YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

C H. SPURGE0K.
{From a Photograph by Messrs. Elliott <D Fry.)

LIVES THAT SPEAK.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

REV. JAMES J. ELLIS,
AUTHOR OF
"MARKED FOR DEATH," "MESSAGES OF CHRIST," ETC. ETC.

"A soul wrapped in its own purposes, and these Divine ones, untouched
by that vanity, that fussiness which we so often notice pertaining to men —
a mind happy and luminous in its own repose— such a mind must always be
attractive and beautiful, and very satisfying to look at." — 7"he Vocation of
the Preacher.

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY.

NEW YORK :
3o UNION SQUARE EAST.

CHICAGO :
148 & 150 MADISON STREET.

Ipublfsbers of Evangelical litecatuce.

PREFACE.

The writing of this biography has been a labour of
love with the author, and it is intended as a tribute
of esteem and affection to Mr. Spurgeon.
The author was a student in the Bastors' College,
and then and afterwards heard from Mr. Spurgeon's
own lips many of the incidents that have since ap
peared in print.
For every opinion advanced in the following pages
the writer is alone responsible. Some difficulty was
felt in dealing with the great abundance of materials
that freely flowed in. Should this publication be met
with a favourable reception, the author hopes to issue
a larger and more complete work.
He will be thankful if Mr. Spurgeon's many friends
will supply him with incidents and facts that may
enable him to present a more complete picture of the
great preacher and of his work. Many things which

vi PREFACE.
have been necessarily omitted here will appear in
that book.
The place that Mr. Spurgeon occupies is unique
and important ; the splendid service that he has
rendered to the whole Church of Christ by his
sermons, his exposition of the Fsalms, and by his
magnificent philanthropy, which has overflowed to all
who are in need ; his marvellous tact as a teacher,
and his conscientious adherence to what he believes
to be right, all these are claims upon the age, and are
lessons to all who will learn.
The recent controversy in which Mr. Spurgeon
took part has not, we trust, weakened his hold upon
the age ; surely it is time for those who differed from
him to recognise his magnificent unselfishness and
lasting beneficence.
Nothing has been set down in these pages to
accentuate any differences, and if at times the writer
appears partial, he pleads as an excuse his love for
Mr. Spurgeon and his admiration of his talents and
life. It may be well here to say again that Mr. Spurgeon
is not responsible for any of the opinions expressed
in the following pages, although his son, the Rev.
Charles Spurgeon of Greenwich, and Mr. Spurgeon's

PREFACE. vii
sister, Mrs. Fage, have kindly read the proof-sheets of
this book. To them the writer begs to tender his
grateful thanks.
The author also desires to thankfully acknowledge
the kind assistance that he has received from Mr.
Spurgeon himself, Rev. W. Jackson, Rev. J. L. Keys,
and many other friends, who have in various ways
assisted with facts and suggestions which have been
of priceless service.
That God may richly bless Mr. Spurgeon, and make
many a life speak out the praise of God through him,
is the prayer of many besides the author of the
following pages.

12 Woodside Terrace, Wightman Road,
Harringay Park, Hornsbt, N.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. FAGE
LIKE AN AMEN TO THE BIBLE — "NOT A CAKEY MAN" — IN
STINCT WITH POWER— TEACHING BY A STICK— FIGHT
ING IN EARNEST— GOD AS GOOD AS HIS WORD— THE
BOY WHO WOULD BE HEARD— DRY AS DUST— LOOK !
LOOK ! LOOK ! A GREAT REWARD FOR A SMALL SERVICE I
CHAPTER II.
THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED IN
A PULPIT.
"I LOST A THOUSAND FEARS "—SUET-PUDDING— THE MAN
WHO WOULD NOT BE DRIVEN AWAY— " THE SAUCIEST
DOG THAT EVER BARKED IN A PULPIT"— COMING TO
LONDON— HIS TACT— GREAT IN PREACHING, BECAUSE
GREAT IN PRAYER  29
CHAPTER III.
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.
"BE A BRIGHT POKER"— A GIANT FOR WORK— A PURITAN
BOUND IN MOROCCO— THE GIFT OF AN ONION — LAUGHED
AT, BUT UNHARMED — "HE'S A GOOD SORT "—SURREY
GARDENS MISHAP — THE TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS . 52

x CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE LAST OF THE PURITANS.
PAGE
" ONLY A NOISE "—THE HUGE TABERNACLE— MAKING AND
MENDING SAINTS— "EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH, AND
FATTEN AS YOU GO "—"WHAT'S IN A VOICE ? "—KNOCK
ING THE CANDLE DOWN— DIALOGUE OF DEVILS . . 82
CHAPTER V.
"THE TIRSHATHA."
" DO SOMETHING ; DO IT "—EXPECT SUCCESS, AND ATTAIN
IT— REPORTS OF THE COLLEGE—" A GOOD BANKER IN
DEED ! " — TWO THINGS FOR A MINISTER— PIONEER AND
MISSIONARY WORK  I03
CHAPTER VI.
C. H. SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST.
FOUNDED IN SACRIFICE AND SUSTAINED BY FAITH — THE
LORD WILL PROVIDE WHEN HE IS TRUSTED — THE
TABERNACLE HOMES — j" PLEASE, SIR, THAT'S ME" —
ALMSHOUSES AND COLPORTAGE  1 33
CHAPTER VII.
C. H. SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR.
THINKING INTO VOLUMES— BOOKS IN BOOTS— "VERY GOOD,
OR TRUE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES " — BOOK AFTER BOOK,
AND ALL GOOD— THE "SWORD AND TROWEL" . . 145

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.
C. H. SPURGEON AS HUMOURIST AND
CONTROVERSIALIST. FAQE
THE BENEFIT OF HUMOUR— AN AWFUL SIN—" JOHN PLOUGH
MAN " — " SALT FOR MANY A DISH " — A SILENT PROTEST
—IN HOT WATER, OR MAKING THE WATER HOT FOR
OTHERS— THE DO WN-GRAHE CONTROVERSY . . .158

CHAPTER IX.
THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE, OR LOVE THAT
WROUGHT IN PAIN.
'LOVE THAT WROUGHT IN PAIN" — WORK THAT GREW
BEYOND HOPE— FOOD FOR THE BODY AS WELL AS THE
MIND— A HAPPY HOME— LETTER TO CHILDREN . .172

CHAPTER X.
"THE CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES."
CROOKEDER THAN EVER— "CHRIST THE CONQUEROR"—
FLOWER MISSION— MORTIFYING THE OLD MAN— "THE
ANGELS DID THEIR WORK WELL"— THE OPEN LETTER . 191

C. H. SPURGEON

CHAPTER I.
THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE.
" All hail to the man
Who leads in the van,
Be the struggle of brain or of muscle ;
For what the world needs
Is the man who succeeds,
And comes out atop in the tussle."
" The real heroes of God's making . . . have their natural heritage of
love and conscience, which they drew in with their mother's milk ; they
know one or two of those deep spiritual truths which are only to be
won by long wrestling with their own sins and their own sorrows ;
they have earnest faith and strength, so far as they have done genuine
work." — Scenes from Clerical Life.

1776-1850.
LIKE AN AMEN TO THE BIBLE—" NOT A CAKEY MAN "—INSTINCT
WITH POWER— TEACHING BY A STICK— FIGHTING IN EARNEST
—GOD AS GOOD AS HIS WORD— THE BOY WHO WOULD BE
HEARD — DRY - AS - DUST— LOOK ! LOOK ! LOOK ! A GREAT
REWARD FOR A SMALL SERVICE.
" When I think of you, it is like an Amen to the
Bible, to the truth and certainty of all its blessed
promises," was said by Augustus Hare to a friend.
A

2 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Which is a high style of life — to be God's Amen to
the principles, facts, and promises of redemption that
make up the Bible ; and this honour, in the opinion
of many Evangelical Christians, belongs to Charles
Haddon Spurgeon. Whatever opinions may be enter
tained as to some of his utterances and methods, all
who love the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation
recognise him as a wonderful example of the power
and success of the Gospel ; in other words, as one of
God's Amens to the Bible. In some degree this is
possible to all who are participators by faith in the
benefits of the atonement, and therein their lives
convey comfort to men. The life of C. H. Spurgeon
speaks clearly an emphatic Amen to the statements
and claims of the Bible; and therefore it is helpful
to them.
To trace out the successive advances of this great
preacher, to learn from his weaknesses and to be
sustained by his strength, to admire the faith in God
which has imparted to him power over men, and,
above all, to recognise in him one of the kingly, pro
phetic, champion souls that arise from time to time
with marvellous consequences to the human race ; in
short, to hear the speech of this life, which, like the
fabled statue, is musical because the sunlight has kissed
it, is our purpose now.
"Blessed influence of one true loving human soul
on another; not calculable by algebra, not deducible
by logic, but mysterious, effectual, mighty as the hidden

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 3
process by which the tiny seed is quickened and bursts
forth into tall stem, and broad leaf, and glowing
tasselled flower.'' It is, indeed, impossible to ade
quately estimate the influence of Spurgeon upon the
religious thought and life of this age, for it has been,
and is still, truly enormous. One who differs greatly
from Mr. Spurgeon recently said to the author, " I went
to hear him preach, and I said to myself, ' He is still a
force.'" A force he is, and a force he will remain.
One or two things may be stated at the outset as
the result of careful inquiry and personal knowledge.
C. H. Spurgeon is not a " cakey man," as John
Lawrence termed those who affect undue refinement,
and hence with sickly sentimentalists he has not the
slightest sympathy. And the words of John Foster
about Robert Hall may, we think, be applied with equal,
if not greater truth to C. H. Spurgeon. The great
essayist says : " In some remarkable manner everything
about him, all he does and says, is instinct with power."
After frequent and varied opportunities of observing his
character under many lights, C. H. Spurgeon not only
appears to be instinct with power, but as holding back
much of his mental strength — in other words, as en
dowed with immense reserve force. Had he chosen
any other calling in life than that of the ministry,
he would have been equally conspicuous ; indeed, he
is so well proportioned mentally, and so desperately
in earnest as a preacher, that much of his wealth
pf intellect is unseen, although it acts as a fount

4 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
of supply to the gushing waters that have refreshed
and strengthened thousands. If the word king
means a leader, and probably a steersman, as Max
Muller says that it does, is it too much to apply
it to the man who, in spite of objections from many
quarters, leads, and will lead, an immense multi
tude, who admire his high endowments, share his
beliefs, love him for his self-sacrifice and devotion,
and regard him almost as if he were an angel sent
from God, as indeed he is ? Thousands will endorse
the application to him of the words that form J. T.
Lynch's epitaph : " A herald of God, loving His
message ; a guardian of the light of God, holding it
forth conspicuously ; a shepherd whose wisdom is as
a fold for the Saviour's, sheep, and his comfortable
words a hospice on the rude mountains for those who
were crossing them on their way to the promised
country." The awful cruelties of Alva, that "fleshless instru
ment of massacre," in the sixteenth century, drove
many of the inhabitants of the Netherlands to seek a
home in England. And no wonder ; for Alva " strode
with gigantic steps over haughty statutes and popular
constitutions, crushing alike the magnates who claimed
a bench of monarchs for their jury, and the ignoble
artisans who could appeal only to the laws of their
land." History has recorded but few names of those
heroic emigrant-sufferers, but God has not forgotten

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 5
them, and they are enrolled among the noble army of
martyrs, whose deeds are known in heaven. Would that
some more careful Foxe would gather up the traditions
about them that still linger in the farmsteads, villages,
and small towns of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, and
thus show the immediate cause of the - sturdy and
Protestant character of the natives of those parts.
One family of refugees from .the Netherlands was
named Spurgeon, and they made their home in Nor^
folk and in Essex. From the Essex settlers Charles
Spurgeon has descended. Such men, after leaving
their homes and all that they possessed for con
science' sake, were not likely to submit to the pro
fligate hypocrisy of Charles the Second, or the equally
dangerous dogged tyranny of James the Second. All
honour to them and thanks to God that the reign of
vice and of absolutism has for ever passed away from
England. But our liberties have been won by suffer
ing, and surely no Evangelical Christian will either
defend the tyranny of the King and his advisers or
refuse to admire the heroic martyrs. Episcopalians
can afford to esteem Bunyan and his fellow-confessors,
just as Nonconformists can admire Hall, Leighton, and
Ken. " My great-grandfather's grandfather was a Quaker,"
said Mr. Spurgeon, "and was imprisoned in the gaol
at Chelmsford; and I sometimes feel the shadow of
his broad brim come over my spirit, inasmuch as I
believe in spiritual monitions."

6 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
For fifteen weeks John Spurgeon lay in Chelmsford
gaol, without fire, although the weather was severe,
because he refused to believe in religion as he was
bidden by a King who at heart was really an atheist
and a Papist. The story of those times is truly
shameful, especially when we reflect that honest and
worthy men stooped to defend the shameless vice of
Charles and his companions ; but the story is heroic
when we see how men chose rather to endure poverty,
prison, and death than to do what they thought to
be wrong : —
" Men of England, who inherit
Rights that cost your sires their blood,
Men whose undegenerate spirit
Hath been proved on field and flood ;
We're the sons of sires who baffled
Crowned and Papal tyranny,
And defied the field and scaffold
For their birthrights — so will we ! "
The martyr spirit took another form in James
Spurgeon, the grandfather of our hero. He was born
at Halstead, in Essex, on the 29th of September
1776. He was evidently a remarkable man, accus
tomed to think for himself and to speak his mind,
as became the child of the martyrs. For fifty-three
years he was pastor of a Congregational church ,at
Stambourn, in Essex, and with such success, that he
declared that during this protracted period he had not
had one hour's unhappiness with his church.
He was asked on one occasion what he weighed,

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 7
and replied : " If I were weighed in the balances I
should be found wanting, but if I were weighed in
the pulpit I should be heavy enough."
A man with some keen sparkle of wit, and a sturdy
English pride in him. " John," said he to his son,
" we are an honourable family ; not rich in this world's
goods, but where is there a family with five preachers
making known the Gospel every Sunday ? There are
few families, indeed, that can say so much."
A hard-shelled man, who, with all his kindness, was
tenacious of what he esteemed right and true. For
instance, it is said that he loved and admired Watts'
hymns. Nowadays it has become too customary to
sneer at Dr. Watts' hymns. It may be safely pre
dicted, that as long as the service of song of the
House of the Lord continues, such favourites as
"Come let us join," "How strong Thy arm is,"
" When I survey the wondrous cross," " 0 the de
light, the heavenly joys," " Give me the wings of faith
to rise," and other noble hymns will be sung.
Rev. James Spurgeon believed in Dr. Watts, and
when a visitor who had come to preach at Stambourn
gave out, one after the other, two hymns that were by
other authors, he closed his book as a protest. When
a third hymn was announced, and that also not by his
favourite author, it is said that he shook his fist most
significantly at the young preacher. After the ser
vice had concluded, he said to the offending minister,
" Young man, if you don't want your brains knocked

o

8 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
out, you must use Dr. Watts' hymns ! " As he spoke,
he waggishly raised and flourished a huge stick that
had supported his steps. The minister promised
amendment, and kept his word, for at the next service
Watts' hymns only were sung. The Nestor, no longer
angry, said to him, " Right, sir, right ; I am glad to
see you can appreciate the best authors so quickly.
Go now and get your ram's horn ready like those men,
and God may make you the means of hurling to the
ground walls as stubborn as those." The sermon had
been upon the capture of Jericho by Joshua. The
grandson of this worthy relates some pleasing remi
niscences of him. In the " Spare Half-Hour," a
volume of a most useful series, to which reference
will be made in a later chapter of this book, C. H.
Spurgeon relates several anecdotes of his grandfather.
Rev. James Spurgeon, we are told, most intensely
believed in the devil. One day during his sermon, it
occurred to the good man that it would be wise to
board in the cupboard in which was kept the sand for
the floor of his manse. With characteristic pugnacity
he rejoined mentally, " What business has the devil
to talk about my sand-closet on a Sunday, and in the
pulpit too ? I will not board it in at all ! "
This sturdy antagonist of the great enemy of men
dreamed once that the devil threatened to tear him in
pieces if he ventured to pray beneath a certain tree in
Honeywood Park. When he awoke, the dream came
to his mind, and he reasoned on it thus : " Whether

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 9
it be a dream or a temptation of the devil, I cannot
tell, but anyhow I will not yield. I will not do
Satan's bidding, and to defy him I will go to the very
tree." To those whose belief in Satanic agency in
this world is only skin-deep, the heroism of this act
is not very evident; but those who believe that we
are, like Job, the objects of the enmity and power of
Satan, will judge otherwise. Here was a man defy
ing the devil, and determined not to yield to what he
believed to be an attempt to deter him from his duty.
He went right on towards the tree. Yet in doing
this he suffered most intensely ; the mental conflict
wrung great beads of water from his face; he shook
and trembled, but he went forward until he reached
the oak in safety. Who can say that James Spurgeon
did not then and there win a real victory over the
enemy of God and man ? To those who do not
believe in a personal tempter, it may be well to sug
gest that if there were no tempter, human depravity
would be incurable ; but because man has been led
away by a worse than himself, redemption becomes
possible. Carlyle, it will be remembered, took his
friend Emerson (who denied the existence of Satan)
from one London den of infamy to another. He asked
him after each sight, " Do you believe in a devil
now ? Do you believe in a devil now ? " The misery
and infamy of men he felt would be inexplicable except
upon the belief that fallen men are led away by the
devil. And the Scriptures explicitly declare that our

io LIVES THAT SPEAK.
adversary the devil " goeth about like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour."
All honour, then, to the man who met what was to
him a real temptation and triumphed over it.
Rev. James Spurgeon, the village pastor, was very
popular in the country round Stambourn ; his gentle
ness, his sturdiness, his adherence to truth, and his* love
for all who held it, his orthodoxy and his catholicity,
endeared him- to Dissenting ministers, ana even to
the Rector of his parish ; for after all, the bonds by
which good men of all communions are held together
are stronger than others can realise ; and the differ
ences between those who hold the Evangelical faith
are smaller than we know.
The true spirit of the Gospel is that which is
manifested by Cowper, who, on entering an unknown
church, sat near a stranger who sang most devoutly.
" Bless you for praising Him whom my soul
loveth," said Cowper to himself. " Bless you for
working for Him whom my soul loveth," ought to
be the feeling of all true Christians towards each
other. At a watch-night service in the Tabernacle, Mr.
Spurgeon related the following incident : —
"I knew a minister who once threatened his boy
that, if he repeated an offence, he would visit it with
such a punishment that he would remember it if he
lived for a hundred years. He regretted the rash
threat, but when his boy was detected in the forbidden

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. II
act, he called him aside for prayer, and then told him
he must proceed to inflict the threatened punishment.
He bade him follow him to the corner of a cornfield
beyond the reach of hearing. The trembling culprit
obeyed, and conjectured every conceivable form of
punishment it was possible his father might inflict.
Arrived at the chosen spot, the father bade him kneel,
and then with two stalks of wheat lightly brushed
his cheek. ' There,' said he, ' I have kept my word ;
you will never forget that punishment.' And he
never has,' said Mr. Spurgeon, ' for that boy was my
own father, and he repeated the story to me only a
few days ago."
Rev. James Spurgeon lived to rejoice in his grand
son's success. On one occasion he told the congre
gation that while Charles might be able to preach
better than his grandfather, he had no better Gospel
than that for which his fathers had suffered rather
than surrender.
The integrity of the old Puritan appears in the fact
that while he might legally, and some would have said
morally, have claimed the chapel in which he had
preached, he refused to do what he regarded as unjust.
He put the chapel in trust, according to the intention
of the founders.
And he was poor at the time, which makes the
deed appear the more noble — so poor, indeed, that
when his cow died he had not sufficient money in
hand to buy another. " What will you do now ? "

12 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
asked his wife, thinking of the ten hungry children
who needed food.
" I cannot tell what we shall do now, but I know
what God will do. God will provide for us ; we must
have milk for the children," was the noble reply. His
faith was rewarded, for the next morning the post
brought him sufficient money to purchase another
cow. God had heard his prayer, and remembered his
faith. The writer once heard Mr. Spurgeon relate, that
when his grandfather lay in his last sickness, some
one repeated to him the hymn, "Firm as the earth
His promise stands."
The dying man corrected the speaker. "That
would be but sorry comfort for me now," he said.
" The earth is slipping away from me. No ; ' firm
as His throne His promise stands.' "
The second of the ten children who formed the
family of this good man, John Spurgeon by name, is
the father of the great preacher. A hale, hearty
Englishman, of the robust, noble stamp that one might
expect from such a home. Mrs. John Spurgeon, the
mother of Charles, was a native of Colchester. After
the ancient Puritan style she trained up her children,
not knowing that from among them should arise one
of the most remarkable men of the age.
Her two sons, Charles and James, are ministers, and
two of her daughters have married those who have
given their lives to the preaching of the Gospel.

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 13
We are favoured by the Rev. J. Keys with the fol
lowing memorandum : —
"September 4th, 1888. — I went this day to Somer
set House to seek the register of baptism of Rev. C. H.
Spurgeon. I saw the long, narrow vellum-bound book
in use at Stambourn at the time of the passing of the
Registration Acts. There is with it a letter from the
Rev. James Spurgeon, the pastor, to the representatives
of the Commissioners.
" The following is a copy of the original copy, pro
cured by me. I think the entry in the Stambourn
book ends at the word ' August.'
" ' Charles Haddon, son of John and Eliza Spurgeon,
his wife, of the parish of Kelvedon ; born the 1 9th of
June 1834; baptized the 3rd of August by the Rev.
James Spurgeon.'
" Certified to be an extract from the register or
record numbered Essex 59, and entitled a Register of
births, baptisms, and burials, formerly kept by the
Independents at Stambourn.
" On March the 8th, 1889, I again went to Somer
set House to get the register of the birth or baptism
of John Spurgeon, father of Pastor C. H. Spurgeon.
He was born at Clare, Suffolk, July 15, 18 10; but
his father appears to have closed his ministry there at
the end of 1 8 1 o or early in 1 8 1 1 . For this reason
John Spurgeon's 'baptism' is not in the Clare book
of baptisms, burials, &c, but in that of Stambourn, a
copy of which I obtained.

14 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
"While looking at the Clare book, I noticed the
entries of the two following as baptized by the Rev.
J(ames) Spurgeon: —
" ' Stephen Church Spurgeon, son of William and
Rachel Spurgeon, born June 22, '87' (meant for
1807). '"Sarah Spurgeon, daughter of James and Sarah
Spurgeon, born September 1 8, 1 807.' "
Mrs. Jackson (daughter of Rev. John Spurgeon),
under date February 20, 1891, writes thus to the
author about her father : " In previous biographies
very little is recorded of this venerable man of God,
who has now attained the ripe age of fourscore years.
He has always been an embodiment of homeliness,
and from the earliest recollections of his children he
imparted a charm to the home-life of his family. His
sons and daughters were never so happy as when he
gathered them around him for recreation, instruction,
and devotion.
"They hailed his return from business and from
religious services with delight, for they knew he would
not fail to delight them by relating in his own
captivating manner the incidents which had come
under his observation during the day. Thus ' plea
sant evenings' were wisely provided at home, and
the temptations which characterise and endanger
'modern society' were avoided. Those early days
of happy family life are remembered with devout
gratitude.

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 1 5
"No wonder that it is Spurgeonic to prefer old
methods. " To-day the father is greatly revered by his eight
living children on account of his devout spirit and tbe
impressive way in which he used to conduct religious
services in their midst ; and at least one of them
rejoices in being brought to Jesus while the father
was tenderly pleading for the conversion of his
offspring. " Several stories have already appeared in print as
facts or fancies, but others have not found their way
into the press. One has the endorsement of an uncle,
who was at home at the time : it may do good if told.
' A certain professor of religion in tbe village was in
the habit of going to fairs, &c, which so shocked the
thoughtful and puritanical boy, that he resolved to
attack the man, in order to kill him as an inconsistent
individual. Accordingly, he followed him one day
when he was on his way to a fair at some distance,
and dealt him blows with the hammer of God's Word,
which made him reel, tremble, and turn aside to
confess his sin, and pray for pardon and grace to keep
him in future.' "
At the time of his eldest son's birth, Mr. Spur
geon kept a shop in the village. Subsequently he
removed to Raleigh, in Essex. At a later period
he became head-clerk in a coal, coke, and shipping
office in Colchester, a position of considerable trust
and importance, which he relinquished in order

1 6 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
to undertake the pastorate of the church at Cran
brook. It is said that Mr. John Spurgeon remarked that,
" as the parent of seventeen children, I have frequently
worn a shabby coat, when I might have possessed a
good one, had I cared less for my children's educa
tion." He must have long since enjoyed the reward
of his self-sacrifice. Indeed, no blessing ever came
to men that had not been purchased by pain ; many
must suffer that the world may be blessed.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born on the 19th
of June 1834, at Kelvedon, in Essex. His first
learning was obtained at a school in Colchester, for
even genius requires teaching, and learning involves
labour. In " John Ploughman's Talk " Mr. Spurgeon
relates an anecdote of his early days. He was at
the time a small boy in pinafores, and had lost his
pencil. He was without pocket-money, and pur
chased a slate-pencil on credit. The debt amounted
to one farthing, which sum he purposed to pay at
Christmas. By some means his father heard of this
transaction, and after a powerful lecture upon the sin
and danger of debt, the boy was marched down the
street, and the farthing was paid amid many solemn
warnings. "It was a fine lesson, and I have never
forgotten it," says Mr. Spurgeon. " God bless my
father," say I, " and send a breed of such fathers into
Old England, to save her from being eaten up with
villainy ; for what with companies, and schemes, and

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. U
paper-money, the nation is getting to be as rotten
as touchwood." His father informed Dr. Ford, an
American, that " I had been from home a good deal,
trying to build up weak congregations, and felt that I
was neglecting the religious training of my own chil
dren while I toiled for the good of others. I returned
home with these feelings. I opened the door, and was
surprised to find none of the children about the hall.
Going quietly up the stairs, I heard my wife's voice.
She was engaged in prayer with the children. I heard
her pray for them one by one by name. She came
to Charles, and specially prayed for him, for he was
of a high spirit and daring temper. I listened until
she had ended her prayer, and I felt and said, ' Lord,
I will go on with Thy work ; the children will be
cared for.' "
If West became a painter because of his mother's
kiss, is it tod much to say that his mother's prayers
contributed to make Spurgeon a preacher ?
From an early age the child was sent occasionally
to visit his grandfather, to whom reference has been
made. There a maiden aunt, Miss Ann Spurgeon,
who lived with the aged minister, ministered to the
boy, not without discernment of his marvellous pos
sibilities. Some years since Mr. Spurgeon related the
following anecdote of those days, which had been re
called to his mind by his Aunt Ann.
One of the members of the church at Stambourn,
named Rhodes, was in the habit of frequenting the
B

1 8 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
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 hearmg of Mr. Spurgeon,
" I'll 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 perfectly 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
conversation was brought to his mind by the child
coming 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

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 19
thought." Encouraged 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 muo- 0f
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
member 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, confessing 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 pastor." Truly a child to be
loved, observed, and trained ; it was evident that from
his childhood Charles Spurgeon discovered his life-
mission. Of his life in the village manse we have
several beautiful pictures. Mr. Spurgeon has re
peatedly drawn upon his own experience to supply
illustrations of his doctrine. In " Feathers for Arrows "
he thus speaks : —
"On the mantelshelf of my grandmother's best
parlour, among other marvels, was an apple in a phial.
It quite filled up the body of the bottle, and my

20 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
wondering inquiry was, ' How could it have been got
into its place ? ' By stealth I climbed a chair to
see if the bottom would unscrew, or if there had
been a join in the glass throughout the length of the
phial. I was satisfied, by careful observation, that
neither of these theories could be supported, and the
apple remained to me an enigma and a mystery.
But as it was said of that- other wonder, the source of
the Nile — ' Nature well known, no mystery remains,'
so it was here. Walking in the garden, I saw a
phial placed in a tree bearmg within it a tiny apple,
which was growing within the crystal ; now I saw it
all; the apple was put into the bottle while it was
little, and it grew there. Just so must we catch the
little men and women who swarm our streets — we
call them boys and girls — and introduce them within
the influence of the Church ; for alas ! it is hard
incWd to reach them when they have ripened in care
lessness and sin."
The second reminiscence is as follows : —
" When a little child, I lived some years in my
grandfather's house. In his garden there was a fine
old hedge of yew of considerable length, which was
clipped and trimmed till it made quite a wall of
verdure. Behind it was a wide grass walk which
looked out upon the fields, and afforded a quiet
outlook. The grass was kept mown, so as to make

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 21
pleasant walking. Here, ever since the old puritanic
chapel was built, godly divines had walked, and prayed,
and meditated. My grandfather was wont to use it
as his study. Up and down he would walk when
preparing his sermons, and always on Sabbath-days,
when it was fair, he had half-an-hour there before
preaching. To me it seemed to be a perfect paradise,
and being forbidden to stay there when grandfather
was meditating, I viewed it with no small degree of
awe. I love to think of the green and quiet walk
at this moment, and could wish for just such a study.
But I was once shocked, and even horrified, by hear
ing a farming man remark concerning this sanctum
sanctorum, ' It 'ud grow a many 'taturs if it wor
ploughed up.' What cared he for holy memories ?
What were meditation and contemplation to him ?
Is it not the chief end of man to grow potatoes, and
to eat them ? Such on a larger scale would be an
unconverted man's estimate of joys so elevated and
refined as those of heaven, could he by any possibility
be permitted to gaze upon them."
In the "Spare Half-Hour" Mr. Spurgeon relates
another incident which is one of the commonplaces
of religious story. We give it in his own words : —
"When I was a young child staying with my
grandfather, there came to preach in the village Mr.
Knill, who had been a missionary at St. Petersburg,
and a mighty preacher of the Gospel. He came to
preach for the London Missionary Society, and arrived

22 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
on the Saturday at the manse. 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.
At six o'clock he called me up, and we went into the
arbour. 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 the arbour and prayed for me with his arms
about my neck. He did not seem content unless I
kept with him in the interval between the services,
and he heard my childish talk with patient love.
On Monday morning he did as on the Sabbath, and
again on Tuesday. Three, times 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 fhe 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 tbe hymn —

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 23
' God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.'
I was made to promise that when I preached in
Rowland Hill's Chapel that 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 had to give 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. ' Yes,' I said, ' I will, if the children
will sing " God moves in a mysterious way." '
As an example of his smartness, it is related that
during his school-days he observed that the bottom
place in the class was the warmest. At once he
contrived to work his way downwards, until the master
detected the reason, and reversed the position of the
class. The boy immediately went up to the top of
the class, which was now next to the fire.
In the year 1844 he went to spend his vacation
with his grandfather, and during these happy days his
love of Protestantism was deepened. To men like the
pastor of Stambourn, Popery was a real foe, and the
pages of Foxe were diligently read and believed. It has
been said that one of the greatest gifts that God has
conferred upon man is the power of asking questions.
This faculty Charles, after the manner of acute intel
lects, began to exercise, sometimes most amusingly, as
appears in the pages of the " Spare Half-Hour." The

24 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
child was permitted to read the Scriptures at family
prayer. He came to a passage that he did not under
stand, and he asked for an explanation. This was not
given ; but morning after morning the same chapter
was read and the same questions asked, until the
grandfather yielded and gave the needful information.
Which thing was prophetic. Man's highest prerogative
is to know, and he must ask before he knows.
It has for a long time been the style to speak of Mr.
Spurgeon as if he were ignorant and untrained. He
himself has jocosely remarked that he had not the
benefit of a college training, and teased his brother
about the supposed superior advantages that he enjoyed.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Spurgeon is far better provided
with learning than those who are not intimate with him
know. Parade of all kind he abominates ; but it is
certain that at the age of seventeen he could easily
have secured a degree had the Universities then been
open. His tutor, Mr. Edward Leeding, now dead, was
very emphatic about the solid learning and talents of
his illustrious pupil, and certainly he should be per
mitted to know. His testimony is, " that at the age of
seventeen Mr. Spurgeon could have easily secured a
degree at the University if he had so desired."
It must not be forgotten that the use of strong,
spicy Saxon is not a proof of ignorance, but of learn
ing, and still more of that native sense and discern
ment of what is best and fit which is a mark of true
genius.

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 25
In the year 1849 Mr. Spurgeon went to New
market as usher in a school there. The pastor of the
Baptist church of that town was of the dry-as-dust
kind, and the youth would often impart his dissatis
faction at the sermon to a good servant of the family.
" Well," she would say, " did you get anything this
morning ? "
" No, not a bite."
"Neither did I, until I joined not with every word
that he said, and then I did better."
It is an odd sermon that requires a negative to
make it understandable !
Another time this woman said, " I felt like an
old hen scratching on a dung-heap for a grain of corn,
but there was none. Never mind, I thought ; scratch
ing will keep your legs warm."
A Bishop of Cork once said of a sermon preached by
his Dean, " It was an admirably arranged and delivered
sermon, clear, eloquent, argumentative, illustrative, but
it had not in it Gospel enough to save a tomtit ! "
Which kind of sermon may gratify those who do not
care about personal religion, but can never satisfy a
seeking soul ; it did not satisfy Charles Spurgeon.
It is further related that when, in accordance with
the custom of the Independents, the youth should have
been proposed in a church-meeting as a candidate for
fellowship, the minister delayed doing so. Whereupon,
after sundry ineffectual remonstrances, which were disre
garded, the youth called upon the minister and informed

26 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
him that he intended to walk down to the church-
meeting and propose himself ! Verily a youth who
seemed likely to cause much trouble to the Rev. Go-
very-easy and to all his kind. At a meeting of minis
ters and deacons, held at the Metropolitan Tabernacle
on Tuesday, May 28, 1889, Mr. Spurgeon said: "I
was a member of the church at Newmarket when I first
joined the church, and was afterwards 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 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 say this
to 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. I was his friend
and companion, and when his wife was sick and died,

THE ELIJAH OF HIS AGE. 27
I was still his friend and helper, and we are bound
together by the closest ties. He naturally laughs now
very much at the way in which I introduced myself
without a card."
A period of religious despondency had preceded
this avowal of his faith in God, a time such as comes
in the life-history of all souls, when the faith of child
hood has to be transmuted into the faith of riper
years. This time of gloom and mental anguish was
ended one snowy morning, when, entering the Primitive
Methodist Chapel at Colchester, an unknown preacher
discoursed from the text, " Look unto me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth." The preacher, after
the fashion of his denomination, kept to his text, and
urged his hearers to look to Christ. This the un
known youth did, and found that looking to Christ
cured his doubts and gave him peace. This was in
January 1850.
A Primitive Methodist preacher once remarked that
Dr. M'Call carefully polished a stone before he flung
it. " The probability is that it will fly off and hit
nobody, because it is so well polished. I go down to
the seaside and catch up a good handful of stones, and
fling them, with what force I can, among the crowd,
quite sure that by God's grace every stone has its
mark, and hits somebody." Which style of preaching
Rowland Hill calls " slapdash," but which he highly
commends as the most useful.
For preachers have an aim, and must keep it in

28 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
view ; they watch to win souls as those who must
give an account. Who can tell but that the faithful
preaching of the Gospel by thee may not be wonderfully
successful ? Subordinately to the great purpose, every
man should preach as best he can, always remember
ing that his methods nrust be such as are in accordance
with the principles of the Gospel. It is large comfort
for men of little ability that in a small Primitive
Methodist chapel the greatest preacher of the age
was converted under a simple sermon preached by an
unknown man.
The .pulpit from which this sermon was preached
has been purchased, and stands in the playroom of the
Stockwell Orphanage. A more valuable memorial of
the sermon is the vast multitude in heaven and earth
that have been won for Christ by the books and ser
mons of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
" Sow in the morn thy seed,
At eve hold not thy hand ;
To doubt or fear give thou no heed,
Broadcast it o'er the land."

CHAPTER II.
THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED
IN A PULPIT.
" The leafless boughs are stirred
With a spirit and a life,
Which is floating all around,
And the covert glades are rife
With the new awakened sound.
Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before,
Since we have seen His beauty,
Are joined to part no more."
" He ever kept before him a purpose of usefulness alike in teaching
men what to think about and how to think about it." — Paxton Hood
of Db. Watts.

1850-1854.
" I LOST A THOUSAND FEARS" — SUET-PUDDING— THE MAN WHO
WOULD NOT BE DRIVEN AWAY — " THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT
EVER BARKED IN A PULPIT " — COMING TO LONDON— HIS TACT
—GREAT IN PREACHING, BECAME GREAT IN PRAYER.
Mr. Spurgeon, after a careful study of the Greek
Testament, came to a conviction that the Baptists
were right in their interpretation of " baptize." He at
once decided tobe immersed. In the Sword and Trowel
for April 1 890 there is an engraving of the place where

30 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
he was baptized. It is situated at Isleham Ferry, on
the River Park. Thither on the 3rd of May 18 50,
the youth, dressed in a jacket and wearing a boy's
turn-down collar, walked from Newmarket, a distance
of eight miles. " I lost a thousand fears in that River
Park, and found that in keeping His commandments
there is great reward," says Mr. Spurgeon.
One of his biographers relates that Mrs. Spurgeon
humorously said to her son, " Ah ! Charley, I have
often prayed' that you might be saved, but never that
you should become a Baptist." With equal humour
her son replied, " Ah ! mother, God has answered your
prayer with His usual bounty, and given you more
than you asked."
Upon the question of Popery Mr. Spurgeon is most
pronounced, and probably this is largely owing to his
early study of Foxe's " Martyrology," which, alas ! is too
seldom read now-a-days. It ought never to be for
gotten that while Foxe may be defective in arrange
ment, and a little careless about a few details, his
main facts have never been disputed. Rome is
unchangeable, and will ever be the, enemy of the
Scriptures until destroyed by our Lord by the bright
ness of His coming. It is absurd to attempt any
modus vivendi ; if the Papists are right, we are heretics
and lost ; and if we are right, they are idolaters and
under the curse pronounced by Christ in Revelation.
Mr. Spurgeon has always been a sturdy Protestant ;
when a youth he competed for a prize which was

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 31
offered for the best essay upon Popery ; and although
he did not secure the prize, he received a sum of
money as a recognition of the merit of his paper. . It
was entitled " Antichrist and her Brood ; or, Popery
Unmasked." His ministry has always proceeded upon
the sound principle — Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ; the complete sufficiency and sovereign
authority of the Holy Scriptures, and no truce with
Romish or any other vital error.
Mr. Spurgeon moved from Newmarket into Cam
bridge, where he studied during the day and engaged
in various forms of Christian service during the evening.
The writer heard him relate how he obtained a hearing
in one locality. He set writing-copies for the children,
who were terribly neglected, and then he called at their
homes in order to see how they were progressing with
their writing. The parents were proud of these visits,
and they gradually became attached to the young
usher. There are still many in the Fen Country, near
Cambridge, who heard the young man speak in his
early days, and who recognised in his Sunday-school
addresses the characteristics of a great preacher.
During this period he addressed a letter to one of
his sisters, which we are able to print : —
"Cambridge, Thursday.
" To Miss Caroline Louisa Spurgeon, — Your name
is so long that it will almost reach across the paper.
We have one young gentleman in our school whose

32 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
name is Edward Ralph William Baxter T  . The
boys tease him about his long name, but he is a very
good boy, and that makes his name a good one.
" Everybody's name is pretty if they are good people.
" The Duke of Tuscany has had a little son. The
little fellow was taken to the Catholic cathedral, had
some water put on his face, and then they named him
— you must get Eliza to read it —
" Giovanni Nepomuceno Maria, Annunziata Giuseppe
Giovanbattista Ferdinando Baldassere Luigi Gonzaga,
Pietro Allesandro Zanobi Antonino.
" A pretty name to go to bed and get up with ! It
will be a long while before he will be able to say it
all the way through.
" If any one is called by the name of Christian, that
is better than all these great words. It is the best
name in the world, except the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. " My best love ta you. I hope you will enjoy your
self, and try to make others happy too, for then you
are sure to be happy yourself. Whereas, if you only
look out to please yourself, you will make others un
comfortable, and will not make even yourself happy.
However, you know that, and I need not tell you of it.
A happy Christmas to you. — Your loving brother,
" Charles."
As yet he had not known his mission. Others saw
and determined that he should fulfil it. He was asked

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 33
to accompany a young man to Teversham, and went,
not knowing that he was expected to preach. When
he discovered the device, he began to expound " Unto
you which believe, He is precious" (1 Peter ii. 7), a
text which is characteristic of his piety. It is what
he himself calls a meaty text. Luther would have
said that it is a little Bible.
Overcome with wonder at the youth of the eloquent
preacher, it is said that an old dame called out during
the service, " Bless your dear heart, how old are
you ? "
" You must wait until the service is over before
making any such inquiries," responded tbe preacher.
The question was eagerly repeated after the service
had concluded, and the answer was, "I am under
sixty." "Yes, and under sixteen," added the first
interrogator. Young as he was, there could be no mistake ; the
simple villagers recognised that a great preacher had
arisen in their midst. Henceforward he was busily
engaged in preaching, until at length he made it the
chief business of his life. Some of his adventures
during this period were amusing. We select the fol
lowing. He had been preaching, and was invited to
dine with a poor man. Upon the table smoked a
huge suet-pudding, the sole dish. The farmer helped
himself to a huge slice, and one member of the family
after another did the same. No one looked after the
guest, who, understanding what he was expected to
c

34 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
do, cut himself a slice of pudding, and made his dinner
off it.
He himself relates how he was once the guest of
Potto Brown, a philanthropic miller of Houghton.
Potto Brown was an original character in his way,
and told his visitor that his preaching was veryjwell
for an apprentice-boy. This at once set Spurgeon
at his ease, and after a theological combat upon the
respective merits of the Calvinistic and Arminian
dogmas, he learned to respect his host.
In the year 185 I, at the age of seventeen years,
Mr. Spurgeon became minister of the Baptist Church
in Waterbeach Cambs. The previous pastor had en
joyed a stipend of twenty pounds per year. We have
ourselves heard Mr. Spurgeon say that he was as rich
while at Waterbeach as he was in London. " Hearing
a smile," to quote Mr. Goschen, he explained, " So I was,
for then I gave away all I had, and I do so now;"
which saying is strictly true.
The chapel at Waterbeach was built of conglome
rate with whitewashed walls. It was burned down
in 1866. A careless individual' flung some hot coals
upon a heap of rubbish near, which resulted in a fire.
Not only the old chapel, but one or two buildings were
involved in the conflagration. " If it had not been
burned down, the chapel would never have been pulled
down, for there were people there who venerated the
very smoke."
"Well I remember," said Mr. Spurgeon recently.

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 35
" beginning to preach in a little thatched chapel, and
my first concern was, would God save any souls through
me ? They called me a ragged-headed boy ; I think I
was — I know I wore a jacket. And I preached, and
I was troubled in my heart because I thought, 'This
Gospel has saved me, but then somebody else preached
it ; will it save anybody if I preach it ? ' Some Sun
days went over, and I used to say to the deacons,
' Have you heard of anybody finding the Lord ? '
' Have you heard of anybody brought to Christ ? ' My
good old friend said, ' I am sure there has been, I am
quite sure about it.' ' Oh,' I said, ' I want to know it,
I want to see it.' And one Sunday afternoon he said,
' There is a woman who lives over at so-and-so who
found the Lord three or four Sundays ago through
your preaching.' I said, ' Drive me over there, I must
go directly,' and the first thing on Monday morning I
was driving down to see my first child. Many fathers
here recollect their first child ; mothers recollect their
first baby — no child like it, you never had another
like it since. I have had a great many spiritual chil
dren born of the preaching of the Word, but I do think
that woman was the best of the lot. At least she did
not live long enough for me to find many faults in
her. After a year or two of faithful witness-bearing
she went home to lead the way for a goodly number
since. I have had nothing else to preach but Christ
crucified. How many souls there are in heaven who
have found their way there through that preaching;

36 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
how many there are still on earth, serving the Master,
it is not for me to tell ; but whatever there has been
of success has been through the preaching of Christ in
the sinner's stead."
Mr. G. Holden Pike once interviewed Mr. Coe, one
of the deacons at Waterbeach. Mr. Coe remembered
Mr. Spurgeon's first sermon at Waterbeach, which was
preached in the autumn of 1 8 5 I . Said Mr. Coe, " He
sat on one side of the table-pew, and I on the other
side. I shall never forget it. He looked so white, and
I thought to myself he'll never be able to preach — what
a boy he is ! I ^espised his youth, you know, and
thought all this while the congregation was singing.
Then, when the hymn was over, he jumped up and
began to read and expound the chapter about the Scribes
and Pharisees and lawyers ; and as he went on about
their garments, their phylacteries, and long prayers,
I knew that he could preach. All along I was fully
persuaded in my own mind that he would not remain
long at Waterbeach. I could see that he was some
thing very great, and was evidently intended for a
larger sphere. I could not make him out ; and one
day I asked him wherever he got all the knowledge
from that he put into the sermons. ' Oh,' he said,
' I take a book, and I pull the good things out of it
by the hair of their heads.' "
A friend who knew Mr. Spurgeon when he first
came to London said to the writer, " He would sit
talking with me and looking at a book. He would

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 37
have all the life out of a book in ten minutes." A
great gift, and but rarely possessed, that of reading with
one's fingers, and rapidly catching up the life-sap of a
book. Mr. Pike tells us that Mr. Coe, in answer to the
question, " Mr. Spurgeon astonished everybody at that
time ? " replied, " Of course he did."
" How then did he preach ? "
" Why," continued the old man, looking straight
at me, as though I ought to know all about it, " why,
like a man a hundred years old in experience ! "
Mr. Spurgeon, after his removal to the metropolis,
tried for a long time to induce this worthy to visit
London. As a bribe, Mr. Spurgeon promised to give
a new flagon for the Communion Service. At length
Mr. Coe came to London, and the flagon was duly
presented. Mr. Pike says of the worthy deacon, that
"on his return, he tried to tell the people what he
had really seen ; but memory grew confused. His un
sophisticated mind seemed to retain but one thing,
the lustre of which darkened everything else — 'Mr.
Spurgeon was very glad to see me!'"
During the ministry of Mr. Spurgeon at Waterbeach,
" Deacon Coe was passing through one of the most
enjoyable experiences of his life ; and his pleasure
was only lessened by the consciousness that the sun
shine could not last. If his friends mentioned the
matter to him, Deacon Coe would shake his head in
his characteristic expressive manner, and remark, ' He

38 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
will not be here long. God has a great work for him
to do somewhere. I don't know where, but he will
not be here long.' " 1
The author once heard Mr. Spurgeon relate the
manner in which he conquered the hostility of one
village near Waterbeach. This village was a hotbed
of infidelity, immorality, and every vice. The Wes
leyans had been driven away from the place, and some
of them ill-used. Whereupon Mr. Spurgeon and some
of his friends went thither with intent to preach. The
natives, as their manner was, turned out with stones
in order to assail the new-comers. Mr. Spurgeon was
equal to the occasion, and seriously told them that
he had heard how they had driven away the Wes
leyans. " They would only have preached error," he
said. " We have come to preach the right doctrine.
I am very glad you drove them away, for that shows
that you are sensible people."
The villagers, amazed at such an audacious speech,
dropped their stones and listened to the sermon.
Within a short time the character of the village was
entirely changed, and it is now more moral and reli
gious than any in the locality.
The author's brother was preaching in Landbeach,
near Cambridge, where he met with an old man who
said, " I'm the man who taught Mr. Spurgeon to
smoke. My wife doesn't want me to say it, but I'm the
man who taught Mr. Spurgeon to smoke." He con-
1 C H. Spurgeon, by Q. Holden Pike.

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 39
tinued thus : " You see, he came in one day to see me,
and I was smoking away, enjoying my pipe. ' I think
I'd like to try a pipe,' he says, and I gave him a pipe.
He sucked away until I said, 'You'd better put it
down.' He laid it down and said, ' It's very nice ; I'll
have another try ! ' And try he did until he could
smoke," said the man, adding, " I'm the man who taught
Mr. Spurgeon to smoke."1
Abraham Lincoln was once asked if a neighbour of
his was a man of means. He replied, " He ought to
be, for he is about the meanest man in these parts."
One such individual resided in Waterbeach, and
from one of the natives we have this story, which Mr.
Spurgeon himself has related more than once.
The mean individual once prayed publicly that some
one might be induced to give the minister ja, new hat.
On the following Sunday he brought Mr. Spurgeon
seven and sixpence, and a week later another half-
crown. " What do you mean by this ? Last week you
gave me seven and sixpence, and this week you bring
me half-a-crown. What do you mean ? " asked Mr.
Spurgeon. " Only I am a very wicked man," said the sinner.
" The Lord told me to give you a new hat, and I kept
back half-a-crown of the amount. There it is ! "
The fame of the young preacher spread far and
wide through the Fen country, and his sayings and
1 Mr. Spurgeon's son doubts this statement.

40 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
sermons were repeated, sometimes with variations.
We heard Mr. Spurgeon relate that one day he was
stopped by a gentleman in Cambridge, who said to
him, "I say, young man, I heard that you said that
if an unconverted man got into heaven, he would pick
the Archangel Gabriel's pocket. Now you shouldn't
have said that ; it was wrong, for the angels have no
pockets." " Thank you," said the hardened offender against
civic propriety. " I am very much obliged to you. I
will soon put that right."
" Do so," said the other, little dreaming of what was
to come.Some time afterwards they met again, and Mr.
Spurgeon said, " Oh, I have put that right — about
the angels' .pockets, I mean."
" What did you say ? " asked the other, vaguely
surmising what might have been said.
" Oh, I told them that I had made a mistake, and
that a very clever man, named B  , who lived at
Cambridge, had told me that the angels had no
pockets ! "
Verily the young preacher was a dangerous antagonist.
Another encounter took place in 1852, when the
young pastor went to preach for an old minister. He
was not well received, for the aged minister made
some rude remarks about the youthful preacher.
" How do you do ? I've come to preach your anni
versary sermon," said Mr. Spurgeon.

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 41
" Ugh ! I am none the better for seeing you," said
the old minister, who evidently did not much regard
the injunction, " Be courteous." " Tut, tut ! a pretty
kettle of fish," he added ; " boys going up and down the
country preaching before their mother's milk is well
out of their mouths ! "
By way of helping his visitor, the old man freely
imparted his disgust to others. Alas ! he little knew
what was in store for him; for the boy whose "mother's
milk was not out of his mouth," expounded " A hoary
head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way
of righteousness " (Prov. xvi.). He commented freely
upon those who treated a guest who came to preach
to them with contempt, probably to the discomfort of
the old man.
After the sermon had ended, the minister emerged
from the hiding-place from whence he had expected
to witness the boy's confusion, and, after his rugged
fashion, expressed his praise. " You are the sauciest
dog that ever barked in a pulpit," he said, and empha
sised his words by a slap across the back.
Another story, which is very similar to the preced
ing, is that of another minister who said, " I never
allow boys in my pulpit." Subsequently he relented,
and said, " You may give out the hymns." Then,
growing pleased as the service proceeded, he signified
from time to time that the preacher might continue.
When the sermon was over, the old man crept up
the pulpit-stairs, placed his hand upon the youth's

42 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
shoulders, and said, " Why, boy, you can preach almost
as well as I can."
Some men of note among the Nonconformists of
those parts regarded the audacious speaker ,with plea
sure, and among them was Cornelius Elvin, of Bury
St. Edmunds.
Cornelius Elvin was a huge man in physical bulk.
On one occasion he went to preach in a meeting
house, and had to climb into the pulpit by a ladder,
as the doorway would not permit such a huge mass
to enter. Strangely enough the good man then
preached from " My leanness ! my leanness ! "
A good woman upon entering a chapel saw him
in the pulpit, and retreated, exclaiming, " No, no !
the man has too much flesh about him ; I cannot
hear him ! " He once declined taking part in a
baptism service, because, he said, that if he got wet,
there was not a vest within forty miles that would
fit him. This huge man had a huge heart, and he
gave loving and wise counsel to the young preacher.
" Study hard," he said, " and keep well ahead of the
best Christians in your church."
The Nonconformists were for many years excluded
from the Universities, and were therefore compelled to
, provide academies for the training of their ministers.
Mr. Spurgeon was urged by his father and many
friends to enter Stepney, now Regent's Park College.
It was arranged that he should meet Dr. Angus, the
then and present Principal. The two waited for each

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 43
other in separate rooms of the same house, but owing
to a blunder on the part of a servant, Dr. Angus
went away without meeting his friend. " What
momentous consequences sometimes hang on small
matters ! How much may occasionally depend on the
remissness of a half-witted servant-maid," says Holden
Pike. Pondering this disappointment, Mr. Spurgeon was
walking across Midsummer Common, when he seemed
to hear a loud voice that said very distinctly, " Seekest
thou great things for thyself ? seek them not." He
began to review his former decision, and though at
the time he did not know the consequences of his
self-sacrifice, all must recognise the interposition of
God. At the time he felt that, in deciding to follow
the path of duty, he doomed himself to the poverty
and obscurity of a village pastorate, and in that light
we must regard his decision.
In a letter to his mother Mr. Spurgeon wrote :
" I am more and more glad that I never went to
college. God sends such sunshine on my path, such
smiles of grace, that I cannot regret if I have forfeited
all my prospects for it. I am conscious I held back
from love to God and His cause, and I had rather be
poor in His service than rich in my own. I have all
that heart can wish for ; yea, God giveth more than
my desire. My congregation is as great and loving
as ever. During all the time that I have been at
Waterbeach I have had a different house for my home

44 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
every day. Fifty-two families have thus taken me
in ; and I have still six other invitations not yet
accepted. Talk about the people not caring for me
because they give me so little ! I dare tell any
body under heaven 'tis false ! They do all they
can ! "
In the year 1853 Mr. Spurgeon was invited to
preach in Park Street Chapel, London. He could
not believe, when he received ' the invitation, that
the letter was really for him; but a sage old deacon
shook his head gravely, and said that he had always
feared such a calamity, which had come sooner
than he had anticipated. The epistle was returned,
but a second invitation followed, and " wearing a
huge black satin stock, and using a blue handker
chief with white spots," the visitor came to London.
He was entertained at a boarding-house. The guests
were much amused that " the country lad should be a
preacher. They did not propose to go and hear the
youth, but they seemed tacitly to agree to encourage
him after their own fashion, and we were encouraged
accordingly. What tales were retailed of the great
divines of the metropolis and their congregations !
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 ; and a third had an immense audience,
almost entirely composed of the young men of London,
who were spell-bound by his eloquence ! The study

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 45
which these young men underwent in composing their
sermons, their Herculean 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 advan
tageous condition for pleasant dreams."
The next morning the youth of nineteen, longing
for the quiet village, which, as compared with London.
seemed now like a Garden of Eden, went sorrowfully
to the meeting-house in New Park Street. Borne
down by a sense of weakness, such as always pre
cedes a preacher's triumph, he wended his way ponder
ing the words, "He must needs go through Samaria."
It is said that on his arrival at the vestry of the
chapel, Mr. Spurgeon sat down in Dr. Gill's chair
and exclaimed, " He must needs go through Samaria."
This text had been upon his mind. During the walk
to the chapel he had come to regard his visit to
Park Street as a part of his needful training. He
had no thought of a permanent settlement in London,
and said plainly to the deacons, " I knew that I
should be of no use to you, but you would have me
come." " On that first Sunday in Park Street," says Dr.
Wayland, " there were perhaps eighty persons present.
The deacons had made a great effort to get people out,
so as to swell the audience. One of the deacons went
to a young lady and said, ' Do come on Sunday ; there

46 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
will be a young man from the country, and we do want
to make as much of a show as we can.' The young
lady went and saw the young man from the country,
and heard him preach. She told me this herself.
She has seen him a good many times since ; and, in
fact, in a couple of years later she took him for good
and all ; and what a blessing she has been to him and
to the world only eternity can tell."
One of the deacons, Mr. Thomas Olney, however,
thought that the youth could be of use, and in order
to have the best judgment, brought his invalid wife to
the evening service. Mrs. Olney came all the way
from Croydon to hear " the wonderful young man " of
whom her husband had told her.
Her verdict, after the evening service, was, " He will
do ! he will do ! " an opinion that years of marvellous
success has confirmed. So the day passed, and at night
Mr. Spurgeon returned to his lodging. " Our tone was
altered ; we wanted no pity of any one ; we did not
care a 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."
The church that then met in Park Street Chapel is
at least two hundred years old, and it had enjoyed a
succession of able ministers. Besides being able men,
they had all been more or less distinguished for wit

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 47
and those qualities that are part of the qualification for
the pastoral office.
Mr. Spurgeon, in his interesting shilling volume,
entitled- "The Metropolitan Tabernacle, its History and
Work," has preserved many anecdotes of these worthies.
Thus he says that Dr. Gill nobly replied, when
warned that a certain line of conduct would entail
loss upon him, " Do not tell me of losing. I value
nothing in comparison with Gospel truth. I am not
afraid to be poor." He also said, " I am not afraid of
the reproaches of men ; I have been inured to them
from my youth upwards."
Some one complained to this tough old Calvinist
of the tunes that were used in worship, and he asked
her what she desired. She at once replied, "I should
very much like David's tunes." "Well, if you will
get David's tunes for us, we will try to sing them,"
was the discrete reply.
His successor, Dr. Rippon, of hymn-book fame, was,
in his way, a character. He was selected to read an
address from the Dissenters to King George III., and
he said at one sentence, " Please your Majesty, we
will read that passage again ; " and he did so, doubtless
to the amusement of the King, who, with all his faults,
admired honest bluntness.
From various causes the congregation that had been
ministered to by these worthy men had dwindled away,
until in a chapel capable of holding some twelve
hundred persons not more than two hundred assem-

48 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
bled. The history of Christianity has always been
one of advance and recession, but in each case it has
been found that the advance or failure has been attri
butable to causes that are palpable. Churches become
elated by success, run themselves thin by neglect of
prayer, and require the needful tonic of failure that
they may become lowly enough for the Divine bless
ing. There are few times more painful in the mini
ster's life than when he feels that God is not in the
camp, as there is no joy out of heaven to be compared
to a ministry on which the holy dew rests.
Tennyson somewhere speaks of "a mist of green."
There is "a mist of green" in church life when the
promise of spring appears upon the cold bare trunks
that once were clothed with leaf and flower. Under
the ministry of the young man there were promises
of spring, and the church at Park Street endeavoured
to induce Mr. Spurgeon to remain in London. For
three alternate Sabbaths he preached at Park Street,
and then he consented to become minister for a period
of six months.
Before he left Waterbeach one of his charge prayed
that Mr. Spurgeon might " be delivered from the
bleating of the sheep." At the time the expression
was mysterious, but the young pastor grew to under
stand its meaning. By which expression the good
man meant the unreasonable requests and complaints
of some very good people, who seem determined to
prove their own unfitness for heaven by making others

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 49
uncomfortable on earth. Two examples may be given
of Mr. Spurgeon's tact with " bleating sheep."
One man came to him full of complaints of one and
another. Mr. Spurgeon refused to hear him, and re
commended him to forget and forgive. It was only
when he was told that Mr. Spurgeon would not inter
fere that the man left off " bleating."
We have heard him relate that at one church-
meeting a man rose and complained loudly about the
minister. One deacon after another protested against
the man being heard, and when Mr. Spurgeon per
mitted the complainant " to bleat," the whole meeting
went into another room.
" Aren't they a lot of cowards ? " Mr. Spurgeon asked.
" But I say, So-and-so, you might have come to my
house and said all this."
" I will never say a word against you all my life,"
said the man, fairly overcome by the minister's tact.
Verily a born leader of men, and one who knew what
to avoid, what to do, and how to do it.
Probably some part of Mr. Spurgeon's success may
be attributed to this bonhomie and kindly method of
treating men. We heard him say at Kingston-on-
Thames, " When I have an apple a little bit specked,
I turn it with the speck towards the wall ; then when
I go again, the speck has gone and the apple is sound."
To which may be added the words of a man who
marked his early Hfe. He said, " It is not so much
his talent or his wit that I , feel so overpowering, D

50 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
as his sincere goodness." Which may explain what
a recent visitor to London meant when he records
in the newspaper that, after hearing Dr. Parker
preach, he came away with the feeling that he
was a great man. After listening to Mr. Spurgeon,
he felt that Jesus was a great Saviour ; and in the
difference we may see the explanation of the two,
ministries. Because he has been careless of his own
strength, reputation, and money, but has freely given
them all for what he believes to be right, Charles
Haddon Spurgeon is beloved by all who hold the
Evangelical faith. His geniality, generosity, wonderful
eloquence, are quite insufficient to explain his hold
over the human mind ; he is heard and beloved because
he preaches the great truths of redemption, which are
dearer than life itself, and which, indeed, are the life
of the soul of man. He stands before his age as the
type of great earnestness in the Christian career, and
to that intense forcefulness of faith in the doctrines of
the Cross which compels him to transparent speech
and conduct we trace his power.
At the risk of being thought erratic, we venture to)
say that, great as he is as a preacher (and some of his
sentences cut like a knife, while others are as fragrant
and tender as a mother's kiss), his prayers are more
wonderful still. His prayers have been a means of
grace, and a revelation of what prayer might more
often be to those who have been unable to hear them
without intense mental emotion. The author treasures

THE SAUCIEST DOG THAT EVER BARKED. 51 >
among some of his most forceful memories prayers
that ring in his heart still and mingle with his holiest
purposes, which, indeed, they inspired.
For spiritual stimulus, for restful faith, for infectious
fervour, and for subduing and inspiring power, the
prayers of Charles Haddon Spurgeon are treasured
by those who have heard them with a delight that a
stranger cannot understand.

CHAPTER III.
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.
" Had he not seen in the solitudes
A vision of love about him fall ?
Not the blinding splendour that fell on Saul,
But the tenderest glory that rests on them
Who walk in the New Jerusalem ;
Where the sun nor the moon are never known,
But the Lord and His love are the light alone." — Whittibb.
" The preacher does not show that it is a well, and show when and
how it was dug, and by what processes the stream percolated until it
reached that spot ; he does not spend time in assuring you that it is
trustworthy food ; he exclaims to an eager if a small company, Eat
abundantly, 0 friends ; yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." — The
Vocation of the Peeaoher.

1856-1859.
" BE A BRIGHT POKER "—A GIANT FOR WORK— A PURITAN BOUND
IN MOROCCO— THE GIFT OF AN ONION— LAUGHED AT, BUT
UNHARMED— " HE'S A GOOD SORT" — SURREY GARDENS MIS
HAP — THE TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS.
"Mr dear boy, be a bright poker," said Douglas
Jerrold ; advice which was thus varied by a vivacious
friend of ours : "Be a curate, and not a rector ; for
the black poker does all the work, and its bright
5=

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 53
brother does all the shining." C. H. Spurgeon has
never been a bright poker; he has always been a
curate, in that he has lived to be of use.
George Moore wrote thus in his diary : " Ryle and
Spurgeon got on capitally. Indeed, Spurgeon gets on
well with everybody. Henry Chester is quite in love
with him ; they have found out many things on which
they agree. There is nothing like getting men of
different opinions thrown together. Spurgeon is a
remarkable man. He has such a memory, such good
humour, and such spirits; and he is a giant for
work'' Mrs. Moore says, " Mr. Spurgeon interested George
greatly. His wit and humour delighted him. One
day, seeing what influence he had on the farmers and
people about, Mr. Spurgeon said to me, ' You are a
queen, for your husband is king of Cumberland.' ' Oh!
no,' said I, 'he is not that.' 'No,' was his quick
reply, ' he is Mo(o)re.' " 1
In the same biography there is also this paragraph :
"I went to Mr. Spurgeon's in the evening. What a
wonderful sight ! He sent for me, and I introduced
my friends to him." In which extracts there are two
or three things to be observed. The man who finds
out points of agreement rather than of difference, who
is a giant for work, and, above all, who is sunny and
mirthful, must -of necessity be popular quite apart from
all other qualities of genius. Without his undoubted
1 Life of George Moore, by Smiles.

54 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
great abilities in the presentation and enforcement of
truth by pathos, wit, and even invective, Mr. Spurgeon
would have been a remarkable man, merely because
of these three characteristics of his mental structure.
When he came to London, men comforted his father
with doleful prophecies of failure ; and one hardly
wonders at their fears. A mere youth, unknown, save
to very few, without wealth or powerful friends,
and, moreover, belonging to one of the most de
spised of all the sects, it did not seem probable that
the new-comer would be known beyond the narrow
circle of his own church. They who spoke thus knew
nothing of the immense powers that lay behind that
beardless face, and some, if they suspected them, were
jealous and suspicious of him.
" If he had not succeeded, what an awful failure
he would have been," said one to the writer. It is
perhaps wise to forget the past, but those who com
plain of some of Mr. Spurgeon's early sayings must
remember that at his advent respectable London
Nonconformity was horror-stricken at his audacity.
He ventured to dress, act, and speak as if he had no
terror or fear of men before his eyes — as if a youth
without a beard could be a prophet ! Besides, who
ever heard of a great preacher who had not the
imprimatur of several colleges, the heads of which
could not preach themselves, and therefore knew what
ought to be accepted as good preaching ? He could
not be a prophet, and the Dryasdusts felt the whole

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 55
thing was likely to cover Nonconformity with ridicule ;
and so they ignored, ridiculed, wondered, and at last
were silent. All except that ancient man-of-war,
fighting John Campbell of the Tabernacle in Totten
ham Court Road, who being himself eccentric, discerned
what this audacious youth really was. It has been said
that at that time London Nonconformity was divided
into two sections, one of which believed in Dr. Camp
bell most devoutly, and the other did not. Whatever
his faults, and they were not few, the old champion
had penetration enough to recognise genius and grace
where he saw them, and he understood what this
phenomenon might be.
Not that Mr. Spurgeon desired pity or trembled
very much on account of his isolation ; we almost
fear that, shocking as it is to confess it, he rather
enjoyed it.
Dr. Campbell was not Mr. Spurgeon's only cham
pion, for the Lord Chief-Justice of England, Lord
Campbell, said to Sir Richard Maine, who was then
Chief Commissioner of Police, "He is doing great
good, sir ! he is doing great good."
John Howard Hinton, too, the author of several
works that at one time attracted great attention, when
he visited the Tabernacle, said to one of the deacons,
" Take care of that young man ; he is an old Puritan
bound in morocco." "But I maintain that I am
bound in calf, for I belong to Essex," replied Mr.
Spurgeon.

56 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Of these early days in London Mr. Spurgeon relates
the following incident : —
"In the year 1854, when I had scarcely been in
London twelve months, the neighbourhood in which
I laboured was visited by Asiatic cholera, and my
congregation suffered from its inroads. Family after
family summoned me to the bedsides of the smitten,
and almost every day I- was called to visit the grave.
I gave myself up with youthful ardour to the visita
tion 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 fancied 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 watered up in a shoemaker's window in the
Dover Road. It did not look like a trade announce
ment, nor was it, for it bore in a good bold hand
writing these words: 'Because thou hast made the
Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habi
tation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling.' The effect on my
heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage
as her own. I felt secured, refreshed, girt with
immortality. I went on with my visitation of the

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 57
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 win
dow I gratefully acknowledge, and, in the remembrance
of its marvellous power, I adore the Lord my God." :
We also heard him relate, with a mirth-provoking
twinkle of the eye, the two following incidents of
the times now under review.
He had long desired more ventilation in his chapel,
but his wishes were not heeded.
" One morning," he said, " it was discovered that all
the windows were broken along one side of the chapel.
It really looked as if some one had gone along with
a stick and had rapped at them. I suggested that
the deacons should offer a reward of five pounds
for the discovery of the offender, but they shook
their heads gravely. They fancied that they knew the
culprit. I myself have walked with the stick that
caused the mischief ! "
The other story is as follows : —
" There was a man who used to sit in the Chapel
and weep most profusely during the sermon. One day
he came to me with a huge piece of calico in his hand.
' Look here,' he said ; ' I received this the other day,
and inside the calico was this large onion.'
"I looked at the calico, and found that upon it
there was a label bearing this inscription, ' This is for
you to use while the pastor is preaching.'
1 Treasury of David.

58 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" The man said, ' What shall I do with it ? '
" ' Do with it,' I replied. ' Why, cook the onion for
supper.' " He looked so strangely at me, he almost fancied
that I sent it." Then, after the laughter had subsided,
Mr. Spurgeon added, "I knew that he was only a
hypocrite, and so it was soon discovered ! "
Of course all who have the gift of tears after this
man's fashion will condole with him ; but every noble
nature must loathe sham, pretence, and cant, espe
cially that hypocrisy which wears a religious garb for
a pretence. Mr. Spurgeon went to Scotland, and under date
20th July 1855 he wrote to the papers complaining
of the peril to which he and others had been need
lessly exposed. On the forenoon of Wednesday he
was returning from the Highlands, and desired to land
at Govan Ferry. The boat came alongside, but Mr.
Spurgeon found when they put off that the men in
charge of her were intoxicated. They insisted upon
rowing across the track of a steamer. At length the
remonstrances of the passengers prevailed, and the
men altered their course. Instead of landing, they
brought the boat alongside another steamer, and then
packed it so full that the passengers could not move.
One gentleman was up to his knees in water, but by
Divine mercy all the party reached land in safety.
An American Quarterly thus describes the appear
ance of the young orator at the beginning of his

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 59
London ministry. The opinion is evidently jaundiced,
but if it were true, it would only serve to set off
the success of the ministry which began so unfavour
ably : —
" In personal appearance he was not prepossessing ;
in style he was plain, practical, simple ; in manner,
rude, bold, egotistical, approaching to the bigoted ; in
theology, a deep-dyed Calvinist ; in church relations,
an uncompromising Baptist. We could scarcely ima
gine a more unpromising list of qualifications, or rather
disqualifications, for public favour."
In those days Mr. Spurgeon's present secretary, Mr.
Keys, was residing at Tring, where he kept a school. His
father came from London to visit him, and they called
together upon one of the Baptist ministers of the town.
While they were talking with him, a messenger came
into the room and said that a famous London minister
was in Tring, and would preach in the chapel if he
were asked.
" Do you know anything about him ? " asked the
minister. " I do ; he is orthodox," said Mr. Keys, senior ; and
upon this the desired permission was given.
When the father and son left the minister's house,
said the former, " Your minister is very shabby ; he
ought to have a new suit of clothes."
" We really cannot do more than we do in the way
of salary ; the people are poor."
" Now is the time to make an effort ; there will be

60 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
a great many strangers at your chapel to-night, and
you can make a collection for him."
This was in the afternoon, and after seeing his
father off, Mr. Keys went round inviting one and
another of his neighbours to attend the Baptist Chapel
to hear this famous preacher.
When he himself reached the chapel, the service
had already commenced, but, although terribly nervous,
Mr. Keys ascended the pulpit and found Mr. Spurgeon
intently reading the Bible.
" I want you to make a collection to-night for the
minister," said Mr. Keys. " Our minister wants a new
suit of clothes."
" There is to be a collection for the debt," said Mr.
Spurgeon. " The debt is a mere trifle, and can wait. Look at
the poor man ; that is his best coat."
"Leave it to me," said Mr. Spurgeon.
" But please promise, sir."
" The hymn is nearly finished, and I have not
selected my reading-lesson."
" But, sir, please promise."
" I will see to it ; " and, contented at this indefinite
pledge, Mr. Keys went to his pew and listened to the
sermon. "I never heard such preaching before," he said;
"it was a revelation to me. I had never before
heard sinners invited to come to Christ, and there
was a warmth and a glow about the preaching such

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 6 1
as I had never experienced in my life. It was
wonderful." When the sermon was over, Mr. Spurgeon said,
" There is to be a collection to-night. At first we
thought it should be for the debt, but it will be for
the pastor. There are a great many strangers present
who know and respect the minister of this chapel ;
they will be glad of the opportunity of showing their
esteem for him. You know that he has served the Lord
well ; now we wish to get him a new suit of livery."
Very few in the congregation had come provided
with money, but many of them promised to send con
tributions to Mr. Keys. Mr. Spurgeon himself put
his hand into his pocket, and took out a handful of
silver and put it in the plate ; his friend, Mr. Olney,
also gave; and then Mr. Spurgeon noted the amount
of the contribution, £3 1 5 s., in a Beza's Latin Testa
ment, which Mr. Keys still preserves as a memorial
of the event.
The minister, it would seem, had been praying for
a new suit of clothes, and thus, without effort of his
own, his prayers were answered.
To Mr. Keys we are indebted for the following
anecdote : —
A short time after this sermon Mr. Spurgeon again
visited . Tring. He had now become famous, and a
great throng gathered to welcome him. Mr. Keys
stood on the outskirts of the crowd, and near him
stood a lady of his acquaintance.

62 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" I should like to shake hands with Mr. Spurgeon,"
said the lady, a Miss W  .
" Se knows me," said Mr. Keys.
Mr. Spurgeon came out, and amidst the throng that
pressed around him he spied Mr. Keys, whom he had
only seen for a few moments at the chapel.
" This young lady would like to shake hands with
you, sir," said Mr. Keys, after he. had been noticed.
" How do you do, Miss G  ?" said Mr. Spurgeon.
" This is Miss W  , sir."
" But I met you at Cambridge some months ago."
Then it was explained that this lady had been with
her uncle, Mr. G  , and had been seen by Mr.
Spurgeon, who had conjectured and remembered her
name. I quote this as an example of the tenacious memory
of the great preacher.
The attacks of his enemies, the hostility of the
press, and the ardent devotion of his friends con
tributed to spread the preacher's fame all over the
kingdom, and crowds flocked to hear him wherever
he went.
In his own church Mr. Spurgeon became increasingly
popular, and, large as was the structure, it became far
too small for the crowds that thronged to hear this
new order of preaching.
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and by
faith this wall shall fall down too," said Mr. Spurgeon,
pointing to the wall behind the pulpit.

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 63
" Never let us hear you say that again," said one of
his go-gently deacons, who did not dare to anticipate
such great things.
" You shall hear of it until it is done," said Mr.
Spurgeon, who better understood his own powers and
future. The wall fell down, the chapel was handed over to
the builders, and during the process of enlargement
Mr. Spurgeon preached at Exeter Hall. From the
1 ith of February to the 27 th of May that great hall
was filled to overflowing to hear the young preacher ;
and with most remarkable results, for one after an
other sinners were converted, and that in large numbers.
The West End of London was stirred with the audacity
of the preacher, and sent forth crowds to hear him.
It seemed almost like a second Pentecost, and affected
all the Churches in a most remarkable degree. Bold
ness is an element of success in the ministry of the
Gospel, and the faith of a man who dares to avow his
belief in it is infectious beyond his knowledge. At a
critical moment in the battle of Alma a frightened
French officer rode up to Raglan, who calmly pro
mised to send help to his more numerous allies. His
evident faith in his men strengthened the French, and
inspired them to win a victory.
If Mr. Spurgeon had done no more than to calm
the terrors of those who, when he came to London,
not unnaturally feared for the cause of God and of
truth, he would not have lived in vain. His work

64 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
inspired the faint-hearted, and said to the Churches
what Lawrence said to his workers during the Mutiny,
" Press on ! press on ! To stand still is fatal."
Such a success, achieved by a young and indepen
dent man, could not but provoke hostility, but the
malice of his detractors perhaps only served as the
grindstone to impart a keener edge to the polished
blade. The most absurd falsehoods were circulated,
and repeated with solemn emphasis. Burns speaks
of those who — "  hae been kenned,
In holy rapture,
A rousing wbid at times to vend,
And nail't wi' Scripture."
A clergyman assured a friend of ours that he had
heard Mr. Spurgeon, in the course of preaching, ask a
woman in the congregation, " Mother, what do you pay
a pound for lamb ?'"
"A shilling or fourteenpence," was the reply.
" You can have the Lamb of God for nothing."
Our friend objected, "Surely Mr. Spurgeon could
never say such a thing ! "
" Indeed he did. I heard him myself."
Again and again we have heard the absurd story
repeated about Mr. Spurgeon sliding down the pulpit-
stairs in order to illustrate how sinners go to hell ;
a story which has again and again been disproved,
inasmuch as he had no pulpit-stairs at New Park
Street, but came out of a hole in the wall into a
swallow-nest pulpit. One is not surprised at such

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 65
falsehoods being invented ; they have been manu
factured by the same hand for every great enemy of
sin. But surely Christian people should be careful not
to participate in falsehood and slander merely to be
thought wise or able to satisfy the curiosity of the
vulgar crowd. Every public man is liable to such
attacks; but even if we differ from those who are
doing Christ's work after another method than our
own, we ought to guard their reputation as the com
mon heritage of the people of God. Mr. Spurgeon's
son once told us that he sat in a railway carriage, and
heard the most absurd accounts of his father's wealth
and luxury from one of these retailers of petty false
hood. Mr. Spurgeon denied the statements of the
speaker without revealing his own name. We need
a higher standard of morality in trifles, for right and
wrong do not admit of degrees. An action is right
or wrong, and cannot be a little of each, and that
which is not truthful is a lie.
Jabez Bunting and Dr. Guthrie were in a room with
a man who had been educated at the Pastors' College.
Mr. Bunting said that he had heard a statement to the
effect that Mr. Spurgeon had preached a sermon on
Palm Sunday with a crown on his head and a palm
in his hand.
'' Yes ; it is too true."
"It is very shocking," remarked Dr. Guthrie.
"Mr. Punshon also .preached with a crown on his head
and a palm in his hand," said the Pastors' College man.
E

66 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
This Mr. Bunting contradicted ; whereupon the
Spurgeonite said, " Dr. Guthrie did so."
" I am Dr. Guthrie, and it is a downright lie ! "
" How would you have looked without a crown to
your head and a palm to your hand ? "
Dr. Guthrie laughed heartily at the joke.
Besides many most absurd stories, the public press
teemed with caricatures of Mr. Spurgeon, and many of
them were of a ludicrous character.
Among them is one picture which is labelled " Catch
'em alive 0 ! " The young preacher is represented as
a seller of fly-papers, one of which is wound around his
hat. Upon this fly-trap many flies have already been
caught, while others are preparing to alight to their
ruin. " Brimstone and Treacle " is the title of another.
In this picture Mr. Spurgeon is represented standing
beside Bellew ; Mr. Spurgeon, of course, is the brim
stone, and the simpering, sentimental lecturer is the
treacle. Among the caricatures there is one entitled, " The
Spurgeon Save-all." In the middle of the picture
there is a representation of a candlestick with a save-
all ; upon the latter is the inscription, " Spurgeon's
save-all for wicked lives." On the right side of this
candlestick is a save-all, upon which there remains a
smoking candle-snuff, with the legend, " The snuff of
life gone out." On the right side of the sheet there is a
pictorial candle which is intended to represent a sinner's
life. Near the flame there is a small picture in the

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 67
substance of the candle ; it represents a child-thief
picking a pocket. Underneath this there is a picture
of a young man and a girl, who have now reached the
second stage in the progress of evil, debauchery and
vice. Below is a picture of a man robbing a trunk.
The burglar becomes a thief-trainer in the next picture,
while the old age of infamy concludes the series. This
candle stands in " Spurgeon's save-all." Below the
whole series is the following inscription : " The Spurgeon
save-all for burning up the fag-ends of wicked sinners'
lives." " Speaking of sinners, Mr. Spurgeon said in one
of his sermons, ' God would stick them on a save-all, for
He loves to burn up His small pieces of candle.' "
One, in looking at this, thought of Whitfield's words,
" May I die blazing, and not go out as a snuff." There
is all the difference between the finish of even good
men's lives ; many go out like a snuff, and others burn
into brighter light.
One of the most amusing of the series is styled
" Clerical Shadow Sketches." In the cartoon there are
two figures that each cast a shadow upon the wall
behind. Mr. Spurgeon stands erect, with his finger
lifted above his head ; the shadow that he casts re
sembles a lion, and beneath are the words, " The
Great Lion of the day." The second shadow is cast
by an archbishop, who stoops in the pulpit, toothless
as he is, and whose shadow assumes the shape of an
ancient woman. The motto beneath this is, "The
Funny Old Woman of the day."

68 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
There is truth in the sarcasm, for, as with all
reformers and leaders of men, there is a leonine element
in Mr. Spurgeon. He would never have acquired the
influence that he has had it not been for the lion-like
audacity and hardihood that made him despise what
would have long since demolished weaker men.
A third caricature is called the " Old and New Con
ductors." In one cartoon there is an omnibus, which
is explained to be the Regular. There is a bishop's
mitre above the door, and beneath it on the door we
can read the stages, Lambeth, Westminster, St. Paul's,
Canterbury, with the announcement, " The old fares
all the way." In the fellow-cartoon we see the Opposi
tion omnibus. Upon the roof of the latter is a small
banneret bearing the announcement, " Cheap fares."
Upon the door we read, " New Park Street Chapel."
Mr. Spurgeon stands as conductor; the 'bus is filled
inside and out, while an eager throng strive to catch
the new conductor's eye.
The same idea is expressed in " The Slow Coach" and
" The Fast Train." The slow coach is seen starting from
the sign of the Golden Fleece. A bishop acts as
driver; his two horses are named Church and State.
The companion picture, " The Fast Train," represents
a locomotive named "The Spurgeon," upon which
the new preacher, with his hair streaming in the
wind, sits driving the engine as boys might a
go-cart. His toy-reins pass round the funnel of the
locomotive.

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 69
A more amusing sketch represents Mr. Spurgeon
in the midst of an enormous crinoline, which
he is relentlessly demolishing. Beneath the picture
is the explanatory sentence, " Crinoline torn in
tatters." "He would rather see his sisters habited
as Quakers, than that they should magnify, extend, and
enlarge themselves as they now did." This is dated
1859. During the previous year (1858) there appeared
a drawing which suggested a possible use for the
Great Eastern. It was to employ it as a leviathan
casino, one of the attractions of which would be
that " C. H. Spurgeon would preach every three
hours." In 1 86 1 a different cartoon appeared; it re
presented Mr. Spurgeon as Greatheart. He stands
arrayed in complete armour in the midst of enemies,
whose darts have broken harmlessly upon his mail.
Foul and unclean things crouch at his feet. One
scowling satyr is engaged upon a caricature of the
champion. A hideous figure, with legs like a shrimp,
has crawled along the telegraph wires ; it has dis
charged a dart which represents a venomous telegram.
A far worse picture appeared in the same year, when,
on the 10th of October 1861, Mr. Spurgeon lectured
upon " The Gorilla and the land he inhabits." This drew
forth a series of pictures, in one of which the gorilla
stands arm in arm with the lecturer. In another, Mr.
Spurgeon is himself represented as a gorilla ; his name

70 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
is given as " Rev. C. H. Gorilla." The most amusing
of the series is " The Gorilla upon C. H. Spurgeon."
In this sketch a gorilla discourses upon the great
preacher, to gorillas, placing his front paw upon a
bust of Mr. Spurgeon.
Another lecture, which was delivered in the
November of the same year, upon " Shrews and how
to tame them," provoked a sarcastical sketch in which
Mr. Spurgeon appears as Petruchio in " The Taming
of the Shrew."
" The Dream of Paul the Clerk," is the title of an
other cartoon. It represents a choice assortment of
sign-posts, upon each of which is the head of a
prominent divine. In the explanatory text is this
reference : —
" The Caledonian preacher,
Though not a prophet, a good creature !
And near him cheerful Mr. Spurgeon,
Fisher of men, small fry and sturgeon."
The sign-post that is covered by Mr. Spurgeon's head
has three arms. That pointing towards Rome says,
" Beware of man-traps ; this is not the true rock." In
the middle the arm says, " No thoroughfare ; no pur
gatory." The left arm shows the way "To heaven
direct ; no roundabout road."
A choice specimen of the criticism that Mr. Spur
geon had to endure is the following, which appeared
in 1872. The writer speaks of Mr. Spurgeon's style
as " a happy combination of the style of John Bunyan,

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 71
a coarse imitation of Rowland Hill and Sydney Smith,
some of the antics of the late Mr. Grimaldi, and a
choice collection of native slang," by which mixture,
we are informed in shockingly bad English, " he pro
duced a taking novelty in preaching." The critic must
forgive our disbelief in his opinion, for men are not
permanently and largely influenced except by truth.
During 1878 a caricature appeared which repre
sented, " C. H. Spurgeon as an authority in the matter
of dips.'' The great preacher is shown as snuffing out
" a Roman candle."
After all, Mr. Spurgeon has never been assailed by
the coarse abuse such as Wesley endured from Hogarth
and others. The times would not tolerate the gross-
ness which was once esteemed as wit, but the malice
which underlies both attempts to damage a messenger
of God arises from the same cause. These cartoons
Mr. Spurgeon preserves, and so little do they trouble
him, that when he is unwell he amuses himself by
looking over them.
Rev. J. L. Keys supplies us with the following
anecdote of Mr. Spurgeon's ministry at New Park
Street. There was a man who was in the habit of spending
his Sunday evenings with his friends. One Sunday
evening, while on his way to purchase some gin, he
noticed the crowd of people waiting to shake hands
with the young preacher. The man noticed Mr.
Spurgeon, and thought, "Well, he looks a good sort."

72 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
On the following Sunday evening the man again
witnessed the hearty welcome that the people gave
to Mr. Spurgeon, and he also pressed forward to shafce
hands. He crushed into the chapel, and managed to
secure standing-room on the top of the stairs. He
listened with wonder, until the preacher said, "Even
that man standing in the gallery with a pint of gin in
his pocket may be saved." " Oh," thought the man,
" who has been telling him about me ? "
On the 8th of April 1884, Mr. Spurgeon said at a
prayer-meeting : " There came to see me last week on
some business a gentleman, who said, ' A minute ago I
felt overwhelmed.'
" ' Why ? ' said I.
"'Well, because when I entered this place I saw
a notice that you had been preaching from the text
" What's your life." '
" ' What is there special about that ? '
" ' The day that you were twenty-one you preached
from that text.'
" ' A very different sermon from that I preached this
time, no doubt.'
"'I have not been able to shake hands with you
before ; I have great pleasure in doing so to-day.'
" ' Why should you have pleasure in shaking hands
with me ? '
" ' I was dreadfully down when yon were twenty-one
years old. I was so depressed and melancholy that I
should certainly have destroyed myself if I had not

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 73
heard you preach that sermon on your twenty-first
birthday. It encouraged me to keep on in the battle
of life, and what is better, it made such an impression
on me that I have never gone back to what I was
before. Though I live a long way off from here, no
one loves you more than I do. You brought me out
of a horrible pit.' I felt so glad to hear this testimony,
for these things are our joy and delight."
Of that period Mr. Spurgeon himself says, when
speaking about his astonishing success, " I recollect
when I first went to preach to a mere handful of
people in London — such a handful ; but, oh ! how
they could pray ! How we sometimes seemed to plead
as though we could see the angel present and must
have a blessing, but we were all so awe-struek with
the solemnity of prayer that we said, ' Let us be
quiet.' And we sat for some moments silent, while
the Lord's power seemed to overshadow us, and all
the minister could do was to pronounce the blessing,
and say, 'Dear friends, we have had the Spirit here
to-night ; let us go home, and not lose His blessed
influences.' Then down came the blessing ; the house
was filled with hearers ; and many souls were con
verted ; and I always give all the honour to God first,
and then to a praying people."
At a public meeting held some ten years ago, Mr.
Spurgeon spoke about one of his deacons — " they
were very venerable deacons in those days, and were
always very solemn in their demeanour" — who once

74 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
pulled out his huge gold watch, and held it in front
of the young minister. This was intended to remind
him that he was half a minute late. Mr. Spurgeon
is a most punctual man, and, nothing daunted by
the reproof, he steadily examined the watch with
the cool remark, " It is a very good watch, but out of
date." Another and a worse form of opposition then ridicule
appeared when the growing congregation met in the
Royal Surrey Music Hall, in Walworth. The enlarged
chapel was still far too small to admit the crowds
that came, and as Exeter Hall was not then available,
the Music Hall was secured for the Sunday-evening
services. On Sunday evening, October 19, 1856, the first service
in the Surrey Music Hall was held. It is estimated
that 12,000 persons thronged the vast building. In
the Sword and Trowel for March 1890, Mr. Spurgeon
re-tells the story of the evening. The preacher upon
his arrival found all the approaches to the Gardens
thronged, and with difficulty made his way through the
multitude. A vast throng stood outside the building,
and crowds were unable to even enter the gardens.
The service had proceeded as far as the second prayer,
when suddenly from various parts of the vast building
there rose cries of " Fire ! fire ! The galleries are giving
way ! The place is falling ! " The audience was seized
with a sudden panic, and many, terrified beyond self-
control, hurled themselves down the stairs, trampling

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 75
upon each other and injuring themselves. As they
forced their way out, others entered the building,
which increased the panic. Mr. Spurgeon did his
utmost to calm the frightened people, and to some ex
tent he succeeded. But when he began to preach, the
miscreants who had created the panic made such noises
that he closed the service. Seven persons were killed
and many were seriously injured. Dr. Campbell says,
" The thing bore the impress of a plot to which hundreds
of persons at least appeared to be parties."
To Mr. Spurgeon the shock of the accident was
terrible. "I was for a short time incapable of any
mental effort," he says. " Who would not be ? How
great a trial to have a number of one's hearers killed
or maimed ? A word about the calamity, and even the
sight of the Bible, brought from me a flood of tears and
utter distraction of mind." For "it might well seem
that the ministry which promised to be so largely in
fluential was silenced for ever. There were persons
who said so exultingly. They knew not what they
said." Mr. Spurgeon went to stay for a time in the
country, and so distressed in mind was he, that it was
feared that his reason would give way under the
pressure of grief. One day, while thus disturbed, he
stood beneath a tree, when there flashed upon him that
text, " Him hath God highly exalted and given for a
Prince and a Commander of the people." " In a
moment," said he, " my fear was gone. I felt that I
was only a private soldier, and that Christ was my

76 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
leader. I felt that I could go back to the battle, which
was really His warfare."
Mr. Spurgeon gives an instance of the malice with
which he was then regarded by many persons; of
which, indeed, the outbreak was the expression. For
while it is possible that the panic was caused by thieves
for purposes of plunder, some have believed that it was
an attempt to discredit the young preacher. Be that
as it may, a gentleman applied to the local magis
trates for a police inquiry into the catastrophe. He
hinted that to gather such a large congregation was a
serious offence, and, ignorant of the fact that the hall
had been licensed for public worship, he asked that Mr.
Spurgeon and his friends should be treated as rogues
and vagabonds because they collected contributions from
the audience towards the expenses of the services.
A mission-hall and schools have been recently
erected upon the site of this music-hall as a memorial
of this terrible calamity.
After the accident , the services continued to be
held in the hall on Sunday mornings, and great crowds
were thus gathered to hear the preaching of the
Gospel. It is pleasing to observe that, although
he had many enemies, Mr. Spurgeon found friends in
unexpected quarters, and perhaps on account of the
sympathy created for him by the recent accident.
A writer in the Times described bis preaching with
approval, and suggested, "If I were the examining
chaplain of the Archbishop of  , I would say, ' May

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 77
it please your Grace, here is a man able to preach
eloquently, able to fill the largest church in England
with his voice, and, what is more to the purpose, with
people. And may it please your Grace, here are two
churches in the metropolis, St. Paul's and Westminster
Abbey. What does your Grace think of inviting Mr.
Spurgeon, this heretical Calvinist and Baptist, who is
able to draw 10,000 souls after him, just to try his voice
one Sunday morning in the nave of either of those
churches ? ' At any rate, I will answer for one thing,
that if he preaches in Westminster Abbey, we shall
not have a repetition of the disgraceful practice now
common in that church, of having the sermon before
the anthem, in order that those who would quit the
church before the arid sermon begins may be forced
to stay it out for the sake of the music which fol
lows it."
In the Greville Memoirs we find the following
notice : —
"February 8th. — I am just come from hearing the
celebrated Mr. Spurgeon preach in the Music Hall of
the Surrey Gardens. It was quite full ; he told us from
the pulpit that 9000 persons were present. The service
was like the Presbyterian — psalms, prayer, expound
ing a psalm, and a sermon. He is certainly very re
markable, and undeniably a fine character ; not remark
able in person, in face rather resembling a smaller
Macaulay ; a very clear and powerful voice, which was
heard through the hall : a manner natural, impassioned,

78 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
and without affectation or extravagance ; wonderful
fluency and command of language, abounding in illus
tration, and very often of a very familiar kind, but
without anything either ridiculous or irreverent. He
gave me an impression of his earnestness and since
rity ; speaking without book or notes, yet his discourse
was evidently very carefully prepared. The text was
' Cleanse me from my secret sins,' and he divided it
into heads — the misery, the folly, the danger (and a
fourth which I have forgotten) of secret sins, in all
of which he was very eloquent and impressive. He
preached for about three-quarters of an hour, and, to
judge of the handkerchiefs and the audible sobs, with
great effect."
About this time an unknown critic began to send to
Mr. Spurgeon a list of minute errors that he had de
tected in his sermons. Mr. Spurgeon has always been
free from the petty jealousy that begrudges another's
success or resents counsel. He read and noted the
somewhat austere criticisms which duly arrived every
Monday morning. Blessed is the man who can tolerate
anonymous and caustic criticism ! For example, the
critic would point out that a phrase occurred more
than once in a sermon. On one occasion the preacher
quoted the line —
" Nothing in my hand I bring ; "
and the critic commented, " You have no need to in
form us of the vacuity of your hands."

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 79
For three years Mr. Spurgeon occupied the Surrey
Gardens Music Hall, and with increasing popularity
and success. During that period the traveller David
Livingstone took part in the service, and made Mr.
Spurgeon's acquaintance.
After that great traveller had given his life for Africa,
a sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's was found in one of his
boxes. Mr. Spurgeon has preserved it as a precious
treasure. The proprietors of the Hall determined to open the
building for Sunday-evening amusements, and there
upon Mr. Spurgeon removed with his congregation to
Exeter Hall. He preached in the last-named place
from 18th December 1859 until the ist of March
1 86 1, until, in fact, he entered upon his work in the
huge Tabernacle.
Dr. Binney, during this period of anxiety and testing,
showed his appreciation of the new preacher. To
some detractors he said, " I myself have enjoyed some
amount of popularity; I have always been able to
draw together a congregation; but in the person of
Mr. Spurgeon we see a young man, be he who he may,
and come whence he will, who, at twenty-four hours'
notice, can command a congregation of 20,000 people.
Now I have never been able to do that, and I never
knew of any one else who could do it."
It was not in London alone ; wherever he went the
people flocked to hear him.
On the 7th of October 1857 he preached at the Crystal

80 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Palace to an audience of 24,000 people. A sum of nearly
^700 was then contributed towards the Indian fund !
Here may, perhaps, be the place to allude to Mr.
Spurgeon's outdoor sermons. In his "Lectures to my
Students " (second series), Mr. Spurgeon describes some
of his open-air experiences.
In Oxfordshire a friend once arranged a preaching-
place for him which was situated in the midst of a
wood. The undergrowth and most of the trees were
cleared away, leaving a large square which was shaded
by a number of young oaks. Alleys were cut through
the wood, which added to the romantic beauty of the
spot, as well as furnished ready access to the preaching-
place. Mr. Spurgeon has frequently preached on the lawn
of a friend's house in Scotland. Beyond the lawn
natural terraces planted with fir trees rise, forming
a natural gallery.
" I once preached a sermon in the open air in haying-
time during a violent storm of rain. The text was,
' He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass,
as showers that water the earth,' and surely we had
the blessing as well as the inconvenience. I was
sufficiently wet, and my congregation must have been
drenched ; but they stood it out, and I never heard that
any one was the worse in health, though, thank God,
I have heard of souls brought to Jesus under that
discourse." " I remember well preaching between Cheddar Cliffs.

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE. 81
What a noble position ! What beauty and sublimity !
. . . Concluding a discourse in that place, I called upon
those mighty rocks to bear witness that I had preached
the Gospel to the people, and to be a testimony against
them at the last great day if they rejected the message.
Only the other day I heard of a person to whom that
appeal was made useful by the Holy Spirit."

CHAPTER IV.
THE LAST OF THE PURITANS.
"In the church of the wilderness he wrought,
Shaping his creed at the forge of thought,
And with Thor's own hammer welded and bent
The iron links of his argument,
Which strove to grasp in its mighty span
The purpose of God and the fate of man !
Yet faithful still in his daily round
To the weak and the poor and the sin-sick found ;
The schoolman's lore and the casuist's art
Drew warmth and life from his fervent heart." — Whtttieb.
' 'A parish priest should be like a French milliner, always bringing out
new modes, in order to keep up the interest and stimulate a languishing
taste." — Cardinal Carlo Bobbomeo.

" ONLY A NOISE " — THE HUGE TABERNACLE — MAKING AND
MENDING SAINTS— "EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH AND FATTEN
AS YOU GO" — "WHAT'S IN AVOICE?" — KNOCKING THE CANDLE
DOWN— DIALOGUE OF DEVILS.
President Lincoln once told a story about two Irish
men who, soon after their landing upon the American
continent, were greatly alarmed by a grand chorus
of bull-frogs. They valiantly advanced to meet this
" inimy," and were puzzled not to find him. Said one

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 83
to the other, "And sure, Jamie, I believe it is just
nothing but a noise."
The which belief was held and expressed by many
people at the beginning of Mr. Spurgeon's life in Lon
don. The noise, however, continued, and their opinions
must have been rudely broken when the first steps were
taken for the erection of the huge Tabernacle.
Such a building had become a necessity, and indeed
as such had been foreseen by many of Mr. Spurgeon's
friends; but none the less is it an audacious act of
faith. The great cathedrals of England and the Conti
nent were not erected for sermons to large congreca-
tions. The daring belief that seven thousand persons
could be gathered Sabbath after Sabbath to a simple
service devoid of musical attractions would be more
observed if it had not fully justified itself.
It stands as a most marvellous testimony to the power
of the Gospel that for thirty years a congregation of
seven thousand persons has assembled, Sabbath after
Sabbath, in one of the worst districts of a wicked city,
not to listen to an anthem, but to hear sermons ! It is
true that great throngs listened to Whitfield, Wesley,
and other great orators, but none of these men mini
stered continuously in one place. There is nothing
like it in the history of the human race ; the fact is
unique, as Mr. Spurgeon is a distinct and marked
personality among all the great intellects that have
been employed by God in the service of the Gospel.
The foundation-stone of this remarkable edifice was

84 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
laid by Sir Morton Peto on the 16th of August
1859. Mr. Spurgeon's father at this gathering said: "I
always thought my son did wrong in coming to Lon
don ; now you see that I was wrong. I always thought
he was wrong in not going to college; I tried three
or four times with him one 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 perhaps 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 but 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 sus
tained him. Oh ! let me entreat you to continue your
prayers. Every one here to-night, go home and pray
for your pastor. A meeting like this is enough to
carry a man beyond himself and fill his heart with
pride; but the grace of God is all-sufficient. Some
persons said to me — I do not know what their motive
was — ' Your son will never last in London six months;
he has no education.' I said, ' You are greatly mis-

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 85
taken ; he has had the best education that can possibly
be had; God has been his teacher, and he has had
earthly teachers too.' I knew that so far as education
went he could manage London very well. Then they
said his health would fail ; but it has not failed him
yet. He has had enough to shake his constitution, it
is true, but God has been very merciful to him. I
think if there is one thing that would crown my happi
ness to-day, it would be to see his grandfather here. I
should have loved to see him here. He said, 'Boy,
don't ask me to go ; I am too old ; I am overcome with
God's goodness and mercy to me.' He is always talk
ing about him. Old people like to have something
to talk about, so he always talks about his grandson.
And next, I should like, my dear friends, to have seen
his mother here. I believe, under God's grace, his
mother has been tbe means of leading him to Christ."
Judge Payne concluded the meeting in a charac
teristic speech, in the course of which he said : " Now
what does ' C. H. S.' mean ? Why, it means first,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon. But I don't mean that.
C. H. S. means a Clear-Headed Speaker who is Clever
in Handling Subjects in a Cheerful-Hearted Style. He is
a Captain of the Hosts of Surrey; he is a Cold-Hating
Spirit ; he has a Chapel-Heating Skill ; he is a Catholic-
Humbug Smasher; he is a Care-Hushing Soother ; he
is a Child-Helping Strengthener ; he is a Christ- Honour
ing Soldier ; and he is a Christ-Honoured Servant."
On ist March 1861, just before he left Exeter Hall,

86 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Mr. Spurgeon said : " In the providence of God, we, as
a church and people, have had to wander often. This
is our third sojourn within these walls. It is now about
to close. We have had at all times a compulsion of
mercy ; sometimes a compulsion of conscience, at other
times a compulsion of pleasure, as on this occasion. I
am sure that when we first went to the Surrey Music
Hall, God went with us. Satan went too, but he fled
before us. That frightful calamity, the impression of
which can never be erased from my mind, turned out, in
the providence of God, to be one of the most wonderful
means of turning public attention to special services,
and I do not doubt that, fearful catastrophe as it
was, it has been the mother of multitudes of blessings.
The Christian world noted the example and saw its
after-success ; they followed it ; and to this day in the
theatre and in the cathedral the word of Christ is
preached where it was never preached before. In each
of our movings we have had reason to see the hand of
God, and here particularly ; for many residents in the
West End have in this place come to listen to the Word
who probably might not have taken a journey beyond the
river. Here God's grace has broken hard hearts ; here
have souls been renewed and wanderers reclaimed.
' Give unto the Lord, 0 ye mighty, give unto the Lord
glory and strength ; give unto the Lord the glory due
unto His name.' And now we journey to the house
which God has in so special a manner given to us, and
this day would I pray, as Moses did, ' Rise up, Lord,

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 87
and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that
hate Thee flee before Thee.' "
On the 25 th of March 1861 the opening services of
the huge Tabernacle commenced, and before their ter
mination the whole of the cost of the building had
been met. Nearly £32,000 had been collected, the
larger part by Mr. Spurgeon himself, and all had been
paid for without any subsidy or grant in aid from the
State. What responsibility and anxiety the gathering
of this money involved will never be known by those
who did not share it ; but Mr. Spurgeon has revealed
one or two secrets about the enterprise.
The one is, that he realised before the commencement
of the undertaking that the design was immense, and
therefore he trusted in God for strength to accomplish
it. He says somewhere that if it had been a small
undertaking, he might perhaps have attempted it in
his own strength ; but because it was so vast, he cast
it all upon God. Hence the Tabernacle is a proof both
of the power of prayer and of the consequences of
fervent faith. If it required any inscription, over its
doors might be written, "Ask, Trust, Enjoy." Its out
ward appearance is well known through all the Chris
tian world ; it is almost as familiar as are the features
of the great preacher, and it, like all his work, is simple,
good, and the best possible for its purpose.
Then Mr. Spurgeon himself tells us that he and a
friend since deceased especially prayed one evening
amidst the planks, bricks, and stone, that not only might

88 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
the work prosper, but that not one of the workmen
might be injured — a prayer which was most minutely
answered. Why should it be thought a strange thing
for God to hear the prayer of faith ? Who ever heard
of a volume of unanswered prayers ?
Yet he realised the awful strain preaching in such a
huge structure involved.
"When I took the Tabernacle," he said in 1875, "I
expected that it would kill me in seven years. I have
continued to exist for fourteen years, but I cannot last
much longer."
The church that is gathered in this huge building
now numbers 5328 members. In addition to the help
of a large staff of elders and deacons, it enjoys the
ministry of the Rev. J. A. Spurgeon, who is co-pastor
with his brother, and of the Rev. W. Stott, once minister
of St. John's Wood.
The two brothers are as unlike mentally as they are
physically, but their happy co-service says not a little
for the high qualities of each. The Rev. J. A. Spurgeon
is one of the most keen of business men, and the quiet
work that he effects out of sight is the secret of a large
part of the success of the huge church over which his
brother presides.
A few lines should be devoted to Mr. Stott, who is
an original in his way. A more spiritual, lowly, or
earnest man does not breathe, but he has a knack of
blending the most incongruous metaphors and of saying
the most odd things.

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 89
We shall never forget hearing him speak at Acton,
when he related the story of his conversion. He related
that when his father refused to allow young Stott to
pray, the boy said his prayers at the keyhole of his
father's door, and thus compelled him to hear. Of a
brother of ours he said, " He is a man who would hang
the devil while any one else was looking for the rope."
At the Tabernacle he recently prayed thus : " Lord, create
some new saints and mend the old ones ; " a petition
undoubtedly needful, but quaintly expressed. Another
prayer was, " Lord, fill us inside and out," which pro
cess he illustrated by supposing a full bottle floating in
a sea. " It would be full inside and out," said Mr. Stott.
Altogether a man who would be invaluable to a satirist,
and still more valuable to those who, in spite of these
blemishes, can admire sincerity, self-denial, and earnest
self-sacrifice. In connection with the Metropolitan Tabernacle there
are many institutions that cannot be alluded to here.
That great hive of Christian life is never still, and one
admires the tact and skill that contrives to maintain
so many varying forms of agency, and all in efficient
operation. Some of these agencies will be best treated
separately, but a word may be given here to one or two
less known enterprises. A number of smaller churches
or mission stations are supported, with their apparatus
of Sunday and Ragged Schools, tract distribution, Bands
of Hope, and similar enterprises by the Tabernacle
Church. Two benefit societies, almshouses, and Sunday

90 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
and day schools do not exhaust the list; and other
societies too numerous to name have gradually grown
out of the one main purpose, which was and ever has
been the conversion of the ungodly by the faithful
preaching of the Gospel.
Never before in the history of the Christian Church
have so many gigantic philanthropic and religious en
terprises grown around one single man.
The building and the paying for the building of the
Tabernacle were a life-work worthy of a giant, but they
have not been permitted to dissipate Mr. Spurgeon's
strength. He regarded them as wholly subsidiary to
his main purpose, and he continued to achieve both,
while, in Whitfield's phrase, " hunting for souls."
Here will perhaps be the best place in which to refer
to Mr. Spurgeon's claim to the title that stands at the
head of this chapter. It was either Carlyle or Dr.
Dale, we believe, who first applied it to him, and if
for "last" we substitute "modern," the phrase will not
be disputed. Mr. Spurgeon is a modern Puritan, and
that in more senses than one. He is a devout admirer
of Puritan theology, as are all -men who will take pains
to read it, and he does not scruple to avow his pre
ference. To his students he once said, while speaking
of the Puritans, " Go at them like mice at a rich cheese ;
eat your way through, and fatten as you go."
It is, of course, a pity that the Puritan divines had
the gift of continuance in such plenitude, and the even
less commendable gift of minute subdivision. Some of

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 91
them used quaint, and even indelicate titles, but these
blemishes were the faults of their time, and were not
offensive in an age of plain dealing.
Mr. Spurgeon has never defended these faults, but
he has always admired the solid adherence to the
great essentials of the Gospel, the industrious employ
ment of every power in the preaching of the Gospel,
and the martyr spirit which has made most of the
Puritan treatises tender with the woes of those who
died rather than yield to what they believed to be
sin. It is easy to laugh at their objections to postures and
dresses, but believing, as they did, that these things
were sinful, they could not, without violating their
consciences, have done other than they did.
Charles Kingsley has pointed out that the Puritan
style of dress has most singularly triumphed ; no Eng
lish gentleman would now think of dressing as did the
Cavaliers. And the theology of the Puritans, stripped
of its defects of language and style, will survive still,
because it was a presentation of those truths which can
never be forgotten. The dress of the Gospel must
vary from age to age, because human speech fluctuates,
but the Gospel itself must not and cannot be altered.
In as far as the Puritan theology then was true to the
New Testament, Mr. Spurgeon is a Puritan, and there
are many who think and believe with him. For the
essence of Puritanism is the prime principle of Pro
testantism, the sole authority of the Word of God,

92 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
the right of private judgment, and the sole sufficiency
of the work of Christ, as applied by the Holy Ghost
for salvation. If to hold these doctrines is to be a
Puritan, there are multitudes in Britain who are proud
of the name.
Mr. Spurgeon's theology is tolerably widely known,
for he has always had the courage of his beliefs. He
has always spoken with the accent of conviction, and
hence he has been heard. For men will never listen
long to " guesses after truth ; " they crave certainty, for
they must know to enjoy. We have heard Mr. Spurgeon
more than once relate with indescribable humour how
he was accustomed to tease one of the variable prophets
who now and then appear. This divine had changed
his religious beliefs more than once, and Mr. Spurgeon,
when he met him, would say —
" Well, what are you now ? "
" Well, that is unkind," said the victim once. " You
asked me that the last time we met."
" Did I ? Well, what are you now ? " persisted Mr.
Spurgeon; and the man had to confess that he had
once more altered his opinions.
Of course every religious teacher must grow, but
there are some things that he cannot outgrow. No
musician can outgrow the laws of harmony, and the
multiplication table is the basis of all calculations;
within certain limits only is healthy growth pos
sible. It is not correct to say that theology is a pro
gressive science ; it is rather an unfolding of beauties

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 93
that lay concealed until higher powers revealed their
presence. There have always been two opinions among Christian
people upon the doctrines of grace, freewill, and the
permanence of the work of the Divine Spirit upon the
heart. It is only in prayer that the saints appear as
one, and while engaged in prayer only they are really
one. God has permitted a diversity of opinions in order
by the differences of men to attain His purpose.
Mr. Spurgeon is a Calvinist, not exactly of the Fuller
type, although he is nearer Andrew Fuller than any
other great divine. It is not perhaps too much to say
that he is a type in himself, for his system of theology
and his method of presenting it are characteristic and
most pronounced. This is as it should be, for every
man must give an account of himself and of his per
sonal peculiarities before God.
Reference will be made in a future chapter to the
sermons ; suffice it here to notice that a family likeness
is evident in each discourse.
" In speaking of Mr. Spurgeon's success, ' How do
you account for it all ? ' said a minister to me.1
" And I replied, ' Have you read the volumes of ser
mons ? '
" ' Who can wade through all these ? ' he said.
" And I replied, ' True ; but if you would wade
through them — and such a task to a minister would
not be a difficult, but a very instructive exercise — you
1 Faxton Hood in " Lamps and Pitchers."

94 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
would find in Mr. Spurgeon's sermons that one of the
striking elements of their greatness and strength is their
average power. Of course some sermons are better
than others, some are more eloquent, passionate, vehe
ment ; but there is an average of strength and raciness
very delightful, also very astonishing, but which goes
far to explain the staid and sustained attractiveness of
the preacher."
"In freshness and vigour of thought, in simplicity
and purity of language, in grasp of Gospel truth, and in
tact and force in its presentation, he is perhaps with
out a peer in the pulpit. . . . He continues to grow in
brilliancy as well as in efficiency year by year. No
one can yet point to the slightest indication of exhaus
tion in either his faculties or his resources. This,
doubtless, is attributable in a measure to his industry
and well-directed application, as well as to natural
ability and great personal piety. But that which seems
to distinguish Mr. Spurgeon from all the preachers
of his time, and, it may be said, of all time, is the
inexhaustible variety which characterises his sermons "
(Dr. Holme). The same writer adds : " He handles his
text with as much apparent reverence and appreciation
as if those few words were the only words that God
had ever spoken. The text is the germ which furnishes
the life, the spirit, and the substance of the discourse.
Every sermon has the peculiar flavour and fragrance
and colour of the Divine seed-truth, of which it is the
growth. The sermon to his view lies in the text, like

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 95
the flower in the heart of the seed ; all he has to do is
to develop it. Thus, as the Bible is a storehouse of
seed-truths inexhaustible and of infinite variety, so Mr.
Spurgeon's sermons are never alike. If he brings you
up again and again to the same old truths, it is always
on a different side, or in a new light, or with new
surroundings." Paxton Hood, who is no mean authority upon pulpit
eloquence, thus speaks of what we have always re
garded 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 immense company, full,
sweet, and clear — clear and ringing as a bell ; a voice
like the man and the matter — 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 exhaustion ; the
tones are not many, but they are full and sweeping,

96 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
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 mani
festly this power of being 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 true one, we believe, that the voice is the
man ; as the voice is, so the soul ;' a full voice is a full
nature. The last achievement of Mr. Spurgeon (in
1867) will be regarded by many as the most wonder
ful of all in his early but extraordinary career. What
ever 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 attention so mighty a mass. True,
audiences grow like avalanches, and as force grows,
the means of sustaining force also grow. But the
greatest of the preachers the Church has known, such
as Chrysostom, Augustine, Hall, Chalmers, or Irving, how
ever the passion of their accents might have been
desired, and the majesty or music of their eloquence,
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 measured
cadences, the swing and toll, the melodious roar, if we
may use the expression, of Mr. Spurgeon's voice rises
rather like the fabled Inchcape bell, tolling highest and

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 97
deepest when the waves and winds are at their loudest.
It may be, as I have implied it is, Mr. Spurgeon's least
attribute, but it is that without which he would have
possessed all his other attributes in vain for the im
mense influence they possess and wield."
We give another extract from the same author, who
thus speaks of Mr. Spurgeon's composition : " It is a
level style on the whole, though of course we are
prepared to note great exceptions; it is a thoroughly
English style; it rolls, yet the sentences are never
long; they never will be where the wheels of the
mind are moving swiftly and the furnace of the soul
is hot." Mr. Spurgeon's adventures as a preacher have been
full of interest. Now and then he relates incidents such
as this (told in " Sermons in Candles " ) : — He was once
preaching in a small pulpit, and with a candle carefully
placed on either side of the pulpit. Forgetting where
he was, Mr. Spurgeon made a vigorous movement, and
one of the candles fell on the bald head of a man below.
Says Mr. Spurgeon, the sufferer " looked up with an ex
pression which I can see at this moment, and it makes
me smile still. I took no more notice of the accident
than to weave it into what I was saying ; and I believe
most of my hearers considered it to have been a striking
practical illustration of my remark that accompanied it,
'How soon is the glory of life dashed down !' "
Oh, to have been there to have beheld the poor man
with a burnt head and the ready-witted preacher !

98 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
We have heard Mr. Spurgeon more than once re
late the following incident. He preached once from
the text, " My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken
me?" (Psalm xxii. i). He was very unwell at the
time and suffering from intense mental sorrow, and
from his own bitter anguish he depicted the horror
of a soul forsaken by God. After the service a wild
man, with his eyes starting out of his head, almost, if
not quite insane, came into the vestry, and, in listening
to the poor man's story, Mr. Spurgeon understood why
he himself had been permitted to suffer. Five years
afterwards they met again, and then Mr. Spurgeon
heard that the poor God-forsaken man had found peace
and rest in Christ.
We once heard him relate how a poor cripple (in
a Midland town, we think it was) felt convinced that if
he could only persuade Mr. Spurgeon to come and pray
beside him that he would be healed. Mr. Spurgeon
came into the town, visited the house, and prayed
beside the cripple : the boy was cured, worked for his
living, and continued well after the lapse of some years.
" It was no miracle," said Mr. Spurgeon ; " only the
boy believed in me and therefore he was healed."
So Mr. Spurgeon thought that probably many of the
Mediaeval miracles, if real, and those of the faith-healers
that were genuine were effected.
At the risk of being too diffuse, we mention a few
other unlike incidents, which we have also heard from
his lips. A Dutch gentleman wrote to Mr. Spurgeon

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 99
once thanking him for the benefit that he (the Dutch
man) had derived from reading Mr. Spurgeon's sermons.
But, to his grief, he had discovered that Mr. Spurgeon
wore a moustache, after which it would be clearly
impossible for him to read the sermons with either
pleasure or profit ; and, to effect, if possible, a change in
the appearance and attire of the obdurate offender, he
enclosed a portrait of his own minister, who was care
fully shaven and shorn, and who, moreover, wore a huge
ruffle several inches deep !
This is almost as bad as the Church who was deeply
exercised about the iniquities of a husband and wife
connected with their fellowship ; the husband actually
wore red morocco slippers, which were considered by
his fellow-members to be a sure proof of a worldly
spirit, and the wife was so insensible to propriety that
she wore her hair in ringlets !
Mr. Spurgeon has received his due share of annoy
ance. On one occasion a lunatic went to his house and
obtained an interview. He showed his arm, which he
said had been shrivelled up by Mr. Spurgeon, and he
declared that he had come to kill him. Mr. Spurgeon
talked with the man, and the lunatic said, " After all,
you seem a very decent fellow ; I don't like to kill you.
Have you a brother ? "
" Yes ; perhaps it was he who offended you," said Mr.
Spurgeon, who fully realised the peril in which he stood.
" Perhaps it was," said the man. " No, it must have
been you."

100 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Mr. Spurgeon drew himself up and said, " You say I
have withered up your arm, you insignificant shrimp !
Walk out of that door, or I'll  "
The man walked out of the door, which was speedily
closed behind him and secured. The poor lunatic was
afterwards captured and detained in safe custody. Mr.
Spurgeon's coolness and tact, humanly speaking, saved
his life.
Mr. Spurgeon has had his share of annoyance from
impostors, as appears from the following: — A man
once called upon him, and, failing to obtain a personal
interview, he delivered a note, in which he disclosed
the fact that he was the father of two noble infants.
This estimable parent declared that unless Mr. Spurgeon
gave him some money to relieve his wants, he intended
to take a pan of charcoal into his room that night and
to destroy himself, his wife, and his noble infants.
" If the man does charcoal himself, I shall feel very
queer over the thing," said Mr. Spurgeon, and he sent
the man ten shillings. He regarded the money with
noble scorn, and said, " What a trifle ! Do you think
I am going to save the lives of my wife and my two
' noble infants ' for ten shillings ? Take it back to
Mr. Spurgeon, and tell him I resent the insult."
Another time Mr. Spurgeon found himself in com
pany with a young man who was grieving his friends
by a fast life. The young man prepared for a sermon,
but he was surprised when he was asked, " You go in
for racing, I think ? "

THE LAST OF THE PURITANS. 101
"Yes, I do."
" Good ! Keep dogs, and so on ? "
" Yes."
" I am glad to hear it. Go on as fast as you can,
for when you have spent all, you will be inclined to
return." It is interesting to relate that the young man, who
would have resented a sermon, was both surprised and
won at this address, and altered his ways.
A man once said to him, " I do more good in the
world than you do. You only propagate your own
opinions, and I run racehorses."
" Then perhaps you will answer me a riddle, to
which I have never yet received an answer. Why
does not the devil run express trains to hell ? "
" I believe neither in the devil nor hell, and so I
can't answer."
" Then I will tell you. It is because he finds that
men can get there faster by running racehorses."
Perhaps by far the most remarkable speech that we
have heard of was that delivered by Mr. Spurgeon at
the laying of the foundation-stone of Devonshire Square
Church, Stoke Newington. A former pastor of this
ancient church was John Macgowan, a convert of John
Wesley. He wrote the famous " Dialogue of Devils,"
a book once highly popular, though now but little
known and less loved. Devonshire Square Church
stands at one corner of a street, and at the opposite
corner is a public-house.

102 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
The then Lord Mayor performed the ceremony of
declaring the stone well and truly laid, and then he
called upon Mr. Spurgeon to speak. Mr. Spurgeon said :
" This church has had a wonderful history ; one of its
pastors was John Howard Hinton, and another was
John Macgowan, the author of the ' Dialogue of Devils.'
I fancy I can hear a dialogue of devils to-day. The
news comes down to the infernal regions that there is
a noise in Stoke Newington. Beelzebub says to one of
his imps, ' Go and see what is the matter.'
"'They are laying the foundation-stone of a new
church,' reports the spy.
" ' That is bad news for our kingdom. Go up again.'
" ' The Lord Mayor is present,' reports the imp.
" ' Good ! good ! No good ever comes to the Church
when it is connected with the State. Patronage is good
for our kingdom. Go up again.'
" The imp comes back and reports, ' There is a public-
house at the opposite corner.'
" ' Good,' said Beelzebub. ' That church will do no
good. Between trusting to civic authority and the
public-house, it cannot prosper.' " This characteristic
introduction was followed by a speech of remarkable
force. There were some circumstances in the arrange
ments which called forth and justified this severe pro
test against patronage and a worldly spirit.

CHAPTER V.
"THE TIRSHATHA."
' Classed in their ranks who serve the Lord of Hosts,1
He takes his place, nor badge of honour boasts ;
Asserts no claim, nor, truckling to the great,
Receives the hireling's guerdon from the State.
Let him who must the preacher's creed deny,
Eschew his words — his works who can decry ?
So, clinging to the faith, this soldier true
Holds fast the form and grasps the substance too.
So honest doubt, itself by creeds unbound,
Pays tribute to the faith that works have crowned.
Unhouseled unbelief may, if it can,
Reject the word — it cannot doubt the man.
Glad hearts in home and refuge are his wage,
Echo his words the lips of youth and age.
Oh, kindly pastor, large of heart and brain,
Needs must thy labours cease — their fruit shall long remain.''
Prize Acrostic, by H. M. Blaine.
"Above all, let me mind my own personal work, keep myself pure
and zealous and believing ; labouring to do God's work, and yet not
anxious that it should be done by me rather than by others, if God
disapprove my doing it." — The last entry m Dr. Arnold's Journal..

"DO SOMETHING; DO IT"— EXPECT SUCCESS, AND ATTAIN IT-
REPORTS OF THE COLLEGE— "A GOOD BANKER INDEED!"—
TWO THINGS FOR A MINISTER— PIONEER AND MISSIONARY
WORK.
No man has less of the Pope in his constitution than
Mr. Spurgeon ; hence he is irreverently but familiarly

104 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
known among his intimate friends — at any rate, behind
his back — as " the Governor," a title in which he rather
glories. And this familiarity is equalled by his prac
tical wisdom in using others for performing needful
work. " Do something — do it ! " was the frequent exclama
tion of a pious man of the last century. " Do some
thing — do it ! " is good advice still. Sir John Lawrence
said during the Indian mutiny, " Our danger is rather
from want of action than from want of means ; " and the
same is true of the Christian Church of to-day ; it needs
the motto, " Do something — do it."
Mr. Spurgeon has always been a "Do something"
man, and some of his enterprises have vastly outgrown
his original expectations ; especially is this true of his
College. It is a singular fact that nearly every really
great ministry has been fruitful in producing other
preachers. Thus Francis of Assisi, Dominic, Wycliffe,
and Wesley were all remarkable for their power of
attracting disciples whom they trained, imbued with
their spirit and methods, and then sent forth to con
tinue and extend their work. Every permanent upward
religious movement has thus produced both preachers
and singers, and by these it has become permanent.
The work of Mr. Spurgeon has amounted, on the whole,
to a religious reformation, and as such it has proved its
vitality by the disciples it has trained and the minis
tries it has created and sustained. One is not surprised
to hear that his College has ever been the favourite

"THE TIRSHATHA." 105
enterprise of Mr. Spurgeon ; it alone is occupation suffi
cient for a lifetime, and as a " Do something " man, it
commends itself as much to his judgment as to his
affection. In the course of the thirty-four years of its life, the
Pastors' College has trained and sent out into the Baptist
ministry not less than 837 men, of whom 654 are at
present engaged in evangelistic service of one form or
another. Like all other Tabernacle institutions, it is unique,
and bears the impress of the founder's personality. It
differs widely from almost all other academies. Its
success, however, has justified the method that Mr.
Spurgeon adopted.
The students are selected from those who have been
previously engaged in preaching, and during their term
of study they are boarded in families rather than
gathered under one roof.
Dr. Bellamy thus advised a young minister who was
in some trepidation as to his future course, " Fill up the
cask — fill up the cask — fill up the cask ; then if you
tap it anywhere, you get a good stream. If you put in
but little, it will dribble, dribble, dribble, and you must
tap, tap, tap, and then get but little after all." The
utmost that a college can do for any man is to teach
him how to fill up the cask, that he may dispense the
blessing to others, and this Mr. Spurgeon's College has
done. The Pastors' College grew in the most natural manner

106 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
out of the original and larger enterprise. Mr. Spurgeon
himself says in one of his reports : " The Pastors' Col
lege is the genuine result of a successful ministry. It
has grown with its growth and strengthened with its
strength. It was neither planned nor designed, but
presented itself to notice, and asserted its claim for
encouragement and support on the ground of its own
merits. ... Its connection with a pastorate of great
order, extent, and vitality necessitates a familiarity
with Church government, both in its internal and ex
ternal advantages, which might require years of after
experience to obtain."
The College began with one student, a young man
named T. W. Medhurst, who had been converted under
Mr. Spurgeon's preaching, and been sent out to preach
at Billingsgate and elsewhere. His remarkable success
induced Mr. Spurgeon to suggest that he should devote
his life to preaching. To this Mr. Medhurst agreed,
and so he became the first student of the College. It
is recorded that early in his ministry Mr. Medhurst
called upon Mr. Spurgeon to say that he feared that he
had made a mistake.
" What do you mean ? "
"Well, I've been preaching for five or six months
and have not heard of any conversions."
" You don't expect conversions every time you preach,
do you ? " asked Mr. Spurgeon.
" No, I don't expect them every time."
" Then be it unto you according to your faith," Mr.

"THE TIRSHATHA." 107
Spurgeon answered. " If you expect great things from
God, you'll get them ; if you don't, you won't."
To which sensible advice, which is worthy of frequent
repetition, may be added three testimonies on preach
ing, and these from Romish sources.
The Cardinal de Bezulle said, "My first counsel, if
you want to preach well, is to pray well ; my second is
to pray well ; my third, fourth, and tenth is still to pray
much to God."
" A man whose whole heart was filled with God only
would draw the whole world after him," said a French
Dominican. " We must love before we can persuade
men; love solves difficulties and reveals mysteries,
which many words do but render more confused."
"God rewards great orators with the applause of
men," said a French princess, the daughter of Louis
XIV; "but he who will preach the Gospel shall be
honoured by God to save souls."
Good counsel indeed, and never to be forgotten by
the minister of Jesus Christ. Expectant faith, persis
tent prayer, and an emphatic adherence to the cardinal
truths of the Gospel, are conditions which must result
in blessing. These have ever been essentials in Mr.
Spurgeon's opinion, and they have been insisted on in
his College. Perhaps the best idea of the Pastors'
College may be gathered from the opinion of one who,
just after he had left the institution, wrote : —
"It would be as difficult to prevent a child from
talking about his happy home, or a soldier from speak-

108 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
ing of his gallant regiment, as to deter one who has
just said farewell to the Pastors' College from referring
to his Alma Mater. As one who but a day or two
since left the dear old place, my mind naturally reverts
to her walls, and my lingering thought here finds an
utterance. I think no student ever forgets the first
day of College life. The hopes and fears, the aspira
tions and the wonderings as to the future, added to the
novelty of the whole experience, go to impress it in
delibly upon the mind. Personally, I may say that
lessons of humility and of determination were learned
on that day, and on many succeeding ones. Somehow
or other, those powers which I had mentally invested
with some degree of importance assumed smaller pro
portions as the days passed by, and I discovered that
I was even as other men : possibly less than most —
certainly not more. To-day I thank God for the dis
covery, and I believe that it was the prophecy of any
progress I may have made since.
" As students, we all found, on entering the Pastors
College, that if we desired idleness, we had certainly
turned our steps in the wrong direction. The various
classes afforded full scope for untiring energies and in
domitable perseverance. The matter ever urged even
upon the most advanced was, ' Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect, but I
follow after.' Yes, we had plenty of real hard study,
whether in the classes for Logic and Metaphysics with
Professor Fergusson, or under Professor Marchant with

"THE TIRSHATHA." 109
Caesar and Xenophon, or taking our loftier flights in
the pleasures of Tacitus and Plato ; not forgetting Theo
logy, Greek Testament, and Hebrew, with Principal
Gracey. I do not think we minded the toil ; and if
then we were not so grateful for it all as we should
have been, I believe we are now becoming more thank
ful every day.
" However, we sometimes felt fagged out towards the
end of the week, but a few helpful words from the
Vice-President and a bracing talk from the President
on the Friday afternoon, coupled with the College
prayer-meeting in the evening, nerved us for further
struggle. Those occasions have often been the means
of renewing our strength and of relieving the weighted
wings of our spirits. Is it the experience of most
students ? I know not whether it is so or not ; but
sometimes I have been in danger of forgetting the
great end of my student life : in the study itself there
have been times when the keen edge of my spiritual
life has seemed turned and blunted, when the constant
association with books and themes, bearing directly or
indirectly upon religious matters, has appeared to dull
and deaden the soul's sensibilities to the influence of
spiritual things. At such times the stirring words of
the President and the prayers of the evening meeting
have often been used to bring the Master of our spirits
near, and I have entered into the meaning of those
words : — ' We touch Him in life's throng and press,
And we are whole again.'

no LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" Reviewing the past, my heart is filled with gratitude
for all the help I have received in my. spiritual life by
my association with the Pastors' College. It might
have been otherwise had there not been every incentive
towards a holier walk and a fuller consecration to the
service of Christ. One often feels that the Christ of
the Schools is not the same as He who sat at Samaria's
well and who suffered on Calvary — that sometimes
the Rose of Sharon seems marred and crushed by the
rough hands of polemic gladiators; but to-day I re
member with joy the wise counsels to guard jealously
our personal piety by communion and study of Scrip
ture, and I think also of the opportunities for preaching
the Gospel, when ofttimes the Divine presence was felt,
ay, and known too, by the hearts of hearers touched
and lives transformed.
" In all our studies the tutors appealed to the highest
possible motives. We were not urged to our work on
the ground of scholastic attainments, but from the
loftier motive of equipment for the ministry of Christ
and usefulness in His kingdom. Thus were we helped
in our inner lives, and the Saviour became more real tp
us than He might otherwise have been.
" I presume it is quite a pardonable offence, but we
always considered our tutors the very best in the world ;
and it is only truth to say that all the present students
hold precisely the same view. Of course the three
tutors differ in temperament, which is only reasonable
to expect, since they represent the three countries of

"THE TIRSHATHA." in
the United Kingdom; but they are grand men; and
how far their teaching and characters have gone to
mould the thought and life and ministry of the stu
dents who have passed under their influence, who can
say? " And so in their classes, and under the instructions
of Professor Cheshire in Science, and Professor Richard
son in Elocution, my time has passed. These four
happy years have sped, forming a bright and glad
retrospect, leaving me thankful for the real, hearty
brotherhood that has ever existed amongst us as stu
dents, and for the love which made us all one. This
has ever been characteristic of the men of our College,
and it is hoped and believed that the time will never
come when the ties of a common salvation and of a
conquering cause will be less binding than they are
to-day. " And now, in anticipating my future work, for which
the College course has so greatly helped me, I thank
Heaven that the pathway leading to the active service
of our Lord has been so cheery and so sunlit as the past
student years have proved ; and I ask your prayers for
what has been to so many a very gate of heaven, the
Pastors' College."
This may be considered bysome as an expression of
the natural but undue partiality of a grateful heart ;
it may perhaps be of service to the candid inquirer to
hear the opinion of one who writes as an outsider. He
says of the College : —

iiz LIVES THAT SPEAK.
"The first thing which, as 'a candid friend,' I will
acknowledge is that, while I have heard many things
that indicate a hearty appreciation, I have also, now
and then, heard strictures which make me desirous
of defining the niche your College occupies among
the ministerial training institutions of the country.
The Pastors' College appears to me to have sprung
into life amid the throes of the greatest religious
and educational revolution this country has witnessed.
Both elements of this revolution — the religious and the
educational — have, I believe, as they deserve, the entire
sympathy of every right-thinking individual in the
country, because, when properly treated, they are help
ful to each other. For our present purpose, it is not
needful to inquire whether the religious movement
first excited the educational, or the educational first
quickened the religious ; nor will I stop to ask whether,
in this result, so far as it is seen, religion has gained
more from education than education has reaped from
religion. The one only outcome I have in view, and
that bears a relation to the work of the Pastors' College,
is this — and I think it will not be disputed — that there
is now more education on the side of religious people,
however gravely it may be questioned whether there is
more religion on the side of the educated.
" In early days, then, the problem was, How shall the
Pastors' College minister to the peculiar need of the
times and circumstances that gave it birth? The
solution of this problem I have watched, it must be

"THE TIRSHATHA." 113
confessed, at times with considerable anxiety. Will
the young school minister satisfactorily and efficiently
do the double-mouthed need ? Owing its origin directly
to a revival of religion, it did not take much discern
ment to see that it would doubtless suitably provide
for the demands of a revived religion. But can it make
adequate provision for a revived religion stimulated and
accompanied by a higher education ? Thus the question
stood. " In deciding whether the Pastors' College has risen
to 'the height of this great argument,' it is not a
necessary condition to require that all the alumni
should be ' wranglers ' or ' double firsts.' It meets
every equity of the case if there should be a number
sufficient to occupy a due proportion of pulpits where
scholarship as well as piety is deemed essential in the
ministrations. On looking around, what do I behold ?
Some of the pulpits of the denomination most valuable
and illustrious in past generations — the two, Cambridge
and Broadmead, most famous of all — I find are occupied
by men from the Pastors' College. Nor do I observe
that the laurels gained by their predecessors wither in
the wearing of these younger men trained in the younger,
though not the youngest, school of Baptist pastors.
" Such achievements are, to my mind, full of meaning.
When, too, I put these results side by side with the
vast and truly sympathetic efforts made to reach the
masses which have their typical representatives in
the East London Tabernacle and in the Shoreditch H

ii4 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Tabernacle, in the former case backed up by much
pfactical philanthropy extended to the miserable, I
cannot but admit that the Pastors' College is effecting
a solution of the problem above stated that might give
content to the most exact and to the most exacting.
To the double-mouthed need it is ministering with
a double-handed plenitude. The comprehensiveness
which enlists both a spirit and capacity, not only fully
abreast of religious life and action, but which has, in
many places within my knowledge, inspired and directed
them to higher efforts, I submit fully entitles the
Pastors' College to take rank with the most vigorous
and apt institutions of our times for ministerial train
ing. I take it that its history hitherto has shown that
all doubt as to its thorough fitness to fulfil the mission
embodied in its name is now laid at rest.
"In all fairness to others as well as to myself,
however, I must confess there was a period when
fears would come, and doubts also, though I was
very averse to give them any entertainment. Would
the College be a mere transient growth? Would it
subside into the narrow groove of training temporary
preachers and itinerant evangelists ? Would it give
only a rough-and-ready preparation for the lower grades
of work, and send no representatives into the higher
and more permanent ranks? These were questions
with me in common with many friends who wished
well to the undertaking. Some early indications gave
me hope that in due time a full proportion of the higher

"THE TIRSHATHA." 115
forms would fall to your share. But this was not
everywhere recognised, and in some quarters where it
was seen to be inevitable it was not much appreciated.
I trust a more generous feeling has now set in. I re
call the time when you were emerging from the dreary
quarters in the basement of the Tabernacle to the light
and airy and commodious rooms in the substantial new
College buildings, and I wondered whether that change
of scene would be marked by a corresponding emer
gence into a freer and cheerier recognition of the College
and its work.
" That such a recognition had long been deserved I
was convinced in my own mind. Now, I am bound to
testify that I meet with few who are not of that opinion.
I am inclined to look upon your new buildings as an
outward and visible sign of the esteem, won by dint of
merit, from the public at large. I must say, from what
I have seen and heard, this esteem had to be won ; nay,
in some circles compelled. But being gained thus, it
is the more valuable, and is likely to be the more
durable. "May I now, without pretending to do anything
more than is well within the range of an outside
observer, glance at those qualities which have led on
to success ? I will not venture on the dogmatic, and
you may take my opinion for what it is worth.
"I have had many opportunities of observing both
the ' brighter stars ' and the ' lesser lights ' among the
preachers that hail from the Pastors' College. I have

n6 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
found much variety, much dissimilarity in gifts, in
capacities, in styles of preaching. But in the midst of
this copious variety, I think I have been able to detect
a very close family likeness. The point of resemblance,
and what has most impressed my mind, is that the
Pastors' College men have invariably something definite
to say on the great themes of the Gospel. I find they
have some crisp and pointed teaching that bears directly
on the conscience, concerning the nature of sin, and
the one Divine way of escape therefrom. I find that
they do not aim to set these things forth on a basis of
speculation, but on the authority of God's Word. And
I cannot but say that even where the finer graces of
style may be wanting — where there may be very httle
of eloquence, or ornament, or illustration — yet the
wholesome plainness of sound doctrine, delivered with
the accent of a heartfelt conviction, which I generally
find among your students, has a grace and an eloquence
all its own, and storms the human heart. I feel
assured, too, that such ministrations are on the line of
the great Evangelical testimony and message of God to
perishing men in all ages. These are the chief qualities
which I believe have conciliated the affections and won
the support of so many of the best friends of the Gospel
in ' all the churches.'
" Alongside with these leading characteristics I note
others. I regard it as a most hopeful feature that your
men seem to be alive and awake to the requirements of
their office. In the absence of university examinations, .

"THE TIRSHATHA." 117
which I understand are not comprised in your methods,
you have succeeded somehow in thoroughly arousing
the energies of your men and drawing out their capa
cities. I notice they come forth from College, not as
if their energies had been spent there, but invigorated.
An impulse rests on them ; there is movement in them,
and they, as a rule, rise to the demands of their work.
This is a great point. For whatever be the educational
standard — whether it be so low as in Queen Elizabeth's
days, when some parish clergymen were ordered by the
Queen in Council to peruse the lessons in private,
because they were ' but meane readers ; ' or so high as
Edward Irving set it, when he said 'that no man is
furnished for the ministry till he can unclasp his pocket
Bible, and wherever it opens, discourse from it largely
and spiritually to the people ; ' or so much beside the
mark as to consist chiefly in ' Pagan literature,' as Mr.
Mozley confesses was the case with himself and others
at Oxford fifty years ago — no ministerial training can
be effective which does not stimulate and strengthen in
the minister of the Gospel both his capacities as a
man and his graces and energies as a Christian.
"Your speciality — pastoral work — implies a great
deal. It may, and ought to be, the focus of many
converging beams of knowledge and experience. The
excellency and efficiency of your work lie not so much
in cultivating separate branches of knowledge, but in
combining kindred subjects, and concentrating various
lights upon your one exclusive object.

118 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
"As you advance, I, in company with every well-
wisher, earnestly trust you will still keep the one aim
steadily in view. The proper prominence given to this
will keep all parts in their rightful place. It will
subordinate the literary to the devotional, the critical
to the believing, the intellectual to the spiritual, the
merely denominational to the broadly catholic and
Christian purposes of the ministry of the Gospel. And
if you will allow me to make a suggestion, I would add
that the way to secure these results increasingly is, in
addition to all your other educational machinery, to
let the Word of God be increasingly an open book —
open in its original languages, open in all the variety
and inspired authority of its teachings — before the
eyes of your students, for their humble, prayerful, and
believing study. The method of Haldane with his
student-friends at Geneva I hold to be very near the
normal Christian method of preparation for the minis
try. The pastor 'mighty in the Scriptures' will be
' thoroughly furnished for every good work.' "
We cannot refrain from quoting from one of the re
ports (which are extremely interesting reading, and will
furnish every Christian worker with useful facts and
suggestions) the following testimony, which is entitled
" The Inner Collegiate Life, by One who Knows it : " —
" ' How can there be an inner collegiate life when no
students live within the precincts of the College?' I
fancy I hear one ask, and in the same breath answer,
' Impossible ! ' Had the problem not been worked out,

"THE TIRSHATHA." 119
I too should have said so. But the facts in this ease,
as in many others, are strongly in favour of the para
dox. Throughout the country the students of the
Pastors' College are known by certain strongly marked
characteristics, and as it is admitted they did not pos
sess these upon entering the institution, the natural
inference is that they acquired them in College by the
modus vivendi there. How this comes to pass without
the students dwelling together in the same building,
without spending their leisure as well as their working
hours together, is the point upon which I wish to cast
a little light. As a rule, residence at college serves to
promote a kind of life which is neither after the busi
ness nor ministerial type, not sufficiently retired to be
monastic, nor maintaining enough intercourse with the
outside world to be truly social. It is a life found
at college and nowhere else. Its maxims and habits
belong to no other sphere. From such a mode of
existence it is the peculiarity of our collegiate life to
differ utterly.
" The fact is, that a college life, in the ordinary sens'e
of the term, is not known among us. The brethren on
the one hand are dispersed abroad in twos and threes
in various homes in the neighbourhood, and on the
other hand they are largely employed in preaching
and evangelistic work during their term of study.
They only meet together for class- work, and all the
subjects upon which they are engaged there are
graduated with a direct bearing upon their future

120 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
life-work. Taking these facts into account, life in
college becomes, as near as may be, an apprentice
ship to the ministry of the Gospel. This is the pecu
liarity which puts its stamp upon the career of the
students, and breathes its influence throughout the
College. " It shows itself in the spirit of devotion. Any one
who spends a few hours with the students must feel
that they are not only devoted, but also devotional
men. Theirs is a devotion doubtless of such a fashion
as would give a shock to those who cannot beheve in
piety without a long face. It has neither a whine nor
a scowl. It is of a cheerful look and joyous tone. It
is of the temper which Dr. Arnold preferred — earnest
rather than serious. The merely frivolous would find
himself as little at home in its presence as would the
woe-begone stickler for long-winded sanctimoniousness.
" As all life has in a greater or less degree the powers
of assimilation and expulsion, the College life is not defi
cient therein. The beginning of a session is the time when
these two opposite powers may be seen to exert them
selves with most marked effect among the freshmen.
Most new-comers for some time survey the scene with
a puzzled look of mingled wonder and timidity. A
very few days, or weeks at most, are sufficient to teach
a man whether he is in his right place or not. In the
latter case, he soon begins to have headaches and to ask
leave of absence, which is at once granted to an un
limited extent. The men of kindred spirit, and of a

"THE TIRSHATHA." 121
genial, hearty disposition, soon find themselves at home.
Should a brother, however, be rather reserved or prim,
or starchy or uppish, he will, as a rule, find these foreign
elements put under a grinding process, which occa
sionally grates a little on the softer sensibilities. This
is done for his good, he is told, and his benefactors
exhort him to view the matter cheerfully, as they do.
While the robust get many a rub, the spirit of bullying
is unknown, and the timid are treated with a truly
generous consideration.
" The College is emphatically a brotherhood, a brother
hood including presidents and tutors, the ties whereof
hold those who have gone to America and Australia,
and draw members even from those vast distances to
the Annual Conference. The ordinary attachment to
Alma Mater has in the case of the alumni another ele
ment added. This element is something more than the
gratitude or reverence felt by the disciple towards his
master; it is more akin to the many-sided feehng of
the clansman for his chief. It rivals the enthusiastic
affection which Luther and Calvin awakened towards
themselves among the students. And to no other
source is their affection for the President traceable
but to the unaffected spirit of true brotherly kindness
which he ever shows to all the students, on account of
which he may well be called the Elder Brother of the
College. " This brotherliness affects the methods in which the
class-work is carried on. Each student is at full liberty

122 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
to state his difficulties and seek explanations. From
their manner it can easily be seen that the brethren
mean business. Most, before entering College, have been
inured to severe application of some sort, and long
hours, and having addicted themselves to the ministry
only after mature deliberation, they bring the energy
of determined men to bear upon their studies.. Were
this not the case, the difficulties in the path of some
would be wholly insurmountable. As it is, the pressure
at which the work is pursued not unfrequently towards
the end of the session registers itself in not a few
invalided members. The vigour which marks the educa
tional classes is carried into those that are held mainly
for the purpose of discipline — I mean the classes for
sermons and discussions. The latter afford free scope
for the exercise of the debating powers of the brethren,
and many a sharp encounter is witnessed amid the
mental and oratorical battle. There, too, fledgling.
orators try their pinions, and are often fain to get back
cowering to their perch again before an unexpected
squall. Where a brother takes higher ground than
belongs to him, every effort is benevolently made to
being him to his natural level. This occasionally means
a break-down, but his brethren, being comprehensively
kind, are not the less desirous on that account of seeing
him obey the law of 'the eternal fitness of things.'
Foibles, crotchets, mannerisms, provincialisms, and
cockneyisms meet with scant ceremony, and many a
brother is taught, by the deliberate application of

"THE TIRSHATHA." 123
' chaff,' that he may be a genius, but he must not be
an oddity.
" When a brother has read two or more sermons for
criticism, he is fairly entitled — at least as far as the
kindly offices of the critics go — to be classed with the
pachydermata. The preacher, as well as the sermon,
is put under the hammer of criticism, and happy is he
who escapes without broken bones. There are two
defects never excused in these productions — one is an
absence or misstatement of evangelical truth, and the
other a failure in exhibiting truth with the direct aim
of drawing men to the Saviour. Offending in these
respects, no erudition, no depth of thought, no cogency
of logic, no power of rhetoric or grace of style can save
the preacher from a severe castigation. He has run
counter to the deep persuasion and ruling purpose of
the College, and he must suffer. That persuasion is,
that those truths which are commonly called ' Evan
gelical' contain the very pith of the Gospel of our
Lord, and that purpose is to win souls unto salvation.
On these subjects the unmistakable accent of convic
tion pervades the College. If no other cause could be
assigned for the notable success that has followed their.
labours in all parts of the world, this alone would be
abundant. They preach Christ and Him crucified,
because they know no better message for a weary and
sinful world. The cross which Constantine inscribed
on his banners, the cross which the Templars wore in
ruddy hue upon their breasts, this in its vital meaning

124 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
has been both the motto and the motive power of the
ministry of the brethren wherever they have gone. In
this sign they conquer."
From the last report we learn that the members of
the Pastors' College Evangelical Association (of which
more presently) have, since the year 1865, baptized
92,035 persons, and have gathered around them
churches which represent a membership of 74,808
individuals. The returns for 1890 are defective, but
they show a clear increase of 3155, or an average per
church of eight new members for the year. The
immense spiritual work that this represents will be
understood by all who know the present religious and
social difficulties.
From the first the financial burden of this institution
has wholly rested upon Mr. Spurgeon himself. Two
friends, indeed, assisted Mr. Spurgeon to support the
first student, but, as the one student grew to many,
the whole of the increased expense fell upon Mr. Spur
geon himself, and hence lessened his income. This
was further reduced by his fearless honesty in denounc
ing the iniquitous slavery of the Southern States
of America, which seriously affected the sale of his
sermons over the water. Mr. Spurgeon generously
contemplated parting with his horse and carriage, in
order to find the funds needful for the support of
his students, although they were almost necessaries,
owing to his many journeys. This sacrifice his friends
opposed; and a weekly offering was started at the Taber-

"THE TIRSHATHA." 125
nacle in order to aid in the support of the College. This
contribution has been continued ever since.
Mr. Spurgeon has often related how he had come to
his last pound, and knew not whence to find the money
that was absolutely necessary for the continuation of
the work. He mentioned his need to a friend, who
reminded him that he had a good banker. " Yes, and
I should like to draw upon Him now, for I have nothing,"
replied Mr. Spurgeon.
" Well, how do you know ? Have you prayed about
it?" " Yes, I have."
" Well, then, leave it with Him. Have you opened
your letters ?"
" No ; I don't open my letters on Sundays."
" Well, open them for once."
He did so, and in the first one he opened there was a
banker's letter to this effect : — " Dear Sir, — We beg to
inform you that a lady, totally unknown to us, has left
with us two hundred pounds for you to use in the
education of young men."
Soon after this a friend of Mr. Spurgeon's provided
a supper for the friends of the institution, at which the
guests contributed towards the funds of the College.
This gathering has been continued every year until the
present time. This year (1891) £3000 was subscribed
at this supper.
In connection with the College an annual gathering
of all who have enjoyed the benefits of the institution

126 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
is held during the spring. A week is spent in prayer
and council, the great charm of the meetings being the
speeches and humorous counsels of the President.
A few words may be devoted to the workers who
have assisted Mr. Spurgeon in this enterprise.
The first tutor of the College was the Rev. George
Rogers, a Congregational minister, who still survives,
although at a great age. The unwearying kindness,
solid learning, and tact of Mr. Rogers have contributed
not a little to the position that the CoUege has attained.
He said recently to a minister who visited him, " There
are two things that a minister should ever keep in
mind : ' Flee from the wrath to come,' and ' Lay hold
upon eternal life.' " Then he soliloquised thus : " The
wrath is yet to come, but the life is near at hand ; let
your hearers lay hold upon it, that the wrath may not
lay hold upon them."
The present Principal, Rev. David Gracy, was at
one time a student in the College; he is a man in
middle life, gracious, cultured, and in every way suit
able for the position that he holds. With him are
associated two other ministers — Revs. D. Ferguson and
Marchant. In addition to the ordinary work of the College,
evening classes are held, which are largely attended by
young men engaged during the day in business, and
who have thus been assisted in their efforts to fit
themselves for other positions in life.
The Pastors' College has itself, in its turn, given

"THE TIRSHATHA." 127
birth to vigorous offshoots, that promise, banyan-like,
to form future groves, that in their turn will yield large
results. Six evangelists are employed, all of whom have
been trained in the College. They have visited and
held services in most of the principal towns in the
United Kingdom, and have been the means of
the conversion of thousands. Recently an account
of this mission has been published in an interesting
volume. Two of the students are engaged in what is called
" pioneer work." They visit villages that are deficient
in Christian teaching, and, to quote their own words,
" (1) endeavour, by God's help, to increase weak Baptist
churches, and, where possible, to get them the help of
a minister; (2) to commence new Baptist causes in
rising towns or needy neighbourhoods ; (3) to gene
rally evangelise in halls, tents, or by other methods to
further the interests of this aggressive work."
" The following works (says the leader of this move
ment) have been commenced by us during this last
winter : —
" New Brighton. — Bills were posted announcing
Albert Hall, Victoria Road, as the place of meeting.
' How many will attend ? ' ' Will the Baptists rally
round ? ' These are the questions which would perplex
us, only that we believe God will give us favour, and
send whom He will, if we are sure of His leading at
the outset. We were greatly encouraged, for, to every

128 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
one's surprise, nearly forty met us on the first morning,
and our boat was launched then and there. Pastor E.
Morley is preaching here for the present, and his ser
vices are much appreciated.
" Waterloo was the next place we commenced, in
September last. This important town was without a
Baptist church until we started. We meet in the
Gymnasium, where we trust many will be instructed in
the holy art of spiritual gymnastics. ' Just like home,'
was the opinion expressed concerning the first Com
munion service. Many are thankful for this movement.
Pastor G. Goodchild, from Preston, is about to take
charge of this important work.
"Birkdale. — This is a residential suburb of South-
port, with a population of about 1 2,000. One friend,
outside of our denomination, wishes us success, stating
it as his opinion that there was more work needed in
Birkdale than all the denominations could do. Mr.
Philips, of our College, who has settled at Southport,
will help to superintend this work, and will preach on
the Thursdays for the present.
" Horwich, near Bolton, was formerly a village, but
now has about 12,000 inhabitants, and the number is
constantly increasing. We meet in the Co-operative
Hall. Three services and Sunday-school are carried on
each Lord's-day by Mr. Boswell, a young man whom I
have taken from business, believing he is called of God.
He received a cheque ' for expenses of work,' and on
opening it, found it a cheque for a pot of beer. I

"THE TIRSHATHA." 129
should be very glad of some cheques of a more sub
stantial kind. I believe this work will soon be a strong
centre." Recently in connection with the College a Missionary
Association has been formed. This is not intended to
be a rival to the great societies, but rather to supply
districts that are left out of their range ; it has planted
its first missionaries in Morocco, in connection with the
North Africa Mission. The following are a few items
from the report of Mr. N. H. Patrick, who labours
among the Spaniards in Tangier. " Mr. Patrick went to
work among the Moors in January 1889, but the Lord
had evidently people of another tongue to whom He
was about to send the glad tidings by His servant.
Mr. Patrick was led to devote himself to the Spanish-
speaking people, at first through an interpreter, and in
addition to his labours among the Moors. He soon
was convinced that his mission was to the Spaniards,
and gave himself wholly thereto."
The work is located in the Cafe" Oriental, which cafe
we suppose was, before its conversion, something after
the style of our London music-halls. Of it Mr. Patrick
says : —
"We entered the Cafe" Oriental on July 15, 1889.
It was well situated, admirably adapted for our work,
and we needed larger premises ; so we took it in faith.
The place that had been a den of iniquity is now a
house of praise. We have platform instead of stage,
and preaching in the place of acting.

130 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" Where the money was to come from to pay our
heavy rent and other expenses we did not know; but
our trust was in God, and our every need has been
supplied. Unto Him be all the praise. The whole
place was in a horribly dirty condition, and so the ex
penses for cleaning, &c, have been very heavy.
" Our evangelistic meetings, held on Sunday, Mon
day, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, have been well
attended. One Sunday evening quite 150 were pre
sent, but this was exceptional. We believe that souls
have been converted, and converts strengthened and
comforted. I do not like to quote numbers, as the
work is so new. There are quite a number that we
believe are true Christians ; but so many of them are
very ignorant and very weak, that I often feel that the
work in England most like my work here would be the
' infant class.' I trust that before next report we shall
have a church. The attendance at our Sunday-morning
service is still small.
" Every Tuesday night a school for men is held.
Reading and writing, in Spanish or English, are taught.
We close with a Gospel address, and know that this
endeavour has brought great blessing to several young
men. " The Caf e" Dispensary, connected with the Mildmay
Mission to the Jews, is opened each Tuesday and Satur
day from three o'clock to seven o'clock. Our esteemed
brother, Dr. Churcher, has treated a very large number
of patients. This agency assists us greatly in winning

"THE TIRSHATHA." 131
the hearts of the poor of Tangier. The Gospel is
preached to all attending.
" At five o'clock each evening (Sunday excepted) we
open our Coffee Bar. Tea, coffee, and cocoa are sold at
a halfpenny per cup, also lemonade, biscuits, &c, at
low prices. Nothing is sold during the time of meet
ings. Thus the attendance at our meetings is increased ;
we have better opportunities for conversing with our
converts, and they can keep away from the wine-shops,
&c, in the town. Our hall is brightly lighted, and our
good caretaker, Mrs. Barnard, drives a brisk business,
endeavouring at the same time to speak a word to her
customers about the Gospel feast."
And all these varied and useful agencies have come
out of the ministry of C. H. Spurgeon. When it is
remembered that to a very large extent the men who
have been trained in the College have gone out among
the lapsed masses, and have brought them under Chris
tian influence, have formed them into religious com
munities, so that they represent auxiliary forces of the
highest form of home missionary success; and that
this has been accomplished without any endowment, or
anything but such contributions as those interested or
benefited by the work may be able to spare, the enormous
vitality of a ministry that, while sustaining such an
ordeal as the pastor of the Tabernacle bears, can yet
branch out into such works as we have enumerated, is
self-evident. Had space permitted, references might
have been made to the philanthropic and other work of

132 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
some of the men who have been trained in the Pastors'
College, such as the great work of Archibald G. Brown
and others in the East End of London ; and under God,
this success is due to the inspiration of Mr. Spurgeon's
example and character.
Such a life can only be compared to Wesley's, from
which it differs in several noteworthy particulars, to
which reference will be made in a later chapter.

CHAPTER VI.
C. H. SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST.
"Here queenly Charity doth hold her court,
And joy and peace attend her royalty."
At a meeting of the Church Pastoral Aid Society, Lord Shaftesbury
said of Mr. Spurgeon, " He is a truly good man, and all must acknow
ledge that he is a wonderful preacher ; and I will further say that he
has trained a body of men who manifest in their preaching that they
possess to a great extent his great secret of going right to the hearts of
his audience."
To the Secretary of the Ragged School Union he wrote in reference
to a meeting at which Mr. Spurgeon was expected to speak : " I am
much grieved that I am unable to be present. I am grieved because
there is no man in the country whose opinion and support in such
matters I prize more highly than those of my friend Mr. Spurgeon.
It would give me singular pleasure, after nearly forty years of work in
the Ragged School cause, to hear the testimony and counsel of so valu
able a man. Few men have preached so much and so well, and few
men have combined so practically their words and their actions. I
deeply admire and love him because I do not believe that there lives
anywhere a more sincere and simple servant of our blessed Lord.
Great talents have been rightly used, and under God's grace have led
to great issues."
"The Diaries," says Mr. Hodder, "abound with references to Mr.
Spurgeon similar to the following : —
" ' June 12, 1875. — At eleven o'clock yesterday to Spurgeon's Taber
nacle to go with him over all his various institutions, School, College,
Almshouses, Orphanage. All sound, good, true, Christianlike. He is
a wonderful man, full of zeal, affection, faith ; abounding in reputation
and authority, and, yes — perfectly humble, with the openness and
simplicity of a child.
"'June 20, 1884. — Yesterday to Metropolitan Tabernacle to preside
133

134 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
over grand meeting in honour of Spurgeon's fiftieth birthday. A won
derful sight : nearly, if not quite, seven thousand adult enthusiastic
souls crammed even to suffocation by way of audience. Felt at first
quite appalled.' "—Life of Lord Shaftesbury.

FOUNDED IN SACRIFICE AND SUSTAINED BY FAITH— THE LORD
WILL PROVIDE WHEN HE IS TRUSTED— THE TESTIMONIAL
HOMES — "PLEASE, MR SPURGEON, THAT'S ME "—ALMSHOUSE
AND COLPORTAGE.
Probably no part of Mr. Spurgeon's work has met
with such cordial and universal approval as his philan
thropic work for the orphans. After a careful exami
nation of many similar institutions, it will be seen that
the Stockwell Orphanage is unique in the annals of
charity and one of the best of its kind.
For example, in order to secure the benefits of the
Orphanage there is no need for canvassing, such as
some otherwise most excellent institutions require, and
what this must mean to a woman suffering from the
pang of recent bereavement can be imagined. Then
the happy idea of supplying cottage homes for the
children in preference to the barrack system, naturally
tends to the development of mental and spiritual indi
viduality, which is itself a boon. We have always
been struck with the joyousness of the children, and
the absence of the " I-shall-be-beaten " look, such as
we have seen on the cowed faces of inmates of some
other orphanages that need not be named.
Nor is it a small kindness on the part of the trustees
that instead of dressing the children in a uniform that

SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 135
stamps them with some shame, they are all dressed
respectably and differently, so that they wear no badge
of charity. This must tend to develop self-respect
among them.
We recommend visitors to look for themselves at the
internal arrangements of the houses, and to inquire of
such children as they know are to be trusted, and they
will with us admit that, for considerate kindness, for
as much freedom as is consistent with moral and
religious training, and above all for those influences
that shape and mould a life for the highest purposes,
there is no similar institution in the world.
Like many other noble designs, it — the Stockwell
Orphanage — arose out of what may be called a
chance. Mr. Spurgeon had in the Sword and Trowel indicated
the need that there was for work among the orphans,
and in the September of 1 866 he received a letter from
Mrs. HiUyard, who offered him a sum of £20,000 with
which to found an orphanage for fatherless boys. This
lady, the widow of a clergyman, in her last days had
become a Baptist. Mr. Spurgeon rather shrank from
what he felt was a considerable addition to the heavy
burdens that he already bore. He advised the lady to
send the money to George Muller, but Mrs. HiUyard
adhered to her purpose that Mr. Spurgeon was to receive
and use the money. Recognising her persistance as a
Divine call, Mr. Spurgeon at length accepted the trust.
The money was invested, twelve trustees were chosen,

136 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
and a plot of land was purchased at Stockwell upon
which it was intended to erect an orphanage. The
enterprise was a huge responsibility, and as such Mr.
Spurgeon felt it when he began.
In the June of 1 867 he wrote : — " The Lord is begin
ning to appear for us in the matter of the Orphanage ;
but as yet He has not opened the windows of heaven
as we desire and expect. We wait in prayer and faith.
We need no less than £10,000 to erect the buildings,
and it will come ; for the Lord will answer the prayer
of faith."
" July 1867. — We have been waiting upon the Lord
in faith and prayer concerning our Orphanage ; but He
is pleased at present to try us. As we have no object
in view but the glory of God by the instruction of
fatherless boys in the ways of the Lord, having a
special view to their souls' salvation, we had hoped
that many of the Lord's people would at once have
seen the usefulness and practical character of the
enterprise, and have sent us substantial aid immedi
ately. The Lord's way, however, is the best, and we
rejoice in it, let it be what it may. If the work is to
be one of time and long effort, so let it be, if thereby
God's name is magnified.
" We have engaged a sister to receive the first four
orphans into her own hired house until the orphanages
are ready. Our beloved friend, the original donor, has
given her plate to be sold for this object, and in so
doinc, has set an example to all believers who have

SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 137
surplus silver which ought to be put to better use
than lying wrapped up in a box."
" August 1 867. — Let the facts which with deep grati
tude we record this month strengthen the faith of be
lievers. In answer to many fervent prayers, the Lord
has moved His people to send in during the last month,
in different amounts, towards the general funds of the
Orphanage, the sum of £1075, for which we give thanks
unto the name of the Lord. More especially do we see
the gracious hand of God in the following incidents : —
A lady (Mrs. Tyson), who has often aided us in the
work of the College, having been spared to see the
twenty-fifth anniversary of her marriage-day, her be
loved husband presented her with £500 as a token of
his ever-growing love to ber. Our sister has called
upon us and dedicated the £500 to the building of one
of the houses, to be called The Silver Wedding House.
The Lord had, however, another substantial gift in
store to encourage us in our work ; for a day or two
ago a brother believer in the Lord called upon us on
certain business, and when he had retired, he left in a
sealed envelope the sum of £600, which is to be ex
pended in erecting another house. This donation was
as little expected as the first, except that our faith ex
pects that all our needs will be supplied in the Lord's
own way. The next day, when preaching in the open
air, an unknown sister put an envelope into my hand
enclosing £20 for the College and another £20 for the
Orphanage. What hath God wrought ! "

138 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
The workmen in the employ of Mr. Higgs, who had
erected the Tabernacle, generously gave their labour to
build another house, and Mr. Higgs himself supplied the
materials for what has since been called " The Work
men's House." The foundation-stones of these houses,
called respectively " The Silver Wedding House," " The
Merchants' House," and "The Workmen's House," were
laid on the 9th of August 1867. At the meeting it
was announced that the £5000, which had been needed
for the purchase of the land, had been received, in
addition to which the princely sum of £2200 was
brought by various friends towards the funds of the
institution. This encouraged Mr. Spurgeon and his friends to
enlarge their hopes, and they resolved to erect eight
houses, in which they estimated that not less than
150 children would find homes. To maintain this large
family a yearly income of £3000 would be required,
and the trustees had no endowment upon which to
rely ; their only income was what might be given by
the charitable. If Mr. Spurgeon hesitated before he
began the Orphanage, he did not linger when once
he had taken the scheme in band. It was probably
because he waited to be quite convinced that he was
in the path of duty that he did not quail as the re
sponsibilities increased. And he was not disappointed ;
for in the November of the same year hi3 friend Mr.
Olney contributed £500 towards a house which should,
when it was erected, commemorate Mrs. Olney, after

SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 139
whom it was named "Unity House." Certainly a
nobler memorial than a marble tomb.
The awful need that there was for such an institu
tion will be seen by the fact that, although only fifty
children could be admitted, not less than 200 applied,
of whom of course 150 were disappointed.
In January 1 868 Mr. Spurgeon wrote : —
"About three weeks ago the noble sum of £1000
was brought us by an unknown gentleman toward the
erection of two other houses."
"March 1868. — Just at the last moment, as we are
going to press, we received £2000 from A. B., an un
known friend. We call upon all our friends to magnify
the Lord for this amazing instance of His care. How
base a thing is unbelief, and how largely does the Lord
honour His servants' faith ! The note which attended
this munificent gift proves it to be from the same donor
who gave £1000 a few weeks ago. We had feared
that the Orphanage might impoverish the College ; see,
dear readers, how graciously the Lord rebukes this
unbelieving fear."
This letter we have been permitted to see, and note
that it is written in a clear, bold style, which seems
indicative of the writer's business-like habits of mind.
It is as follows : —
" My Dear Sir, — You will recollect my intention to
send a donation to your College.
"I have this day dropped into your letter-box an
envelope containing bank-notes for £2000, one of

140 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
which is for the College, and the remaining thousand
to help to complete the Orphanage. The latter led me
to contribute to the former.
"lama stranger to you, but not to your sermons
(printed). " May the Lord give you health and strength many
years to preach His Word and carry on His work.
"A. B."
The Baptist denomination, not to be behind in their
appreciation of Mr. Spurgeon's philanthropy, contributed
a sum of £1764, 14s. 4d., which offering paid for the
building and fitting up of two houses, which were
called " The Testimonial Houses." At the laying of
the foundation-stones of these, June 1, 1868, the Rev.
J. B. Wigner presented to the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon
an address from the Baptist Churches of England.
The houses bear the following inscription : —
" These two houses were built by the voluntary contributions
of Baptist Churches in Great Britain and presented as a tribute
of regard and affection to the Eev. C. H. Spurgeon.
" A. B. Goodall, Treasurer of the Fund.
" J. T. Wigner, Hon. Secretary.''
On Mr. Spurgeon's birthday, the 19th June, Mr.
Olney, jun., laid the foundation-stones of the "Sunday-
school Houses," which were paid for by the children of
the Sunday-schools meeting in the Metropolitan Taber
nacle. Mrs. Spurgeon herself laid the foundation-stone
of what is called " The College House," which was sub-

SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 141
scribed for by the ministers who had been trained in
the Pastors' College.
In January 1869 Rev. J. Charlesworth, who had for
seven years served as co-pastor with Rev. Newman Hall
at Surrey Chapel, was appointed head-master of the
Orphanage, a choice which has been abundantly justi
fied by the prosperity of the institution under his care.
Another extract may be given before we leave the
subject : —
"December 1873. — To our surprise, the report of the
Secretary was, ' All bills paid, but only £3 in hand.'
Prayer went to work at once, and results followed.
Will the reader, however, picture himself with more
than 220 boys to feed and only £3 in hand ? He may
say, ' The Lord will provide,' but would he feel the force
of this truth if he were in our straits ? "
Notwithstanding this experience of struggle, Mr.
Spurgeon had such confidence in God that he was im
pelled to attempt to provide an orphanage for girls,
and he has successfully carried out his design.
Once a year, on Mr. Spurgeon's birthday, a festival
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 f4te 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

142

LIVES THAT SPEAK.

United Kingdom. They give a hand-bell entertain
ment, which is interspersed with recitations. The
author ventures to suggest that Christian 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 public appreciate the efforts of the boys.
That such a suggestion may be made without offence
will be seen when the following table is examined. It
will be especially noticed, that staunch as Mr. Spur
geon is in his own beliefs — and he is most intensely a
Baptist — the Stockwell Orphanage is not a sectarian
institution. The Religious Pbofession of the Pabents os the Orphans.

Church of England

• 585

Baptist

• 3»7

Congregational .

. 160

Wesleyan .

. 140

Presbyterian

. 28

Brethren

9

Roman Catholic .

• 3

Moravian

2

Bible Christian

2

Society of Friends

2

Salvation Army .

1

Not specified

• 194

Mr. Spurgeon has often related the following incident,
which we cannot refrain from quoting from a brochure
entitled " Stockwell Orphanage," which was published
last Christmas by Messrs. Passmore & Alabaster.
Mr. Spurgeon says : — " Sitting down in the Orphanage
grounds upon one of the seats, we were talking with a
brother trustee, when a funny little fellow, we should
think about eight years of age, left the other boys who
were playing around us and came deliberately up to us.

SPURGEON AS A PHILANTHROPIST. 143
He opened fire in this fashion, " Please, Mister Spur
geon, I wants to come and sit down on the seat between
you two gentlemen."
" Come along, Bob, and tell us what you want."
"Please, Mr. Spurgeon, suppose there was a little
boy who had no father, who lived in an orphanage with
a lot of other little boys who had no fathers ; and sup
pose those little boys had mothers and aunts who comed
once a month and brought them apples and oranges,
and gave them pennies ; and suppose this little boy had
no mother and no aunt, and so never came to bring him
nice things ; don't you think somebody ought to give
him a penny ? 'Cause, Mr. Spurgeon, that's me ! "
Somebody felt something wet in his eye, and Bob got
a sixpence, and went off in the jumping stage of delight.
Poor little soul ! he had seized the opportunity to pour
out a bitterness which had rankled in his little heart,
and made him miserable when the monthly visiting
day came round, and, as he said, " Nobody never came
to bring him nice things."
Mr. Spurgeon concludes thus : " Turning the tables,
we think some grown-up persons, who were once little
Bobs, might say, " Suppose there was a poor sinner, lost
and undone, who was forgiven all his sins for Jesus'
sake, and made a child of God ; and don't you think
that he ought to help in the Saviour's cause ? 'Cause,
Mr. Spurgeon, that's me, and here's some money for
your orphans."
On the first page of this beautiful booklet the

144 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
shadows cast by the avenue of trees upon the pathway
leading up to the Orphanage gates spell the word Home.
As to whether this is usual we are unable to say, but
that it is a Home we are convinced, after many careful
investigations. H.M. Inspector reported thus : " An
admirable institution, good in design, and, if possible,
better in execution."
In addition to the Orphanage-work, Mr. Spurgeon
has originated other philanthropic institutions which
cannot be alluded to here, with the exception of his
Almshouses, which are situated near the Elephant and
Castle Station. Here seventeen poor women, who are
all above sixty years of age, and are members of the
Tabernacle Church, are sheltered and provided with a
liberal allowance of seven shillings per week. This
money is partly provided by a sum of £5000, which
was raised upon the completion of Mr. Spurgeon's
silver wedding, and which he invested for the benefit
of the poor women.
Here, perhaps, an allusion may best be made to the
Colportage Association, which began in January 1866.
At first only two men were employed, but from the
last report we learn that ninety colporteurs are now
employed during the year.
In a volume entitled " Booksellers and Book-Buyers,"
from the pen of our friend, G. Holden Pike, there are
some most interesting stories of good that have been
accomplished by the colporteurs. Want of space for
bids our quoting any of the facts therein stated..

CHAPTER VII.
C. H. SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR.
" He has fought his way to a commander's place in the religious
world, and holds it with no abatement of faithfulness, although the
work of years is leaving weak spots in his body. There's life in the
old guard yet, however, and he stand squarely to his work on the
outposts, no matter how the storms may gather about him. His
energy, his heroism under bodily pain, his sweet toil, all combine to
make him stand out in the clear light as an evangel of the Lord,
worthy of the cross and the crown 1 What a great loving heart he
has ! How his sympathies encircle the whole world ! As one of God's
workers, he has no superior among men." — Colonel Gkant, U.S.
Consul at Manchester, in a letter dated February 2, 1890.
The following sentences are written in Mr Spurgeon's study Bible : —
" C. H. Spubgeon. 1856."
" The lamp of my study."
"The light is bright as ever ! 1861."
" Oh, that mine eyes were more opened I 1864."
" Being worn to pieces, rebound 1 870. The lantern mended, and the
light as joyous to mine eyes as ever 1 "
THINKING INTO VOLUMES— " BOOKS IN BOOTS"— "VERY GOOD;
OR, TRUE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES "—BOOK AFTER BOOK,
AND ALL GOOD— THE "SWORD AND TROWEL."
Dora Lloyd once asked Sterling what Kant thought.
He replied, " He thought fifteen octavo volumes." Mr.
Spurgeon, among his many other engagements, has
145 vr

146 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
thought a mass of literature, which is as varied as it is
immense. There is nothing in the history of civilisa
tion that is at all comparable to it; and, in spite of
adverse criticisms, his books continue to circulate, and
that in large editions.
At the head of his writings we would place his
printed sermons, which are, indeed, his most extensive
means of usefulness. The weekly sermon before us
bears the number 2206. Altogether they form thirty-
six volumes.
In Mr. Spurgeon's library at Westwood there is a large
bay which is filled with translations of his works into
almost all the known languages of the earth — at any rate,
" into all the languages spoken by Christians," said Mr.
Spurgeon when pointing out the array to us. Among
these discourses some sermons, of course, are more
excellent than others, but that is a matter of neces
sity. If they were so poor as some assert, how is it
that they have acquired so extensive a circulation, and
have maintained it ? The logic of facts is irresistible ;
it may be possible, indeed, to criticise individual
sermons, and to point out various divines who, from
time to time, have achieved, with infinite effort, better
occasional productions ; but it remains as a tribute to
Mr. Spurgeon's unique place in the Church of Christ
that his sermons are read in every land by people
of widely different opinions, and that so far from their
having become a drug upon the market, they are more
popular than ever.

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 147
This surprising result may be, and has been, assigned
to various causes, but it is probably wiser to go at once
to the root of the matter, and say that Mr. Spurgeon
is a man sent from God to speak to the hearts of
men, and God, who gave the message, has also inclined
men to hear it.
We subjoin specimens of Mr. Spurgeon's sermon
notes. They will show how little paper he uses in the
pulpit. Of course he is always preparing; his con
stant intercourse with " books in boots," his intimate
knowledge of affairs around him, and above all his
diligent study, keeps his mind perpetually full. He
is a great reader and a constant student, and this is
one element of his success. He never displays his
learning, but the learning is in its right place, and is
the bony skeleton which gives consistency and shape
to the beautiful form that men see. There are men
who endeavour to place parts at least of the bony
skeleton outside, and they have their reward. The
place of learning is within, and when clothed upon,
it fulfils its purpose though unseen. One is reminded,
when conversing with Mr. Spurgeon, of Dr. Arnold's
saying, " His mind is a running stream ; " this is one
element of his power. Bough Notes of Sermons.
1 Kings xviii. 12. — Psalm lxix. 5.
1. Early Piety. 2. Persevering Piety. 3. Eminent
Piety. 4. Practical Piety. 5. Comforting Piety.

1 48 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
1. Early Piety. — Prevents regrets — Determines connection
— Forms habits — Facilitates attainments — His name — His
confession — His singularity — Genuine — Not joy — Know
ledge — Fear — Reverent awe — Dread to offend.
2. Persevering Piety. — Length of time — Badness of times
— Destruction of men — Difficulty of position — Temptation
to gain — Trial of success — God glorified — Jezebel defeated
— Truth preserved.
3. Eminent Piety. — Distinctly decided — Known leader of
the party — Save — Protector of ministers — Saviour of sinners
— Condemner of guilty — To the young — To the old.
4. Comforting Piety. — In time of need — In old age.
Psalm cxxxii. 18.
I. His enemies clothed.
1. Who are they? — Openly profane — The moral but irre
ligious — The self-righteous — The hypocritical.
2. How clothed with shame? — In repentance — In disap
pointment — In remorse — In destruction — Sin detected — Self-
defeated — Hopes scattered.
3. Who clothes them ?— The Lord— He will shame them
thoroughly. II. Himself crowned.
1. His crown. — Dominion — Glory.
2. Its flourishing. — Glory extending— Subjects increasing
— Wealth growing — Foes fearing, &c.
Zech. xii. 10. — Isa. l. 3-6.
I. The special mourning of the Jew. — His own Messiah
rejected and slain— The deed ratified by generations— The
Scriptures perverted— His glory altogether ignored— Lost
their best of kings— Kings, prophets, priests, and people—
The women recognised.

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 149
II. Our own especial grief. — Of our unregeneracy — Our
sins caused His sufferings — Our rejection ratified the doom —
Gentile pierced — Carelessness — Resistance — Unbelief. 1.
The grief of all Christians — His deity denied — His claims
slighted — His rehgion travestied — Deed done in His name —
Done by professors — False teaching.
Since our conversion. — Backsliding — Love of the world —
Want of zeal, love, self-denial, courage, patience, fellowship
— 2 Cor. vii. 11.
Our present state. — It is the beauty of evangelical repent
ance that it remembers the injury done to the Lord, and
sympathises with Him, " Against Thee, Thee only have
I sinned '' — Tbe prodigal — It results from a look upon
Christ — It was a fruit of the Spirit, and attended with
prayer. I. There is a special mourning for the Jew. — The seed
had a special interest in Messiah, but it rejected and slew
Him — For these many generations that rejection has been
confirmed — Amid chastisements most terrible — Their own
Lord and King has been denied His throne — Mourn for the
best beloved — For their slain king — Mourn all, and mourn
sincerely. II. There is a general sorrow for the Church. — Pierced
by scepticism, and false doctrine, and blasphemy — Pierced
by superstition, idolatry, &c — Pierced by outsiders who
despise Him— Pierced by those who bear His name ; war,
&c. — Pierced by His own people.
III. There is the special sorrow of each family. — The
husband and the wife — The children — The parents — The
masters and servants.
IV. There is the personal mourning of each. — Our un
regeneracy — Sin — Continuance — Unbelief — Resistance —
Carelessness — Contempt.

15° LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Since our conversion— Backsliding— Great sin — Coldness
—Disobedience— Want of self-denial — Fellowship.
At this day, what is our bearing towards our Lord? —
Too little of His Spirit — Little love — Survey a single week.
What should be the nature, the fruit, and the result of
such sorrow. Heb. xiii. 20-25.
The close of the Epistle is a blessing — That blessing is
instructively expressed — Our practical holiness is desired.
I. The peculiar name of God which is mentioned.
II. The special act which is dwelt upon.
III. The remarkable manner in which it is described.
IV. The appropriate conclusion to which it leads.
Appropriate titles of God to be used.
I. Sin is war; to remove it is to make peace — God's
peace breeds — No peace in a church while sin is there —
No peace in the heart — Shepherd.
II. Return from death — That great Shepherd of sheep —
Peace — Perfecting — Egypt and Moses — The Red Sea.
III. Fitness for service — Universal— Practical.
I. Deliverance.
1. From hopeless imprisonment.
2. Comfortless.
I. The Divine deliverance.
II. The Divine invitation.
III. The Divine promise.
Comfortless — Hopeless — Fatal.
From what 1 — By whom ? — By what means 1
What 1— When t— Who ?

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 151
Among Mr. Spurgeon's sermons there is one, an
edition of which was printed in gold letters. It was,
we believe, presented to the subscribers at the Col
lege supper of that year. But there is another sermon,
yellow, travel-worn, and stained by exposure to the sun,
which is far more interesting and valuable. It was
carried by Dr. Livingstone in his last journey to Africa.
The title of it is " Accidents not Punishments."
Across the top is written,
" Very Good—D. L."
It was found in Dr. Livingstone's boxes after his
death, and was sent by his daughter, Mrs. Bruce, to Mr.
Spurgeon. We handled the relic with profound reverence, and
endeavoured to realise Dr. Livingstone sitting in his
tent after a hard day's march and reading with interest
the words that in his solitude were more than words
to him. Who can tell what comfort, stimulus, and
help this sermon was to the great pioneer who opened
Africa to civilisation and the Gospel ?
What if that old relic could speak ? what would it
say? Would it not say what it would delight our
hearts to hear? Would it not tell of comfort im
parted by it to the neglected, suffering, resolute hero
who requires comfort no more ? Of toils endured, and
hopes deferredj the results of which are known in some
measure to him who now requires no earthly solace ?
Nor is this the only romance that clings to Mr.
Spurgeon's sermons, for they have made for themselves

152 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
a romantic mass of adventure and incident which is
highly interesting. Some day we trust this will be
arranged and published. Here we cannot do more
than refer to them. A word ought, perhaps, to be
spared for the work carried on by means of the sermons
among the lighthouse-keepers. A Mr. John Green,
finding himself cut off from other service, began dis
tributing Mr. Spurgeon's sermons among invalids and
others who were deprived of the means of grace.
Encouraged by the reception of his gifts, he sent them
to all the lighthouse men of the British Isles. Mrs.
Spurgeon supplied him with sermons for this purpose,
and as they were welcomed by the men, Mr. Green
enlarged the area of his operations. He now distributes
the sermons and other Christian literature not only
among the light-keepers of the British Isles, but as far
away as Canada and Australia.
Next to the sermons " The Treasury of David " is
Mr. Spurgeon's chief work, as it is the most valuable.
The sermons are, indeed, a mass of expository litera
ture, but it is in " The Treasury of David " Mr. Spur
geon's genius shines and burns with peculiar brilliance.
Mr. Spurgeon's own comments are of the highest order
of exposition. The illustrative extracts appended are
culled from a wide range of reading, but especially is
the homiletical section immensely suggestive to all who
will use the help wisely.
Had Mr. Spurgeon time and strength to do the same
office for other portions of God's Word, it is not too

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 153
much to say that he would rank amongst the most
helpful of commentators.
Next in point of usefulness we would place " Around
the Wicket Gate," a shilling book which is intended for
inquirers, and the numerous class that are not far from
the kingdom of God. The style is Mr. Spurgeon's best:
the illustrations are vivid, and the tone of the book such
as will be most helpful to all who ponder the great
interests included in the salvation of the soul. Angel
James' "Anxious Enquirer " and Doddridge's " Rise and
Progress of Religion in the Soul " are both standard works
and have accomplished much good in their time, but
they are out of date. They remain as Christian litera
ture, but the seekers of to-day need more direct and
simple dealing, and especially aid in overcoming the
difficulties which were not difficulties when James and
Doddridge wrote.
Next in order we would place the shilling series,
such as "All of Grace," "The Spare Half-hour," "Eccen
tric Preachers," of which there are now published in all
seven volumes.
A book which has not attained the large circulation
that it deserves is " Commentary and Commentaries,"
the remarks in which are in themselves most suggestive
and useful.
For ministers, Mr. Spurgeon has also written " Lec
tures to my Students," first and second series; the
sale of large editions has proved how acceptable
they have been to those to whom they were addressed.

1 54 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" My Sermon Notes " is in two volumes, and consists
of a series of outlines of sermons with illustrative
anecdotes : a better series of sermon models we do not
know of.
And this may be said in spite of the alleged ten
dency to copy Mr. Spurgeon. It is a frequent sneer
that men imitate this or that preacher. It may be
answered that the objector himself is only sinning in
the same way. Men must imitate if they will learn,
and success is largely on stereotyped lines ; and while
the mere copyist is contemptible, no man attains excel
lence except by a judicious study of the methods by
means of which others have achieved success. It is in
preaching as in military tactics; nations watch other
nations, and imitate what is excellent in each system.
It is as in business, for every wise merchant i3 ready
to adopt that which has enlarged his neighbour's opera
tions. . And in Christian enterprises, every man should be
ready to imitate what is excellent in all the men who
have influenced and helped the world.
In addition to the volumes named, Mr. Spurgeon
in 1868 issued "Feathers for Arrows," a collection of
extracts and anecdotes. This was followed by a similar
volume, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden." In the
last book are all the illustrations and beauties to be
found in Manton's useful volumes (a very continent of
prairie, wearisome to contemplate, but, if one had time,
most profitable to cultivate).
" The Present Truth," " Storm Signals," and " Farm

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 155
Sermons," are all selections from Mr. Spurgeon's ser
mons. Perhaps, however, these have not been so generally
useful as the well-known " Morning by Morning " and
"Evening by Evening," of which we think the first
is incomparably the better. The enormous circulation
of 200,000 that has been attained by these volumes
shows that they have been highly appreciated by the
Christian public.
At the risk of being thought eccentric, we may ven
ture to say that we have found the " Cheque-Book of
Faith," which is upon the same lines, even more helpful
than either of the above-named books. In the preface
to the " Cheque-Book " the author thus explains his
purpose : " A promise from God may very instructively
be compared to a cheque payable to order. It is given
to believers with a view of bestowing on them some
good thing. It is not meant that he should read it
over comfortably and then have done with it. No ; he
is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a
cheque. " He is to take the promise and endorse it with his
own name by personally receiving it as true. He is by
faith to accept it as his own. He sets to his seal that
God is true, and true as to this particular word of pro
mise. He goes_ further, and believes that he has the
blessing in having the same promise of it, and therefore
he puts his name to it, to testify to the receipt of the
blessing.

156 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" This done, he must believingly present the promise
to the Lord, as a man presents a cheque at the counter
of the bank. He must plead it by prayer, expecting to
have it fulfilled. If he has come to heaven's bank at
the right date, he will receive the promised amount at
once. If the date should happen to be farther on, he
must politely wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he
may count the promise as money, for the bank is sure
to pay when the due time arrives.
" Some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon
the cheque, and so they get nothing ; and others are
slack in presenting it, and these also receive nothing.
This is not the fault of the promise, but of those who
do not act with it in a common-sense, business-like
manner." Mr. Spurgeon calls the book " a sweetmeat of pro
mise," but it is in our judgment the most helpful of the
three volumes of daily portions that he has written.
Here may be the place to allude to the Sword and
Trowel. In the year 1 864 Mr. Spurgeon preached and
published the sermon on Baptismal Regeneration, to
which reference will be made in the next chapter. The
Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance, upon his sole
authority, wrote desiring Mr. Spurgeon either to retract
his sentiments or to withdraw from the Alliance. Mr.
Spurgeon at once resigned, and he refused to reconsider
his decision, although the Alliance repudiated the action
of their servant. He did what was better, he com
menced a monthly magazine of his own, the first num-

SPURGEON AS AN AUTHOR. 157
ber of which appeared on the ist of January 1865.
It therefore has reached the twenty-seventh volume,
and at the time of writing (February 1891), the
monthly circulation amounts to 14,000. The price,
threepence, is, in these days of cheapness, somewhat
against it, so that, as things are, the circulation may
be fairly regarded as very remarkable.
The magazine perhaps suggested — certainly it helped
— in the publication of several of Mr. Spurgeon's books.
" The Treasury of David," " John Ploughman's Talk,"
were first printed in the Sword and Trowel before their
publication as volumes.
While writing, we have received a parcel of tiny
booklets which are sold at sixpence per dozen. These
are, we believe, Mr. Spurgeon's last publication. Alto
gether Mr. Spurgeon has published about forty-six
books, exclusive of the thirty-six volumes of the ser
mons, and the twenty-six volumes of the Sword and
Trowel. We may say, therefore, that he has thought
more than one hundred volumes !

CHAPTER VIII.
C. H. SPURGEON AS HUMOURIST AND
CONTRO VERSIA LIST.
" Guilty sinner, fly to Jesus ;
He alone can purge our guilt ;
From each deadly sin He frees us,
'Twas for this His blood was spilt.
Come, and welcome ;
Come this moment, if thou wilt.
Empty sinner, haste to Jesus,
For in Him all fulness dwells,
And His inmost soul it pleases
When a longing bouI He fills.
Be not backward ;
He invites whoever wills.
Hopeless sinner, look to Jesus,
In His death thy ransom see ;
From despair His word releases,
Trust iii Him and fear shall flee.
High as heaven
Are His thoughts of love to thee.
Worst of sinners, come to Jesus,
He has said He'll cast out none ;
Come with all thy foul diseases,
He can cure them every one —
And, with wonder,
Thou shalt sing what grace has done."
— C. H. Spurgeon.
"We English have many famous men, but we have no John Knox,"
said a visitor to Melrose. " True, you have no John Knox, but you
have Mr. Spurgeon," replied the custodian.
" A downcast man is raw material, which can only be manufactured
into a very ordinary Christian." — Fabbr.158

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 159
"THE BENEFIT OF HUMOUR" — AN AWFUL SIN !— " JOHN PLOUGH
MAN" — SALT FOR MANY A DISH — SILENT PROTEST — "IN
HOT WATER ; OR, MAKING THE WATER HOT FOR OTHERS "—
THE DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSY.
Dr. Buckland, we learn from Caroline Fox, always
felt nervous in addressing large assemblies until he had
made them laugh, and then he was entirely at his ease ;
which ability to amuse while instructing is a high
talent, although in the past it has perhaps been em
ployed far too seldom. Charles Kingsley even believed
that humour was an element of the Divine nature ;
but there have been those who have treated wit as
if it were necessarily evil and a proof of frivolity. It
is true that it has too often been employed to excuse
evil, but so also have both music and painting. Wit,
as other qualities, is beneficial or harmful as it is
employed for good or evil.
A writer in 1861 was terribly shocked by Mr. Spur
geon's mirth. He says: "At the list of subscriptions
read for the new Tabernacle, Messrs Knight & Duke
contributed; at which Spurgeon said, 'Really we are
in grand company ! " Mr. King five shillings." Why,
the king has actually given his crown. What a liberal
monarch!' Directly afterwards Mr. Pig was called
out as having given a guinea. 'That,' said Spurgeon,
' is a guinea-pig ! ' It cannot be said after this that
Mr. Spurgeon has never made a joke without a spark
of irreverence in it."
Shocking indeed, and yet we fear that Mr. Spurgeon
will not amend his ways ; and what would the objector

160 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
say if he knew that even bishops have dared to offend
in this awful fashion ?
The Rev. John Robertson of Glasgow informed us
that he once told Mr. Spurgeon about some of the diffi
culties that he had to surmount when he commenced
preaching. For example, one worthy office-bearer came
to church, and seated himself before the minister with
one finger in each ear. " There was a nice thing for a
young preacher. What would you have done, Mr.
Spurgeon ? " "I should have prayed  " began Mr.
Spurgeon; and said Mr. Robertson, "I got my face
very solemn, for I expected something very spiritual."
He continued, '' I should have prayed — that a fly might
have alighted on his nose ! "
Mr. Spurgeon's chief work as a humourist is " John
Ploughman's Talk." This proved such a success as a
serial that it was afterwards issued as a book, and the
fact that 370,000 have been sold of it proves it to be
worth reading.
This book was followed by " John Ploughman's Pic
tures," of which 130,000 have been issued. If wit be
employed merely to gladden sad Eves, or to impart
velocity to truth, it is not misemployed, for with many
people life is terribly dreary and crushing; but when
humour is so directed as to make evil absurd and good
attractive, it is indeed well employed, and is indeed a
moral force of the utmost importance. Of course, like
anger, it must be well under control, just as the same fire
prepares our food when kept within the kitchen-grate,

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 161
that would be fearful if it were in our pocket. Mr.
Spurgeon's wit is of the kitchen-range order, that is, it
is ready to burn up rubbish and make food more pala
table and nourishing ; it is, indeed, part of his original
endowment, and one element of his success.
In the year 1872 a sheet almanac was issued, which,
under the title " John Ploughman's Almanac," has com
manded a large sale.
The proverbs and quaint sayings that from year to
year brightened this broadsheet have been revised and
arranged under the singularly appropriate title of " The
Salt Cellars." The two volumes of " The Salt Cellars "
are the most handsomely got up of Mr. Spurgeon's
books. As to his purpose, the writer says in the
preface : " I have never lost sight of my one aim in
a page which I have written, whether the mood has
been grave or gay, and that one aim has been the
spiritual good of my readers. Godly sentiments sand
wiched in between slices of wit and common-sense
may become nutriment for the soul, although they
may be almost unconsciously received. . . . Sermons
would seldom be dull if they were more alive with
aphorisms and epigrams. Comparatively they are trifles,
but nothing is trifling by which serious truth can be
brought home to careless minds."
Concerning the book itself it is difficult to speak,
because to criticise, one ought to reproduce selec
tions from almost every page. In our judgment
the first volume is by far the better, although we

1 62 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
would not be without the second volume for a great
deal. The book is characterised by an abundance of proverbs
and counsels upon matrimony, some of which are char
acteristic. We select a few sayings on this important
topic : —
" One who marries a woman for her beauty alone is
as foolish as the man who ate a bird because it sang so
sweetly." " While a man is single, let him live hard, that in
after years he may not be forced to keep to ' bread and
pull-it,' but may have pullet with his bread."
" It cannot always be honeymoon ; therefore eat up
the moon and keep the honey. Some eat all the honey,
and have nothing left but the moon."
References to matrimony occur upon almost every third
page, and they are of this amusing, practical character.
Then we observe the abundance of temperance teach
ings, of which we select the following specimens : —
" Keep the cork in the bottle, and no evil spirits will
carry you off your legs."
"Don't have lockjaw, but yet lock your jaw."
" ' Of Lions white and red beware,
They always take the lion's share.'
"It is curious that these mythical animals should so
often be selected as signs for houses of entertainment
Is it because the weary traveller will there find some
thing to lie on ? Or is it because by means of lions white
and red many are apt to make beasts of themselves \ "

./

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 163
"Double stout, though said to be very nourishing,
may readily carry a man half-seas over."
From the many miscellaneous maxims that sparkle
on almost every page of the book we select the follow
ing:— " Buy sixpenny-worth of stick-to-it."
I " The mere dandy is like his mother in this only ;
she will never be a man, nor will he." jf
" The outs and ins are as like as lawyers ; they both
want to stick in good places."
" No blinkers are like those of conceit."
" The man who has nothing to boast of but his
good ancestors is like a potato; all that is good of
him is under ground." k
" Man is an animal that sins. He is often a wolf to
man, a serpent to God, and a scorpion to himself."
Beside these amusing sayings, there are copious sec
tions of proverbs of a more spiritual character.
Mr. Spurgeon has recently printed his lecture on
" Sermons in Candles," which is the best known of all
his many lectures. "Sermons in Candles" has, with
and without Mr. Spurgeon's permission, been delivered
in different parts of the kingdom by various friends.
The lecture arose out of a remark which was made
by one of Mr. Spurgeon's students as to the difficulty
that all preachers feel in securing a wealth of suitable
^and taking illustrations.
I "Yes," replied Mr. Spurgeon, "if you do not wake
up, but go through the world asleep, you cannot see

1 64 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
illustrations ; but if your minds were thoroughly aroused,
and yet you could see nothing else in the world but a
single tallow candle, you might find enough illustra
tions in that luminary to last you for six months." ^
In order to prove his own assertion, Mr. Spurgeon
produced the lecture, which as a book we are not
surprised to learn has commanded a large sale. We
have no space to spare for illustrative selections, but
we do not know of a better shilling's worth of wit and
wisdom. A few words must be now devoted to Mr. Spurgeon's
experiences as a man of war; he has more than once
been a controversialist, and that from the very nature
of his calling as a teacher and leader of men.
When the corps of Guides were marching to Delhi
during the Indian mutiny, they were so exhausted by
the heat of their long tramp, that their officers repre
sented to the commander, Nicolson, that they must
really rest. He protested that delay would or might
be fatal, but at length he was compelled to permit
them to lie down under the shade of some trees. The
weary men rested, when, after a time, one of them
peeped around him to see where Nicolson was. He
sat erect upon his horse in the middle of the road,
without shelter, and exposed to the scorching beams
of the sun, for he at least did not require to rest. He
was waiting until they were ready to start once more
for the capture of Delhi. The silent protest was irre
sistible ; the wearied men sprang up one after another,

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 165
and, inspired with new strength by the stern endurance
and passive argument, they followed their indomitable
leader to victory.
A silent adherence to right is sometimes all that
can be accomplished by the bravest soldier, and which
is then a most effectual aggression ; for men admire
those who will dare to perform their duty alone.
It is not too much to claim for Mr. Spurgeon that
his ministry has been singularly independent of all
self-seeking, time-serving, and fear of man, and that it
therefore has exerted a rousing influence, the extent of
which cannot be estimated. He has always furnished
the silent protest of an earnest consecrated life, which
has inspired many others to holy endeavour and duty.
He has, moreover, been a man of war from his youth,
and, not content with a resolute personal adherence to
what he has believed to be right, he has more than
once been engaged in furious controversy. Although
he has never sought conflict, he has never feared it;
indeed, sometimes he has enjoyed it. As when during
the Baptismal Regeneration controversy he once met
with a minister who said to him —
" I hear, friend Spurgeon, that you are in hot
water." " Oh, dear no," said Mr. Spurgeon ; "I am not in
hot water. The other fellows are ; I am the man that
makes the water boil."
The facts of this controversy are briefly these. On
the 5 th of June 1864, Mr. Spurgeon preached a sermon

1 66 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
from Mark xvi. 15, 16. This sermon was afterwards
published, and kindled great excitement at the time.
It, in fact, began one of the most furious doctrinal
battles of recent years. The sermon which commenced
this memorable conflict is still read with interest;
indeed, it has now reached a sale of 250,000. copies.
It is printed in volume x. of Mr. Spurgeon's Sermons.
In it Mr. Spurgeon asserts that Baptismal Regenera
tion is — (1) out of character with the spiritual religion
that Jesus came to teach ; (2) that it is not supported
by facts. He also points out the evil influence of
such a figment upon men, and its effects in producing
an advance of Popery.
In contrast to this dogma, Mr. Spurgeon asserts
that salvation always was and is through faith in the
atonement of Christ, and, in conclusion, he indicates
the place and benefit of baptism as a refreshment to
faith. This deliverance was speedily challenged by those
who believed in Baptismal Regeneration, and, in addi
tion to numberless newspaper articles and reviews, it
almost snowed pamphlets and sermons on one or the
other side of the question. In Mr. Spurgeon's Hbrary
we have seen a complete collection of these publica
tions, the only complete collection, we believe, in
existence. It is indeed a large one, and will be of
interest to the historian of the religious thought and
life of our age.
We are not writing a history of this almost forgotten

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 167
controversy, and therefore reserve our comments for a
future volume.
After this war of the giants, Mr. Spurgeon was at
peace until the recent conflict with the Baptist Union
led to his secession from communion with that body.
This controversy is generally known as the " Down
Grade." Into this dispute we do not now propose to
enter at length, but no Life of Mr. Spurgeon would be
complete without a reference to this, the greatest of
his battles.
The facts are briefly these. Mr. Spurgeon published
three articles in the Sword and Trowel. In the first
of these, which appeared in August 1889, he made
these definite assertions : — ist, That "in many churches
and chapels the atonement is scouted, the inspiration
of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit degraded into
an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into a
fiction, and the resurrection into a myth." 2nd, That,
" at the back of doctrinal falsehood there has come a
natural decline of spiritual life, evinced by a taste for
questionable amusements and a weariness of doctrinal
meetings." This article was followed by another, headed "A
Reply to Sundry Critics and Inquirers," and that by
a third paper called " The Case Proved."
This last concludes thus : " What action is to be taken
we leave to those who can see more plainly than we do
what Israel ought to do. One thing is clear to us — we
cannot be expected to meet in any union which com-

1 68 LIVES THAT SPEAK
prehends those whose teaching is, upon fundamental
points, exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear.
Those who can do so will no doubt have weighty rea
sons with which to justify their action, and we will not
sit in judgment upon these reasons. They may judge
that a minority should not drive them out. To us it
appears that there are many things upon which com
promise is possible, but there are others in which it
would be an act of treason to pretend to fellowship.
With deep regret we abstain from assembling with
those whom we dearly love and heartily respect, since
it would involve us in a confederacy with those with
whom we can have no communion in the Lord. Gari
baldi complained that by the cession of Nice to France
he had been made a foreigner in his native land, and
our heart is burdened with a like sorrow; but those
who banish us may yet be of another mind, and enable
us to return."
The Baptist Union met at Sheffield immediately
after the publication of these articles, and during its
session took no formal notice of these articles. We
believe that this was done with the sincere desire to
maintain peace, but some caustic allusion was made in
a public meeting by two speakers, to which no reply
could then be made.
Mr. Spurgeon, who had expected that some official
notice would be taken of his protest, thereupon sent
the following letter to Dr. Booth, the Secretary of the
Baptist Union : —

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 169
"Westwood, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood,
October 28, 1887.
"Dear Friend, — I beg to intimate to you, as the
Secretary of the Baptist Union, that I must withdraw
from that Society. I do this with the utmost regret,
but I have no choice. The reasons are set forth in the
Sword and Trowel for November, and I trust you will
excuse my repeating them here. I beg you not to send
any one to me to ask for reconsideration. I fear I have
considered too long already. Certainly every hour of
the day impresses upon me the conviction that I am
moving none too soon.
" I wish also to add that no personal pique or ill-will
has in the least degree operated upon me. I have per
sonally received more respect than I desired. It is on
the highest ground alone that I do take the step, and
you know that I have long delayed it because I hoped
for better things. — Yours always heartily,
"C. H. Spurgeon."
In reply to this letter Dr. Booth wrote thus : —
"Beckenham, October 31, 1887.
" Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.
" My Dear Friend, — Your letter announcing your
formal withdrawal from the Baptist Union reached me
here at mid-day on Saturday last. I cannot express
adequately the sense of pain such a step has caused
me. Nor can I at present calmly think of the future.
I can only leave it as it is for a while, merely adding
that I think you have wounded the hearts of some — of

170 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
many — who honour and love you more than you have
any idea of, and whose counsel would have led to a
far different result. — I am, yours very truly,
"S. Harris Booth."
Various efforts to effect a compromise were attempted
in vain, and Mr. Spurgeon was visited by a deputation
from the Baptist Union.
As it was alleged that some ministers who were mem
bers of his own Conference were not orthodox, Mr.
Spurgeon next proceeded to reorganise his Conference.
In order to ascertain the truth or falsehood of this
assertion, on the 3rd of February 1888, a meeting of
those ministers working in London who had been edu
cated in the Pastors' College was held, in the course of
which Mr. Spurgeon declared that he could not remain
associated with those who held the new theology, and
offered, if it were wished, to resign the Presidency of
the Conference, a proposal which was received with
a most emphatic " No." It was resolved to dissolve the
Conference. A new Association was then formed, and
a declaration of faith was drawn up as a basis of asso
ciation. The creed was declared by resolution to be
— (1.) The doctrines of grace. (2.) Believers' baptism.
(3.) Earnest endeavours to win souls for Christ; and it
was agreed that any who ceased to be in agreement
with their brethren upon these points have, in conse
quence, severed their connection with the Association.
This resolution was sent by post to the country

HUMOURIST AND CONTROVERSIALIST. 171
ministers who were members of the former Conference,

with the result that out of 496 members, 432 agreed to
the new basis of agreement, and were formed into The
Pastors' College Evangelical Association, which now
numbers 450.
In April 1888, the Baptist Union met at the City
Temple, London; a compromise was agreed to, with
the purpose of uniting the two opposed sections of
the Baptist denomination, but this Mr. Spurgeon sub
sequently repudiated.
On Tuesday nth of April, Mr. Spurgeon withdrew
from the London Baptist Association.
"I shall never cease to regret that Mr. Spurgeon
has left us. We have no equal to him. I believe he
has left his best and truest friends, and might have
rendered better and nobler service in the Union than
he can against it. But we have Dr. Maclaren and Dr.
Angus, and a host of others. Still we sadly miss Mr.
Spurgeon," wrote Rev. Charles William to an Ameri
can friend.
On the 6th of June 1890, Mr. Spurgeon united with
a small Association of Churches hitherto known as the
Surrey and Middlesex Baptist Association. This was
re-named The Home Counties Association. Upon join
ing this body, Mr. Spurgeon promised to provide two
colporteurs to labour among the villages of Surrey.
The accession of Mr. Spurgeon has given new life to
this small association, which is doing most important
evanselistic service in the villages and small towns of
Surrey.

CHAPTER IX.
THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE, OR LOVE
THAT WROUGHT IN PAIN.
" Distance divides not wedded hearts,
Thought's pinion doth not tire,
Nor can the waterfloods of grief
Quench love's eternal fire ! "
— Lady H. Lawrence
" Instead of finding fault with a bookless preacher, who has to beat
his brains for fresh subjects, and then finds it hard to treat them
with any freshneBS, it would be far wiser to send him a present of
suggestive volumes. To whip the horse is both unjust and unwise
when a feed of corn is really wanted." — C. H. Spubgeon.
" When my God gives to any words of mine the power to bless and
comfort His people, I feel overwhelmed with a sense of His goodness
and love. Some folks think that only sin can keep us humble, but
my own experience certainly does not allow that view of the matter.
I find that grace is the potent soil for true humility to grow in ; and
the greater the favours the Lord bestows on me, the more unworthy
do I deem myself of such indulgence." — Mas. C. H. Spurgeon.

"LOVE THAT WROUGHT IN PAIN "—WORK THAT GREW— FOOD
FOR THE BODY AS WELL AS THE MIND — A HAPPY HOME-
LETTER TO CHILDREN.
The Malays, when they are about to rear a house,
place a girl in the deep hole which is to receive
the huge beams of the building. The beam is thrust

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 173
into its place, and thus literally the house is reared in
blood. Which thing is true of many a fortune and a
great name, and in another sense is also true of all that
is noble and worth doing. By the pain, and perhaps
by the death of the worker, every Christian enterprise
is accomplished.And it is singular, also, to observe that the history
of Christian progress is a history of the triumph of
woman's service for God, a service which is almost
always rendered in pain. The records of the past are
luminous with the names of Susannah Wesley, the
Countess of Huntingdon, Mrs. Fry, and many others.
Nor is it without comfort that the present age boasts of
womanhood as noble and as loving in its service as
any preceding era. Want of space forbids illustration
of this truth, if other were needed than that which is
furnished by the work which has been rendered by
Mrs. Spurgeon to all the churches of Christ. And
when we remember that what she has done for others
has been performed at the cost of great personal suffer
ing, the sacrifice is all the more a pattern of what can
be done even by one who is laid aside from ordinary
forms of Christian enterprise.
Of Mrs. Spurgeon herself very little has been heard,
and we shall consult her wishes best if we speak of her
work rather than of herself.
That work has been described in a delicate brochure,
tbe reading of which will be a source of great personal
enjoyment to all who admire gracious self-sacrifice and

174 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
concentrated purpose for the noblest ends, and which
will make one exclaim —
" I know by the gleam and the glitter,
By the traces of pain and tear,
By your heart's sweet sense of comfort,
Of the fire you have had to bear."
"Ten Years of my Life in the Service of the
Book Fund " is the title of the book to which we
allude, and after perusing it one wishes that Mrs.
Spurgeon had been strong enough to write very much
more. In this volume we have delightful glimpses
of a happy home-life, which are all the more attrac
tive and charming because they are unconsciously
drawn. Thus, when moving from Nightingale Lane to West-
wood, Mrs. Spurgeon wrote : —
"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 remembrance of mani
fold 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 'Bochim.' The very walls
might cry out against us as ungrateful, did we not

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 175
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 loving
kindness. The sun of His goodness has photographed
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 will jealously preserve.
Tender remembrances will render indelible the pic
tures 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 con
valescence; 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 the 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.' "
Sometimes her work furnishes topics for mirth, such
as the following incident : —
Two letters had reached Mrs. Spurgeon, "The first
from a young man who evidently desired to possess
Mr. Spurgeon's ' Lectures to my Students,' but, being
either misinformed on the subject, or having evolved

176 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
a whimsical conjecture out of his own brain, he asked
me deliberately and emphatically to give him my
lectures. ' The lectures written by you,' explained he,
underlining the words lest there should be any mistake
about such precious productions.
" My husband made the richest fun out of this blunder
ing request. ' Oh ! ' he said, ' they're not published yet !
That is a pity. They are first-rate, but they are only
orally delivered.' I let him go on in this style for ever
so long, enjoying it to his heart's content, and then I
triumphantly produced the second letter, saying, ' Well,
now, we will hear the other side of the question, for
the writer of this note asks me the price of "my
master's" Treasury of David!' Here was sweet re
venge for me ; and I duly exulted in turning the tables
gleefully upon dear John, who is very fond of calling
me ' the Missis,' and having a real merry time over the
innocent insinuations which, by a most curious coin
cidence, met in the same post. We laughed till we
almost cried, and since then have made our friends
laugh too. Here is, thank God ! only love and peace
in home, sweet home ! Of course, John Ploughman
is the master, as he ought to be, and my master too.
I am proud to confess his dominion, and my sweet
thraldom ; but equally, of course, I am ' the Missis ; '
and if I do sometimes yearn to give a ' lecture,' I try
so to fashion it that dear John shall think he is listen
ing to a lyric, and like it immensely. And he does,
but it couldn't be printed."

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 177
In addition to such bright flashes of mirth we have
some sacred passages like the following : —
" One morning when I was reading the portions of
Scripture in ' Daily Light,' my husband said, ' What
are the texts for to-day, wifey ? ' So I read : —
" ' 0 Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do
Thou it for Thy Name's sake.' — Jer. xiv. 17.
" ' Let the power of my Lord be great, according as
thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering,
and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgres
sion.' — Numb. xiv. 17, 18.
" ' Help us, 0 God of our salvation, for the glory of
Thy Name ; and deliver us, and purge away our sins
for Thy Name's, sake.' — Psalm lxxix. 9.
" ' These texts remind me,' I said, ' of a circumstance
which came to my knowledge lately, which pleased
and interested me much.' I then related to him the
story as I read it : —
" A prayer-meeting was being held in a country town,
/ and a good man was praying very earnestly, pleading
promise after promise before God with great fervour,
when he was suddenly interrupted by some one crying
out in a loud voice, 'That's it, brother, that's it!
Bind Him down to that ! He can't go from His
word ! '
" The dear Pastor looked grave as I uttered the last
words, and his conclusion differed widely from the one
I had arrived at. A shadow as of pain passed over his
face, and in tender, measured tones he replied, 'Ah!
M

178 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
but He does not need binding down to it, bless His dear
Name ! ' "
The following is very touching and beautiful : —
" For some time past it has been the dear Pastor'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 sufferings of
the Lord Jesus were the theme of tearful meditation,
when, with love and grief our heart dividing, we fol
lowed 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 bewildered by the inexhaustible treasures of love
and grace to be found in that fair 'land of Havilab,
where there is gold ! '
" Gracious hours are those thus spent, and unspeak
ably precious to my soul; for while the Lord's dear
servant is reaping the corn of the kingdom for the

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 179
longing multitude who expect to be fed by His hand,
I can glean between the sheaves, and gather the ' hand-
f uls of purpose ' which are let fall so lovingly.
" 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 discursive old divines in whom he
delights, and pressing from the gathered thoughts all
the richest nectar of their hidden sweetness. Thus a
poor prisoner 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 adoration 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.'" These extracts sufficiently show the finish, charm,
and sweetness of this book ; the1 story of Mrs. Spur
geon's Book Fund is told in the following passage : —
"It was in the summer of 1875 that my dear hus
band completed and published the first volume of his
'Lectures to Students.' Reading one of the 'proof
copies, I became so enamoured of the book, that, when

180 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
the dear, author asked, 'Well, how do you like it?' I
answered with a full heart, 'I wish I could place it
in the hands of every minister in England.'
" ' Then why not do so ? How much will you give ? '
said my very practical spouse.
" I must confess that I was unprepared for such a
challenge. I was ready enough to desire the distribution
of the precious book, but to assist in it, or to help to
pay for it, had not occurred to me. But John Plough
man drives a straight furrow to one's heart, and knows
how to turn over the thick clods of selfishness which
lie there choking up the useful growths, and very soon
his words set me thinking how much I could spare
from housekeeping or personal matters to start this
new scheme. I knew it would necessitate a pressure
somewhere, for money was not plentiful just then ; but
to see dear John's face become so radiant at the idea of
my scattering his books far and wide was worth any
effort, and love even more than obedience constrained
me to carry out the suddenly formed plan.
" Then comes the wonderful part : I found the money
ready and waiting. Upstairs in a little drawer were
some carefully-hoarded crown-pieces, which, owing to
some foolish fancy, I had been gathering for years,
whenever chance threw one in my way ; these I counted
out, and found they made a sum exactly sufficient to
pay for one hundred copies of the work ! If a twinge
of regret at parting from my cherished but unwieldy
favourites passed over me, it was gone in an instant,

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON -TREE. 181
and then they were given freely and thankfully to the
Lord ; and in that moment, though I knew it not, the
Book Fund was started."
We learn from a subsequent page that during the
previous winter (1874) Mrs. Spurgeon had planted a
lemon pip, which in due time became a plant, and is
now a tree ! This lemon tree has become associated
with the work of the Book Fund, for both have sprung
from tiny seeds, sown without any idea as to what they
would become.
It was a favourite fancy of Mrs. Spurgeon that for
every leaf on her tree she would receive a hundred
pounds for her book fund.
" You'll see," I said to my boys, " the Lord will send
me hundreds of pounds for this work." For many a
day afterwards, mother's " hundreds of pounds " became
a household word of good-humoured merriment and
badinage." The original design was to give one hundred copies
of the Lectures ; this number increased to two hundred,
and then Mrs. Spurgeon resolved to give, as far as
possible, the volumes of the " Treasury of David." At
first only those ministers who had been students in
her husband's College were the recipients, but after a
time other Nonconformist pastors were favoured. Then
curates and clergymen of the Church of England re
quested not to be overlooked, and even some among
the High Church clergy received with gratitude Mr.
Spurgeon's books. The authoress is careful to explain

1 82 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
that all the recipients have asked for her husband's
books, although in some cases other standard and help
ful books have been given.
The depth of suffering in many pastors' homes that
was disclosed by Mrs. Spurgeon's work is terrible; it
is an unlovely side of Evangelical religion that many
of the ministers inside the Church and among the Non
conformists have laboured in literal poverty.
The terrible pinch and struggle to obtain needful
food and clothing leave but little or no money for the
purchase of books, which, in the way of stimulative
suggestion and mental tonic, are a necessity to a re
ligious teacher. For although it is true that the Book
of God can only be interpreted by spiritual understand
ing, yet because it is a human as well as a Divine
book, men require helps to understand it.
At a recent meeting one speaker condoled and wept
about the suffering masses, and was replied to thus : " I
pity them five pounds, how much do you pity them ? "
The pitiful stories of distress among ministers that
came to Mrs. Spurgeon moved her to originate a new
fund, which began in 1877. From this, called the
Pastors' Aid Fund, from time to time, the worst cases
were relieved, and judging from the extracts from
letters published in " Ten Years," in the most gracious
and judicious manner.
The original intention to restrict the gift to Baptists
was soon abandoned, and Mrs. Spurgeon resolved to
supply books to ministers of every Evangelical deno-

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON -TREE. 183
mination in active charge whose total income did not
exceed £i$o per year.
No means were employed to establish the fund ; it
simply grew, because it was from God and was the
subject of prayer.
From time to time brief notices of the work were
given in the Sword and Trowel, but no advertisements
were required or thought of. The God to whom the
service was rendered gave the money, and without
endowment the work went on increasing year after
year. More than once Mrs. Spurgeon found herself with no
funds in hand, but with many pressing needs that she
longed to supply. Then the exact amount of money
required came in, and she was able to gratify her desire
to console and reinspire the obscure and disheartened
sufferers. Mrs. Spurgeon relates this touching incident aris
ing from this work :— A poor minister was compelled
by ill-health and the poverty of his church to resign
his charge. The only chance for life was for him
to go to Australia. How to pay the passage-money
thither was a difficulty, and the good man proposed
to go first, leaving his wife in England to attempt to
support herself and children by needlework. Then
Mrs. Spurgeon became acquainted with the facts, and
she at once generously provided the funds, with the
exception of about £16, which she still required. But
on the very morning when this money must be forth-

1 84 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
coming Mr. Spurgeon received an anonymous gift of
£15 as a personal present, and this cheque he gene
rously allotted for the purpose of paying the passage-
money of the poor family.
Such instances are remarkable, not only for the proof
that they supply as to the virtue of prayer, but also
as to the revelations of self-sacrifice and piety fur
nished by them. Mrs. Spurgeon's book is a record of
answered prayer, and of triumphant faith, which we
would place, as we would George Miiller's, among the
most convincing of our Christian evidences. God by
these things proves that He exists, and that He does
answer prayer. Look at the facts ! *
Mrs. Spurgeon acknowledges gratefully the help that
her publishers have rendered in supplying her with
books at low terms, and in printing and binding the
report of her work free ; for it is part of the reward of
every gracious self-sacrificing deed that it stimulates
others to imitation.
Scattered through the book from whence we glean
this information are such gems as the following, which
we cannot refrain from copying : —
" ' Do you notice, husband,' I said, ' how closely the
Lord keeps the work within the bounds of my strength ?
Year by year almost the same sum of money comes
from His hand. If one friend fails us, He raises up
another, and, without advertisement, without offer or
inducements of any sort, the stream of applications
from the right people follows the course of the channel

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 185
of supply. Six years now have witnessed this constant
incoming and outgoing — a quiet steady work, just fitted
and moulded to the weak fingers which joyfully guide
its machinery. Is not the Lord's tender care seen in
this ? '
" ' Put that in your report, wifey,' said my ' Head.'
So I put it in."
There are many similar passages that are beau
tiful tokens of a happy home-life and of a mutual
service quite as important as the higher forms of
Christian usefulness, which are rendered in the blaze
of day.
In the year 1888 an auxiliary book fund was com
menced in response to an appeal from Mrs. Spurgeon.
This contemplates rendering to local preachers and
other similar workers the help that Mrs. Spurgeon's
Book Fund has given to ministers.
From the last report we learn that during the year
1890, 6867 volumes have been given away, making a
total of 122,129 volumes for the fifteen years. In
addition to these books, nearly 7000 sermons have
been sent out, with many thousands of tracts, for home
distribution, and as many for foreign lands.
As a proof of the catholicity of the work, we observe
that during the last year named (1890) for which a
report is issued, the gifts were distributed thus : —
122 Clergymen — 119 Baptists — 109 Methodists — 76 In
dependents — 48 Missionaries — 7 Presbyterians — 2 Moravians
— 1 Lutheran— 484 in all.

1 86

LIVES THAT SPEAK.

The balance-sheet for 1890 may also be of interest,
as showing what fruit the lemon-tree has yielded.

Keceipts.
Balance in hand . 562
Donations, &c. . 980
Interest . . 27

S. 5
0

d. 8
09

Expenditure.
By Books . . 809
„ Postage . . 27
Balance in hand . 733

8 78

d.
II
II 7

^iS7o

5

S

^157°

S

5

The figures are remarkable, because we can read
behind them not only the faithfulness of God and
the power of prayer and faith, but- also what one
suffering soul may accomplish in the service of Christ
for others.
Would that there were more of such service rendered
at the cost of comfort, self, and life, for such alone is
accepted of Christ.
A word or two may here be given to Mrs. Spurgeon's
twin sons, both of whom are preachers of the Gospel.
They were born on the 20th of September 1856 in
a house in the Old Kent Road, London.
Rev. Charles Spurgeon was educated at Brighton,
and was not only a most successful student, but also a
cricketer of note. In the year 1877 he entered the
Pastors' College. While thus engaged in preparing for
the great business of his life, Mr. Charles Spurgeon
took charge of a small and dying church in Wands
worth. The faithful and thoughtful ministry of the
student was greatly blessed, and a large and influential
church has resulted from this enterprise.

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 187
In the year 1879 he undertook the difficult task of
superintending a flagging church in Greenwich. This
endeavour was also surprisingly successful, and there
he has ministered ever since. On the nth of April
1 88 1 Mr. Spurgeon was married to Miss Jacob of
Norwood. Rev. Thomas Spurgeon, whom his mother fondly
calls "My Seagull," was compelled by ill-health to
leave our damp climate. In Australia and New Zea
land he has been instrumental in performing great
service to all the Churches.
Rev. Charles Spurgeon is better known in England
than his brother Thomas. He visited Cardiff some
years ago, and while in the lobby he overheard
some one say, "That is Mr. Spurgeon; he is a
chip of the old block." Mr. Spurgeon at once re
torted, "My father is not a block, though I may be
a shaver." The writer was present at the Stockwell Orphanage
Festival when each of Mr. Spurgeon's sons made his
first public speech. There were then present Rev.
John Spurgeon, the grandfather ; Rev. C. H. and James
Spurgeon ; and Rev. C. H. Spurgeon's two sons — three
generations. Here perhaps will be the best place to insert a letter
which in the year 1889 Mr. Spurgeon sent to the chil
dren of Baptist ministers.
At a meeting of the Conference of that year, Dr.
Usher of Belfast prayed for the children of the mini-

1 88 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
sters who were present. Mr. Spurgeon remarked upon
the prayer, and offered to write to the children of any
minister present who desired it. The offer was grate
fully accepted, and while for younger children a simpler
note was prepared, to those who were older, the follow
ing letter was sent : — "Westwood, Norwood.
" 0 Lord, bless this letter !
"My Dear  ,
I was a little while ago at a meeting for prayer,
where a large number of ministers were gathered to
gether. The subject of prayer was ' our children.' It
soon brought the tears to my eyes to hear those good
fathers pleading with God for their sons and daughters.
As they went on entreating the Lord to save their fami
lies, my heart seemed ready to burst with strong desire
that it might be even so. Then I thought, I will
write to those sons and daughters, and remind them of
their parents' prayers.
"Dear  , you are highly privileged in having
parents who pray for you. Your name is known in
the courts of heaven. Your case has been laid before
the throne of God.
" L)o you not pray for yourself? If you do not do so,
why not ? If other people value your soul, can it be
right for you to neglect it? All the entreaties and
wrestlings of your father will not save you if you never
seek the Lord yourself. You know this.

THE FRUIT OF THE LEMON-TREE. 189
" You do not intend to cause grief to dear mother and
father; but you do. So long as you are not saved,
they can never rest. However obedient, and sweet,
and kind you may be, they will never feel happy about
you until you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and so
find everlasting salvation.
"Think of this. Remember how much you have
already sinned, and none can wash you but Jesus.
When you grow up, you may become very sinful, and
none can change your nature and make you holy but
the Lord Jesus, through His Spirit.
"You need what father and mother seek for you,
and you need it Now. Why not seek it at once ? I
heard a father pray, ' Lord, save our children, and save
them young.' It is never too soon to be safe ; never too
soon to be happy ; never too soon to be holy. Jesus
loves to receive the very young ones.
" You cannot save yourself, but the great Lord Jesus
can save you. Ask Him to do it. 'He that asketh
receiveth.' Then trust in Jesus to save you. He can
do it, for He died and rose again that 'whosoever
believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting
life.' Come and tell Jesus you have sinned; seek
forgiveness ; trust in Him for it, and be sure that you
are saved.
"Then imitate our Lord. Be at home what Jesus
was at Nazareth. Yours will be a happy home, and
your dear father and mother will feel that the dearest
wish of their hearts has been granted them.

190 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" I pray you to think of heaven and hell ; for in one
of those places you will Eve for ever. Meet me in
heaven ! Meet me at once at the mercy-seat. Run
upstairs and pray to the great Father, through Jesus
Christ. — Yours very lovingly,
"C. H. Spurgeon."

CHAPTER X.
"THE CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES."
{On a bag of flour sold at a bazaar in aid of James Grove Baptist
Chapel, was printed the following lines.)
" Our bodies are the servants of our souls,
And yield obedience to their lordly sway.
Our souls have daily need of heavenly food ;
And if the bread which nourisheth our flesh
Oannot, because of grossness, feed the mind,
'Tis seeming that it aid to build the house
In which the sacred banquet shall be spread."
— C. H. Spubgeon.
" The Chinese cannot pronounce ' Spurgeon ' correctly, so we call
him in this quarter Sze-Pah-ng, i.e., ' the successor or continuator of
a hundred virtues.' The word 'hundred' in Chinese stands for an
indefinite number."

1 865-1 89O.
"CROOKEDER THAN EVER "^CHRIST THE CONQUEROR— FLOWER
MISSION— MORTIFYING THE OLD MAN— " THE ANGELS DID
THEIE WORK WELL" — THE OPEN LETTER.
" Gentlemen, all is well, but much has yet to be done,"
said Marlborough, when complimented after one.of his
most brilliant exploits. " All is well, but much has yet
to be done."
The same may be said of Mr. Spurgeon and his work,
and in this spirit he has gone from one enterprise to
another. 191

192 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
His history since the opening of the huge Tabernacle
has been singularly interesting and full of romantic
incidents, but for want of space we must content our
selves with noting a few only of the more remarkable
events of some years.
In the year 1865 Mr. Spurgeon first issued the Sword
and Trowel, which in its turn led to the establishment
of the Orphanage and other enterprises.
We believe that it was during some special meetings
for prayer that were held during this year that the
following incident occurred : —
A man stood up, and with tears running down his
cheeks, and in sore distress, prayed much after this
fashion : " 0 Lord, thou knowest that I have a good wife
at home — a very good wife, but she has such a shock
ing bad temper. Thou knowest, 0 Lord, that I have
reasoned with her, talked with her, but it's all of no
good ; she won't improve. Thou knowest, 0 Lord,
that last Sunday night I brought her to hear our dear
pastor preach. When she came out I said to her,
'How did you like it?' and she said, 'Oh, it was
beautiful ! ' But when she got home she was crookeder
than ever."
This year of 1865 was a heavy one at the Tabernacle.
A Band of Hope was formed, and also an association of
the London ministers who had once been in the College ;
the latter has since developed into the Pastors' College
Evangelical Association, of which we have spoken.
"Our Own Hymn Book" was then first issued, and

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 193
Mr. Spurgeon with others founded what is known as
the London Baptist Association.
Among these pleasing tokens of successful effort
there were, of course, difficulties and troubles. Mr.
Spurgeon was much annoyed by the assertion that he
was attempting to found a new denomination. Had
he contemplated such a design, he could easily have
accomplished it, but he has more than once distinctly
repudiated any intention to propagate what has been
called Spurgeonism. In the Sword and Trowel for
March 1866 he strongly asserted his purpose to be not
to gather any new denomination. " He who searches all
hearts knows that our aim and object is not to gather
a band around self, but to invite a company around
the Saviour," he said. " ' Let my name perish, but let
Christ's name last for ever,' said George Whitfield, and
so has Charles Spurgeon said a hundred times."
The Colportage Association commenced its efforts
this year,
The increasing toil of his many works led Mr. Spur
geon to seek assistance, and on the ist January 1868
his brother, Rev. James Spurgeon, became co-pastor
with him.
Rev. J. A. Spurgeon has never had full justice done
to his remarkable business abilities and attainments.
He is of another order than his brother, but that is
a high and important order. In a future publication
we intend to refer more at length to Mr. J. A. Spur
geon, and now content ourselves with observing that
N

194 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
his work has not a little contributed to the permanent
success of the huge church that has gathered around
his brother and himself.
In the year 1870, the doctrine of the future state
came into prominence, and the Christian World freely
opened its columns to those who assailed the orthodox
faith, refusing a hearing to their opponents with one
exception — Mr. Spurgeon. Mr. Spurgeon felt that
as the general consent of the Christian Church from
the first has been with- those who believe that the
punishment of sinners is unending, and that therefore
the burden of proof lay with those who sought to
introduce what they alleged to be a more scriptural
view, declined the controversy, but at his request Rev.
George Rogers set forth the orthodox view in two
exhaustive articles, which were afterwards published
as pamphlets. The same year, 1 870, saw the issue of
Mr. Spurgeon's " Feathers for Arrows."
Two years later Mr. Spurgeon visited Rome, and
while sitting in the Colosseum he said to his friends,
"Is it not glorious to look at this old ruin, and see
how Christ has conquered here ? for all these ruins tell
what desolations He hath made on the earth, how He
breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder."
Then with his companions he sung : —
" Jesus, tremendous name,
Puts all our foes to flight ;
Jesus, the meek, the angry lamb,
A lion is in fight."

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 195
An American and an English clergyman came up and
united in the next verse, and in sight of the ruin which
told of what had once hindered the Gospel, they sang —
" By all hell's host withstood,
We all hell's host o'erthrow,
And conquering them through Jesus' blood,
We still to conquer go."
In the year 1874 Mr. Spurgeon was much assailed
because he, when exposed to an injudicious attack on
account of his smoking, retorted that he could smoke
to the glory of God.
Many people object to smoking, but to assail Mr.
Spurgeon in his own Tabernacle upon a point which
is confessedly one upon which Christians have differed,
was most unjustifiable and ungracious. Mr. Spurgeon
defended himself most ably in the Daily Telegraph.
" The expression ' smoking to the glory of God ' stand
ing alone has an ill sound," he said, " and I don't justify
it ; but in the sense in which I employed it I will stand
to it. No Christian should do anything in which he
cannot glorify God, and this may be done according to
Scripture in eating and drinking, and the common
actions of life. When I have found intense pain re
lieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep
obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God, and
have blessed His name. This is what I meant, and
by no means did I use sacred words triflingly."
This defence silenced his adversaries, and after a
time the controversy subsided.

196 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
In the same year, on the 2 ist of September 1874,
Mr. Spurgeon baptized his two sons.
Although out of the order of time, reference may
here be made to two meetings which were held on
June 1 8th and 19th, 1884. Mr. Spurgeon was then
presented with a testimonial consisting of an address,
accompanied by a gift of ^4500, which he at once
appropriated to various Christian societies associated
with the Tabernacle. The address is a beautiful work
of art ; it contains in the borders a correct photograph
of the two pastors. It says —
" To the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon,
Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
" With an united voice of thanksgiving to our ever-
blessed God on your behalf; with a cordial acknow
ledgment of the good services you have rendered to the
universal Church of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and with
a profound sense of the high character and wide reputa
tion you have established among your fellow-Christians,
we beg to offer you our sincere congratulations on this
the fiftieth anniversary of your birthday.
" Accept our assurance that no language but the lan
guage of personal affection could fitly express the esteem
in which you are held by ourselves and by the nume
rous constituency we represent. Were it possible for
the lips of all those who love you as a brother, and
those who revere you as a father in Christ, to sound in

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 197
your ears the sentiments of their hearts, the music of
their chorus at this glad hour would be like the noise
of many waters.
"Gathered together, as we now are, in this sacred
edifice — sacred not by reason of any superstitious cere
mony at the opening, but by the soul-saving miracles
of grace subsequently wrought beneath its roof — it
becomes us to greet you first as Pastor of this Ancient
Church. More than thirty of those fifty years you
chronicle to-day have been spent in our midst. As our
Minister you are known to the utmost ends of the
earth. Richly endowed by the Spirit of God with
wisdom and discretion, your conduct as our Ruling Elder
has silenced contention and promoted harmony. The
three hundred souls you found in fellowship at New
Park Street Chapel have multiplied to a fellowship of
nearly six thousand in this Tabernacle. And under
your watchful oversight the family group has increased
without any breach of order.
" You came among us in the freshness of your youth.
At that flowering age when boys of good promise are
wont to change their curriculum from school to college,
you had already developed into manliness, and there
was ripe fruit as well as pleasant foliage on your
branches. The groundwork of your education appeared
to be so solid, and the maturity of your character so
thoroughly reliable, that you were unanimously elected
by venerable members of the Church of Christ to pre
side over their councils. The fair prospect of your

198 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
spring-time has not suffered from any blight. Your
natural abilities never betrayed you into indolent
habits. The talents you possessed gave stimulus to
your diligence. A little prosperity did not elate you,
or a measure of success prompt the desire to settle
down in some quiet resting-place. You spread your
sails to catch the breeze. The ascendency you began
to acquire over the popular mind, instead of making you
vain-glorious, filled you with awe, and increased the
rigour of that discipline you have always exercised over
yourself. These were happy auguries of your good
speed. Not that the utmost vigilance on your part
could have sufficed to uphold you amidst the vast and
accumulating responsibilities that have devolved on
you as the sphere of your ministry widened. He who
ruleth in the heavens has screened you in times of
peril, and piloted you through shoals and quicksands,
through straits and rapids. His grace and His good
ness, His promises and His providence have never
failed you. From the hour when you first committed
your soul, your circumstances, and your destinies to
the keeping of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have never
feared such a disaster. To your unwavering faith in
His guardian care we venture to attribute the coolness
of your head and the courage of your heart in all the
great adventures of your life. Some of us have been
with you from the beginning of your charge. Since
then a generation has almost passed away. According
to a law as legibly written as any law of nature, the

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 199
Scripture has said, " Instead of the fathers, shall be the
children." Hence, in not a few instances, you must
miss the sires while you meet the sons. The retrospect
of your career, to those who have followed it through
out, appears like one unbroken series of successes ; but
as our memory retraces the steps you have taken, we
can testify to the exhaustive labours in which you have
blithely engaged, the constant self-denial you have
cheerfully exercised, and the restless anxieties that
have kept you and your comrades incessantly calling
on the name of the Lord. By such an experience you
have enlarged the field of evangelical enterprise in the
various institutions of the Church. And it has been
your happiness not only to see the growth of those
institutions beyond the most sanguine hopes you che
rished when planting them, but to have received the
grateful thanks of those who derived unspeakable bene
fit in partaking of their fruits. Such gratitude demands
our notice, though only in the lowest degree. Your
skilful generalship has laid ten thousand happy donors
to your charities under lasting obligations to you for
providing outlets for their benevolence. It has pleased
the Lord to make whatever you do to prosper. You
have been the faithful steward and the kindly executor
of hundreds and thousands of pious individuals,- whose
fond design has been to lay up treasure for themselves
in heaven by paying into the exchequer on earth of
their substance for the widow and the fatherless in
their distress, for the poor, and those who have no

200 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
helper. Let the acknowledgments of subscribers to
the various purses you hold in your hands, as well
as those of recipients, cheer you as you enter on a
fresh decade of the days of the years of your earthly
pilgrimage. " An occasion like this is so solemn, and an address
like the present is so serious, that we may well search
the sacred volume for suitable words. We feel sure
that brethren in all parts of the earth pray for you.
And we are equally certain that the churches which
are in Christ throughout the world glorify God in you.
The Lord preserve and keep you to the end. To this
hour you have maintained an unsullied reputation
among men. Erring as we all are before God, it is our
sincere conviction that if such a thing were possible, a
second edition of your life, revised by yourself, could
hardly be an amendment.
" You braved much calumny on the outset of your
career, and you have outlived it. The secularists, who
once denounced, now salute you. Where your theology
has failed to convert them your philanthropy has suf
ficed to enchant them. You are lifted in public esteem
above suspicion, as a true man — no traitor or time-
server. Your kindness to everybody has made every
body kind to you. You have illustrated the force and
the fulness of a divine proverb which has puzzled many
a philosopher : " When a man's ways please the Lord
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him."
" If, dear Sir, you give us full credit for the intense

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 201
sympathy we have felt when sickness and sorrow have
weakened your strength in the way, you will not deny
us the gratification of alluding to the private and
domestic joys that pour down like sunbeams on your
face and gladden your Jubilee.
" Your beloved and estimable wife, whose life long
trembled in the balance, has been restored to health.
Had she been less heroic and more exacting in her pro
tracted illness, you must have been more reserved and
less generous in the consecration of your time and
thought to the good works you were doing. In the
stillness of enforced retirement her inventive genius
discovered new channels of usefulness. Her ' Book
Fund' is beyond all praise. And her delicate mission
has been so appreciated, that throughout the British
Isles, and in foreign lands, her name has become linked
with your own at every station where an ambassador
of Christ publishes the glad tidings of the Gospel.
" Your father and mother, walking before God in quiet
unpretentious piety, have both been spared to see their
first-born son in the meridian of a career that has made
their once obscure patronymic famous throughout the
world. " Your worthy brother and trusty yoke-fellow in the
pastorate is still by your side rendering good service,
for which his fine business tact, and his manly but
modest desire to second all your motions to go forward,
eminently qualify him.
" Your two sons have both devoted themselves to tbe

202 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
ministry ; and each of them in his own sphere of labour
has found proof that he was divinely anointed to his
pastorate. "To yourself, however, we turn as a central figure,
recognised from afar by tens of thousands of people, to
whom your name is an emblem of purity and power,
and by whom you are accounted second to none among
living Preachers, and your sermons are appreciated as a
faithful exposition of the Gospel of God, instinct with
the witness of the Holy Spirit, and therefore quickening
in their influence on the conscience and the hearts of
men. " On your head we now devoutly invoke those bless
ings which we believe the Almighty is abundantly
willing to bestow.
" May your steps in the future be ordered of the Lord
as they have been in the" past. May a generation yet
unborn witness that your old age is luxuriant and
fruitful as your youth. May your life on earth wind
up like the holy Psalter that you so much love. Be it
yours to anchor at last in David's Psalm of Praise,
prolific as it was of other Psalms, into which no groan
or sigh could intrude. So may you rest in the Lord
with a vision of the everlasting Kingdom dawning on
your eyes, and Hallelujah after Hallelujah resounding
in your ears."
In the same year a clergyman wrote to Mr. Spurgeon,
pointing out that in his opinion the great preacher's
frequent illnesses were a judgment from Almighty God

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 203
in consequence of Mr. Spurgeon's attacks upon the
Church of England. This letter came while the death
of Bishop Wilberforce (who broke his neck by a fall
from his horse) was still fresh in the public mind. Mr.
Spurgeon crushingly retorted upon his assailant by
asking, "If a swollen leg be a mark of God's dis
pleasure, what shall we say of a broken neck ? "
The reasons for afflictive providence are among the
secret things of God, and it ill becomes foolish men to
pry into the Divine designs. Yet, while there is a
general connection between the sin that is ever present
in the world, and the sorrow that has resulted from it,
our Lord Himself has laid down the law upon this
matter: "Neither this man sinned nor his parents;
but that the works of God should be made manifest in
him" (John x. 3).
On the ist of May 1875 Mr. Spurgeon's sons made
their first public speech. The meeting was held at
the Orphanage, and there were present three genera
tions of Spurgeons who took" part in the meeting.
On the 1 6th July 1876, Mr. Spurgeon threw open
the Tabernacle to those who were not in the habit of
attending any form of public worship. It was an ex
periment, and was crowned with remarkable success.
The seatholders and ordinary worshippers vacated their
seats, and the Tabernacle was packed with a dense
crowd of those who, perhaps for the first time, heard
Mr. Spurgeon preach.
On the 26th of June 1876, three persons were bap-

204 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
tized at the Tabernacle who had been converted under
the preaching of Mr. Spurgeon's sons, a circumstance
which must have been most encouraging to their father.
In the year 1877 the ladies of the Tabernacle
Church inaugurated the Flower Mission. They dis
tributed among the sick of various hospitals and
infirmaries bouquets of flowers to which texts of
Scripture were appended. We once heard Mr. Spur
geon relate that a man lay in a hospital awaiting
a dangerous operation. The poor man was terribly
despondent; he thought sadly about his Hfe -work,
in all probability about to end ; his wife and children
were far off in a Northern city. A lady brought him
a bunch of flowers, to which was tied a card with the
singular text, "He trusted in God: let Him deliver
him if he will have Him ! " The man read the words,
and they were a message from God to his soul. All
his fears were removed, and he sent for the surgeons
to say that he was willing to submit to the operation
when they were ready.
In the year 1877 Mr. Spurgeon visited the Golden
Lane Mission, which is conducted by Mr. W. Orsman,
one of the members of the Tabernacle. To those who
have only heard Mr. Spurgeon preaching in his own
church, it is a revelation of special talents to hear him
address such a throng as then gathered to hear him at
the Golden Lane Mission. The success of a preacher!
consists of his power of adaptability, and this Mr. Spur
geon possesses in a marvellous degree.

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 205
On the 6th of May of the same year the founda
tion-stones of three almshouses were laid at New
ington. In the following month the first chapter of
"John Ploughman's Talk" appeared in the Sword
and Trowel.
In the same year (1877), Mr- Spurgeon addressed
the members of the London Stock Exchange. He
afterwards preached to men of business on the " Claims
of God."
During the following year (1878) Mr. Spurgeon had
a narrow escape from death. He was driving in the
Highlands of Scotland when the harness broke and
the horses bolted. They rushed down a steep at
great speed, but suddenly turned, and stopped at the
brink of a precipice.
Athough Mr. Spurgeon declined to receive a money
gift when his silver-wedding testimonial was pre
sented to him, on the 5th of May 1879, a sum of
^6248, 18s. 5d. was handed to him to dispose of as he
might think best.
Of this princely amount Mr. Spurgeon apportioned
£5000 to the endowment of the Tabernacle alms
houses, and the balance to other benevolent enter
prises. About Mr. Spurgeon's pecuniary position there
is, and has been, considerable error. Mr. Spurgeon has
had ample and repeated opportunities of enriching
himself, and that without any one being able to com
plain of it. Most men would have done so, but Mr.
Spurgeon throughout his career has been singularly

206 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
generous ; his hands have not only been clean, but he
has been generous, even up to the point of self-sacrifice.
It is a well-known fact that Mr. Spurgeon gives annually
more than his salary to various forms of usefulness, and
this without ostentation, and often without its being
known. If the Church at the Tabernacle has been
generous and self-sacrificing, it owes much to the gene
rosity and self-denial of its minister.
At the meeting held at the Tabernacle on the occasion
of the presentation of this gift, Mr. Spurgeon referred to
the building of the Tabernacle. He said : — " When we
came to the undertaking of responsibilities, 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 personally I did not wish any one 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 gentleman overtook us and asked me
if I would get out of the trap and ride with him in
the gig, as he 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
feel nervous over it. Now as a business man I am

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 207
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, ' I will let you have the £20,000
on the condition that you shall only keep what you
need of it to finish the building. Mark,' said he, ' I 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
boasting. 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."
Rev. James Spurgeon at this meeting said, " I have
been asked many many times, ' What is the secret of
the great success at the Tabernacle ? ' I do not think
I could ever give a better answer than I once gave to one
of the most unlikely people in the world to ask the
question. I went into a Jew's shop at Shoreditch to

208 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
purchase something, and when the man there found
out that my name was Spurgeon, he wanted to know
if I was related to the great man of that name. When
I told him that I had the honour to be his brother,
he shut the door, looked all round the shop to see that
no one was listening, and then asked me, ' What is the
secret of his great success ? ' I said, ' I think it lies in
the fact that he loves Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus of
Nazareth loves him. I do not mean to put that offen
sively to you, knowing what you are, but I do believe
that in these two facts you will find the secret of his
success.' "
In August 1880 Mr. Spurgeon left his house at
Clapham for Beulah Hill.
In the year 1880 Mr. Spurgeon took a more active
part than he had hitherto done in politics. He has
more than once told a story to this effect.
" I had to preach for my good old friend John Offord,
who was half a Plymouth Brother and half a Baptist.
I said to him, ' I should have been here a quarter of
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.' "
During the great struggle which overthrew Lord

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 209
Beaconsfield's Government, Mr. Spurgeon issued an
address to the electors of Southwark, in which he said : —
" Great questions are involved in the struggle ; never
were weightier issues before the nation. . . . Are we
to go on invading and slaughtering in order to obtain
a scientific frontier and feeble neighbours? How
many wars may we reckon on between now and 1886 ?
What quantity of killing will be done in that time,
and how many of our weaker neighbours will have
their houses burned and their fields ravaged by this
Christian (?) nation ? "
Two years afterwards Mr. Gladstone, the then Pre
mier, attended an evening service at the Tabernacle,
and had an interview with Mr. Spurgeon.
On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of January 1882 a great
bazaar was held in the Lecture Hall of the Tabernacle,
which in the three days realised the sum of £2000 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
0

210 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
money paid for it ; for we think that such should not
be the case when the object is to benefit orphan chil
dren. 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 gentleman. ' I have been to a bazaar.' ' Oh ! if
you've 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."
In the year 1885 Mr. Spurgeon preached at the
Mansion House. The meeting was in connection with
the Bankers' Prayer Union. A large number of bankers
and bankers' clerks gathered to hear him.
It is said that in the same year Mr. Spurgeon was
passing from France into Italy. The custom-house
officers of the latter country demanded some fruit that
he had in his possession. Mr. Spurgeon withdrew three
paces into French territory, and there he ate the fruit in
view of the officials.
In the year 1888 Mr. Spurgeon lost his mother. For
some time Mrs. John Spurgeon had been in failing
health, and on the 1 8th of May she passed into rest at
Hastings. She was interred at Croydon, and at the
funeral her sons and grandson took part; it was the
wish of Mr. Spurgeon's father that no stranger should
intrude into the family sorrow.

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 211
The grief of this bereavement brought on an attack
of illness, and Mr. Spurgeon wrote to his congregation
the following letter : — "2%th May 1888.
"Dear Friends. — When I came home from my
mother's grave I was laden. It was raw and cold, and
my knee "became painful, but I had no fear. At about
eight o'clock torrents of pain broke over me, and the
knee was soon swollen. Now I cannot put the foot to
the ground, and the pain is something to remember.
I send my love to you all, and am sorry that I cannot
be with you. But what can I do ? The Lord make
use of my great faggot of troubles for His own glory.
— Yours sorrowfully."
A missionary wrote from China in 1888 : —
" For about a year the magic-lantern has been
used in the country work, with good results. . . .
The picture of a place of worship perhaps comes
next. We have one showing the interior of Mr. Spur
geon's Tabernacle, and the statement of the num
ber of people it contains always produces a profound
impression. "It also gives an opportunity to explain that the
heavenly doctrine is not believed in only by a few
'barbarians,' but that vast numbers of people in the
West believe in Christ, and that as in China the
country is crowded with temples, so in England every-

212 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
where churches abound where the one true God is
worshipped." In January 1889 Mr. Spurgeon met with an acci
dent while at Mentone. He had been conducting a
service in his hotel, and was intending to rest for a
while at a private villa which had been placed at his
service. The marble stairs of the hotel were carpeted,
but Mr. Spurgeon placed his stick on the edge of the
carpet. It gave way; he fell down six stairs, and
rolled over. Two of his teeth were knocked out,
and his money was emptied from his pockets into
his boots. When he was picked up, he remarked,
" Painless dentistry." At the time he did not think
much of the accident, but it was soon evident that
he had sustained serious injuries. To his congregation
he wrote — "I cannot write a letter to go with the
sermon to-day, for I am too full of pain to command
my thoughts, but I send this painful Hne. I am
getting on admirably, but last Sunday afternoon I
slipped upon a marble staircase, and fell a considerable
distance. I thought I had escaped with the loss of
two teeth and a bruised knee, but the knee is a more
serious business than I thought. I am a close prisoner,
and my pain is by no means a trifle. I hope soon to
be restored, not only to health, but also to my beloved
people and my happy work. At present I am helpless
and much bruised." On 15 th January he was able for
the first time to write a letter. To the Rev. Newman

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 213
Hall, LL.B., minister of Surrey Chapel, Mr. Spurgeon
wrote —
"Beloved Brother, — Your love allows brevity.
Thank you. I am arising from stupor to pain, from
pain to intervals of ease, from coughing hard to a weak
voice, from writhing to wriggling about in an initial
style of walking with a chair for a go-cart. I have
had an escape which makes me shudder with gratitude.
Here is a man who knocked out his teeth and yet did
not cut his flesh, and turned over twice so completely
as to put his money into his boots. Something of the
comic attends solemnity when I am in the midst of it.
I have not lost a grain of peace or even of joy, yet I
pity a dog that has felt so much in all his four legs as
I have had in one. All is well. I shall be home soon.
— Yours most lovingly, C. H. Spurgeon.
"Mentone, Jan. 20."
On the i8oh of January Mr. Spurgeon wrote with
his own hand the following characteristic letter to his
congregation : —
"Kind Friends, — My injuries are greater than I sup
posed. It will take some time before foot, mouth, head,
and nerves can be right again. What a mercy that I
was not smashed quite up. The angels did their work
well, for another stone would have brought me to
mine end.

214 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
" Through what a stupor I have passed ! Yet in a
day or two I shall be none the worse. I am overcome
with gratitude. May I be spared to keep my own
footing to the end, and let the Down-graders know how
terrible is a fall from the high places of the Lord's
truth." On the 27th of the same month Mr. Spurgeon
wrote: "This morning I feel as if within sight of
harbour. I cannot yet walk, nor could I even stand
for five minutes, but there is every sign that the
knee is gathering strength and recovering from its
injuries. As soon as I can stand through a sermon
and walk without pain, I will take it as my order
home." On the 5 th of March 1887 Mr. Spurgeon, when
speaking at a prayer-meeting, said, " 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 perform it."
On the 25 th of April 1890 there appeared in one of
the religious newspapers an open letter entitled "Parker
to Spurgeon." At Mr. Spurgeon's wish, no reply was
made to this production (which was mercifully toned
down by the editor of the paper in which it appeared).

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 215
This was afterwards republished in Dr. Parker's own
paper. It is more pleasant to turn from this unhappy
exhibition of folly to a touching speech made by Mr.
Spurgeon at the Mildmay Conference in 1890. He
said: — "After a period of continued pain, with little
sleep, I sat up, as best I could, one morning in my bed
in an agony of pain, and I cried to the Lord for deli
verance. I believed fully that He could deliver me
there and then, and I pleaded my sonship and His
fatherhood. I went the length of pleading that He
was my father, and I said, ' If it were my child that
suffered so, I would not let him suffer any longer if I
could help him. Thou canst help me, and by Thy
fatherly love I plead with Thee to give me rest.' I felt
that I could add, ' Nevertheless, not as I will, but as
Thou wilt.' But I did the first thing first. I pleaded
with my Father, and went first where Christ went first,
saying, ' My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me.' I shall never forget my success in my
appeal. In real earnest I believed God to be my
Father, and threw myself upon Him, and within a few
moments I dropped back upon the pillow, the pain
subsided, and very soon I slept most peacefully."
Much of the interest of Mr. Spurgeon's speeches arises
from these snatches of personal experience ; indeed, his
speeches and sermons are- a mine of autobiographical
wealth. For example, last year he related that many
years before he had been invited to preach at Isleham,

216 LIVES THAT SPEAK.
Cambridgeshire. "I was to preach in the morning,"
said he. " My brother Aldis, I think it was, preached
in the afternoon, and I was to preach in the evening.
The people at Isleham had such a belief that I should
draw a congregation 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, 'I 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 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. Though I did not compliment
myself, yet I could not help saying that if I had not

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 217
preached my best to the seven I should not have had
the company at night, for the people who were there in
the morning went away and talked about how they had
got on in the morning, and then the others came out to
see what kind of fellow I was."
It is somewhat difficult to accurately estimate the
character of a living man, and all the more so when
the subject of a book has filled so many offices, and
has been so long under the glare of publicity as has
Mr. Spurgeon. The task is also hard for one who
pleads guilty to affection for his subject. Every
life becomes interesting when it is studied in the
light of love, and one learns to know a man whom
one loves. But love is blind in common opinion, and
is apt to be partial to the peculiar excellences of its
object. Many years ago we remember that we had a con
versation with Jabez Inwards, lecturer and orator. He
told us of a debate in which he had maintained that
C. H. Spurgeon was the greatest preacher in all
time. "Who," he said, "has built so large a tabernacle,
and paid for it before it was opened, and that without
endowment or grant from Parliament or any great
society ?
"Who has founded such a College, the students of
which, in spite of opposition, have forced themselves
into the front ?
"Who can say that when he steps upon the plat-

218 LIVES THAT SPEAK.'
form his every utterance will be taken down, tele
graphed across the globe, printed, and then read with
delight by thousands in every land ?
" Who is there that can say that in every train that
runs from our great termini, in every ship that leaves
our shores, there is one at least of his sermons ?
" All this and more may be said of Mr. Spurgeon."
It must be remembered that Mr. Spurgeon began
his public life long before most men leave school.
He came to London without friends, and as the minis
ter of the most despised of all the sects.
His success must be ascribed entirely to the Divine
grace that endued him with the talents that were re
quired for his special mission to the present age.
While a great deal may be attributed to the original
talents which constitute his stock-in-trade, a great deal
must also be apportioned to his diligence, patience,
skill, and industry. Mr. Spurgeon has worked for the
success that he has attained, and he has employed all
his talents for the highest purpose.
His ministry, travels, writings, have all been devoted
to one purpose alone. He has steadily kept in view
the salvation of souls, and the training of men and
women for heaven.
He is thus a magnificent example of a man with one
purpose — a purpose which he has never lost sight of
from his youth until now. He has written wittily,
earnestly, lovingly; he has lectured, expounded, and
made war ; he has preached to multitudes, and

CONTINUATOR OF A HUNDRED VIRTUES. 219
written books that have sold in large editions ; he has
fed the orphans, taught the ignorant, and scattered
printed matter broadcast, but with one purpose — "if
by any means I might save some." Nor has^he laboured
in vain, for it is a matter of common knowledge that
in all his work he has been singularly useful as a soul-
winner first and chiefly.
He stands, therefore, as a proof that the Gospel of
Christ is still the power of God unto salvation, and that
if any minister will confine himself to the simple
verities, that God will bless them. Above all, his life is
a supreme call to service that is self-sacrifice ; for that
Mr. Spurgeon's life has been.
He might have been a wealthy man, and that with
out any possibility of imputation. But he has deli
berately worked, laboured, and suffered in order that he
might dedicate what he had earned to those who had
no claim upon him except that of need.
It is not too much to say that this is a claim to
reverence and honour that alone has made him dear to
men.

the end.

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