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WIT AND WISDOMSERIES
SPURGEON


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CH. Spurgeon


ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Rev. Chas. H. SPURGEON........ ..........FRONTISPIECE
The METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE.......... .......... 9
BirtuPLACE OF C. H. SPURGEON, KELVEDON, Essex.... 29
Cottage at TEVERSHAM, WHERE MR. SPURGEON FIRST
PREACHED.........
......... 47
New PARK-STREET CHAPEL, THE FIRST BUILDING IN
WHICH MR. SPURGEON PREACHED IN LONDON ...
SURREY Music Hall..
INTERIOR OF METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE.............. 95
MR. SPURGEON AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE..........
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE... ..............
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE
THE INFIRMARY
...........
..............171
TESTIMONIAL HOUSES.......
................178
PRESENT HOME OF PASTOR C. H. SPURGEON. ..........207
IOS
..........





The METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE....
.......
95
MONS..................
.......
II2
.
..
.....
..................................
119
KER.....................................
......
122
......................
.............
124
..
.. 18
..
............
141
.
....
..
..
...
.
.
.
..
An ANCIENT CHURCH ......
THE AUTHOR ......
His PREACHING AND SERMONS
His Books.....
The WORKER..
THE ALMSHOUSES..
THE PASTORAL SILVER WEDDING.
A STORY ABOUT DR. RIPPON ........
THE Pastors' COLLEGE ................
THE EVANGELISTS' AssociATION.....
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE CONFERENCE.
STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE ...
THE GIRLS' ORPHANAGE....
John B. GOUGH AT THE ORPHANAGE..
D. L. MOODY AND THE ORPHANS....
CONVERSION OF CHILDREN.
THE COLPORTAGE ASSOCIATION......
The Total ABSTINENCE SOCIETY ...........
THE TABERNACLE PRAYER-MEETING..
The Book FUND .........
THE PASTORS' Aid FUND. ....
THE INVALID...
SPURGEON AT HOME........
THE TWIN SONS.
The Co-PASTOR OF THE TABERNACLE CHURCH .......
THE SPURGEON FAMILY .
REST AND RECREATION ....
PLEASANTRIES AND OPINIONS.........
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY...............
The Down-GRADE CONTROVERSY........
.........................
100
........
200
.....
....
207
...................
....................
214
FAMILY ...........
....................
224


LIFE AND WORK.





Life and Work of Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.
N English school-boy when asked, “Who is
1 the Prime Minister of England?” answered,
“Mr. Spurgeon.” The child replied better than
he knew. Mr. Spurgeon is, not only England's,
but the world's greatest preacher since the days of
Paul.
“No one,” says a well-known writer, “has ever
preached to so large a congregation continuously in
one place. The lecturer goes from place to place,
and even the theatre manager must resort to new
actors, new scenes, new plays to draw the crowd;
but Mr. Spurgeon has been preaching the simple
gospel for over thirty years to a multitude of people
in London, the metropolis of the world. And the
traveler who visits London from any part of the
world goes to hear Spurgeon, who has very prop-


10
LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
erly been called “the Whitefield of the nineteenth
century.'” Besides being a great preacher, Mr. :
Spurgeon is remarkable as the author of many val-
uable works, and as the successful originator of a
number of successful Christian enterprises, such as
the. College and the Orphanage. He is distin-
guished as preacher, author, editor and philan-
thropist.


BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. 13
which he gave generally to the children wherever
he went, so that they gathered round him and
attached themselves to him with a firmness which
riper years did not shake. He was always happy
in the company of young people. He wore the
breeches, buckled shoes and silk stockings which
marked the rein of George III. For more than
half a century his life corresponded with his labors.”
"In the year 1856, Pastor C. H. Spurgeon
preached a sermon at Stambourne, on the occasion
of his grandfather's completing the fiftieth year of
his ministry. This was published under the title
of “The God of the Aged.” * * The old man
had especial delight in promoting the sale of the
sermons and other publications of his grandson,
seeking always to get an early supply of any new
productions. He was careful to supply the mem-
bers of his church annually with a copy of «Spur-
geon's Almanack,' which the writer, (Geo. J.
Stevenson) supplied him with several years before
his death.”
When the remarkable man was eighty-six, his
grandson, Charles, was on a preaching tour in
Essex, and a letter of entreaty was sent by the
patriarch urging the young divine to call upon him.
Arriving as early as eight in the morning, the aged
saint was on the look-out for whis boy."


14
LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
.
He died February 12, 1864, in the eighty-seventh
year of his age. His son John at Cranbrook,
Kent, and his grandson Charles, both preached
memorial sermons to their respective congrega-
tions.
John Spurgeon, the father of Charles, was born
at Stambourne in 1811. He was the second of ten
children. He was engaged in business at Colches-
ter; for sixteen years he preached on Sundays to a
small congregation of Independents at Tollesbury,
being occupied with business during the week. He
afterwards devoted his whole time to the ministry
at Cranbrook, London and Islington. “He
gathered a large congregation twice on the Sab-
bath, to whom his preaching was both acceptable
and beneficial.” In all his work Mrs. Spurgeon,
the mother of London's famous preacher, was a
true help-meet for him with energy, fidelity and
affectionate regard, doing her duty in her family
and in the church. Mr. George J. Stevenson, in
his faithful biography of Mr. Spurgeon, says :
“When, at some future period, the historian of the
Metropolitan Tabernacle, and of the Stockwell
Orphanage, is considering the primary causes of
those great enterprises, the care which Mrs. Spur-
geon bestowed upon the early training of her


BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.
15
o
family must be accounted as a valuable auxiliary
in preparing the way for such exemplary conduct.”
Rev. C. H. Spurgeon has one brother, James,
and six sisters, two of whom are married, one to a
minister of the gospel and the other to a solicitor.
They all had a good education bestowed upon them
by their self-denying parents.


16
LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
CHILDHOOD.
AT an early age, while yet an infant, he was sent
M to live with his grandfather, at Stambourne,
where he was welcomed as the first grandchild in
the family, and was then put under the care of his
maiden aunt, Ann Spurgeon, whom he ever loved as
a second mother. He was there for almost the
entire period of the first six years of his life. He
soon manifested a greater fondness for books than
for play, Robinson Crusoe and the Pilgrim's Pro-
gress being his special delight. Another book that
amused him many hours was a picture book. It
contained a portrait of Bonner, Bishop of London;
and when informed that Bishop Bonner persecuted
in his day many of the servants of God for their
religion, the effect upon his mind was never effaced.
He could neither read nor write then, but the picture
of the persecutor of God's people made him dislike
the man, whom he called, in derision, “Old Bon-
ner.” This early impression probably had much to
do in making Mr. Spurgeon the mighty champion
he is of religious liberty, and in giving him that
intense abhorrence he possesses of tyranny in every
form and under every name. The child surprised


· CHILDHOOD.
houses to shut out the light for which they were too
poor to pay.
“Let us enter by the front door. We step into
a spacious hall paved with brick. There is a great
fire-place, and over it a painting of David and the
Philistines, and giant Goliath. The hall floor was
of brick, and carefully sprinkled with fresh sand.
We see this in the country still, but not often in
the minister's house. In the hall stood the child's
rocking-horse. It was a gray horse, and could be
ridden astride or side-saddle. When I visited Stam-
bourne last year, a man claimed to have rocked
me upon it. I remember the horse, but not the
man; so sadly do we forget the better and remember
the baser. This was the only horse that I ever
enjoyed riding. Living animals are too eccentric
in their movements, and the law of gravitation
usually draws me from my seat upon them to a
lower level ; but this was a horse on which even a
member of Parliament might have retained his seat.
"Into this hall came certain of the more honored
supporters of the meeting to leave their cloaks, and
so forth, on wet Sundays. The horses and gigs
went down to the stables and sheds in the rear;
whips usually went into the pews, and a few of the
chọicer friends left their wraps and coats in the


CHILDHOOD
21
was treason to touch the treasures on the mantel-
piece, we took down the bottle and convinced our
youthful mind that the apple never passed through
its neck, and by means of an attempt to unscrew
the bottom, we became equally certain that the
apple did not enter from below. We held to the
notion that by some occult means the bottle had
been made in two pieces, and afterwards united in
so careful a manner that no trace of the joint
remained. We were hardly satisfied with the
theory, but as no philosopher was there to suggest
another hypothesis, we let the matter rest. One
day next summer we chanced to see upon á bough
another phial, the first cousin of our old friend,
within which was growing a little apple, which had
been passed through the neck of the bottle while
it was extremely small. “Nature well known, no
prodigies remain ;” the grand secret was out. We
did not cry “Eureka! Eureka!” but we might have
done so if we had then been versed in the Greek
tongue.
«. This discovery of our juvenile days shall serve
for an illustration at the present moment. Let us
get the apples into the bottle while they are little,
which, being translated, signifies let us bring the
young ones into the house of God in the hope that


22 LİFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
in after days they will love the place where His
Honor dwelleth, and then seek and find eternal life.
Sermons should not be so long and dull as to weary
the young folk, or else mischief will come of it;
but with interesting preaching to secure attention,
and loving teachers to press home the truth upon
the youthful heart, we shall not have to complain
of the next generation that they have forgotten
their resting-places.
“In this best parlor grandfather would usually
sit on Sunday mornings and prepare himself for
preaching. I was put into the room with him that
I might be quiet, and as a rule The Evangelical
Magazine was given me. This contained a por-
trait of a reverend divine, and one picture of a
mission-station. Grandfather often requested me
to be quiet, and always gave as a reason that I
had the magazine.' I did not at the time perceive
the full force of the argument to be derived from
that fact, but no doubt my venerable relative knew
more about the sedative effect of the magazine than
I did. I cannot support his opinion from personal
experience. Another means of stilling the child'
was much more effectual. I was warned that per-
haps grandpa would not be able to preach if I
distracted him; and then-ah! then what would
mo


CHILDHOOD.
happen if poor people did not learn the way to
heaven? This made me look at the portrait and
the missionary-station once more. Little did I
dream that some other child would one day see my
face in that wonderful evangelical portrait-gallery.
“On the left, nearly hidden by a shrub, is a very
important window, for it let light into the room
wherein were the oven, the mangle, &c.; best of
all, the kneading-trough. How often have I gone
to that kneading-trough, for it had a little shelf in
it, and there would be placed something for the
child !-a bit of pastry, which was called by me,
according to its size, a pig or a rabbit, which had
little ears and two currants for eyes, was carefully
placed in that sacred shrine, like the manna in the
ark. Dear grandmother, how much you labored
to spoil that child! Yet your memory is more
dear to him than that of wiser folks, who did not
spoil the child. Do you now look down upon your
petted grandson? Do you feel as if he would have
been better if you had been sour and hard? Not
a bit of it. Aunt Ann, who had a finger in it all,
is not a bit penitent, but would spoil the child'
again if she had a chance.
“There was a sitting-room at the back of the
house, where the family met for meals. In that


CHILDHOOỒ
25
"Our young readers in London and other large
towns have probably never seen a pair of snuffers,
much less the flint and steel with which a light
had to be painfully obtained by the help of a
tinder-box and brimstone match. What a job on a
cold, raw morning to strike and strike, and see the
sparks die out because the tinder was damp! We
are indeed living in an age of light when we com-
pare our incandescent gas-burners and electric
lights with the rush-lights of our childhood. And
yet the change is not all one way; for, if we have
more light, we have also more fog and smoke, at
least in London.
"A quaint old winding stair led to the upper
chambers. The last time I occupied the best bed
room the floor seemed to be anxious to go out of
the window, at least it inclined that way. There
seemed to be a chirping of birds very near my
pillow in the morning, and I discovered that swal-
lows had built outside the plaster, and sparrows had
found a hole that admitted them inside of it, that
they might lay their young. It is not always that
one can lie in bed and study ornithology. I confess
that I liked all this rural life, and the old chintz
bed-furniture, and the ancient and tottery mansion
altogether.


CHILDHOOD.
to me, with their margins and old-fashioned notes.
It is easy to tell a real Puritan, even by the shape
of the book and the look of the type ; and I con-
fess a prejudice against nearly all the new editions,
and a preference for the originals, even though
clothed in sheepskins and goatskins, or shut in the
hardest of boards. It made my eyes water to see
a number of these old books in the new manse. I
wonder whether some other boy will love them, and
love to revive that grand old divinity which will yet
be to England her balm and benison.
“Out of the darkened room I fetched those old
authors when I was yet a youth, and never was I
happier than when in their company. Out of the
present contempt, into which Puritanism has fallen,
many brave hearts and true will fetch it, by the
help of God, ere many years have passed. Those
who have daubed at the windows will yet be sur-
prised to see heaven's light beaming on the old
truth, and then breaking forth from it to their own
confusion.”
Mr. Spurgeon also tells the following story about
himself at that time. “When I was a very small
boy, I was staying at my grandfather's, where I had
aforetime spent my earliest days; and, as the manner
was, I read the scriptures at family prayers. Once


28
LIFE AND WORK ÒF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
upon a time, when reading the passage in the Book
of Revelation which mentions the bottomless pit, I
paused and said, "Granpa, what can this mean?'
His answer was kind but unsatisfactory: ‘Pooh,
pooh, child, go on. The child intended, however,
to have an explanation, and therefore selected the
same chapter morning after morning, Sunday
included, and always halted. at the same verse
to repeat the inquiry. At length thé venerable
patriarch capitulated at discretion, by saying,
"Well, dear, what is it that puzzles you?' Now
the child had often seen baskets with very frail
bottoms, which in the course of wear became
bottomless, and allowed the fruit placed therein to
fall upon the ground. Here then was the puzzle:
If the pit aforesaid had no bottom, where would all
the people fall who dropped out at its lower end?
A puzzle which rather startled the propriety of
family worship, and had to be laid aside for expla-
nation at a more convenient season. Questions of
this simple and natural character would frequently
break up into paragraphs the family bible-reading,
and had there not been a world of love and license
allowed to the inquisitive reader, he would soon
have been deposed from office.”


30
LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. HI, SPURGEON.
PROPHECY OF RICHARD KNILL.
"HERE was a prophecy concerning Mr. Spur-
geon made when he was a child ten years of
age that will be interesting to relate. It was very
remarkable. He was spending his vacation at Stam-
bourne with his grandfather. On that occasion the
Rev. Richard Knill came on Friday to remain over
the Sabbath, which was the anniversary of the Mis-
sionary Society. He came to grandfather Spur-
geon's house to remain and preach on Sunday. He
heard Charles read a chapter out of the scriptures at
worship, and commended him. He said, “I have
heard old ministers and young ones read well,
but I never heard a little boy read so correctly
before.” He invited the boy to walk with him
before breakfast in the garden, and early in the
morning a tap at the door called the child from his
bed. The conversation was about Jesus. They
both entered the great sugar-loaf arbor of yew
where they knelt in prayer, Mr. Knill praying
with his arms around the boy for the salvation of
his soul. Feeling a singular interest in the child
he called the family together before leaving and
taking Charles upon his knee, said:


PROPHECY OF RICHARD KNILL.
31
"I do not know how it is, but I feel à solemn
presentment that this child will preach the Gospel to
thousands, and God will bless him to many souls.
So sure am I of this, that when my little man
preaches in Rowland Hill's Chapel, as he will do
one day, I should like him to promise me that he
will give out the hymn commencing :
'God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.'”
Rowland Hill's was the largest church then in
- London belonging to the Dissenters.
This promise was made, and, says Mr. Spurgeon,
The prophetic declaration was fulfilled. When
I had the pleasure of preaching the Word of Life
in Surrey Chapel, (Rowland Hill's,) and also when
I preached in Mr. Hill's first pulpit at Wootton-
under-Edge, the hymn was sung in both places.
Did the words of Mr. Hill help to bring about their
own fulfillment? · I think so. I believed them,
and looked forward to the time when I should
preach the Word. I felt very powerfully that no
unconverted person might dare to enter the minis-
try. This made me the more intent on seeking
salvation, and more hopeful of it; and when by
grace I was enabled to cast myself on the Savior's
love, it was not long before my mouth began tº


JOIN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
321
A LOOKING-GLASS IS OF NO USE TO A
BLIND MAN.
He who will not see is much the same as if he
had no eyes; indeed, in some things, the man
without eyes has the advantage, for he is in the

SA
dark and knows it. A lantern is of no use to a bat,
and good teaching is lost on the man who will not
learn. Reason is folly with the unreasonable.
One man can lead a horse to the water, but a hun-
dred cannot make him drink: it is easy work to


322 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
tell a man the truth, but if he will not be convinced
your labor is lost. We pity the poor blind, we
cannot do so much as that for those who shut their
eyes against the light.
A man who is blind to his own faults is blind to
his own interests. He who thinks that he never
was a fool is a fool now. He who never owns that
he is wrong will never get right. He'll mend, as
the saying is, when he grows better, like sour beer
in summer. How can a man take the smuts off
his face, if he will not look in the glass, nor
believe that they are there when he is told of them?
Prejudice shuts up many eyes in total darkness.
The man knows already: he is positive and can
swear to it, and it's no use your arguing. He has
made up his mind, and it did not take him long, for
there's very little of it, but when he has said a thing
he sticks to it like cobbler's wax. He is wiser than
seven men that can render a reason. He is as
positive as if he had been on the other side the
curtain and looked into the back yard of the uni-
verse. He talks as if he carried all knowledge in
his waiscoat pocket, like a peppermint lozenge.
Those who like may try to teach him, but I don't
care to hold up a mirror to a mole.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
323
DON'T CUT OFF YOUR NOSE TO SPITE
YOUR FACE.
ANGER is a short madness. The less we do
when we go mad the better for everybody, and the
less we go mad the better for ourselves. He is far

gone who hurts himself to wreak his vengeance on
others. The old saying is, “Don't cut off your
head because it aches,” and another says, “Set
not your house on fire to spite the moon.” If
things go awry, it is a poor way of mending to


324
LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
make them worse, as the man did who took to
drinking because he could not marry the girl he
liked. He must be a fool who cuts off his nose to
spite his face, and yet this is what Dick did when
he had vexed his old master, and because he was
chid must needs give up his place, throw himself
out of work, and starve his wife and family. Jane
had been idle, and she knew it, but sooner than let
her mistress speak to her, she gave warning, and
lost as good a service as a maid could wish for.
Old Griggs was wrong, and could not deny it, and
yet because the parson's sermon fitted him rather
close, he took the sulks, and vowed he would never
hear the good man again. It was his own loss,
but he wouldn't listen to reason, but was as wilful
as a pig.
Do nothing when you are out of temper, and
then you will have the less to undo. Let a hasty
man's passion be a warning to you; if he scalds
you, take heed that you do not let your own pot
boil over. Many a man has given himself a box
on the ear in his blind rage, ay, and ended his
own life out of spite. He who cannot curb his
temper carries gunpowder in his bosom, and he is
neither safe for himself nor his neighbors. When
passion comes in at the door, what little sense there
is indoors flies out at the window.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
325
NEVER STOP THE PLOUGH TO CATCH
A MOUSE.
THERE's not much profit in this game. Think
of a man and a boy and four horses all standing
still for the sake of a mouse! What would old

friend Tusser say to that? I think he would
rhyme in this fashion:
A ploughman deserveth a cut of the whip
If for idle pretence he let the hours slip.
Heaps of people act like the man in our picture.
They have a great work in hand which wants all


326 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
their wits, and they leave it. to squabble over some
pretty nothing, not worth a fig, Old master Tom
would say to them,
No more tittle tattle, go on with your cattle.
He could not bear for a farmer to let his horses out
for carting even, because it took their work away
from the farm, and so I am sure he would be in a
great stew if he saw farmers wasting their time at
matches and hunts and the like. He says:
“Who slacketh his tillage a carter to be,
For groat got abroad, at home shall lose three;
For sure by.so doing he brings out of heart,
Both land for the corn and horse for the cart.”
The main chance must be minded, and the little
things must be borne with. Nobody would burn
his house down to kill the black beetles, and it
would never answer to kill the bullocks to feed the
cats. If our baker left off making bread for a
week while he cracked the cockroaches, what
should we all do for breakfast? If the butcher
sold no more meat till he had killed all the blow-
flies, we should be many a day without mutton.
If the water companies never gave the Londoners
a drink till they had fished every gudgeon out of
the Thames, how would the old ladies make their
tea? There's no use in stopping your fishing
because of the seaweed, nor your riding because
of the dust.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURÈS.
327
EVERY MAN SHOULD SWEEP BEFORE
HIS OWN DOOR.
He is a wise man who has wit enough for his
own affairs. It is a common thing for people to
mind Number One, but not so common to see

BE
AG
people mend it. When it comes to spending
money on labor or improvements, they think that
repairs should begin at Number 2, and Number 3,
and go on till all the houses up to Number 50 are
touched up before any hint should be given to


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PİCTURES.
329
YOU MAY BEND THE SAPLING, BUT
NOT THE TREE.
LADDER and pole and cord will be of no use to
straighten the bent tree; it should have been
looked after much earlier. Train trees when they

Nur
W
MAI
,
V
SV.
PODRUM
IENA!
V
are saplings, and young lads before the down
comes on their chins. If you want a bullfinch to
pipe, whistle to him while he is young; he will
scarcely catch the tune after he has learned the
wild bird's note. Begin early to teach, for children


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
331
“GREAT CRY AND LITTLE WOOL,” AS
THE MAN SAID WHO CLIPPED
THE SOW.
Now, is not this very like the world with its
notions of pleasure? There is noise enough:
laughter and shouting and boasting; but where is

IND
17
the comfort which can warm the heart and give
peace to the spirit? Generally there's plenty of
smoke and very little fire in what is called pleasure.
It promises a nag and gives an egg. Gayety is a


332 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON..
sort of flash in the pan, a fifth of November squib,
all fizz and bang and done for. The devil's meal
is all bran, and the world's wine turns to vinegar.
It is always making a great noise over nutshells.
Thousands have had to weep over their blunder in
looking for their heaven on earth; but they follow
each other like sheep through a gap, not a bit the
wiser for the experience of generations. It seems
that every man must have a clip at his own partic-
ular pig, and cannot be made to believe that like
all the rest it will yield him nothing but bristles.
Men are not all of one mind as to what is best for
them; they no more agree than the clocks in our
village, but they all hang together in following
after vanity, for to the core of their hearts they are
vain. One shears the publican's hog, which is so fond
of the swill-tub, and he reckons upon bringing
home a wonderful lot of wool; but everybody
knows that he who goes to the “Woolpack” for
wool will come home shorn: the “Blue Boar” is an
uncommonly ugly animal to shear, and so is the
“Red Lion.” Better shear off as fast as you can;
it will be sheer folly to stop. You may loaf about
the tap of the “Halfmoon” till you get the full moon
in your noddle, and need a keeper : it is the place
for men whose wits go wool-gathering, but wool
there is none.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
335
GREAT DRINKERS THINK THEMSELVES
GREAT MEN.
WONDERFUL men and white rats are not so
scarce as most people think. Fólks may talk as
they like about Mr. Gladstone, Lord Beaconsfield,

and that sharp gentleman Bismarck, but Jack, and
Tom, and Harry, and scores more that I know of,
could manage their business for them a fine sight
better; at least, they think so, and are quite ready
to try. Great men are as plentiful as mice in an


336 LIFE AND WORK OF REV.C. H. SPURGEON.
old wheat stack down our way. Every parish has
one or two wonderful men; indeed, most public-
houses could show one at least, and generally two;
and I have heard that on Saturday nights, when
our “Blue Dragon” is full, there may be seen as
many as twenty of the greatest men in all the world
in the tap-room, all making themselves greater by
the help of pots of beer. When the jug has been
filled and emptied a good many times, the blacksmith
feels he ought to be prime minister ; Styles, the
carter, sees the way to take off the taxes, and old
Hobbs, the rat-catcher, roars out,
“They're all a pack of fools,
And good-for-nothing tools;
If they'd only send for me,
You'd see how things would be."
If you have a fancy to listen to these great men when
they are talking you need not go into the bar, for you
can hear them outside the house; they generally
speak four or five at a time, and every one in a
Mitcham whisper, which is very like a shout.
What a fine flow of words they have! There's no
end to it, and it's a pity there was ever any begin-
ning, for there's generally a mix up of foul talk
with their politics, and this sets them all roaring
with laughter. A few evenings in such company
would poison the mind of the best lad in the parish.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
337
TWO DOGS FIGHT FOR A BONE, AND A
THIRD RUNS AWAY WITH IT.
We have heard of the two men who quarrelled
over an oyster, and called in a judge to settle the
question; he ate the oysters himself, and gave them

a shell each. This reminds me of the story of the
cow which two farmers could not agree about, and
so the lawyers stepped in and milked the cow for
them, and charged them for their trouble in drink-
ing the milk. Little is got by law, but much is


338 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
lost by it. A suit in law may last longer than any
suit a tailor can make you, and you may yourself
be worn out before it comes to an end. It is better
far to make matters up and keep out of court, for
if you are caught there you are caught in the bram-
bles, and won't get out without damage. John
Ploughman feels a cold sweat at the thought of
getting into the hands of lawyers. He does not
mind going to Jericho, but he dreads the gentlemen
on the road, for they seldom leave a feather upon
any goose which they pick up.
However, if men will fight they must not blame
the lawyers; if law were cheaper quarrelsome peo-
ple would have more of it, and quite as much
would be spent in the long run. Sometimes, how-
ever, we get dragged into court willy nilly, and
then one had need be wise as a serpert and harm-
less as a dove. Happy is he who finds an honest
lawyer, and does not try to be his own client. A
good lawyer always tries to keep people out of law;
but some clients are like moths with the candle,
they must and will burn themselves. He who is so
wise that he cannot be taught will have to pay for
his pride,


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
339
STICK TO IT AND DO IT.
SET a stout heart to a stiff hill, and the wagon
will get to the top of it. There's nothing so hard
but a harder thing will get through it; a strong job
can be managed by a strong resolution. Have at

it and have it. Stick to it and succeed. Till a
thing is done men wonder that you think it can be
done, and when you have done it they wonder it
was never done before.
In my picture the wagon is drawn by two horses;


JOHN PLOUGHLAN'S PİCTURES.
341
AN OLD FOX IS SHY OF A TRAP.
THE old fox knows the trap of old. You don't
catch him so easily as you would a cub. He looks
sharp at the sharp teeth, and seems to say,

WU
“Hollo, my old chap,
I spy out your trap.
To-day, will you fetch me?
Or wait till you catch me?"
The cat asked the mice to supper, but only the
young ones would come to the feast, and they never
went home again. “Will you walk into my parlor?”


342 LIFE AND WORK OF RÉV. C. II. SPURGEON.
said the spider to the fly, and the silly creature did
walk in, and was soon dead as a door-nail.
· What a many traps have been set for some of us.
Man-traps and woman-traps; traps to catch us by
the eye, by the ear, by the throat, and by the nose;
traps for the head and traps for the heart; day
traps, and night traps, and traps for any time you
like. The baits are of all sorts, alive and dead,
male and female, common and particular. We
had need be wiser than foxes, or we shall soon
hear the snap of the man-trap and feel its teeth. .
Beware of beginnings: he who does not take
the first wrong step will not take the second. Be-
ware of drops, for the fellows who drink take noth-
ing but a “drop of beer,” or “a drop too much.”
Drop your drop of grog. Beware of him who
says, “Is it not a little one?” Little sins are the
eggs of great sorrows. Beware of lips smeared
with honey: see how many flies are caught with
sweets. Beware of evil questions which raise
needless doubts, and make it hard for a man to
trust his Maker. Beware of a bad rich man who
is very liberal to you; he will buy you first and sell
you afterward. Beware of a dressy young woman,
without a mind or a heart; you may be in a net be-
fore you can say Jack Robinson.
“Pretty fools are no ways rare:
Wise men will of such beware."


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
343
A BLACK HEN LAYS A WHITE EGG.
. The egg is white enough, though the hen is
black as a coal. This is a very simple thing, but
it has pleased the simple mind of John Ploughman,
and made him cheer up when things have gone

un
hard with him. Out of evil comes good, through
the great goodness of God. From threatening
clouds we get refreshing showers; in dark mines
men find bright jewels, and so from our worst
troubles come our best blessings. The bitter cold


344 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
sweetens the ground, and the rough winds fasten
the roots of the old oaks. God sends us letters of
love in envelopes with black borders. Many a
time have I plucked sweet fruit from bramble
bushes, and taken lovely roses from among prickly
thorns. Trouble is to believing men and women
like the sweetbrier in our hedges, and where it
grows there is a delicious smell all around, if the
dew do but fall upon it from above.
Cheer up, mates, all will come right in the end.
The darkest night will turn to a fair morning in
due time. Only let us trust in God, and keep our
heads above the waves of fear. When our hearts
are right with God, everything is right. Let us
look for the silver which lines every cloud, and
when we do not see it let us believe that it is there.
We are all at school, and our great Teacher writes
many a bright lesson on the blackboard of affliction.
Scant fare teaches us to live on heavenly bread,
sickness bids us send off for the good Physician,
loss of friends makes Jesus more precious, and
even the sinking of our spirits brings us to live
more entirely upon God. All things are working
together for the good of those who love God, and
even death itself will bring them their highest gain..
Thus the black hen lays a white egg.


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
345
HE LOOKS ONE WAY AND PULLS
ANOTHER.
HE faces the shore, but he is pulling for the ship.
This is the way of those who row in boats, and also
of a great many who never trust themselves on the

1
water. The boatman is all right, but the hypocrite
is all wrong, whatever rites he may practice. I
cannot endure Mr. Facing-both-ways, yet he has
swarms of cousins.
It is ill to be a saint without and a devil within,


346 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
to be a servant of Christ before the world in order
to serve the ends of self and the devil, while in-
wardly the heart hates all good things. There are
good and bad of all classes, and hypocrites can be
found among ploughmen as well as among parsons.
It used to be so in the olden times, for I remember
an old verse which draws out just such a character.
The man says:
“I'll have a religion all of my own,
Whether Papist or Protestant shall not be known;
And if it proves troublesome I will have none.'
In our Lord's day many followed him, but it was
only for the loaves and fishes. They do say that
some in our parish don't go quite so straight as the
Jews did, for they go to the church for the loaves,
and then go over to the Baptist chapel for the
fishes. I don't want to judge, but I certainly do
know some who, if they do not care much for faith,
are always following after charity.
Better die than sell your soul to the highest
bidder. Better be shut up in the workhouse than
fatten upon hypocrisy. Whatever else we barter,
let us never try to turn a penny by religion, for
hypocrisy is the meanest vice a man can come to.


Joi'N PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
347
FOOLS SET STOOLS FOR WISE MEN TO
STUMBLE OVER.
This is what they call “a lark.” Fools set stools
for wise men to stumble over. To ask questions is
as easy as kissing your hand; to answer them is as

MW
MO
BULUN
IMA
hard as fattening a greyhound. Any fool can
throw a stone into a well, and the cleverest man in
the parish may never be able to get it up again.
Folly grows in all countries, and fools are all the
world over, as he said who shod the goose. Silly


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
349
A MAN IN A PASSION RIDES A HORSE
THAT RUNS AWAY WITH HIM.
WHEN passion has run away with a man, who
knows where it may carry him? Once let a rider
lose power over his horse, and he may go over

RESTAU
hedge and ditch, and end in a tumble into the stone-
quarry and a broken neck. No one can tell in cold
blood what he may do when he gets angry; there-
fore it is best to run no risks. Those who feel
their temper rising will be wise if they rise them.


350 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. 11. SPURGEON.
selves and walk off to the pump. Let them fill
their mouths with cold water, hold it there ten
minutes at least, and then go indoors, and keep
there until they feel as cool as a cucumber. If you
carry loose gunpowder in your pocket, you had
better not go where sparks are flying ; and if you
are bothered with an irritable nature you should
move off when folks begin teasing you. Better
kecp out of a quarrel than fight your way through it.
Nothing is improved by anger, unless it be the
arch of a cat's back. A man with his back up is
spoiling his figure. People look none the hand-
somer for being red in the face. It takes a great
deal out of a man to get into a towering rage; it is
almost as unhealthy as having a fit, and time has
been when inen have actually choked themselves
with passion, and died on the spot. Whatever
wrong I suffer it cannot do me half so much hurt
as being angry about it ; for passion shortens life
and poisons peace.
When once we give way to temper, temper will
claim a right of way, and come in easier every
time. He that will be in a pet for any little thing
will soon be out at elbows about nothing at all. A
thunder-storm curdles the milk, and so does a
passion sour the heart and spoil the character,


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES.
351
SCATTER AND INCREASE.
PEOPLE will not believe it, and yet it is true as
the gospel, that giving leads to thriving. John
Bunyan said :

VAD
VOM
“There was a man, and some did count him mad,
The more he gave away the more he had."
He had an old saying to back him, one which is as
old as the hills, and as good as gold :
“Give and spend
And God will send,"


356 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
man dares to look in it. What with waste in the
kitchen, waste at table and waste at the public-
house, fools and their money soon part to meet
no more. If the wife wastes too, there are two
holes in the barrel. Sometimes the woman dresses
in tawdry finery and gets in debt to the tally-man;
and it is still worse if she takes to the bottle. When
the goose drinks as deep as the gander, pots are
soon empty, and the cupboard is bare. Then they
talk about saving, like the man who locked the
stable door after his horse was stolen. They will
not save at the brim, but promise themselves and
the pigs that they will do wonders when they get
near the bottom. It is well to follow the good old
rule
“Spend so as ye may
Spend for many a day.”
He who eats all the loaf at breakfast may whistle
for his dinner and get a dish of empties. If we do
not save while we have it we certainly shall not
save after all is gone. There is no grace in waste.
Economy is a duty ; extravagance is a sin. The
old Book saith, “He that hasteth to be rich shall
not be innocent,” and, depend upon it, he that
hasteth to be poor is in much the same box.
Stretch your legs according to the length of your
blanket, and never spend all that you have :
“Put a little by ;
Things may go awry.”


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
357
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK;
OR,
PLAIN ADVICE FOR PLAIN PEOPLE.
TO THE IDLE.
It is no more use to give advice to the idle than
to pour water into a sieve; and as to improving
them, one might as well try to fatten a greyhound.
Yet, as the Old Book tells us to “ cast our bread
upon the waters,” we will cast a hard crust or two
upon these stagnant ponds; for there will be this
comfort about it, if lazy fellows grow no better, we
shall be none the worse for having warned them;
for when we sow good sense the basket gets none
the emptier. We have a stiff bit of soil to plough
when we chide with sluggards, and the crop will
be of the smallest; but if none but good land were
farmed, ploughmen would be out of work, so we'll
put the plough into the furrow. Idle men are
common enough, and grow without planting; but the
quantity of wit among seven acres of them would
never pay for raking; nothing is needed to prove


358 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
this but their name and their character; if they
were not fools they would not be idlers; and though
Solomon says, “The sluggard is wiser in his own
conceit than seven men that can render a reason,”
yet in the eyes of every one else his folly is as
plain as the sun in the sky. If I hit hard while
speaking to them, it is because I know they can
bear it; for if I had them down on the floor of the
old barn, I might thresh many a day before I could
get them out of the straw, and even the steam
thresher could not do it: it would kill them first;
for laziness is in some people's bones, and will show
itself in their idle flesh, do what you will with them.
ON RELIGIOUS GRUMBLERS.
When a man has a particularly empty head, he
generally sets up for a great judge, especially in
religion. None so wise as the man who knows
nothing. His ignorance is the mother of his impu-
dence and the nurse of his obstinacy; and though
he does not know B from a bull's foot, he settles
matters as if all wisdom were in his fingers' ends-
the Pope himself is not more infallible. Hear him
talk after he has been at meeting and heard a
sermon, and you will know how to pull a good man
to pieces, if you never knew before. He sees


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
359
faults where there are none, and if there be a few
things amiss, he makes every mouse into an elephant.
Although you might put all his wit into an egg-shell,
he weighs the sermon in the balances of his conceit,
with all the airs of a bred-and-born Solomon, and
if it be up to his standard, he lays on his praise with
a trowel; but if it be not to his taste, he growls and
barks and snaps at it like a dog at a hedgehog.
Wise men in this world are like trees in a hedge,
there is only here and there one; and when these
rare men talk together upon a discourse, it is good
for the ears to hear them; but the bragging wise-
acres I am speaking of are vainly puffed up by
their fleshly minds, and their quibbling is as sense-
less as the cackle of geese on a common. Nothing
comes out of a sack but what was in it, and as
their bag is empty, they shake nothing but wind out
of it. It is very likely that neither ministers nor
their sermons are perfect — the best garden may
have a few weeds in it, the cleanest corn may have
some chaff—but cavillers cavil at anything or noth-
ing, and find fault for the sake of showing off their
deep knowledge; sooner than let their tongues have
a holiday, they would complain that the grass is not
a nice shade of blue, and say that the sky would
have looked neater if it had been whitewashed.


362 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
on the point of temper we have all sorts of people
to deal with. Some are as easy as an old shoe,
but they are hardly ever worth more than the other
one of the pair; and others take fire as fast as
tinder at the smallest offence, and are as dangerous
as gunpowder. To have a fellow going about the
farm as cross with everybody as a bear with a sore
head, with a temper as sour as verjuice and as
sharp as a razor, looking as surly as a butcher's
dog, is a great nuisance, and yet there may be
some good points about the man, so that he may
be a man for all that; but poor soft Tommy, as
green as grass and as ready to bend as a willow, is
nobody's money and everybody's scorn. A man
must have a backbone, or how is he to hold his
head up? but that backbone must bend, or he will
knock his brow against the beam.
S
a
ra
ON GOSSIPS.
"It is nothing-only a woman drowning,” is a
wicked and spitful old saying, which, like the
bridle, came out of the common notion that women
do a world of mischief with their tongues. Is it
so or not ? John Ploughman will leave somebody
else to answer, for he owns that he cannot keep a
secret himself, and likes a dish of chat as well as


JOAN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
363
anybody; only John does not care for cracking
people's characters, and hates the slander which is
so sweet to some people's teeth. John puts the
question to wiser men than himself. Are women
much worse than men in this business? They say
that silence is a fine jewel for a woman, but it is
very little worn. Is it so? Is it true that woman
only conceales what she does not know? Are
women's tongues like lambs' tails, always wag-
ging? They say foxes are all tail, and women all
tongue. Is this false or not? Was that old prayer
a needful one—“From big guns and women's
tongues deliver us?” John has a right good and
quiet wife of his own, whose voice is so sweet that
he cannot hear it too often, and, therefore, he is not a
fair judge; but he is half afraid that some other
women would sooner preach than pray, and would
not require strong tea to set their clappers going;
but still, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for
the gander, and some men are quite as bad blabs
as the women.
ON SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES.
SOME men never are awake when the train starts,
but crawl into the station just in time to see that
everybody is off, and then sleepily say, “Dear me,


364 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
is the train gone? My watch must have stopped
in the night!” They always come into town a day
after the fair, and open their warc3 an hour after
the market is over. They make their hay when the
sun has left off shining, and cut their corn as soon as
the fine weather is ended. They cry "hold hard!”
after the shot has left the gun, and lock the stable-
door when the steed is stolen. They are like a
cow's tail, always behind; they take time by the
heels, and not by the forelock, if indeed they ever
take him at all. They are no more worth than an
old almanac; their time has gone for being of use;
but, unfortunately, you cannot throw them away as
you would the almanac, for they are like the cross
old lady who had an annuity left to her, and meant
to take out the full value of it; they won't die,
though they are of no use alive. Take-it-easy and
Live-long are first cousins, they say, and the
more's the pity. If they are immortal till their
work is done, they will not die in a hurry, for they
have not even begun to work yet. Shiftless people
generally excuse their laziness by saying, “they
are only a little behind;" but a little too late is much
too late, and a miss is as good as a mile.


JOHV PLOUGHMAN'S TALK. 365
e
1
ON KEEPING ONE'S EYES OPEN.
To get through this world a man must look
about him, and even sleep with one eye open; for
there are many baits for fishes, many nets for
birds, and many traps for men. While foxes are
so common, we must not be geese. There is a
very great difference in this matter among people
of my acquaintance; many see more with one eye
than others with two and many have fine eyes and
cannot see a jot. All heads are not sense-boxes.
Some are so cunning that they suspect everybody,
and so live all their lives in miserable fear of their
neighbors; others are so simple that every knave
takes them in, and makes his penny of them. One
man tries to see through a brick wall, and hurts
his eyes; while another finds out a hole in it, and
sees as far as he pleases. Some work at the mouth
of a furnace, and are never scorched, and others
burn their hands at the fire when they only mean
to warm them. Now, it is true that no one can
give another experience, and we must all pick up
wit for ourselves; yet I shall venture to give some
of the homely cautions which have served my turn,
and perhaps they may be of use to others, as they
have been to me..


366 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. II. SPURGEON.
DEBT.
WHEN I was a very small boy, in pinafores, and
went to a woman's school, it so happeued that I
wanted a stick of slate-pencil, and had no money
to buy it with. I was afraid of being scolded for
losing my pencils so often, for I was a real careless
little fellow, and so did not dare to ask at home;
what then was John to do? There was a little
shop in the place, where nuts, and tops, and cakes,
and balls were sold by old Mrs. Dearson, and
sometimes I had seen boys and girls get trusted
by the old lady. I argued with myself that Christ-
mas was coming, and that somebody or other
would be sure to give me a penny then, and per-
haps even a whole silver sixpence. I would, there-
fore, go into debt for a stick of slate-pencil, and
be sure to pay at Christmas. I did not feel easy
about it, but still I screwed my courage up, and
went into the shop. One farthing was the amount,
and as I had never owed anything before, and my
credit was good, the pencil was handed over by
the kind dame, and I was in debt. It did not please
me much, and I felt as if I had done wrong, but I
little knew how soon I should smart for it. How
my father came to hear of this little stroke of busi-
ness I never knew, but some little bird or other


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
369
work to be done that needs our hands, that it is a
pity to waste a grain of strength. When the game
is not worth the candle, drop it at once. It is wast-
ing time to look for milk in a gate-post, or blood in
a turnip, or sense in a fool. Never ask a covetous
man for money till you have boiled a flint soft.
Don't sue a debtor who has not a penny to bless
himself with—you will only be throwing good
money after bad, which is like losing your ferret
without getting the rabbit. Never offer a looking-
glass to a blind man; if a man is so proud that he
will not see his faults, he will only quarrel with you
for pointing them out to him. It is of no use to
hold a lantern to a mole, or to talk of heaven to a
man who cares for nothing but his dirty money.
There is a time for everything, and it is a silly
thing to preach to drunken men; it is casting pearls
before swine; get them sober, and then talk to
them soberly; if you lecture them while they are
drunk, you act as if you were drunk vourself.
MEN WHO ARE DOWN.
No man's lot is fully known till he is dead;
change of fortune is the lot of life. He who rides
in the carriage may yet have to clean it. Sawyers
change places, and he who is up aloft may have


JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK,
371
The house is on fire, and all the neighbors warm
themselves. The man has ill luck, therefore his
friends give him ill usage; he has tumbled into the
road, and they drive their carts over him; he is
down, and selfishness cries, “Let him be kept
down, then there will be the more room for those
who are up.”
SPENDING.
To earn money is easy compared with spending
it well; anybody may dig up potatoes, but it is not
one woman in ten that can cook them. Men do
not become rich by what they get, but by what
they save. Many men who have money are short
of wit as a hog is of wool; they are under years
of discretion, though they have turned forty, and
make ducks and drakes of hundreds as boys do of
stones. What their fathers got with rakes, they
throw away with shovel. After the miser comes
the prodigal. Often men say of the spendthrift,
his own father was no man's friend but his own;
and now the son is no man's enemy but his own;
the fact is, the old gentleman went to hell by the
lean road, and his son has made up his mind to go
there by the fat
men


374 LIFE AND WORK OF RÈV. C. 11. SPURGEON.
feed himself had better not move. From bad to
worse is poor improvement. A crust is hard fare,
but none at all is harder. Don't jump out of the
frying-pan into the fire. Remember many men
have done well in very small shops. A little trade
with profit is better than a great concern at a loss;
a small fire that warms you is better than a large
fire that burns you. A great deal of water can be
got from a small pipe, if the bucket is always
there to catch it. Large hares may be caught in
small woods. A sheep may get fat in a small
meadow, and starve in a great desert. He who
undertakes too much succeeds but little. Two
shops are like two stools, a man comes to the
ground between them. You may burst a bag by
trying to fill it too full, and ruin yourself by grasp-
ing at too much.
In a great river great fish are found,
But take good heed lest you be drown'd.
Make as few changes as you can; trees often
transplanted bear little fruit. If you have difficul-
ties in one place, you will have them in another;
if you move because it is damp in the valley, you
may find it cold on the hill. Where will the ass
go that he will not have to work? Where can a
cow live and not get milked? Where will you find


JÓHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
375
land without stones, or meat without bones?
Everywhere on earth men must eat bread in the
sweat of their faces. To fly from trouble men
must have eagle wings. Alteration is not always
improvement, as the pigeon said when she got out
of the net and into the pie. There is a proper
time for changing, and then mind you bestir your-
self, for a sitting hen gets no barley; but do not be
forever on the shift, for a rolling stone gathers no
moss. Stick-to-it is the conqueror. He who can
wait long enough will win. This, that, and the
other, anything and everything, all put together,
make nothing in the end; but on one horse a man
rides home in due season. In one place the seed
grows, in one nest the bird hatches its eggs, in one
oven the bread bakes, in one river the fish lives.
Do not be above your business. He who turns
up his nose at his work quarrels with his bread
and butter., He is a poor smith who is afraid of
his own sparks: there's some discomfort in all
trades except chimney-sweeping. If sailors gave
up going to sea because of the wet, if bakers left
off baking because it is hot work, if plowmen
would not plow because of the cold, and tailors
would not make our clothes for fear of pricking
their fingers, what a pass we should come to!


376 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
Nonsense, my fine fellow, there's no shame about
any honest calling; don't be afraid of soiling your
hands, there's plenty of soap to be had. All
trades are good to good traders. A clever man
can make money out of dirt. Lucifer matches
pay well, if you sell enough of them.


ILLUSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS.
377
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS;
Or, FlowerS FROM A Puritan's GARDEN.
BIRD TIED BY A STRING.
“A bird that is tied by a string seems to have more liberty
than a bird in a cage; it flutters up and down, and yet it is
held fast."
When a man thinks that he has escaped from
the bondage of sin in general, and yet evidently
remains under the power of some one favored lust,
he is woefully mistaken in his judgment as to his
spiritual freedom. He may boast that he is out of
the cage, but assuredly the string is on his leg.
He who has his fetters knocked off, all but one
chain, is a prisoner still. "Let not any iniquity
have dominion over me” is a good and wise prayer;
for one pampered sin will slay the soul as surely as
one dose of poison will kill the body. There is no
need for a traveller to be bitten by a score of deadly
vipers, the tooth of one cobra is quite sufficient to
insure his destruction. One sin, like one match,
can kindle the fires of hell within the soul.
The practical application of this truth should be
made by the professor who is a slave to drink, or


378 LIFE AND WORK OF RÉV. C. H. SPURGEON.
to covetousness, or to passion. How can you be
free if any one of these chains still holds you fast?
We have met with professors who are haughty, and
despise others; how can these be the Lord's free
men while pride surrounds them?
THE CRACKED POT.
“The unsoundness of a vessel is not seen when it is empty;
but when it is filled with water, then we shall see whether it
will leak or no.”
It is in our prosperity that we are tested. Men
are not fully discovered to themselves till they are
tried by fullness of success. Praise finds out the
crack of pride, wealth reveals the flaw of selfish-
ness, and learning discovers the leak of unbelief.
David's besetting sin was little seen in the tracks
of the wild goats, but it became conspicuous upon
the terraces of his palace. Success is the crucible
of character. Hence the prosperity which some
welcome as an unmixed favor may far more rightly
be regarded as an intense form of test. O Lord,
preserve us when we are full as much as when we
are empty.
MEADOWS AND MARSHES.
“Meadows may be occasionally flooded, but the marshes
are drowned by the tide at every return thereof."
There is all this difference between the sins of
the righteous and those of the ungodly. Surprised


İLLÜSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS.
379
by temptation, true saints are flooded with a pass-
ing outburst of sin; but the wicked delight in
transgression and live in it as in their element.
The saint in his errors is a star under a cloud, but
the sinner is darkness itself. The gracious may
fall into iniquity, but the graceless run into it,
wallow in it, and again and again return to it.
THE WEAK STRONG, AND THÉ STRONG
WEAK.
"It is related cf Laurence Saunders, the martyr, that one
• day in the country, meeting his friend Dr. Pendleton, an
earnest preacher in King Edward's reign, they debated upon
what they had best do in the dangerous time that Mary's
accession had brought upon them. Saunders confessed that
his spirit was ready, but he felt the flesh was at present too
weak for much suffering. But Pendleton admonished him,
and appeared all courage and forwardness to face every
peril. They both came, under the control of circumstances,
to London, and there, when danger arose, Pendleton shrunk
from the cross, and Saunders resolutely took it up."
The reader has probably met with this story
before, but it will not harm him to learn its lesson
again. We are certainly stronger when we feel
our weakness than when we glory in our strength.
Our pastoral observation over a very large church
has led us to expect to see terrible failures among
those who carry their heads high among their
brethren. Poor timid souls who are afraid to put
one foot before another, for fear they should go


380 LIFE AND WORK OF REV. C. H. SPURGEON.
an inch astray, go on from year to year in lovely,
bashful holiness, and at the same time the very
professors who condemned them, and distressed
them by their confident pretensions, fall like Luci-
fer, never to hope again.
COVETOUSNESS AS A SERVANT.
'Covetousness may be entertained as a servant where it is
not entertained as a master-entertained as a servant to pro-
vide oil and fuel to make other sins burn.”.
Where avarice is the absolute master, the man is
a miser; but even he is not more truly miserable
than the man whose gainings only furnish oppor-
tunity for indulging in vice. Such persons are
greedy that they may become guilty. Their
money buys them the means of their own destruc-
tion, and they are eager after it. Winning and
saving with them are but means for profligacy, and
therefore they think themselves fine, liberal fellows,
and dispise the penurious habits of the miser.
Yet in what respects are they better than he?.
Their example is certainly far more injurious to
the commonwealth, and their motive is not one
whit better. Selfishness is the mainspring of action
in each case; the difference lies in the means
selected and not in the end proposed. Both seek
their own gratification, the one by damning up the


ILLUSTRATIONS AND MEDITATIONS.
381
river, and the other by drowning the country with
its floods. Let the profligate judge for himself,
whether he is one grain better than the greediest
skinflint whom he so much ridicules.
INFANTS AND SICK FOLK.
“Though we cannot love their weaknesses, yet we must
love the weak, and bear with their infirmities, not breaking
the bruised reed. Infants must not be turned out of the
family because they cry, and are unquiet and troublesome;
though they be peevish and froward, yet we must bear it
with gentleness and patience, as we do the frowardness of
the sick; if they revile we must not revile again, but must
seek gently to restore them, notwithstanding all their
censures.”
This patience is far too rare. We do not make
allowances enough for our fellows, but sweepingly
condemn those whom we ought to cheer with our
sympathy. If we are out of temper ourselves, we
plead the weather, or a headache, or our natural
temperament, or aggravating circumstances; we
are never at a loss for an excuse for ourselves,
why should not the same ingenuity be used by our
charity in inventing apologies and extenuations for
others? It is a pity to carry on the trade of apology-
making entirely for home consumption; let us sup-
ply others. True, they are very provoking, but if
we suffered half as much as some of our irritable
friends have to endure we should be even more






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ATA $2.50 BOOK, Beautifully Illustrated, for 35 cents. Work Desired in every Northern Home. Cou
THE LIFE AND REMINISCENCES OF
General WM. TECUMSEH SHERMAN,
BY DISTINGUISHED MEN OF HIS TIME.
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