On the morning of Jan. 10th, at half past 9, we accompanied Mr. Shipley, of Cincinnati (by appointment), to the White House, to be introduced by him to the President and to Mrs. Hayes. They received us with much courtesy, and, after making some inquiries about our work in England, the former entered for half an hour into conversation with Mr. Müller. Mrs. Hayes afterwards conducted us through the White House, a large old mansion, and showed us the State apartments, with the various objects of interest which this residence contains.
On Jan. 11th Mr. Müller addressed about 1,000 Christian Workers, at the Lutheran Memorial Church, for an hour and 20 minutes; and on the 15th spoke to the coloured students at Howard University for an hour, where the work carried on is of a most important character. During the whole of our stay at Washington, his time was fully occupied, and he preached every evening, and sometimes twice a day, as long as we remained. On the 19th we visited the Capitol, which has a dome nearly 400 feet in height; from the top of which the river Potomac, Mount Vernon, Alexandria, Washington, and the whole neighbourhood could be seen, and afterwards walked through the Government Buildings, public offices, etc. On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 20th, Mr. Müller preached at the First Baptist Church, and in the afternoon at 4 o'clock gave a farewell address at the Lutheran Memorial Church to a very crowded audience.
On Jan. 21st we left for Salem, in Virginia, 239 miles from Washington, and on our way passed many of the places which were the scenes of deadly conflict between the Federals and Confederates during the civil war that raged in the United States many years ago. Near the line of railway Cemeteries were to be seen, filled with long rows of graves placed close together, and marked by white stones, where the corpses of those who were slain in battle lie interred. Alas! what an awful, melancholy war was _that_! After travelling for twelve hours, at 8 p.m. we arrived at Salem, a small secluded town, 1,450 feet above the level of the sea, situated in a beautiful valley amongst the Alleghany Mountains. On the following evening my husband preached at the Lutheran Church to a most crowded congregation, consisting of pastors, theological students, ladies, country people, negroes, children, the visitors from the Duval Hotel--where we were staying--its three proprietors, the servants (one woman only being left at home); and an elderly Welch minister from Merthyr Tydvil, for 30 years a resident in the United States, walked seven miles from the country to be present at the meeting. All who could possibly attend turned out to hear George Müller, of Bristol, England, who preached for upwards of an hour, and was listened to with the liveliest interest and attention. On the evening of the 23rd he held a second meeting at the Lutheran Church, and addressed a densely crowded congregation, when the appearance of the building plainly showed that it is not necessary to go to large cities in order to have vast audiences. Hundreds of young men were present, most of them students from Roanoke College and the Theological Seminary, many of whom were standing at the entrance closely packed together; whilst others sat upon the pulpit platform side by side. The gallery was thronged. At the back of it several young men were standing upon forms, with their heads near the ceiling, and upon the edge of the front seats in the gallery a few boys were perched, with their legs hanging over the pews, in a somewhat dangerous position. Mr. Müller spoke for an hour and 35 minutes, giving (by particular request) some account of his life and labours, and the meeting, which lasted two hours, was a very blessed one. The next morning he spoke at the Theological Seminary to the students, and in the evening preached for the third time at the Lutheran Church, his particular object being to address the young men from Roanoke College and the students of the Theological Seminary. The portion of Scripture from which he spoke was Eccles. xi. 9, 10, and chapter xii. 1.