cation of your
church, was mislaid during his absence from the city, and was not
brought to his notice till to-day. He regrets that his
engagements will not admit of his attendance at the time you
mention. He congratulates your congregation upon the completion
of so handsome a place of worship, and hopes that its dedication
may prove an occasion of deep interest to all who share in a
desire to promote the spread of the Christian religion.

"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"HORACE PORTER, _Secretary_."

Rev. Henry Williams, of Petersburg, Va., who was announced to preach
the dedicatory sermon, selected the following words: "And he was
afraid, and said: How dreadful is this place! this is none other but
the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Prominent among those present, who had been invited by Rev. Mr.
Anderson, were His Excellency Governor H. D. Cooke, Hon. N. P.
Chipman, Delegate to Congress; A. L. Sturtevant, Esq., Chief of
Stationery Bureau, Treasury Department; Ed. Young, Esq., Chief of the
Bureau of Statistics; Hon. A. K. Browne, Col. Wm. A. Cook, Dr. A. T.
Augusta, and Wm. H. Thompson, Esq., of Philadelphia. While, seated
around the altar, were Rev. Leonard A. Grimes, of Boston; Rev. Samuel.
W Madden, of Alexandria, Va.; Rev. Geo. W. Goins, of Philadelphia;
Rev. Jas. A. Handy, Washington; and Rev. Wm. Troy, Richmond, Va. At
three o'clock, Rev. Leonard A. Grimes officiated and delivered an
eloquent sermon.

A work of grace followed the dedication of the church; and from month
to month souls were converted. On the 21st of January, 1873, he wrote
the following letter to a Baptist minister residing in Chicago:

"1921, I Street, WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 21, 1873.

"REV. R. DEBAPTIST:

"DEAR BROTHER: I write to inform you of a wonderful outpouring of
the Spirit of God in the 19th Street Baptist Church of which I am
pastor. Without any especial effort, up to the last few days,
there have been one to five converted every month, for the past
seven years, in the congregation. This led too many to think that
that was enough. At our watch-meeting I asked how many there were
who would come to the front pews and kneel before God as a token
to Christians to pray for them, and ten came. We had no other
meeting until my weekly lecture, the