He therefore gave up this expedient entirely, but caused a box to be fastened up in the parlour of the parsonage-house, and wrote over it, whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him— how dwelleth the love of God in him?' (1 John iii. 17.) and underneath, every one according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.' (2 Cor. ix. 17.) This box, which was destined for the reception of the casual gifts of those who visited Franké, was fixed up at the commencement of 1695; and not in vain. The passage (2 Cor. ix. 8,) had fallen in his way, a short time before this circumstance, and now occurred the incident related in his letter to Schadé. "This"-says he-" served to show me, how God is able to make us abound in every good work."

"After the poor's-box had been fixed up in my dwelling about a quarter of a-year"-relates Franké"a certain person put, at one time, four dollars and sixteen groschen1 into it. On taking this sum into my hand, I exclaimed with great liberty of faith:this is a considerable sum, with which something really good must be accomplished; I will commence a school with it for the poor. Without conferring, therefore, with flesh and blood, and acting under the impulse of faith, I made arrangement for the purchase of books to the amount of two dollars, and engaged a poor student to instruct the poor children for a couple of hours daily, promising to give him six groschen weekly for so doing, in the hope that

1 About fifteen shillings English.

God would meanwhile grant more; since in this manner a couple of dollars would be spent in eight weeks."

The poor children joyfully accepted the books, but of twenty-seven which were distributed amongst them, only four were brought back again; the rest were either sold or kept by the children, who did not return. But Franké did not suffer this to deter him; for with the remaining sixteen groschen he again purchased books, which the children were obliged to leave at the school after it was over.

Franké, who was ready to offer up whatever he had to the service of his neighbour, fixed upon the antechamber of his study, for the school-room of the poor children, who began regularly to receive instruction at Easter, 1695. In this school-room, he caused a second box to be fixed up, with the inscription, "for the expences of the instruction of the children, needful books, &c." and underneath, he that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the Lord; and that which he hath given, will he pay him again.' Prov. xix. 17.

At Whitsuntide, Franké was visited by some friends, who were much pleased at his efforts in behalf of the poor, to which they contributed a few dollars. Others also gave small donations, from time to time, to the school-box. Soon after Whitsuntide, when some of the towns-people saw how regularly the children of the poor received instruction, they became desirous of sending their children likewise to the same teacher, and offered to pay him weekly a groschen for each child; so that the teacher now received sixteen groschen weekly for a five-hours daily instruction. The number of his scholars that summer, amounted

to between fifty and sixty, of which the poor, besides gratuitous instruction, also received alms, twice or thrice a-week, to incite them to attend school the more willingly. Donations in money, and linen, for shirts for the poor children, began now to arrive from other places.

About Whitsuntide, of the same year, Franké laid also the first foundation for what was subsequently called the Royal School. The widow of a nobleman desired him to send her a domestic tutor for her own, and one of her friend's children. He found no one who was sufficiently far advanced in his studies, and therefore proposed to the parents, to send their children to Hallé, and that he would then provide for their education, by able teachers and guardians. The parents agreed to this plan; and a few months afterwards, an additional number of youths were sent, and thus originated the seminary above-mentioned, which, in 1709, consisted of an inspector, twenty-three teachers, and seventy-two scholars; and in 1711, by means of Franké's exertions, had a building appropriated exclusively to it.

In the summer of the same year 1695, Franké unexpectedly and unsolicitedly received a very considerable contribution, for a person of rank wrote to him with the offer of five hundred dollars, for the purpose of distribution amongst the poor, and especially amongst the indigent students. This money was shortly afterwards paid over to him. He then selected twenty poor students, whom he assisted with a weekly donation of four, eight, or twelve groschen;" and this," says he, was in reality the origin of the poor students' participating to the present hour, in the benefits of the Orphan-house :

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for from that time, the fountain of divine benevolence extended its beneficial streams also to the poor students, and has never ceased to flow. The Lord's name be praised! Besides the above-mentioned sum, Franké received the same summer, an additional contribution of a hundred dollars, for the poor in general, and twenty dollars for the charity school.

In the autumn there was no longer sufficient room in the parsonage for the increasing number of scholars; he therefore hired a school-room of one of his neighbours, and a second in the beginning of the winter. He then divided the scholars into two classes, and provided a separate teacher for the children of the townspeople, and another for the children of the poor. Each teacher gave four hours' instruction daily, and received a guilder weekly, besides lodging and firing gratis.

But Franké was soon made to see, that many a hopeful child was deprived, when out of school, of all the benefit he received in it. The idea therefore occurred to him in the autumn of 1695, to undertake the entire charge and education of a limited number of children" and this," says he, 66 was the first incitement I felt, and the first idea of the erection of an Orphan-house, even before I possessed the smallest funds for the purpose. On mentioning this plan to some of my friends, a pious individual felt induced to fund the sum of five hundred dollars for that purpose,-twenty-five dollars for the interest on which were to be paid over every Christmas, which has also been regularly received. On reflecting upon this instance of the divine bounty, I wished to seek out some poor orphan child, who might be supported by

the yearly interest. On this, four fatherless and motherless children, all of the same family, were brought to me. I ventured, in confidence upon God, to receive the whole four; but as one of them was taken by some other good people, only three were left; but a fourth soon appeared in the place of the one that had been taken. I took therefore these four; placed them with religious people, and gave them weekly half a dollar for the bringing up of each. On this, it happened to me, as is generally the case, that when we venture to give a groschen to the poor in faith, we feel afterwards no hesitation in venturing a dollar upon the same principle. For after having once begun in God's name, to receive a few poor orphans without any human prospect of certain assistance, (for the interest of the five hundred dollars was not sufficient to feed and clothe a single one,) I boldly left it to the Lord to make up for whatever might be deficient. Hence the Orphanhouse was by no means commenced and founded upon any certain sum in hand, or on the assurances of persons of rank to take upon themselves the cost and charges, or upon any thing of a similar nature, as was subsequently reported, and as some were inclined to suppose-but solely and simply in reliance on the living God in heaven.

"The day after I had undertaken the charge of the four orphans above-mentioned, two more were added; the next day, another; two days afterwards a fourth, and one more after the lapse of a week. So that on the 16th Nov. 1695, there were already nine, who were placed with pious people." He fixed upon George Henry Neubauer, a student of divinity, to have the oversight of their education and their