SIR JOSEPH PAXTON died on Thursday morn- | ished. The fairy structure was erected, and, ing, at eight o'clock. The deceased gentle- as all the world well remembers, the greatest man was born at Milton Bryant in 1803. Early triumph of the Great Exhibition was loudly in life he acquired considerable celebrity as a proclaimed to be the building. So strongly was landscape gardener. In 1851 he was knighted this felt at the time that a vigorous effort was for his services in connection with the Great Ex- made to retain it permanently where it stood, hibition. He has represented Coventry since and in this Paxton, now Sir Joseph Paxton, 1854. Though humbly born, he was still a strenuously joined. But the effort failed. The young man, and in the employ of the Royal House of Commons would have the l'ark reHorticultural Society, when he attracted the at- stored to its previous state, and there can be no tention of the late Duke of Devonshire; and it doubt now that the House decided wisely. is a striking example of the opportunities which While at Kensington the Commissioners of men of high rank possess of winning reputation 1851 and the Horticutural Society are strugthat the house of Cavendish should have had a gling with the almost hopeless difficulties of a sensible addition made to its lustre by the judi- garden no longer suburban and closely hemmed cious selection of a gardener. Under the skill in on every side with chimneys, the old Crystal of Paxton the wild Derbyshire region in which Palace, removed to the first slope of the Surrey Chatsworth stands became the wonderful place hills, and reconstructed there amidst terraces which drew visitors from far and near, and set and fountains and a landscape of surpassing the example of that princely development of beauty and extent, is a thing by itself in the grounds and pleasances which now marks the whole world. It has cost a million and a half country homes of the great English families. of money, but bit by bit its self-supporting charIts fountains and Italian terraces; its rich woods acter becomes more firmly established. The laid out with such marvellous care; its hot-hous-railways are every day making it more and more es, where the Victoria Regia was first compel- accessible to the huge population of London. led to blossom; and the great conservatory, which Music is getting reconciled to a glass and iron was the precursor of the Crystal Palaces in Hyde home there, and all this has been done with the Park and at Sydenham-all are now become money of the people, for their own instruction familiar objects of admiration. But while Chats- and recreation, mainly by Paxton. He had worth attracted the loftiest personages as visi- many fellow-workers, and he was not the man tors, its grounds were still left freely open to the to deny any of them their share, but he was the dense manufaturing populations close at hand, foremost among them, and we best show our and Paxton used always to dwell proudly upon estimate of his performance when we take forthis trait in the character of " my Duke," as he eigners there to see and wonder. This was called him, who was willing to share with the Paxton's "magnum opus," and will now be his humblest of his countrymen his own passion for monument. He built several great country flowers. When the scheme of the first Great houses; he was a director of the Midland Railway, Exhibition threatened to fall through for want and engaged in other commercial and industrial of a suitable building, this was the man who undertakings. During the Crimean War he stepped forward to solve the difficulty. The ar- organized a Navvy Corps, which did excellent chitects and the engineers had brought matters service in road-making and other works for the to a dead lock, and a great national fiasco, the army. He was also a Member of Parliament, most humiliating thing that could happen to a having represented Coventry, as a Liberal, practical people like ours, seemed imminent. since 1854. Sir Joseph died on Thursday mornThen Paxton came with his simple but com- ing at eight o'clock, at his house, close to the prehensive design, and all difficulty vanished. Crystal Palace. He had been very ill there for The genial gardener was so clearly and unmis- some months past, but his end came suddenly takeably right in what he proposed, and he had at last. He was not more than sixty-two years so many backers in every direction, that, as if of age, and was a native of Bedfordshire. Prospero's wand had waved, opposition van

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-NO. 1116.-21 OCTOBER, 1865.

From the London Review.

of pounds could be obtained by holding

MR. MÜLLER AND THE ASHLEY DOWN out such an inducement, God continuing

66

ORPHANAGES.

to help me as he has done hitherto in this matter, it would not be held out." The MR. GEORGE MÜLLER is the founder of donors have so much confidence in Mr. the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Müller's determination, and are so little Home and Abroad," and the projector and desirous of any other applause than that of manager of the new orphanages on Ashley a good conscience, that one of his greatest Down, Bristol. How many of our readers troubles is that a large proportion of perhave heard of Mr. Müller before? How sons send their donations anonymously, and many were aware of the existence of a thus put it out of his power to acknowledge "Scriptural Knowledge Institution for the receipt, and send them a report. Thus Home and Abroad"? What, they will he cites approvingly the course pursued by ask, are the Orphanages at Ashley Down?" a kind anonymous donor in London or And yet there are millions of fly-sheets the neighbourhood, who has sent me huncirculated throughout the land which testify dreds of pounds within the last five or six of Mr. Müller and his operations. They years under the initials H. B.'" This are read by a section of the religious public, donor, whose name Mr. Müller does not which has its own organs and periodicals, know, each time enables him to send the its own esoteric faith, priests, and heroes, receipt and reports to a certain house of and which loves them the more that the business. people of the outward world know them

not.

A

It seems a perilous thing, according to merely human and mundane notions, to Talk of romances! here is a romance in collect nearly twelve hundred orphans bricks and mortar — a romance in flesh and together in a distant part of the country, blood, embodied in twelve hundred healthy, with no assured income for their support, happy children! Here is an orphan es- no funded property, no revenue from tablishment projected by a stranger and landed estates, no "rest," or reserve to foreigner, founded under no aristocratic or in- fall back upon. Yet Mr. Müller's Christian fluential private patronage, maintained with- friends at home and abroad feel all the out any of the usual charitable machinery, more strongly moved to contribute to the and extending its operations silently, yet maintenance of these poor children. almost miraculously. The Ashley Down bootmaker sends 1d. per pair on all the Orphan Institution has no annual dinner in boots and shoes he sells during the year. London or elsewhere- no royal duke in An aged widow sends £2. 16s. 6d. raised the chair- no brilliant list of stewards; it in the same way. A farmer send 1d. outhas no board of directors, no ladies' visiting of every 1s. received by the sale of eggs; committee, no canvassing for votes, no paid a d. for every pound of butter; and 3d. staff of secretaries and collectors at hand- for every couple of chickens. Bakers and some salaries, no advertisements in the flour-dealers send 1d. per sack of flour they London or provincial newspapers, with a bake or sell. A tradesman, hearing that proud array of donors or subscribers. Rich there are 990 orphans waiting for admission, people subscribe of their abundance: but lays by 1d. on every article sold in his oftener the donors are persons in humble outfitting department. He had intended circumstances. Rich or poor receive the waiting till the year was out and until same impartial treatment at the hands of he had taken stock; but the thought of Mr. Müller. In no one instance will he these 990 orphans haunts him, and he give the names of the subscribers. He cannot rest until he has sent them 14s. will hold out no inducement to those who 6d. on account. A poor man 66 gives a give out of ostentation and love publicity. little tree in his garden to the Lord," and I feel grateful for every donation, even the sends the proceeds-2s. 6d. to the orsmallest," he says; "but if tens of thousands phans. Another sells a few onions, and THIRD SERIES. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXXI. 1407.

remits the 2s. 6d. One person, keeping a
little shop, sends Mr. Müller all the silver
coins he takes which have a hole bored
through them! From Omagh, Ireland,
comes 1s. 5d. as "a month's produce of the
orphans' hen." A working man and his
wife, in Scotland, sends £1 10s. 6d., the
proceeds of a beehive, bought and set
apart for the benefit of the orphans. A
London dentist determines to appropriate
the sale of his tooth-powder to the orphans
and remits £3. 10s.; and from another
quarter come seven copies of the Record.
Ladies send their gold chains, rings,
necklaces, bracelets, brooches to be sold,
and the proceeds applied towards the in-
stitution. From Clevedon, 12 silver forks
and 12 silver dessert spoons came to hand.
A farmer in Oxfordshire, instead of in-
suring 310 acres against hail, at 6d. an
acre, sends the money-£7. 15s. to the
orphans. A baronet sends £7 saved in
the same way, and £20 besides. A gen-
tleman sends £3 instead of paying the
amount to an Accidental Death Insurance
Company. From Radstock comes 18s.,
from Hull £1 5s., and from Dublin £2. 7s.
6d., “instead of assuring furniture.” A
ship-owner, instead of assuring his vessels,
send the money thus saved. "£150 for
Missions, £50 for School, Bible, and Tract
Fund, £5 for Mr. C. (name not given),
and £5 for myself (Mr. Müller)." Anoth-
er ship-owner sends upwards of £300, with
a similar letter. A tradesman in Mon-
mouthshire sends 10s., "instead of other
wise insuring my plate-glass windows." A
poor man lays by 6d. a week, instead of
paying it to a sick fund, and sends £1
anonymously when his savings have reach-
ed that amount. "A thank-offering to
God for the gift of a first child" brings £10.
The "loving parents of a little girl on her
first birthday" send £5. T. H. T. sends
£1 as a thank-offering to God for having
passed a successful examination for M. R.
C. S." There are thank-offerings for a
bountiful harvest, for recovery from ill-
ness, for comforts in affliction, for reaching
a 90th birthday, and (from a young lady)
for escaping being marked by the small-
рох. Some of these thank-offerings point
to little domestic tragedies of bereavement.
One is "for light at evening time to a
loved one, who entered her rest on the
13th October, 1864." Another from Ar-
broath, is "a thank-offering to the Lord
for his goodness to an only child during
her life and in her death." It is added that
the bereaved parents purpose, as they are
now childless, to keep a purse for the

orphans.

Sometimes articles are sent which it must cost the sender a pang to part with. The widow of an officer who fell in the Crimean war, sends a half This coin was found in his sovereign. purse when he was killed. It was restored by faithful hands to his widow, and was treasured up by her. Yet she sends it to Mr. Müller, believing that it would be better spent for the Lord's work.

The articles of jewelry and trinkets sent are now and then so numerous that they at first suggest some remorseful razzia upon a jeweller's shop. As such an explanation is inadmissible, it would seem a family sometimes that the ladies of make a clean sweep of all their bijouterie for the orphans:

"March 17. Anonymously, to be acknowledged in the Report as received with the words, Tell Jesus,' a gold necklace, a topaz bracelet, a mosaic bracelet, a gold-stone bracelet, a hair ditto, a tortoise-shell ditto, a bogwood ditto, a gold brooch, a set of silver ornaments (containing 2 brooches, a pair of earrings, and 2 Indian silver brooches), a bogwood brooch, a gold-stone brooch, an Indian ditto with emeralds, a gold picture brooch, an amethyst brooch, a carbuncle drop, 2 pairs of pearl earrings, a pair of gold-stone ditto, a pair of turquoise and brilliants ditto, a pair of hair ditto, a pair of old Indian earrings with turquoises, an enamelled locket, a gold locket, 3 hair rings, a pearl ring, a heart-shaped stone ditto, a topaz ditto, a turquoise ditto, a diamond and emerald ditto, a mourning ditto set with small diamonds, a brooch with pendant, an enamelled brooch, a small gold chain, and 3 other little articles."

What can have been the history of this omnium gatherum?

"April 7, from Z. Z. a box, containing a brooch set with 27 small brilliants, a gold watch-hook set with 22 small brilliants, 2 other watch-hooks, a small gold cross set with 11 rubies, 5 gold mourning rings, 15 other gold rings, 3 gold watch-rings, 5 gold seals, 3 other seals, 9 gold lockets, 7 gold brooches, 9 other brooches, a gold chain, a pair of bracelets gold mounted, 45 silver coins, 3 copper coins, 5 medals, 2 silver pencil-cases, a gold watch, a metal watch, 2 gold breast-pins, a pair of gold clasps, another set with pearls, 3 shawl pins, 3 waist buckles, 2 pairs of spectacles, a silver fruit-knife, a hair necklace gold mounted, an amber necklace, an eye-glass, an ivory toothpick box, 3 other little boxes, a miniature knife, 2 pairs of links, 8 tassel rings, 2 bead bracelets, 2 horsehair chains, a bead necklace, a pair of steel clasps, a paper-knife with 2 penknives, a muff, 2 scarves, a pair of cuffs, a pair of Esquimaux boots, a pair of candlestick ornaments, 2 pictureframes, 2 pebbles, 3 mineral specimens, 2 little

boxes, a foreign case, a mother-of-pearl paperknife, a Chinese fan, 3 other fans, a pair of Chinese shoes, some muslin trimming, an Indian bag, a scent-box and bottles, 2 small miniatures, a spectacle-case, a set of boxes, 4 brass wedges, a box with seals, a box of pens and holder, a shawl, some blonde, 2 lace veils, and a quantity of black and white lace."

Here is another contribution of jewellery, which is satisfactorily accounted for. It is sent from Torquay by a Christian gentleman, advanced in years, who wrote that these trinkets had been accumulating in his family for several generations:

sets and pieces of artificial teeth set in gold to justify the conclusion that the dentists do not make a fair allowance for an old set when they make a new one. Everything is acceptable except the contribution of "W. H," who sent 7d. in coin (a fourpenny and threepenny piece) without registering the letter," which cost 8d. postage." The total amount which has come in during the past year by sale of articles is £912 17s. 64d., a considerable portion of which is for gold and silver articles and diamonds." The total sum which has come in by sale of articles since Mr. Müller began his labours very nearly touches £10,000.

66

While the poor give of their poverty, many rich men give no less liberally of their abundance. Mr. Müller, a year or two ago, determined, if possible, to build two new orphan houses on Ashley Down, so as to accommodate 2,000 orphans instead of 1,150. A Warwickshire gentleman, who had for nineteen months sent him month by month

"Twenty-four gold rings, four of them set with diamonds, 18 brooches, 1 ornament for the neck, 1 pair of clasps for the waist, 3 buckles, 1 signet-seal, with Hebrew motto, 1 seal with crest, not set, 5 studs, 1 small locket, 2 smellingbottles, 2 silver fruit-knives and another knife, 1 silver scent-case, 2 hair bracelets, 13 breastpins, 1 ivory box with hair in lid, 1 ivory brooch, 3 carved ivory boxes, and 1 silver pen-£28 8s. for the printing of tracts, and £28

cil-case."

"March 2. The following articles were sent from Scotland, and taken for missions: -6 silver dessert-forks, 6 silver tea-spoons, 8 silver egg-spoons, 7 silver salt-spoons, 7 gold seals, 1 seal with stone, not gold, 1 gold watch-chain, 3 gold finger-rings, 1 watch-ring, 2 watch-keys, 1 breast-pin, 1 case with shirt-studs, 1 spring yard-measure, 1 polished stone, 1 glass syringe in case, and 1 gold locket.

"March 4. Anonymously by post, in a registered letter, a gold chain, a gold bracelet, a gold ring, a gold thimble, a gold brooch, 3 gold studs, a silver clasp, and a silver brooch. "Oct. 4. Anonymously left at the lodge of the new orphan house (No. 1), 2 rings, 1 cil-case, 1 lava bracelet, 3 brooches, 1 scarf-pin, and a 6d. The paper enclosing the above contained the date, Madras, 7th April, 1862.'"

pen

An Indian officer sends a gold chain, an aged woman in Cumberland a gold watch and gold key. There are gifts of so many

8s. for the support of 31 orphans for one month, now increased his donations by sending £100 additional every month. For twenty months did this liberal benefactor contribute at the rate of £1,900 a year towards the above objects. Altogether he must have sent Mr. Müller about £5,000. "T. H., Esq.," desiring to spend the property of his departed sister, Miss C. H., as she would approve of if still living, sends £1,000 to the Building Fund. In August, 1864, donations begin to come in from "A Servant of the Lord Jesus, who, constrained by the love of Christ, seeks to lay up treasure in heaven." The first amount is £50 for the orphans, &c. In October he (or she) sends £40 for the Building Fund and £40 for the orphans, &c. In November this donor remits £60; in December, £80; January, 1865, £80. In February this good steward receives a present of £150, and straightway sends Mr. Müller £148. In March the donor receives a second present of £150, and again remits £148. In April Mr. Müller receives £80 from the same source, and in May £70. In August, 1864, he receives £800 as part of the legacy of the late Mr. T. D. In May, 1865, he receives from A. B. C. £1,000, with this memorandum:-"I wish to send some aid, and would thank you to place the enclosed sum, £1,000, at interest, and draw out of it every January £100 for the orphans, and £20 for yourself, till it be gone." Last November Mr. Müller received " £5,000 for the Building Fund, from a donor who desires neither his name nor place where he resides to be

known." This is not the largest sum Mr. | break off his connection with the Society, Müller has received at once; for in a pre- but he has always exerted himself energeticvious year a donation of £8,100 reached ally for the conversion of the Hebrew peohim! The total income for the Building ple. Fund alone was during the year ending May, 1865, £11,033; so that, with a sum in hand of £19,321 in May, 1864, there was virtually a balance of £30,000 available for the intended New Orphan Houses. The land necessary for the site has been obtained at a cost of £5,500, and certain other sums have been expended; so that, on May 26, 1865, the amount actually in hand available for the new buildings was £24,635.