The first distant view of them was rather disappointing; but a closer inspection revealed their magnitude and grandeur to the full. "The waters for which the Niagara (a name signifying Thunder of Waters) forms an outlet cover an area of 150,000 square miles, floods so grand and inexhaustible as to be totally unaffected by the loss of the hundreds of : millions of tons which they pour every hour through succeeding centuries over rugged, perpendicular cliffs into the depths beneath."
After driving to a bridge just above the American Falls, we made a partial circuit of Goat Island on foot, halting at all the chief points of interest. A staircase on the right led first to Luna Island, where, standing by a railing close to the edge of the precipice, we beheld the vast, swift, overwhelming waters of the American Falls, 169 feet high, immediately beside us, rushing in a tremendous torrent right over the brink, down into the fearful gulf below. "This, we thought, surpasses everything; surely this must be the grandest Cataract in the world." But it was not; for a few more steps brought us full upon the great Horse Shoe Fall, on the Canadian side of the river, a mighty Cataract 150 feet high, and 1,900 feet in breadth, where with overwhelming velocity and force, "1,500 millions of cubic feet of water" (according to Professor Lyell) rush every hour over the ledge of rocks, forming a huge, boiling cauldron at the bottom of the cliffs. And then the "Rapids!" those wondrous Rapids—which some think equal to the great Cataracts themselves—especially attracted our attention. Just above the Falls, the bed of the Niagara descends about 51 feet in three-quarters of a mile, and there, over rough ridges of rock, great masses of stone and large boulders, its waters surge and foam, in ten thousand fantastic shapes, and in the wildest turmoil, as though frantically eager to rush over the precipices into the abyss below. After seeing the "Rapids" we crossed the river by the new Suspension Bridge, and returned to the Clifton Hotel.
The next afternoon, at half-past 2, we left for New York, travelled in a Pullman's sleeping-car all night, and at 7 on the morning of Sept. 8th reached our destination, after a journey of 446 miles. From the terminus a carriage conveyed us to Brooklyn, "the City of Churches," about seven miles distant, where—at the Pierpoint House—we remained for six weeks. On Sunday morning, Sept. 9th, at Dr. Talmage's Tabernacle (said to be the largest church in the United States), in the absence of Dr. Talmage, Mr. Müller was most affectionately introduced to the audience by Professor Thwing, who in the course of a short speech from the platform, paused for a few moments, and shaking hands with him before the assembled multitude welcomed him to the United States. Mr. Müller then addressed the congregation, and preached for three-quarters of an hour with much help from the Lord. In the evening he spoke again at the Tabernacle, and after the meeting, amongst the numbers who pressed forward to greet us was a sister in Christ, one of the former Orphans from Ashley Down, who has been married for many years.
During our visit to Brooklyn, Mr. Müller held a great number of meetings. On Sept. 12th he spoke at the Fulton Street prayer meeting, New York, and besides his regular preaching, visited Orphan and other Institutions, ministered amongst the Germans (of whom there are about ten millions throughout the United States), and continued actively engaged in the Lord's service until Sept. 20th, when we went by river steamer up the Hudson, to the city of Hudson, and attended a Convention, where be gave three addresses. On the 22nd we returned to Brooklyn, and on the following morning and evening he preached at Plymouth Church. On the 24th he spoke again at the Fulton Street prayer meeting, preached in German at Newark on the 25th, addressed the German students of the Theological Seminary at Bloomfield on the 26th, attended meetings for pastors, whom he addressed, visited a Hom[oe]opathic Institution, preached at Williamsburg, East Brooklyn, on Oct. 7th, and continued day after day to labour uninterruptedly, until Oct. 20th, when we went to Boston, after he had spoken in public at Brooklyn and the other places above mentioned 50 times.
At Boston Mr. Müller began his work by speaking on Sunday morning, Oct. 21st, at Mr. Moody's Tabernacle—a large building which holds 7,000, but where on this occasion, as rain fell heavily, the congregation was comparatively small—and in the evening he preached at Park Street Church. On Oct. 22nd he held a meeting at Berkeley Street Church, and the next morning was called upon by an inquirer, a young man under deep conviction of sin, who, having experienced an overwhelming consciousness of his lost condition by nature, during the sermon of the previous evening, was so affected that he could scarcely speak for weeping. During our stay at Boston my husband held meetings also at Dr. Cullis's Chapel; addressed the 350 young ladies at Wellesley College, 15 miles from Boston; preached at the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, at Warren Avenue Baptist Church, at Charlestown; spoke at Dr. Cullis's Faith College; addressed 500 school teachers at Cambridge; preached at Dudley Baptist Church, at Boston Highlands, at Clarendon Street Church; visited Dr. Cullis's Institution for Consumptive patients, whom he addressed, when Dr. C. remarked, "But for your example, all this would never have been in existence"—and continued his labours until Nov. 3rd, on which day we went to Newburyport.
There, on the morning of the 4th, at the Old Presbyterian Church—founded by George Whitefield, and where he ministered—Mr. Müller spoke from Isaiah liii. 5, 6, and read out of the Bible which belonged to that eminent servant of Christ, a circumstance noted with interest by the hearers, as this Bible is not generally used. He occupied a pulpit also which stands just above the spot where the remains of Whitefield lie interred. In one corner of the Church a handsome monument has been erected to his memory, and the vault is shown in which his coffin rests; but when the lid was removed, the skull and a few bones only could be seen of the celebrated man, whose voice once reached the ears of tens of thousands, and whose eloquent appeals, in years gone by, made careless, unconverted sinners tremble. The following inscription is upon the monument:—"This Cenotaph is erected with affectionate veneration to the memory of the Rev. George Whitefield, born at Gloucester, England, Dec. 16th, 1714, educated at Oxford University, ordained 1736. In a ministry of 34 years, he crossed the Atlantic 13 times, and preached more than 18,000 sermons. As a soldier of the cross, humble, devout, ardent, he put on the whole armour of God, preferring the honour of Christ to his own interest, repose, reputation, or life. As a Christian orator, his deep piety, disinterested zeal, and vivid imagination, gave unexampled energy to his look, action, and utterance. Bold, fervent, pungent, and popular in his eloquence, no other uninspired man ever preached to so large assemblies, or enforced the simple truths of the gospel by motives so persuasive and awful, and with an influence so powerful on the hearts of his hearers. He died of asthma Sept. 30th, 1770; solemnly exchanging a life of unparalleled labours for his eternal rest."
In a "Memoir of his Life and Labours," published in the United States, his biographer remarks that—"His out-of-door audiences consisted of twenty, thirty, and forty thousand at a time, whose singing could be heard two miles off, and Whitefield's own voice also could be heard at a distance of a mile from where he stood. When exhorting Howell Harris about his people in a letter, Whitefield wrote—"Show them in the map of the Word, the kingdoms of the upper world, and the transcendent glories of them; and assure them that all shall be theirs, if they believe on Jesus Christ with their whole hearts. Press them to believe on Him immediately. Intersperse prayers with your exhortations, and thereby call down fire from heaven, even the fire of the Holy Ghost. Speak every time, my dear brother, as though it were your last; weep out, if possible, every argument; and, as it were, compel them to cry—"Behold how He loveth us!" The author of this Memoir further says—"Present duty was the only thing that ever pressed hard upon him; past bitternesses he quickly forgot; future troubles he left with God. He lived one day at a time and lived it thoroughly; exhorting every one around, to follow his Lord and Master."
On the afternoon of Nov. 4th, Mr. Müller preached again at Whitefield's Church. During our stay at Newburyport, he held three other meetings, and on the evening of the 7th at the Baptist Church he gave a farewell address. On the 8th we went to Amherst, where there is a College containing 350 students, to whom and to other hearers from the town, my husband spoke for an hour on the evening of that day. During our stay, at the house of President Seelye, Principal of the Institution, the following interesting account of a former College student (a Japanese) was related to us. Whilst in his native country, many years ago, this young man, becoming dissatisfied with his gods of wood and stone, happened one day to meet with a Primer for children, written by a missionary in the Japanese tongue,