hall, together with
the six other spacious rooms in the two upper stories, for schools,
benevolent societies, &c., so as to pay the interest on our debt, if no
more; but so far, we have not been able to do this. My own trials, with
my family, have greatly retarded my efforts in this matter. We have had
the largest and best week-day school for colored children in the city--a
part of the time with three teachers and over one hundred scholars--but
for four years, no rent has been received from the school. The prices
for tuition have been so low, that they have hardly sustained the
teachers; but we trust that our people have derived much benefit from
them already, and hope they may receive much more good from them in the
future. Since the dedication of our Chapel, our Church has more than
doubled its membership, and the congregation has increased four-fold;
while on our baptizing occasions the hall is generally full. We have
always held three meetings for worship every Sunday, to accommodate many
servants, who have no command of their time, and also regular Wednesday
and Friday evening prayer and conference meetings. Our Sunday school has
always had two sessions a day--an hour and a half in the morning, and an
hour in the afternoon.

I have been necessarily much hindered in my own labors, from pecuniary
embarrassments, arising from the sale of my children, who were left in
Virginia--two daughters and three sons. The first of these, who was
about to be sold, and taken away South, was my oldest daughter; and it
was with great difficulty and the help of friends that I raised eight
hundred and fifty dollars, and got her on to Baltimore. But I was soon
called upon to make a similar effort to save my eldest son from being
sold far from me. Entirely unexpected, I received the painful news that
my boy was in one of the trader's jails in Richmond, and for sale. The
dealer knew me, and was disposed to let me have him, if I could get any
one to purchase him. I was, of course, deeply anxious to help my boy;
but I began to think that I had already drawn so heavily on the
liberality of all my friends, that to appeal to them again seemed out of
the question. I immediately wrote to the owners of my son, and received
an answer--that his price was fixed at seven hundred dollars.

The fact is, God had already done so much more for me and my family than
we had ever expected, that we could not tell what further help He might
give us, until we