. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion,
it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could
not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in
different families of every street.

And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to
its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner
propos'd, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but
sufficient sums were soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the
building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the
size of Westminster Hall; and the work was carried on with such spirit
as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been expected.
Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use of
any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say
something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building not
being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in
general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a
missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his
service.

Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way thro' the
colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been
begun, but, instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen,
accustomed to labor, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it was
with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors, many
of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being set
down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and unable to endure
the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving many
helpless children unprovided for. The sight of their miserable
situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea
of building an Orphan House there, in which they might be supported and
educated. Returning northward, he preach'd up this charity, and made
large collections, for his eloquence had a wonderful power over the
hearts and purses of his hearers, of which I myself was an instance.

I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then destitute
of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from
Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have been better to
have built the house here, and brought the children to it. This I
advis'd; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel,