To Dr. Henry W. Bellows, of New York, the acknowledged Unitarian leader, was entrusted the selection of the one to fill the vacant pulpit.  He knew the available men and did not hesitate.  He notified Horatio Stebbins, of Portland, Maine, that he was called by the great disaster to give up the parish he loved and was satisfied to serve and take the post of the fallen leader on the distant shore.

Dr. Bellows at once came to San Francisco to comfort the bereaved church and to prepare the way for Mr. Stebbins, who in the meantime went to New York to minister to Dr. Bellows’ people in his absence.

It was during the brief and brilliant ministry of Dr. Bellows that good fortune brought me to San Francisco.

Dr. Bellows was a most attractive preacher, persuasive and eloquent.  His word and his manner were so far in advance of anything to which I was accustomed that they came as a revelation of power and beauty.  I was entranced, and a new world of thought and feeling opened before me.  Life itself took on a new meaning, and I realized the privilege offered in such a church home.  I joined without delay, and my connection has been uninterrupted from that day to this.  For over fifty-seven years I have missed few opportunities to profit by its services.  I speak of it not in any spirit of boasting, but in profound gratitude.  Physical disability and absence from the city have both been rare.  In the absence of reasons I have never felt like offering excuses.

Early in September, Horatio Stebbins and family arrived from New York, and Dr. Bellows returned to his own church.  The installation of the successor of Starr King was an impressive event.  The church building that had been erected by and for King was a beautiful and commodious building, but it would not hold all the people that sought to attend the installation of the daring man who came to take up the great work laid down by the preacher-patriot.  He was well received, and a feeling of relief was manifest.  The church was still in strong hands and the traditions would be maintained.

On September 9th Dr. Stebbins stood modestly but resolutely in the pulpit so sanctified by the memory of King.  Few men have faced sharper trials and met them with more serenity and apparent lack of consciousness.  It was not because of self-confidence or of failure to recognize what was before him.  He knew very well what was implied in following such a man as Starr King, but he was so little concerned with anything so comparatively unimportant as self-interest or so unessential as personal success that he was unruffled and calm.  He indulged in no illusion of filling Mr. King’s place.  He stood on his own feet to make his own place, and to do his own work in his own way, with such results as came, and he was undisturbed.