After our return to San Francisco, on the evening of that day, my husband preached at the First Congregational Church, to a large assembly, with great help and earnestness. Amongst the congregation were some Chinese, who occupied front seats near the pulpit. On the afternoon of May 1st we visited China Town, situated in a part of San Francisco called Sacramento, which is thickly peopled with Chinese, where thousands of them live. The ground floors of many of their houses contain shops filled with curious and costly articles, manufactured by the natives of China and Japan; but most of the Chinese live down in places like cellars underneath their shops, where they dwell crowded together, smoking and eating quantities of opium. On the evening of that day, Mr. Müller preached at Broadway German Methodist Episcopal Church, when he addressed a large number of Germans in their own language; and the following evening held a meeting at a church in Howard Street. On May 3rd, we walked to the top of a hill not far distant, and from it looked down upon the Bay, and upon San Francisco.
"The first house ever built there was in the year 1835, which was the commencement of a village, afterwards called 'Yerba Buena,' or good herb, from a medicinal plant growing in great abundance in the vicinity. At the present time, great numbers of eucalyptus trees flourish in the neighbourhood; which, from their sanitary properties, are considered a great blessing to the people. In 1847 the name of the city was changed to San Francisco; in 1848 (the year that gold was first discovered in California), the population had grown to 1,000; and from this small beginning it steadily increased, until in 1870 it reached 149,482. Now, the city contains about 256,000 inhabitants, including 50,000 Chinese, and many thousands of negroes."
On the evening of that day, Mr. Müller preached at the Calvary Presbyterian Church, to about 1,200 people, when he spoke for nearly an hour and a half, with great power and earnestness. On Sunday, May 5th, he preached in the morning at the First Baptist Church, and in the evening at the Calvary Presbyterian, from Romans viii. 28-30, when the Church (a very large one) was crowded to the utmost, the body of the building and the galleries being so thronged, that numbers who could not gain admittance went away. His appeal to believers, and words of warning to the unconverted, were of a weighty, solemn character. Several gentlemen and ladies occupied seats upon the platform, and the steps leading up to it were filled with hearers. On the 6th, at 2 in the afternoon, he attended a meeting of pastors belonging to the city and the State (some of whom came a distance of 20, 30, and 50 miles in order to be present at the meeting), when he addressed about 150 of his brethren in the ministry for an hour and 20 minutes. In the evening at the Tabernacle, Tyler Street, he preached a farewell sermon. The congregation was large; numbers took leave of us as they left the building, and a beautiful bouquet of choice flowers was handed in as a parting gift by a gentleman who once lived in England.
On May 8th we left San Francisco and went to Oakland, where Mr. Müller preached in the evening at the First Baptist Church. On the 9th he addressed 1,000 people at the First Congregational Church, and on the 10th preached to about the same number at the First Methodist Church. On the 11th a gentleman took us in his carriage to visit the University of California, six miles distant, which stands upon high ground, commanding a distant view of the Bay, Government Island, Goat Island, etc.; but we could see only the exterior of the buildings, as they were closed to visitors on Saturdays. On our return we drove through Oakland, a name derived from the fine groves of "live oaks," in the midst of which the town was originally built. These trees are not ornamental only, but they serve to screen the place from the fierce gales that blow through the "Golden Gap" in summer, to the force of which Oakland is particularly exposed; for the climate of San Francisco and the neighbourhood has this peculiarity, that in summer the strongest and most trying winds prevail, though, at all times of the year, trade winds from the Pacific set in every morning at 11 o'clock, and last for about five hours. During our drive, the only discomfort was the dust, which, from the lack of rain in this country, soon becomes extremely troublesome; and the scorching heat of the sun would have been overpowering, if it had not been tempered by breezes from the Bay. On Sunday morning, May 12th, Mr. Müller preached at the First Methodist Episcopal Church, from 1st Chron. 4-10, to a large, attentive audience, and, when the service was over, Sheang Chack, a Chinese convert, who labours amongst his own countrymen, came to shake hands with us.
In the evening my husband preached at the First Presbyterian Church, a large building in the shape of an amphitheatre, where there was a "Union Service," all the principal churches having been closed, that their congregations might attend this meeting. He spoke for an hour from Lamentations iii. 22-26; but the crowd was so great that hundreds were unable to obtain admittance. After the service, a pastor said—"We have had a glorious meeting." On the afternoon of the 13th, Mr. Müller addressed the young ladies at Mills' Seminary, six miles from Oakland; in the evening he preached in German at the Methodist Episcopal Church; and on the following day attended a Sunday School State Convention at San Francisco, where he addressed many hundreds of Christian Workers for an hour and a quarter.
Early on the morning of May 15th we left by rail for Santa Cruz, in South California, on the Pacific coast, 120 miles from San Francisco; and after a tedious journey reached our destination at 4 o'clock. Rooms had been engaged for us at Pope's Cottage, a boarding-house in a lovely situation on a hill, about a mile from the sea shore; and in the evening at 8, Mr. Müller preached at the Methodist Episcopal Church, where we were heartily welcomed both by the pastor and the congregation. On the following evening, he held another meeting, also at the same church.
On the 17th we went by rail to Felton, seven miles from Santa Cruz, to see some of the "Big Trees," for which California is celebrated; and after crossing a rustic bridge and passing through a shady glen, reached a secluded spot, where the large trees became more immense than usual. Some of them are of gigantic growth, and shoot up their tall, straight trunks, like towering masts into the sky. The largest of these trees is 62 feet in circumference; its height was originally 371 feet, but the upper portion of the trunk having been blown off, its present height is only 296 feet. It is a kind of cedar, called the "red wood," belonging to the "Sequoia Gigantea" species; but in other parts of California, there are "Big Trees" considerably larger than the ones we saw. At Mariposa, for instance, the "Grizzly Giant" is 107 feet in circumference, 34 in diameter, and 400 high; and the first branch (nearly 200 feet from the ground) is 8 feet in diameter. In the evening, after our return, Mr. Müller preached at the Methodist Episcopal Church, for the third and last time at Santa Cruz, as, in consequence of other engagements, we were unable to prolong our stay.
On May 30th, at 9.30 a.m., we set off, viâ Pajaro, for San José (pronounced Yozée); and, after a journey by rail of 70 miles, arrived there in the afternoon at half-past 2. At the Auzierais Hotel, the following letter from a pastor at Oakland, was awaiting our arrival:—
"Oakland, May 15th, 1878.
"Dear Brother,—I have just returned from our prayer meeting, and it may be a source of gratitude and encouragement to you to know, that very many testimonies were given to the great benefit received from your ministrations here. In fact there is evidence on every hand, that the seed you have sown, has taken root in many hearts. The faith of God's children has been greatly strengthened, and principles of divine truth and Christian life have been received through your teaching, which will be of great good for many many years to come. I rejoice with hundreds of others here, that God has led you to these shores, to teach us the way of God more perfectly. May the Lord wonderfully sustain you and your good wife, in your labours from place to place. You will have the prayers of a host of brethren beloved, who will henceforth have a great interest in you personally, and a still deeper interest in the cause of our dear Lord which you are labouring to promote.—With much love and gratitude for your faithful services, I am