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Spurgeon 
 
 •P Episodes ***> 
 
 with Pe^Son^l 
 1\emin13cence5. 
 
 ^NECDOTES 
 JlFE. 
 
 SJ, 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 W. B. COXKEY COMPANY, Publishers. 
 
 Fii.vxketx Series. Monthly. $6.00 per annum. Vol. 1, No. 1. November, 1893. 
 Entered at Chicago Postoffice as second-class matter. 
 
C. H. SPURGEON 
 
SPURGEON. 
 
 EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS BUSY LIFE. 
 
 WITH PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS W. HANDFORD. 
 n 
 
 i 9*u m 
 
 20th THOU©/ 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 W. B, Conkey Company. 
 
 

 Copyright. 
 
 BY MORRILL, HIGGINS & CO. 
 
 1892. 
 
 COFIEIGHT 
 1893. 
 
 W. B. CON KEY COMPANY. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 This volume is designed to present to American 
 readers a general impression of the many-sided 
 character and the varied work of the great Preacher 
 whom Mr. Gladstone not inaptly described as "the 
 last of the Puritans." The compiler of these pages 
 was for years a near neighbor to Mr. Spurgeon; he 
 has preached in his Tabernacle; lectured to the 
 Students of the Pastors' College; and talked to the 
 Boys in the Orphanage at Stockwell. His opportu- 
 nities of studying Mr. Spurgeon and his work were 
 numerous and favorable; his many pleasant mem- 
 ories of the great Preacher .afford him special ad- 
 vantages for the grateful task of telling America 
 what manner of man the Pastor of the Tabernacle 
 was. ■-'----' 
 
 Maywood, March 26, 1893. 
 
WITHOUT PERMISSION 
 
 THIS TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY 
 OF 
 
 CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
 WITH SINCERE GRATITUDE 
 TO 
 
 ALEXANDL Pv MACLAREN 
 
 OF 
 UNION CHAPEL, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 EARLY DAYS — STAMBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 LIFE BEGINS IN EARNEST 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 CALL TO LONDON 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 FROM NEW PARK STREET TO THE TABERNACLE 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 FROM MENTONE TO NORWOOD 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 MRS. SPURGEON 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 
 
CHAPTER X 
 PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY — "THE SALT CELLARS*' 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE AND A TEXT BOOK 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Frontispiece, C. H. Spurgeon 
 
 Birthplace of C. H. Spurgeon . . . u 
 
 Metropolitan Tabernacle . . . • 39 
 
 The Dead Pastor Lying in State . . 53 
 
 The Pastors' College 59 
 
 The Stockwell Orphanage .... 75 
 
 Mrs. Spurgeon 89 
 
 Interior of the Tabernacle . . . 151 
 

SPURGEON; 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLY DAYS— STAMBOURNE 
 
 "But I, thy servant, fear the Lord from my youth." 
 
 — Obadiah. 
 
 " Sweet childish days that were as long 
 As twenty days are now." 
 
 — William Wordsworth. 
 
 The three names that have stood foremost 
 amongst the Baptists of England for a good many 
 years past, are Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Alex- 
 ander Maclaren, and John Clifford. These names 
 have come to stand for so much, they have been 
 crowded with such great meanings, through many 
 years of consecrated toil, that it seems best to 
 record them with unadorned simplicity. To add 
 titles of any sort before or after, is mere trifling. 
 Such names have earned the right to live and stand 
 alone. 
 
 The first of these names is now added to that 
 innumerable company of the "blessed" who rest 
 from their labors. The name of Charles Haddon 
 Spurgeon no longer finds a place amongst the 
 records of the living; it has become a legacy and 
 an inheritance to the whole Church of Christ to the 
 
 9 
 
16 SPURGEON 
 
 very end of time. "The world has seemed very 
 dull since Hugo died," said an enthusiastic French- 
 iman not long ago. There are very many beside 
 those who count the Metropolitan Tabernacle their 
 religious home, to whom the world will never be 
 quite the same since Mr. Spurgeon died. 
 
 One of the happiest descriptions of Mr. Spur- 
 geon' s life and work is said to have been given by 
 Mr. Gladstone, who was an occasional worshiper 
 at the Tabernacle. The statesman's estimate of 
 the preacher was thus expressed: "Mr. Spurgeon 
 must be regarded as the last of the Puritans." Mr. 
 Spurgeon was a Puritan. By descent, in spirit 
 and letter, by education and conviction, in speech 
 and life, in mind and method, in his study and in 
 his pulpit, in his home and on the street, he was a 
 Puritan indeed. Who that remembers how the 
 young country pastor from Waterbeach took Lon- 
 don by storm five-and-thirty years ago, but also 
 remembers how he seemed to be, even then, the 
 very incarnation of the spirit and genius of the 
 seventeenth century. He came as the great Fore- 
 runner came, "not a reed to be shaken by the wind, 
 but a wind to shake the reeds." He was "a voice 
 in the wilderness," the mightiest voice England 
 has heard for a hundred years. 
 
 Any estimate of Mr. Spurgeon 's life and work 
 must be taken from varied points of view. Great 
 as a preacher, laborious and successful as an 
 author, sagacious as an organizer, he won for him- 
 self a world-wide admiration; but as a philanthro- 
 
EARLY DAYS I 3 
 
 pist, as the friend of the needy student, of the aged 
 and the poor, of fatherless boys and girls, he laid 
 hold upon the heart of the world; and there are 
 thousands living in many lands to-day, who rise 
 up and call him "blessed!" 
 
 The best and briefest analysis of Mr. Spurgeon's 
 character was given in a single sentence by Mr. 
 Maclaren at one of the memorial services held in 
 the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The living preacher, 
 speaking of his brother and companion, whose 
 coffined form lay at his feet, said: "It was not 
 so much his genius, as his earnestness, his devotion, 
 his self-oblivion, that endeared him to all hearts; 
 and herein lay the secret of his power." To this 
 analysis there is nothing to be added. 
 
 One of the texts that came unbidden to mourn- 
 ful lips in these sad hours was that familiar word 
 of Paul's: "I have fought a good fight. I have 
 finished my course. I have kept the faith." Suit- 
 able as these words were they were not all inclu- 
 sive. There was more of the herald than the 
 soldier in the pastor of the Tabernacle. A true 
 soldier of the Lord, he was ever ready, when oc- 
 casion called, to draw "the sword of the Lord and 
 of Gideon;" but we much mistake him if he did 
 not love the work of the herald more than that of 
 the soldier. The gospel trumpet was dearer to 
 him than the sword. Alas! that we have to write: 
 
 " The silver trumpet now is still. " 
 
 Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born at Kelvedon, 
 in Essex, on the nineteenth of June, 1834. He 
 
14 SPURGEON 
 
 came from a long line of preachers, dating back 
 to the golden age of Puritanism. The Spurgeons 
 seem to have been born for the pulpit. Grand- 
 father, father, brother, sons, ail preachers — but 
 Charles Haddon the greatest preacher of them all. 
 His early days were spent with his grandfather in 
 the old parsonage at Stambourne. He seems to 
 have lived in the luxury of being grandfather's pet. 
 
 We get from Mr. Spurgeon's pen, in the last 
 year of his busy life, a pleasant memory of the old 
 Stambourne days: 
 
 "When I was a very small boy," he writes, "I 
 was staying at my grandfather's, where I had afore- 
 time spent my earliest days; and, as the manner 
 was, I read the Scriptures at family prayer. Once 
 upon a time, when reading the passage in the Book 
 of Revelation which mentions the bottomless pit, 
 I paused and said: 'Grandpa, what can this mean?' 
 The 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 in- 
 cluded, and always halted at the same verse to 
 repeat the inquiry. At length the venerable patri- 
 arch 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 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 peo- 
 
EARLY DAYS I 5 
 
 pie fall who dropped out at its lower end? — a puz- 
 zle which rather startled the propriety of family 
 worship, and had to be laid aside for explanation 
 at a more convenient season. Questions of the 
 like simple and natural character would frequently 
 break up into paragraphs at the family Bible-read- 
 ing, and had there not been a world of love and 
 license allowed to the inquisitive reader, he would 
 soon have been deposed from his office. As it 
 was, the Scriptures were not very badly rendered, 
 and were probably quite as interesting as if they 
 had not been interspersed with original and curious 
 inquiries." 
 
 In recording his recollections of the old meeting- 
 house at Stambourne, Mr. Spurgeon says: 
 
 "It was a rare old chapel. I wish it could have 
 remained forever as I used to know it; let me see 
 if I can sketch it with my pen. 
 
 "The pulpit was glorious as 'the tower of the 
 flock.' Over it hung a huge sounding-board; I 
 used to speculate as to what would become of 
 grandfather if it ever dropped down upon him. I 
 thought of my Jack-in-the-box, and hoped that my 
 dear grandpapa would never be shut down and 
 shut up in such a fashion. At the back of the pul- 
 pit was a peg to hold the minister's hat; inside 
 there was room for two, for I have sat there with 
 grandfather when quite a little boy; but I guess 
 that two grown-up people would have found it 
 'quite too small enough,' as my Dutch friend puts 
 it. 
 
l6 SPURGEON 
 
 "Just below, and in front of the pulpit, was the 
 table-pew, wherein sat the elders of the congrega- 
 tion, the men of gracious light and leading. There 
 Uncle Haddon generally stood, and gave out the 
 hymns and the notices; and from that semi-sacred 
 region was raised the block of wood by which, to 
 the singers upstairs, the meter of the hymn was 
 made known — common, long, or short. There 
 were big tombstones forming the bottom of this 
 large pew, which took its name from containing 
 the table on which were spread the bread and 
 wine on days when they had the ordinance — I think 
 that was the correct phrase when our good folks 
 intended 'the communion.' I don't remember 
 hearing them style infant baptism 'the ordinance', 
 but I suppose they thought it to be one. A few 
 had qualms upon the question, and were baptized 
 quietly at some Baptist chapel. 
 
 "The pews in the middle were mostly square ir 
 form, and roomy. Those on either side were aris- 
 tocratic, and lined with green baize, for the most 
 part very faded. In some cases, brass rods car- 
 ried up little curtains, which made the family pew 
 quite private, and shut out all sights but that of 
 the grave and reverend senior who dispensed to us 
 the Word of life. There were flaps inside the pew 
 so as not to lose the space where the door opened, 
 and flaps for the poor to sit upon in the aisle out- 
 side of these pews; and when the time came to go 
 home, there was such a lifting up and letting down 
 of flaps, and flap-seats, within the pew, and with- 
 
EARLY DAYS I J 
 
 out the pew, as one never does see in these degen- 
 erate days. A little boy on a hassock on the floor 
 of one of these holy loose-boxes ought to have 
 been good; and no doubt was as good there as any- 
 where, especially if he had a peppermint to suck, 
 and nobody to play with. 
 
 "The aisles were paved with bricks, and were 
 generally sanded. Here and there a portion of a 
 gravestone indicated how the floor of the old build- 
 ing was honeycombed with vaults and graves. 
 There was no need to go to the parish church to 
 encounter ancient dust. Bacillae and microbes were 
 not dreaded in those days. There is no reason to 
 believe that in later years any body or bodies were 
 buried in the meeting-house; it sufficed to lay the 
 departed within the hallowed enclosure of 'the 
 meeting-yard. ' It was not absolutely essential 
 that those whose souls inherited eternal life should 
 leave their bodies beneath the feet of their descend- 
 ants for the spread of death on the Lord's-day. 
 
 "On the right-hand side from the pulpit, there 
 were two large doors which admitted a wheeled 
 carriage into the chapel. There it stood, with its 
 shafts turned up out of the way, and the sick per- 
 son comfortably housed. I don't remember 
 another instance of a person driving into the house 
 of God, and continuing to abide in her chariot 
 throughout the service. 
 
 "The gallery went along the whole inside front 
 of the meeting-house, and turned round a little 
 way on each side. It was to me, as a child, an 
 
 2 
 
1 8 SPURGEON 
 
 elevated, obscure, and unknown region. There 
 were men with flutes who let the water run out at 
 the ends of the tubes on the people below, and the 
 clarionet man, for whom I had more esteem, be- 
 cause I could make some sort of noise when 1 
 blew through his instrument; but the fifes (why 
 not fives?) always baffled me. The bassoon man 
 was there, and the serpent, and the double-bass, 
 and a lot more of them. They could play. There's 
 no mistake about it. At least, it was almost as 
 certain as that other undeniable fact, that our 
 singers could sing. Well, it was hearty singing; 
 and say what you like, it's the heart in the singing 
 which is the life of the business. Besides those 
 who could sing, we had about twice as many who 
 could neither play nor sing; but excelled in sharply 
 criticising what was done by others." 
 
 The pilgrim to the early home of Mr. Spurgeon 
 will find on the wall on the right-hand side of the 
 pulpit in the old meeting-house of Stambourne, a 
 marble slab bearing the following record concerning 
 Mr. Spurgeon's grandfather: 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 The Rev. JAMES SPURGEON, 
 
 Who for fifty-four years was the faithful and beloved 
 pastor of the church in this place, and 
 for four years previously of the Inde- 
 pendent church at Clare. 
 
 He departed this life on the twelfth day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1864, in the 88th year of his age. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 LIFE BEGINS IN EARNEST — WATERBEACH 
 
 "Life's but a means unto an end; 
 Beginning, means, and end of all things — God!" 
 
 — Philip James Bailey. 
 
 "But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached 
 of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither 
 was I taught it; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." — Paul. 
 
 It was not to be expected that this young Puri- 
 tan would journey far along the path of life with- 
 out encountering marked religious experiences. 
 There are many lives after the type of "Lydia the 
 seller of purple from Thyatira," whose heart "the 
 Lord opened," gently, leaf by leaf, as the sun 
 awakens a rose. Mr. Spurgeon was not of this 
 order. He could mark the day and the hour when 
 he surrendered to the call of God. And he did 
 mark it as the great red-letter day of his life. 
 
 But Mr. Spurgeon himself shall tell the story of 
 his conversion. Addressing his students, he says: 
 
 "I will tell you how I myself was brought to a 
 knowledge of the truth. It pleased God in my 
 childhood to convince me of sin. I was miserable, 
 my heart was broken in pieces. I resolved that, 
 in the town where I lived, I would visit every place 
 of worship in order to find out the way of salva- 
 tion. I went to all the places of worship. But I 
 
 19 
 
20 SPURGEON 
 
 did not hear the gospel. The ministers preached 
 truth, great truths, many good truths that were 
 fitting to many of their congregation — but what I 
 wanted to know was — how can I get my sins for- 
 given ? and they never told me that. 
 
 "I went time after time, and I can honestly say, 
 I don't know that I ever went without prayer to 
 God, and I am sure there was not a more attentive 
 hearer in all the place than myself, for I panted 
 and longed to understand how I might be saved. 
 
 "At last, one snowy day — it snowed so much I 
 could not go to the place I had determined to go 
 to, and I was obliged to stop on the road, and it 
 was a blessed stop to me — I found rather an obscure 
 street, and turned down a court, and there was a 
 little chapel. I wanted to go somewhere, but I 
 did not know this place. It was the Primitive 
 Methodists' chapel. I had heard of these people 
 from many, and how they sang so loudly that they 
 made people's heads ache; but that did not mat- 
 ter. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and 
 if they made my head ache ever so much I did not 
 care. So, sitting down, the service went on, but 
 no minister came. At last a very thin-looking 
 man came into the pulpit and opened his Bible and 
 read these words: 'Look unto me, and be ye 
 saved, all the ends of the earth. ' Just setting his 
 eyes upon me, as if he knew me all by heart, he 
 said: 'Young man, you are in trouble.' Well, I 
 was, sure enough. Says he, 'You will never get 
 out of it unless you look to Christ. ' And then, 
 
LIFE BEGINS IN EARNEST 21 
 
 lifting up his hands, he cried out, as only, I think, 
 a Primitive Methodist could do, 'Look, look, look! 
 It is only look!' said he. I saw at once the way 
 of salvation. Oh, how I did leap for joy at that 
 moment! I know not what else he said; I did not 
 take much notice of it — I was so possessed with 
 that one thought. Like as when the brazen ser- 
 pent was lifted up, they only looked and were 
 healed. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but 
 when I heard this word 'Look!' what a charming 
 word it seemed to me. Oh, I looked till I could 
 almost have looked my eyes away! And in heaven 
 I will look on still with joy unutterable." 
 
 Work followed conversion. To what end had 
 he been converted if not for work ? Praying, exhort- 
 ing, was soon followed by preaching. His first 
 message was delivered in a cottage. He shrank 
 from the task at first. But courage came at last. 
 He says: 
 
 "I felt that I was fairly committed to do my 
 best. I walked along quietly, lifting up my soul 
 to God, and it seemed to me that I could surely 
 tell a few poor cottagers of the sweetness and love 
 of Jesus, for I felt them in my own soul. Praying 
 for divine help, I resolved to make an attempt. 
 My text should be, 'Unto you, therefore, which 
 believe, He is precious, ' and I would trust the 
 Lord to open my mouth in honor of His dear Son. 
 It seemed a great risk and a serious trial; but, 
 depending upon the power of the Holy Ghost, I 
 would at least tell out the story of the cross, and 
 
22 SPURGEON 
 
 not allow the people to go home without a word. 
 We entered the low-pitched room of the thatched 
 cottage, where a few simple-minded farm-laborers 
 and their wives were gathered together; we sang 
 and prayed and read the Scriptures, and then came 
 our first sermon. How long or how short it was 
 we cannot now remember. It was not half such a 
 task as we had feared it wouid be, but we were 
 glad to see our way to a fair conclusion, and to the 
 giving out of the last hymn. To our own delight 
 ive had not broken down, nor stopped short in the 
 middle, nor been destitute of ideas, and the desired 
 haven was in view. We made a finish, and took 
 up the book; but to our astonishment, an aged voice 
 cried out: 'Bless your dear heart, how old are you?' 
 Our very solemn reply was, 'You must wait till the 
 service is over before making any such inquiries. 
 Let us now sing. ' We did sing, and the ycung 
 preacher pronounced the benediction, and then 
 began a dialogue which enlarged into a warm, 
 friendly talk, in which everybody appeared to take 
 part. 'How old are you?' was the leading ques- 
 tion. 'I am under sixty, ' was the reply. 'Yes, 
 and under sixteen, ' was the old lady's rejoinder. 
 'Never mind my age, think of the Lord Jesus and 
 His preciousness, ' was all that I could say, after 
 promising to come again if the gentlemen at Cam- 
 bridge thought me fit to do so. Very great and 
 profound was our awe of those 'gentlemen at Cam- 
 bridge' in those days." 
 
 His first pastorate was at Waterbeach near Cam- 
 
LIFE BEGINS IN EARNEST 23 
 
 bridge. The church was small, composed for the 
 most part of aged members. But the history of 
 that brief pastorate has always been regarded by 
 Mr. Spurgeon as one of the greenest spots in all 
 his busy life. 
 
 A great deal of interest has been taken in the 
 fact that Mr. Spurgeon never went to college. But 
 he very narrowly escaped. In referring to this 
 half-amusing episode in his early history, he says: 
 
 "Soon after I had begun, in 1852, to preach the 
 Word in Waterbeach, I was strongly advised by 
 my father and others to enter Stepney, now 
 Regent's Park College, to prepare more fully for 
 the ministry. Dr. Angus, the tutor of the college, 
 visited Cambridge, where I then resided, and it 
 was arranged that we should meet at the house of 
 Mr. Macmillan, the publisher. Thinking and pray- 
 ing over the matter, I entered the house at exactly 
 the time appointed, and was shown into a room 
 where I waited patiently for a couple of hours, 
 feeling too much impressed with my own insignifi- 
 cance, and the greatness of the London tutor, to 
 venture to ring the bell and inquire the cause of 
 the unreasonably long delay. 
 
 "At last, patience having had her perfect work, 
 the bell was set in motion, and on the arrival of 
 the servant, the waiting young man of eighteen 
 was informed that the doctor had tarried in another 
 room, and could stay no longer, so had gone off 
 by train to London. The stupid girl had given no 
 information to the family that anyone called and 
 
24 SPURGEON 
 
 had been shown into the drawing-room, conse- 
 quently the meeting never came about, although 
 designed by both parties. I was not a little disap- 
 pointed at the moment, but have a thousand times 
 since then thanked the Lord very heartily for the 
 strange providence which forced my steps into 
 another and fax better path." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 CALL TO LONDON 
 
 "If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." 
 
 — -Moses. 
 
 "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am 
 but a child. But the Lord said unto me: Say not, I am a child, for 
 thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I shall 
 command thee thou shalt speak." — Jeremiah. 
 
 "All things come to those who wait." But the 
 young pastor of Waterbeach was happy in his 
 work, happy with his little flock, and there are no 
 indications that he was waiting for a call, or ambi- 
 tious for a larger sphere. He kept the little vine- 
 yard amid the hills faithfully. He tended the 
 vines, and guarded them night and day. He ruled 
 the little kingdom wisely and well, and without 
 seeking or desire he was called to the great Baby- 
 lon on the banks of the Thames. 
 
 The Baptist church worshiping in New Park 
 Street Chapel, dated back to the days of Cromwell 
 and the Commonwealth. During its history it had 
 rejoiced in learned and distinguished men for pas- 
 tors. Dr. Gill, of Commentary fame; Dr. Reach, 
 of the Metaphors; Dr. Rippon, the young poet of 
 the church; Dr. Angus, James Smith, and William 
 Walters, had in succession presided over the church. 
 The church was nearly dead. A chapel that would 
 
 25 
 
26 SPURGEON 
 
 hold twelve hundred people, if they would but 
 come, witnessed a congregation of perhaps two 
 hundred, with room for a thousand more. Mr. 
 Spurgeon was invited, in the winter of 1853, to sup- 
 ply the pulpit "with a view." He came with much 
 fear and trembling, and twenty-five years after- 
 ward, he tells the story of that visit: 
 
 "Twenty-five years ago — and yet it seems but 
 yesterday — we lodged for the night at a boarding- 
 house in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, to which the 
 worthy deacon directed us. As we wore a huge 
 black satin stock, and used a blue handkerchief 
 with white spots, the young gentlemen of that 
 boarding-house marveled greatly at the youth 
 from the country who had come up to preach in 
 London, but who was evidently in the condition 
 known as verdant green. They were mainly of the 
 evangelical church persuasion, and seemed greatly 
 tickled that the country lad should be a preacher. 
 They did not propose to go and hear the youth, 
 but they seemed to tacitly agree to encourage him 
 after their own fashion, and we were encouraged 
 accordingly. What tales were narrated of the 
 great divines of the metropolis and their congrega- 
 tions! One, we remember, had a thousand city 
 men to hear him, another had his church filled 
 with thoughtful people, such as could hardly be 
 matched all over England, while a third had an 
 immense audience, almost entirely composed of 
 the young men of London, who were spell-bound 
 by his eloquence. The study which these men 
 
CALL TO LONDON 2J 
 
 underwent in composing their sermons, their her- 
 culean toils in keeping up their congregations, and 
 the matchless oratory which they exhibited on .all 
 occasions, were duly rehearsed in our hearing; and 
 when we were shown to bed in a cupboard over 
 the front door, we were not in an advantageous 
 condition for pleasant dreams. Park Street hos- 
 pitality never sent the young minister to that far- 
 away hired room again; but assuredly the Satur- 
 day evening in a London boarding-house was about 
 the most depressing agency which could have been 
 brought to bear upon our spirit. On the narrow 
 bed we tossed in solitary misery, and found no pity. 
 Pitiless was the grind of the cabs in the street; 
 pitiless the recollection of the young city clerks 
 whose grim propriety had gazed upon our rusticity 
 with such amusement; pitiless the spare room, 
 which scarce afforded space to kneel; pitiless even 
 the gas-lamps which seemed to wink at us as they 
 flickered amid the December darkness. We had 
 no friend in all that city full of human beings, but 
 we felt among strangers and foreigners, hoped to 
 be helped through the scrape into which we had 
 been brought, and to escape safely to the serene 
 abodes of Cambridge and Waterbeach, which then 
 seemed to be Eden itself. 
 
 "Twenty-five years ago it was a clear, cold 
 morning, and we wended our way along Holborn 
 Hill toward Blackfriars and certain tortuous lanes 
 and alleys at the foot of Southwark Bridge. Won- 
 dering, praying, fearing, hoping, believing — we felt 
 
28 SPURGEON 
 
 all alone and yet not alone. Expectant of divine 
 help and inwardly borne down by our sense of the 
 need of it, we traversed a dreary wilderness :: 
 brick to find the spot where our message must 
 needs be delivered. One word rose to our lip 
 many times, we scarce know why — 'He must needs 
 go through Samaria. ' The necessity of our Lord's 
 journeying in a certain direction is no doubt re- 
 peated in His servants, and as our present journey 
 was not of our seeking, and had been by no mea::s 
 pleasing so far as it had gone — the one thought of 
 a 'needs be' for it seemed to overtop even' oth-:~ 
 At sight of Park Street Chapel we felt-for a moment 
 amazed at cur own temerity, for it seemed to our 
 eyes to be a large, ornate and imposing structure, 
 suggesting an audience wealthy and critical, and 
 far removed from the humble folk to whom our 
 ministry had been swee:::;55 and light. It was 
 early, so there were no persons entering, and when 
 the set time was fully come, there were no signs to 
 support the suggestion raised by the exterior of the 
 building, and we felt that by God's help we were 
 not yet out of our depth, and were not likely to be 
 with so small an audience. The Lord helped as 
 very graciously; we had a happy Sabbath in the 
 pulpit, and spent the intervals with warm-hearted 
 friends; and when at night wetnidged back to the 
 Queen Square narrow lodging we were not alone, 
 and we no longer looked on Londoners as flinty- 
 hearted barbarians. Our tone was altered; we 
 wanted no pity of anyone; we did not care a 
 
CALL TO LONDON 29 
 
 penny for the young gentlemen lodgers and their 
 miraculous ministers, nor for the grind of the cabs, 
 nor for anything else under the sun. The lion had 
 been looked at all round, and his majesty did not 
 appear to be a tenth as majestic as when we had 
 only heard his roar miles away." 
 
 After much care and prayer, a call was present- 
 ed. Mr. Spurgeon was in no haste to accept. But 
 the early spring of 1854 saw him settled in London. 
 At this point, we present our readers with a copy 
 of Mr. Spurgeon's letter of acceptance of the call 
 to the church at New Park Street. When we 
 remember that the young pastor was not more 
 than twenty years of age when he wrote this letter, 
 who can help saying: "How much older art thou 
 than thy years!" The modesty and the courage of 
 the letter are alike charming. The letter runs 
 thus: 
 
 "75, Dover Road, Borough, 
 "April 28, 1854. 
 "To the Baptist church of Christ, worshiping in 
 
 New Park Street Chapel, Southwark. 
 "Dearly Beloved in Christ Jesus: — 
 
 "I have received your unanimous invitation, as 
 contained in a resolution passed by you on the nine- 
 teenth instant, desiring me to accept the pastor- 
 ate among you. No lengthened reply is required; 
 there is but one answer to so loving and cordial an 
 invitation. I accept it. I have not been perplexed 
 as to what my reply shall be, for many things con- 
 strain me thus to answer. 
 
30 SPURGEON 
 
 "I sought not to come to you, for I was the min- 
 ister of an obscure but affectionate people; I never 
 solicited advancement. The first note of invita- 
 tion from your deacons came to me quite unlooked 
 for, and I trembled at the idea of preaching in 
 London. I could not understand how it came 
 about, and even now I am filled with astonish- 
 ment at the wondrous providence. I would wish 
 to give myself into the hands of our covenant God, 
 whose wisdom directs all things. He shall choose 
 for me; and so far as I can judge this is His choice. 
 
 "I feel it to be a high honor to be the pastor of 
 a people who can mention glorious names as my 
 predecessors; and I entreat of you to remember 
 me in prayer, that I may realize the solemn respon- 
 sibility of my trust. Remember my youth and 
 inexperience; pray that these may not hinder my 
 usefulness. I trust, also, that the remembrance 
 of these may lead you to forgive the mistakes I 
 may make, or unguarded words I may utter. 
 
 "Blessed be the name of the Most High! If He 
 has called me to this office He will support me in 
 it; otherwise, how should a child, a youth, have 
 the presumption thus to attempt a work which 
 filled the heart and hands of Jesus ? Your kind- 
 ness to me has been very great, and my heart is 
 knit unto you. I fear not your steadfastness; 1 
 fear my own. The gospel, I believe, enables me 
 to venture great things, and by faith I venture 
 this. I ask your co-operation in every good work 
 — in visiting the sick, in bringing in inquirers, and 
 in mutual edification. 
 
CALL TO LONDON 3! 
 
 "Oh, that I may be no injury to you, but a 
 lasting benefit! I have no more to say, only this: 
 that if I have expressed myself in these few words 
 in a manner unbecoming my youth and inexperi- 
 ence, you will not impute it to arrogance, but for- 
 give my mistake. 
 
 "And now, commending you to oi^r covenant- 
 keeping God, the triune Jehovah, I sm yours to 
 serve in the gospel, 
 
 "C. H. Spurgeon." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 FROM NEW PARK STREET TO THE TABERNACLE 
 
 "And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to 
 a city of habitation. " — David. 
 
 "We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 
 He lives most 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 
 
 — Philip James Bailey. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon's first sermon in London was 
 from the text, "Every good and perfect gift cometh 
 from above, from the Father of lights, with whom 
 there is no variableness nor the least shadow of 
 a turning." The very text seemed to be a good 
 omen in itself, at least so thought the deacons of 
 New Park Street. The old chapel was soon 
 crowded. Scores, then hundreds, had to be turned 
 away from every service. The young preacher 
 became the sensation of the hour, but he soon 
 ceased to be a sensation, and grew to be a power 
 amongst men. New Park Street was closed for 
 repairs and enlargement; and the daring young 
 preacher took Exeter Hall, which was then to Lon- 
 don what the Auditorium is to Chicago, and would 
 hold nearly as many. The deacons were amazed 
 at his daring, but they did not yet understand to 
 what an extent his courage was fed on faith. 
 
 Exeter Hall was soon as crowded as New Part 
 32 
 
TO THE TABERNACLE 33 
 
 Street had been. The Strand was thronged; its old 
 order of Sunday quiet was invaded. The tide had 
 set in, and with its flow there came the wildest 
 storm of abuse and persecution that ever assailed 
 an unoffending youth. The press, and, to its shame 
 be it said, the so-called "religious press," bitterly 
 denounced Mr. Spurgeon, and seemed bent on crush- 
 ing him. The hardest names were hurled at him. 
 "Mountebank," "charlatan," "fanatic," "blas- 
 phemer," "ignorant," "Punch in the pulpit," these 
 and similar epithets were freely bestowed upon 
 him. The prophets who prophesied without the 
 gift of prophecy, knew, of course, that this thing 
 could not last. He was a "will-o'-the-wisp," "a 
 Hash in the pan," it would all end soon! But Mr 
 Spurgeon had come to stay. And to hear him talk 
 of those times, to see the smile on his face as he 
 assured you that God was overruling these darts 
 of the Evil One for his own glory, was most enjoy- 
 able. He could laugh at it all, looking back, but 
 it was no laughing matter then. It would have 
 upset a weak man. It would have broken the 
 heart of a coward. Back to New Park Street and 
 then back again to Exeter Hall, and all the while 
 the tide kept rolling in. The press carried the 
 message of this strange young preacher all over the 
 land. On the seventh of October, 1857, the Indian 
 mutiny startled the British nation, the horrors of 
 Cawnpore shocked and humiliated England. A 
 fast-day was appointed, and on that day Mr. Spur- 
 geon preached in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham 
 
34 SPURGEON 
 
 to 24,000 people. The rich, full, mellow voice oi 
 the young preacher was heard to the utmost verge 
 of the crowd. His text was, "Hear ye rod, and who 
 hath appointed it." There were no words of com- 
 fort for the Government in that sermon. He im- 
 peached their treatment of India, and reminded 
 them that only righteousness could exalt a nation. 
 
 In the following year Mr. Spurgeon took the 
 great Surrey Music Hall, a place capable of hold- 
 ing 10,000 persons. Here occurred on the nine- 
 teenth of October, 1858, the fatal disaster of death 
 to eight persons and severe wounding to sixteen 
 others, as the result of a false alarm of fire. For 
 years Mr. Spurgeon felt the shock of that terrible 
 disaster. He never forgot it ; it was to the very 
 last a most painful memory. 
 
 The project of building the Metropolitan Taber- 
 nacle was now launched. Mr. Spurgeon deter- 
 mined on a large, simple building, that should be 
 opened free of debt. He went all over England 
 preaching, receiving half of such collections as were 
 made for his Tabernacle; by this means he was a 
 blessing to hundreds of struggling churches, and 
 his preaching was attended with the surest tokens 
 of the divine favor. Men were redeemed from sin, 
 and sluggards in the churches were awakened as 
 men awakened from the dead. So the tide rolled 
 in! Mr. Spurgeon preached, on an average, twelve 
 times a week. What shall we say of that preach- 
 ing? To those who ever heard him, description 
 is needless; to those who never heard him, descrip- 
 
Tb THE TABERNACLE 3$ 
 
 tion is useless. One wonderful sermon looms up 
 from the past. It was preached in the pulpit of 
 the late Hugh Stowell Brown, of Myrtle Street, 
 Liverpool. The occasion was one of the annual 
 gatherings of the Baptist Union. The text was 
 from one of John's brief epistles, written to a 
 friend who was evidently poor in purse, and feeble 
 in health. It runs thus: "Beloved, I wish that 
 thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy 
 soul prospereth." The point of the sermon was 
 "spiritual health." In his own inimitable way 
 the preacher ran the analogy of the spiritual and 
 physical to a marvelous conclusion. "What John 
 meant," he said, "what he earnestly prayed for, 
 was that his friend might be as rich in material 
 things, and as healthy in body, as he was rich in 
 spiritual things." Then, with a sudden turn, he 
 appealed to his audience and asked them what 
 their condition would be if their physical condition 
 was the exact counterpart of their spiritual state; 
 and, turning first to one point of the assembly and 
 then to another, he said: "You would be blind, 
 for the god of this world hath blinded your spirit- 
 ual vision; and you would be deaf, for God calls 
 and you will not hear; many of you would be 
 paralytics, some would have withered arms, some 
 would have palsy" — and then, pausing a moment, he 
 lifted his hands and, in a very agony of spirit, he 
 cried aloud — "And many of you, God only knows 
 how many, but, alas! many of you would fall 
 down dead in your pews, for you are dead in tres- 
 
36 SPURGEON 
 
 passes and sin!" The silence that followed was 
 painful; it seemed as if the church was instantly 
 changed into a charnel-house. The congregation 
 seemed horror-struck. It was some time before 
 Mr. Spurgeon himself was able to overmaster the 
 deep emotion that possessed him. At last he 
 rallied, and then, with a glad voice, he cried out: 
 "But it is aot too late! There is life! Life! Life!) 
 Life!!! 
 
 " 'Life for a look at the crucified One.' " 
 
 The sermon ended. Scarcely anyone joined in 
 the singing. The impression was simply awful. 
 This was an exception. Eight out of ten of all 
 Mr. Spurgeon 's sermons were as bright as a morn- 
 ing in June, and as hopeful as the budding spring- 
 time. Twelve hundred and fifty of his sermons 
 have been published. They have been translated 
 into all civilized languages. Millions of copies 
 have been sold and given away. In Australia an 
 admirer of Mr. Spurgeon paid for the publication 
 of a sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's in the weekly paper. 
 The sermon was published and paid for as an 
 advertisement. 
 
 The building of the Tabernacle was a colossal 
 undertaking. Any man less bold and confident 
 would have utterly failed in such an enterprise. 
 But Mr. Spurgeon had no doubt nor misgiving. 
 It was the Lord's work, he said, and he would 
 carry it through. Money came in marvelous ways, 
 and from all sorts of strange sources. Mr. Spur- 
 geon relates an incident of this period that is per- 
 fectly romantic. He says; 
 
TO THE TABERNACLE 2>7 
 
 "When we came to the undertaking of respon- 
 sibilities, there was a natural shrinking on the part 
 of the committee with which we started. No one 
 could be blamed; it was a great risk, and, person- 
 ally, I did not wish anyone to undertake it. I was 
 quite prepared for any risk, but then I had no 
 money of my own, and so was a man of straw. I 
 say there was a measure of fear and trembling, 
 but I had none. I was as sure of the matter as. 
 possible, and reckoned on paying all the cost. 
 This quiet assurance, however, had a foundation 
 which reflects credit on one who has for some 
 years gone to his reward. When I was riding 
 with a friend to preach in the country, a gentle- 
 man overtook us and asked me if I would get out 
 of the trap and ride with him in the gig, as h& 
 wanted to speak to me. I did so. He said, 'You 
 have got to build that big place.' I said, 'Yes.' 
 He said, 'You will find that many friends will fee! 
 nervous over it. Now as a business man I am sure 
 you will succeed, and besides that, God is with the 
 work and it cannot fail. I want you never to feel 
 nervous or downcast about it. ' I told him that it 
 was a great work, and that I hoped the Lord would 
 enable me to carry it through. 
 
 " 'What do you think, ' said he, 'will be required, 
 at the outside, to carry it through?' 
 
 "I said, '£20,000 must do it in addition to what 
 we have.' 
 
 "'Then,' he said, Twill let you have the £20,000 
 on the condition that you shall only keep what 
 
38 SPURGEON 
 
 you need of it to finish the building. Mark, ' said 
 he, T do not expect to give more than ^50, but 
 you shall have bonds and leases to the full value 
 of ^"20,000 to fall back upon.' This was royal. 
 I told no one, but the ease of mind this act gave 
 me was of the utmost value. I had quite as much 
 need of faith, for I resolved that none of my 
 friend's money should be touched; but I had no 
 excuse for fear. God was very good to me, but 
 by this act I was recalled from all personal boast- 
 ing. My friend gave his ^50 and no more, and I 
 felt deeply thankful to him for the help which he 
 would have rendered had it been required." 
 
 At last, amid boundless rejoicing, the great Taber- 
 nacle, capable of holding from 6,000 to 7,000 peo- 
 ple, was opened on the twenty-fifth of March, 1861. 
 It cost $137,078.55, and every cent was paid before 
 the first hallelujah was sung. For thirty years Mr. 
 Spurgeon preached in that Tabernacle twice a Sab- 
 bath; a record almost unequaled in the history of 
 the modern ministry, if any estimate is taken of the 
 hundreds of thousands of men and women to whom 
 he must have preached. And yet the people never 
 tired of "the old, old story;" nor did the preacher 
 grow weary of the telling. 
 
 At the opening of the Tabernacle Mr. Spurgeon's 
 father made the following remarks: 
 
 "I always thought my son did wrong in coming 
 to London; now you see that I was wrong. I 
 always thought he was wrong in not going to col- 
 lege. I tried three or four times with him, one 
 

TO THE TABERNACLE 4 I 
 
 night with a dear friend that loved him, but it was 
 no use; he said, 'No, I will never go to college, 
 only in strict obedience to you as a father. ' There 
 I left the matter; and I see that God has been 
 with him, though I thought it was a wrong step in 
 him to go to London. And I thought it was a 
 wrong step for me to come here to-night; but per- 
 haps I may be mistaken again. I can tell you it 
 is one of the happiest days of my life. I feel 
 beyond myself when I think of the kindness which 
 has been shown to him when bat a youth. I ascribe 
 it all to God's goodness and the earnest prayers of 
 his people. He has been exposed to temptation 
 from every source, and even now, my friends, he 
 is not free from it. You have prayed for him, and 
 God has sustained him. Oh! let me entreat you 
 to continue your prayers. Everyone here to-night, 
 go home and pray for your pastor. A meeting likfc 
 this is enough to carry a man beyond himself and 
 fill his heart with pride; but the grace of God is 
 all-sufficient." 
 
 On the fifth of May, 1879, Mr. Spurgeon cele- 
 brated his silver wedding. His friends, who had 
 again and again endeavored in vain to press upon 
 him some substantial token of their regard, insisted 
 that this happy occasion was just the time when 
 they might most appropriately express their love 
 for their pastor and his wife. Accordingly, on the 
 bright May-day of 1879, they presented him with 
 the magnificent sum of $31,244.42. Every penny 
 of this money was devoted to benevolent objects 
 
42 SPURGECtf 
 
 in connection with his Tabernacle work. Twenty- 
 five thousand dollars were devoted to the endow- 
 ment of the Tabernacle almshouses. 
 
 The generosity of Mr. Spurgeon was proverbial. 
 If he had chosen, he might have been a millionaire; 
 but a millionaire preacher seemed to him to be a 
 strange anomaly. He was able to live with great 
 comfort on the profits of his books ; and it is stated, 
 on good authority, that Mr. Spurgeon for many 
 years gave away every penny he received from the 
 Tabernacle to benevolent purposes. 
 
 The very last message he sent from his death- 
 bed at Mentone inclosed $500 as a contribution to 
 the general funds of the Tabernacle. 
 
 A pleasant memory of one of Mr. Spurgeon's 
 red-letter days demands a moment's thought. It 
 was the nineteenth of June, 1884. If one had 
 been crossing London bridge early on that bright 
 summer morning, he would have fancied that 
 that ancient thoroughfare was more than usually 
 crowded. The tide of traffic was bent southward, 
 and if one had followed the crowds he would soon 
 have found himself at "the Elephant and Castle," 
 and a little further on would have noticed the 
 streams of people from Old Kent road and West- 
 minister and from every quarter pressing their way 
 to Mr. Spurgeon's Tabernacle. The occasion was 
 the celebration of Mr. Spurgeon's jubilee birthday. 
 
 It was a grand occasion, an occasion of which 
 any man might be proud. There, in the fullness 
 of his prime, stood a man, who, by a life of simple 
 
TO THE TABERNACLE 43 
 
 devotion to the cause of God and to the good of 
 his fellowmen, had won for himself such a place in 
 the hearts of all who knew him as to make one 
 feel that the platform of the Tabernacle that sum- 
 mer day was more to be envied than the throne 
 of a king. 
 
 Seven thousand people crowded into the spacious 
 house of prayer to offer the pastor their congratu- 
 lations, and they were but representative of seventy 
 times 7,000 more all over the Christian world, who 
 could not be present in person, though they were 
 tiiere in heart and sympathy. 
 
 Members of all religious communities were there; 
 fews and Greeks, dwellers from all nations under 
 heaven, not forgetting America. The whole world 
 came together to say "God bless you" to this 
 simple-minded man, who made no other claim to 
 this kindly greeting than that he had spent his 
 days in "preaching Christ and Him crucified." 
 
 All this time he was busy with his pen prepar- 
 ing and compiling books that will live for genera- 
 tions. Including the weekly sermon, and his many 
 articles in "The Sword and Trowel," Mr. Spur- 
 geon's printed works have probably been more 
 voluminous than the productions of any modern 
 author. The weekly sermon, beginning with the 
 first week of 1855, has completed thirty-six yearly 
 volumes. The average circulation has been main- 
 tained at 25,000 weekly. The monthly magazine 
 has also completed twenty-six yearly volvmes. Of 
 the "Treasury of David," in seven 8vo. volumes, 
 
something like 130,000 volumes have been sold. 
 
 Of "Lectures :: :::y Sz~i±zzs" az: • , Ccu::::en:in£ 
 an: C:u::auen:aries : ::" -:: -:': ::: anal ~z.zco 
 volumes have been disposed of. Then "John 
 Ploughman 5 7 a Ik and Pictures" together show a 
 circulation of half a million volumes. The other 
 w;rk= are very numercus. all being autre :: less 
 p tun. an. 
 
 Mr. Syurgetn was greatly £--n:ycu stnae years 
 ago by hints :hn: were uaaae pretty freely :: the 
 effect :ha: he v.- = 5 inter:: :n establishing a ne " 
 :en:n:ina:i:n rearing his :wu nan:e. Haw he 
 viewed this n:a::er :he :: 11 awing- wires "•* : 1 1 shew: 
 
 "Titer: 15 n: -viral in tne wzrla s: huaeful to 
 :ur hear: as :ha: warel Saurave: msn: ana n: 
 t h : d g 1: : : u r t her I r : m : : r s :» ul than that of f orm- 
 ing a new se:t. Onr c:nrse has been, ana w: 
 h::e ever will be. an inaenenaen: tne: but t: 
 charge us with separating fr:m the general trgan- 
 ization of the rehgitus world, ana even of the 
 Baptist denomination, is to perpetrate an un- 
 founded libel. We preach no new gospel, we de- 
 sire no new objects, and follow them in no n: we 
 spirit. We love Christ better than a sect, and 
 truth better than a party, and so far are not denom- 
 inational; but we are in open union with the Baa - 
 fists fa: the very reastn :ha: we :ann:t enanre 
 isilatim He "it: searthes all hear:s knt'-vs that 
 ::r aim ana reject is n:: :: ga:her a banal arcane: 
 self bat t: unite a ctntnany areuna :he Savier. 
 'Let my name perish, but let Christ's name last for- 
 
TO THE TABERNACLE 45 
 
 ever,' said George Whitefield; and so has Charles 
 Spurgeon said a hundred times. We aid and assist 
 the Baptist churches to the full extent of our pow- 
 er, although we do not restrict our energies to them 
 alone, and in this those churches are far enough 
 from blaming us. Our joy and rejoicing is great 
 in the fellowship of all believers, and the forming 
 of a fresh sect is work which we leave to the devil, 
 whom it befits far more than ourselves. It is true 
 that it has long been in our power to commence a 
 new denomination, but it is not true that it has 
 ever been contemplated by us or our friends. We 
 desire as much as possible to work with the exist- 
 ing agencies, and when we commence new ones 
 our friends must believe that it is with no idea of 
 organizing a fresh community." 
 
 Whether a member of the Peace Society or not 
 Mr. Spurgeon was a strong advocate of the prin- 
 ciples of peace. The following vigorous passage 
 is found in an address he issued to the electors of 
 Southwark in the midst of a general election con- 
 test. He said: "Great questions are involved in 
 the struggle; never were weightier matters before 
 the nation. * * * Are we to go on invading and 
 slaughtering in order to obtain a scientific frontier 
 and feeble neighbors ? How many wars may we 
 reckon on between now and 1886? What quan- 
 tity of killing will be done in that time, and how 
 many of our weaker neighbors will have their 
 houses burned and their fields ravaged by this 
 Christian nation?" 
 
46 SPURGEON 
 
 Paxton Hood, who is no mean authority upon 
 pulpit eloquence, thus speaks of what we have 
 always regarded as one of the wonderful gifts of the 
 orator — his voice: — "Once heard it can never be 
 forgotten; its sweetness, its perfect submission to 
 the will of the speaker, its range, and a somewhat 
 that is peculiar to loving and gracious souls, linger 
 in the heart with an undying charm and force. 
 . . . There can be no doubt that perhaps first, 
 and before all things, the voice counts for much — 
 a voice of astonishing compass — a voice the waves 
 from which roll with astonishing ease over the im- 
 mense company, full, sweet, and clear — clear and 
 ringing as a bell; a voice like the man and the mat- 
 ter — independent of most nervous impressions and 
 all nervous agitations. It is a clarion of a voice. 
 Other voices of orators have pierced us more — 
 have possessed more accent — have been able to 
 whisper better; but we never knew nor conceived 
 a voice with such thunderous faculty. I have called 
 it a trumpet, and, better still, a bell: it is not a 
 perfect peal, but its tones roll on — there is no ex- 
 haustion; the tones are not many, but they are 
 full and sweeping, and they give the idea of a great, 
 fully-informed, and immensely capacious will and 
 nature. Mr. Spurgeon might possess many of his 
 mental attributes, but manifestly this power of be- 
 ing easily heard, of always striking the right pitch, 
 so that he compasses immense assemblies, is one 
 great element of success in holding the attention 
 of masses of people. It is an old idea, and a very 
 
TO THE TABERNACLE 47 
 
 true one, we believe, that the voice is the man; as 
 the voice is, so the soul; a full voice is a full nat- 
 ure. The last achievement of Mr. Spurgeon (in 
 1867) will be regarded by many as the most won- 
 derful of all in his early but extraordinary career. 
 Whatever the capacities of the Agricultural Hall 
 of Islington may be, and its minimum of 12,000, 
 or its maximum of 20,000 auditors, unquestionably 
 the Church notes in its history very few instances 
 of preachers able to attract and to hold in atten- 
 tion so mighty a mass. True, audiences grow like 
 avalanches, and, as force grows, the means of sus- 
 taining force also grow. But the greatest of the 
 preachers the Church has known, such as Chry- 
 sostom, Augustine, Hall, Chalmers, or Irving, how- 
 ever the passion of their accents might have been 
 desired, and the majesty or music of their elo- 
 quence, would have found themselves as foiled by 
 their own voice as a silver bell on the mast of a 
 vessel in the roar of a storm, in immense masses." 
 The reader will not be surprised to learn that 
 Mr. Spurgeon's study Bible was completely worn 
 out. All those who have made good use of their 
 Bibles know that the more a Bible is used the 
 more valuable it becomes. Mr. Spurgeon had the 
 old study Bible, that was interlined and thumb- 
 marked and filled with marginal notes, re-bound. 
 On the fly-leaf of the Bible are these significant 
 lines: 
 
48 SPURGEON 
 
 "C. H. Spurgeon, 1856." 
 "The lamp of my study." 
 "The light is bright as ever! 1861." 
 "Oh, that mine eyes were more opened! 1864." 
 "Being worn to pieces, re-bound 1870. The lan- 
 tern mended, and the light as joyous 
 to mine eyes as ever!" 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 FROM MENTONE TO NORWOOD: THE LAST OF EARTI* 
 
 "The Master's approval is the servant's best wages." 
 
 — Alexander Maclaren. 
 
 "Servant of God, well done! 
 Rest from thy loved employ; 
 The battle's fought, the victory's won — ■ 
 Enter thy Master's joy." 
 
 — James Montgotnery. 
 
 The death of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, which 
 occurred at Mentone on Sunday evening, January 
 31, 1892, occasioned unfeigned regret throughout 
 the whole Christian world. He had been a sufferer 
 for many years, and the fact that he wrought so 
 bravely, in season and out of season, in suffering 
 and weakness and exceeding pain, is to his lasting 
 renown. All through the summer of 1891 the sad- 
 dest fears were entertained, but with the Christ- 
 mas season and the dawn of the new year there 
 came hope that was destined to be suddenly and 
 rudely blighted. 
 
 The funeral of Mr. Spurgeon began at Mentone, 
 in the south of France — whither he had gone, year 
 after year, in search of rest and health — it ended at 
 Norwood; and not often in the history of the world 
 have so many followed a devout man to his burial, 
 "making lamentation over him." 
 
 The week-long program of the arrangements for 
 49 
 
50 SPURGEON 
 
 the burial of Mr. Spurgeon began at Mentone, at 
 noon, Thursday, February 4th. A very simple 
 service was held in the Scotch Presbyterian Church, 
 which, a year ago, was opened with a sermon 
 preached by Mr. Spurgeon himself. The coffin was 
 placed in front of the rostrum. Round it were 
 grouped a few wreaths, and at the head were two tall 
 palm branches crossed, symbolic of the faithful war- 
 rior's victory. Mrs. Spurgeon was still too prostrate 
 from the sense of her loss and the exhaustion of 
 her long season of trial to be present at the service, 
 but she sent the message, "He hath done all things 
 well." Mr. Spurgeon 's sister, Mrs. Jackson, and 
 her husband, represented the family, and other 
 mourners were Mr. Harrald, the deceased's secre- 
 tary, and Mr. Allison, one of the deacons, repre- 
 senting the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and Rev. B. 
 Samuel, representing the Pastors' College. 
 
 Rev. R. Somerville, pastor of the Presbyterian 
 church, conducted the service. He said Mr. Spur- 
 geon belonged not alone to the Tabernacle and to 
 England, but to every Christian country. 
 
 Rev. M. Delapierre, on behalf of the Protestant 
 churches of France, spoke of the late pastor's 
 interest in those churches. From the first his ser- 
 mons had been regularly translated, and in their 
 French form had made a lasting impression in that 
 country. 
 
 They stood, said Mr. Harrald, in the presence 
 of what men called death, but Mr. Spurgeon would 
 continue to live in the gospel he had preached. 
 
FROM MENTONE TO NORWOOD 5 1 
 
 He had fallen on the battle-field, fighting for truth 
 to the last, and was still grasping the sword in his 
 moment of victory. The first letter opened after 
 his death contained a check for £500 for the 
 Stockwell Orphanage. 
 
 The remains were conveyed to London and 
 placed on the rostrum of the Tabernacle. 
 
 The hold Mr. Spurgeon had on the minds and the 
 hearts of the people was strikingly shown on Tues- 
 day, February 9th, when from seven in the morn- 
 ing till seven at night the Tabernacle was open, 
 and an incessant stream of people passed through 
 to view the coffin. The arrangements were perfect. 
 During the greater part of the day there were hun- 
 dreds waiting outside for their turn to enter. 
 These were marshaled in queue by the police, and 
 were admitted inside the iron gates in batches. 
 Thence they were drafted as rapidly as possible 
 into the Tabernacle by each of the great doors, 
 two by two. Inside each door a deacon stood, 
 counting the never-ceasing files, and other deacons 
 and elders along the aisles urged the people to 
 pass on. Early in the morning many working- 
 men, some carrying their tools, went to see the 
 coffin of the people's pastor. Later in the day 
 came visitors from every part of London. The 
 South London lines and the omnibus and train 
 companies strengthened their services to accom- 
 modate the traffic. In the afternoon, women of 
 the working-class made up a great part of the 
 stream. Many carried babies. They were poorly 
 
52 SPURGE 
 
 dressed, but their faces and theii subdued voices 
 snowed how they felt the loss. 
 
 It was a dull, dark day, with a drizzling rain, 
 and the great Tabernacle, with its vast area and 
 galleries of empty pews, looked very gloomy, not- 
 withstanding that all the lights were lit. One 
 seemed to realize here more than anywhere else 
 the extent of the loss. The Metropolitan Taber- 
 nacle without Mr. Spurgeon ! It is difficult to im- 
 agine it, but the sorrowful fact has to be mastered. 
 As we advance slowly up the aisle, we cannot 
 at first see the coffin for the wreaths in front of 
 it. The rule against flowers has not been inexor- 
 ably enforced. One very beautiful wreath, sent 
 by the Baptist churches of Belfast, was given the 
 place of honor. It was of white flowers, and was 
 in the shape of a harp with broken strings, sur- 
 mounted by a sword and trowel. On either side 
 of the coffin were placed a number of the tall palm 
 branches from Mentone, and on the rostrum were 
 other palms. The rostrum, the pulpit, and the 
 front of the gallery were draped with black, having 
 a white border, and in white letters, on the black 
 bordering of the rostrum rails, were the words: 
 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my 
 course, I have kept the faith." Around the front 
 of the upper platform was the inscription: "Re- 
 member the words I said unto you, being yet pres- 
 ent with you." A marble statuette of Mr. Spur- 
 geon, from the Pastors' College, was placed amid 
 a group of palms on the lower platform, overlook- 
 
THE DEAD PASTOR LYING IN STATE 
 
THE LAST OF EARTH $5 
 
 ing the coffin. It is an excellent likeness of the 
 pastor as he appeared ten years ago. Wistfully 
 the visitors looked at the coffin as they passed it. 
 
 A deacon presented to each a copy of Mr. Spur- 
 geon's sermon, "S. S. ; or, the Sinner Saved," and 
 as they passed out they were invited to give a 
 farewell contribution to the Orphanage and Pas- 
 tors' College, and very generously they responded. 
 As they left the Tabernacle at the rear, they saw 
 the scaffolding used in the construction of the 
 hydraulic lift that was to have helped the preacher 
 to ascend his pulpit. In the street, to which they 
 emerged, was a long line of men selling photographs 
 and biographies of Mr. Spurgeon. The enumera- 
 tors counted, during the day, more than 55,000 
 people who passed through the Tabernacle. 
 
 A continued series of services were held by the 
 members of the Tabernacle, the students of the 
 Pastors' College, and the representatives of various 
 Christian denominations took part. The last lov- 
 ing service took place at Norwood cemetery. The 
 bishop of Rochester uttered the final benediction. 
 And now after a life of suffering and toil, he rests 
 in the peaceful city of the dead. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 
 
 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
 bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tid- 
 ings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy 
 God reigneth." — Isaiah. 
 
 The Pastors' College was one of the first results 
 of that great faculty for organization which was 
 so strong in the pastor of the Tabernacle. It was 
 established in 1856, and from that day to this it 
 has rendered special and invaluable service. It 
 was designed especially to help preachers to preach, 
 not to make scholars and theologians. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon had not been long settled at the 
 Tabernacle before he found himself surrounded by 
 a number of earnest young men who seemed to 
 have caught his spirit, and who, without special 
 invitation, to say nothing of ordination, drifted 
 into the work of preaching. The fire burned and 
 they spoke. They said with the Apostles: "We 
 cannot but speak the things we have seen and 
 heard." 
 
 These free lances of the pulpit found large and 
 eager audiences among the common people, and 
 they were eminently successful in leading men and 
 women to a better life. They were soon known 
 as "Spurgeon's men," or "Tabernacle evangelists." 
 
 56 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 57 
 
 What was to be done? They were, for the most 
 part, rough and uncultivated. Many of them made 
 the grave mistake of trying to imitate Mr. Spur- 
 geon, and crude as these imitations were, they 
 resulted in a certain kind of popularity. 
 
 It was this kind of material, just budding 
 into usefulness, that forced upon Mr. Spurgeon 
 the difficult question — what is to be done? The 
 establishment of the Pastors' College was the 
 practical answer to the question. These men were 
 not fitted for the scholarly exposition of the word 
 of God, and never would be. Moreover, there 
 were colleges all over the country especially adapted 
 for the higher kind of education. What was wanted 
 was an institution where these rough-and-ready 
 men could be drilled in the simple rudiments of 
 education, and so fitted for the work of preaching 
 and the discharge of plain pastoral duties. Mr. 
 Spurgeon laid his plans. No candidate could enter 
 his college without the hearty and enthusiastic 
 recommendation of the church of which he was a 
 member; and further, he must give satisfactory 
 proof of his ability to preach. 
 
 . Mr. Spurgeon thus explains the purpose he had 
 in view in the establishment of tKe Pastors' Col- 
 lege: 
 
 "From the commencement our main object was 
 to help men who, from lack of funds, could not 
 obtain an education for themselves. These have 
 been supplied not only with tuition and books, 
 gratis, but with board and lodging, and in some 
 
58 SPURGEON 
 
 cases with clothes and pocket-money. Some very 
 successful brethren needed everything, and if they 
 had been required to pay, they must have remained 
 illiterate preachers to this day. Still, year by 
 year, the number of men who are ready to support 
 themselves, in whole or in part, has increased; and 
 I believe that it is increasing, and will increase. 
 As a college, we have had to struggle with a repute 
 based upon falsehood and created by jealousy; but 
 this has not injured us to any great extent, for 
 men come to us from America, Australia, and the 
 Cape, and applications have frequently been made 
 from foreign countries. German students have 
 attended our classes during their own vacations, and 
 members of other colleges are usually to be seen 
 at our lectures. The institution never deserved to 
 be charged with giving a mere apology for an 
 education; and if ever that reproach could have 
 been justly cast upon us, it is utterly undeserved 
 now that the time of study has become more ex- 
 tended, and a fuller course of training has thus 
 become possible. Scholarship for its own sake 
 was never sought, and never will be within the 
 Pastors' College; but to help men to become effi- 
 cient preachers has been, and ever will be, the sole 
 aim of all those concerned in its management. I 
 shall not, in order to increase our prestige, refuse 
 poor men, or zealous young Christians whose early 
 education has been neglected. Pride would sug- 
 gest that we take 'a better class of men;' but 
 experience shows that they are not better; that 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 6 1 
 
 eminently useful men spring from all ranks, that 
 diamonds may be found in the rough, and that 
 some who need most pains in the polishing, reward 
 our labor a thousandfold. My friends will still 
 stand by me in my desire to aid the needy but 
 pious brother, and we shall rejoice together as we 
 continually see the plowman, the fisherman, and 
 the mechanic taught the way of God more per- 
 fectly." 
 
 It is needless to say that this institution has 
 been eminently successful. The erection of col- 
 lege buildings came to be a necessity. They were 
 erected at a cost of $75,000, every cent of which 
 was provided. Fifteen thousand dollars of this 
 sum was presented by a widow lady as a tribute 
 to her dead husband, and $10,000 were given as a 
 thank-offering by one who had profited by Mr. 
 Spurgeon's sermons. 
 
 Hundreds of churches have been established by 
 the students of the Pastors' College; many thou- 
 sands of members have been brought in church fel- 
 lowship, and the exact work Mr. Spurgeon set to 
 do, has been accomplished to an extent beyond 
 all anticipation. 
 
 * Mr. Spurgeon's addresses to his students contain 
 some of the wisest things he ever said. We pre- 
 sent a few selections: 
 
 "I am sorry to say that I am made of such ill 
 stuff that my Lord has to chasten me often and 
 sorely. I am like a pen that will not write unless 
 
62 SPURGEON 
 
 it be often nibbed, and so I have felt the sharp 
 knife many times; and yet I shall not regret my 
 pains and crosses so long as my Lord will write 
 with me on men's hearts. That is the cause of 
 many ministers' afflictions; they are necessary to 
 our work. You have heard the fable of the raven 
 that wished to drink; but the pitcher had so little 
 water in it that he could not reach it, and therefore 
 he took stone after stone and dropped it into the 
 vessel until the water rose to the brim and he could 
 drink. So little grace is in some men that they 
 need many sicknesses, bereavements, and other 
 afflictions to make their graces available for useful- 
 ness. If, however, we receive grace enough to 
 bear fruit without continual pruning, so much the 
 better. 
 
 "It is expected of us, brethren, that from this 
 time we rise to a higher point. It is the Lord's 
 due, if we think of what He has done for us. 
 Some of my comrades in arms now before me have 
 gone through battles as hard as any man may wish 
 to fight, and after such success they must never 
 say die. After what the Lord has done for us we 
 must never strike our flag, nor turn our backs in 
 the day of battle. Sir Francis Drake, when it was* 
 feared that he would be wrecked in the Thames, 
 said: 'What! Have I been round the world, and am 
 I now to be drowned in a ditch? Not I. ' So say I 
 to you, brethren; you have done business in stormy 
 waters, and will you sink in a village pond? 
 We shall not be worse treated than we have been. 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 63 
 
 We are now in fine fighting trim, for we are hard- 
 ened by former blows. A great pugilist at Rome 
 was so battered, his nose, eyes, face were so dis- 
 figured, that he was always ready to fight, because 
 he said: 4 I cannot look worse than I do.' Per- 
 sonally, I am much in the same plight. Men can- 
 not say anything worse of me than they have said. 
 I have been belied from head to foot, and misrepre- 
 sented to the last degree. My good looks are gone, 
 and none can much damage me now. Some of you 
 have had more to batter you than you are likely to 
 endure again; you have had trial and tribulation, 
 and affliction as heavy as you can have them; and 
 after having stood in the lists so long, surely you 
 are not going to yield and slink away like cowards ? 
 God forbid it! God forbid it! God grant, on the 
 contrary, that the elder ones among you may have 
 the pleasure, not only of winning battles for Christ, 
 but of seeing others, who have been saved under 
 your instrumentality, trained to fight better than 
 yourselves for Jesus ! I read the other day a story, 
 and with that I will conclude, desiring that I may 
 in spiritual things have the same joy myself, and 
 that it may be the lot of you all. Diagoras, the 
 Rhodian, had in his time won many wreaths at the 
 Olympian games. He had two boys, and he 
 brought them up to the same profession. The day 
 came when his own force abated, and he was no 
 longer able to strive for masteries in his own per- 
 son ; but he went up to tne Olympian games with 
 his two sons. He saw the blows they gave and 
 
64 SPURGE ON 
 
 received, and rejoiced when he discovered that 
 they were both victorious. A Lacedaemonian said 
 to him: 'You may die now, Diagoras;' meaning 
 that the old man might die content, because he 
 had in his own person, and in that of his sons, 
 obtained the highest honors. The old man seemed 
 to feel that it was even so; for when his two sons 
 came and shouldered their father, and carried him 
 through the camp amid the ringing cheers of the 
 great assembly, the old man, flushed with excite- 
 ment, died under the eyes of the assembled Greeks. 
 It would have been a wiser thing to have lived, for 
 he had a third son who became more renowned 
 than the other two; but he passed away on a wave 
 cf victory. Oh, brethren, may you have spiritual 
 children who shall win battles for the Lord, and 
 may you live to see them doing it; then may you 
 say with Simeon: 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy 
 servant depart in peace, according to Thy word.'" 
 #• # * # * 
 
 "The Berkshire proverb says, 'There be more 
 ways of killing a cat than by choking of him with 
 cream,' and surely some preachers appear to know 
 that there are more ways of wearying a hearer than 
 by surfeiting him with good, sound, creamy doc- 
 trine. Oh, for a sermon with something in it! 
 Xever mind the finicking with the cooking and the 
 carving; do give us a cut of gospel truth! Alas! 
 we too often get 'Grantham gruel — nine grits and 
 a gallon of water, ' and we are expected to praise 
 the stuff because the basin is of rare china. There 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 6$ 
 
 is not enough in it to make soup for a grasshopper, 
 and yet we are called upon to go into raptures 
 because what there is of it is soundly evangelical. 
 
 "At other times the teaching is rather queer and 
 very muddy, and then they tell us that the par- 
 son gives us little doctrine because he is % thinking 
 it out and has not yet made up his mind. Verily, 
 'while the grass grows the steed starves, ' and' we 
 should be far better off if the Lord would send us 
 some of the old sort of experienced men of God, 
 who knew what they did know, and fed our fathers 
 with knowledge and understanding. Our modern 
 collegians boast of being independent thinkers, and 
 if that means that they are not to be depended on, 
 they are pretty near the mark. They pare down 
 the gospel till, as the Yankees say, it is shaved 
 off finer than the 'small end of nothing. ' It is time 
 this nonsense was exploded. Lord Byron said, 
 'A book's a book, although there's nothing in't!' 
 but country people do not say so of a sermon, and 
 if they did, we are not all bumpkins, and cannot 
 be quite so easily satisfied." 
 
 * * -* •& 
 
 "Beloved brethren, if you are filled with love to 
 your work, and love to souls, and love to God, you 
 will gladly endure many self-denials which else 
 would be unbearable. The poverty of our country, 
 brethren, is very trying, and ought by all means to 
 be relieved; but we may well feel proud that so 
 many men are forthcoming who, for the sake of 
 preaching the gospel of Christ, are willing to leave 
 
66 SPURGEON 
 
 remunerative callings and endure hardness. Other 
 denominations might pay them better, but they 
 spurn the golden bribe, and remain faithful to 
 Christ and to the ordinances as they were delivered. 
 All honor to those life-long martyrs who put up 
 with sore privations for the sake of Christ and His 
 Church. The devil once met a Christian man, so 
 I have heard, and said to him: 'You call yourself 
 a servant of God. What do you do more than I 
 do? You boast that you fast; so do I; for I neither 
 eat nor drink. You do not commit adultery; 
 neither do I.' The fiend mentioned a long list of 
 sins of which he is incapable, from which he could 
 therefore claim exemption. The saint at last said 
 to him: 'I do one thing which thou never didst; 
 I deny myself. ' That is the point in which the 
 Christian comes out; he denies himself for Christ's 
 sake ; believing in Jesus, he counts all things but 
 loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus his Lord. Brethren, do not leave your 
 charges because the stipend is small. Your poor 
 people must be looked after by somebody. Do 
 not despair when times are hard, for they will be 
 better by and by; and meanwhile your heavenly 
 Father knows your needs. We have heard of men 
 who have remained in plague-stricken cities when 
 others fled, because they could be of service to the 
 sick. Abide, then, with your people when work 
 fails them; be as faithful to your God as many a 
 man has been faithful to his philanthropy. If you 
 can anyhow manage to tide over the present dis- 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 6 J 
 
 tress, stick to the people. God will help you and 
 reward you if you have faith in Him. May the 
 Lord confirm your confidence, and comfort you in 
 your tribulation! 
 
 "Go on, brethren, go on preaching the same 
 gospel; but preach it with more faith, and preach 
 it better every day. Do not draw back; your 
 place is at the front. Qualify yourselves for larger 
 spheres, you that are in little places; but do not 
 neglect your studies to look after better positions. 
 Be prepared for an opening when it comes, and 
 rest assured that the office will come to the man 
 who is fit for the office. We are not so cheap that 
 we need go hawking ourselves in every market; 
 the churches are always on the look-out for really 
 efficient preachers. Men whose fitness for the 
 ministry is doubtful are at a great discount now- 
 adays; but for men of ability and usefulness there 
 is great demand. 
 
 "You cannot hide a candle under a bushel, and 
 you cannot keep a really able man in an insignifi- 
 cant position. Patronage is of the smallest impor- 
 tance; fitness for the work, grace, ability, earnest- 
 ness, and a loving disposition, soon push the man 
 into his place. God will bring His servant into 
 his true position, if he has but faith to trust in 
 Him. I put this word at the tail-end of my 
 address, because I know the discouragements under 
 which you labor. Do not be afraid of hard work 
 for Christ; a terrible reckoning awaits those who 
 have an easy time in the ministry, but a great 
 
6S SPURGEON 
 
 reward is in reserve for those who endure all things 
 for the elect's sake. You will not regret your 
 poverty when Christ cometh and calleth His own 
 servants to Him." 
 
 # * # * * 
 
 "Petrarch's works are said to have lain so long 
 in the roof of St. Mark's at Venice,, that they 
 became turned into stone; by what process depo- 
 nent sayeth not. To many men it might well 
 seem that the Word of God had become petrified, 
 for they receive it as a hard, lifeless creed, a stone 
 upon which to sharpen the daggers of controversy, 
 a stumbling-block for young beginners, a millstone 
 with which to break opponents' heads, after the 
 manner experienced by Abimelech at Thebez. A 
 man must have a stout digestion to feed upon some 
 men's theology* — no sap. no sweetness, no life, but 
 all stern accuracy and fleshless definition. Pro- 
 claimed without tenderness and argued without 
 affection, the gospel from such men rather resem- 
 bles a missile from a catapult than bread from a 
 Father's table. Teeth are needlessly broken over 
 the grit of systematic theology, while souls are 
 famishing. To turn stones into bread was a temp- 
 tation of our Master; but how many of His servants 
 yield readily to the far worse temptation to turn 
 bread into stone! Go thy way, metaphysical 
 divine, to the stone-yard, and break granite for 
 McAdam, but stand not in the way of loving 
 spirits who would feed the family of God with liv- 
 ing bread. The inspired Word is to us spirit and 
 
THE PASTORS' COLLEGE 69 
 
 life, and we cannot afford to have it hardened into 
 a huge monolith or a spiritual Stonehenge — 
 sublime but cold, majestic but lifeless; far rather 
 would we have it as jur own household book, our 
 bosom companion, the poor man's counselor and 
 friend." 
 
 v3& 4» 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 
 
 " I was a father to the poor. I caused the widow's heart to 
 sing for joy." — Job. 
 
 "The God that answereth by Orphanages let him be God." 
 
 — C. H. Spurgeon. 
 
 "I love to have the children feel that there is nothing in this 
 world more attractive, more earnestly to be desired, than manhood 
 in Jesus Christ." — Henry Ward Beecher. 
 
 The most popular of all the institutions with 
 which Mr. Spurgeon's name is associated is the 
 Stockwell Orphanage, an institution whose origin 
 was somewhat romantic. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon was accustomed to the strangest 
 kind of correspondence and one morning in Sep- 
 tember, 1866, he received a letter that, as he said, 
 took away his appetite for breakfast. A lady, 
 signing herself Mrs. Hillyard, and indicating that 
 she was the widow of a clergyman of the Church 
 of Enlgand, possessed of considerable wealth, 
 wrote that after much thought and prayer she had 
 resolved to place at his disposal, to be used as he 
 thought best for the glory of God, the sum of 
 £20,000; in round numbers $100,000. 
 
 Was this another hoax? It was interesting 
 beyond measure to hear Mr. Spurgeon tell this 
 story. Was some poor demented creature gratify- 
 
 70 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE ?I 
 
 ing herself by proposing what in her poor sad heart 
 she desired, and would do if she could? Perhaps 
 Mrs. Hillyard, not accustomed to finance, had mis- 
 taken the figures, and meant to give £2,000. Even 
 that was a magnanimous gift! The letter begged 
 Mr. Spurgeon to call at his convenience at a given 
 address. Mr. Spurgeon went, with little faith in 
 the outcome of his visit. But he found that this 
 time there was no hoax, but a golden door was 
 thrown wide open for boundless and undreamed- 
 of usefulness. 
 
 After much prayer and consultation it was finally 
 resolved that this magnificent gift should be devoted 
 to the education of fatherless boys. It would be 
 impossible to go into all the details of the scheme. 
 Whatever gifts of pulpit eloquence Mr. Spurgeon 
 possessed, they were poor compared with his sagac- 
 ity in all matters of organization. Great in the 
 pulpit, he was also great in counsel, and the result 
 is that he never put his hand to anything that did 
 not prove a grand success. Failure was a word 
 never heard at the Tabernacle. 
 
 When it was decided that Mrs. Hillyard's be- 
 quest should be devoted to an orphanage, Mr. 
 Spurgeon was determined on a home-life for these 
 fatherless boys. If there was to be an orphanage, 
 that orphanage should have all the elements of 
 home; and so there were to be separate houses and 
 these boys, grouped together in little families, were 
 to be under the watchful care of some Christian 
 matron. There was to be no promiscuous herd- 
 5 
 
72 SPURGEON 
 
 ings together; but a system of careful selection was 
 introduced, by which, as far as possible, the boys 
 most suited to be companions were grouped into 
 little families, and were "at home" to a degree that 
 proved perfectly delightful. 
 
 It was not designed to give these orphans a 
 luxurious, easy life, or an elaborate education, but 
 to give them the comforts of a Christian home and 
 plain education in matters that would fit them for 
 the common every-day duties of life. They were 
 not to be made scholars or gentlemen, in the tech- 
 nical sense of those terms. Mr. Spurgeon said 
 what the world wanted was men, and the work of 
 the Stockwell Orphanage was to take these boys 
 w T ho had lost their fathers and make manly fellows 
 of them. There was nothing over-sentimenta] or 
 ostentatiously religious in the atmosphere of Stock- 
 well. It was a religious home, but there was as 
 little cant in its management as Sanscrit in its 
 schools. Nor were there any denominational pref- 
 erences in the election of those who were to share 
 its favors. Nothing would have been easier than 
 for Mr. Spurgeon to have made a denominational 
 institution of the orphanage. But Mr. Spurgeon's 
 heart was greater than any creed; in all such mat- 
 ters as this his sympathies were as universal as the 
 sorrows of the great family of suffering humanity. 
 And the fact that of the first 646 boys admitted to 
 Stockwell, 230 were the sons of members of the 
 Church of England, is a fact that proves better 
 than all words what a generous, catholic heart 
 this man possessed. 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 73 
 
 The sum presented by Mrs. Hillyard formed 
 only the nucleus of a grand endowment. Land 
 was bought in Stockwell and put in trust. Gen- 
 erous souls all over England vied with each other 
 in contributing to this laudable enterprise. The 
 happy home idea made the building of separate 
 houses desirable, and this afforded the opportunity 
 for churches and communities to combine, and 
 one after another the houses went up, and the 
 whole institution soon presented a beautiful and 
 picturesque appearance. There is "A Silver Wed- 
 ding House," "The Merchant's House," "Testimo- 
 nial Houses" from the Baptist Union, and the 
 "Workman's House." 
 
 Stockwell Orphanage is now one of the lions of 
 religious London. Philanthropists visiting the 
 great city mark it down side by side with the 
 famous Foundlings' Home, as a place not to be 
 missed. But Stockwell, to be seen in all its glory, 
 must be seen on Anniversary Day, or at Christ- 
 mas, with Mr. Spurgeon in the chair, and the 
 genial Vernon Charlesworth at his right hand. 
 There is a brief meeting, three or four very short 
 talks, aimed specially at the boys, and then the 
 day is given up to merriment. Games of all sorts 
 are enjoyed by the boys, and some of the elder 
 boys who have come to visit, and even reverend 
 boys, with gray hair and venerable looks, forget 
 their years and dignity and join the frolic. Mr. 
 Spurgeon is everywhere, beaming kindness with 
 every look, and inspiring affection with every word. 
 
74 SPURGEON 
 
 You will be sure to find him a dozen times in the 
 day by the big swimming bath, with a handful of 
 coppers, pitching them in for the boys to dive for, 
 and laughing at their frantic efforts till tears roll 
 down his cheeks for very gladness. A great crowd 
 of visitors, with their bright, gay summer attire, 
 makes the scene a sort of midsummer day-dream 
 on the southern border of smoky London. But 
 even such days come to an end. The boys are 
 gathered together, a few kindly words are spoken 
 by Mr. Spurgeon, a great cheer for Mr. Charles- 
 worth, a hymn, a short prayer, and the benedic- 
 tion, and then silence reigns over Stockwell. 
 
 But Christmas is also a great day at the orphan- 
 age. What a dinner for 500 hungry boys! Plum 
 puddings, such a size! And smoking hot! Roast 
 beef and mince pies ! And then — for every boy 
 a Christmas gift. A gentleman in the city pro- 
 vides for ever)- boy a small box of figs, another 
 generous soul puts a beautiful orange on every box 
 of figs, and another gentleman, who has something 
 to do with "The old lady in Thread-needle Street," 
 as the Bank of England is sometimes called, puts 
 on the fig-box a bright new shilling, straight from 
 the mint, that has never been in circulation. It 
 is a sight never to be forgotten to stand by Mr. 
 Spurgeon' s side in the dining-room of Stockwell 
 Orphanage, on Christmas day. The dinner is 
 served, every boy stands in his place, before him 
 on his plate is his box of figs, his orange, and his 
 "bright, new bob," a blessing is asked, and then, 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE ?7 
 
 as quick as a shot from a gun, every boy sits down 
 and begins to do his duty as a gallant young En- 
 glishman. For nearly twenty-five years this pro- 
 cession of fatherless boys, now numbering many 
 thousands, has gone on, enjoying these advantages 
 of home-life, these scenes of gladness, and so have 
 been fitted for the duties of life. 
 
 The unspeakable blessing this institution has 
 been can never be told. The number of boys who 
 have passed through can be told, and other mat- 
 ters can be tabulated, but the grand results elude 
 all figures. One of the purposes of the manage- 
 ment is to find positions in stores and factories, 
 in mills and railroads, for these boys as soon as 
 they are ready for work. And it is not too much 
 to say that there are thousands of young business 
 men in London to-day, and, indeed, all over the 
 country, and in other lands, who are doing well, 
 who are proud to own their indebtedness to "Spur- 
 geon's Orphanage" — as they will persist in calling 
 Stockwell — for the good start in life they received. 
 Some hundreds of these graduates from the orphan- 
 age are engaged in the work of the Christian minis- 
 try, others are lawyers, some doctors, and a few 
 have risen to prominent positions of public trust. 
 All the Stockwell boys have not turned out as well 
 as could be desired. In such large numbers it 
 could only be that here and there sad cases would 
 arise. But the fewness of these <has been quite 
 surprising. We cast our seed into the fruitful 
 soil, but every seed does not grow. The seed 
 
78 SPURGEON 
 
 sown by generous hands at Stockwell Orphanage 
 through a whole generation has brought forth a 
 glorious harvest, a harvest that will enrich the 
 world for generations to come. 
 
 The unstinted liberality of Mr. Spurgeon's 
 friends in the matter of the orphanage is really won- 
 derful. But the truth is Mr. Spurgeon never asked 
 unwisely for money, and the public soon had such 
 confidence in his judgment in all financial matters 
 that he always ^got what he asked for. And it 
 should be said that he never once took advantage 
 of that confidence. It cost about $50 a day to 
 provide for the orphanage. Mr. Spurgeon would 
 not go in debt ; but sometimes he came very near it. 
 It was not a very uncommon thing to hear him say 
 on Sunday at the Tabernacle: "Beloved! There 
 are only three shots left in the Orphanage locker. 
 It takes ;£io a day to keep those hungry boys. 
 This is the Lord's work — and yours." Nothing 
 more was needed. The money always came. The 
 Metropolitan Tabernacle, and all its associate 
 organizations, was quite as grand a financial as a 
 religious success. 
 
 John B. Gough, the great Apostle of Temper- 
 ance, paid a visit to the orphanage, which he thus 
 describes: 
 
 "I would like to give you one incident to illus- 
 trate the man in his greatness and simplicity. He 
 wished me to visit his Boys' Orphanage at Stock- 
 well. I could go only on Saturday, and his note 
 to me was characteristic: 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 79 
 
 "'Beloved friend: — Although I never go out on 
 Saturdays — my horses, being under the law and 
 not under grace, keep the seventh-day Sabbath — 
 yet we will arrange to visit, ' etc. 
 
 "A beautiful day it was, for London, as we rode 
 together, chatting all the way. The history of the 
 orphanage is intensely interesting. The com- 
 mencement was a sum of $100,000 to Mr* Spur- 
 geon, from a lady, to commence an orphanage for 
 fatherless boys. All the money that has been 
 expended has been raised by voluntary contribu- 
 tions, and the $100,000 is invested as an endow- 
 ment. 
 
 "When we entered the grounds, the boys set 
 up a shout of joy at the sight of their benefactor. 
 
 "I asked, 'What are the requirements for admis- 
 sion?' 
 
 "He said, 'Utter destitution. Nothing denomi- 
 national. We have more of the Church of England 
 than of the Baptists. We have Roman Catholics, 
 Presbyterians, Methodists — all sorts. ' 
 
 "After the boys had gone through their gym- 
 nastic exercises and military drill, I spoke a few 
 words to them. Mr. Spurgeon was like a great 
 boy among boys. 
 
 "He said, 'There are 240 boys — only think! 
 How many pence are there in a shilling?' 
 
 " 'Twelve. ' 
 
 "•Right. How many shillings in a pound?' 
 
 " 'Twenty. ' 
 
 "'Right. Twelve times twenty, how many?' 
 
 " 'Two hundred and forty. ' 
 
80 SPURGEON 
 
 "'That's a penny apiece each boy.' 
 
 " 'Here, Mr. Charlesworth, ' handing him a sov- 
 ereign, 'give these boys a penny apiece;' when a 
 shrill, hearty hurrah was given, as Mr. Spurgeon 
 turned away with a laugh of keen enjoyment. 
 
 " 'Will you go to the infirmary? We have an 
 infirmary and quarantine; for sometimes the poor 
 creatures we take in need a good deal of purifying. 
 We have one boy very ill with consumption; he 
 cannot live, and I wish to see him, for he would 
 be disappointed if he knew I had been here and 
 had not seen him.' 
 
 "We went into the cool and sweet chamber, 
 and there lay the boy. He was very much excited 
 when he saw Mr. Spurgeon. The great preacher 
 sat by his side, and I cannot describe the scene. 
 Holding the boy's hand in his, he said: 
 
 " 'Well, my dear, you have some precious 
 promises in sight all round the room. Now, dear, 
 you are going to die, and you are very tired lying 
 here, and soon will be free from all pain, and you 
 will rest. Nurse, did he rest last night?' 
 
 " 'He coughed very much. ' 
 
 " 'Ah, my dear boy, it seems very hard for you 
 to lie here all day in pain, and cough at night. 
 Do you love Jesus?' 
 
 " 'Yes. ' 
 
 "'Jesus loves you. He bought you with His 
 precious blood, and He knows what is best for 
 you. It seems hard for you to lie here and listen 
 to the shouts of the healthy boys outside at play. 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 8 1 
 
 But soon Jesus will take you home, and then He 
 will tell you the reason, and you will be so glad. ' 
 
 "Then, laying his hand on the boy, without the 
 formality of kneeling, he said: 'O Jesus, Master, 
 this dear child is reaching out his thin hand to find 
 Thine. Touch him, dear Savior, with Thy loving, 
 warm clasp. Lift him as he passes the cold river, 
 that his feet be not chilled by the water of death; 
 take him home in Thine own good time. Comfort 
 and cherish him till that good time comes. Show 
 him Thyself as he lies here, and let him see Thee, 
 and know Thee more and more as his loving 
 Savior. ' 
 
 "After a moment's pause, he said, 'Now, dear, 
 is there anything you would like? Would you 
 like a little canary in a cage, to hear him sing in 
 the morning? Nurse, see that he has a canary 
 to-morrow morning. Good-bye, my dear; you 
 will see the Savior, perhaps, before I shall.' 
 
 "I have seen Mr. Spurgeon hold by his power 
 6, 500 persons in a breathless interest; I knew him 
 as a great man universally esteemed and beloved; 
 but as he sat by the bedside of a dying pauper 
 child, whom his beneficence had rescued, he was 
 to me a greater and grander man than when sway- 
 ing the mighty multitude at his will." 
 
 The last page in the history of Mr. Spurgeon' s 
 love for his "dear Stockwell boys" is exceedingly 
 pathetic. Christmas, as has been said, was always 
 a great time at the orphanage. But the Christ- 
 mas of 1 89 1 was clouded with sad apprehensions 
 
82 SPURGEON 
 
 in which even the youngest boys seemed to share. 
 Mr. Spurgeon had gone to Mentone, in the south 
 of France, hoping that the milder climate might 
 bring back his strength, but the hope was feeble, 
 and every day prayers were offered in the orphan- 
 age for his recovery. The fact that they were 
 permitted to send a Christmas letter to their 
 absent pastor and friend — for Mr. Spurgeon was 
 regarded as pastor of the orphanage as well as the 
 Tabernacle — was a great joy to the boys and girls 
 at Stockwell, and along with their letter they sent 
 a little flower, which they asked him to be sure 
 and wear on Christmas day, that he might be 
 reminded all day long how dearly they loved him. 
 All their kindness had been anticipated. Mr. 
 Charlesworth, the master of the orphanage, re- 
 ceived a letter from Mr. Spurgeon to be read to the 
 boys on Christmas day. It was the last message 
 of love they were ever to receive from him. And, 
 though a little lengthy, we venture to give it here, 
 for it shows the inner heart of this friend of the 
 fatherless. It is worthy in all respects to be placed 
 side by side with Martin Luther's celebrated letter 
 to his son Hans. It breathes the same spirit, 
 it comes from as great a heart. 
 
 The Christmas dinner was over, and, in a still- 
 ness that seemed strangely sad in such an hour and 
 with such an audience, Mr. Spurgeon's last letter 
 was read. It ran thus: 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 83 
 
 "Mentone, December 21, 1891. 
 "Dear Boys and Girls: — 
 
 "I send you all my love as far as the post 
 eaii carry love at two-pence half-penny for an 
 ounce. I wish you a glorious Christmas. I might 
 have said 'A jolly Christmas!' if we had all been 
 boys; but, as some of us are girls, I will be proper 
 and say 'A merry Christmas!' Enjoy yourselves, 
 and feel grateful to the kind friends who find money 
 to keep the Stockwell Orphanage supplied. Bless 
 their loving hearts, they never let you want for 
 anything. May they have pleasure in seeing you 
 all grow up to be good men and women. Feel 
 very grateful also to the trustees. These gentle- 
 men are always at work arranging for your good. 
 Give them three times three. Then there are Mr. 
 Charlesworth, Mr. Ladds, and all the masters and 
 the matrons. Each one of them deserves your love 
 and gratitude and obedience. They try to do you 
 good; try to cheer them all you can. I should 
 like you to have a fine day, such a day as we have 
 here; but, if not, you will be bright and warm in- 
 doors. Three cheers for those who give us the 
 good things for this festival ! I want you for a 
 moment in the day to be all still and spend the 
 time in thanking our heavenly Father and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ for the great goodness shown to 
 you and to me, and then pray for me, that I may 
 get quite well again. Mrs. Spurgeon and I both 
 send our love to all the Stockwell family. 
 "Yours very heartily, 
 
 "C. H. Spurgeon," 
 
84 SPURGEON 
 
 Once a year, on Mr. Spurgeon's birthday, a fes- 
 tival is held in the Orphanage grounds, at which 
 large offerings are brought by many friends. It 
 has been our privilege to attend many of these 
 gatherings, and in one house at least this fete is 
 always a day of joy, anticipated with pleasure, and 
 enjoyed most thoroughly. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, we may mention the 
 fact that recently Mr. Charlesworth and a band of 
 the orphans have visited most of the chief towns 
 in the United Kingdom. They give a hand-bell 
 entertainment, which is interspersed with recita- 
 tions. The author ventures to suggest that Chris- 
 tian churches might materially assist this most 
 beneficent design by inviting Mr. Charlesworth and 
 his band to plead the cause of this institution. 
 From the experience of more than one visit, the 
 writer can testify to the delight with which the pub- 
 lic appreciate the efforts of the boys. 
 
 The unsectarian character of this institution 
 will be seen when the following table is ex- 
 amined. It will be especially noticed, that stanch 
 as Mr. Spurgeon is in his own beliefs — and he is 
 most intensely a Baptist — the Stockwell Orphanage 
 is not a sectarian institution. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS PROFESSION OF THE PARENTS OF THE 
 ORPHANS 
 
 Church of England . . • . . 585 
 
 Baptist 387 
 
 Congregational . • . . , .160 
 
THE STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE 
 
 85 
 
 Wesleyan 
 
 • • • 
 
 140 
 
 Presbyterian 
 
 > • • • 
 
 . 28 
 
 Brethren . 
 
 • • » 
 
 9 
 
 Roman Catholic . 
 
 • • • • 
 
 3 
 
 Moravian . 
 
 • • • 
 
 2 
 
 Bible Christian 
 
 • • • • 
 
 2 
 
 Society of Friends 
 
 • • • 
 
 2 
 
 Salvation Army . 
 
 » • • • 
 
 1 
 
 Not specified 
 
 . 
 
 194 
 
 In later years girls have been admitted to this in- 
 stitution. Mr. Spurgeon exercised a great deal of 
 careful thought on this subject. In this matter, 
 as all others that he deemed important, he was 
 never impulsive. And to some ardent spirits, who 
 thought him now and again a little tardy, he had 
 one reply that admitted of no argument: "Thus 
 saith the Lord, the righteous shall not make haste." 
 
 Of Mr. Spurgeon, more than of most men, it 
 may be said: "He made haste slowly, and there- 
 fore surely." For some years the girls have shared 
 with the boys the advantages of Stockwell. The 
 experiment was tried as an experiment and has 
 proved a success. 
 
86 
 
 SPURGEON 
 
 MR. SPURGEON'S PARABLE OF HIS WIFE 
 
 I saw in my dream a man worn and weary with 
 working the handle of a pump, from which no 
 water came. Hard by was his garden, and all 
 the flowers and plants were pining for water, but 
 he had none to give them. Then I saw a woman 
 coming toward him, bearing a pitcher of water. 
 She stopped and spoke cheerily to the weary one; 
 and anon she smilingly poured the contents of her 
 pitcher down the pump, and immediately it began 
 to work, and pour forth waters of its jown. How 
 the husbandman blessed her! 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MRS. SPURGEON 
 
 " A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." 
 
 — Solomon. 
 
 " The fountain of joy is fed by tears, 
 
 And love is lit by the breath of sighs; 
 
 The deepest griefs and the saddest tears 
 Have holiest ministries." 
 
 — Josiah G. Holland. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances this tribute to the 
 memory of Mr. Spurgeon would have been com- 
 pleted without any reference to those sacred rela- 
 tions which constitute a sanctuary into which no 
 stranger should intrude. But the circumstances 
 are special, and demand a reference, however brief. 
 Mrs. Spurgeon has been for a quarter of a century 
 a greater sufferer than her late husband. Through 
 all those years of pain and seclusion, she was able 
 to minister greatly by her sympathy to the fullness 
 and gentleness of Mr. Spurgeon's character and 
 work. She was "the still, small voice" ever at his 
 side, so strong to soothe, to comfort and encour- 
 age, when "the heart failed and the hands of his 
 arms grew feeble." None will ever know how 
 much the strong man owed, even in his strongest 
 hours, to the tender ministries of the quiet sufferer. 
 
 In later years, a door of practical usefulness 
 opened, and from her sick chamber Mrs. Spur- 
 
 87 
 
55 SPURGEON 
 
 geon was enabled to take charge of a Book Fund, 
 by which the sparse libraries of hundreds of poor 
 ministers and students were increased. This work 
 was touched with the spirit of romantic success 
 that seemed to mark all the work connected, nearly 
 or remotely, with the Metropolitan Tabernacle. 
 What manner of woman Mrs. Spurgeon is, may be 
 gathered from a single incident, which she describes 
 with tender pathos: 
 
 "A curious little incident happened lately during 
 a time of prolonged sickness. At the close of a 
 very dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my 
 couch as the deeper night drew on, and though all 
 was bright within my cozy little room, some of the 
 external darkness seemed to have entered into my 
 soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I 
 tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and 
 guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and 
 slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I 
 asked, 'Why does my Lord thus deal with His 
 child? Why does He so often send sharp and 
 bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit 
 lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I 
 long to render to His poor servants?' These fret- 
 ful questions were quickly answered, and, though 
 in a strange language, no interpreter was needed 
 save the conscious whisper of my own heart. For 
 a while silence reigned in the little room, broken 
 only by the crackling of the oak log burning on 
 the hearth. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, 
 a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of 
 
MRS. SPURGEON 
 
MRS. SPURGEON Ql 
 
 a robin beneath my window. 'What can that be?' 
 I said to my companion, who was dozing in the 
 firelight; 'surely no bird can be singing out there 
 at this time of the year and night. ' We listened, 
 and again heard the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, 
 so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke 
 for a moment our undisguised wonder. Presently 
 my friend exclaimed, 'It comes from the log on 
 the fire!' and we soon ascertained that her sur- 
 prised assertion was correct. The fire was letting 
 loose the imprisoned music from the old oak's 
 inmost heart! Perchance he had garnered up this 
 song in the days when all went well with him, 
 when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and 
 the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with 
 gold. But he had grown old since then, and hard- 
 ened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed 
 up the lorig-forgotten melody, until the fierce 
 tongues of the flames came to consume his callous- 
 ness, and the vehement heat of the fire wrung 
 from him at once a song and a sacrifice. Ah, 
 thought I, when the fire of affliction draws songs 
 of praise from us, then indeed are we purified, and 
 our God is glorified ! Perhaps some of us are like 
 this old oak log, cold, hard and insensible; we 
 should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not 
 for the fire which kindles round us, and releases 
 tender notes of trust in Him, and cheerful com- 
 pliance with His will. 'As I mused the fire burned, ' 
 and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable 
 so strangely set forth before me. Singing in the 
 
92 SPURGEON 
 
 fire. Yes. God helping us, if that is the only 
 way to get harmony out of these hard, apathetic 
 hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hot- 
 ter than before." 
 
 To the early home where the boys were born 
 and reared Mrs. Spurgeon became greatly attached. 
 And when the time came to leave Nightingale 
 Lane for Westwood, she wrote in the following 
 strain of the dear old home: 
 
 "The heart yearns over a place endeared by an 
 intimate acquaintance of twenty-three years, and 
 full of happy or solemn associations. Every nook 
 and corner, both of house and garden, abounds 
 with sweet or sorrowful memories, and the remem- 
 brance of manifold mercies clings like a rich 
 tapestry to the walls of the desolate rooms. On 
 this spot nearly a quarter of a century of blissful 
 wedded life has been passed, and, though both 
 husband and wife have been called to suffer severe 
 physical pain and months of weakness within its 
 boundary, our home has been far oftener a 'Bethel' 
 to us than a 'Boachim. ' The very walls might cry 
 out against us as ungrateful, did we not silence 
 them by our ceaseless thanksgiving; for the Lord 
 has here loaded us with benefits, and consecrated 
 every inch of space with tokens of His great lov- 
 ing-kindness. The sun of His goodness has photo- 
 graphed every portion of our dear home upon our 
 hearts, and though other lights and shadows must 
 be reflected there in coming days, they can never 
 obliterate the sweet images which grateful memory 
 
MRS. SPURGEON 93 
 
 will jealously preserve. Tender remembrances will 
 render indelible the pictures of the sick-chamber, 
 which so many times had almost been the gate of 
 heaven to our spirit; the little room tenderly fitted 
 up by a husband's careful love, and so often the 
 scene of a scarcely hoped-for convalescence; the 
 study, sacred to the pastor's earnest work, and 
 silent witness of wrestlings and communings known 
 only to God and his own soul. In this room," 
 adds Mrs. Spurgeon, "by desire of the incoming 
 tenants, has been placed the following inscription, 
 written by Mr. Spurgeon: 
 
 " < Farewell, fair room! I leave thee to a friend! 
 Peace dwell with him, and all his kin. 
 May angels evermore the house defend, 
 Their Lord hath often been within."' 
 
 The following lines from Mrs. Spurgeon's pen 
 admit us into the inner sanctuary of the home: 
 
 "For some time past it has been the dear pas- 
 tor's custom, as soon as the texts for the Lord's- 
 day's services have been given by the 'Master, ' to 
 call me into the study, and permit me to read the 
 various commentaries on the subject-matter in 
 hand. Never was occupation more delightful, 
 instructive and spiritually helpful. My heart has 
 often burned within me as the meaning of some 
 passage of God's Word has been opened up, and 
 the hidden stores of wisdom and knowledge have 
 been revealed ; or when the marrow and fatness of 
 a precious promise or doctrine has been spread like 
 a dainty banquet before my admiring eyes. Shall 
 I ever forget those solemn evenings, when the 
 
94 SPURGEON 
 
 sufferings of the Lord Jesus were the theme of tear- 
 ful meditation ? When, with love and grief our heart 
 dividing, we followed Him through the night on 
 which He was betrayed, weeping like the daughters 
 of Jerusalem, and saying, 'There never was sorrow 
 like unto this sorrow;' or the more rapturous time 
 when the exceeding riches of His grace was to be 
 the topic for the morrow, and we were fairly bewil- 
 dered by the inexhaustible treasures of love and 
 grace to be found in that fair 'land of Havilah, 
 where there is gold!' 
 
 "Then come delightful pauses in my reading, 
 when the book is laid down, and I listen to the 
 dear voice of my beloved as he explains what I 
 cannot understand, or unfolds meanings which I 
 should fail to see, often condensing into a few 
 clear, choice sentences whole pages of those dis- 
 cursive old divines in whom he delights, and press- 
 ing from the gathered thoughts all the richest nec- 
 tar of their hidden sweetness. Thus a poor pris- 
 oner has the first sip of the wines on the lees, well 
 refined, the first morsel from the loaves with which 
 the thousands are to be fed and refreshed on the 
 morrow. How can I sufficiently thank God for 
 this drink of the brook by the way, this holy place 
 within my home, where I find the Lord deigns to 
 meet with me, and draw out my heart in adora- 
 tion and worship ? Lord, I bless and praise Thee, 
 that thus Thou hast most blessedly fulfilled Thine 
 own words, 'I will not leave you comfortless. I 
 will come unto you. '" 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 
 
 14 Variety is the very spice of life 
 That gives it all its flavor." 
 
 — William Cewper. 
 
 " Life is arched with changing skies; 
 Rarely are they what they seem; 
 Children we, of smiles and sighs — 
 Much we know, but more we dream." 
 
 — William Winter. 
 
 Every history has its romance, every life its 
 laughter and its tears. There are episodes in 
 every human story full of interest, and anecdotes 
 full of charm. In Mr. Spurgeon's life these 
 abounded. Many thousands who love the very 
 name of the great preacher will be glad to read 
 every anecdote, and learn every detail of his busy 
 life; not because they are curious, but because 
 every memory of him is a priceless treasure. 
 
 MR. KNILL'S PROPHECY CONCERNING MR. SPURGEON 
 
 The story of Mr. Knill prophesying when Mr. 
 Spurgeon was only a boy that he would live to be 
 a great preacher, has been often referred to 
 somewhat critically. In the last book Mr. Spur- 
 geon wrote he gives the following detailed account 
 of the matter: 
 
 "The story of Mr. Knill' s prophesying that I 
 95 
 
g6 SPURGEON 
 
 should preach the gospel in Rowland Hill's 
 Chapel, and to the largest congregations in the 
 world, has been regarded by many as a legend, 
 but it was strictly true. Mr. Knill took the county 
 of Essex in the year 1844, and traversed the 
 region from town to town, as a deputation for the 
 London Missionary Society. In the course of that 
 journey he spent a little time at Stambourne par- 
 sonage. In his heart burned the true missionary 
 spirit, for he sought the souls of young and old, 
 whenever they came in his way. He was a great 
 soul winner, and he soon spied out the boy. He 
 said to me, 'Where do you sleep? For I want to 
 call you up in the morning. ' I showed him my 
 little room, and he took good note of it. At six 
 o'clock he called me up. There stood in my grand- 
 father's garden two arbors made of yew trees, 
 cut into sugar-loaf fashion. Though the old manse 
 has given way to a new one, and the old chapel 
 has gone also, yet the yew trees flourish as afore- 
 time. We went into the right-hand arbor, and 
 there, in the sweetest way, he told me of the love 
 of Jesus, and of the blessedness of trusting in him 
 and loving him in our childhood. With many a 
 story he preached Christ to me, and told me how 
 good God had been to him, and then he prayed 
 that I might know the Lord and serve him. He 
 knelt down in that arbor and prayed for me with 
 his arms about my neck. He did not seem con- 
 tent unless I kept with him in the interval be- 
 tween the services. He heard my childish talk 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 9? 
 
 with patient love, and repaid it with gracious in- 
 struction. On three successive days he taught me 
 and prayed with me, and before he had to leave, 
 my grandfather had come back from the place 
 where he had gone to preach, and all the family 
 were gathered to morning prayer. Then, in the 
 presence of them all, Mr. Knill took me on his 
 knee, and said, 'This child will one day preach the 
 gospel, and he will preach it to great multitudes. 
 I am persuaded that he will preach in the chapel of 
 Rowland Hill, where (I think he said) I am now 
 the minister. ' He spoke very solemnly, and called 
 upon all present to witness what he said. Then 
 he gave me sixpence as a reward if I would learn 
 the hymn 
 
 " ' God moves in a mysterious way 
 His wonders to perform.' " 
 
 "I was made to promise that when I preached in 
 Rowland Hill's Chapel chat hymn should be sung. 
 Think of that as a promise from a child! Would it 
 ever be other than an idle dream? Years flew by. 
 After I had begun for some little time to preach in 
 London, Dr. Alexander Fletcher was engaged to 
 deliver the annual sermon to children in Surrey 
 Chapel; but, as he was taken ill, I was asked in a 
 hurry to preach to the children in his stead. ' Yes, ' 
 I replied, 'I will, if you will allow the children to 
 sing, "God moves in a mysterious way." I have 
 made a promise long ago that that hymn should be 
 sung.' And so it was. I preached in Rowland 
 Hill's Chapel, and the hymn was sung. My emo- 
 
98 SPURGFCN 
 
 tions on that occasion I cannot describe, for the 
 word of the Lord's servant was fulfilled. Still I 
 fancy that Surrey was not the chapel which Mr. 
 Knill intended. How was I to go to the country 
 chapel? All unsought by me, the minister at Wot- 
 ton-under-Edge, which was Mr. Hill's summer 
 residence, invited me to preach there. I went on 
 the condition that the congregation should sing, 
 'God moves in a mysterious way' — which was also 
 done. To me it was a very wonderful thing, and 
 I no more understood at that time how it came to 
 pass than I understand to-day why the Lord should 
 be so gracious to me." 
 
 MR. SPURGEON AND HIS GRANDFATHER TAKE TURNS 
 AT PREACHING A SERMON 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon always rejoiced that he and all his 
 house were faithful to the doctrines of grace. One 
 of his favorite texts was from Paul's epistle to the 
 Ephesians: "For by grace are ye saved through 
 faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of 
 God." Not once or twice or thrice, but a thou- 
 sand times and more, has Mr. Spurgeon preached 
 from this text. One of these occasions is marked 
 by a unique order that must have been highly in- 
 teresting to those present. But Mr. Spurgeon 
 shall tell the story in his own words: "Within 
 the circle of these words 'By grace are ye saved, ' 
 my theology is contained, so far as it refers to the 
 salvation of men. I rejoice also to remember that 
 those of my family who were ministers of Christ 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 99 
 
 before me preached this doctrine, and none other. 
 My father, who is still able to bear his personal 
 testimony for his Lord, knows no other doctrine, 
 neither did his father before him. 
 
 "I am led to remember this by the fact that a 
 somewhat singular circumstance, recorded in my 
 memory, connects this text with myself and my 
 grandfather. It is now long years ago. I was 
 announced to preach in a growing country town 
 in the eastern counties. It does not often hap- 
 pen to me to be behind time, for I feel that punct- 
 uality is one of those little virtues which may pre- 
 vent great sins. But we have no control over 
 railways and break-downs; and so it happened 
 that I reached the appointed place at Haverhill 
 considerably behind time. Like sensible people, 
 they had begun their worship, and had proceeded 
 as far as the sermon. As I neared the chapel, I per- 
 ceived that someone was in the pulpit preaching, 
 and who should the preacher be but my dear and 
 venerable grandfather! He saw me as I came in 
 at the front door and made my way up the aisle, 
 and at once he said, 'Here comes my grandson! 
 He may preach the gospel better than I can, but 
 he cannot preach a better gospel ; can you, Charles ? ' 
 As I made my way through the throng, I answered, 
 'You can preach better than I can. Pray go on.' 
 But he would not agree to that. I must take the 
 sermon, and so I did, going on with the subject 
 there and then, just where he left off. 'There,' 
 said he, 'I was preaching on "For by grace are ye 
 
IOO SPURGEON 
 
 saved," I have been setting forth the source and 
 fountain-head of salvation; and lam now showing 
 them the channel of it, "through faith." Now, you 
 take it up, and go on. ' I am so much at home 
 with these glorious truths, that I could not feel 
 any difficulty in taking from my grandfather the 
 thread of his discourse, and joining my thread to 
 it, so as to continue without a break. Our agree- 
 ment in the things of God made it easy for us to 
 be joint-preachers of the same discourse. I went 
 on with 'through faith,' and then I proceeded to 
 the next point, 'and that not of yourselves. ' Upon 
 this I was explaining the weakness and inability of 
 human nature, and the certainty that salvation 
 could not be of ourselves, when I had my coat- 
 tail pulled, and my well-beloved grandsire took 
 his turn again. When I spoke of our depraved 
 human nature, the good old man said, 'I know 
 most about that, dear friends;' and so he took up 
 the parable, and for the next five minutes set forth 
 a solemn and humbling description of our lost 
 estate, the depravity of our nature, and the spirit- 
 ual death under which we were found. When he 
 had said his say in a very gracious manner, his 
 grandson was allowed to go on again, to the dear 
 old man's great delight; for now and then he would 
 say, in a gentle tone, 'Good! Good!' Once he said, 
 'Tell them that again, Charles,' and of course I 
 did tell them that again. It was a happy exercise 
 to me to take my share in bearing witness to truths 
 of such vital importance, which are so deeply im- 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES IOI 
 
 pressed upon my heart. While announcing this 
 text I seem to hear that dear voice, which has 
 been so long lost to earth, saying tome, 'Tell 
 them that again. ' I am not contradicting the 
 testimony of forefathers who are now with God. 
 If my grandfather could return to earth, he would 
 find me where he left me, steadfast in the faith, 
 and true to that form of doctrine which was once 
 for all delivered to the saints. 
 
 "I preach the doctrines of grace because I believe 
 them to be true; because I see them in the Script- 
 ures; because my experience endears them to me; 
 and because I see the holy result of them in the 
 lives of believers. I confess they are none the less 
 dear to me because the advanced school despises 
 them; their censures are to me a commendation. 
 I confess also that I should never think the better 
 of a doctrine because it was said to be 'new.' 
 Those truths which have enlightened so many ages 
 appear to me to be ordained to remain throughout 
 eternity. The doctrine which I preach to you is 
 that of the Puritans; it is the doctrine of Calvin, 
 the doctrine of Augustine, the doctrine of Paul, the 
 doctrine of the Holy Ghost. The Author and 
 Finisher of our faith himself taught most blessed 
 truth which well agreed with our text. The doc- 
 trine of grace is the substance of the testimony of 
 Jesus." 
 
 THE MESSAGE ON MIDSUMMER COMMON 
 
 The pastor of the Tabernacle was a Puritan in 
 
102 SPURGEON 
 
 heart, in method, and often in experience. It was 
 no uncommon thing for Cromwell and Bunyan and 
 George Fox to hear, or seem to hear, voices in the 
 important periods of their history, urging them along 
 the path they ought to tread. Such an experience 
 Mr. Spurgeon describes as occurring in connection 
 with the important question of a collegiate educa- 
 tion. He too, heard, or seemed to hear, a voice. 
 He says: — 
 
 "Still holding to the idea of entering the colle- 
 giate institution, I thought of writing and making 
 an immediate application; but this was not to be. 
 That afternoon, having to preach at a village 
 station, I walked slowly, in a meditating frame of 
 mind, over Midsummer Common to the little 
 wooden bridge which leads to Chesterton, and in 
 the midst of the common I was startled by what 
 seemed to me to be a loud voice, but which may 
 have been a singular illusion: whichever it was, 
 the impression it made on n^ mind was most vivid. 
 I seemed very distinctly to hear the words, 'Seek- 
 est thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!' 
 This led me to look at my position from a different 
 point of view, and to challenge my motives and 
 intentions. I remembered my poor but loving 
 people to whom I ministered, and the souls which 
 had been given me in my humble charge; and 
 although at that time I anticipated obscurity and 
 poverty as the result of the resolve, yet I did there 
 and then renounce the offer of collegiate instruc- 
 tion, determining to abide for a season, at least, 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES IO3 
 
 with my people, and to remain preaching the Word 
 so long as I had strength to do it. Had it not 
 been for those words, I had not been where I am 
 now. Although the ephod is no longer worn by a 
 ministering priest, the Lord guides His people ' by 
 His wisdom, and orders all their paths in love; 
 and in times of perplexity, by ways mysterious 
 and remarkable, He says to them: 'This is the 
 way; walk ye in it.'" 
 
 MR. SPURGEON IN THE COLISEUM 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon was quite a favorite speaker on 
 the platform of the British and Foreign Bible Soci- 
 ety. In this great work he was heart and soul with 
 the Church of England. On one of these occasions 
 he prefaced his address by relating an incident 
 which occurred to him three years previously, which 
 is as follows. Sitting in the Coliseum at Rome 
 with two or three friends, he said: 
 
 "Is it not glorious to look at this old ruin and 
 see how Christ has conquered here; how all these 
 ruins tell what desolations He hath made in the 
 earth; how He breaketh the bow and scattereth 
 the spear in sunder? So I said, 'Let us have a 
 tune,' and we sang the verse, — 
 
 " 'Jesus' tremendous name 
 
 Has put our foes to flight; 
 Jesus, the meek, the humble lamb, 
 A lion is in fight.' 
 
 Up came two strangers, and said, 'What is that 
 you are singing? Let us join you.' One was an 
 American and the other an English clergyman, and 
 we sang together the next verse, — 
 
104 SPURGEON 
 
 " * By all hell's host withstood, 
 
 We all hell's host o'erthrow; 
 And conquering them through Jesus' blood, 
 We still to conquer go.' 
 
 And so we shall mark our track by the ruin of 
 our adversaries; they shall only be remembered 
 by the place which they once inhabited, which shall 
 be a desolation and the habitation of the bittern 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 THE CABMAN AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 "I have very seldom found it to be a lost thing 
 to give a present of a Testament. I was greatly 
 astonished about a month ago. A cabman drove 
 me home, and when I paid him his fare, he said: 
 'A long time since I drove you last, sir!' 'But,' 
 said I, 'I do not recollect you!' 'Well,' he said, 
 'I think it is fourteen years ago; but,' he said, 
 'perhaps you will know this Testament!' pulling 
 one out of his pocket. 'What, ' I said, 'did I give 
 you that?' 'Oh, yes,' he said, 'and you spoke to 
 me about my soul, and nobody had done that 
 before, and I have never forgotten it. ' 'What, ' 
 said I, 'haven't you worn it out?' 'No,' he said, 'I 
 would not wear it out; I have had it bound!' — and 
 he had kept it very carefully indeed." 
 
 HOW THE APPLE GOT INTO THE BOTTLE 
 
 We remember well, in our early days, seeing 
 upon our grandmother's mantel-shelf an apple con- 
 tained in a phial. This was a great wonder to us, 
 and we tried to investigate it. Our question was, 
 'How came the apple to get inside so small a bot- 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES IO5 
 
 tie?' The apple was quite as big round as the 
 phial: by what means was it placed within it? 
 Though it 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 after- 
 ward united in so careful a manner that no trace 
 of the join remained. We were hardly satisfied 
 with the theory, but, as no philosopher was at hand 
 to suggest any other hypothesis, we let the matter 
 rest. One day the next summer we chanced to 
 see upon a 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, by means of 
 the Sabbath school, in the hope that in after days 
 they will love the place where His honor dwelleth, 
 and there seek and find eternal life. By our mak- 
 
106 SPURGEON 
 
 ing the Sabbath dreary, many young minds may 
 be prejudiced against religion. We would do the 
 reverse. Sermons should not be so long and dull 
 as to weary the young folk or mischief will come 
 of them; 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." 
 
 THE EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE 
 
 "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 per- 
 ceive 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 maga- 
 zine than I did. I cannot support his opinion 
 from personal experience. Another means of still- 
 ing 'the child' was much more effectual. I was 
 warned that perhaps grandpa would not be able 
 to preach if I distracted him, and then — ah, then 
 what would 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 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES IO7 
 
 one day see my face in that wonderful Evangelical 
 portrait-gallery. " 
 
 HOW MR. SPURGEON FIRED ALL HIS GUNS AT SEVEN 
 PEOPLE 
 
 "I was invited a good many years ago to preach 
 at Isleham in Cambridgeshire. My brother Aldis, 
 I think it was, preached in the afternoon, and I 
 was to preach in the evening. The people at Isle- 
 ham had such a belief that I should draw a congre- 
 gation that they went and borrowed the biggest 
 chapel in the place. I shall never forget it, because 
 I preached that morning at eleven o'clock to seven 
 persons. That was all I had, and I remember 
 that I told them it reminded me of the ducks. 
 Did you ever see ducks go through a door? You 
 never did see a duck go through a door without 
 ducking his head. They will do it even when they 
 go through a barn door. The door may be twenty" 
 feet high, but a duck never goes through without 
 putting his head down, for fear he might possibly 
 hit the top of the door. So I said, 'You were so 
 afraid of your place being overcrowded that you 
 borrowed that big place for seven people. ' I 
 preached that morning, and the brother who 
 preached in the afternoon said to me, T can't think 
 how you did it. You were as earnest and preached 
 as well as if you had had the place full. ' Yes, I 
 thought that it was the only chance of getting it 
 full in the evening when I had to preach again. So 
 I thought I would just lay all my guns out and fire 
 7 . 
 
108 SPURGEON 
 
 away with these few people. In the afternoon we 
 had a very decent audience of perhaps a hundred 
 or a hundred and fifty, but when I preached at 
 night there was not standing room in the place." 
 
 "your money or your life" 
 
 On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of January, 1882, a great 
 bazaar was held in the lecture hall of the Taber- 
 nacle, which in three days realized the sum of 
 £2,000 for the Girls' Orphanage. At the opening 
 of this bazaar, Mr. Spurgeon, in the course of his 
 speech, said, "When I was in Paris a short time 
 since, I saw no end of things — a whole Palais 
 Royale full of gewgaws and decorations. The 
 only article I bought was a rat-trap. I happen to 
 have some rats, and I saw quite a new sort of trap 
 there, which the English rats don't know. I bought 
 it out of love for them, and I hope they will find 
 it useful. Doubtless you may all manage to buy 
 here something that may be useful to you, and if 
 you buy an article that is not useful, put it out of 
 sight. We don't want to sell anything that is not 
 worth the money paid for it ; for we think that 
 such should not be the case when the object is to 
 benefit orphan children. When you leave here, 
 you need not be in the plight of the gentleman who 
 was met by footpads on his way home. 'Your 
 money or your life, ' demanded one of them. 'My 
 dear fellow, I have not a farthing about me. Do 
 you know where I have been?' asked the gentle- 
 man. T have been to a bazaar.' 'Oh, if you've 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 109 
 
 been to a bazaar, we should not think of taking 
 any money from you. We'll make a subscription 
 all round, and give you something to help you 
 home.' That is a bazaar as it ought not to be." 
 
 MR. SPURGEON AND THE SAILORS 
 
 "I venture to think," says Mr. Mathews of the 
 Sailors' Home, "the Metropolitan Tabernacle had 
 more sailors and sailor workers to this service than 
 ever before. The good manager of the Sailors' Home 
 sent up two wagon-loads, while Miss Macpherson's 
 lady friends marched at the head of a splendid col- 
 umn of hardy, well-dressed sailors. Very few ports 
 of the world were unrepresented, while captains, 
 officers, and missionaries helped to fill the first gal- 
 lery. Much prayer had been offered and enthusi- 
 asm awakened by Mr. Spurgeon having promised 
 to preach a sailors' sermon. At seven he came 
 down to his quarter-deck looking careworn and 
 overworked, as though he had been watching a 
 week in the Channel. But as he looked at his crew 
 on the starboard and port sides inspiration came, 
 and the buoyancy of his spirit returned. 
 
 "The intercessory prayer for those at sea and 
 those on shore waiting for missing ships, led many 
 hearts to the throne of grace. As to the sermon, 
 having graduated in God's university, the sea, with 
 wind and wave, rock and sand, sun and star, for 
 my professors, I would, as a qualified judge, pro- 
 nounce it A 1 at Lloyd's. It was simply first- 
 rate, and worthy of the great preacher and his 
 glorious theme, 'The sea is His, and He made it.'" 
 
IIO SPURGEON 
 
 THE COMFORTABLY MISERABLE 
 
 "I once had a letter from one who told me that 
 he came to the Tabernacle, but as soon as he 
 entered he felt it could not be the house of God 
 because there were so many present, and 'strait 
 is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto 
 life, and few there be that find it. ' When he 
 looked at me he felt sure that I was unsound, for 
 I should not look so cheerful in the face, neither 
 should I be so bulky in person, if I belonged to the 
 tried people of God. Worst of all, when he looked 
 round upon the congregation and saw their happy 
 countenances, he said to himself: 'These people 
 know nothing about the depravity of their hearts 
 or the inward struggles of believers. ' Then he in- 
 formed me that he wended his way to a very small 
 chapel, where he saw a minister who looked as if 
 he had been in the furnace, and though there were 
 but eight persons present, they all looked so de- 
 pressed that he felt quite at home. I suppose he 
 sat down and sang:- — 
 
 " ' My willing soul would stay 
 In such a frame as this, 
 And sit and sing herself away 
 From everything like bliss.' " 
 
 "I felt glad that the good man was enabled to 
 enjoy a little comfortable misery with his brethren. 
 I did not feel at all envious; nor do I think that 
 such a ministry of misery will ever draw to itself a 
 number that no man can number. The children 
 of light prefer the joy of the Lord, for they find it 
 to be their strength." 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES I 1 1 
 
 HOW THREE SINNERS KEPT THE GARDEN 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon loved his garden. His fancies 
 were as charming as the exotics themselves. His 
 sallies in the garden were sometimes inimitable. 
 "Are you ever troubled by these sinless people?" 
 he said to me one day. "We have a nest of them 
 here, and the craze had got in among the gar- 
 deners. I called up my three gardeners on Satur- 
 day week, and said to them, 'I have been observ- 
 ing you for some time. You come late and go 
 early, and, in the interval, you spoil my shrubs. 
 I don't want your services any more. I will have 
 my garden attended to by sinners for the future.'" 
 And he added quietly, "I have now three sinners, 
 and they are doing my garden beautifully." 
 
 "i'm glad you did not try it on any of the 
 deacons" 
 
 "I was a member of the church at Newmarket 
 when I first joined the church, and was afterward 
 transferred to the church at Cambridge, one of the 
 best in England. I attended for three Lord's days 
 at the communion, and nobody spoke to me. I 
 sat in a pew with a gentleman, and when I got 
 outside I said, 'My dear friend, how are you?' 
 
 "He said, 'You have the advantage of me; I 
 don't know you.' „ 
 
 "I said, 'I don't think I have, for I don't know 
 you. But when I came to the Lord's table and 
 partook of the memorials of His death, I thought 
 you were my brother, and I thought I would speak 
 to you. ' 
 
I 1 2 SPURGEON 
 
 "I was only sixteen years of age, and he said. 
 'Sweet simplicity 
 
 "'Oh, is it true, sir?' I said; 'is it true?' 
 
 "He said, 'It is; but I am glad you did not try 
 it on any of the deacons. ' He asked me home to 
 tea. 
 
 "I said I could not come that day; and he said, 
 'Come next Sunday, if you like. ' I agreed, and 
 for three years I was often in his house. 
 
 THE TEXT IN THE SHOEMAKER'S WINDOW 
 
 "In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in 
 London twelve months," says Mr. Spurgeon, "the 
 neighborhood was visited by Asiatic cholera, and 
 my congregation suffered from its inroads. Family 
 after family summoned me to the bedside of the 
 smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit 
 the grave. I gave myself up with youthful ardor 
 to the visitation of the sick, and was sent for from 
 all corners of the district by persons of all ranks 
 and religions. I became weary in body and sick at 
 heart. My friends seemed falling one by one, and 
 I felt or faniced that I was sickening like those 
 around me. A little more work and weeping would 
 have laid me low among the rest. I felt that my 
 burden was heavier than I could bear, and I was 
 ready to sink under it. As God would have it. 
 I was returning mournfully home from a funeral, 
 when my curiosity led me to read a paper which 
 was wafered up in a shoemaker's window in the 
 Dover Road. It did not look like a trade an- 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 113 
 
 nouncement, nor was it; for it bore in a good bold 
 handwriting these words: 'Because thou hast 
 made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most 
 High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall 
 thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy 
 dwelling. ' The effect upon my heart was immedi- 
 ate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. 
 I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I 
 went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm 
 and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I 
 suffered no harm. The Providence which moved 
 the tradesman to place those verses in his window 
 I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance 
 of its marvelous power I adore the Lord my God." 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon took a great fancy to those peri- 
 patetic venders of vegetables with which London 
 and its suburbs abound, known as "costermon- 
 gers." They are a merry, witty race of hearty 
 good fellows, very sensitive to any sign of kind- 
 ness. Mr. Spurgeon invited the costermongers of 
 South London to a supper in the school-room of 
 the Tabernacle, after which he gave them one of 
 his characteristic addresses, finding in their peculiar 
 calling ample illustrations of the truths he tried to 
 enforce. One of this fraternity, talking of the 
 meeting afterward, seemed to think that in Mr. 
 Spurgeon their particular profession had lost a 
 brilliant member. 
 
 "Wot a woice he's got! I never!" observed the 
 
114 SPURGEON 
 
 admiring costermonger. "Wot a woice! I tell 
 yer, he'd a made a wery fine coster he would, and 
 no bloomin' error!" 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon's voice was indeed a charm, and 
 the common people heard it gladly. 
 
 SPURGEON'S JOKE WITH THE PLYMOUTH BROTHER 
 
 In the year 1880 Mr. Spurgeon took a very 
 active part in politics, to the surprise of many of 
 his more sedate brethren. He tells the following 
 story of this period: 
 
 "I had to preach for my good old friend John 
 OfTord, who was half a Plymouth brother and half 
 a Baptist. I said to him, 'I should have been here 
 half an hour sooner, only I stopped to vote. ' 
 
 " 'My dear friend, ' he said, 'I thought you were 
 a citizen of the New Jerusalem, and not of this 
 world. ' 
 
 " 'So I am, ' I replied, 'but I have an old man in 
 me yet, and he is a citizen of the world. ' 
 
 " 'But you ought to mortify him. ' 
 
 "'So I do, for he's an old Tory and I make him 
 vote Liberal.'" 
 
 THE TEXT, THE SERMON, AND THE SMALL-POX 
 
 As a sermonizer Mr. Spurgeon belonged to the 
 old school, and he was sometimes a little severe on 
 the method of making a sermon a religious essay 
 that had very little to do with the text. He wanted 
 the sermon to be always an elucidation of the text. 
 On one occasion a student who had just delivered 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 1 1 5 
 
 himself of one of these ornate essays, shorn of the 
 old-fashioned "firstly, secondly and thirdly," and 
 having little to do with the text, which had been 
 used simply as a motto, asked Mr. Spurgeon for a 
 candid criticism. There was little need to ask him 
 to be candid, he was sure to be that. 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Spurgeon, "your sermon was 
 good and thoughtful, and safe, perfectly safe !" 
 
 "Safe!" replied the student, "I don't quite un- 
 derstand you, about the sermon being safe." 
 
 "Oh, well, I mean this," was the answer, "your 
 sermon had so little to do with your text, that if 
 the text had had the small-pox, the sermon would 
 not have caught it." 
 
 MR. SPURGEON A MATCH FOR THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 
 OFFICERS 
 
 In the year 1885 Mr. Spurgeon was passing from 
 France to Italy. When he reached the border the 
 fussy Italian agents wanted to seize some fruit he 
 had in his possession. A smile stole over Mr. 
 Spurgeon's face. He knew it was utterly in vain 
 to argue the point with them, and so he quietly 
 withdrew three or four paces into French territory 
 and, sitting down on his baggage, quietly ate the 
 fruit in full view of the officials, who could do 
 nothing but grind their teeth and use the choicest 
 Italian. 
 
 HOW THE BOY SPURGEON KILLED OLD RHODES 
 
 One of the members of the church at Stam- 
 bourne, named Rhodes, was in the habit of fre- 
 
Il6 SPURGEON 
 
 quenting the public-house, greatly to the grief of 
 his pastor. Little Charles had doubtless noticed 
 his grandfather's sorrow on this account, and laid 
 it to heart. One day he suddenly exclaimed, in 
 the hearing of Mr. Spurgeon, "I'D kill old Rhodes, 
 that I will!" '-Hush! hush! my dear," said his 
 grandfather, "you mustn't talk so; it's very wrong, 
 you know, and you'll get taken up by the police if 
 you do anything wrong." "Oh, but I shall not do 
 anything bad; but I'll kill him though, that I will." 
 The good grandfather was puzzled, but yet per- 
 fectly sure that the child would not do anything 
 which he knew to be wrong, so he let it pass with 
 some half-mental remark about "that strange 
 child." Shortly after, however, the above conver- 
 sation was brought to his mind bv the child com- 
 ing in and saying, "I've killed old Rhodes; he'll 
 never grieve my dear grandpa any more." "My 
 dear child," said Mr. Spurgeon, "what have you 
 done? Where have you been?" "I haven't been 
 doing any harm, grandpa," said the child; "I've 
 been about the Lord's work, that's all." Nothing 
 more could be elicited from little Charles. Before 
 long the mystery was explained. "Old Rhodes" 
 called to see his pastor, and. with downcast looks 
 and evident sorrow of heart, narrated the story of 
 how he had been killed, somewhat in this fashion: 
 "I'm very sorry indeed, my dear pastor, to have 
 caused you such grief and trouble. It was very 
 wrong, I know; but I always loved you, and 
 wouldn't have done it if I'd only thought." En- 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES II? 
 
 couraged by Mr. Spurgeon 's kind words, he went 
 on with his story thus: — "I was a-sitting in the 
 public, just having my pipe and mug of beer, when 
 that child comes in. To think an old man like me 
 should be took to task and reproved by a bit of a 
 child like that! Well, he points at me with his 
 finger just so, and says, 'What doest thou here, 
 Elijah? sitting with the ungodly, and you a mem- 
 ber of a church, and breaking your pastor's heart! 
 I'm ashamed of you! I wouldn't break my pastor's 
 heart, I'm sure.' And then he walks away. 
 Well, I did feel angry; but I knew it was all true, 
 and I was guilty; so I put down- my pipe, and did 
 not touch my beer, but hurried away to a lonely 
 spot, and cast myself down before the Lord, con- 
 fessing my sin and begging for forgiveness. And I 
 do know and believe the Lord in mercy pardoned 
 me; and now I've come to ask you to forgive me; 
 and I'll never grieve you any more, my dear pas- 
 tor." 
 
 "reverend, right reverend, very reverend" 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon has been handled severely by cer- 
 tain ecclesiastics for refusing the prefix "Rev." 
 Having received a letter addressed "To the Very 
 Rev. C. H. Spurgeon," he replied: 
 
 "I very much demur to the commencement, 'To 
 the Very Reverend C. H. Spurgeon, ' for no rever- 
 ence is due to me. Romaine used to say that it 
 was very astonishing to observe how many Rever- 
 end, Right Reverend, and Very Reverend sinners 
 
1 1 8 SPURGEON 
 
 there were upon the face of the earth. Assuredly 
 reverend and sinner make a curious combination, 
 and as I know that I am the second, I repudiate 
 the first. To me it is surprising that such a flat- 
 tering title should have been invented, and more 
 amazing still that good men should be found who 
 are angry if this title be not duly given to them." 
 
 Our American fondness for titles readily confers 
 degrees on him. But thus he dashes the D. D.'s 
 behind him: — 
 
 "Many times we meet in American newspapers 
 with our own name adorned or disfigured with a 
 doctor's degree. In a periodical we see, month 
 after month, an extract from 
 
 "The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, D. D. 
 
 "We like the prefix quite as well as the affix ; 
 that is to say, we detest them equally. Robert 
 Robinson wrote in his journal: 'Wondered how 
 any man could be so silly as to call me Reverend.' 
 Shall we not all wonder, in some more rational 
 condition of our brains, at a great many things 
 which we now admire?" 
 
 "god send me more leisure" 
 
 "Turner, the artist, said to one who interrupted 
 him with a question, 'There ! you have made me 
 lose fifty guineas!' Sir Walter Scott says in his 
 diary: 'Various visitors began to drop in. I was 
 sick of these interruptions. God send me more 
 leisure, and fewer friends to peck it away by tea- 
 spoonfuls. ' Others besides Sir Walter have had 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 119 
 
 to breathe this prayer. People call on a well- 
 known minister . out of the idlest curiosity, and 
 invent the most perverse excuses for dragging him 
 away from his work. One would think we were 
 wild beasts, to be stared at. Just as a sermon i s 
 shaping itself, in comes a pasteboard from an old 
 lady who has nothing on earth to do but to call 
 round on everybody she knows, and rob them of 
 their time, — wretched thief that she is. We have 
 seen her; and lo! another knock. No message 
 can be sent in, the party must see the minister 
 himself, as his business is strictly private — that 
 means begging. Here's another, whose pretended 
 errand is to ask if we knew the Rev. Mr. Jones, of 
 Llwwffi, for he was her mother's uncle's cousin by 
 marriage. Why should we be thus at every mor- 
 tal's beck and call, and have neither space for 
 meditation, nor time for devotion? People do not 
 call on doctors or lawyers at this rate, and our 
 time is quite as precious as theirs. We cannot 
 protect ourselves by fees, and yet if we do not see 
 everyone, there will be such an outcry. All we 
 can say is — they must cry, for we cannot neglect 
 our Master's business to play lackey to everybody 
 who is moved by the powers of darkness to call us 
 away from the Word of God and prayer." 
 
 THE DEAN STANLEY HOAX 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon had been on more than one occa- 
 sion the victim of a hoax. There are smart men 
 in England as well as in America. Sometimes 
 
1 20 SPURGEON 
 
 their arrows of smartness reach much further than 
 they intend. A notable instance of this occurred 
 early in Mr. Spurgeon's Tabernacle history. He 
 received one day a letter from the late Dean Stan- 
 ley, apologizing for his inability to dine with Mr. 
 Spurgeon on a given date, closing with words of 
 kindly Christian salutation, such as Dean Stanley 
 would be sure to write. This letter from West- 
 minster cloisters was quite a mystery to the non- 
 conformist of Newington Butts, from the fact that 
 he had not dreamed of sending the Dean any such 
 invitation. Mr. Spurgeon's good mother- wit stood 
 by him as it always did; he wrote a polite and 
 friendly letter to the Dean, saying there must be 
 some mistake, probably a hoax, as he had not 
 written or instructed the writing of any such invi- 
 tation. In closing, he said he could not apologize 
 for what he had not done, and then, with a touch 
 of humor, he slyly hinted that he half wished, as he 
 came to think of it, that the whole thing was true. 
 But the silly hoax did not end there. Dean Stan- 
 ley replied, inviting Mr. Spurgeon to Westminster, 
 and a friendship began that lasted to the end of 
 Stanley's life; and there can be no doubt that 
 if the Dean had been wholly free to follow the 
 bent of his inclinations, he would have invited Mr. 
 Spurgeon to preach in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 SHORT PRAYERS ON A COLD NIGHT 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon always had an aversion to long 
 prayers. It was his invariable method to urge his 
 
EPISODES AND ANECDOTES 121 
 
 brethren to be brief in prayer. On one very cold 
 night he made the following special plea for brev- 
 ity: 
 
 "Now it is a cold night, and if anybody prays 
 very long, somebody will be frozen to death. I 
 remember that Paul preached a long sermon once, 
 and a young man tumbled out of a window and 
 killed himself. If anybody gets frozen to-night, I 
 am not like Paul and cannot restore him; so please 
 don't render a miracle necessary, as I cannot per- 
 form it." 
 
 A RAP AT THE DEACONS 
 
 "I recollect being years ago in a church which 
 was almost defunct externally, and altogether 
 defunct internally, and after sermon, during which 
 I felt a terrible chill of soul, I went into the vestry, 
 and there I saw two important persons leaning 
 heavily against the fire-place. I said to them, 
 'Are you the deacons of the church?' They an- 
 swered, 'Yes, sir.' I replied, 'I thought so!' I 
 did not explain further. These pillars of the church 
 evidently needed propping up. Sluggish ease will 
 not do! Brethren, we must have life more abun- 
 dantly, each one of us, and it must flow out into all 
 the duties of our office: warm spiritual life must be 
 manifest in the prayer, in the singing, in the preach- 
 ing, and even in the shake of the hand and the 
 good word after service. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY — THE SALT CELLARS 
 
 " Good words are worth much and cost little." 
 
 — George Herbert. 
 
 " Because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people 
 knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in or- 
 der, many proverbs." — Solomon. 
 
 In the year 1889 Mr. Spurgeon published two 
 volumes entitled "Salt Cellars." They are com- 
 posed of proverbs from all nations, set in order, 
 and followed by racy comments almost as brief 
 and generally more pungent than the proverbs 
 themselves. These characteristic volumes are 
 specially useful for their suggestiveness. Preach- 
 ers, editors, authors, the wide world over, would 
 find these "Salt Cellars" a perpetual help. In the 
 preface to these gathered treasures of "Proverbial 
 Philosophy" Mr. Spurgeon says: — 
 
 For many years I have published a sheet alma- 
 nac, intended to be hung up in workshops and 
 kitchens. This has been known as "John Plough- 
 man's Almanack," and has had a large sale. It has 
 promoted temperance, thrift, kindness to animals, 
 and a regard for religion, among working people. 
 The placing of a proverb for every day for twenty 
 years has cost me great ]abor, and I feel that I 
 
 122 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY 1 23 
 
 cannot afford to lose the large collection of sen- 
 tences which I have thus brought together; yet 
 lost they would be, if left to die with the ephemeral 
 sheet. Hence these two volumes. They do not 
 profess to be a complete collection of proverbs, but 
 only a few out of many thousands. 
 
 The salt of proverbs is of great service if dis- 
 creetly used in sermons and addresses; and I 
 have hope that these salt cellars of mine may be 
 resorted to by teachers and speakers, and that 
 they may find them helpful. There are many 
 proverb books, but none exactly like these I 
 have not followed any one of the other collections, 
 although, of necessity, the most of the quaint say- 
 ings are the same as will be found in them. Some 
 of my sentences are quite new, and more are put 
 into a fresh form. The careful omission of all 
 that are questionable as to purity has been my 
 aim; but should any one of them, unknown to me, 
 have another meaning than I have seen in it, I 
 cannot help it, and must trust the reader to accept 
 the best and purest sense which it bears; for that 
 is what it meant to me. It is a pity that the salt 
 of a proverb should ever be unsavory; but, be- 
 yond doubt, in several of the best collections, 
 there are very questionable ones, which ought to 
 be forgotten. It is better to select than indiscrimi- 
 nately to collect. An old saying which is not clean 
 ought not to be preserved because of its age; but 
 it should, for that reason, be the more readily 
 dropped, since it must have done harm enough 
 8 
 
124 SPURGEON 
 
 already, and the sooner the old rottenness is buried 
 the better. 
 
 My homely notes are made up, as a rule, of 
 other proverbial expressions. They are intended 
 to give hints as to how the proverbs may be used 
 by those who are willing to flavor their speech 
 with them. I may not, in every case, have hit 
 upon the first meaning of the maxims; possibly, 
 in some instances, the sense which I have put 
 upon them may not be the general one; but the 
 meanings given are such as they may bear without 
 a twist, and such as commended themselves to 
 me for general usefulness. The antiquary has not 
 been the guide in this case, but the moralist and 
 the Christian. 
 
 From what sources I have gleaned these prov- 
 erbs it is impossible for me to tell. They have 
 been jotted down as they were met with. Having 
 become common property, it is not easy to find 
 out their original proprietors. If I knew where I 
 found a pithy sentence, I would acknowledge the 
 source most freely; but the gleanings of years, in 
 innumerable fields, cannot now be traced to this 
 literary estate or to that. In the mass, I confess 
 that almost everything in these books is borrowed 
 — from cyclopedias of proverbs, "garlands," alma- 
 nacs, books, newspapers, magazines — from any- 
 where and everywhere. A few proverbs I may 
 myself have made, though even this is difficult; 
 but, from the necessity of the case, sentences 
 which have become proverbs are things to be 
 quoted, and not to be invented. 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY 125 
 
 A cat with a silver collar is none the better 
 mouser. — Fine dress, learned degrees, high titles, 
 and grand offices do not give ability. We have 
 heard of doctors of divinity who were duller preach- 
 ers than the generality of the clergy. 
 
 A false tale is a nimble footman. — It runs every- 
 where, and knocks at everybody's door long before 
 the truth is out of bed. 
 
 A fool's gun is soon fired. — He has little to say, 
 but he is in a desperate hurry to say it. In olden 
 times they said, "A fool's bolt is soon shot." 
 
 A loose tooth and a fickle friend are two evils. 
 — The sooner we are cleared of them the better; 
 but who likes the wrench ? 
 
 Always in a hurry, always behind. — A little 
 punctuality would save life from being a worry, a 
 flurry, a hurry, and a scurry. Half the ease of life 
 oozes away through the leaks of unpunctuality. 
 
 An ass may think he's Solomon; but he isn't. — 
 "If a man think himself to be something when he 
 is nothing, he deceiveth himself." 
 
 Avoid the "Queen's Head" and comfort your 
 wife's heart. 
 
 A sermon's length is not its strength. — It may 
 be very much its weakness. In this case brevity 
 is a virtue. It is a pity to weary the head when 
 we should win the heart. Some divines are long 
 in their sermons because they are short in their 
 studies. 
 
 Be a man, and not a masher.— Don't want to 
 know what this means; the subject is too insignifi- 
 cant. 
 
126 SPURGEON 
 
 Be chaste as a lily. — Never was this exhortation 
 more needed than now when men are trying to 
 legalize impurity. Young men, shun all unchas- 
 tity! 
 
 Bear the hen's cackle for the sake of the eggs. — 
 Little annoyances must be put up with because of 
 great advantages. 
 
 Before you doctor others, try your own physic. — 
 Especially if you try to teach the gospel. Never 
 preach beyond your own experience. 
 
 Before you hang up your hat, look at the peg. 
 — See what sort of family you will be connected 
 with by the marriage. Observe well your mother- 
 in-law. 
 
 Believe not half you hear, and repeat not half 
 you believe. — My uncle used to say, "When you 
 hear an ill report about anyone, halve it, and 
 then quarter it, and then say nothing about the 
 rest." 
 
 Better give a shilling than lend half-a-crown. — 
 You will save eighteen pence by the transaction. 
 
 Bills look best receipted. — The queen's likeness 
 on a receipt stamp is a cheering work of art when 
 seen at the foot of an account. 
 
 Busy tongues make idle hands. — It's woeful to 
 have a house full of cacklers, and never an egg 
 from the whole of them. While they talk about 
 everything, they do nothing. 
 
 Buy not on trust; down with the dust. — A shop- 
 keeper's sign in China bore the inscription: "No 
 credit; we have learned wisdom from former cus- 
 tomers." 
 
Proverbial philosophy 127 
 
 Buy one fine thing and you must buy ten more. 
 — Thus the piano on the hire system leads to no 
 end of purchases, and the family is impoverished. 
 
 A man in debt is caught in a net. — Some never 
 get out of it: they do not pay anyone, and yet 
 they live on, like Tom Farbehind, of whom we 
 read: — 
 
 "His last debt's paid, poor Tom's no more. 
 Last debt! Tom never paid a debt before." 
 
 A man is known by the company he shuns, — ■ 
 Quite as much as by the company he keeps. 
 
 A man is not bad because a viper bites him. — 
 Excellent persons are liable to be assailed by ma- 
 licious slanderers, who, because of their serpent 
 nature, take delight in attacking the good. An 
 apostle once had a viper fasten upon his hand, but 
 he shook it off into the fire, and it did him no harm. 
 
 A man is only the head, a good wife is the 
 crown. — Solomon is our authority for this. — Pro v. 
 xii: 4. 
 
 A man may be a fool and not know it. — Indeed 
 it is generally the case that he is not aware of his 
 own folly. If he did know it, he would not be a 
 fool any longer. 
 
 A man may be a great divine and yet have no 
 religion. 
 
 A man may dig his grave with his teeth. — Glut- 
 tons, bon vivants, and even careless eaters may 
 commit suicide while eating. 
 
 A man may drown himself in a quart pot.— 
 Have you not seen it done ? 
 
128 SPURGEON 
 
 A man may tell a lie till he believes it. — And 
 this is often done. We have heard persons tell 
 tales which we are sure are not true. Those stories 
 have altered year after year, to our knowledge, but 
 the narrators are quite sure of their accuracy. 
 They have told the story so often that they have 
 persuaded themselves into a firm faith in it. 
 
 A man may threaten and yet be afraid. 
 
 Buy the best. Things may cost less, and be 
 worthless. — Horrible cheapness is ruining both 
 buyer, seller, and producer. If we get things for 
 less money, there is less material or less work in 
 them. 
 
 Better be new-born than high-born. — The re- 
 generate possess a nobler nature than the proudest 
 of earth's nobility if they are not born from above. 
 
 Better nail your heart to the Cross than your 
 ears to the pulpit. — That is to say, true love to 
 Jesus is better than slavishly following an}' human 
 preacher, and accepting all that he may say. 
 
 Call me, and I'll call thee. — Puff me, and I'll 
 puff thee. Mutual-admiration societies are very 
 common. Some seem to be in league to support 
 each other's falsehoods. 
 
 Day of rest, of days the best. — A poet calls the 
 Sabbath, "Heaven once a week." 
 
 Dirt cheap is generally dear dirt. — We pay less 
 and get less. Modern cheap things are often mere 
 rubbish, "made to sell," or stained with the blood 
 of the poor worker. 
 
 Don't burn your lips with other men's broth. — - 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY I 29 
 
 If you get sipping a little with them, and mixing 
 up with their affairs, you will come in for a share 
 of their trouble when it is served out hot to them. 
 
 Don't go to sea in an egg-shell. — Trust only in 
 that which is worthy of trust; do not risk your 
 money on a bubble scheme, nor your soul on a 
 novel doctrine. 
 
 Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you 
 can. — This, I think, was John Wesley's saying. 
 It embodies much of his shrewd sense and conse- 
 cration. Some take firstly and secondly, but 
 thirdly is too much for them; giving goes against 
 the grain. 
 
 Great bodies move slowly. — It must be so. 
 Hence the difficulty of moving a corporation, a 
 parliament, or a committee. 
 
 Law is a bottomless pit; keep far from it. — 
 Therefore, "agree with thine adversary quickly" or 
 thou and he may both be in the abyss. "The suit 
 is ended," said the lawyer; "both parties are 
 cleaned out." 
 
 Be in the right way, but be in nobody's way. 
 
 Be it weal or be it woe, 
 It will not evermore be so. 
 
 Our condition will change and this is a good rea- 
 son why we should neither presume on the pres- 
 ent, nor despair concerning it. 
 
 "The world goes up, and the world goes down, 
 And the sunshine follows the rain; 
 And yesterday's sneer, and yesterday's frown, 
 Can never come over again." — C. Kingsley. 
 
 Be just to all, but trust not all. — It would bs 
 
1 30 SPURGEON 
 
 unjust not to trust some; it would be unwise to 
 trust many. 
 
 Be kind to mankind. — We are all of a kind, all 
 of kin, or say, all kinned, and therefore we should 
 be kind to each other. 
 
 Be kind to your horse, for it cannot complain: 
 Be tender when using the whip or the rein. 
 
 There is a special venom in cruelty to dumb ani- 
 mals. Their silence should be eloquent with every 
 heart. 
 
 Be low in humility and high in hope. — He who 
 will not bend his head in humility will run against a 
 beam, he that will not hold up his head in hopeful- 
 ness will not be cheered by an early sight of the 
 good which is waiting for him. 
 
 Be low, or you will be sent below. — Many have 
 had "with shame to take the lowest room," because 
 they would push themselves forward where they 
 had no right to be. 
 
 Who wrongly takes the highest place 
 Shall be sent down with much disgrace. 
 
 Be merrily wise and wisely merry. — It is to be 
 done, though it will need prudence and prayer. 
 
 Be neither careworn nor careless. 
 
 Be no time-server, and yet serve your times. — 
 As David served his generation by the will of God, 
 so should we; but this is a very different thing 
 from standing cap in hand to curry favor with 
 those who for a while are in power. 
 
 Everyone thinks his own sack to be the heavi- 
 est. — Each one thinks his lot the worst; but he is 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY I3I 
 
 mistaken. If he thought himself the worst of the 
 lot he might be right. 
 
 Everyone will be thy friend 
 Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend; 
 But if store or crowns be scant, 
 No man will supply thy want. 
 
 We fear this is too often the fact; but assuredly 
 it is not always so, nor is it often so with gracious 
 men. 
 
 Every path hath its puddle. — No man's life is 
 quite beyond rebuke: no man's course is without 
 its difficulties and sorrows. 
 
 Every pea helps to fill the sack. — Every wor- 
 shiper increases the congregation, every member 
 helps to make up the church, every penny enlarges 
 the collection. 
 
 Every peddler sells the very best pins. — At least 
 he says so, and he ought to know. 
 
 Every pig can grunt. — It needs no genius to 
 grumble and find fault. He who can do nothing 
 else is often great in this art. Let the creature 
 grunt. 
 
 Every poor man is a fool in the judgment of a 
 fool. — The same fool considers every wealthy per- 
 son to be a paragon of wisdom. The poorest 
 twaddle is eloquence when it comes from a noble- 
 man's mouth. Lord Fitznoodle is the patron 
 saint of fools. 
 
 Every potter praises his own pot. — If he does 
 not do so, who will? Potters cannot afford to keep 
 trumpeters, and therefore they praise their own 
 wage. We all do so, more or less. This proverb 
 
132 SPURGEON 
 
 often runs, "Every potter praises his own pot, 
 and all the more if it is cracked." Does not self- 
 praise imply a crack somewhere? 
 
 Every question is not for me to answer. — If I 
 attempt to do so I shall show 7 my ignorance. 
 "Teach thy tongue to say 'I do not know,'" is a 
 Talmudic proverb. 
 
 Fire begins with little sparks: crime begins with 
 evil thoughts. 
 
 First come, first served. — A fair rule. No one 
 ought to wish to go out of his turn at the expense 
 of others, even though he may think himself a per- 
 son of importance. 
 
 First comes owing, and then comes lying. — For 
 the debtor invents false excuses, and makes untruth- 
 ful promises, so as to stave off the day of payment. 
 
 First look up, and then lookout. — Look to God 
 first, and then watch for every honorable oppor- 
 tunity of getting on in business. 
 
 First practice at home, then preach abroad. — It 
 is not every man that would like to preach to his 
 neighbors from his own door-step. 
 
 First the distiller, then the doctor, then the 
 undertaker. 
 
 First thrive, then wive, then strive. 
 
 First understand, and then undertake. — It is the 
 height of folly to undertake a matter of which you 
 do not know the ins and outs. Many have burnt 
 their fingers with such blind agreements. Never 
 sign what you have not seen. 
 
 Fish bred in dirty pools w T ill surely taste of r- "\. 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY I 33 
 
 —I remember having received, as a present, some 
 fine carp taken from the village pond. To put the 
 knife into them was quite enough for me: a friend 
 who ate of them was seriously ill. The fish had 
 lived upon the filth of the parish, and could not 
 be clean eating. Those who are bred in vice are 
 sure to show it in their character. 
 
 Fit words are fine; but often fine words are not 
 fit. — If the language is suitable to express the 
 truth, it is everything. Sometimes grand oratory 
 is great absurdity. 
 
 Flattery is pap for fools. 
 
 'Tis an old maxim of the schools 
 That flattery's the food of fools; 
 And whoso likes such airy meat, 
 Will soon have nothing else to eat. 
 
 Be deaf with one ear, and blind with one eye. — 
 Some things it is well neither to hear nor see. 
 Discretion will tell us when to be observantly 
 blind, and forgetfully deaf. 
 
 Be good, and then do good. — You cannot really 
 do more than you are. 
 
 Be good, get good, and do good. — Do all the 
 ^ood you can; to all the people you can; in all 
 the ways you can; as often as you can; and as 
 long as you can. 
 
 Be good, or it will not be good to be. — Without 
 grace in the heart, it were better for that man that 
 he had never been born. Even for this world he 
 who does no good dies "much unlamented." 
 
 Be good within; do good without. — When a 
 candle is alight within a lantern it sheds a light all 
 
134 SPURGEON 
 
 around: but if the lantern be dark within it is of 
 no use to those outside. It is the same with men. 
 Have light in yourselves. 
 
 Be hardy, but not hard. — Endure hardship your- 
 self; but do not become unkind to others because 
 you are strong and can rough it. A hardy man 
 with a tender heart is a beautiful character; but 
 an unfeeling tyrant is a curse to his household. 
 
 Be honest, and thus outwit the rogues. — Honesty 
 perplexes the cunning. They think you are prac- 
 ticing some deep policy, and they are baffled. 
 
 Be hospitable, but take nobody in. — In other 
 words — Receive many, but deceive none. 
 
 Be humble, or you'll stumble. — "Pride goeth 
 before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a 
 fall."— Prov. xvi: 18. 
 
 Be in good spirits without ardent spirits. 
 
 Be in the mill and expect to have flour on your 
 coat. — Your associations in business and friendship 
 will tell upon your reputation and character. 
 
 Every monkey has his tricks. — Spoken of larkish 
 fellows who annoy people with their follies. 
 
 Everyone feels the cold according as he is clad. 
 — Where the garments of faith and patience are 
 worn, the Arctic winter of poverty is endured with- 
 out harm; but trying circumstances freeze the life 
 out of some men, because their religion is a dread- 
 fully thin and flimsy fabric. 
 
 Everyone for himself is the pig's doctrine. — 
 And there are a great many believers in it. The 
 worshipers of Number One are numerous, and 
 enthusiastic. Self is the man! 
 
PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY 135 
 
 As I walked by myself, I said to myself. 
 And myself said again unto me: . 
 " Look to thyself, take care of thyself, 
 For nobody cares for thee." 
 
 Everyone is wise after the business is over. — - 
 This is the especial wisdom of the unwise. Yet 
 we could all do much better if we had to do it over 
 again: at least, we think so. We are fools enough 
 to imagine that we should not be fools again ! 
 
 Everyone must row with the oars he has. — 
 This is wisdom. Instead of quarreling with our 
 tools, let us do our best with them. Paddle your 
 own canoe with such paddles as come to hand. 
 
 Everyone takes his pleasure where he finds it. — 
 Hence a man's pleasures become the index of his 
 character. If he takes pleasure in sin, it is because 
 he loves it. If he frequents the pit, it is because 
 he is going there. 
 
 Everyone thinks he could have done better. — 
 Had he been consulted, mistakes would have been 
 avoided, and grander results would have been ob- 
 tained. Others may be all very well ; but we live 
 at Nonsuch House, in the parish of Nonpareil. 
 
 Every one to his liking, as the man said when 
 he kissed his cow. — Happily, in this case, the kiss- 
 ing would neither involve an action for assault, 
 nor excite another man's jealousy concerning the 
 lady. There is no accounting for tastes. 
 
 Find you out your sins, or your sins will find 
 out you. 
 
 Fine birds are all the more likely to be plucked. 
 — Pretty people are tempted, and great men are 
 assailed. 
 
136 SPURGEON 
 
 Fine clothes cannot hide the clown. — They far 
 oftener betray him: he does not feel at home in 
 them any more than a dog in a blanket, or a hog 
 in armor. 
 
 Fine feathers make fine birds. — Yet garments 
 can only make a vain person what Masson calls "a 
 decorated fool." A Puritanic student once called 
 certain fine ladies "ambulating blocks for milli- 
 nery." Well, dress as they may, it is, at least, a 
 pity that they do not leave feathers to birds, and 
 not murder our songsters to bedeck their own 
 heads. 
 
 Fine promises are frail securities. — That is to 
 say, when they come from our fellow mortals. 
 Many have been ruined by the rascality which 
 promised, but never intended to perform. Such 
 promises are solid lies: not so much falsehood in 
 word as falsehood in fact. 
 
 Fine stables do not make good horses. — A man 
 may live in a college and be a dunce, or dwell 
 under the eaves of the house of God and be an 
 infidel. A villa may have a villain for its tenant, 
 and a mansion may hold a lord without either 
 manor or manners. Ecclesiastical architecture 
 does not secure piety. Many a poor drone of a 
 preacher has had the emptying of a fine Gothic 
 edifice. 
 
 Fine words have great weight with feeble minds. 
 
 ^-The authors of proverbs to this effect, of which 
 
 there are very many, had evidently been misled by 
 
 fine oratory, and at last arrived at the conclusion 
 
THE SALT CELLARS I 37 
 
 that words are but air, and that there is no build- 
 ing upon them. 
 
 Finery is foolery. — A lady asked the Rev. John 
 Newton what was the best rule for female dress 
 and behavior. "Madam," said he, "so dress and 
 so conduct yourself that persons who have been in 
 your company shall not recollect what you had 
 on." When so much is spent on dress that the 
 house is impoverished the folly is extreme. It 
 suggests the epigram — 
 
 " What is the reason, can you guess, 
 
 Why men are poor and women thinner? 
 So much do they for dinner dress, 
 
 There's nothing left to dress for dinner." 
 
 He that a watch would wear, just this must do, 
 Pocket his watch, and watch his pocket too. 
 
 We have heard of one who covered his watch with 
 fish-hooks; but the worst of it was that he only 
 remembered what he had done when he put his 
 own ringers into his watch-pocket. 
 
 He that asks too much is likely to get nothing. 
 
 He that burns most, shines most. — There must 
 be a self-consumption to produce light. John was 
 a burning and a shining light, and the burning is 
 not to be separated from the shining. 
 
 He that by the plow would thrive, 
 Himself must either hold or drive. 
 
 A living can be made by one who works himself, 
 even where a gentleman farmer is a heavy loser. 
 So we have heard. At any rate, if the farmer 
 cannot live who drives the plow, how can he live 
 who drives a fast-trotting mare? 
 
138 SPURGEON 
 
 He that can be won with a feather will be lost 
 with a straw.— Easily persuaded persons are no 
 great catch, for no reliance can be placed upon 
 them: they are soon led to the opposite side. 
 
 He that cuts himself willfully deserves no salve. 
 
 He that deals in dirt will not keep clean hands. 
 
 He that delights to plant and set 
 Puts coming ages in his debt. 
 
 This, after all, is only justice; for we also eat 
 of many trees which our fathers planted. 
 
 He that deserves nothing should be content with 
 anything. 
 
 He that doth jest must take a jest; 
 Or else to let alone were best. 
 
 He that dwells in a city where there is a syna- 
 gogue, and comes not to prayer there, is the per- 
 son that deserves the name of a bad neighbor. — 
 This is a saying of the Jews. But how many bad 
 neighbors do we live among, who are seldom seen 
 in the public assemblies of the saints from year to 
 year! 
 
 He means to buy, for he finds fault with the 
 goods. — "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer." 
 Just because he means to be a buyer. 
 
 He must be a wise man himself who can distin- 
 guish one. — So said Diogenes and we will not 
 contradict him. 
 
 He pares his apple that would cleanly feed.— 
 Well said, Mr. Herbert. Tell the story, if worth 
 telling, but not with the oath or the smut — that 
 can be left out with great advantage. 
 
THE SALT CELLARS 1 39 
 
 He preaches well who lives well.-— Even if he 
 does not open his mouth his example is a sermon. 
 
 He promiseth to turn your iron into gold, but 
 he will turn your gold into iron. — True of the gen- 
 tleman who presents you with a prospectus of a 
 company which is to pay a quite impossible divi- 
 dend. No doubt the concern will pay those who 
 get it up. 
 
 He put his finger in the pie, and burned his nail 
 off. 
 
 He rides well who never stumbles. — Where is 
 that man ? Where is his horse ? 
 
 He runs far who never turns. — Unless he breaks 
 his neck. He will run too far, if his way be not 
 the right one. 
 
 He shuts his eyes, and thinks none see. 
 
 He talks much who has least to say. — "How 
 would you wish your hair to be cut ?" asked the 
 barber one day of Archelaus, king of Macedon, 
 and the king made answer, "Silently." Alas! this 
 is too rare a method anywhere, in anything. 
 
 It was said of one man: — 
 
 He argued with the greatest zest, 
 
 'Twas very hard to put him out; 
 And strange to say, he talked the best 
 
 Of what he knew the least about. 
 
 A loveless life is a living death. — For to love is 
 to live. Our laureate says: — 
 
 " 'Tis better to have loved and lost, 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 A mad parson makes a mad parish. — For good 
 or for bad the shepherd affects the flock. One 
 ? 
 
I 40 SPURGEON 
 
 wonders if that clergyman was of this kind of whom 
 we read that a thief stole his linen, and he offered 
 a reward for the discovery of the offender, where- 
 upon the following verse was written at the bot- 
 tom of one of the bills: — 
 
 " Some thief has stolen the parson's shirts; 
 To skin nought could be nearer: 
 The parish will give five hundred pounds 
 To him who steals the wearer." 
 
 A man beyond his line is never like to shine. — 
 When the cobbler leaves his last he also quits his 
 awl, and is all at sea. What can a man do well 
 when he quits his own business and takes to an 
 occupation of which he knows nothing? 
 
 A man brings the stones, but the woman builds 
 them into the wall. 
 
 A man cannot prosper till he gets his wife's 
 leave. — She must practice economy, or all his 
 earnings will insensibly melt away. 
 
 "A man may spare, 
 And still be bare, 
 
 If his wife be nowt, if his wife be nowt; 
 But a man may spend, 
 And have money to lend, 
 If his wife be owt, if his wife be owt." 
 
 A man had better have his hands in his own 
 pockets than in other people's.— Persons usually 
 put their hands into their pockets because there is 
 nothing else there, and nature abhors a vacuum; 
 but hands in another man's pocket are engaged in 
 creating a vacuum, and that is a crime against 
 both natural and national law. 
 
 A man had need be a great philosopher to bear 
 toothache patiently. 
 
THE SALT CELLARS I4I 
 
 He is wise who follows the wise. 
 
 He is wise who knows his own business. — He 
 may not be a university man, but he knows enough 
 to get through the universe. 
 
 He knows the water best who has waded through. 
 — There is nothing like personal experience. 
 
 He laughs at scars who never felt a wound. — 
 The power to sympathize can only come by per- 
 sonal suffering. 
 
 He laughs best who laughs last. — Because he 
 will be surest of his laugh, and will probably laugh 
 at those who laughed at him. If he can laugh 
 when the whole thing is ended, he has the best 
 cause for his merriment. 
 
 He likes mutton too well who eats the wool. — ■ 
 We are not bound to follow a man, faults and all. 
 
 He lives longest who is awake most hours. — 
 That is to say, if he is not kept awake by sickness, 
 or care, or excessive labor; for these may shorten 
 life though they add to the waking hours. Doubt- 
 less early rising is a great addition to our oppor- 
 tunities for work. 
 
 He liveth long who liveth well. — Indeed the 
 way to measure life is not by its years, but by its 
 deeds. 
 
 He looks as if butter would not melt in his 
 mouth. — This is the sort of man whom you must 
 never trust. 
 
 He loses indeed who loses at last. 
 
 He loses least in a quarrel who has had least to 
 say in it. 
 
142 SPURGEON 
 
 He may well swim who has his head held up. — . 
 Just so ! We are able to swim the seas of tempta- 
 tion only because grace keeps us from sinking. 
 
 He may wisely run who finds he cannot stand 
 his ground. 
 
 He is a stupid who loses patience with a stupid. 
 — "Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are 
 wise." — 2 Cor. xi: 12. We find out how foolish 
 we are when a great stupid brushes our fur the 
 wrong way, and raises our wrath. 
 
 He is a weak friend who cannot bear with his 
 friend's weakness. 
 
 He is best who has done best, — With few excep- 
 tions this is the rule. "By their fruits shall ye 
 know them." — Matt, vii: 20. 
 
 He is blind who thinks he sees everything. — The 
 observant man recognizes many mysteries into 
 which he cannot pretend to see, and he remembers 
 that the world is too wide for the eye of any one 
 man. But modern sophists are sure of everything, 
 especially if it contradicts the Bible. 
 
 He is free who dares to be 
 In the right with two or three. 
 
 This liberty has to be paid for; but there is a 
 sweetness in it which those only know who have 
 tasted it. 
 
 He is kind to himself who is kind to his wife. — 
 Is she not bone of your bone? Does not your hap- 
 piness interweave itself with hers? 
 
 He is no one's friend who is his own enemy. 
 
 He is not the best carpenter who makes the most 
 
THE SALT CELLARS I 43 
 
 chips. — But the reverse. He who does his work 
 in a masterly manner is usually very neat and 
 clean in it. The proverb, however, means that 
 the best workers make no fuss, and create no dis- 
 order. 
 
 He is right sure who is surely right. 
 
 He is very absent-minded who searches for the 
 ass on which he is riding. — He must be brother to 
 that other Celestial, who cried out, "Here's my 
 bundle, here's my umbrella; but where am I?" 
 
 He is very blind who cannot see the sun. — How 
 blind must he be who cannot see the God who 
 made the sun! 
 
 He that is blind will nothing see, 
 What light so e'er about him be. 
 
 In showers, the umbrella at home is of no use. — 
 It is like the Dutchman's anchor. When the 
 storm came on he said that he had a first-rate 
 anchor at home. 
 
 In spending spare, 
 Of debts beware. 
 
 In talks prefer quality to quantity. — Don't utter 
 sheer nonsense, such as Dr. Darwin alludes to in 
 his lines: 
 
 " Hear the pretty ladies talk, 
 Tittle tattle, tittle tattle! 
 Like their pattens when they walk, 
 Pittle pattle, pittle pattle." 
 
 In the coldest flint there is hot fire. — Persons 
 who seem slow and patient have still a temper, 
 and will fire up if too much provoked. Let us be 
 careful not to arouse dormant passion. It's ill 
 waking sleeping tigers. 
 
144 SPURGEON 
 
 In the end things will mend. — Time sides with 
 patience, heals sorrows, and moves difficulties; 
 therefore let us "learn to labor and to wait." 
 
 In the evening one may praise the day. — But it 
 is well to see how things look as the hours pass 
 away. Some acts which seemed to promise well 
 at first may not in the long run turn out to be 
 quite so wise as they looked. 
 
 In the front they bear the brunt. — No one who 
 considers his own ease or pleasure should desire 
 to be a leading man: he is little more than the 
 chief drudge, while he is supposed to be a king. 
 
 In the wedding cake hope is the sweetest of the 
 plums. 
 
 In this life repentance is never too late. — On the 
 other hand, it is never too soon. It is also to be 
 remembered that God, who will accept late repent- 
 ance, may never give it. 
 
 In trade, competition prevents imposition. — No 
 doubt the public are gainers, though tradesmen 
 grumble. 
 
 In every fault there is folly. It is always unwise 
 to sin. 
 
 In fair weather prepare for foul. — The beauty 
 of our English weather is, that when it is bad, we 
 may hope that it will soon change. Its fault is, 
 that when it is good, we may be pretty sure it will 
 soon alter. 
 
 In for a penny, in for a pound. — It is so with a 
 certain order of expenses: once begin and you 
 must go on, and cannot pull up when you would. 
 
THE SALT CELLARS H5 
 
 In giving and taking, 
 It's easy mistaking. 
 
 Therefore allowances should be made for error. 
 Say not: "It is a fraud," but judge it to be amis- 
 take. Count money twice, even after your own 
 kin. Keep correct books. When you err your- 
 self, let it be against yourself. 
 
 In half the affairs of this busy life 
 (As that same day I said to my wife), 
 Our troubles come from trying to put 
 The left-hand shoe on the right-hand foot. 
 
 A little adjustment would save a world of trouble; 
 but common sense is very uncommon sense. We 
 put salt upon the plum-pudding and grumble at 
 its taste; we mix the unsuitable, and the result is 
 uncomfortable. 
 
 In judging what a boy will be 
 Mark what he is in infancy. 
 
 For the child is the father of the man. Quick 
 eyes may see the future life of the man in the 
 little ways of the child. 
 
 In law there's many a loss without a gain, but 
 never a gain without a loss. 
 
 In Orange everything grows except oranges. — A 
 name is frequently a mere name. Orange is too 
 cold a region for the orange tree: the province 
 bears the name of the fruit it cannot grow. Some 
 Christians have little that is Christian about them. 
 Some "brethren" are sadly unbrotherly. Sur- 
 names are said to go by contraries: "Mr. Make- 
 peace was bred an attorney." 
 
 In a calm sea we are all good sailors. — We sup- 
 
I 40 SPURGEON 
 
 pose that we can endure trouble with great equa- 
 nimity; but when it really comes, we are as much 
 vexed by it as others are. 
 
 In a fiddler's house one learns to dance. — The 
 motion of the music makes the feet move almost 
 involuntarily. When one gets into a family one 
 is apt to fall into the ways of the house. 
 
 In a large flock there will be one lame sheep. — 
 Large families are seldom without one weak child. 
 In religious communities we may look for a pro- 
 portion of feeble souls. 
 
 In a leopard we expect spots. — In irreligious 
 men we look for ill habits, which could not be tol- 
 erated in members of churches. 
 
 In strangers' company beware; 
 
 Of both thy tongue and purse take care. 
 
 In a walking newspaper the leading article is 
 scandal. — Our advice is — do not take it in, nor do 
 anything else to increase the circulation of the red 
 rag. 
 
 In buying a horse expect to be sold. 
 
 In choice of bride let grace preside. — We fear 
 that as a rule nature has far more to do with it 
 than grace. 
 
 In company guard your tongue, in solitude your 
 heart. — Our words need watching; but so also do 
 our thoughts and imaginations, which grow most 
 active when we are alone. 
 
 In conduct don't make trifles of trifles. — Regard 
 the smallest action as being either right or wrong 
 and make a conscience of little things. 
 
THE SALT CELLARS 1 4? 
 
 In deep waters men find great pearls. — Our 
 worst troubles are often our greatest enrichments. 
 
 In every beginning think of the end. — In that 
 case many things would be quitted in their be- 
 ginnings, for no one would wish to encounter the 
 end. 
 
 Ill in kits is worse in cats. — For old people to 
 do wrong is inexcusable, but youth may be plead- 
 ed as some little apology. 
 
 Ill -matched horses draw badly. — If one pulls and 
 the other jibs, it is a bad thing for the family 
 coach. Husband and wife should be of one mind, 
 and specially in religion. "Be ye not unequally 
 yoked." 
 
 Ill news flies fast enough. — Hence, "no news is 
 good news"; for, if there had been bad to hear, we 
 should have heard it. People seem more eager to 
 publish the evil than the good; probably because 
 they are evil. 
 
 Ill weeds always grow apace; 
 Folly runs a rapid race. 
 
 Ill won is generally ill worn. — A righteous fatal- 
 ity seems to prevent the dishonest from enjoying 
 their plunder. He who steals eels finds them turn 
 to snakes. Ill-gotten goes rotten. What the devil 
 brings the devil takes away. 
 
 Ill words are bellows to the fire of anger. — He 
 that is quiet causeth no riot. 
 
 Ills that God blesses are my good; 
 
 All unblest good is ill; 
 And all is right that seems most wrong 
 
 If it be God's dear will. 
 
I48 SPURGEON 
 
 A fine distich, which deserves to be made pro- 
 verbial, seeing it is a conglomerate of proverbs, 
 and full of grace. It has been wisely said that 
 "ills are wells when God blesses them." 
 
 Imitate the best, not the worst. — Our propen- 
 sity to imitate is very strong, hence the importance 
 of selecting a good model. Johnson says that no 
 man becomes great by imitation, but we doubt it; 
 in the beginning of life the imitation of a good 
 model leads on to originality. 
 
 Improve time in time while time doth last; 
 For all time is no time when time is past. 
 
 Impatience is the sting of affliction. — And this 
 we put into it ourselves. What folly! 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 "JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK" 
 
 A country life is sweet, 
 
 In moderate cold and heat; 
 To walk in the air how pleasant and fair! 
 
 In every field of wheat, 
 The fairest of flowers adorning the bowers, 
 
 And every meadow's brow; 
 So that, I say, no courtier may 
 Compare with them who clothe in gray, 
 
 And follow the useful plough. 
 
 They rise with the morning lark, 
 
 And labor till almost dark; 
 Then, folding their sheep, they hasten to sleep, 
 
 While every pleasant park 
 Next morning is ringing with the birds that are singing 
 
 On each green, tender bough. 
 With what content and merriment 
 Their days are spent whose minds are bent 
 
 To follow the useful plough! 
 
 If success is ever to be regarded as a proof of 
 worth, then the fact that nearly 400,000 copies 
 of "John Ploughman's Talk" have been sold, and 
 the sale is still going on, is a fact that bears incon- 
 trovertible evidence that Mr. Spurgeon knew how 
 to write for the people. He was at one time the 
 best abused man in England, he lived to have 
 more hearers and more readers than any man of 
 his time. A perusal of a handful of selections 
 from this matchless combination of common sense, 
 practical religion and inimitable humor, will serve 
 to convince the reader that "John Ploughman's 
 
 149 
 
150 SPURGEON 
 
 Talk" was popular simply because it deserved to 
 be. 
 
 MR. SPURGEON TALKS OF HIS "TALK" 
 
 In "John Ploughman's Talk" I have tried to talk 
 for ploughmen and common people. Hence re- 
 fined taste and dainty words have been discarded 
 for strong old proverbial expressions and homely 
 phrases. I have aimed my blows at the vices of 
 the many, and tried to inculcate those moral virt- 
 ues without which men are degraded and miser- 
 able. Much that needs to be said to the toiling 
 masses would not suit well the pulpit and the Sab- 
 bath. These lowly pages may teach thrift and in- 
 dustry all the days of the week, in the cottage and 
 the workshop; and if some learn these lessons I 
 shall not repent the adoption of the rustic style. 
 
 Ploughman is a name I may justly claim. Every 
 minister has put his hand to the plough — it is his 
 business to break up the fallow ground and cast 
 in good seed. That I have written in a semi- 
 humorous vein shall need no apology, if thereby 
 sound moral teaching wins a hearing from the mill- 
 ion. There is no particular virtue in being seri- 
 ously unreadable. 
 
 ALL IS LOST THAT IS POURED INTO A CRACKED DISH 
 
 The cook who pours her soup into a cracked 
 dish, is wasting her precious liquor, for it runs out 
 almost as fast as it runs in. The sooner she stops 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK I 53 
 
 that game the better. This makes me think of a 
 good deal of preaching; it is labor in vain, because 
 it does not stay in the minds of the hearers, but 
 goes in at one ear and out at the other. When 
 men go to market they are all alive to do a trade, 
 but in a place of worship they are not more than 
 half awake, and do not seem to care whether they 
 profit or not by what they hear. I once heard a 
 preacher say, "Half of you are asleep, half are 
 inattentive, and the rest — " He never finished 
 that sentence, for the people began to smile, and 
 here and there one burst out laughing. Certainly, 
 many only go to meeting to stare about. 
 
 "Attend your church, the parson cries; 
 To church each fair one goes; 
 The old ones go to close their eyes, 
 The young to eye their clothes." 
 
 You might as well preach to the stone images in 
 the old church as to people who are asleep. Some 
 old fellows come into our meeting, pitch into their 
 corner, and settle themselves down for a quiet 
 snooze as knowingly as if the pew was a sleeping- 
 car on the railway. Still, all the sleeping at serv- 
 ice is not the fault of the poor people, for some 
 parsons put a lot of sleeping stuff into their ser- 
 mons. Will Shepherd says they mesmerize the 
 people. (I think that is the right word, but I'm 
 not sure.) I saw a verse in a real live book, by 
 Mr. Cheales, the vicar of Brockham, a place which 
 is handy to my home. I'll give it you: — 
 
 " The ladies praise our curate's eyes; 
 I never see their light divine, 
 For when he prays he closes them, 
 And when he preaches closes mine." 
 
154 SPURGEON 
 
 Well, if curates are heavy in style, the people 
 will soon be heavy in sleep. Even when hearers 
 are awake, many of them are forgetful. It is like 
 pouring a jug of ale between the bars of a grid- 
 iron, to try and teach them good doctrine. Water 
 on a duck's back does have some effect, but ser- 
 mons by the hundred are as much lost upon many 
 men's hearts as if they had been spoken to a ken- 
 nel of hounds. Preaching to some fellows is like 
 whipping the water or lashing the air. As well 
 talk to a turnip, or whistle to a dead donkey 
 preach to these dull ears. A year's sermons - 
 not produce an hour's repentance till the grace of 
 God comes in. 
 
 We have a good many hangers-on who think 
 that their duty to God consists in hearing sermoos 
 and that the best fruit of their hearing is to talk of 
 what they have heard. How they do lay the law 
 down when they get argifying about doctrines! 
 Their religion all runs to ear and tongue: neither 
 their heart nor their hand is a scrap the better. This 
 is poor work, and will never pay the piper. The 
 sermon which only gets as far as the ear is like a 
 dinner eaten in a dream. It is ill to lie soaking in 
 the gospel like a bit of coal in a milkpan, never 
 the whiter for it all. 
 
 What can be the good of being hearers only? It 
 disappoints the poor preacher, and it brings no 
 blessing to the man himself. Looking at a plum 
 won't sweeten your mouth, staring at a coat won't 
 cover your back, and lying on the bank won't 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 55 
 
 catch the fish in the river. The cracked dish is 
 never the better for all that is poured into it — it 
 is like our forgetful heart, it wants to be taken 
 away, and a new one put instead of it. 
 
 UNDER THE SIGN OF THE CAT'S FOOT 
 
 The question was once asked, When should a 
 man marry ? And the merry answer was, that for 
 young men it is too soon, and for old men it is too 
 late. This is all very fine, but it will not wash. 
 Both the wisdom and the folly of men seem banded 
 together to make a mock of this doctrine. Men 
 are such fools that they must and will marry, even 
 if they marry fools. It is wise to marry when we 
 can marry wisely, and then the sooner the better. 
 How many show their sense in choosing a partner 
 it is not for me to say, but I fear that in many 
 cases love is blind, and makes a very blind choice. 
 I don't suppose that some people would ever get 
 married at all if love had its wits about it. It is a 
 mystery how certain parties ever found partners; 
 truly there's no accounting for tastes. However, 
 as they make their bed they must lie on it, and as 
 they tie the knot they must be tied by it. If a 
 man catches a tartar, or lets a tartar catch him, 
 he must take his dose of tartaric acid, and make 
 as few ugly faces as he can. If a three-legged 
 stool come flying through the air, he must be thank- 
 ful for such a plain token of love from the woman 
 of his choice, and the best thing he can do is to 
 sit down on it and wait for the next little article. 
 
I $6 SPURGEON 
 
 When it is said of a man, "He lives under the 
 sign of the cat's foot," he must try and please his 
 pussy, that she may not scratch him more than 
 such cats generally do. A good husband will gen- 
 erally have a good wife, or make a bad wife bet- 
 ter. Bad Jack makes a great noise about bad Jill, 
 but there's generally twenty of one where there's 
 a score of the other. They say a burden of one's 
 own choosing is never felt to be heavy, but I don't 
 know; some men are loaded with mischief as soon 
 as they have a wife to carry. Yet 
 
 A good woman is worth, if she were sold, 
 The fairest crown that's made of gold. 
 
 She is a pleasure, a treasure, and a joy without 
 measure. A good wife and health are a man's 
 best wealth; and he who is in such a case should 
 envy no man's place. Even when a woman is a 
 little tart, it is better than if she had no spirit, and 
 made her house into a dirt pie. A shrew is bet- 
 ter than a slut, though one can be quite miserable 
 enough with either. If she is a good housewife, 
 and looks well after the children, one may put up 
 with a Caudle lecture now and then, though a 
 cordial lecture would be a deal better. A husband 
 is in a pickle indeed if he gets tied up to a regular 
 scold; he might as well be skinned and set up to 
 his neck in a tub of brine. Did you ever hear the 
 scold's song? Read it, you young folks who think 
 of committing matrimony, and think twice before 
 you get married once. 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 57 
 
 When in the morn I ope mine eyes 
 
 To entertain the day, 
 Before my husband e'en can rise, 
 ; I scold him —then I pray. 
 
 When I at table take my place, 
 
 Whatever be the meat, 
 I first do scold — and then say grace, 
 £. If so disposed to eat. 
 
 Too fat, too lean, too hot, too cold, 
 I always do complain; 
 
 Too raw, too roast, too young, too old- 
 Faults I will find or feign. 
 
 Let it be flesh, or fowl, or fish, 
 
 It never shall be said 
 But I'll find fault with meat or dish, 
 
 With master or with maid. 
 
 But when I go to bed at night 
 
 I heartily do weep, 
 That I must part with my delight — 
 
 I cannot scold and sleep. 
 
 However, this doth mitigate 
 
 And much abate my sorrow, 
 That though to-night it be too late, 
 
 I'll early scold to-morrow. 
 
 When the husband is not a man, it is not to be 
 wondered at if the wife wears the top-boots; the 
 mare may well be the best horse when the other 
 horse is a donkey. Well may a woman feel that 
 she is lord and master when she has to earn the 
 living for the family, as is sometimes the case. 
 She ought not to be the head, but if she has all 
 the brains, what is she to do? What poor dawdles 
 many men would be without their wives! As poor 
 softy Simpkins says, if Bill's wife becomes a widow, 
 who will cut the pudding up for him, and will 
 there be a pudding at all? It is grand when the 
 wife knows her place, and keeps it, and they both 
 1Q 
 
I58 SPURGEON 
 
 pull together in everything. Then she is a help- 
 meet indeed, and makes the house a home. Old 
 friend Tusser says: 
 
 " When husband is absent let housewife be chief, 
 And look to their labor who live from their sheaf; 
 The housewife's so named for she keepeth the house, 
 And must tend on her profit as cat on a mouse." 
 
 He is very pat upon it that much of household 
 affairs must rest on the wife, and he writes: 
 
 "Both out, not allow, 
 
 Keep home, housewife thou." 
 
 Like the old man and woman in the toy which 
 shows the weather, one must be sure to be in if 
 the other goes out. When the king is abroad the 
 queen must reign at home, and when he returns 
 to his throne he is bound to look upon her as his 
 crown, and prize her above gold and jewels. He 
 should feel, "If there's only one good wife in the 
 whole world, I've got her." John Ploughman 
 has long thought just that of his own wife, and 
 after five and twenty years he is more sure of it 
 than ever. He never bets, but he would not mind 
 wagering a farthing cake that there is not a better 
 woman on the surface of the globe than his own, 
 very own beloved. Happy is the man who is 
 happy in his wife. Let him love her as he loves 
 himself, and a little better, for she is his better 
 half. 
 
 Thank God that hath so blest thee, 
 And sit down, John, and rest thee. 
 
 There is one case in which I don't wonder if the 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 59 
 
 wife does put her mate under the cat's foot, and 
 that is when he slinks off to the public and wastes 
 his wages. Even then love and gentleness is the 
 best way of getting him home; but, really, some 
 topers have no feeling, and laugh at kindness, and 
 therefore nobody can be surprised if the poor wife 
 bristles up and gives her lord and master a taste 
 of tongue. Nothing tries married love more than 
 the pothouse. Wages wasted, wife neglected, 
 children in rags — if she gives it him hot and strong, 
 who can blame her? Pitch into him, good woman, 
 and make him ashamed of himself, if you can. 
 No wonder that you lead a cat-and-dog life while 
 he is such a sorry dog. 
 
 Still, you might as well go home and set him a 
 better example, for two blacks will never make a 
 white, and if you put him in hot water he's sure 
 to get some spirits to mix with it. 
 
 there's reason in roasting eggs. 
 
 A good thing is not good out of its place. It is 
 much the same with lads and girls. You can't put 
 all boys, to one trade, nor send all girls to the same 
 service. One chap will make a London clerk, and 
 another will do better to plough, and sow, and 
 reap, and mow, and be a farmer's boy. It's no 
 use forcing them; a snail will never run a race, 
 nor a mouse drive a wagon. 
 
 " Send a boy to the well against his will, 
 The pitcher will break and the water spill." 
 
 With unwilling hounds it is hard to hunt hares. 
 
l6o SPURGEON 
 
 To go against nature and inclination is to row 
 against wind and tide. They say you may praise 
 a fool till you make him useful. I don't know so 
 much about that, but I do know that if I get a bad 
 knife I generally cut my finger, and a blunt ax is 
 more trouble than profit. No, let me shave with 
 a razor if I shave at all, and do my work with the 
 best tools I can get. 
 
 Never set a man to work he is not fit for, for he 
 will never do it well. They say that if pigs fly 
 they always go with their tails forward, and awk- 
 ward workmen are much the same. Nobody ex- 
 pects cows to catch crows, or hens to wear hats. 
 There's reason in roasting eggs, and there should 
 be reason in choosing servants. Don't put a 
 round peg into a square hole, nor wind up your 
 watch with a corkscrew, nor set a tender-hearted 
 man to whip wife-beaters, nor a bear to be a reliev- 
 ing-officer, nor a publican to judge of the licensing 
 laws. Get the right man in the right place, and 
 then all goes as smooth as skates on ice; but the 
 wrong man puts all awry, as the sow did when she 
 folded the linen. 
 
 It is a temptation to many to trust them with 
 money — don't put them to take care of it if you 
 ever wish to to see it again. Never set a cat to 
 watch cream, nor a pig to gather peaches, for if 
 the cream and the peaches go a-missing you will 
 have yourself to thank for it. It is a sin to put 
 people where they are likely to sin. If you believe 
 the old saying, that when you set a beggar on 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK l6l 
 
 horseback he will ride to the devil, don't let him 
 have a horse of yours. 
 
 If you want a thing well done do it yourself, and 
 pick your tools. It is true that a man must row 
 with such oars as he has, but he should not use 
 the boat-hook for a paddle. Take not the tongs 
 to poke the fire, nor the poker to put on the coals. 
 A newspaper on Sunday is as much out of place as 
 a warming-pan on the first of August, or a fan 
 on a snowy day ; the Bible suits the Sabbath a deal 
 better. 
 
 He who tries to make money by betting uses a 
 wrong tool, and is sure to cut his fingers. As well 
 hope to grow golden pippins on the bottom of the 
 sea as to make gain among gamblers if you are an 
 honest man. Hard work and thrifty habits are 
 the right razor; gambling is a handsaw. 
 
 Some things want doing gently, and telling a 
 man of his faults is one of them. You would not 
 fetch a hatchet to break open an egg, nor kill a fly 
 on your boy's forehead with a sledge-hammer, and 
 so you must not try to mend your neighbor's little 
 fault by blowing him up sky-high. Never fire off 
 a musket to kill a midge, and don't raise a hue 
 and cry about the half of nothing. 
 
 Do not throw away a saw because it is not a 
 razor, for it will serve your turn another day, anq 
 cut your ham-bone if it won't shave off your stub- 
 ble. A whetstone, though it cannot cut, may 
 sharpen a knife that will. A match gives little 
 light itself, but it may light a candle to brighter 
 
I 62 SPURGEON 
 
 up the room. Use each thing and each man ac- 
 cording to common-sense and you will be uncom- 
 monly sensible. You don't milk horses nor ride 
 cows, and by the same rule you must make of every 
 man what he is meant for, and the farm will be as 
 right as a trivet. 
 
 Everything has its use, but no one thing is good 
 for all purposes. The baby said, "The cat crew 
 and the cock rocked the cradle," but old folks 
 knew better — the cat is best at mousing and the 
 cock at rousing. That's for that, as salt is for 
 herrings, and sugar for gooseberries, and N for 
 Nicholas. Don't choose your tools by their looks, 
 for that's best which does best. A silver trowel 
 lays very few bricks. You cannot curry a horse 
 with a tortoise-shell comb, or fell oaks with a pen- 
 knife, or open oysters with a gold toothpick. Fine 
 is not so good as fit when work is to be done. A 
 good workman will get on pretty well with a poor 
 tool, and a brave soldier never lacks a weapon: 
 still, the best is good enough for me, and John 
 Ploughman does not care to use a clumsy tool be- 
 cause it looks pretty. Better ride on an ass that 
 carries you than on a steed which throws you; it 
 is far better to work with an old-fashioned spade 
 which suits your hand than with a new-fangled 
 invention you don't understand. 
 
 In trying to do good to your fellow-men the 
 gospel is out of sight the best instrument to work 
 with. The new doctrine which they call "modern 
 thought" is nothing better than a handsaw, and 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 163 
 
 won't work a bit. This fine new nothing of a gospel 
 would not save a mouse, nor move the soul of a 
 tomtit; but the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is 
 suited to man's need, and by God's grace does its 
 work famously. Let every preacher and teacher 
 keep to it, for they will never find a better. Try 
 to win men with its loving words and precious 
 promises, and there's no fear of labor in vain. 
 Some praise the balm of Gilead, or man's morality; 
 many try the Roman salve, or the oil of Babylon; 
 and others use a cunning ointment mixed by learned 
 philosophers; but for his own soul's wounds, 
 and for the hurts of others, John Ploughman knows 
 but one cure, and that is given gratis by the Good 
 Physician to all who ask for it. A humble faith in 
 Christ Jesus will soon bring you this sovereign 
 remedy. Use no other, for no other is of use. 
 
 TRY 
 
 If you want to do good in the world, the little 
 word "Try" comes in again. There are plenty of 
 ways of serving God, and some that will fit you 
 exactly, as a key fits a lock. Don't hold back 
 because you cannot preach in St. Paul's; be con- 
 tent to talk to one or two in a cottage; very good 
 wheat grows in little fields. You may cook in 
 small pots as well as big ones. Little pigeons can 
 carry great messages. Even a little dog can bark 
 at a thief, and wake up the master and save the 
 house. A spark is fire. A sentence of truth has 
 heaven in it. Do what you do right thoroughly, 
 
164 SPURGEON 
 
 pray over it heartily, and leave the result to God. 
 Alas ! advice is thrown away on many, like good 
 seed on a bare rock. Teach a cow for seven years, 
 but she will never learn to sing the Old Hundredth. 
 Of some it seems true that when they were born 
 Solomon went by the door, but would not look in. 
 Their coat-of-arms is a fool's cap on a donkey's 
 head. They sleep when it is time to plough, and 
 weep when harvest comes. They eat all the par- 
 snips for supper, and wonder they have none left 
 for breakfast. Our working people are shame- 
 fully unthrifty, and so old England swarms with 
 poor. If what goes into the mash-tub went into 
 the kneading-troughs, families would be better fed 
 and better taught. If what is spent in waste were 
 only saved against a rainy day, workhouses would 
 never be built. 
 
 Once let every man say "Try," 
 Very few on straw would lie; 
 Fewer still of want would die; 
 Pans would all have fish to fry; 
 Pigs would fill the poor man's sty; 
 Want would cease and need would fly; 
 Wives and children cease to cry; 
 Poor-rates would not swell so high; 
 Things wouldn't go so much awry — 
 You'd be glad, and so would I. 
 
 A GOOD WORD FOR WIVES 
 
 We pulled up the horses at the sign of the "Good 
 Woman;" and as there is good entertainment for 
 man, if not for beast, under that sign, we will make 
 a stay of it, and dip our pen into some of that 
 superfine ink which has no galls in it. When he 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK l6$ 
 
 writes on so fair a subject, John Ploughman must 
 be on his best behavior. 
 
 I am of Solomon's mind, that, as a rule, he that 
 findeth a wife findeth a good thing. If there's one 
 bad shilling taken at the grocer's all the neighbors 
 hear of it, but of the hundreds of good ones report 
 says nothing. A good woman makes no noise, and 
 no noise is made about her; but a shrew is noted 
 all over the parish. Taking them for all in all, 
 they are most angelical creatures, and a great deal 
 too good for half the husbands. 
 
 It is much to the woman's credit that there are 
 very few old sayings against husbands, although in 
 this case sauce for the goose would make capital 
 sauce for the gander; and the mare has as good 
 reasons for kicking as the horse has. They must 
 be very forbearing, or they would have given the 
 men a Roland for every Oliver. Pretty dears, 
 they may be rather quick in their talk, but is it 
 not the nature of bells and belles to have tongues 
 that swing easy ? They cannot be so very bad after 
 all, or they would have had their revenge for the 
 many cruel things which are said against them; 
 and if they are a bit masterful, their husbands can- 
 not be such very great victims, or they would 
 surely have sense enough to hold their tongues 
 about it. Men don't care to have it known when 
 they are thoroughly well henpecked, and I feel 
 pretty certain that the old sayings are nothing but 
 chaff, for if they were true men they would never 
 dare to own it. 
 
I 66 SPURGEON 
 
 A true wife is her husband's better half, his 
 lump of delight, his flower of beauty, his guardian 
 angel, and his heart's treasure. He says to her: 
 "I shall in thee most happy be. In thee, my 
 choice, I do rejoice. In thee I find content of 
 mind. God's appointment is my contentment." 
 In her company he finds his earthly heaven; she is 
 the light of his home, the comfort of his soul, and 
 (for this world) the soul of his comfort. What- 
 ever fortune God may send him, he is rich so long 
 as she lives. His rib is the best bone in his body. 
 
 The man who weds a loving wife, 
 Whate'er betideth him in life, 
 
 Shall bear up under all; 
 But he that finds an evil mate, 
 No good can come within his gate; 
 
 His cup is fUl'd with gall, 
 
 A good husband makes a good wife. Some men 
 can neither do without wives nor with them; they 
 are wretched alone, in what is called single blessed- 
 ness, and they make their homes miserable when 
 they get married; they are like Tompkin's dog, 
 which could not bear to be loose, and howled when 
 it was tied up. Happy bachelors are likely to be 
 happy husbands, and a happy husband is the hap- 
 piest of men. A well-matched couple carry a joy- 
 ful life between them, as the two spies carried the 
 cluster of Eshcol. They are a brace of birds of 
 Paradise. They multiply their joys by sharing 
 them, and lessen their troubles by dividing them; 
 this is fine arithmetic. The wagon of care rolls 
 lightly along as they pull together; and when it 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 67 
 
 drags a little heavily, or there's a hitch anywhere, 
 they love each other all the more, and so lighten 
 the labor. 
 
 When a couple fall out, there are always faults 
 on both sides, and generally there is a pound on 
 one and sixteen ounces on the other. When a 
 home is miserable, it is as often the husband's 
 fault as the wife's. Darby is as much to blame as 
 Joan, and sometimes more. If the husband won't 
 keep sugar in the cupboard, no wonder his wife 
 gets sour. Want of bread makes want of love; 
 lean dogs fight. Poverty generally rides home on 
 the husband's back, for it is not often the woman's 
 place to go out working for wages. A man down 
 our parts gave his wife a ring with this on it: "If 
 thee don't work, thee sha'n't eat." He was a 
 brute. It is no business of hers to bring in the grist 
 — she is to see it is well used and not wasted; 
 therefore, I say, short commons are not her fault, 
 She is not the bread-winner, but the bread-maker. 
 She earns more at home than any wages she can 
 get abroad. 
 
 It is not the wife who smokes and drinks away 
 the wages at the "Brown Bear" or the "Jolly 
 Topers." One sees a drunken woman now and 
 then, and it's an awful sight; but in ninety-nine 
 cases out of a hundred it is the man who comes 
 home tipsy and abuses the children — -the woman 
 seldom does that. The poor drudge of a wife is a 
 teetotaler, whether she likes it or no, and gets 
 plenty of hot water as well as cold. Women are 
 
1 68 SPURGEON 
 
 found fault with for often looking into the glass, 
 but that is not so bad a glass as men drown their 
 senses in. The wives do not sit boozing over the 
 tap-room fire; they, poor souls, are shivering at 
 home with the baby, watching the clock (if there 
 is one), wondering when their lords and masters 
 will come home, and crying while they wait. I 
 wonder they don't strike. Some of them are about 
 as wretched as a cockchafer on a pin, or a mouse 
 in a cat's mouth. They have to nurse the sick 
 girl, and wash the dirty boy, and bear with the 
 crying and noise of the children, while his lordship 
 puts on his hat, lights his pipe, and goes off about 
 his own pleasure, or comes in at his own time to 
 find fault with his poor dame for not getting him a 
 fine supper. How could he expect to be fed like a 
 fighting cock, when he brought home so little 
 money on Saturday night, and spends so much in 
 worshiping Sir John Barleycorn? I say it, I know 
 it, there's many a house where there would be no 
 scolding wife if there was not a skulking, guzzling 
 husband. Fellows not fit to be cut up for mops 
 drink and drink till all is blue, and then turn on 
 their poor hacks for not having more to give them. 
 Don't tell me — I say it, and will maintain it, a 
 woman can't help being vexed when, with all her 
 mending and striving, she can't keep house, because 
 her husband won't let her. It would provoke any 
 of us if we had to make bricks without straw, keep 
 the pot boiling without fire, and pay the piper out 
 of an empty purse. What can she get out of the 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 69 
 
 oven when she has neither meal nor dough? You 
 bad husbands, you are thoroughbred sneaks, and 
 ought to be hung up by your heels till you know 
 better. 
 
 They say a man of straw is worth a woman of 
 gold, but I cannot swallow it; a man of straw is 
 worth no more than a woman of straw, let old say- 
 ings lie as they like. Jack is no better than Jill, 
 as a rule. When there is wisdom in the husband, 
 there's generally gentleness in the wife, and be-* 
 tween them the old wedding wish is worked out: 
 "One year of joy, another of comfort, and all the 
 rest of content." Where hearts agree, there joy 
 will be. United hearts death only parts. They 
 say marriage is not often merry-age y but ver^ 
 commonly mar-age; well, if so, the coat and 
 waistcoat have as much to do with it as the gown 
 and petticoat. The honeymoon need not come to 
 an end; and when it does, it is often the man's 
 fault for eating all the honey, and leaving nothing 
 but moonshine; when they both agree that, what- 
 ever becomes of the moon, they will each keep up 
 their share of honey, there's merry living. When 
 a man dwells under the sign of the cat's foot, 
 where faces get scratched, either his wife did not 
 marry a man, or he did not marry a woman. If a 
 man cannot take care of himself, his wit must be as 
 scant as the wool of a blue dog. I don't pity most 
 of the men martyrs; I save my pity for the women. 
 When the Dunmow-flitch is lost, neither of the 
 pair will eat the bacon; but the wife is the most 
 
I70 SPURGEON 
 
 likely to fast for the want of it. Every herring 
 must hang by its own gill, and every person must 
 account for his own share in home quarrels; but 
 John Ploughman can't bear to see all the blame 
 laid on the women. Whenever a dish is broke the 
 cat did it, and whenever there is mischief, there's 
 a woman at the bottom of it — here are two as 
 pretty lies as you will meet with in a month's 
 march. There's a why for every wherefore, but 
 the why for family jars does not always lie with 
 the housekeeper. I know some women have long 
 tongues, then the more's the pity that their hus- 
 bands should set them going; but for the matter 
 of talk, just look into a bar parlor when the men's 
 jaws are well oiled with liquor, and if any women 
 living can talk faster or be more stupid than the 
 men, my name is not John Ploughman. 
 
 When I had got about as far as this, in stepped 
 our minister, and he said, "John, you've got a 
 tough subject, a cut above you; I'll lend you a rare 
 old book to help you over the stile." "Well, sir, 
 said I, "a little help is worth a great deal of fault- 
 finding, and I shall be uncommonly obliged to 
 you." He sent me down old William Seeker's 
 "Wedding Ring;" and a real wise fellow that Seeker 
 was. I could not do any other than pick out some 
 of his pithy bits; they are very flavory, and such 
 as are likely to glue themselves to the memory. 
 He says: "Hast thou a soft heart? It is of God's 
 breaking. Hast thou a sweet wife ? She is of God's 
 making. The Hebrews have a saying, 'He is not 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK IJt 
 
 a man that hath not a woman.' Though man 
 alone may be good, yet it is not good that man 
 should be alone. 'Every good gift and every per- 
 fect gift is from above. ' A wife, though she be 
 not a perfect gift, is a good gift, a beam darted 
 from the Sun of mercy. How happy are those 
 marriages where Christ is at the wedding! Let 
 none but those who have found favor in God's 
 eyes, find favor in yours. Husbands should spread 
 a mantle of charity over their wives' infirmities. 
 Do not put out the candle because of the snuff. 
 Husbands and wives should provoke one another 
 to love, and they should love one another notwith- 
 standing provocations. The tree of love should 
 grow up in the midst of the family as the tree of 
 life grew in the garden of Eden. Good servants 
 are a great blessing, good children a greater bless- 
 ing; but a good wife is the greatest blessing; and 
 such a help let him seek for her that wants one; 
 let him sigh for her that hath lost one; let him 
 delight in her that enjoys one." 
 
 To come down from the old Puritan's roast beef 
 to my own pot herbs, or, as they say, to put Jack 
 after gentleman, I will tell my own experience, and 
 have done. 
 
 My experience of my first wife, who will, I hope, 
 live to be my last, is much as follows: Matrimony 
 came from Paradise, and leads to it. I never was 
 half so happy before I was a married man as I am 
 now. When you are married, your bliss begins. I 
 have no doubt that where there is much love there 
 
172 SPURGEON 
 
 will be much to love, and where love is scant faults 
 tvill be plentiful. If there is only one good wife in 
 England, I am the man who put the ring on her 
 finger, and long may she wear it ! God bless the 
 dear soul ! If she can put up with me, she shall 
 never be put down by me. 
 
 If I wers not married to-day, and saw a suitable 
 partner, I would be married to-morrow morning 
 before breakfast. What think you of that ? "Why," 
 says one, "I think John would get a new wife if he 
 were left a widower." Well, and what if he did, 
 how could he better show that he was happy with 
 his first? I declare I would not say as some do, 
 that they married to have some one to look after 
 the children; I should marry to have some one to 
 look after myself. John Ploughman is a sociable 
 oul, and could not do in a house by himself. One 
 man, when he married his fourth wife, put on the 
 ring,— 
 
 " If I survive I'll make it five." 
 
 What an old Bluebeard ! Marriages are made in 
 heaven; matrimony in itself is good, but there are 
 fools who turn meat into poison, and make a bless- 
 ing into a curse. 
 
 what! rob a poor man of his beer? 
 
 "What! rob a poor man of his beer?" The fact 
 is that they rob the poor man by his beer. The 
 ale-jug robs the cupboard and the table, starves 
 the wife and strips the children; it is a great thief, 
 housebreaker, and heartbreaker; and the best pos- 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 73 
 
 sible thing is to break it to pieces, or keep it on 
 the shelf bottom upward. In a newspaper which 
 was lent me the other day I saw some verses by 
 John Barleycorn, Jr., and, as they tickled my 
 fancy, I copied them out, and there they are,— 
 
 What! rob a poor man of his beer, 
 And give him good victuals instead? 
 
 Your heart's very hard, sir, I fear, 
 Or at least you are soft in the head. 
 
 What! rob a poor man of his mug, 
 
 And give him a house of his own, 
 With kitchen and parlor so snug? 
 
 'Tis enough to draw tears from a stone. 
 
 What! rob a poor man of his glass, 
 And teach him to read and to write? 
 
 What! save him from being an ass? 
 'Tis nothing but malice and spite. 
 
 What! rob a poor man of his ale, 
 
 And prevent him from beating his wife— - 
 
 From being locked up in a jail, 
 With penal employment for life! 
 
 Having given you a song, I now hand you a 
 handbill to stick up in the "Rose and Crown" win- 
 dow, if the landlord wants an advertisement. It 
 was written many years ago, but it is quite as good 
 as new. Any beer-seller may print it who thinks 
 it likely to help his trade. 
 
 DRUNKARDS, READ THIS! 
 
 DRUNKENNESS 
 
 EXPELS REASON, 
 
 DISTEMPERS THE BODY, 
 
 DIMINISHES STRENGTH, 
 
 INFLAMES THE BLOOD, 
 
 / INTERNAL v 
 
 1 EXTERNAL f 
 
 causes < „ mrm T r V wounds: 
 
 j ETERNAL j * 
 
 ' INCURABLE / 
 
1 74 SPURGEON 
 
 IS J 
 
 A WITCH TO THE SENSES, 
 
 A DEMON TO THE SOUL, 
 
 A THIEF TO THE PURSE, 
 
 A GUIDE TO BEGGARY, LECHERY AND VILLAINY. 
 
 IT IS 
 
 THE WIFE'S WOE AND 
 
 THE CHILDREN'S SORROW, 
 
 MAKES A MAN 
 
 WALLOW WORSE THAN A BEAST, AND 
 
 ACT LIKE A FOOL. 
 
 HE IS 
 
 A SELF-MURDERER 
 
 WHO DRINKS TO ANOTHER'S GOOD HEALTH, 
 
 AND 
 
 ROBS HIMSELF OF HIS OWN. 
 
 HOPE 
 
 Eggs are eggs, but some are rotten; and so 
 hopes are hopes, but many of them are delusions. 
 Hopes are like women, there is a touch of angel 
 about them all, but there are two sorts. My boy 
 Tom has been blowing a lot of bird's eggs, and 
 threading them on a string; I have been doing 
 the same thing with hopes, and here's a few of 
 them, good, bad, and indifferent. 
 
 The sanguine man's hope pops up in a moment 
 like Jack-in-a-box; it works with a spring, and 
 does not go by reason. Whenever this man looks 
 out of the window he sees better times coming, 
 and although it is nearly all in his own eye and 
 nowhere else, yet to see plum-puddings in the 
 moon is a far more cheerful habit than croaking at 
 everything like a two-legged frog. This is the 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 175 
 
 kind of brother to be on the road with on a pitch- 
 dark night, when it pours with rain, for he carries 
 candles in his eyes, and a fireside in his heart. 
 Beware of being misled by him, and then you may 
 safely keep his company. His fault is that he 
 counts his chickens before they are hatched, and 
 sells his herrings before they are in the net. All 
 his sparrow's eggs are bound to turn into thrushes, 
 at least, if not partridges and pheasants. Summer 
 has fully come, for he has seen one swallow. He 
 is sure to make his fortune at his new shop, for he 
 had not opened the door five minutes before two 
 of the neighbors crowded in — one of them wanted 
 a loaf of bread on trust, and the other asked change 
 for a shilling. He is certain that the squire means 
 to give him his custom, for he saw him reading the 
 name over the shop door as he rode past. He 
 does not believe in slips between cups and lips, but 
 makes certainties out of perhapses. Well, good 
 soul, though he is a little soft at times, there is 
 much in him to praise, and I like to think of one 
 of his odd sayings, "Never say die till you are dead, 
 and then it's of no use, so let it alone." There 
 are other odd people in the world, you see, be- 
 sides John Ploughman. 
 
 My neighbor Shiftless is waiting for his aunt to 
 die, but the old lady has as many lives as nine 
 cats, and my notion is that when she does die she 
 will leave her little money to the Hospital for 
 Diseased Cats or Stray Dogs, sooner than her 
 nephew Jack shall have it. Poor creature, he is 
 
I76 SPURGEON 
 
 dreadfully down at the heel, and lays it all on the 
 dear old lady's provoking constitution. However, 
 he hopes on, and gets worse and worse, for while 
 the grass grows the horse starves. He pulls at a 
 long rope who waits for another's death; he who 
 hunts after legacies had need have iron shoes. He 
 that waits for dead men's shoes may long go bare- 
 foot; he who waits for his uncle's cow need not 
 be in a hurry to spread the butter. He who lives 
 on hope has a slim diet. If Jack Shiftless never 
 had an aunt, he might have tucked up his shirt- 
 sleeves and worked for himself, but they told him 
 he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and 
 that made a spoon of him, so that he is no more 
 use at work than a cow at catching hares. If any- 
 body likes to leave John Ploughman a legacy, he 
 will be very much obliged to them, but they had 
 not better tell him of it for fear he would not 
 plough so straight a furrow; they had better make 
 it twice as much, and take him by surprise. On 
 the whole, it would be better to leave it to the 
 Pastors' College or the Stockwell Orphanage, for 
 it will be well used in either case. I wish people 
 would think less about windfalls, and plant more 
 apple trees. Hopes that grow out of graves are 
 grave mistakes; and when they cripple a man's 
 own energies, they are a sort of hangman's rope, 
 dangling round a man's neck. 
 
 Some people were born on the first of April, and 
 are always hoping without sense or reason. Their 
 ship is to come home, they are to dig up a pot of 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN S TALK 1 7/ 
 
 gold, or to hear of something to their advantage. 
 Poor sillies, they have wind on the brain, and 
 dream while they are awake. They may hold their 
 mouths open a long while before fried ham and 
 eggs will come flying into them, and yet they 
 really seem to believe that some stroke of luck, 
 some windfall of golden apples, will one day set 
 them up and make gentlemen of them. They 
 hope to ride in their coaches, and by and by find 
 themselves shut up in a place where the coaches 
 won't run over them. You may whistle a long 
 while before goldfinches will hop on to your thumb. 
 Once in a while one man in a million may stumble 
 against a fortune, but thousands ruin themselves 
 by idle expectations. Expect to get half of what 
 you earn, a quarter of what is your due, and none 
 of what you have lent, and you will be near the 
 mark; but to look for a fortune to fall from the 
 moon is to play the fool with a vengeance. A 
 man ought to hope within the bounds of reason 
 and the promises of the good old Book. Hope 
 leans on an anchor, but an anchor must have 
 something to hold by and to hold to. A hope 
 without grounds is a tub without a bottom, a horse 
 without a head, a goose without a body, a shoe 
 without a sole, a knife without a blade. Who but 
 Simple Simon would begin to build a house at the 
 top? There must be a foundation. Hope is no 
 hope, but sheer folly, when a man hopes for im- 
 possibilities, or looks for crops without sowing 
 seed, and for happiness without doing good. Such 
 
I ?$ SPURGEON 
 
 hopes lead to great boast and small roast; they act 
 like a jack-o'-lantern and lead men into the ditch. 
 There's poor Will at the workhouse, who always 
 declares that he owns a great estate, only the right 
 owner keeps him out of it; his name is Jenyns, 
 or Jennings, and somebody of that name, he says, 
 has left enough money to buy the Bank of England, 
 and one day he is to have a share of it; but mean- 
 while poor Will finds the parish broth poor stuff 
 for such a great gentleman's stomach; he has 
 promised me an odd thousand or two when he gets 
 his fortune, and I am going to build a castle in 
 the air with it, and ride to it on a broomstick. 
 Poor soul, like a good many others he has windmills 
 in his head, and may make his will on his thumb- 
 nail for anything that he has to give. Depend 
 upon it, ploughing the air is not half so profitable 
 as it is easy; he who hopes in this world for more 
 than he can get by his own earnings hopes to find 
 apricots on a crab tree. He who marries a sloven- 
 ly, dressy girl, and hopes to make her a good wife, 
 might as well buy a goose and expect it to turn 
 out a milch cow. He who takes his boys to the 
 beer shops, and trusts that they will grow up sober, 
 puts his coffee-pot on the fire and expects to see it 
 look bright as new tin. Men cannot be in their 
 senses when they brew with bad malt and look for 
 good beer, or set a wicked example and reckon 
 upon raising a respectable family. You may hope 
 and hope till your heart grows sick, but when you 
 send your boy up the chimney, he'll come down 
 
JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK 1 79 
 
 black for all your hoping. Teach a child to lie, 
 and then hope that he will grow up honest; better 
 put a wasp in a tar barrel and wait till he makes you 
 honey. As to the next world, it is a great pity that 
 men do not take a little more care when they talk 
 of it. If a man dies drunk, somebody or other is 
 sure to say, "I hope he is gone to heaven." It is 
 all very well to wish it, but to hope it, is another 
 thing. Men turn their faces to hell, and hope to 
 get to heaven; why don't they walk into the horse- 
 pond, and hope to be dry? Hopes of heaven are 
 solemn things, and should be tried by the word 
 of God. A man might as well hope, as our Lord 
 says, to gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles, 
 as look for a happy hereafter at the end of a bad 
 life. There is only one rock to build good hopes 
 on and that is not Peter, as the Pope says, neither 
 is it sacraments, as the old Roman beast's cubs 
 tell us, but the merits of the Lord Jesus. There 
 John Ploughman rests, and he is not afraid, for 
 this is a firm footing, and gives him a hope sure 
 and steadfast, which neither life nor death can 
 shake; but I must not turn preacher, so please 
 remember that presumption is a ladder which will 
 break the mounter's neck, and don't try it, as you 
 love your soul. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 
 
 " Books may be kept at a smaller charge than preachers. Good 
 books are a very great mercy to the world." 
 
 — Richard Baxter. 
 
 " If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid 
 down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading, 
 I would spurn them all." — Archbishop Fenelon. 
 
 For eighteen years Mr. Spurgeon edited "The 
 Sword and Trowel," a monthly magazine, that was 
 designed to be, as the title-page indicates, a record 
 of "Combat with Sin and Labor for the Lord." 
 Like much of Mr. Spurgeon' s special work, this 
 was forced upon him. It became necessary to 
 have a channel of communication between him- 
 self and his many correspondents, his students and 
 his friends, scattered the wide world over. The 
 "Sword and Trowel" was, from first to last, all 
 through its eighteen volumes, a bright, cheery, 
 entertaining magazine; and now that the Editor 
 has passed away, these volumes will have an added 
 value from the fact that they, as a complete series, 
 constitute the best possible history that can be 
 obtained of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, of the 
 manifold organizations that were associated with 
 it, and of its honored pastor. 
 
 180 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK l8l 
 
 When Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton was wearied 
 all day long by incessant requests to alter his 
 procedure upon a great political question, he told 
 his daughter that he could compare the importuni- 
 ties of the members of the House of Commons to 
 nothing but a continual tooth-drawing. This is an 
 image far too striking to be left to Sir Fowell's 
 sole use. Many other persons have been made to 
 know what a continual tooth-drawing means, and 
 we feel persuaded that many more are subjected 
 to similar processes. 
 
 We should think that a miserly man, who takes 
 a sitting in a place of worship frequented by a 
 liberal and energetic people, must frequently feel, 
 when he is asked over and over again for a sub- 
 scription, that he had almost as soon sit in a den- 
 tist's chair, and feel the operator's forceps upon 
 his precious dentals. His best plan is to give at 
 once, and so end the pain of the extraction. 
 
 The same sort of misery must be experienced by 
 the Christian who is always sighing — 
 
 " 'Tis a point I long to know," 
 
 jind incessantly turning over the experience of his 
 own heart to see if he can extract from it some 
 assuring evidence of his being in Christ. Most 
 of us have undergone this unhappy experience, 
 and even a moment of it is torture — to have to 
 endure it month after month would be agony in- 
 deed. Oh, for a childlike faith in Jesus to decide 
 the question at once! 
 
182 SPURGEON 
 
 Personally, we have heard utterances in prayer- 
 meetings which were painfully like a continual 
 tooth-drawing. They were hard, cold, heartless, 
 dreary, and both as long and as dismal as a win- 
 ter's night. All of a sudden we thought and hoped 
 that the brother had done; but, alas, he took up 
 a fresh lease, and entered upon another lengthened 
 period! To all appearances he was coming to a 
 conclusion a second time, when off he went, like a 
 shot which ricochets, or a boy's stone which, when 
 thrown into the water, goes — duck— duck — drake 
 — upon the surface. The prayer was diluted to 
 the dregs of nothing, but end there seemed to be 
 none. Oh, that the tooth were out! The beloved 
 brother had said all that could be said, and prayed 
 for all that could be prayed for; but he evidently 
 felt it necessary to begin again. We can have too 
 much of a good thing in such a case, and we wish 
 the friend thought so. 
 
 Preachers, too, have caused us the same memo- 
 rable sensation. The style and manner have been 
 painful, and the length of the discourse has made 
 the agony a protracted one. Dragging away at 
 some metaphysical subtlety, which they could not 
 bring into the light; tugging at some unimportant 
 difficulty whose fangs defied their power; or ex- 
 plaining with marvelous perspicuity what was 
 clear as daylight when they began, and marvel- 
 ously foggy, before they came to the end, they 
 have inflicted upon us "a continual tooth-drawing;" 
 at least, our patience was almost as much strained 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 1 83 
 
 as if a grinder had been slowly drawn from our 
 aching jaw. We are ready to cry, "Out with it, 
 and have done, there's a good man; for we can't 
 stand it much longer." 
 
 Worst of all, however, and fullest development 
 of Sir Fowell's simile, is the click, clack, click, 
 clack, of a fluent female who has gained your ear, 
 and means to hold it. 
 
 "She never tires nor stops to rest, 
 But on and on she goes." 
 
 We have felt ready to open our mouth, and let 
 her draw all our teeth seriatim, if she would but 
 leave off talking. She had nothing to say, and 
 she said that nothing at extreme length, with mar- 
 velous energy, and with unwearied repetition. We 
 have turned our head, we have shut our eyes, we 
 have wished we had gun-cotton in our ears and 
 dynamite in our brain; but our wishes did not de- 
 liver us, we were given over to the tormentor, and 
 must abide the fulfillment of our sentence. When 
 the operation has been over we have sometimes 
 asked ourselves what we have done to deserve 
 such a punishment, and with every desire to make 
 a full confession of our faults, we have not been 
 able to discover anything which deserved so severe 
 a torment under the present rule of mercy. At 
 the second sight of the operator we have fled, feel- 
 ing that it would be worth while to go a mile 
 round, or leap over hedge and ditch, rather than 
 again experience "a continual tooth-drawing." 
 
184 SPURGEON 
 
 Moral. — Let us all be considerate of the feel- 
 ings of others, for when we imagine we are merely 
 tickling their ears, we may be causing them as 
 much pain as if we were drawing their teeth. 
 
 THE ART OF TORMENTING 
 
 One would hardly have thought it worth an 
 author's while to compose a treatise upon "The 
 Art of Tormenting;" yet such a book exists, and 
 contains many ingenious instructions by which mas- 
 ters, husbands, wives, and friends may torture 
 their servants, relatives, and acquaintances to an 
 intolerable degree. To quote any of the writer's 
 suggestions in these pages would be useless, since 
 none of our readers wish to learn the science of 
 plaguing others. The ingenious writer, a lady, by 
 the way, does not recommend the clumsy methods 
 of Roman emperors and Popish inquisitors, by 
 which it is possible to torment the bodies of men 
 and allow the mind and spirit to remain at peace; 
 but she deals with subtler arts, by which the mind 
 can be lacerated beyond all cure, while yet no 
 wound is seen. To torture the heart and spirit of 
 a man is far more cruel than to tear his flesh or 
 break his bones. One sentiment in this amusing 
 treatise struck us as singularly instructive to those 
 who are the victims of malicious criticism; the 
 author says: "Be very careful daily to observe 
 whether your patient continues in good health, 
 and is fat and well-liken; for, if so, you may be 
 almost certain that your whole labor is thrown 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 1 85 
 
 away. As soon, therefore, as you perceive this to 
 be the case, you must (to speak in the phrase of 
 surgeons when they hack and hew a human body) 
 immediately choose another subject. All the 
 pleasure of tormenting is lost as soon as your sub- 
 ject becomes insensible to your strokes." We are 
 almost reconciled to being corpulent as we read 
 these lines. Herein is wisdom. Patience baffles 
 malice: the malicious themselves confess their 
 defeat; what can we do better than to offer the 
 passive resistance which is seen to be so effective? 
 Let us no longer gratify our enemies by taking 
 notice of their cruel observations and venomous 
 insinuations. If we are callous we at once defeat 
 them ; there can be no virtue in cultivating a sensi- 
 tiveness which makes us vulnerable. The more 
 we smart, the more they will scourge; but a back 
 of leather laughs at the cat-o' -nine-tails. By 
 doing our best at all times we shall be able to defy 
 all the criticisms of on-lookers, who, doing noth- 
 ing themselves, have all the more leisure to find 
 fault with our honest endeavors. In all probabil- 
 ity we shall never succeed in any one instance in 
 pleasing all who call themselves our friends; and 
 as to our enemies, they will never be gratified un- 
 less they see us guilty of gross folly; therefore our 
 wisest course is to make sure of being right in the 
 sight of God, and then to proceed in a straight line 
 with firm tread, whether we offend or please. 
 The desire to inflict pain is ingrained in some nat- 
 ures, and against these there is no defense except 
 
I 86 SPURGEON 
 
 a manly insensibility. As chemists plunge a fabric 
 in a solution of alum and thus enable it to defy 
 the flames, so should we immerse ourselves into 
 the consciousness of desiring to do right before 
 God, and we shall be superior to the fires of slan- 
 der. We are not able to abate the fury of Nebuch- 
 adnezzar's furnace; but if we can walk in the 
 midst of it unharmed, the result will be equally 
 harmless and far more sublime. 
 
 Over against the art of tormenting let us set the 
 philosophy of enduring; our bane and antidote 
 are both before us. 
 
 With the beginning of each new volume Mr. 
 Spurgeon issued a characteristic address to his 
 readers. Here is a part of one of those yearly 
 epistles: — 
 
 Kind Readers: — Throughout another year you 
 have sustained the magazine, and as very many of 
 you have expressed your satisfaction, and few, if 
 any, have favored me with a complaint, I feel 
 encouraged to believe that you have been pleased 
 with my monthly issues. It was once observed in 
 my hearing by a friend who wished to account for 
 my fulfillment of numerous duties, that, as for the 
 magazine, it was a merely nominal thing to be the 
 editor, for few editors ever saw their magazines 
 till they were in print. However this may be as 
 a rule, it does not contain a spark of truth in my 
 case, for I have personally superintended every 
 page, and I do not think a single line of the mag- 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 1 87 
 
 azine has passed through the press without having 
 been read by me. Whether I succeed or not, 
 I certainly do not delegate my task to others. If I 
 had more leisure I am sure I could do better, and 
 it is with unfeigned satisfaction that I find my 
 subscribers contented with what I can procure for 
 them. 
 
 "The Sword and Trowel" has been the happy 
 means of uniting in gracious service a band of 
 gracious givers and workers, who now for these 
 .seventeen years have joined to aid the institutions 
 which, though they locally surround the Taber- 
 nacle, are really the offspring of a congregation 
 which is found scattered throughout all lands. By 
 means of this warm-hearted brotherhood the Pas- 
 tors' College has been sustained from year to year, 
 until some six hundred ministers have been edu- 
 cated in it, the most of whom are still faithfully 
 preaching the old-fashioned gospel in which they 
 have been trained. In connection with this enter- 
 prise three brethren have been supported as evan- 
 gelists, and their itinerant labors have been signally 
 successful. Testimonies that churches have been 
 aroused and sinners converted by their means, 
 have been plentifully sent in, and these pages have 
 been increased in interest thereby. Hundreds of 
 thousands have heard the gospel through this in- 
 strumentality. 
 
 As a critic of other men's work Mr. Spurgeon 
 was at least clear and intelligible. He could and 
 would praise without stint when he thought the 
 
I 88 SPURGEON 
 
 book was worthy, and he could and would be 
 equally severe. Here follow a few examples, from 
 the pages of the "Sword and Trowel." 
 
 What is Truth? As it is manifested by consider- 
 ing the Creator, Creation, Revelation, and Man. 
 
 We do not see how the author answers the ques- 
 tion of the title. After trying in vain to read and 
 understand this limp, yellow-covered emanation, 
 we give it up in despair, and say: "How we wish 
 writers would have mercy upon readers, and at 
 least put their nonsense in language that can be 
 understood." Some styles of writing could fairly 
 be described as "pea-soup" styles, — cloudy, thick, 
 muddy; but for ourselves we prefer clear, honest, 
 downright Saxon. 
 
 Companion to the Revised Version of the English 
 New Testament. 
 
 By A. Roberts, D. D. 
 
 Every student of the Bible who can afford half- 
 a-crown. should get this most useful and entertain- 
 ing volume. It contains the sort of reading which 
 has the most charm for us, for it deals with the 
 Scriptures themselves and their meaning in a most 
 pleasant manner. Reading this "Companion," the 
 alterations of the Revised Version become vastly 
 more intelligible. 
 
 LIGHT LITERATURE 
 
 For novels of all sorts Mr. Spurgeon had a 
 supreme contempt. Even religious novels met 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK 1 89 
 
 with little favor at his hands; but for the rest he 
 thought novel-reading a great waste of time. He 
 says: — 
 
 "We would sooner break stones. As folks will 
 have these religious fictions, we do our best to let 
 them know which of them are well-intentioned, 
 but we do not advise the reading of them to any 
 great extent. A little pastry may be all very well 
 (our slow digestion suggests that the less the bet- 
 ter) but to live upon it would be to generate dys- 
 pepsia and all sorts of ills; even so, an interesting 
 story now and again may be a relief and a pleasure, 
 but a constant course of such reading must injure 
 both mind and heart. From the quantity of fiction 
 which we have lately received, we should think 
 that its perusal needs no encouraging, and a little 
 repression might be healthy." 
 
 The Fatherhood of God 
 
 One of the most poetic, beautiful, pseudo-philo- 
 sophic, but altogether erroneous books on the 
 Fatherhood of God which we ever read. As insid- 
 ious and attractive as it can be, but altogether 
 subversive of the very fundamental truths of the 
 gospel concerning man's ruin, regeneration, and 
 redemption. Our advice concerning it would be 
 the same as given with respect to the proper way 
 of preparing cucumber: "Carefully peel and slice 
 it, flavor with pepper, salt, and vinegar, and then 
 — eat it? Oh, no; throw it on the dunghill!" 
 
 12 
 
£90 SPURGEON 
 
 The Masque Torn Off. 
 
 By T. de Witt Talmage, D. D. 
 
 With Mr. Talmage in preaching the gospel we 
 are heartily at one, but from Mr. Talamge as an 
 amateur detective we part company. It may not 
 only be right to enter the dens of New York in 
 order to expose their evils, but it may even be 
 heroic to do so; it is not, however, a work which 
 we would undertake for any consideration, nor one 
 from which, according to our judgment, any great 
 benefit can arise. Mr. Talmage seems to us to 
 make small progress in depth of spirituality and 
 fullness of divine experience, but to be straining 
 himself to say striking things. This is not a state 
 of things to be commended, and we hope that 
 the preacher will grow out of it; at the same time 
 we are sure that his sermons have charms for 
 many minds, and that they do not deserve the 
 savage condemnation which critics have poured 
 upon them. 
 
 A Man every Inch of Him: or, The Story of 
 Frank Fuller ton' 's School-days. 
 
 By J. Jackson Wray. 
 
 Capital ! first-rate ! and every other adjective 
 that will express our unmingled admiration of this 
 book of books for English boys. Once let it be 
 seen and dipped into, and no boy will be able to 
 rest until he has read to the end; and then he'll 
 want more. Why, it kept us up long after bed- 
 
THE EDITOR AT HIS DESK I9I 
 
 time, made us laugh and cry just as it liked, and, 
 when we left off, set us longing to be young again, 
 took the wrinkles out of our face, and almost made 
 our creaking limbs to grow supple ! Well done, 
 Mr. Wray! You have given young and old boys 
 alike a treat, and in the name of boydom in gen- 
 eral, we vote you "a brick." It's just the book for 
 a Christmas-box, a birthday present, or a prize 
 gift, and we hope will be as plentifully scattered as 
 snowflakes in January. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE AND A TEXT-BOOK 
 
 "I read the newspaper that I may see how my heavenly Father 
 governs the world." — John Newton. 
 
 " I believe that a great and good newspaper is as sacred in its 
 own way as the Bible. It has something in it of the very present 
 word of God to man, and the very present word of man to God." 
 
 — Robert Collyer. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon was a Puritan at heart, as we 
 have said before. He was not "a man of the 
 world," and yet he was neither blind to what was 
 going on about him, nor deaf to the voices that 
 were sometimes harmonious and sometimes most 
 discordant. He was a man of strong faith, and 
 believed that this is God's world after all! That 
 grand line of Robert Browning's: 
 
 "God is in heaven! All's right with the world," 
 
 fitly expresses the complacent confidence with 
 which, especially in earlier years, Mr. Spurgeon 
 looked on the tumult and the strifes of men. With 
 an ever-observant eye he saw what many missed. 
 And with an eye ever "single" God-ward, he saw 
 relations in passing events that escaped the com- 
 mon hasty glance. The history of every day re- 
 vealed to him that God was moving in the affairs 
 of men. And so the newspaper became a sort of 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 1 93 
 
 later Bible, and in turn a text-book. Speaking 
 of the newspaper, Mr. Spurgeon says: — 
 
 "We have read the newspaper during the last 
 three months that we might find illustrations of 
 the teaching of our heavenly Father's Word; and 
 we think we have not read in vain, for we have 
 gathered instances in proof and facts in explana- 
 tion which we have jotted down in these pages. 
 The worlds of nature and of providence are full of 
 parallels to things moral and spiritual, and serve 
 as pictures to make the written book of inspiration 
 more clear to the children of God. The Bible it- 
 self abounds in metaphors, types, and symbols; it 
 is a great picture-book; there is scarcely a poetical 
 figure which may not be found in the law and the 
 prophets, or in the words of Jesus and His apostles. 
 The preacher is bidden to speak as the oracles of 
 God, and consequently he should imitate their illus- 
 trative method, and abound in emblems and para- 
 bles. A sermon which is full of Mikes' is full of 
 windows to enlighten the mind and hands to hold 
 it captive. Discourses decked with similes will 
 not only give pleasure to the children, but persons 
 of riper years will be charmed and instructed 
 thereby." 
 
 In this chapter we have placed a few examples 
 of Mr. Spurgeon's happy treatment of current 
 events. 
 
 BLAME THE SCALE-MAKER 
 
 " The woman said, The serpent beguiled me and I did eat." 
 
 — Gen. Hi: 13. 
 " Every man shall bear his own burden." — Gen. vi: 5. 
 
194 SPURGEON 
 
 The "South London Press," June 22, reports 
 the following, among a number of other cases of 
 unjust weights and measures: "A. B., cheese- 
 monger. One machine. Defendant said he paid 
 a scale-maker 30 s. 6 d. to attend to it, and the 
 neglect was his. The chairman said one of 
 the first things defendant should have attended 
 to was the correctness of his scales and weights. 
 Fined £1. Defendant thought the scale-maker 
 ought to pay the fine. The clerk: 'We look to 
 you ; we have nothing to do with the scale-maker. '" 
 
 National law is based upon the principle of per- 
 sonal responsibility, and it will not allow a trans- 
 gressor to escape by pleading that he has shifted 
 the burden of duty upon another. If in any case 
 responsibility could be transferred, it surely should 
 be under the circumstances before us; but the law 
 knows nothing of scale-makers, it deals with trad- 
 ers; and if anything be wrong with scales or weights 
 it does not hold the shopkeeper guiltless, but visits 
 the wrong upon him, even though he may have 
 employed a person to keep his weights in order. 
 This course appears to be severe, but it is both just 
 and necessary; there would be no security for the 
 purchaser, nor indeed for government itself, if the 
 essential principle of personal responsibility could 
 be departed from. Every man must bear his own 
 burden. 
 
 Yet this truth is too often put into the back- 
 ground. In religion men have often acted as if 
 they had altogether forgotten that it must of 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 195 
 
 necessity be strictly personal. We hear of spon- 
 sors promising and vowing no end of things, and 
 of priests performing service and doing the devo- 
 tions of others. Proxies, however, in such matters 
 are a sheer delusion ; all true religion is a personal 
 thing; men sin personally, and they must person- 
 ally repent of that sin, or personally bear the guilt 
 of it. No man can receive the new birth on be- 
 half of another, nor can another man's faith ex- 
 cuse us from believing in Jesus. Sanctification is 
 not a boon to be vicariously received, any more 
 than heaven can be vicariously enjoyed. A man 
 may fancy that he pays a priest or a minister to 
 do his religion for him, just as the tradesman paid 
 the scale-maker; but the law does not recognize 
 the transaction, it deals with principals only. We 
 cannot leave our heavenly business in the hands of 
 a clergyman as we place our secular affairs in the 
 hands of a lawyer; we must believe in Jesus Christ 
 on our own account, or judgment will go against 
 us. It is true that in the matter of our justifica- 
 tion before God, we have been redeemed by the 
 blood of our Substitute, and are accepted in His 
 imputed righteousness; but, in the practical appli- 
 cation of the blessings thus procured, everything 
 must be direct and personal. Another may pro- 
 cure us food, but he cannot eat or digest it for us; 
 Jesus has become our bread from heaven, but we 
 must individually partake of Him if we would live 
 forever. Another may bring us a candle, but we 
 cannot see the light except with our own vision, — ■ 
 
I96 SPURGEON 
 
 nay, more, even the Sun of Righteousness makes 
 no man to see except by his own eyes. 
 
 Never, then, let us leave our doctrinal views to 
 be settled for us by the Church, but let us search 
 the Scriptures for ourselves; let us not derive our 
 peace and confidence from the good opinion of 
 our pastor and the deacons, but aim at attaining a 
 full assurance of our calling and election by the 
 seal of the Spirit upon our own hearts; neither let 
 us leave the work of the Lord to be discharged by 
 others, but honestly render our fair share of the 
 service. We must ask for grace to see to our own 
 scales, and cease to leave to the scale-maker a 
 matter which is altogether our own concern. 
 
 THE EVIL WROUGHT BY ONE MAN 
 
 " One sinner destroyeth much good." — Eccles. ix:i8. 
 
 " That man perished not alone in his iniquity." 
 
 — Josh. xxii:2o. 
 
 An American paper contains the following para- 
 graph: "An oil-train of forty oil-tanks ran into a 
 heavy freight-train near Slatington, Pennsylvania. 
 The engineer of the latter train had been com- 
 pelled to stop to cool off a hot 'journal, ' but the 
 conductor had sent no one back to warn following 
 trains of danger. Several persons were killed and 
 about forty injured — the result of one man's care- 
 lessness." Amid the blaze of the oil, the screams 
 of burning men and women, and the charred re- 
 mains of the unhappy victims, we see how great a 
 calamity may arise out of a little neglect, and how 
 much the destiny of others may hang upon the 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 1 9? 
 
 acts of one man. Have we a due sense of our own 
 personal responsibility? Have we ever reflected that 
 our own conduct may influence others for good or 
 evil throughout eternity ? We may have no wicked 
 intent, and yet our carelessness and indifference 
 may be as fatal to immortal souls as if we had been 
 profane or profligate. Moral virtues, apart from 
 religion, may suggest to our children that godliness 
 is needless; was not their father an excellent man, 
 and yet he was unconverted? Thus may genera- 
 tion after generation be kept in spiritual death by 
 an argument fetched from the irreligion of one who 
 was in other respects a model character. Who 
 among us would desire this? 
 
 Even if we hope that we are ourselves saved, it 
 should cause us grave question if we are not bring- 
 ing others to Jesus. 
 
 A destroyer of souls will have an awful doom at 
 the last, and he who failed to do his best to save 
 his fellows will not be held guiltless before the 
 Lord. 
 
 ladies' dress 
 
 "I will . . . that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, 
 with shamefacedness and sobriety." — / Tim. it; 8, g. 
 
 '•Be clothed with humility." — / Peter v: 5. 
 
 On the nth of April, in the course of an action 
 brought by the well-known modiste, "Madame 
 Rosalie," against a gentleman of property to com- 
 pel him to pay a debt contracted by his wife, it 
 was stated in evidence that from $2, 500 to $10,- 
 000 a year might be considered a reasonable sum 
 
I98 SPURGEON 
 
 for a lady moving in good society to expend on 
 dress. The gentleman's wife, in the witness-box, 
 repudiated with lofty scorn the idea that the former 
 amount was sufficient. The lady is an invalid, has 
 never been presented at court, and is not called 
 into company, and yet was indebted for millinery to 
 a very large amount. 
 
 Is it, then, a fact that so large a sum is con- 
 sidered needful for the clothing of one human 
 form? Surely the luxury of the old Roman empire 
 is infecting our beloved country: may God grant 
 that it may not, in our case also, be a sign of the 
 decay of the nation. Women should be too con- 
 siderate of the needs of the sick and suffering to 
 spend their money so wastefully. A blanket placed 
 on the bed of a poor old woman would be a better 
 ornament to a lady's character than all the lace a 
 dukedom could purchase. Yet so it is; but — tell 
 it not in Gath — a lady cannot be dressed under 
 $10,000 a year! 
 
 Are we wrong if we place side by side with this 
 modern fact a description of the follies of women 
 of the olden times? "Moreover the Lord saith, 
 Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and 
 walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, 
 walking and mincing as they go, and making a 
 tinkling with their feet: therefore the Lord will 
 smite with a scab the crown of the head of the 
 daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their 
 secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away 
 the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 1 99 
 
 feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the 
 moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the muf- 
 flers, the -bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, 
 and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear- 
 rings, the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable 
 suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wim- 
 ples, and the crisping-pins, the glasses, and the 
 fine linen, and the hoods and the vails." — Isaiah 
 iii: 16-23. 
 
 What a contrast is the teaching of the Apostle 
 Peter, in his first epistle, at the third chapter: 
 u Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorn- 
 ing of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or 
 of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden 
 man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, 
 even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 
 which is in the sight of God of great price. For 
 after this manner in the old time the holy women 
 also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, be- 
 ing in subjection unto their own husbands." Peter 
 sends the ladies to a wardrobe better than any 
 which the frivolous possess, and to a jewel-case 
 richer than ever belonged to the vain and showy; 
 but, alas, the mass of women do not care to adorn 
 themselves in this right royal fashion! Pride of 
 dress is so childish that one wonders to see it in 
 grown-up people. The old proverb speaks of be- 
 ing twice children; but fops and dandies of either 
 sex are always children. Archbishop Leighton has 
 well said: "It is strange upon how poor things 
 men and women will be vain, and think them- 
 
200 SPURGEON 
 
 selves somebody; not only upon some comeliness 
 in their face or feature, which, though poor, is yet 
 a part of themselves, but of things merely without 
 them; that they are well lodged, or well mounted, 
 or well appareled, either richly or well in fashion. 
 Light, empty minds are like bladders, blown up 
 with anything." 
 
 The only excuse we can think of for some dressy 
 women is that they think themselves very ugly. 
 What deformity must exist if it needs ten thou- 
 sand a year to cover it ! If these persons accurately 
 gauge their lack of personal charms, they must be 
 suffering under a fearful measure of uncomeliness. 
 Why, ten or twenty families could be reared in 
 comparative comfort upon the amount thus ex- 
 pended in wastefulness, and as matters go with 
 the agricultural laborers in many of the shires, 
 forty of the families owned by Hodge and his com- 
 panions, including all the father Hodges and their 
 wives, could be decently provided for upon ten 
 thousand a year. It will not bear thinking of. 
 Yet many women professing godliness are shock- 
 ingly extravagant, and can never be happy till 
 their heads are tricked out with strange gear and 
 their bodies with fashionable millinery. They 
 little think how much they degrade themselves 
 and grieve the Spirit of God. A forgiven sinner 
 decked out in the flaunting garments of a worldling, 
 casts suspicion upon her own pardon. If she had 
 ever been renewed in heart, would she, could she, 
 adorn herself after the manner of a Jezebel ? It is 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 201 
 
 hard to think of a disciple of the Lord wasting her 
 substance upon personal decoration. Does the 
 lowly Jesus keep company with persons who spend 
 hours at the glass, adorning, if not adoring, their 
 own flesh? Can extravagance and fashionableness 
 be pleasing to the Lord? No. Assuredly not. 
 
 We are not judging that "neat handsomeness" 
 which George Herbert says "doth bear the sway," 
 but we are sorrowful when we see those who set 
 themselves up as examples, and move in a position 
 where no outward show is required, going beyond 
 ordinary worldly women in extravagance. It is 
 the bane of society and the disgrace of religion. 
 
 We wonder how much of the extravagance of 
 female dress could be traced to the man-millinery 
 of Anglican priests. Church congresses have been 
 edified by exhibitions of ecclesiastical finery, in 
 which were seen robes and vestments of the costli- 
 est material and the gaudiest colors. We have 
 read of altar frontals which have taken years to 
 finish, and are valued at more than $2,500. All 
 this to deck out a table! No wonder that it costs 
 so much to dress a woman. When men, and even 
 ministers, take to resplendent trappings, who can 
 wonder that the weaker sex exercise a larger 
 liberty? For shame, ye so-called priests, put away 
 your baby garments, and quit yourselves like men ! 
 
 THE RACE AND ITS SPECTATORS 
 
 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a 
 cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which 
 doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is 
 5et before us." -~Heb, xii:i. 
 
202 SPURGEON 
 
 In an article upon the University boat-race of 
 April 13, the "Times" alludes to the dense throng 
 upon the banks of the river, and to the interest 
 which everybody seemed to feel in the struggle, 
 and it then very truthfully adds: — 
 
 "Nor do the competitors themselves fail to gain 
 much from the sight of the vast crowds which 
 attest the strength of the popular interest. The 
 rivalry would hardly be so keen if the race were to 
 be rowed amid the comparative privacy of a pro- 
 vincial stream or lake. Some years ago this was 
 kept out of sight in a high and mighty way, by the 
 suggestion that, to prevent the contest from being 
 vulgarized, or for some other reason, it ought to 
 be held at some quieter place than the neighbor- 
 hood of London. Loch Maree, in the wilds of 
 Ross-shire, would afford charming tranquillity and 
 a few scores of cool spectators. But the stimulus 
 of a great public competition would be gone, and 
 if we may venture to assume that undergraduates 
 are made of the same stuff as other human beings, 
 that stimulus is essential to such muscular exertion 
 as we see at Oxford and Cambridge." 
 
 This excellently illustrates the meaning of the 
 apostle when he represents believers as running 
 for a prize, with saints, apostles, and martyrs look- 
 ing on. The stimulus communicated by specta- 
 tors is his prominent idea. No doubt the young 
 oarsmen find a stimulus in every eye that gazes 
 upon them, and if the crowd were thinned they 
 would take less interest in their task. The crowds 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 203 
 
 which line the Thames may well be compared to 
 clouds, so completely do they darken the banks 
 from end to end of the course; and much more 
 may those who gaze upon the Christian's life be 
 thus spoken of. Myriads lean from heaven, or look 
 from earth, or peer upward from the pit. Holy 
 men of all ages, now with God, join with a great 
 host still abiding here below. Angels and prin- 
 cipalities and powers unite as one vast army and 
 observe us intently; and frowning demons of the 
 pit in their dread array all gaze with interest upon 
 the Christian's work and way. Should not every 
 glance animate us to do our utmost? 
 
 And what eyes there are among those who ob- 
 serve us! Had the Queen been present, we could 
 imagine the young athletes straining themselves 
 even more than they had done, for the glance of 
 royalty quickens energy to the utmost. In our 
 case, the King of kings looks down upon us, and 
 the Prince of Life with tender sympathy watches 
 our progress. What manner of race should ours 
 be under the Lord's own eye! Competitors of 
 former years were at the boat-race to see whether 
 the new-comers would maintain the honor of their 
 university. Even so the worthies of ancient times, 
 who counted not their lives dear unto them, take 
 pleasure in the efforts of those who to-day are 
 wrestling for victory, as they themselves did in 
 ages past. The approving glances of prophets and 
 apostles may well stir our souls. Dear ones who 
 have gone before also mark our behavior in the 
 
204 SPURGEON 
 
 race. A mother in heaven takes delight in the 
 ardor of her son; brothers "gone over to the ma- 
 jority" are serenely glad as they see their brothers 
 pushing forward in the noble cause. Our leaders 
 in the faith, oarsmen who taught us how to fly 
 over the waves, regard as with anxious interest, 
 and joy in our successes. These things should 
 quicken us, and lend us arguments for unabated 
 energy. 
 
 Of course the apostle was not alluding to a boat- 
 race, but to the Olympian games. Those games 
 furnish a suggestive figure, which we leave the 
 reader to work out at leisure, when we have given 
 him a glimpse at the race from the window of good 
 Dr. John Brown: 
 
 "At Olympia, a town of Elis, games were cele- 
 brated in honor of Jupiter once every five years. 
 An almost incredible multitude, from all the states 
 of Greece and from the surrounding countries, 
 attended these games as spectators. The noblest 
 of the Grecian youths appeared as competitors. 
 In this race, a course was marked out for the can- 
 didates for public fame, and a tribunal erected at 
 the end of the course, on which sat the judges — 
 men who had themselves in former years been suc- 
 cessful competitors for Olympic honors. The vic- 
 tors in the morning contests did not receive their 
 prizes till the evening; but after their exertions 
 they joined the band of spectators, and looked on 
 while others prosecuted the same arduous labors 
 which they had brought to an honorable termina- 
 tion." 
 
THE NEWSPAPER A BIBLE 205 
 
 It is a fine thought that those honorable men in 
 the Church of God who have themselves behaved 
 worthily, take the deepest interest in the young 
 men who have newly set out upon the race. Let 
 the youngsters so behave themselves that the vet- 
 erans may never fear for the cause of God. We 
 know that a great deal of anxiety is felt just now, for 
 the rising race shows signs of being unstable and 
 superficial, but we hope for better things, and even 
 trust that the men of the coming age will outstrip 
 their predecessors, and draw forth the approving 
 shouts of the encompassing cloud of witnesses. 
 
 13 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 
 
 "Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: talk ye of all His won- 
 drous works." — David. 
 
 "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
 songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. " 
 
 —Paul. 
 
 Neither Mr. Spurgeon nor his warmest admirers 
 would claim for him the genius of the poet. He 
 himself would have been the first to protest against 
 any such claim made on his behalf. And yet 
 occasionally he indulged in the luxury of writing 
 verse, a few examples of which will not be unwel - 
 come to the readers of this volume. All birds are 
 not nightingales, and yet the thrush and the robin 
 and the lark, have a right to sing their songs. 
 Even the chirp of the sparrow is welcome after the 
 long silence of winter. If Mr. Spurgeon had been 
 disposed to justify his occasional "dropping into 
 poetry," he would probably have quoted Paul's 
 words, and in the exposition thereof he might have 
 suggested that it is much better to make melody in 
 the heart to the Lord, even with feeble poetry, than 
 to go grumbling all the day long. He delighted 
 chiefly in paraphrases of the psalms. His compi- 
 lation of "Our Own Hymn Book" gives evidence 
 that he possessed excellent judgment in the mat- 
 ter of devotional poetry. 
 
 206 
 
PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 207 
 
 "be thou exalted king of kings" 
 psalm xxi 
 
 Thy strength, O Lord, makes glad our King, 
 Who once in weakness bowed the head; 
 
 Salvation makes His heart to sing, 
 
 For Thou hast raised Him from the dead. 
 
 Thou hast bestowed His heart's desires, 
 Showered on His path Thy blessings down; 
 
 His royal pomp all heaven admires; 
 Thou on His head hast set the crown. 
 
 A life eternal as Thy years, 
 
 A glory infinite like Thine, 
 Repays Him for His groans and tears, 
 
 And fills His soul with joy divine. 
 
 O King, beloved of our souls, 
 
 Thine own right hand shall find Thy foes! 
 Swift o'er their necks Thy chariot rolls, 
 
 And earth Thy dreadful vengeance knows. 
 
 As glowing oven is Thy wrath, 
 
 As flame by furious blast upblown; 
 
 With equal heat Thy love breaks forth, 
 Like wall of fire around Thine own. 
 
 Be Thou exalted, King of Kings! 
 
 In Thine own strength sit Thou on high! 
 Thy Church Thy triumph loudly sings, 
 
 And lauds Thy glorious Majesty. 
 
 A PRAYER FROM ZI0N* S HOLY HILL 
 PSALM XV 
 
 Lord, I would dwell with Thee 
 
 On Thy most holy hill. 
 Oh, shed Thy grace abroad in me, 
 
 To mold me to Thy will. 
 
208 SPURGEON 
 
 Thy gate of pearl stands wide. 
 
 For those who walk upright; 
 But those who basely turn aside 
 
 Thou chasest from Thy sight. 
 
 Oh, tame my tongue to peace, 
 And tune my heart to love; 
 
 From all reproaches may I cease, 
 Made harmless as a dove. 
 
 The vile, though proudly great, 
 
 No flatterer find in me; 
 I count Thy saints of poor estate 
 
 Far nobler company. 
 
 Faithful, but meekly kind, 
 
 Gentle, yet boldly true, 
 I would possess the perfect mind 
 
 Which in my Lord I view. 
 
 But, Lord, these graces all 
 Thy Spirit's work must be; 
 
 To Thee, through Jesus' blood I call — 
 Create them all in me. 
 
 MAKE HASTE, O GOD 
 PSALM LXXV 
 
 Make haste, O God, my soul to bless, 
 My help and my deliverer Thou! 
 
 Make haste! for I'm in deep distress, 
 My case is urgent — help me now! 
 
 Make haste, O God! make haste to save! 
 
 For time is short and death is nigh! 
 Make haste! ere yet I'm in my grave, 
 
 And with the lost forever lie. 
 
 Make haste! for I am poor and low, 
 And Satan mocks my prayers and tears; 
 
 O God, in mercy be not slow, 
 
 But snatch me from my horrid fears. 
 
PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 200, 
 
 Make haste, O God, and hear my cries! 
 
 Then, with the souls who seek Thy face, 
 And those who Thy salvation prize, 
 
 I'll magnify Thy matchless grace. 
 
 JESUS, POOREST OF THE POOR 
 PSALM XLI 
 
 Jesus, poorest of the poor! 
 
 Man of sorrows! Child of grief! 
 Happy they whose bounteous store 
 
 Ministered to Thy relief. 
 
 Jesus, though Thy head is crowned, 
 Crowned with loftiest majesty, 
 
 In Thy members Thou art found 
 Plunged in deepest poverty. 
 
 Happy they who wash Thy feet, 
 
 Visit Thee in Thy distress! 
 Honor great, and labor sweet, 
 
 For Thy sake the saints to bless! 
 
 They who feed Thy sick and faint, 
 
 For Thyself a banquet find; 
 They who clothe the naked saint, 
 
 Round Thy loins the raiment bind. 
 
 Thou wilt keep their soul alive, 
 From their foes protect their head; 
 
 Languishing, their strength revive, 
 And in sickness make their bed. 
 
 Thou wilt deeds of love repay; 
 
 Grace shall generous hearts reward 
 Here on earth, and in the day 
 
 When they meet their reigning Lord. 
 
 IMMANUEL 
 This beautiful poem was written by Mr. Spurgeon in his eighteenth year, 
 
 When once I mourned a load of sin; 
 When conscience felt a wound within; 
 
tlO SPURGEON 
 
 When all my works were thrown away; 
 
 When on my knees I knelt to pray, 
 Then, blissful hour, remembered well, 
 I learned Thy love, Immanuel. 
 
 When storms of sorrow toss my soul; 
 
 When waves of care around me roll; 
 
 When comforts sink, when joys shall flee; 
 
 When hopeless griefs shall gape for me, 
 One word the tempest's rage shall quell- 
 That word, Thy name, Immanuel. 
 
 When for the truth I surfer shame; 
 
 When foes pour scandal on my name; 
 
 When cruel taunts and jeers abound; 
 
 When "Bulls of Bashan" gird me round, 
 Secure within Thy tower I'll dwell — 
 That tower, Thy grace, Immanuel. 
 
 When hell enraged lifts up her roar; 
 When Satan stops my path before; 
 When fiends rejoice and wait my end; 
 When legioned hosts their arrows send, 
 
 Fear not, my soul, but hurl at hell 
 
 Thy battle-cry, Immanuel. 
 
 When down the hill of life I go; 
 When o'er my feet death's waters flow; 
 When in the deep'ning flood I sink; 
 When friends stand weeping on the brink, 
 
 I'll mingle with my last farewell 
 
 Thy lovely name, Immanuel. 
 
 When tears are banished from mine eye; 
 When fairer worlds than these are nigh; 
 When heaven shall fill my ravished sight; 
 When I shall bathe in sweet delight, 
 
 One joy all joys shall far excel, 
 
 To see Thy face, Immanuel. 
 
PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS 211 
 
 MARRIED LOVE — TO MY WIFE 
 
 A pathetic interest marks this poem as we read it to-day in the light of 
 the fact that Mrs. Spurgeon now walks the path of life alone. Mr. Spur- 
 geon had gone to Hull to preach in the early years of his married life, and 
 while absent from home he sent this loving message to his young wife. 
 
 Over the space that parts us, my wife, 
 
 I'll cast me a bridge of song; 
 Our hearts shall meet, O joy of my life, 
 
 On its arch unseen, but strong. 
 
 The wooer his new love's name may wear 
 
 Engraved on a precious stone; 
 But in my heart thine image I wear, 
 
 That heart has long been thine own. 
 
 The glowing colors on surface laid, 
 
 Wash out in a shower of rain; 
 Thou needs't not be of rivers afraid, 
 
 For my love is dyed ingrain. 
 
 And as every drop of Garda's lake 
 
 Is tinged with sapphire's blue, 
 So all the powers of my mind partake 
 
 Of joy at the thought of you. 
 
 The glittering dewdrops of dawning love 
 
 Exhale as the day grows old; 
 And fondness, taking the wings of a dove, 
 
 Is gone like a tale of old. 
 
 But mine for thee, from the chambers of joy, 
 With strength came forth as the sun; 
 
 Nor life nor death shall its force destroy, 
 Forever its course shall run. 
 
 All earth-born love must sleep in the grave, 
 
 To its native dust return; 
 What God hath kindled shall death out-brave 
 
 And in heaven itself shall burn. 
 
212 SPURGEON* 
 
 Beyond and abcve the wedlock tie 
 
 Our union to Christ we feel; 
 Uniting bonds which were made on high 
 
 Shall hold us when earth shall reel. 
 
 Though He who chose us all worlds before, 
 Must reign in our hearts alone, 
 
 We fondly believe that we shall adore 
 Together before His throne. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 
 
 " I preached that which I felt, and that which I felt most smart- 
 ingly." — John Bunyan. 
 
 " That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, 
 which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the 
 Word of Life That which we have seen and heard, de- 
 clare we unto you.'* — John the Evangelist. 
 
 To the often-asked question, "Wherein lay the 
 secret of Mr. Spurgeon's wonderful success as a 
 preacher?" there is but one wise answer, and that 
 is at once brief and simple. The secret of the 
 whole matter lies in the fact that — he preached. 
 He did not read an essay, he did not discuss a 
 theme, he did not indulge in the elaboration of pet 
 theories, — he preached! He was a "voice" crying 
 in the great wilderness of London, "Repent, the 
 kingdom of God is at your doors." He believed 
 he had received a message from God to men, and 
 it was his business to deliver that message. He 
 was a forthteller. There were no tricks of oratory 
 in Mr. Spurgeon's preaching, no affectation, no 
 efforts after eloquence, scarcely ever a perora- 
 tion, and if ever one came, it came as the outburst 
 of sudden emotion, without any mark of design. 
 He used the uttermost simplicity of speech; he 
 was both rich and apt in illustration; but, above 
 
 213 
 
214 SPURGEON 
 
 all, he was intensely in earnest. Preaching was 
 not a profession, it was a passion, it was the very 
 life of his life. The possession of remarkable 
 powers — a musical voice, a vocabulary rich and sim- 
 ple, a ready wit— will account for much; but not 
 all. Mr. Spurgeon consecrated all his powers to 
 the very uttermost to that work which was the 
 chief joy of his life. He preached a living man to 
 living men, and his preaching was for the life that 
 is and for the life that is to come. These echoes 
 from the Tabernacle pulpit have been gathered 
 from the whole area of his preaching through a 
 ministry of forty years. 
 
 A TERRIBLE PARABLE 
 
 Hast thou never fled to Christ for refuge? Dost 
 thou not believe in the Redeemer? Hast thou 
 never confided thy soul to his hands? Then hear 
 me; in God's name, hear me just a moment. My 
 friend, I would not stand in thy position for an 
 hour, for all the stars twice spelt in gold! For 
 what is thy position ? Thou hast sinned, and God 
 will not acquit thee; he will punish thee. He is 
 letting thee live; thou art reprieved. Poor is the 
 life of one that is reprieved without a pardon! Thy 
 reprieve will soon run out; thine hour-glass is 
 emptying every day. I see on some of you Death 
 has put his cold hand, and frozen your hair to 
 whiteness. Ye need your staff, it is the only bar- 
 rier between you and the grave now; and you are, 
 all of you, old and young, standing on a narrow 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 2 I 5 
 
 neck of land, between two boundless seas — that 
 neck of land, that isthmus of life, narrowing every 
 moment, and you are yet unpardoned. There is 
 a city to be sacked, and you are in it — soldiers are 
 at the gates; the command is given that every 
 man in the city is to be slaughtered save he who 
 can give the password. "Sleep on, sleep on; the 
 attack is not to-day; sleep on, sleep on." "But 
 it is to-morrow, sir." "Aye, sleep on, sleep on; 
 it is not till to-morrow; sleep on, procrastinate, 
 procrastinate." "Hark! I hear a rumbling at the 
 gates; the battering ram is at them; the gates are 
 tottering." "Sleep on, sleep on; the soldiers are 
 not yet at your doors; sleep on, sleep on; ask for 
 no mercy yet; sleep on, sleep on!" "Aye, but 
 I hear the shrill clarion sound ; they are in the 
 streets. Hark, to the shrieks of men and women ! 
 They are slaughtering them; they fall, they fall, 
 they fall!" "Sleep on; they are not yet at your 
 door." "But hark! they are at the gate; with 
 heavy tramp I hear the soldiers marching up the 
 stairs!" "Nay, sleep on, sleep on; they are not 
 yet in your room." "Why, they are there; they 
 have burst open the door that parted you from 
 them, and there they stand!" "No, sleep on, sleep 
 on; the sword is not yet at your throat; sleep on, 
 sleep on!" It is at your throat; you start with 
 horror. Sleep on, sleep on ! But you are gone ! 
 "Demon, why didst thou tell me to slumber! It 
 would have been wise in me to have escaped the 
 city when first the gates were shaken. Why did 
 
2l6 SPURGEON 
 
 I not ask for the password before the troops came? 
 Why, by all that is wise, why did I not rush into 
 the streets, and cry the password when the soldiers 
 tvere there? Why stood I till the knife was at my 
 throat? Aye, demon that thou art, be cursed; but 
 I am cursed with thee forever!" You know the 
 application; it is a parable you can all expound. 
 
 THE KEEPER OF THE LIGHTHOUSE 
 
 I am like the good man and his wife who had 
 kept a lighthouse for years. A visitor, who came 
 to see the lighthouse, looking out from the win- 
 dow over the waste of waters, asked the good 
 woman, "Are you not afraid at night, when the 
 storm is out, and the big waves dash right over 
 the lantern ? Do you not fear that the lighthouse, 
 and all that is in it, will be carried away? I am 
 sure I should be afraid to trust myself in a slender 
 tower in the midst of the great billows." The 
 woman remarked that the idea never occurred to 
 her now. She had lived there so long that she 
 felt as safe on the lone rock as ever she did when 
 she lived on the mainland. As for her husband, 
 when asked if he did not feel anxious when the 
 wind blew a hurricane, he answered, "Yes, I feel 
 anxious to keep the lamps well trimmed, and the 
 light burning, lest any vessel should be wrecked." 
 As to anxiety about the safety of the lighthouse, 
 or his own personal security in it, he had outlived 
 all that. Even so it is with the full-grown be- 
 liever. He can humbly say, "I know whom I 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 2\J 
 
 have believed, and am persuaded that He is able 
 to keep that which I have committed unto Him 
 against that day." From henceforth let no man 
 trouble me with doubts and questionings; I bear 
 in my soul the proofs of the Spirit's truth and 
 power, and I will have none of your artful reason- 
 ings. The gospel to me is truth. I am content 
 to perish if it be not true. ' I risk my soul's eter- 
 nal fate upon the truth of the gospel, and I know 
 that there is no risk in it. My one concern is to 
 keep the lights burning, that I may thereby benefit 
 others. 
 
 SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS 
 
 Self-righteousness is also much promoted by the 
 almost universal spirit of trifling which is now 
 abroad. Only while men trifle with themselves 
 can they entertain the idea of personal merit before 
 God. He who comes to serious thought, and be- 
 gins to understand the character of God, before 
 whom the heavens are not pure, and the angels 
 are charged with folly — he, I say, that comes to 
 serious thought and beholds a true vision of God, 
 abhors himself in dust and ashes, and is forever 
 silenced as to any thought of self-justification. It 
 is because we do not seriously examine our condi- 
 tion that we think ourselves rich and increased in 
 goods. A man may fancy that he is prospering in 
 business, and yet he may be going back in the 
 world. If he does not face -his books or take 
 stock, he may be living in a fool's paradise, spend- 
 
2 1 8 SPURGEON 
 
 ing largely when on the verge of bankruptcy. 
 Many think well of themselves because they never 
 think seriously. They do not look below the sur- 
 face, and hence they are deceived by appearances. 
 The most troublesome business to many men is 
 thought and the last thing they will do is to weigh 
 their actions, or test their motives, or ponder their 
 ways, to see whether things be right with them. 
 Self-righteousness being supported by ignorance, 
 by pride, by unbelief, and by the natural super- 
 ficiality of the human mind, is strongly entrenched 
 and cannot readily be driven out of men. 
 
 Yet self-righteousness is evidently evil, for it 
 makes light of sin. It talks of merit in the case of 
 one who has already transgressed, and boasts of 
 excellence in reference to a fallen and depraved 
 creature. It prattles of little faults, small failures, 
 and slight omissions, and so makes sin to be a venial 
 error which may be readily overlooked. Not so 
 faith in God, for though it recognizes pardon, yet 
 that pardon is seen to come in a way which proves 
 sin to be exceedingly sinful. On the other hand, the 
 doctrine of salvation by works has not a word of 
 comfort in it for the fallen. It gives to the elder 
 son all that his proud heart can claim, but for the 
 prodigal it has no welcome. The law has no in- 
 vitation for the sinner, for it knows nothing of 
 mercy. If salvation be by the works of the law, 
 what must become of the guilty, and the fallen, 
 and the abandoned? By what hopes can these be 
 recalled? This unmerciful doctrine bars the door 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 219 
 
 of hope, and hands over the lost ones to the exe- 
 cutioner, in order that the proud Pharisee may air 
 his boastful righteousness, and thank God that he 
 is not as other men are. 
 
 It is the intense selfishness of this doctrine 
 which condemns it as an evil thing. It naturally 
 exalts self. If a man conceives that he will be 
 saved by his own works, he thinks himself some- 
 what, and glories in the dignity of human nature: 
 when he has been attentive to religious exercises 
 he rubs his hands and feels that he deserves well 
 of his Maker; he goes home to repeat his prayers, 
 and ere he falls asleep he wonders how he can have 
 grown to be so good and so much superior to those 
 around him. When he walks abroad he feels as 
 if he dwelt apart in native excellence, a person 
 much distinguished from "the vulgar herd," a being 
 whom to know is to admire. All the while he 
 considers himself to be very humble, and is often 
 amazed at his own condescension. What is this 
 but a most hateful spirit ? 
 
 IGNORANT OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION 
 
 I had heard the plan of salvation by the sacrifice 
 of Jesus from my youth up, but I did not know 
 any more about it in my innermost soul than if I 
 had been born and bred a Hottentot. The light 
 was there, but I was blind ; it was of necessity 
 that the Lord himself should make the matter 
 plain to me. It came to me as a new revelation, 
 as fresh as if I had never read in Scripture that 
 
220 SPURGEON 
 
 Jesus was declared to be the propitiation for sin 
 that God might be just. I believe it will have to 
 tome as a revelation to every new-born child of 
 God whenever he sees it; I mean that glorious 
 doctrine of the substitution of the Lord Jesus. I 
 came to understand that salvation was possible 
 through vicarious sacrifice; and that provision had 
 been made in the first constitution and arrange- 
 ment of things for such a substitution. I was 
 made to see that He who is the Son of God, co- 
 equal and co-eternal with the Father, had of old 
 been made the covenant head of a chosen people, 
 that He might in that capacity suffer for them and 
 save them. Inasmuch as our fall was not at the 
 first a personal one, for we fell in our federal re- 
 presentative, the first Adam, it became possible 
 for us to be recovered by a second representative, 
 even by Him who has undertaken to be the cove- 
 nant head of His people, so as to be their second 
 Adam. I saw that ere I actually sinned I had fall- 
 en by my first father's sin; and I rejoiced that 
 therefore it became possible in point of law for me 
 to rise by a second head and representative. The 
 fall by Adam left a loophole of escape; another 
 Adam can undo the ruin made by the first. When 
 I was anxious about the possibility of a just God 
 pardoning me, I understood and saw by faith that 
 He who is the Son of God became man, and in His 
 own blessed person bore my sin in His own body 
 on the tree. I saw the chastisement of my peace 
 was laid on Him, and that with His stripes I was 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 221 
 
 healed. Dear friend, have you ever seen that? 
 Have you ever understood how God can be just to 
 the full, not remitting penalty nor blunting the 
 edge of the sword, and yet can be infinitely merci- 
 ful, and can justify the ungodly who turn to Him? 
 It was because the Son of God, supremely glorious 
 in His matchless person, undertook to vindicate 
 the lav/ by bearing the sentence due to me, that 
 therefore God is able to pass by my sin. The law 
 of God was more vindicated by the death of Christ 
 than it would have been had all transgressors been 
 sent to hell. For the Son of God to suffer for sin 
 was a more glorious establishment of the govern- 
 ment of God, than for the whole race to suffer. 
 
 COME IN YOUR DESHABILLE 
 
 Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make 
 yourself something other than you really are; but 
 come as you are to Him who justifies the ungodly. 
 A great artist some short time ago had painted a 
 part of the corporation of the city in which he 
 lived, and he wanted, for historic purposes, to in- 
 clude in his picture certain characters well known 
 in the town. A crossing-sweeper, unkempt, rag- 
 ged, filthy, was known to everybody, and there 
 was a suitable place for him in the picture. The 
 artist said to this ragged and rugged individual, 
 "I will pay you well if you will come down to my 
 studio and let me take your likeness." He came 
 round in the morning, but he was soon sent about 
 his business; for he had washed his face, and 
 
222 SPURGEON 
 
 combed his hair, and donned good clothes. He 
 was needed as a beggar, and was not invited in 
 any other capacity. Even so, the gospel will 
 receive you into its halls if you come as a sinner, 
 but not else. Wait not for reformation, but come 
 at once for salvation. God justifieth the ungodly, 
 and that takes you up where you now are. It 
 meets you in your worst estate. 
 
 Come in your deshabille. I mean, corns to 
 your heavenly Father in all your sin and sinful- 
 ness. Come to Jesus just as you are, leprous, 
 filthy, naked, neither fit to live nor fit to die. 
 Come, you that are the very sweepings of crea- 
 tion; come, though you hardly dare to hope for 
 anything but death. Come, though despair is 
 brooding over you, pressing upon your bosom like 
 a horrible nightmare. Come and ask the Lord to 
 justify another ungodly one. Why should He not? 
 Come along with you ; for this great mercy of God 
 is meant for such as you are. I put it in the lan- 
 guage of the text, and I cannot put it more strong- 
 ly — the Lord God himself takes to himself this 
 gracious title, "Him that justifieth the ungodly." 
 He makes just, and causes to be treated as just, 
 those who by nature are ungodly. Is not that a 
 wonderful word for you? Reader, do not rise from 
 your seat till you have well considered this matter. 
 
 THE ATLANTIC CABLE 
 
 What a wonderful thing is that union between 
 God and the sinner! We have all been thinking a 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 223 
 
 great deal lately about the Atlantic Cable. It is a 
 very interesting attempt to join two worlds to- 
 gether. That poor cable, you know, has had to 
 be sunk into the depths of the sea, in the hope of 
 establishing a union between the two worlds, and 
 now we are disappointed again. But, oh! what 
 an infinitely greater wonder has been accomplished. 
 Christ Jesus saw the two worlds divided, and the 
 great Atlantic of human guilt rolled between. He 
 sank down deep into the woes of man till all God's 
 waves and billows had gone over Him, that He 
 might be, as it were, the great telegraphic communi- 
 cation between God and the apostate race, between 
 the Most Holy One and poor sinners. Let me say 
 to you, sinner, there was no failure in the laying 
 down of that blessed cable. It went down deep; 
 the end was well secured, and it went down deep 
 into the depths of our sin, and shame, and woe; 
 and on the other side it has gone right up to the 
 eternal throne, and is fastened there eternally 
 fast, by God himself. You may work that tele- 
 graph to-day, and you may easily understand the 
 art of working it too. A sigh will work it; a tear 
 will work it. Say, "God be merciful to me a sin- 
 ner," and along the wire the message will flash, 
 and will reach God before it comes from you. It 
 is swifter far than earthly telegraphs; ay, and 
 there will come an answer back much sooner than 
 you ever dream of, for it is promised — "Before 
 they call I will answer, and while they are yet 
 speaking I will hear." Who ever heard of such a 
 
224 SPURGEON 
 
 communication as this between man and man; but 
 it really does exist between sinners and God, since 
 Christ has opened up a way from the depths of 
 our sin to the heights of His glory. 
 
 This is for you who are at a distance from Him, 
 but He has done more for us who are saved, for He 
 has taken us right across the Atlantic of our sin 
 and set us down on the other side; He has taken 
 us out of our sinful state, and put us into the 
 Father's bosom, and there we shall dwell forever 
 in the heart of God as His own dear children. 
 
 I would to God that some might now be led to 
 look to the Savior, that some would come with 
 weeping and with tears to him, and say, 
 
 " • Jesus, lover of my soul, 
 Let me to thy bosom fly.' 
 
 Take my case, and arbitrate for me; I accept 
 Thine atonement; I trust in Thy precious blood; 
 only receive me and I will rejoice in Thee forever 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
 
 OPEN WIDE THE DOOR 
 
 When the brazen serpent was lifted up in the 
 wilderness, the people were not to look to Moses, 
 nor to the Tabernacle, nor to the pillar of cloud, 
 but to the brazen serpent itself. Looking was not 
 enough unless they looked to the right object ; and 
 the right object was not enough unless they looked. 
 It was not enough for them to know about the 
 serpent of brass; they must each one look to it for 
 himself. When a man is ill, he may have- a good 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 22$ 
 
 knowledge of medicine, and yet he may die if he 
 does not actually take the healing draught. We 
 must receive Jesus; for "to as many as received 
 Him, to them gave He power to become the sons 
 of God." Lay the emphasis on two words: We 
 must receive HIM, and we must receive Him. 
 We must open wide the door, and take Christ 
 Jesus in; for "Christ in you" is "the hope of glory." 
 Christ must be no myth, no dream, no phantom 
 to us, but a real man, and truly God; and our 
 rceeption of Him must be no forced and feigned ac- 
 ceptance, but the hearty and happy assent and 
 consent of the soul that He shall be the all in all of 
 our salvation. Will we not at once come to Him, 
 and make Him our sole trust ? 
 
 I WOULD TO GOD WE HAD MORE PLUCK 
 
 The common policy of our churches is that of 
 great prudence. We do not, as a rule, attempt 
 anything beyond our strength. We measure means 
 and calculate possibilities with economical accu- 
 racy, then we strike off a large discount for contin- 
 gencies, and a still larger as provision for our ease, 
 and so we accomplish little because we have no 
 idea of doing much. I would to God we had 
 more "pluck." I know of no fitter word; though 
 the word may better suit the camp than the 
 church, we will for once borrow from the barracks. 
 Bear in mind that there is nothing like courage, 
 even in ordinary things. Sir Richard Sutton, 
 when he was ambassador to Prussia, was taken 
 
226 SPURGEON 
 
 by Frederick the Great to see his regiment of 
 giants, every one of whom stood six feet six in his 
 shoes. The king said to him, "Do you think any 
 regiment in the English army could fight my men, 
 man for man?" Sir Richard answered, "Please 
 your majesty, I do not know whether the same 
 number could beat your giants, but I know that 
 half the number would try at it." Let us attempt 
 great things, for those who believe in the name 
 of the Lord succeed beyond all expectation. By 
 faith the worker lives. 
 
 BELIEVERS IN NOTHING 
 
 Certain thinkers have reached the blessed ulti- 
 matum of believing nothing at all with anything 
 like certainty of belief. When these cultivated 
 persons speak of us they manifest great scorn, and 
 affect to believe that we are natural fools. Ah, 
 dear! People are not always what they are thought 
 to be, and it may happen that a man sees himself 
 as in a glass when he thinks he is looking out of 
 window at a neighbor. It is a sign of great weak- 
 ness when persons are full of contempt for others. 
 If in any review or pamphlet a writer parades 
 his culture, you may be sure that he has been 
 lying fallow of late, and his affectations are the 
 weeds which have come of it. If it came to a fair 
 contest upon the matter of education and culture 
 the orthodox would be quite able to hold their 
 own. Boasting is sorry work; but sometimes per- 
 sons must be answered according to their folly, 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 227 
 
 and I say boldly that in any sort of mental tourna- 
 ment we should not tremble to tilt with the men 
 of "modern thought." Be it so or not, it is ours 
 to believe. We believe that when the Lord our 
 God gave forth a revelation He knew His own 
 mind, and that He expressed Himself in the best 
 and wisest manner, and in terms that can be un- 
 derstood by those who are teachable and truthful. 
 We therefore believe that no new revelation is 
 needed, and that the idea of other light to come 
 is practically unbelief in the light which now is, 
 seeing the light of truth is one. We believe that 
 though the Bible has been twisted and turned 
 about by sacrilegious hands, it is still the infallible 
 revelation of God. It is a main part of our re- 
 ligion humbly to accept what God has revealed. 
 Perhaps the highest form of adoration possible on 
 this side the veil is the bowing of our entire men- 
 tal and spiritual being before the revealed mind of 
 God; the kneeling of the understanding in that 
 sacred Presence whose glory causes angels to veil 
 their faces. Let those who please worship science, 
 reason, and their own clear judgment; it is ours to 
 submit ourselves before the Lord our God. 
 
 IN THE GALLERIES OF VERSAILLES 
 
 The upper galleries at Versailles are rilled with 
 portraits, many of them extremely valuable and 
 ancient. These are the likenesses of the greatest 
 men of all lands and ages, drawn by the ablest 
 artists. Yet most visitors wander through the 
 
228 SPURGEOX 
 
 rooms with little or no interest; in fact, after 
 noticing one or two of the more prominent pict- 
 ures, they hasten through the suite of chambers 
 and descend to the other floors. Notice the change 
 when the sight-seers come to fine paintings like 
 those of Horace Vernet, where the men and women 
 are not inactive portraits but are actively engaged. 
 There the warrior who was passed by without 
 notice upstairs, is seen hewing his way to glory 
 over heaps of slain, or the statesman is observed 
 delivering himself of weighty words before an as- 
 sembly of princes and peers. Not the men, but 
 their actions, engross attention. Portraits have no 
 charm when scenes of stirring interest are set in 
 rivalry with them. After all, then, let us be who 
 or what we may, we must bestir ourselves or be 
 mere nobodies, chips in the porridge, forgotten 
 shells of the shore. If we would impress we 
 must act. The dignity of standing still will never 
 win the prize, we must run for it. Our influence 
 over our times will arise mainly from our doing 
 and suffering the will of God, not from our office 
 or person. Life, life in earnest, life for God, this 
 will tell on the age; but mere orderliness and pro- 
 priety, inactive and passionless, will be utterly 
 inoperative. 
 
 THREE DAYS WITHOUT SUNRISE 
 
 If kingdoms should go to rack the Christian 
 need not tremble. Just for a minute imagine a 
 scene like this: Suppose for the next three days 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 229 
 
 the sun should not rise; suppose the moon should 
 be turned into a clot of blood, and shine no more 
 upon the world; imagine that a darkness that 
 might be felt brooded over all men; imagine next 
 that all the world did tremble in an earthquake 
 till every tower and house and hut fell down; im- 
 agine next that the sea forgot its place and leaped 
 upon the earth, and that the mountains ceased to 
 stand, and began to tremble from their pedestals; 
 conceive after that a blazing comet streamed across 
 the sky — that the thunder bellowed incessantly — 
 that the lightnings without a moment's pause fol- 
 lowed one the other; conceive then that thou didst 
 behold divers terrible sights, fiendish ghosts and 
 grim spirits; imagine next that a trumpet, waxing 
 exceeding loud, did blow; that there were heard 
 the shrieks of men dying and perishing; imagine 
 that in the midst of all this confusion there was to be 
 found a saint. My friend, "Jesus Christ, the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever," would keep him as 
 secure amidst all these horrors as we are to-day. 
 Oh! rejoice! I have pictured the worst that can 
 come. Then you would be secure. Come what 
 may then, you are safe, while Jesus Christ is the 
 same. 
 
 god's case against man 
 
 Let us listen while the great Creator speaks: 
 may God give me grace now reverently to state it 
 in his name, as one poor sinner stating God's case 
 against us all. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, 
 
230 SPURGEON 
 
 O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nour- 
 ished and brought up children, and they have re- 
 belled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, 
 and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not 
 know, my people doth not consider. Ah, sinful 
 nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil 
 doers, children that are corrupters: they have 
 forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy 
 One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away back- 
 ward." The Eternal God charges us, and let me 
 confess at once most justly and most truly charges 
 us, with having broken all His commandments — 
 some of them in act, some of them in word, all of 
 them in heart, and thought, and imagination. He 
 charges upon us, that against light and knowledge 
 we have chosen the evil and forsaken the good; 
 that knowing what we were doing we have turned 
 aside from His most righteous law and have gone 
 astray like lost sheep, following the imaginations 
 and devices of our own hearts. The great Plaint- 
 iff claims that inasmuch as we are His creatures 
 we ought to have obeyed Him, that inasmuch as 
 we owe our very lives to His daily care we ought 
 to have rendered Him service instead of disobedi- 
 ence, and to have been His loyal subjects instead 
 of turning traitors to His throne. All this, calmly 
 and dispassionately, according to the great Book 
 of the law, is laid to our charge before the Days- 
 man. No exaggeration of sin is brought against 
 us. It is simply declared of us that the whole 
 head is sick and the whole heart is faint ; that 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT ±$\ 
 
 there is none that doeih good, no, not one; that 
 we have all gone out of the way, and altogether 
 become unprofitable. This is God's case. He 
 says, "I made this man; curiously was he wrought 
 in the lowest parts of the earth; and all his mem- 
 bers bear traces of my singular handiwork. I 
 made him for my honor, and he has not honored 
 me. I created him for my service, and he has not 
 served me. Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years I have 
 kept the breath in his nostrils; the bread he has 
 eaten has been the daily portion of my bounty; his 
 garments are the livery of my charity; and all this 
 while he has neither thought of me, his Creator 
 and Preserver, nor done anything in my service. 
 He has served his family, his wife and children, 
 but his Maker he has despised." 
 
 IGNORANCE AND PRIDE 
 
 Men are ignorant of the law of God, and of what 
 holiness really is. If they knew that even an evil 
 thought is a breach of the law, and that the law 
 once broken in any point is altogether violated, 
 they would be at once convinced that there can be 
 no righteousness by the law to those who have 
 already offended against it. They are also in great 
 ignorance concerning themselves, for those very 
 persons who talk about self-righteousness are as a 
 rule openly chargeable with fault ; and if not, were 
 they to sit down and really look at their own lives, 
 they would soon perceive even in their best works 
 such impurity of motive beforehand, or such pride 
 
2 12 SPURGEON 
 
 and self-congratulation afterv ards, that they would 
 see the gloss taken off from all their performances, 
 and they would be utterly ashamed of them. Nor 
 is it ignorance alone which leads men to self- 
 righteousness, they are also deceived by pride. 
 Man cannot endure to be saved on the footing of 
 mercy; he loves not to plead guilty and throw 
 himself on the favor of the great King; he cannot 
 brook to be treated as a pauper, and blessed as a 
 matter of charity; he desires to have a finger in 
 his own salvation, and claim at least a little credit 
 for it. Proud man will not have heaven itself 
 upon terms of grace ; but so long as he can he sets 
 up one plea or another, and holds to his own 
 righteousness as though it were his life. This self- 
 confidence also arises from wicked unbelief, for 
 through his self-conceit man will not believe God. 
 Nothing is more plainly revealed in Scripture than 
 this, — that by the works of the law shall no man 
 be justified; yet men in some shape or other stick 
 to the hope of legal righteousness; they will have 
 it that they must prepare for grace, or assist mercy, 
 or in some degree deserve eternal life. They pre- 
 fer their own flattering prejudices to the declara- 
 tion of the heart-searching God. 
 
 FREE, GRATIS, FOR NOTHING 
 
 I heard a story; I think it came from the North 
 Country: — A minister called upon a poor woman, 
 intending to give her help; for he knew that she 
 Wits very poor. With his half-crown in his hand, 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 233 
 
 he knocked at the door; but she did not answer. 
 He concluded she was not at home, and went his 
 way. A little after he met her at the church, and 
 told her that he had remembered her need: "I 
 called at your house, and knocked several times, 
 and I suppose you were not at home, for I had no 
 answer." "At what hour did you call, sir?" "It 
 was about noon." "Oh, dear," she said, "I heard 
 you, sir, and I am so sorry I did not answer; but 
 I thought it was the man calling for the rent." 
 Many a poor woman knows what this meant. 
 Now, it is my desire to be heard, and therefore I 
 want to say that I am not calling for the rent; 
 indeed, it is not the object of this book to ask 
 anything of you, but to tell you that salvation is 
 all of grace, which means, free-, #r?ti~ (or noth- 
 ing. 
 
 Oftentimes, when we are anxious to win at- 
 tention, our hearer thinks, "Ah! now I am going 
 to be told my duty. It is the man calling for that 
 which is due to God, and I am sure I have nothing 
 wherewith to pay. I will not be at home." No, 
 this book does not come to make a demand upon 
 you, but to bring you something. We are not 
 going to talk about law, and duty, and punishment, 
 but about love, and goodness, and forgiveness, and 
 mercy, and eternal life. Do not, therefore, act as 
 if you were not at home; do not turn a deaf ear, 
 or a careless heart. I am asking nothing of you 
 in the name of God or man. It is not my intent 
 to make any requirement at your hands; but I 
 
234 SPURGEON 
 
 come, in God's name, to bring you a free gift, 
 which it shall be to your present and eternal joy 
 to receive. Open the door, and let my pleadings 
 enter. "Come now, and let us reason together." 
 The Lord himself invites you to a conference con- 
 cerning your immediate and endless happiness, and 
 He would not have done this if He did not mean 
 well toward you. Do not refuse the Lord Jesus 
 who knocks at your door; for He knocks with a 
 hand which was nailed to the tree for such as you 
 are. Since His only and sole object is your good, 
 incline your ear and come to Him. Hearken dili- 
 gently, and let the good word sink into your soul. 
 It may be that the hour is come in which you shall 
 enter upon that new life which is the beginning of 
 heaven. Faith cometh by hearing, and reading 
 is a sort of hearing; faith may come to you while 
 you are reading this book. Why not ? O blessed 
 Spirit of all grace, make it so! 
 
 THE JOY OF CONSCIOUS DEPENDENCE ON GOD 
 
 If I were asked what is the sweetest frame 
 within the whole compass of human feeling, I 
 should not speak of a sense of power in prayer, or 
 abundant revelation, or rapturous joys, or con- 
 quest of evil spirits; but I should mention as the 
 most exquisite delight of my being, a condition of 
 conscious dependence upon God. It has been 
 often associated with great pain and humiliation of 
 spirit, but it is inexpressibly delightful to lie pas- 
 sive in the hand of love, to die into the life of 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 235 
 
 Christ. It is deep joy to feel that you do not 
 know, but your heavenly Father knows; that you 
 cannot speak, but "we have an Advocate;" that 
 you can scarcely lift a hand, but that He worketh 
 all your works in you. The entire submission of 
 our soul to our Lord, the full content of the heart 
 with God's will and way, the sure reliance of the 
 mind upon the heavenly presence and power — 
 this is the nearest approach to heaven that I know; 
 and it is better than rapture, for one can abide in 
 it without strain or reaction. 
 
 " Oh. to be nothing, nothing, 
 Only to lie at His feet." 
 
 It is not so sublime a feeling as soaring aloft on 
 the wings of eagles; but for sweetness — deep, mys- 
 terious, indescribale — it bears the palm. It is a 
 blessedness which can bear to be thought of, a joy 
 which never seems to be a stolen one ; for surely 
 a poor, frail child has an unquestioned right to 
 depend upon God, a right to be nothing in the 
 presence of the All-supporting One. I love to 
 preach in such a mood, not as though I was about 
 to preach at all, but hoping that the Holy Spirit 
 would speak in me. 
 
 BELIEVING DOES NOT COME BY TRYING 
 
 We are not strangers to the cry — 
 
 " Oh, that I could believe, 
 Then all would easy be; 
 I would, but cannot; Lord, relieve, 
 My help must come from Thee." 
 
 Many remain in the dark for years because they 
 
236 SPURGEON 
 
 have no power, as they say, to do that which is 
 the giving up of all power and reposing in the 
 power of another, even the Lord Jesus. Indeed, 
 it is a very curious thing, this whole matter of 
 believing; for people do not get much help by try- 
 ing to believe. Believing does not come by trying. 
 If a person were to make a statement of something 
 that happened this day, I should not tell him that 
 I would try to believe him. If I believed in the 
 truthfulness of the man who told the incident to 
 me and said that he saw it, I should accept the 
 statement at once. If I did not think him a true 
 man, I should, of course, disbelieve him; but there 
 would be no trying in the matter. Now, when 
 God declares that there is salvation in Christ 
 Jesus, I must either believe Him at once, or make 
 Him a liar. Surely you will not hesitate as to 
 which is the right path in this case. The witness 
 of God must be true, and we are bound at once to 
 believe in Jesus. 
 
 But possibly you have been trying to believe too 
 much. Now do not aim at great things. Be satis- 
 fied to have a faith that can hold in its hand this 
 one truth: "While we were yet without strength, 
 in due time Christ died for the ungodly." He laid 
 down His life for men while as yet they were not 
 believing in Him, nor were able to believe in Him. 
 He died for men, not as believers, but as sinners. 
 He came to make these sinners into believers and 
 saints; but when He died for them He viewed them 
 as utterly without strength. If you hold to the 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 237 
 
 truth that Christ died for the ungodly, and believe 
 it, your faith will save you, and you may go in 
 peace. If you will trust your soul with Jesus, who 
 died for the ungodly, even though you cannot be- 
 lieve all things, nor move mountains, nor do any 
 other wonderful works, yet you are saved. It is 
 not great faith, but true faith, that saves; and the 
 salvation lies not in the faith, but in the Christ in 
 whom faith trusts. Faith as a grain of mustard 
 seed, will bring salvation. It is not the measure of 
 faith, but the sincerity of faith, which is the point 
 to be considered. Surely a man can believe what 
 he knows to be true; and as you know Jesus to be 
 true, you, my friend, can believe in Him. 
 
 The cross, which is the object of faith, is also s 
 by the power of the Holy Spirit, the cause of it. 
 Sit down and watch the dying Savior till faith 
 springs up spontaneously in your heart. There is 
 no place like Calvary for creating confidence. The 
 air of that sacred hill brings health to trembling 
 faith. Many a watcher there has said: 
 
 ' While I view thee, wounded, grieving, 
 
 Breathless on the cursed tree, 
 Lord, I feel my heart believing 
 That thou suffer'dst thus for me." 
 
 NONE BUT GOD CAN FORGIVE 
 
 It is quite impossible for any person to forgive 
 offenses which have not been committed against 
 himself. A person has greatly injured you; you 
 can forgive him, and I hope you will; but no third 
 person can forgive him apart from you. If the 
 
 15 
 
238 SPURGEON 
 
 wrong is done to you, the pardon must come from 
 you. If we have sinned against God, it is in God's 
 power to forgive; for the sin is against himself. 
 That is why David says, in the fifty-first Psalm: 
 "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done 
 this evil in Thy sight;" for then God, against whom 
 the offense is committed, can put the offense away. 
 That which we owe to God, our great Creator can 
 remit, if so it pleases Him; and if He remits it, it 
 is remitted. None but the great God, against 
 whom we have committed the sin, can blot out 
 that sin; let us, therefore, see that we go to Him 
 and seek mercy at His hands. Do not let us be 
 led aside by priests, who would have us confess to 
 them; they have no warrant in the Word of God 
 for their pretensions. But even if they were or- 
 dained to pronounce absolution in God's name, it 
 must still be better to go ourselves to the great 
 Lord through Jesus Christ, the Mediator, and seek 
 and find pardon at His hands; since we are sure 
 that this is the right way. Proxy religion involves 
 too great a risk: you had better see to your soul's 
 matters yourself, and leave them in no man's 
 hands. 
 
 Only God can justify the ungodly; but He can 
 do it to perfection. He casts our sins behind His 
 back, He blots them out, He says that though they 
 be sought for, they shall not be found. With no 
 other reason for it but His own infinite goodness, 
 He has prepared a glorious way by which He can 
 make scarlet sins as white as snow, and remove 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 239 
 
 our transgressions from us as far as the east is 
 from the west. He says, "I will not remember 
 your sins." He goes the length of making an end 
 of sin. One of old called out in amazement: 
 "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth in- 
 iquity, and passeth by the transgression of the 
 remnant of His heritage ? He retaineth not His 
 anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy." 
 
 HUSH THY TRUMP, O WAR 
 
 All swords that have ever flashed from scabbards 
 have not aided Christ a single grain. Mohamme- 
 dans' religion might be sustained by cimeters, but 
 Christians' religion must be sustained by love. 
 The great crime of war can never promote the re- 
 ligion of peace. The battle, and the garment 
 roiled in blood, are not a fitting prelude to "peace 
 on earth; good will to men." And I do firmly hold 
 that the slaughter of men, that bayonets, and 
 swords, and guns, have never yet been, and never 
 can be, promoters of the gospel. The gospel will 
 proceed without them, but never through them. 
 "Not by might." Now don't be befooled again, if 
 you hear of the English conquering in China; don't 
 go down on your knees and thank God for it, and 
 say it's such a heavenly thing for the spread of 
 the gospel — it just is not. Experience teaches you 
 that; and if you look upon the map you will find I 
 have stated the truth, that where our arms have 
 been victorious, the gospel has been hindered 
 rather than not; so that where South Sea Island- 
 
240 SPURGEON 
 
 ers have bowed their knees and cast their idols to 
 the bats, British Hindoos have kept their idols; 
 and where Bechuanas and Bushmen have turned 
 unto the Lord, British Caffirs have not been con- 
 verted; not perhaps because they were British, 
 but because the very fact of the missionary being 
 a Briton, put him above them, and weakened their 
 influence. Hush thy trump, O war; put away 
 thy gaudy trappings and thy bloodstained drapery; 
 if thou thinkest that the cannon with the cross 
 upon it is really sanctified, and if thou imaginest 
 that thy banner hath become holy, thou dreamest 
 of a lie. God wanteth not thee to help his cause. 
 "It is not by armies, nor by power, but by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord." 
 
 TRUTH TOUCHES THE SPRINGS OF ACTION 
 
 Faith is chosen again, because it touches the 
 springs of action. Even in common things faith 
 of a certain sort lies at the root of all. I wonder 
 whether I shall be wrong if I say that we never do 
 anything except through faith of some sort. If I 
 walk across my study it is because I believe my 
 legs will carry me. A man eats because he be- 
 lieves in the necessity of food; he goes to business 
 because he believes in the value of money; he 
 accepts a check because he believes that the 
 bank will honor it. Columbus discovered America 
 because he believed that there was another conti- 
 nent beyond the ocean; and the Pilgrim Fathers 
 colonized it because they believed that God would 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 24 1 
 
 be with them on those rocky shores. Most grand 
 deeds have been born of faith; for good or for evil, 
 faith works wonders by the man in whom it dwells. 
 Faith in its natural form is an all-prevailing force, 
 which enters into all manner of human actions. 
 Possibly he who derides faith in God is the man 
 who, in an evil form, has the most of faith; indeed, 
 he usually falls into a credulity which would be 
 ridiculous, if it were not disgraceful. 
 
 BELIEVE YOUR OWN DOCTRINE 
 
 So pray and so preach that if there are no con- 
 versions you will be astonished, amazed, and bro- 
 ken-hearted. Look for the salvation of your 
 hearers as much as the angel who will sound the 
 last trump will look for the waking of the dead. 
 Believe your own doctrine! Believe your own 
 Savior! Believe in the Holy Ghost who dwells in 
 you! For thus shall you see your heart's desire, 
 and God shall be glorified. 
 
 LABELED " UNGODLY !" 
 
 If God justifieth the ungodly, then, dear friend, he 
 can justify you. Is not that the very kind of per- 
 son that you are ? If you are unconverted at this 
 moment, it is a very proper description of you: 
 you have lived without God, you have been the 
 reverse of godly; in one word, you have been and 
 are ungodly. Perhaps you have not even attended 
 a place of worship on the Sabbath, but have lived 
 in disregard of God's day, and house, and Word 
 
242 SPURGEON 
 
 — this proves you to have been ungodly. Sadder 
 still, it may be you have even tried to doubt God's 
 existence, and have gone the length of saying that 
 you did so. You have lived on this fair earth, 
 which is full of the tokens of God's presence, and 
 all the while you have shut your eyes to the clear 
 evidences of His power and Godhead. You have 
 lived as if there were no God. Indeed, you would 
 have been very pleased if you could have demon- 
 strated to yourself to a certainty that there was 
 no God whatever. Possibly you have lived a great 
 many years in this way, so that you are now pretty 
 well settled in your ways, and yet God is not in 
 any of them. If you were labeled ungodly it 
 would as well describe you as if the sea were to be 
 labded salt water. Would it not ? 
 
 CHRIST SHALL BE FOREVER PRAISED 
 
 Supposing the innumerable company of the re- 
 deemed could perish, and their immortality were 
 swallowed up in death, yet, even then, daily Christ 
 would be praised! If all of us had departed from 
 the boundless sphere of being — look up yonder! 
 See yon starry host ; see the mighty cohorts of 
 cherubs and seraphs? Let men begone and they 
 shall praise Him; let the troops of the glorified 
 cease their notes, and let no sweet melodies ever 
 come from the lips of sainted men and women, yet 
 the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even 
 many thousands of angels, who always in their 
 motions chant His praise. There is an orchestra 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 243 
 
 on high, the music of which shall never cease, even 
 were mortals extinct and all the human race swept 
 from existence. Again, if angels were departed, 
 still daily would He be praised; for, are there not 
 worlds on worlds, and suns on suns, and systems 
 on systems, that could forever sing his praise ? Yes ! 
 The ocean — that house of storms — would howl out 
 his glories; the winds would swell the notes of his 
 praise with their ceaseless gales; the thunders 
 would roll like drums in the march of the God of 
 armies; the illimitable void of ether would become 
 vocal with song; and space itself would burst 
 forth into one universal chorus — Hallelujah! Halle- 
 lujah! Hallelujah! Still the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth ! 
 
 THE FUNERAL MARCH OF THE SOUL 
 
 Alas! for thee, that thy pulse should beat a 
 march to hell. Alas! that yonder clock, like the 
 muffled drum, should be the music of the funeral 
 march of thy soul. Alas! alas! that thou shouldst 
 fold thine arms in pleasure, when the knife is at 
 thy heart. Alas ! alas ! for thee, that thou shouldst 
 sing, and make merriment, when the rope is about 
 thy neck, and the drop is tottering under thee ! 
 Alas ! for thee, that thou shouldst go thy way, and 
 live merrily and happily and yet be lost! Thou 
 remindest me of the silly moth that dances round 
 about the flame, singeing itself for a while, and 
 then at last plunging to its death. Such art thou ! 
 Young woman, with thy butterfly clothing, thou 
 
244 SPURGEON 
 
 art leaping round the flame that shall destroy thee! 
 Young man, light and frothy in thy conversation, 
 gay in thy life, thou art dancing to hell; thou art 
 singing thy way to damnation, and promenading 
 the road to destruction. Alas! alas! that ye should 
 be spinning your own winding-sheets; that ye 
 should every day by your sins be building your 
 own gallows; that by your transgressions ye should 
 be digging your own graves, and working hard to 
 pile the fagots for your own eternal burning. Oh ! 
 that ye were wise, that ye understood this, that 
 ye would consider your latter end. Oh! that ye 
 would flee from the wrath to come! 
 
 god's highest glory 
 
 Salvation is God's highest glory. He is glorified 
 in every dewdrop that twinkles to the morning 
 sun. He is magnified in every wood flower that 
 blossoms in the copse, although it live to blush 
 unseen, and waste its sweetness in the forest air. 
 God is glorified in every bird that warbles on the 
 spray; in every lamb that skips the mead. Do 
 not the fishes in the sea praise Him ? From the tiny 
 minnow to the huge leviathan, do not all creatures 
 that swim the water bless and praise his name? 
 Do not all created things extol Him ? Is there aught 
 beneath the sky, save man, that does not glorify 
 God? Do not the stars exalt Him, when they write 
 his name upon the azure of heaven in their golden 
 letters? Do not the lightnings adore Him when 
 they flash his brightness in arrows of light, pierc- 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 24$ 
 
 ing the midnight darkness? Do not thunders extol 
 him when they roll like drums in the march of the 
 God of armies ? Do not all things exalt Him, from 
 the least even to the greatest ? But sing, sing, O 
 Universe, till thou hast exhausted thyself, thou 
 canst not afford a song so sweet as the song of 
 Incarnation. Though creation may be a majestic 
 organ of praise, it cannot reach the compass of 
 the golden canticle — Incarnation ! There is more 
 in that than in creation, more melody in Jesus in 
 the manger, than there is in worlds on worlds roll- 
 ing their grandeur round the throne of the Most 
 High. 
 
 WHAT IS IT TO BELIEVE IN HIM 
 
 What is it to believe in Him? It is not merely to 
 say, "He is God and the Savior," but to trust Him 
 wholly and entirely, and take Him for all your sal- 
 vation from this time forth and forever — youi 
 Lord, your Master, your all. If you will have 
 Jesus, He has you already. If you believe on Him, 
 I tell you you cannot go to hell; for that were to 
 make the sacrifice of Christ of none effect. It 
 cannot be that a sacrifice should be accepted, and 
 yet the soul should die for whom that sacrifice has 
 been received. If the believing soul could be con- 
 demned, then why a sacrifice ? If Jesus died in my 
 stead, why should I die also ? Every believer can 
 claim that the sacrifice was actually made for him: 
 by faith he has laid his hands on it, and made it 
 his own, and therefore he may rest assured that 
 
246 SPURGEON 
 
 he can never perish. The Lord would not receive 
 this offering on our behalf, and then condemn us 
 to die. The Lord cannot read our pardon written 
 in the blood of His own Son, and then smite us. 
 That were impossible. Oh, that you may have 
 grace given you at once to look away to Jesus and 
 to begin at the beginning, even at Jesus, who is 
 the fountain-head of mercy to guilty man! 
 
 PARDON MUST BE FOR THE GUILTY 
 
 If you, dear friend, feel that you are spiritually 
 sick, the Physician has come into the world for 
 you. If you are altogether undone by reason of 
 your sin, you are the very person aimed at in the 
 plan of salvation. I say that the Lord of love had 
 just such as you are in his eye when He arranged 
 the system of grace. Suppose a man of generous 
 spirit were to resolve to forgive all those who were 
 indebted to him; it is clear that this can only 
 apply to those really in his debt. One person 
 owes him a thousand pounds; another owes him 
 fifty pounds ; each one has but to have his bill re- 
 ceipted and the liability is wiped out. But the 
 most generous person cannot forgive the debts of 
 those who do not owe him anything. It is out of 
 the power of omnipotence to forgive where there 
 is no sin. Pardon, therefore, cannot be for you 
 who have no sin. Pardon must be for the guilty. 
 Forgiveness must be for the sinful. It were absurd 
 to talk of forgiving those who do not need forgive- 
 ness — pardoning those who have never offended. 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 24/ 
 
 Do you think that you must be lost because you 
 are a sinner? This is the reason why you can be 
 saved. Because you own yourself to be a sinner 
 I would encourage you to believe that grace is 
 ordained for such as you are. One of our hymn- 
 writers even dared to say — - 
 
 "A sinner is a sacred thing, 
 The Holy Ghost hath made him so.** 
 
 STRONG FAITH WTLL COME 
 
 You will rise to strong faith in due time. This 
 matured faith asks not for signs and tokens, but 
 bravely believes. Look at the faith of the master 
 mariner — I have often wondered at it. He looses 
 his cable, he steams away from the land. For 
 days, weeks, or even months, he never sees sail nor 
 shore; yet on he goes day and night without fear, 
 till one morning he finds himself exactly opposite 
 to the desired haven toward which he has been 
 steering. How has he found his way over the 
 trackless deep ? He has trusted in his compass, his 
 nautical almanac, his glass, and the heavenly 
 bodies; and, obeying their guidance, without sight- 
 ing land, he has steered so accurately that he has 
 not to change a point to enter into port. It is a 
 wonderful thing — that sailing or steaming without 
 sight. Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave 
 altogether the shores of sight and feeling, and to 
 say "Good-bye" to inward feelings, cheering prov- 
 idences, signs, tokens, and so forth. It is glorious 
 t$ be far out on the ocean of divine love, believing 
 
248 SPURGEON 
 
 in God, and steering for heaven straight away by 
 the direction of the Word of God. "Blessed are 
 they that have not seen, and yet have believed;" 
 to them shall be administered an abundant, en- 
 trance at the last, and a safe voyage on the way. 
 Will not my reader put his trust in God in Christ 
 Jesus? There I rest with joyous confidence. 
 Brother, come with me, and believe our Father 
 and our Saviour. Come at once. 
 
 NONE RIGHTEOUS 
 
 "There is none righteous, no, not one." In any 
 case I have no gospel to preach to the self-right- 
 eous — no, not a word of it. Jesus Christ himself 
 came not to call the righteous, and I am not going 
 to do what He did not do. If I called you, you 
 would not come, and, therefore, I will not call you 
 under that character. No, I bid you rather look 
 at that righteousness of yours till you see what a 
 delusion it is. It is not half so substantial as a 
 cobweb. Have done with it! Flee away from it! 
 O sirs, the only persons that can need justification 
 are those who are not in themselves just. They 
 need that something should be done for them to 
 make them just before the judgment-seat of God. 
 Depend upon it, the Lord only does that which is 
 needful. Infinite wisdom never attempts that 
 which is unnecessary. Jesus never undertakes 
 that which is superfluous. To make him just who 
 is just is no work for God — that were a labor for a 
 fool; but to make him just who is unjust — that is 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 249 
 
 work for infinite love and mercy. To justify the 
 ungodly — this is a miracle worthy of a God. And 
 for certain it is so. 
 
 GO ON IN THE NAME OF GOD 
 
 No sermon is what it ought to be if faith be 
 absent: as well say that a body is in health when 
 life is extinct. It is admirable to see a man hum- 
 bly conscious of weakness, and yet bravely confi- 
 dent in the Lord's power to work through his in- 
 firmity. We may glory at large when God is our 
 glory. Attempting great things, we shall not over- 
 do ourselves in the attempt; and expecting great 
 things, we shall not be disappointed in our expec- 
 tation. Nelson was asked whether a certain move- 
 ment of his ships was not perilous, and he replied, 
 "Perilous it may be, but in naval affairs nothing 
 is impossible, and nothing is improbable." I make 
 bold to assert that in the service of God nothing is 
 impossible and nothing is improbable. Go on, in 
 the name of God ; risk everything on His promise, 
 and according to your faith shall it be done unto 
 you. 
 
 WHAT DOST THOU HERE 
 
 Let me imagine a man entering heaven without 
 a change of heart. He comes within the gates. 
 He hears a sonnet. He starts ! It is to the praise 
 of his enemy. He sees a throne, and on it sits 
 one who is glorious; but it is his enemy. He 
 walks streets of gold, but those streets belong to 
 
2 50 SPURGEON 
 
 his enemy. He sees hosts of angels, but those 
 hosts are the servants of his enemy. He is in an 
 enemy's house; for he is at enmity with God. He 
 could not join the song, for he would not know 
 the tune. There he would stand, silent, motion- 
 less, till Christ would say, with a voice louder than 
 ten thousand thunders, "What dost thou here? 
 Enemies at a marriage banquet ? Enemies in the 
 children's house? Enemies in heaven? Get thee 
 gone! 'Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire in 
 hell!'" 
 
 NO DESIRE BUT CHRIST 
 
 It is the highest stage of manhood to have no 
 wish, no thought, no desire, but Christ — to feel 
 that to die were bliss, if it were for Christ — that 
 to live in penury, and woe, and scorn, and con- 
 tempt, and misery, were sweet for Christ — to feel 
 that it matters nothing what becomes of one's self, 
 so that our Master is but exalted — to feel that 
 though, like a sere leaf, we are blown in the blast, 
 we are quite careless whither we are going, so long 
 as we feel that the Master's hand is guiding us 
 according to his will; or, rather, to feel that though, 
 like the diamond, we must be exercised with sharp 
 tools, yet we care not how sharply we may be cut, 
 so that we may be made fit brilliants to adorn his 
 crown. 
 
 IDLENESS 
 
 I do think that one of the worst sins a man can 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 25 1 
 
 be guilty of in this world is to be idle. I can 
 almhst forgive a drunkard, but a lazy man I do 
 think there is very little pardon for. I think a 
 man who is idle has as good a reason to be a peni- 
 tent before God as David had when he was an 
 adulterer, for the most abominable thing in the 
 world is for a man to let the grass grow up to his 
 ankles and do nothing. God never sent a man 
 into the world to be idle. And there are some 
 who make a tolerably fair profession, but who do 
 nothing from one year's end to the other. 
 
 MEN HUG THEIR VICES 
 
 According to ^Esop, an old woman found an 
 empty jar which had lately been full of prime old 
 wine, and which still retained the fragrant smell 
 of its former contents. She greedily placed it 
 several times to her nose, and drawing it back- 
 wards and forwards said, "Oh, most delicious! How 
 nice must the wine itself have been, when it leaves 
 behind in the very vessel which contained it so 
 sweet a perfume!" 
 
 Men often hug their vices when their power to 
 enjoy them is gone. The memories of reveling 
 and wantonness appear to be sweet to the ungod- 
 ly in their old age. They sniff the empty bottles 
 of their follies, and only wish they could again be 
 drunken with them. Age cures not the evil heart, 
 but exhibits in a ridiculous but deeply painful light 
 the indelible perversity of human nature. 
 
252 SPURGEON 
 
 HEAVEN IS BATHING IN SEAS OF BLISS 
 
 The best enjoyments of Christ on earth are but 
 as the dipping of our finger in water for the cooling 
 of our thirst; but heaven is bathing in seas of 
 bliss. Even so our love here is but one drop of 
 the same substance as the waters of the ocean, 
 but not comparable for magnitude or depth. Oh, 
 how sweet it will be to be married to the Lord 
 Jesus, and to enjoy forever, and without any in- 
 terruption, the heavenly delights of His society ! 
 Surely, if a glimpse of Him melteth our soul, the 
 full fruition of Him will be enough to burn up with 
 affection. It is well that we shall have more noble 
 frames in heaven than we have here, otherwise we 
 should die of love in the very land of life. 
 
 SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS NATURAL 
 
 Self-righteousness is natural to our fallen hu- 
 manity. Hence it is the essence of all false relig- 
 ions. Be they what they may, they all agree in 
 seeking salvation by our own deeds. He who 
 worships his idols will torture his body, will fast, 
 will perform long pilgrimages, and do or endure 
 anything in order to merit salvation. The Romish 
 Church holds up continually before the eyes of its 
 votaries the prize to be earned by self-denial, by 
 penance, by prayers, or by sacraments, or by some 
 other performances of man. Go where you may, 
 the natural religion of fallen man is salvation by 
 his own merits. An old divine has well said, 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 253 
 
 every man is born a heretic upon this point, and 
 he naturally gravitates toward this heresy in one 
 form or another. Self-salvation, either by his per- 
 sonal worthiness, or by his repentance, or by his 
 resolves, is a hope ingrained in human nature, and 
 very hard to remove. This foolishness is bound 
 up in the heart of every child, and who shall get 
 it out of him? 
 
 TRIFLING WITH GREAT TRUTHS 
 
 Here is the greatest discovery that was ever 
 made, the most wonderful piece of knowledge that 
 ever was revealed, and yet you do not think it 
 worth a thought. You come now and then to 
 hear a sermon, but you hear without heart; you 
 read the Scriptures occasionally, but you do not 
 search them as for hid treasure. It is not your 
 first object in life thoroughly to understand and 
 heartily to receive the gospel which God has pro- 
 claimed; yet such ought to be the case. What, 
 my friend, does your indifference say that the 
 grace of God is of no great value in your esteem? 
 You do not think it worth the trouble of prayer, 
 of Bible-reading, and attention. The death of 
 Christ is nothing to you — a very beautiful fact, no 
 doubt ; you know the story well, but you do not 
 care enough about it to wish to be a partaker in 
 its benefits. His blood may have power to cleanse 
 from sin, but you do not want remission; His death 
 may be the life of men, but you do not long to 
 
 live by Him. To be saved by the atoning blood 
 itj 
 
2 54 SPURGEOX 
 
 does not strike you as being half so important as 
 to carry on your business at a profit and acquire a 
 fortune for your family. By thus trifling with 
 these precious things you do, as far as you can, 
 frustrate the grace of God and make Christ to die 
 in vain. 
 
 CHRIST LONGING FOR THE CROSS 
 
 Christ longed for the cross, because He looked 
 for it as the goal of all His exertions. He could 
 never say, "It is finished," on His throne: but on 
 His cross he did cry it. He preferred the suffering 
 of Calvary to the honors of the multitude who 
 crowded round about Him; for, preach as He might, 
 and bless them as He might, and heal them as He 
 might, still was His work undone. He was strait- 
 ened; He had a baptism to be baptized with, and 
 how was He straitened till it was accomplished. 
 "But," He said, "now I pant for my cross, for it 
 is the topstone of my labor. I long for my suffer- 
 ings, because they shall be the completion of my 
 great work of grace." It is the end that bringeth 
 the honor; it is the victory that crowneth the 
 warrior rather than the battle. And so Christ 
 longed for this, His death, that He might see the 
 completion of His labor. 
 
 EXCELSIOR 
 
 The artist, when he paints, knows right well 
 that he shall not be able to excel Apelles; but that 
 does not discourage him; he uses his brush with 
 
ECHOES FROM THE TABERNACLE PULPIT 255 
 
 all the greater pains, that he may at least in some 
 humble measure resemble the great master. So 
 the sculptor, though persuaded that he will not 
 rival Praxiteles, will hew out the marble still, and 
 seek to be as near the model as possible. Thus so 
 the Christian man, though he feels he never can 
 mount to the heights of complete excellence and 
 perceives that he never can on earth become the 
 exact image of Christ, still holds it up before him, 
 and measures his own deficiencies by the distance 
 between himself and Jesus. This will he do — for- 
 getting all he has attained, he will press forward, 
 crying, Excelsior! going upwards still, desiring to 
 be conformed more and more to the image of 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 ELDER FLOWERS AT VARALLO 
 
 One of our party greatly needed some elder- 
 flower water for her face, upon which the sun was 
 working great mischief. It was in the Italian 
 town of Varallo, and not a word of Italian did I 
 know. I entered a chemist's shop and surveyed 
 his drawers and bottles, but the result was nil. 
 Bright thought, I would go down by the river, and 
 walk until I could gather a bunch of elder-flowers, 
 for the tree was then in bloom. Happily thrs 
 search was successful: the flowers were exhibited 
 to the druggist, the extract was procured. 
 
 SATAN IS A FOWLER 
 
 Satan is a fowler; he has been so and is so 
 
2\6 SPURGEON 
 
 still; and if he does not now attack us as the roar- 
 ing lion, roaring against us in persecution, he at- 
 tacks us as the adder, creeping silently along the 
 path, endeavoring to bite our heel with his poi- 
 soned fangs, and weaken the power of grace and 
 ruin the life of godliness within us. 
 
 THE DEVIL AS A RESPECTABLE GENTLEMAN 
 
 If the devil comes to my door with his horns 
 visible, I will never let him in; but if he comes 
 with his hat on as a respectable gentleman, he is 
 at once admitted. The metaphor may be very 
 quaint, but it is quite true. Many a man has 
 taken in an evil thing, because it has been var- 
 nished and glossed over, and not apparently an 
 evil; and he has thought in his heart, there is not 
 much harm in it; so he has let in the little thing, 
 and it has been like the breaking forth of water — 
 the first drop has brought after it a torrent. The 
 beginning has been but the beginning of a fearful 
 end. 
 
 IF WE COULD BUT SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE 
 
 If we could see things as they are — if we were 
 not deceived by the masquerade of this poor life — 
 if we were not so easily taken in by the masks and 
 dresses of those who act in this great drama, be it 
 comedy or tragedy — if we could but see what the 
 men are behind the scenes, penetrate their hearts, 
 watch the inner motions, and discern their secret 
 feelings, we should find \>\\t few who could bear 
 the name of "blessed." 
 

 
 
 
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