A Sermon Preached on the Anniversary of the Boston Female Asylum for Destitute Orphans, September 25, 1835

A rare voice from 1835 Boston, this sermon delivers a passionate appeal for one of the city's earliest charitable institutions: the Boston Female Asylum for Destitute Orphans. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, an influential Episcopal clergyman, mounts the pulpit on September 25th to implore his congregation toward "bountiful" giving, grounding his appeal in scripture and the spiritual rewards of compassionate action. The sermon reveals a world where religious duty and social welfare intertwine absolutely, where caring for orphaned children is not mere philanthropy but sacred obligation. Beyond its immediate charitable purpose, the text offers an extraordinary window into antebellum Boston: its institutions, its moral calculus, and the language through which 19th-century Americans understood poverty and help. This is history heard firsthand, the voice of a generation that believed salvation and society were bound together.