breakfast, while the abounding river invigorates the frame by a saline bath, and by casting a net into it, furnishes an occasional dinner of fresh fish.”
The society, ever grateful to the founders, have erected a tablet on the wall of the beautiful chapel, which bears the following inscription:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
ISABELLA GRAHAM, WHO DIED 27TH JULY, 1814;
AND OF
MRS. SARAH HOFFMAN, WHO DIED 29TH JULY, 1821.
THEY WERE BOTH FOUNDERS OF THIS INSt.i.tUTION.
TO THEIR PRAYER OF FAITH, AND WISDOM IN DIRECTING ITS COUNSELS, THE SOCIETY IS INDEBTED FOR MUCH OF THE SUCCESS THAT HAS ATTENDED IT.
THEY WERE LOVELY IN THEIR LIVES, AND DURING MANY YEARS THEY TRAVELLED TOGETHER THE WALKS OF CHARITY.
WHEN THE EAR HEARD THEM IT BLESSED THEM, AND THEY CAUSED THE WIDOW'S HEART TO SING FOR JOY.
THEY NOW REST FROM THEIR LABORS,
PARTAKERS OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO DIE IN THE LORD:
THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM.
The success which has attended the Orphan Asylum Society, furnishes strong encouragement to attempt great and good objects even with slender means. G.o.d in his providence will command a blessing on exertions of this character. It is too common a mistake, and one fatal to the progress of improvement, that great means should be in actual possession before great objects should be attempted. Ah, were our dependence simply on apparent instruments, how small must be our hopes of success. There is a mystery, yet a certainty, in the manner by which G.o.d is pleased in his providence to conduct feeble means to a happy conclusion. Has he not preserved, cherished, and blessed his church through many ages, amidst overwhelming persecutions, and that often by means apparently inadequate to this end? We must work for, as well as pray for the blessing which G.o.d has promised to bestow on our sinful race. We must put our shoulder to the wheel, while we look up to heaven for a.s.sistance, and G.o.d will bless those who are found in the path of duty.
In this asylum, the ladies have set no limits to the number to be received; and it has pleased G.o.d also not to set limits to the means necessary for their support. The inst.i.tution is a great favorite with the public, and is frequently visited by strangers, who are delighted with the cleanliness, health, and cheerful countenances of the orphans.
The Society have received a charter of incorporation from the legislature; they have a handsome seal, with this inscription: ”Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me.”
For several years it was customary with Mrs. Graham to visit the New York hospital; and before the admirable provision since made for the separate care of those mentally deranged, she paid a particular attention to patients of this description.
To the apartments appropriated to sick female convicts in the state prison, she also made many visits; she met with some affecting circ.u.mstances among this cla.s.s.
In the winter of 1807-8, when the suspension of commerce by the embargo rendered the situation of the poor more dest.i.tute than ever, Mrs. Graham adopted a plan best calculated in her view to detect the idle applicant for charity, and at the same time to furnish employment for the more worthy among the female poor. She purchased flax, and lent wheels where applicants had none. Such as were industrious, took the work with thankfulness and were paid for it; those who were beggars by profession never kept their word by returning for the flax or the wheel. The flax thus spun was afterwards wove, bleached, and made into table-cloths and towels for family use.
Mrs. Graham used to remark, that until some inst.i.tution should be formed to furnish employment for industrious poor women, the work of charity would be incomplete. It was about this time that, deeming the duties too laborious for her health, she resigned the office of first directress of the Widows' Society, and took the place of a manager.
She afterwards declined this also, and became a trustee of the Orphan Asylum Society, as more suited to her advanced period of life.