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SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND MINISTRY 
 
 OF THI 
 
 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 FROM ORIGINAL 00CUMEM8. 
 
 niCLUBING ANECDOTES AOT) DTCIDBNTS OF TRAVEL; BIOGRAPHIOAIi 
 
 NOTICES OF PORMEE PASTORS; HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 PAEK-STREET CHAPEL; AND AN OUTLINE OF 
 
 ME. SPUEGEON'S articles OP FAITH. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 
 SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO. 
 
 CHICAaO: S. C. GRIGGS & Oo. 
 
 18 5 7. 
 
^1 
 
 By special agreement Sheldoit, Blakbman & Co. will 
 publish in America the Sermons of the Ret. C. H. Sptxegeon" 
 and it is the author''s wish that no parties shall infringe 
 this contract. 
 
 STERBOTTFED DT PRINTED BT 
 
 TnOMAS D. SMITH, PtJDNET & RUS3ELL. 
 
 82 4 81 Beekmnn St. 79 John St. N. T. 
 
THE PUBLISHEES TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 I. These pages contain a narrative of facts likely to 
 interest many persons. 
 
 II. Young persons wiU find an instructive example in 
 ttese pages they may imitate with great personal advan- 
 tage. 
 
 m. To young Ministers of the Gospel, the example 
 of the earnest life of this faithful Preacher, as set forth 
 as a model, they may imitate with advantage to them- 
 selves and to their churches. 
 
 ly. The narrative wdl suggest many practical lessons 
 which the intelligent reader will adopt for self-improve- 
 ment. 
 
 V. Seeking only to do good by disseminating truth, 
 the narrative is commended to the Christian church 
 universal, and to the best judgment of the public gene- 
 rally. 
 
LIFE AND MINISTRY 
 
 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OPULAR favor has seldom been shown 
 to any man so extensively, and so 
 spontaneously, as it has been to the 
 Eev. Charles Haddon Spnrgeon. Al- 
 though some of the worst feelings of 
 human nature have long been in active 
 exercise to check the benevolent labors 
 of this philanthropic youthful divine, 
 yet an overseeing and an overruling 
 Providence has directed the issue. The 
 favors of friends and the frowns of foes have together 
 resulted in promoting the great work for which this 
 modern "Whitefield seems especially raised up, namely, 
 to preach the gospel in a manner which shall secure its 
 welcome to the hearts of multitudes who have hitherto 
 disregarded it. 
 
 Many have been the inquiries which have been made 
 respecting Mr. Spurgeon's antecedents. One asks to 
 
8 EEV. C. H. SPUBGEON. 
 
 ■wMcli of the uniyersities lie belongs ; another -rt-onders 
 how so young a man obtained holy orders ; a third puts 
 the question plainly, Who ordained the young man ? A 
 page would not snffice to enumerate the interrogatives 
 we have ourselves heard from all classes of people ; 
 from the plain-spoken Englishman, from the penetrating 
 Scotchman, from the mirthful son of Erin, and from not 
 a few of our transatlantic brethren. Indeed we have had 
 this kind of verbal investigation continued, with the great- 
 est possible relish by the inquirer, for an hour together, 
 without any apparent abatement in interest. In some in- 
 stances, the desire for information has led to a succession 
 of queries so varied and so strange, that a prudent man 
 would rather remain silent than try to satisfy such pruri- 
 ent curiosity. In this great London, thousands of voices 
 have repeated the question in one day — " Who is this 
 Spurgeon?" and, to many, a negative was not an an- 
 swer ; so that where positive information of a reliable 
 kind could not be obtained, imagination has too often 
 supplied its place, to the injury of both the subject of 
 this sketch, and the work in which he is engaged. So 
 intense was the desire for information respecting Mr. 
 Spurgeon during several months, that whoever would 
 risk a few pages of biographical anecdotes, historical in- 
 cidents, or doctrinal peculiarities, at the price of a penny, 
 was sure to sell the work by thousands. These transient 
 phantoms have now all passed away, having satisfied 
 the mere inquisitor ; while the seekers after knowledge 
 are still eagerly desiring to know more. The number 
 of these is still a multitude. Were it otherwise we 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 stouH not see, eacli successive Sunday morning, from 
 ten to twelve tliousand. persons, some from every part 
 of London and its expansive suburbs, including many 
 from the provinces, gathered to worship in the great 
 Surrey Music Hall. Nor is this spirit of inquiry unnat- 
 ural or wonderful. The wonder would be far greater 
 were it otherwise. In the Church of England, such in- 
 stances of youthful divines and youthful oratory are 
 unknown. In the established Church, the best read 
 student, the most fluent orator, the soundest divine, or 
 the most earnest Christian in our universities, must pass 
 his twenty-third year before he is allowed to exercise 
 his gifts in publicly calling sinners to repentance. Our 
 Southwark divine, on the contrary, before twenty-three 
 summers have swept over his head, has not only been 
 allowed to preach publicly, and with authority, but with 
 a power and a success which, considering the shortness 
 of the period, really has no parallel. Long before an 
 English churchman is considered of sufficient age and 
 discretion to be presented to the bishop for ordination, 
 our modern Whitefi eld has been a successful preacher for 
 several years ; so successful, indeed, that there are nu- 
 merous towns and villages in the land in which his well- 
 known voice has pealed out its " come and welcome" to 
 congregations numbering not hundreds only, but re- 
 peatedly ten thousand persons, and from among whom 
 some hundreds have been gathered out of the world 
 and infolded in the church of Christ. 
 
 We have met and conversed with English clergymen 
 who are well aware of the secret of the success of this 
 
 1* 
 
10 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 eminent preacher, and wlio righteously covet, to some 
 extent, his gifts and his honors. There is a charm about 
 the young man which wins the good- will at the least of 
 by far the greater majority of those who hear him. The 
 existence of this charm is patent to the world, and its 
 influence is already felt in every country where the 
 Saxon character and the English language exist. There 
 is one country where the good done by this laborious 
 minister would not be recognized — ^but it is because 
 Italian, not Saxon, blood flows in the veins of the in- 
 habitants. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon's popularity is both wonderful and 
 natural. There exists but few instances, in either an- 
 cient or modern times, of men, so young, producing an 
 influence for good to his fellow-men on so large a scale, 
 as in the instance before us. One of the youngest per- 
 sons ever sent out into the work of the ministry among 
 the Methodists was the late learned Dr. Adam Clarke. 
 While yet a " youth in his teens," we find him appointed 
 to a circuit so wide, that he had to preach in a differ- 
 ent place, once at the least, during every day in each 
 successive month. Although tall in person, yet so slen- 
 der, he was generally denominated "the little boy" 
 preacher. There are many points of resemblance in the 
 early preaching career of this eminent scholar, divine, 
 and Christian, to those connected with Mr. Spurgeon. 
 The almost tender years of both preachers prompted 
 many to go and hear for themselves. In both cases, 
 large multitudes of young persons of both sexes gath- 
 ered together and formed a large proportion of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 preacher's audience. In both cases many persons of 
 age and experience stood aloof for a time, throwing 
 out innuendoes, cautions, and warnings, and in both 
 cases such men lived long enough to acknowledge their 
 error. 
 
 Another preacher among the "Wesleyans presents to 
 us, in some respects, a parallel case to Mr. Spurgeon's. 
 Of the Rev. Richard Watson, we read, that " impelled 
 by a conviction of duty, and an intense zeal for the 
 spiritual good of mankind, the day after he was fifteen 
 years of age, Richard Watson preached his first sermon 
 in a cottage a few miles from Lincoln." He continued 
 to preach, prompted by the same excellent motives, 
 with great success, for nearly forty years. There is, 
 however, one point in the cases of these preachers which 
 deserves notice more particularly. la many points, the 
 career of the two young Methodist preachers, and the 
 young Baptist minister, very nearly agree; in age, 
 learning, zeal, piety, and success, they are all three re- 
 markable, and are very near parallels. In the oppo- 
 sition to which they were all subject, and the persecu- 
 tion which was carried on against them with a very 
 high hand, they are not dissimilar, excepting in this 
 particular. The persecutors of the last century were 
 the ordained clergy ; Mr. Spurgeon's persecutors are — ■ 
 not the clergy, though report represents some of them 
 as jealous, others as envious — but persecution has come 
 only from the press, or from that portion of it which 
 would like to make religion a lifeless formality, and 
 which shrinks alike from both conscience and eternity. 
 
12 REV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 The clergy of our day not only do not persecute tlie 
 Southwark evangelist, they rather seek and embrace 
 every occasion which offers to go and hear for them- 
 selves, and where they can not go and hear, we know 
 that very many of them read Mr. Spurgeon's published 
 discourses with great satisfaction and pleasure. Here 
 then we think we have an instance of true greatness, a 
 young divine, whose powerful voice, whose untiring 
 zeal, whose ardent love of his work, prompt him to 
 "labors more abundant" in trying to do good alike to 
 the bodies and the souls of the greatest number of his 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 In the late Eev. "William Jay, we have another in- 
 stance of a very young man giving himself to the ser- 
 vice of the ministry. In an old, almost forgotten book, 
 called "The Triumph of Faith," we find a reference to 
 the employment of young Jay, at about the age of six- 
 teen, in pubhcly proclaiming the truths of the gospel to 
 perishing sinners. His career of usefulness, on a large 
 scale, continued for more than half a century. Nor is 
 our good friend of New Park-street alone in our own 
 times, as a very young man, raised up by Almighty 
 God to rouse the slumbering churches of England. 
 Pastors of churches ! ye who have had flocks without 
 increase for many years past, God calls you, by the ex- 
 ample of these young men, to try the power of faith — 
 living, acting faith. Try it ! God has owned and pros- 
 pered the zealous labors of these young nien, and he 
 will continue to own them. Imitate their example. 
 Let your motto be — onwards ! Faith is a very power- 
 
NSW PAEE-STREET CHAPEL. 13 
 
 ful agency ; use it, test it, exhaust it if you can ; faith 
 removes mountains, and " laughs at impossibilities." 
 
 Great revivals of religion have generally emanated 
 from the zeal, pains-taking, and self-denial of young 
 persons. The two Wesleys were young when, one 
 hundred and sixty years ago, they commenced their 
 great work. Whitefield was young when his extraordi- 
 nary labors and eloquence were the means of gathering 
 multitudes out of the world and enfolding them in the 
 church of Christ. Jay, Clarke, Finney, and many 
 others might be named in proof of this point, and such 
 results should be looked for more than they have been, 
 as evidence of dutiful obedience to that Grod who, hav- 
 ing forgiven much, deserves diligent and earnest service 
 in return. 
 
 NEW PAEK-STREET CHAPEL. 
 
 This edifice, now so well known by multitudes in 
 every part of England, is quite of modern construction, 
 not having existed a quarter of a century, while the 
 church formed within its walls, is venerable alike for 
 both age and influence. From the early annals of non- 
 conformity, we learn, that as early as the year 1652, a 
 division took place in one of the oldest Baptist churches 
 in London, owing to some practices in which the mem- 
 bers could not agree. In those troublous times, large 
 bodies of Dissenters could not meet together without 
 peril ; nor could small bodies make much ado about 
 their disagreements, fearing the strong arm of an unjust 
 
14 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 power, exercised very unscrupulously at ttat penod, 
 against all who did not belong to the church of the 
 state. We shall not here trace the outline of the dis- 
 putes referred to ; it may suffice to say, that, according 
 to Crosby, certain practices, considered to be disorderly, 
 caused the division referred to, and several members 
 united themselves together, holding their meetings from 
 time to time at each other's houses, by private arrange- 
 ment, in the parish of Horsleydown, Southwark. 
 
 The chief brother, or elder, connected with the seced- 
 ers, was a Mr. William Eider. Under his pastoral care 
 and advice, they were formed into a small church, and 
 for a period of five years maintained " the unity of the 
 Spirit in the bonds of peace." Though few in numbers, 
 they were of considerable influence, some of the mem- 
 bers being among the merchants of that age, and what 
 was of greater importance, the congregation had a char- 
 acter for sound judgment, united with solid and earnest 
 piety. Such influences, in those times, in their judicious 
 exercise, never failed to accomplish much lasting good. 
 In the selection of their pastor depended mainly their 
 success, though their existence, as a church, never seems 
 to have been in peril. 
 
 In the year 1668, a change took place in the pastor- 
 ate of this small church. A self-taught man, a native 
 of Buckinghamshire, then not thirty years old, although 
 experienced as a pastor, was called to preside over the 
 little Zion. Benjamin Keach, who was baptized by im- 
 mersion in in his fifteenth year, and who, at the age of 
 eighteen was called to the ministry, after enduring 
 
NEW PAEK-STREET CHAPEL. 15 
 
 losses, bereavements, punisliment in the pillory, and 
 who, in the midst and through all his severe trials, was 
 faithful alike to his great Master and to his principles, 
 was called from the country to preside over this flourish- 
 ing church, in 1668. For a period of thirty-six years, 
 this exemplary divine ministered to their spiritual wants, 
 and during several years, he was much occupied in writ- 
 in, ; and publishing works in defense of the principles he 
 be ieved and preached, which works remain to this day 
 an honor both to the head and to the heart of that good 
 man. His whole life seems to have been one of earn- 
 estness, and his aim, to set forth the vital power of per- 
 sonal religion. As a Christian, as a divine, as an author, 
 and as a controversialist, Benjamin Keach must rank 
 among the giants of those days. He died July 18, 1704, 
 aged sixty-three, and his body was laid in the burial 
 ground belonging to the Baptists, in the Park, South- 
 wark. In the early part of his ministry, the church had 
 met for worship in a private house in Tooley-street, 
 and in that dwelling-house was this man of God sol- 
 emnly ordained by prayer and the laying on of hands. 
 A few years later we find the king, Charles XL, grant- 
 ing privileges to Protestant Dissenters, one of which ena- 
 bled the congregation to erect a meetinghouse upon the 
 Horsleydown, on the east side of old London Bridge. The 
 blessing of God was so abundantly shown, in answer to 
 simple faith and earnest prayer, that the new preaching 
 place soon became too small, and a larger edifice was 
 set up, in which accommodation was provided for nearly 
 a thousand persons. Here, however, division entered, 
 
16 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 and some of the members left Mr. Keacli and joined 
 themselves into a body, forming a churcli wbicb estab- 
 lished itself, and still exists, at Maze Pond, close to the 
 terminus of the Brighton railway. 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Stinton was then chosen pastor of the 
 church. In sorrow had this church originated, and 
 through sorrowful times had it struggled and survived. 
 The name of Benjamin belonging to its two early pas- 
 tors, is indicative of the character of the times, and the 
 origin of its existence. Benoni, the son of sorrow, was 
 altered by the patriarch Jacob to Benjamin, the son of 
 my right hand; and truly did these two Benjamins 
 show themselves to be workers or helpers together 
 with God as dutiful and diligent sons, in the great 
 work of preaching the gospel. Mr. B. Stinton died in 
 the year 1719. 
 
 His successor was the eminent and learned John Gill, 
 D.D., F.A.S. This excellent scholar and divine was 
 born November 19, 1697, at Kettering, and had been 
 the pastor of a Baptist church in that place. He re- 
 moved to Higham Ferrers in the year 1717, and thence 
 to the church assembling at Goat-street, Horsleydown, 
 where he was ordained its pastor, March 22, 1719. A 
 difference at once arose on the selection of Dr. Gill, the 
 majority of the members being against the doctor, and 
 another separation was the consequence. "When the 
 lease of the old chapel had expired, the majority formed 
 themselves into another church, and erected for them- 
 selves another meeting-house in Unicorn Yard ; while 
 those forming Dr. Gill's section assembled in the old 
 
NEW PARK-STEEET CHAPEL. 17 
 
 ctapel until the year 1757. It then became necessary 
 to enlarge their borders. Another new chapel, or meet- 
 ing-house, as they were then designated, was erected for 
 the doctor's congregation, in Carter Lane, Tooley-street, 
 near to London Bridge. The learning and piety of this 
 eminent divine soon attracted a large congregation, and 
 the reward of a sanctiiied intellect was — a numerous and 
 influential church, standing prominently out as one of 
 the chief Baptist congregations in the land. Dr. Gill 
 was the author of several important works. His great 
 work was an exposition of the Bible, in nine foho vol- 
 umes ; his other works are still considered worthy of a 
 prominent place in the library of the theologian and 
 the scholar. The blessing of divine Providence rested 
 eminently on this flourishing cause, and the pastor lived 
 to celebrate his jubilee as minister of that church and 
 people. For the long period of fifty-two years was the 
 gospel-trumpet sounded among that favored people by 
 this venerable man ; and never were the doctrines of 
 free grace more successfully and plainly preached than 
 during the protracted ministry of this eminent servant 
 of God. Dr. Gill died after a lengthened illness, Octo- 
 ber 14, 1771. 
 
 Another separation took place at this period, many 
 of the members withdrawing, and forming a church in 
 Dean-street, which afterward established itself in Trin- 
 ity-street, where it still flourishes. 
 
 A young man, of only twenty years, from the Bap- 
 tist Academy at Bristol, was invited to preach in the 
 now destitute church of Carter Lane, for seven Sundays. 
 
18 REV. C. H. SPXTRGEON". 
 
 Jolm Rippon, the youtli we have named, was bom near 
 Tiverton, in Devonshire, April 29, 1751. After preach- 
 ing for one year on trial, he was ordained pastor of the 
 church, in November, 1773. Here he continued to 
 labor with unabated zeal and fidelity during the long 
 period of sixty-three years. Dr. Gill was their pastor 
 for nearly fifty-four years, which, added to the pastorate 
 of Dr. Rippon, gives a period of one hundred and sev- 
 enteen years, during which this church had only two 
 pastors. Dr. Rippon published, in the year 1787, a se- 
 lection of 1174 hymns, which has had an extensive cir- 
 culation. This selection is still used by the descendants 
 of the doctor's congregation in ISTew Park-street chapel. 
 In the year 1790, the doctor commenced publishing a 
 Baptist Register, giving accounts of all the Baptist 
 churches and ministers in the land. This useful work 
 was continued for twelve years, and then was suffered 
 to die. Coteniporary with such men as Toplady, Ro- 
 maine, Berridge, the Wesleys, John Fletcher, Rowland 
 Hill, and others of great energy, strong faith, and sin- 
 cere piety, yet Dr. Rippon maintained a distinguished 
 position among these talented divines, and he was con- 
 sidered one of the most popular preachers among the 
 modern Calvinists of his day ; and his church was the 
 largest belonging to the Baptists in London. It num- 
 bered four hundred members at the commencement of 
 this century. His memory is cherished with much 
 affection by many still living in Southwark ; and even 
 men of the world we have heard speak of him as the 
 good man of the neighborhood. So great was his love 
 
NEW PAEE-STREET CHAPEL. 19 
 
 and zeal for tbe bodies as well as the souls of his con- 
 gregation, that he commenced a subscription for the 
 erection of alms-houses, and he succeeded in his work. 
 First a house was taken near the chapel, after which 
 three alms-houses were erected, and called after the 
 founder. A benevolent lady, who was a member of Dr. 
 Eippon's church, left money to endow and keep the 
 alms-houses in repair. The property is vested in trus- 
 tees. They were removed from Carter Lane when new 
 London bridge was built, and others erected in New 
 Park-street, adjoining the new chapel, in 1832. Other 
 interesting particulars respecting these alms-houses we 
 have been favored with, through the kindness of Miss 
 Fanny Gay, one of the inmates, and deaconess of the 
 chapel, which we are obliged to omit. On a tablet 
 placed on the first of these dwellings, is the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 Dr. EIPPON'S ALMS-HOUSES, 
 
 Fm-merly in Carter Lane, Tooley-sireet, fiaving ieen taken 
 
 down for the approaches to new London Bridge, 
 
 these were erected in their stead. 
 
 Anno Domini mdcccxxxii. 
 
 He died a few days before Christmas, in the year 1836, 
 aged 85 years, and was buried in Bunhill Fields, which 
 event was solemnly improved by the late Dr. Cox, of 
 Hackney, delivering a funeral oration in New Park- 
 street chapel. 
 
 This now celebrated chapel was erected out of the 
 purchase-money given by the city of London for the 
 
20 
 
 EEV. 0. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 Carter Lane chapel, and was opened May Gfh, 1833, only 
 three years hefore the venerable divine was summoned 
 to mansions above. Mrs. Morgan, his much respected 
 housekeeper, still survives as one of the occupants of 
 Dr. Eippon's alms-houses, which are represented in the 
 engraving. The chapel has been enlarged during the 
 ministry of its present pastor, to which further reference 
 will be hereafter made. 
 
 The Eev. C. Eoom, who had long assisted Dr. Eippon, 
 occupied the pulpit for some time. He was followed by 
 Dr. Angus, who was ordained pastor, but who left Park- 
 street after two years, to enter on a wider sphere of la- 
 bor, and who is now filling an important duty in the 
 Baptist College for training young ministers. The Eev. 
 James Smith next became the pastor of the New Park- 
 street church. During his nine years' ministry, the 
 church prospered much and increased greatly. On his 
 removal to Cheltenham, where, as an author and an ia- 
 
NEW PARK-STREET CHAPEL. 21 
 
 structive popular preacher, he has earned for himself a 
 good reputation, the Eev. W. Walters, now of Halifax, 
 accepted a call to the church. These frequent changes 
 had not a good effect. The number of church-members, 
 although increased by Mr. Smith's ministry, was com- 
 paratively small. From the extreme of prosperity, and 
 from the highest point of eminence and influence, the 
 church at New Park-street had greatly diminished in 
 numbers, until the congregation did not occupy more 
 than half the seats in the new chapel, and the income 
 had become insufficient to sustain the pastor, and pay 
 the ordinary expenses of the place. No part of England 
 was less able to endure such a reverse as had come upon 
 this once flourishing cause, than the locality around this 
 place of worship. Celebrated as the immediate neigh- 
 borhood had been for centuries for the Globe theater of 
 Shakspeare, the bear-garden of Ehzabeth, and though 
 last, not least, the place where John Bunyan had often 
 preached, the decline of the cause of God was not only 
 to be regretted, but deplored. It was the source of 
 many anxious and earnest prayers ; and divine Provi- 
 dence was preparing and training just the man every 
 way adapted to meet the wants of that extremely poor 
 neighborhood. Mr. Walters was pastor about two 
 years. 
 
 A Sunday-school anniversary meeting was held in 
 Zion chapel, Cambridge. A very young man was called 
 upon to speak at that meeting. Another young man 
 was present, himself a stranger, heard that speech, and 
 was deeply impressed by it. Shortly afterward the 
 
22 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 young man in the audience, and one of the deacons of 
 New Park-street chapel, meet each other. One recites 
 a tale of lamentation ; the other delivers a message of 
 hope. Time passes ; it is summer, 1853 ; hut 
 
 " God'g providences ripen fast, 
 TJnfoldtag every hour." 
 
 The young speaker at Cambridge is recommended to 
 the E"-ew Park-street deacon ; hope succeeds ; faith is 
 strengthened ; the young speaker is applied to, and soon 
 after, while yet in his "teens," becomes the appointed 
 pastor of the once largest Baptist church in London. 
 This young man is the Eev. Charles Haddon Spue- 
 
 GEON. 
 
 WHO IS THIS SPIJEGEON? 
 
 To this inquiry many have in vain sought for an an- 
 swer. The following pages wUl furnish what we think 
 will be received as demonstrative evidence that Mr. 
 Spurgeon has been raised up, and specially trained, by 
 divine Providence, to accomplish a great moral and 
 spiritual work, by promoting the well-being of both the 
 bodies and the souls of the multitudes who almost 
 daily throng to hear him. 
 
 The villages of England, more than the cities, have 
 the honor of producing our great men. The city may 
 be favorable to early development, and sometimes to 
 precocity in talent ; but it too often wanes ere it has 
 reached maturity. In the village, the faculties develop 
 
WHO IS THIS SPUEGEON? 23 
 
 themselves as nature forms tliem ; in tlie city, a thou- 
 sand delusive influences are constantly working on 
 the minds of the young; and for one who adopts a 
 course which is at once upright and successful, a thou- 
 sand go wrong. The whole population of Kelvedon, in 
 Essex, in which Mr. Spurgeon was born, does not num- 
 ber 2,000 souls, while his Sabbath-morning congrega- 
 tions often number 10,000 persons ; so that almost 
 weekly he preaches to five times more persons than 
 were contained in the place which gave him birth. 
 Kelvedon has had advantages in religion which have 
 influenced the population. For more than fifty years 
 has the same clergyman preached in the parish church, 
 and his life has been in accordance with his preaching. 
 The Eev. Charles Dalton lately celebrated his jubilee as 
 the incumbent of that village, and his long life of con- 
 sistent piety has not been without its all-pervading in- 
 fluence on the villagers. Mr. Spurgeon is of noncon- 
 formist descent, and entered this world on the 19th 
 June, 1834. His venerable graudfather, the Eev. James 
 Spurgeon, stiU. lives, and continues his ministerial duties 
 as pastor of an Independent church at Stambourne, near 
 Halstead, in Essex. The father of our Southwark di- 
 vine is Mr. John Spurgeon, second son of the afore- 
 named Eev. James Spurgeon, now of Colchester, who, 
 although occupied as a layman during the week, is the 
 pastor of a small Independent church at ToUesbury, in 
 Essex. The mother of Mr. Spurgeon was the youngest 
 sister of Charles Parker Jarvis, Esq., of Colchester, a 
 woman remarkable for piety, usefulness, and humility. 
 
24 
 
 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 Here, tlien, we have presumptive, and we can safely add 
 positive, evidence of the example of both personal and 
 family religion, for at least two generations, operating in 
 the formation of the mind of our youthful divine. 
 Praying parents ! Oh ! the charm, the power of such 
 influences I Parents, ye who fear God, " let your hght 
 so shine" before your children, that they may follow 
 after godliness in imitating you. The father of George 
 Whitefield was the son of a clergyman, but George was 
 born at a well-known inn, kept by Thomas Whitefield, 
 in Gloucester. It is somewhat remarkable, that while 
 George Whitefield is known as the pot-boy of his father's 
 
 MK. spttegeon's birth-place: noeth view. 
 
 inn, the birth-place of Mr. Spurgeon (called the modern 
 Whitefield), in Kelvedon, has, since the removal of Mr. 
 John Spurgeon to Colchester, been used as a wayside 
 
WHO IS THIS SPUEGEON? 25 
 
 inn also. Here are bott extremes and parallels. In 
 botli cases religion is a family possession, and tlie power 
 of prayer is expansive. Careful borne training, pervad- 
 ed by tbe influence of personal and family religion, is 
 capable of, and bas resulted in, an immeasurable amount 
 of good. 
 
 At a very early period, tbe infant Spurgeon, "wbo was 
 tbe first grandcbild in tbe family, was removed from 
 bis fatber's residence at Kelvedon, to bis grandfatber's 
 at Stambourne, and placed under tbe care of Ann 
 Spurgeon, bis fatber's sister. It is needless to add witb 
 wbat deligbt tbe venerable pair welcomed tbe stranger 
 in tbe family. Miss Ann Spurgeon was at tbat time 
 not in a good state of bealtb, and botb tbe grandparents 
 of tbe infant believed tbat tbe care of tbe cbild would 
 bave a beneficial effect on tbe bealtb of tbeir daugbter. 
 Tbe result proved tbe wisdom of tbeir decision. Under 
 tbe fostering care of tbe aunt, and tbe solicitude of tbe 
 grandparents, tbe bealtb of tbe former gradually im- 
 proving, tbe cbild grew in streng-tb, and soon became 
 tbe admired and beloved of all wbo knew bim. Affec- 
 tion, blended witb personal piety, was tbe watcbword of 
 tbe bousebold ; Aunt Ann loved and cberisbed most ten- 
 derly ber infant cbarge, and sbe received, as ber reward, 
 tbe sincere affection of ber adopted cbild. Tbe affec- 
 tion between tbe two became as strong as between a 
 cbild and its parent, and " Motber Ann," and " Step son 
 Cbarles," are terms as familiar and endearing in tbis 
 case as are tbe terms motber and cbild in ordinary cases. 
 Tbe first dawnings of reason were observed, and care 
 
 2 
 
26 EEV. C. H. SPtTRGEON. 
 
 was taken to inform and instruct by such degrees as tLe 
 opening faculties could receive. From infancy, the 
 mind of the child seems to have been formed after 
 nature's model. When but an infant, he would divert 
 himself for hours together with a book of pictures, 
 although unable either to speak plain or read. His love 
 of books dates from the first openings of his mind. One 
 of the books which served to amuse the many hours of 
 early childhood, contained, among other illustrations, a 
 portrait of Bonner, Bishop of London. He was informed 
 that BishojD Bonner was a persecutor of some of the 
 servants of God; and although so young, an effect was 
 produced on his mind which will never be erased, and 
 the child manifested such a dislike to the name, that he 
 always called that picture, as a term of derision and in 
 righteous indignation, "Old Bonner." This is power- 
 ful censure from a boy so young. To this period of 
 his life may be traced the origin of that intense ab- 
 horrence of tyranny in every form and under every 
 name, to which Mr. Spurgeon sometimes gives utter- 
 ance. 
 
 Another feature characteristic of Mr. Spurgeon is 
 traceable to this early period. Even in infancy, he 
 manifested a marked attachment to those who were said, 
 or even supposed, to be the children of Grod. He had 
 a special preference to the house of God. To him it 
 was not merely a pleasure to go, and a source of joy to 
 remain, but it was a positive delight. When he had 
 acquired the art of reading, his joy in being able to 
 unite in the worship of God in the sanctuary scarcely 
 
WHO IS THIS SPUEGEON? 27 
 
 knew any bounds. This feeling does not abate, for we 
 find, by the public papers, that he is preaching in some 
 part of England almost every day, and in some cases 
 in two different towns in one day. Unlike most chil- 
 dren, play had not the charm fox the youthful Spurgeon 
 which a book had; and when he had learned to gather 
 the sense of a book, his desire for the acquirement of 
 knowledge amounted to a passion, so that considerable 
 restraint had 'to be exercised to prevent injury to the 
 mind of the young scholar. In this respect there is a 
 remarkable parallel between Mr. Spurgeon and the late 
 Duke of Wellington. Of the latter we are informed, 
 that while his school-fellows enjoyed their games, he 
 often stood aloof, his mind apparently occupied with 
 something less volatile than play. As the child, so, 
 generally, will the man be. Before the child was six 
 years old he could read well, with a tone and emphasis 
 beyond his age. Give him his book, and his liberty, 
 and when he was wanted, he was always found in seclu- 
 sion with his book, enjoying that which was, to most 
 children, only a drudgery. Here it was that he laid the 
 foundation of that varied and extended acquaintance 
 with the writings of good old John Bunyan, E. Baxter, 
 and others of that period. There is a charm about the 
 works of the tinker of Bedford which has captivated 
 millions of people, young and old. Dr. Johnson has 
 written, that there are three books which every man can 
 take up with the same relish for the second as for the 
 first reading : these are, the Bible, the Pilgrim's Prog- 
 ress, and Robinson Crusoe. No wonder then that our 
 
28 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 young friend was captivated with these works, and read 
 them with eager dehght. 
 
 Christian fellowship is one of the great privileges of 
 all the children of God. During the early years of Mr. 
 Spurgeon's life, spent in the family of his grandfather, 
 there were many occasions on which various members 
 of the church met at the residence of their pastor, and 
 there taking sweet counsel together, enjoyed the " com- 
 munion of saints." On many of these Sabbath meet- 
 ings, which are remembered with delight by the friends 
 at Stambourne, the grandchild of the pastor astonished 
 many by his questions and conversation. Often he 
 would propose a subject, and offer remarks upon it, 
 which astonished much older and experienced persons. 
 
 From infancy he was remarkable for decision of char- 
 acter. And his decision was taken for God. There 
 was no halting between two opinions. He boldly and 
 steadfastly maintained his choice. When under six 
 years of age, he saw in the village, a man who pro- 
 fessed religion mixed up with a number of others 
 known to be ungodly men. He felt a desire to reprove 
 the professor, and in the name and in the strength of 
 the God he served, he boldly went up to the man and 
 addressed him in these words : " BUjah, what doest thou 
 here?" The man was dumb under the reproof; and 
 the boy came away with a conviction that he had done 
 his duty. God always rewards those who serve him 
 faithfully. Self-possession is a feature strongly marked 
 in Mr. Spurgeon. His cool and collected behavior 
 during the unfortunate Surrey Gardens catastrophe was 
 
FORMATION OF CHAEACTEE. 29 
 
 the astonistiment of many. Shortly iDefore that event, 
 while preaching to 'a large audience in Islington, he 
 made a sudden pause in the service, and remarked, with 
 great firmness of manner, " There are two persons near 
 the door, if they do not behave better, I must desire the 
 police to remove them," and went on with the service 
 as though there had been no interruption. And, again, 
 with an audience of some 10,000 persons before him, 
 only a few weeks ago, in the Surrey Hall, after ex- 
 pounding the first of two lessons, he announced the 
 chapter of the second lesson, and then said, " If I make 
 a short pause between the lessons, it will give an oppor- 
 tunity for those persons who have their hats on, to take 
 them off in the house of Grod." He preached that morn- 
 ing from the text, " Wist ye not that I must be about 
 my Father's business?" And one more suitable to de- 
 scribe the persevering and untiring labors of this de- 
 voted servant of God could not well have been chosen. 
 Young men ! Young ministers ! let the same mind be 
 in you! Decision for God and boldness in his service, 
 will bring to you a present reward, great or small in 
 proportion to your zeal. 
 
 During the seven years passed so happily at Stam- 
 bourne, the education of their grandson was not a sub- 
 ject of great concern to the grandparents of our youth- 
 ful divine. His mental development was already 
 considerably in advance of his years, and his moral 
 faculties were of a character to cause but little concern 
 for the future. For most of this information respecting 
 the eai-ly years of Mr. Spurgeon we are indebted to his 
 
30 EEV. 0. H. SPURGEOlSr. 
 
 grandfather. But there are two sentences in the ac- 
 count furnished by the Eev. James Spurgeon, relating 
 to his grandson, which deserve to be written in letters 
 of gold. Of the great and good George Washington we 
 read, that when charged by his father with doing a mis- 
 chievous, though only a boyish, action in his garden, 
 the noble boy said, " It was me, father, I dare not tell a 
 lie." Of Charles H. Spurgeon, his grandfather writes, 
 " I do not remember ever hearing of his speaking any 
 thing but the truth." And again : " I can not remem- 
 ber that we had ever an occasion to correct him for any 
 false tale." Here, then, is a model for children to imi- 
 tate. Always speak the truth : fear a lie. Nothing 
 makes a man a greater coward than falsehood ; and 
 tale-bearers are always nervous and in fear. Mr. Spur- 
 geon is fearless of man in his denunciations of sin. 
 This righteous boldness is traceable to a source which is 
 a tower of strength to any minister — ^he is a man of 
 
 TRUTH. 
 
 When about seven years old, Mr. Spurgeon returned 
 to his father's home. During his residence at Stam- 
 bourne, his parents had removed from Kelvedon to 
 Colchester, in which town Mr. John Spurgeon was 
 occupied. He was at once placed in a respectable 
 school, conducted by Mr. Henry Lewis. The head 
 usher in the school was Mr. Leeding, who afterward 
 removed from Colchester to Cambridge, and there 
 opened a school for young gentlemen. Four years 
 were spent in the school at Colchester, and here the 
 ready mind of the pupil soon attracted the special atten- 
 
MR. KNILL AND MR. SPURGEON. 31 
 
 tion of Mr. Leeding. To this geatleman our young 
 friend is indebted for nearly all the knowledge he ac- 
 quired which could be there communicated. In every 
 branch of knowledge to which he devoted his attention, 
 C. H. Spurgeon was sure to become master of it ; and 
 invariably at the examinations, our young friend was 
 the successful prize-man. 
 
 When about ten years of age, he was spending a va- 
 cation with his grandsire at Stambourne. The anniver- 
 sary sermons for the Missionary Society were preached 
 in his grandfather's chapel while he was there. The 
 preacher was the late Eev. Eichard Knill. This earnest 
 and devoted servant of God has left behind him a mem- 
 ory for good which will be cherished with much affec- 
 tion for many years. Inscribed on the portrait of this 
 self-denying missionary is the motto which indicated 
 the intensity of his love for his work. It is, " Brethren! 
 the heathen are perishing ; shall we let them perish ? 
 Grod forbid. Eichard Knill." Knowing this of the 
 preacher, it is not wonderful that he discerned in the 
 grandson of the venerable Spurgeon the germs of his 
 future distinction. Mr. Knill remained with the village 
 pastor on the night of the anniversary. 
 
 The following particulars we give from a communi- 
 cation kindly supplied by the Eev. James Spurgeon, of 
 Stambourne. " Before family prayer," observes the de- 
 lighted grandfather, " my grandson read a chapter out 
 of the Scriptures, and our friend Knill was very mtich 
 pleased, and said, ' I have heard old ministers and young 
 ones read well, but never did I hear a little boy read so 
 
32 EEV. 0. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 correctly before.' He called him to his side, laid his 
 venerable band on bis bead, and said, ' I bebeve God 
 will raise bim up for some remarkable work. I bope be 
 will one day fill Eowland Hill's pulpit.' It appears to 
 me," continues tbe grandfather, "as if be spake under 
 a spirit of prophecy. When Mr. Knill first beard of 
 my grandson being in town, be wrote to me for bis ad- 
 dress. Tbe reason be gave was, being then from home, 
 with a large party of friends, after dinner, tbe conversa- 
 tion turned upon a wonderful preacher who was pastor 
 of tbe JSTew Park-street chapel. Mr. Knill inquired bis 
 name, and tbe answer given was — ' Mr. Spurgeon,' ' I 
 know bim,' said Mr. Knill. ' No, no,' replied his friend, 
 'I think not.' 'Yes, I do, sir,' returned Mr. KnilL 'I 
 saw bim at bis grandfather's bouse some years ago, 
 when I preached in tbe village for tbe missionary cause, 
 and have always been convinced that he would one day 
 be a most extraordinary character in the Christian world. 
 I remember,' continued Mr. Knill, ' taking the lad into 
 tbe garden ; I conversed with bim, and prayed with him, 
 and found that he possessed a mind far beyond his 
 years.' " Mr. Knill died at Chester three months ago, 
 and was buried in the cemetery there ; the greater part 
 of tbe citizens showed their respect to bis memory by 
 attending bis funeral ; while among tbe mourners near 
 the grave was the present Bishop of Chester, Dr. Graham. 
 Here, then, we have very striking testimony to prove, 
 that, very early in life, Mr. Spurgeon manifested those 
 evidences of future usefulness and distinction which 
 have been so amply and so remarkably reabzed. 
 
INFLUENCE OF HOME TRAINING. 83 
 
 There is a power and influence in home training 
 which is capable of immense good or evil, according to 
 the manner and direction given to the mind of a youth. 
 As a rule, prapng parents, if they make prayer a cheer- 
 ful duty with their offspring, may have praying chil- 
 dren. Mr. Spurgeon had the advantage of praying 
 parents and grand-parents. Chiefly to his beloved 
 mother is he indebted for the bias of his mind toward 
 the Word of God and the people of God. On every 
 suitable occasion, his mother retired with him (and others 
 of her children) into the quietude of the closet, where, 
 by reading the Scriptures, and applying them to the 
 spiritual wants of her child in the way many pious 
 mothers have before done, and then praying with and 
 for him, the love of these Christian duties grew with 
 his growth, and prayer, and the study of the Bible, soon 
 became his delight. Such exercises always strengthen 
 affection between the members of a famfly, and similar 
 results were experienced in this case. Between the 
 child and his parents, on the one hand, and between 
 the parents and the child on the other hand, as well as 
 among the children themselves, there always existed the 
 warmest possible attachment and affection. Happy chil- 
 dren in praying families often sing — 
 
 " "When brethren all in one agree, 
 Who knows the joya of unity ?" 
 
 There stfll exists among all the members of the family 
 the strongest feelings of personal concern and affection- 
 ate regard. Such maternal solicitude resulted in giving 
 
 2* 
 
84 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON 
 
 a decided choice to religion to tte mind of her son 
 Charles. So ttere is scarcely a period in his existence 
 in which his mind has not been under the hallowing 
 influences of personal practical religion. " Seek ye first 
 the kingdom of heaven," and God has declared himself 
 engaged on the side of such seekers, to promote their 
 welfare every way. 
 
 When but a youth, scarcely in his teens, we learn from 
 communications kindly furnished by Mr. Spurgeon's 
 father, that the youth was often found in the hayrack, 
 or the manger, reading aloud, talking, or sometimes 
 preaching to his brothers and sisters, so anxious was he 
 to be doing good. Such exercises encouraged the feel- 
 ings which were early manifested in favor of the minis- 
 try as the occupation of his life. And when he was 
 residing at Cambridge in 1850, the entrance of one of 
 his early companions on a collegiate course led his own 
 mind in that direction for a time. In a letter written 
 home to his mother at that time, he declines the distinc- 
 tion of joining his friend at college, and adds, "If the 
 Lord will teach me to know his statutes, " and prepare 
 me to preach his gospel to his poor people, I have my 
 desire. How happy is that man who spends his whole 
 life in serving God, and can go to the heathea bearing 
 the word of hfe. He is the noblest of all men." These 
 are the sentiments of a youth, deliberately written, at 
 the age of sixteen. 
 
 In matters of religion he was always before his age, 
 and the teacher of his companions. While his brothers 
 and other associates were engaged with amusements, and 
 
HIS CONDUCT AS A BOY. 35 
 
 trifles, and mimic imitations of workmen, Charles H. 
 Spurgeoa eschewed all such pursuits, and taking his 
 Bible, or other good book, would seclude himself, and 
 with intense delight would study and read away the 
 hours other children gave to play. He has never exer- 
 cised himself in any kind of handicraft ; the bent of 
 his mind being entirely in another direction. He was a 
 boy of strong passions, and always possessed a deter- 
 mined will. This gave great concern at one time to his 
 parents, and most earnestly did they both pray that the 
 great Head of the Church would give the lad grace to 
 keep that will " under," and subject to the will of God. 
 Both his parents had a firm conviction, which was con- 
 firmed by others who knew him, that he would one day 
 occupy a distinguished place in the world, and hence 
 arose their natural anxiety that their son should excel 
 in the service of God. 
 
 Besides his strong passions and determined will, there 
 were other points which had their influence in the for- 
 mation of his character. From the earliest dawn of 
 reason, owing to the care taken in his religious instruc- 
 tion, he appears to have had very clear views of the 
 great leading doctrines of the New Testament. Of the 
 condition of man as a sinner, and of the nature of the 
 sacrifice and death of Christ, he was able to give a sim- 
 ple explanation as a child. Supported by a memory of 
 great vigor and power, any thing once learned was his 
 own, and was never lost. Hence his preaching at the 
 present time derives much of its efficacy and attractive- 
 ness from his great power of memory, furnishing always, 
 
36 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 at the right time, the right kind of illustration to make 
 an argument clear to his audience, or to adapt things of 
 the past to his present emergencies. Such a power of 
 memory, and such an uninterrupted flow of language, 
 suitable to every subject on which he may preach, sel- 
 dom falls to the inheritance of ordinary men. Another 
 important help in forming character aright Mr. Spur- 
 geon has found in bis simple habits of living, which 
 have resulted in securing and fostering a healthy condi- 
 tion of both mind and body. He may, on this account, 
 be considered capable of enduring an amount of labor 
 and fatigue which would destroy a frame more habitu- 
 ated to indulgencies. He knew not what illness was 
 till the Surrey Gardens calamity, joined with the wicked 
 calumnies of a portion of the press, laid prostrate even 
 the strong man. 
 
 He had the advantage of an education in the best 
 school that could be found ; and if that education was 
 not completed in a college, the fault was entirely his 
 own. Often, and earnestly, was this point urged upon 
 him by his parents ; and on one of his father's visits to 
 him while at Cambridge, he spent some hours in the 
 attempt to convince his son of the advantages which 
 such a course of study would secure to him ; but in 
 vain, as we have said on a previous page. He had a 
 conviction on his own mind that his duty lay, not in a 
 college, but in the church, and in the pulpit ; and very 
 many young divines have wasted years of precious time 
 and energy in the cloisters of learning, which might 
 have been better employed in the more active exercises 
 
MAIDSTONE COLLEGE. 37 
 
 of ministerial life. He did not, however, come to the 
 conclusion against a course of instruction in a college 
 without much prayerful deliberation, and the advice of 
 those in whose welfare his heart's affections were bound 
 up. He was already the pastor over a flourishing 
 church when this subject came before him for consider- 
 ation ; and in a letter to his father, from Cambridge, in 
 ■the spring of 1852, he writes: "lam not asking that 
 I may not go at all [to college], but only that I may not 
 go just now. The tears of the people I hope will pre- 
 vail." And aa he hoped, so God's providence decided ; 
 himself submissive to do that which his best friends in 
 the church might, in answer to much earnest prayer, 
 recommend. It is not the wisdom of man, nor the pow- 
 erful influence of learning, but the "foolishness of 
 preaching" which the Almighty owns in reaching and 
 impressing the hearts of sinners. 
 
 Having received the instruction in Colchester which 
 the best school could supply, when about fifteen years 
 old, it was deemed expedient that he should have some 
 knowledge of a few branches of learning which were 
 specially taught in an agricultural college at Maidstone, 
 then conducted by one of his relatives. There, however, 
 he was left much to his own inclination, and he very 
 eagerly devoted his leisure time to the diligent pursuit 
 of such studies as were most congenial to his own mind. 
 At Maidstone, as well as at the school at Colchester, he 
 was the successful prize-man at the examination. Indeed 
 he never failed in gaining a prize at school on any oc- 
 casion when they were given for success in study. 
 
38 REV. C. H. SPUEGEOK. 
 
 After remaining one year at Maidstone, he removed, in 
 his sixteenth year, 1849, to New Market, where he was 
 engaged in the school of Mr. Swindell, as usher. Mr. 
 Swindell was a Baptist. At New Market, he pursued 
 the study of the Greek and French languages, with 
 great care and diligence. While he was eminently 
 " diligent in business," he was equally " fervent in spirit, 
 serving the Lord." His duties and trials in the school 
 were such as would have broken down any but the 
 most patient person. During the year spent at that 
 place, many important changes had their origin, or their 
 full development, which have greatly contributed to the 
 remarkable success of our Southwark divine. There 
 he learned to practice much self-denial. There, also, he 
 began to see himself to be a lost and unworthy sinner, 
 deserving the full punishment of God's anger upon his 
 sins. There it was that he started on that " mad voy- 
 age," to which he has thus pathetically referred in one 
 of his sermons : 
 
 Speaking of a free-thinker, he remarks, " I, too, have 
 been like him. There was an evil hour in which I slipped 
 the anchor of my faith ; I cut the cable of my belief; I 
 no longer moored myself hard by the coasts of Eevela- 
 tion ; I allowed my vessel to drift before the wind. I said 
 to reason, ' Be thou my captain ;' I said to my own 
 brain, ' Be thou my rudder ;' and I started on my mad 
 voyage. Thank God, it is all over now. But I will tell 
 you its brief history. It was one hurried sailing over 
 the tempestuous ocean of free thought." The result 
 was, that, from doubting some things, he came to ques- 
 
CONVEESION. 39 
 
 tion every thing, even his own existence. Thus, "the 
 devil foileth himself." Faith came to the rescue of be- 
 wildered reason, and, from that perilous voyage, brought 
 back the wanderer " safe to land." She who had nursed 
 him in infancy, like the grandmother of Timothy, is 
 pictured as exclaiming before the throne of God in 
 heaven, " I thank Thee, thou ever-gracious One, that 
 he who was my child on earth, has now become Thy 
 child in light ! " There, too, having conquered those 
 violent extremes to which Satan often drives the sinner 
 who is repenting of his sins, and having fled for refuge, 
 and found a welcome and safety in the bosom of a cruci- 
 fied Jesus, his sins forgiven, and his spirit enjoying the 
 liberty of the adopted children of God, his joy knew no 
 bounds. Although his life had been from infancy more 
 or less devoted to the service of God, still he had not 
 realized that change of heart which is implied by the 
 new birth. Under a powerful and impressive sermon 
 preached from Isaiah xlv. 22, " Look unto me, and be 
 ye saved, all the ends of the earth," the Spirit of God 
 so wrought upon his heart, that after suffering much 
 agony of mind, he found in believing that peace which 
 passeth understanding. His spirit was now overflowing 
 with happiness. All the letters he sent home at that 
 period were full of the overflowings of a grateful heart, 
 and although not sixteen years old, he describes the 
 operations of grace on the heart and life, and the differ- 
 ences between the doctrines of the gospel, and the forma 
 of the church, in terms so precise and" clear, that no 
 merely human power could have enabled him to do. 
 
40 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 Being justified by faith, lie had peace with God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. He was taught experimentally, 
 by the Holy Spirit—" and he spake as the Spirit gave 
 him utterance." He had hitherto been brought up 
 among the Independents. There, and at that period it 
 was that his views changed respecting a point in church 
 discipline. He had experienced a change of heart. He 
 felt it to be laid upon him as an imperative duty to make 
 a full and public confession of the change, by public 
 baptism. He wrote many letters of inquiry soliciting 
 advice and information from his father. On both sides 
 there was much frank and open candor. No arguments 
 Mr. John S^ourgeon, the Independent minister, could 
 use, were considered by his sou as suflEicient to alter his 
 purpose of making a public confession of his faith in the 
 manner named. At length the father consents ; the son 
 satisfies his father clearly that he has no faith in baptis- 
 mal regeneration ; and the necessary steps are taken for 
 his admission as a member into the Baptist church. In 
 his last letter to his father on the subject, dated Kew 
 Market, May the 1st, Mr. Spurgeon thus writes : "If I 
 know my own heart, I believe that the sentiment upper- 
 most there is, that salvation is not of man ; that no 
 works, however holy, can contribute in the least to save 
 my soul ; that the work is all of God's sovereign elect- 
 ing love; and if ever I am saved, it will be by his 
 power alone." The necessary arrangements having been 
 made, he walked from New Market to Isleham, 7 miles, 
 on May 2d, and staying with the family of the Baptist 
 minister there, Mr. Cantlow, he was pubhcly baptized in 
 
EFFORTS TO DO GOOD. 41 
 
 that village, by tlie minister just named, on Friday, May 
 8d, 1850, being in his sixteenth year. He thus proceeds 
 in the letter to his father before quoted from : " It is 
 very pleasing to me, that the day on which I shall openly 
 profess the name of Jesus, is my mother's birth-day. 
 May it be to both of us a foretaste of many glorious 
 and happy days yet to come." "Who that has a heart to 
 feel, -would not heartily respond to such a prayer by 
 such a son — Amen ! 
 
 Having thus publicly devoted himself to the service 
 of God, he was more earnest than ever in his efforts to 
 do good. Besides having himself revived an old soci- 
 ety for distributing tracts, he undertook to carry out this 
 good work in the town thoroughly. Whenever he walked 
 out, he carried these messengers of mercy with him, 
 and was instant in season, and indeed was seldom out of 
 season, in his efforts to do good. His duties in school 
 occupied him three hours daily, the remainder of his 
 time being spent in his closet or in some work of mercy. 
 The Sunday-school very soon gained his attention, and 
 his addresses to the children were so full of love and 
 instruction, that the children carried the good tidings 
 home to their parents, and soon they came to hear the 
 addresses in the vestry of the Independent chapel in 
 that town. The place was soon filled. On Saturday he 
 had more leisure, and on that day he commenced a new 
 tract district in what is called the new town. During 
 all that year he was subject to personal trials, hardships, 
 and inconveniences, which greatly exercised his faith, 
 and would have overwhelmed many, but he yielded n 't. 
 
42 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 At one of tlie examinations of the school, it was his 
 duty to deliver an oration on missions. It was a public 
 occasion, and in the company was a clergyman. During 
 the examination, the clergyman heard of the death of 
 his gardener, and suddenly left for home ; but on his 
 way, thus reasoned with himself: The gardener is dead. 
 I can not restore his life — I will return, and hear what 
 the young usher has to say on missions. He returned, 
 heard the oration, and was pleased to show his approval 
 by presenting Mr. Spurgeon with a sovereign. 
 
 While he was resident at New Market, Mr. Morley, 
 of Nottingham, offered a prize for the best essay on 
 Popery. Only three essays were sent in, one of which 
 was written by Mr. Spurgeon. The Eev. George Smith, 
 of Poplar, was the adjudicator, who, after a delay of two 
 years, wrote a kind and encouraging letter to Mr. Spur- 
 geon, stating, tliat though his paper was not deemed en- 
 titled to the premium, yet the gentleman who offered it, 
 and who was a relative, in approval of his zeal, and in 
 the hope that he might em23loy his talents for the public 
 good, sent him a handsome sum of money as a gratuity. 
 This essay is entitled, "Antichrist and her Brood; or. 
 Popery Unmasked;" and is thus endorsed — "Written 
 by a boy under 16 years of age." This early produc- 
 tion of Mr. Spurgeon's pen has not yet been jDublished. 
 
 After a residence of one year, he removed to Cam- 
 bridge, and became usher under Mr. Henry Leeding, 
 who had shortly before opened a school for young gen- 
 tlemen in that university borough. Gratitude to Mr. 
 Leeding for the instruction received from him at Col- 
 
EELIGIOK A MATTER OF PEINCIPLE. 43 
 
 Chester, led Mr. Spurgeon to that establishment. There 
 his duties were less arduous, and his comforts greatly 
 increased. He maintained his faith in God unmoved, 
 though often it was tested. 
 
 The experience of most Christian churches goes far 
 to prove, that, with many young persons who become 
 members, they find it expedient thus to identify them- 
 selves with a community of the people of God. With 
 Mr. Spurgeon, religion was a matter of the heart — ^it 
 was a principle. Go where he might, because his heart 
 had been touched with a " live coal," from off the altar 
 of heaven, he carried his religion with him ; it was to 
 be seen in his conduct, because it was a matter of expe- 
 rience within him. It was not merely a business which 
 could be put on or laid aside like a garment, but was 
 the result of a deliberate and prayerful choice, proceed- 
 ing from a course of careful training in " wisdom's 
 ways ;" it was an emanation from the divine mind, with 
 the will of the human nature yielding and consenting. 
 God called ; man obeyed. Truly happy are all they 
 who thus yield to the strivings of the Holy Spirit. A 
 decided love of " whatsoever things are of good report" 
 had been manifested in his life even from infancy. 
 When a child of very tender years, he strongly evinced 
 his love of and preference to good people, and there are 
 many aged Christians in the county of Esses who re- 
 member him as a child, with a countenance beaming 
 with joy and delight, at having an opportunity of con- 
 versing with them on matters of personal religion. Of 
 this number, there are not a few, faithful men of God, 
 
44 EEV. C. H. SPUEaEON. 
 
 whose daily privilege it is to pray for tteir young 
 friend, that his life may be spared, and that his labors 
 may be abundantly owned by a large ingathering of 
 stray sheep into the fold of Christ. Oat of many in- 
 stances which might be recorded in confirmation of this 
 point of character, the following is given, just as it is 
 furnished by Mr. Spurgeon's grandfather : " When my 
 grandson was very young, he went one day into a field 
 where a very pious man was plowing. He was a mem- 
 ber of my church. The child began to ask some ques- 
 tions on religious subjects which the good man thought 
 far beyond his age. The conversation continued some 
 time on spiritual subjects, until the man was quite 
 amazed at what he had heard, although he was a man 
 deeply experienced in the things of Grod. At last the 
 man said to my grandson, ' My dear boy, God has 
 given you great gifts, great gxace, and great experience. 
 My prayer to God for you is, that he may keep you 
 truly humble, for if jfou rise one inch above the ground, 
 you must be cut down.' I can not," adds the Eev. 
 James Spurgeon, " but hope that this prayer has been 
 answered. I am amazed, and thankful to God, that my 
 grandson is kept humble." 
 
 From such testiaiony, we learn this truly gratifying 
 lesson, that God can perfect praise out of the mouth of 
 " babes," and that our young Timothy has " known the 
 Scriptures" from a child. Unlike too many young pro- 
 fessors, Mr. Spurgeon carried his religion about with 
 him; and on removing to a large town, where many 
 dangers were likely to beset his path, he at once iden- 
 
COMMENCES TO PREACH. 45 
 
 tified himself -witli the people of God. How many 
 there are who have to trace their declension in religion 
 to a want of courage to avow themselves members of a 
 Christian church, when they remove to a place where 
 they are uninown. In London there is a great multi- 
 tude who thus suffer themselves to he robbed of the 
 greatest blessings which we can know on earth — even 
 the communion of saints. In London, every denomina- 
 tion of Christians is so well represented, that no excuse 
 can exist for young ChristiaDS, fresh from the country, 
 not joining that form of religion in which they may 
 have been brought up. Like a true servant of the Most 
 High, our young friend could not be unfaithful to the 
 vows he had taken upon himself. He had been useful 
 in the Sunday-school in giving practical and animating 
 addresses to both children and their parents ; he had 
 been useful in visiting the poor at their dwellings, and 
 cajrying with him a little tract to instruct the ignorant, 
 and being called of God to this work, he did it " with 
 his might." He removed irom New Market to Cam- 
 bridge m the year 1850, after staying one year only at 
 the former place. 
 
 Having at once identified himself as a member of the 
 Baptist church in Cambridge, he soon found occupation 
 suitable to his mind. His addresses to children and af- 
 terward to parents and children, had produced a love 
 of the work, and he soon was called to exhort a village 
 congregation. He was then about sixteen years old. 
 His duties in Mr. Leeding's school being lighter than 
 in his former place, he had leisure to occupy himself in 
 
46 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 trying to do good. Connected witli the Baptist church, 
 meeting in St. Andrew's-street Cambridge, formerly un- 
 der the pastoral care of the late learned Eobert Hall, 
 there existed a society entitled " The Lay Preacher's As- 
 sociation." Although so young in years, Mr. Spurgeon 
 was accepted as' a member of this association. Here he 
 at once found the occupation which his mind most de- 
 sired ; and he was soon appointed to address a congre- 
 gation. Although we have not been able to learn what 
 was the text selected by the youthful divine on this in- 
 teresting occasion, nor have we heard any report of the 
 service, yet we know one result which has proceeded 
 therefrom. Good was done, and the preacher was en- 
 couraged. Mr. Spurgeon's first sermon was preached in 
 a cottage, in the village of Teversham, about four miles 
 from Cambridge. The Lay Preacher's Association was 
 instituted to enable the poor inhabitants of the villages 
 surrounding Cambridge to hear the gospel in their own 
 homes, where dress would be no barrier to their assem- 
 bling together, and at the same time to provide them 
 with preachers who should address them in terms which 
 they might readily understand. There were thirteen 
 village stations mapped out, some of which were many 
 miles from the town, and in one or more of these sta- 
 tions, service was held every evening in the week. Hav- 
 ing once entered on this most solemn duty, and finding 
 acceptance with the people, he laid himself out for one 
 service every evening, after attending to his duties in 
 school during the day. It would be unfair to criticise 
 those early efforts at public teaching by the ordinary 
 
CALUMNIES. 47 
 
 rules wliicli we apply to public preaching. The tender 
 years of the speaker, and being besides self-taught in 
 divinity, and in most of the branches of human learning, 
 these should induce a spirit of forbearance. The desire 
 and the ability to preach, God had implanted within him. 
 Experience could only be learned by the exercise of the 
 gifts which had been bestowed. The New Testament 
 teaches, that both the operations of nature and of grace 
 are progressive, that we have first the "blade, then the 
 ear, then the full corn in the ear." These early preach- 
 ing efforts were acceptable to the people, and they were 
 owned and blessed by God. From an aged and experi- 
 enced Christian who heard Mr. Spurgeon preach before 
 his call to London, we learn that his addresses were 
 very instructive, and often included illustrations derived 
 from history, geography, astronomy, and from other 
 branches of school occupation, evidently adapted from 
 his daily duties, and thus made to serve as instruments 
 in religion as well as in training and informing the mind. 
 Since Mr. Spurgeon has been the popular preacher of 
 the day, we have often heard mammon-getting men of 
 the world ascribe his popularity to motives so mercenary 
 that we will not betray the ignorance of our fellow-citi- 
 zens by repeating them. They have gone beyond the 
 point of impugning the preacher's motives, and have 
 censured his deacons as participators in the results we 
 have referred to, and prompters to a course of action as 
 base as can well be attributed to fallen human nature. 
 All such notions are as groundless as they are un-char- 
 itable, and as unreasonable as they are untrue. For 
 
48 REV. C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 several years, Mr. Spurgeon had no gain' whatever from 
 his benevolent labors, but hopes of many kinds. Even 
 at the present time, though he is the almoner of the 
 bounty of many, and the generous bestower of his own 
 goods to feed the poor, yet he has neither the riches 
 nor the influence which are often ascribed to him. Few 
 public men are paid worse than public preachers for 
 benevolent objects. The early ministry of Mr. Spurgeon 
 was not only gratuitous, but often attended with de- 
 mands on his small salary which he willingly gave to 
 God not to be seen of men — but to help the needy. 
 The poor man's preacher, in all ages of the church, has 
 always been poor, and though the bounty of others 
 may make him the dispenser of their wealth, yet he 
 can not himself preach the everlasting gospel, and amass 
 riches for his reward. From the commencement of Mr. 
 Spurgeon's ministry, it may be truly said, that "the 
 common people heard him gladly." From the first, 
 the result has been the same in two respects, his hearers 
 have been uniformly numerous, and his preaching as 
 uniformly acceptable. The motives which impelled his 
 choice justify the result. He has often said in effect, 
 
 ' The love of Christ doth me constrain, 
 To seek the wandering souls of men." 
 
 This had been the earnest desire and prayer of his 
 parents for many years. Anxiously did they pray that 
 their son Charles might be a servant of Christ and a 
 preacher of righteousness. On one of his visits home, 
 he was told by his mother that she had thus prayed for 
 
OBEDIENCE. 49 
 
 him, but she added that she had never prayed for him 
 to be a Baptist. The ready mind of her son at once re- 
 plied, " Then, mother, God has answered your prayer, 
 and, hke his bounty, has given you more than you 
 asked." It will be remembered that both his grand- 
 father and his father are ministers in the Independent 
 body. There is a command addressed thus to all chil- 
 dren — " Obey your parents in all things." Mr. Spurgeon 
 was long in correspondence with his father in reference 
 to this change in his religious profession, and, like a 
 dutiful son as he had always been, did not give up his con- 
 nection with the Independents until he had obtained the 
 free and full consent of his father to do so. A son who 
 is obedient to his parents will also obey God. Would 
 that the example of this young man had been followed 
 by many who have professedly given up the religion of 
 their fathers, and have become perverts to the heresies 
 of Eome. Had they first assigned their reasons to their 
 parents, and asked their counsel and consent, there 
 might have been no Cardinal Archbishop now in En- 
 gland, allured here by the false idea of the heart of the 
 people leaning- toward Eome. God loves obedience, and 
 he will as assuredly punish those who are guilty of the 
 opposite sin as he punished the disobedient prophet, or 
 Saul, the first king of Israel. Children, young men, 
 Sunday-school teachers, learn a lesson from this young 
 man : although his reason was 'convinced, and his judg- 
 ment persuaded, still he yielded not to either till he had 
 complied with the command of God — " Children, obey 
 your parents." 
 
 3 
 
50 EEV. 0. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 In some of -the tliirteen village-stations around Cam- 
 bridge and "Waterbeacb, to wbicb Mr. Spurgeon devoted 
 all bis eveniugs, tbe preacbing was beld in a cottage, in 
 otbers in a cbapel, and occasionally tbe open air alone 
 could farnisb tbe accommodation required. Some of 
 tbese cbapels belonged to tbe Independents, otbers to 
 tbe Wesleyans or tbe Baptists, and members of eacb de- 
 nomination flocked in large numbers to bear tbe " boy 
 preacber." 
 
 At tbe village of "Waterbeacb, Mr. Spurgeon was re- 
 ceived in a marked manner of approval. In most of 
 tbe places in wbicb be bad preacbed, tbe effect was very 
 mucb alike in tbe large numbers attracted to bear tbe 
 Word of God, and in tbe success wbicb God was pleased 
 to bestow on bis labors. Even at tbat early period of 
 bis ministerial career, invitations to preacb special ser- 
 mons in towns and villages at a distance soon rapidly 
 increased. At Waterbeacb, bowever, tbe little cburcb 
 saAv in tbe young man a suitability to tbeu' wants, and 
 tbey gave bim an invitation to become tbeir pastor. 
 Tbe building used as a cbapel tbere was formerly a barn, 
 witb a bigb pitcbed roof, wbicb is covered witb tbatcb. 
 Tbe walls are a conglomerate, altbougb made to look 
 neat and clean by a plentiful coating of wbitewasb. It 
 is an edifice wbicb is sure to attract tbe attention of tbe 
 passer-by. Tbe following engraving is from a sketcb 
 recently made by Mr. E. Bowman, of Castle End, Cam- 
 bridge, for tbis work. 
 
 We quote tbe following notice of tbe young pastor of 
 tbe Baptist cburcb at Waterbeacb, from a communica- 
 
CALL TO THE PASTOEATE. 
 
 51 
 
 BAPTIST OHAPEL, WATEKBEAOH, OAilBttlDGB. 
 
 tion kindly furnisTied by Mr. C. King, one of the deacons 
 of the churcli : 
 
 " From Mr. Spurgeon's first coming toWaterbeach, lie 
 ■was generally well received, and soon became quite pop- 
 ular as a preacher. It was no unusual thing to see the 
 laborers on the farms at a distance from the village 
 literally running home when the duties of the day were 
 over, that they might be in time to attend his ministry 
 in the evening. At the early age of eighteen, he was 
 unanimously chosen pastor of our little church. We 
 have often sat under his ministry with a mixture of 
 pleasure, profit, and surprise, and have been ready to ex- 
 claim with the inquiring Jews named in the gospel, 
 Whence hath this young man this wisdom and these 
 mighty words? Our congregation soon rapidly iu- 
 
52 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 creased, so that botTi the seats and the aisles -were gen.' 
 erally filled, and some could not obtain admission intc 
 the place. A reformation in the habits of the people 
 soon appeared in the village ; and about twenty persons 
 were, in a short time, added to the church. Mr. Spur 
 geon's character and conduct were as amiable as hii 
 talents were attractive; and when, after preaching fo: 
 some months on the Sabbath morning and afternoon, h( 
 was met by the request to preach on Sabbath evenings 
 also, he modestly replied, ' I can not always preacl 
 three times, for I am not so strong as a man !' Aftei 
 having labored among us upward of two years, in sea- 
 son and out of season, he was called to a wider sphere 
 and left us, to the general regret of the church and cou' 
 gregation ; and he is followed by the prayers and besi 
 wishes of the little flock he had partly gathered out of 
 the world, and left behind." 
 
 Waterbeach is a village of about 1,300 inhabitants 
 scattered over a considerable surface, the occupatior 
 being agricultural. The Baptist church there numberec 
 nearly forty members when Mr. Spurgeon was callec 
 to the pastorate. During the short period of his minis 
 trations there, the number of church members was 
 doubled. It must be remembered that the income oi 
 the pastor over so small a church was only a nomina 
 sum. For his maintenance, he had still to pursue hi 
 daily duties as usher in the school at Cambridge, fo: 
 three hours in the morning, and in the evening th( 
 young preacher was addressing a congregation of vil- 
 lagers. Not only at Waterbeach, but at all the village; 
 
DECLINES GOING TO COLLEGE. 53 
 
 'he visited, there was a spirit of inquiry among the 
 people, of "What must we do to be saved?" God's 
 Holy Spirit awakened and answered that inquiry. All 
 religious meetings were well attended. The Lord was 
 exalting himself by calling some of the vilest of the 
 people to forsake their evil ways, and become regular 
 attendants on the worship of God. The whole village 
 was reformed. 
 
 During his pastorate at Waterbeach, in the year 1852, 
 his father again opened the correspondence respecting 
 his going to college, generously oifering to make any 
 sacrifice to secure such a training for his son as would 
 be afforded by that course of study. In his reply, to his 
 father, dated March 9th, 1852, he writes: "I have all 
 along had an aversion to college ; and nothing but a 
 feeling that I must not consult myself but Jesus, could 
 have made me think of it." After confirming his views 
 expressed in a former letter on the same subject, he pro- 
 ceeds : " It appears to my friends here that it is my duty 
 to remain with my dear people at Waterbeach ; so say 
 the church there unanimously, and so say three of our 
 deacons at Cambridge." In another letter to his excel- 
 lent mother, dated November, he confirms his former 
 decision thus : " 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 can not regret if I have for- 
 feited 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 
 
54 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 desire. My congregation is as great and loving as ever. 
 During all the time I have been at Waterbeach, I have 
 had a different house for my home every day. [His 
 residence was at Cambridge.] 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. Our an- 
 niversary passed off grandly ; six were baptized ; crowds 
 on crowds stood by the river ; the chapel afterward was 
 crammed both to the tea and the sermon." 
 
 By these and like exercises, God was preparing this 
 young divine for greater plans of usefulness, and a 
 wider sphere of action. The Holy Spirit had called 
 him to his work, and he believed in the same divine 
 power for the qualifications necessary for the duty he 
 was to fulfill. Mr. Spurgeon had strong faith, and he 
 exercised it: the result has, by God's blessing, justified 
 his choice. Strong in the conviction that the pulpit, 
 not the college, was his place, he maintained his point, 
 and the issue has proved the soundness of his judgment. 
 He continued to reside at Cambridge during the week, 
 merely spending the Sabbath and an occasional evening 
 at Waterbeach. During these visits the homes of the 
 villagers were his welcome ; and with one after another 
 did -this evangelist abide for a Sabbath-day, until he had 
 been invited into nearly every homestead in the place. 
 His usefulness so greatly increased his duties, that he 
 found it requisite to leave Cambridge, and go to reside 
 
55 
 
 altogether at Waterbeach, during tlie summer of the 
 year 1853. 
 
 Having by his earnestness, usefulness, and diligence, 
 obtained great favor and acceptance among the people 
 of God in Cambridgeshire and Essex, his fame spread 
 rapidly in all directions. Besides visiting many poor 
 and sick persons, and administering comfort and conso- 
 lation to them, he had to travel many miles to the va- 
 rious villages ; and during the year previous to his 
 residing entirely at Waterbeach, he preached more than 
 three hundred and sixty sermons, and on nearly every 
 occasion to overflowing audiences. Such unceasing and 
 heavy duties in the cause of the Great Master of assem- 
 blies, in no way lessened his zeal or his love to the work. 
 Living in constant personal communion with heaven, he 
 had a motive for being earnest, which mere hirehngs in 
 the Lord's vineyard do not possess. He saw much 
 good being done continually, and knew it wa-s of God, 
 and not of man. Because he was a faithful servant, he 
 found a faithful Master, and thought no duty too heavy 
 to do for so good a Master. 
 
 CALL TO NEW PARK-STREET. 
 
 The Cambridge Union of Sunday-schools is a very efii- 
 cient institution. Its anniversary meeting in 1853 was 
 held at Cambridge, on which occasion Mr. Spurgeon 
 was called upon to speak. Whether as a preacher in 
 the pulpit, or a speaker on the platform, he can always 
 
56 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 command tlie attention of vast multitudes. It is not, 
 However, on tte platform that Mr. Spurgeon is most 
 at home. He can m.ove a resolution with marvelous 
 effect; but he prefers preaching for any good ohject 
 rather than advocating it in a set speech. As a speaker 
 he succeeds ; as a preacher he excels. The part he took 
 at the anniversary meeting referred to, was of remark- 
 able significance. There was nothing in his manner 
 or his remarks which was specially attractive to the 
 audience ; but there was an unseen agency at work with 
 the speaker as well as in the audience. Great and im- 
 portant issues often proceed from small beginnings. 
 There was present at that meeting, a young man from 
 Loughton, in Essex. Mr. Spurgeon's address made an 
 impression of lasting importance upon his mind. Short- 
 ly afterward, the Essex young man met with one of the 
 deacons of a Baptist church in London, which had once 
 flourished like the cedars of Lebanon, but which was 
 now, although improving somewhat in condition, so far 
 shorn of its former glory as to furnish cause of serious 
 consideration. Anxiously did the thoughtful deacon 
 relate his tale of a scattered church and a diminished 
 congregation to his Christian brother from the provinces. 
 Nor was this unreasonable, considering the untaught 
 multitude around their chapel, the unlet sittings, and 
 impoverished funds. Fresh upon the mind of the young 
 man was the effect of the speech of the youthful Tim- 
 othy at Cambridge, and he ventured to speak of the 
 evangelist of Waterbeach as a minister likely to be the 
 means of reviving interest in the church at New Park- 
 
CALL TO LONDON. 57 
 
 street. The friends separated: tlie deacon left, unim- 
 pressed by what lie had heard, and things grew worse. 
 God's ways are not as our ways. 
 
 "A wonderful fashion of teaching he hath ;'' 
 
 and while he deviseth, he will execute. It was not 
 likely the church which had been raised by a Keach, and 
 supported and extended so widely by a Gill and a 
 Eippon, should thus decline without hope of recovery. 
 When a man's extremity is greatest, then the Almighty 
 graciously assists. Shortly afterward the deacon and 
 the Essex friend met again, and again was the young 
 preacher of Waterbeach recommended as the means of 
 reviving the once prosperous church of " Hors-lie- 
 down." Seeing that some change must be made, the 
 good deacon thought there might be some hope in at 
 least considering, and naming to other friends, what he 
 heard. ISTo sooner had the intelligence reached a second, 
 and a third member of the church, than they resolved 
 upon action, and soon forwarded an invitation to the 
 young man to come to London and preach before them 
 in their large London chapel. The work was of God ; 
 man only made the arrangements. What Julius Cassar 
 said of himself may be appropriately said of Mr. Spur- 
 geon : He came — he preached — he conquered. The 
 provincial brother suggests, and the citizens accept. In 
 the autumn of the year 1853, Mr. Spurgeon was first 
 invited to occupy a London pulpit. He was then but 
 just turned nineteen years of age, but having been 
 trained by the best Teacher, in the best kind of knowl- 
 
 3* 
 
58 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 edge, and feeling assurance in the efficacy of liis mes- 
 sage, he delivered his first sermon in New Park-street 
 chapel, on a Sunday morning, to a small audience, with 
 the freedom and boldness which evinced that he be- 
 lieved what he preached, and believed that his message 
 was from God. Some were disappointed; others re- 
 solved to oppose, and did oppose ; but by far the greater 
 proportion were disposed to hear him again. The result 
 of the first sermon was proved, in a few hours, to have 
 been a success. The evening congregation was gi-eatly 
 increased, partly from curiosity, partly from the age of 
 the preacher, and his unusual style of address. We have 
 before remarked how much the early sermons of Mr. 
 Spurgeon were illustrated by scholastic knowledge ; as- 
 tronomy, history, geography, and other like subjects 
 being made to serve his purpose. This was the case on 
 the present occasion. Having served the church on 
 one Sunday as a temporary supply, he was again invited 
 to take the pulpit on another Sunday as early as possi- 
 ble, for a feeling of excitement was created, and it re- 
 quired to be satisfied. After consulting with his church 
 at Waterbeach, he arranged to supply the Park-street 
 pulpit during three alternate weeks, coming to London on 
 Saturday, doing full duty on Sunday, and after another 
 service on Monday evening, he again returned to his 
 charge in the country on Tuesday. The six weeks hav- 
 ing expired, and the excitement in the neighborhood to 
 hear the young preacher having become considerable, it 
 was determined to invite Mr. Spurgeon from his rustic 
 retreat, to undertake the heavy responsibility of pastor 
 
EAELY RESULTS. 59 
 
 of one of the most ancient, and formerly the most in- 
 fluential Baptist church in London. 
 
 The stone cast in the water produces a succession of 
 circles which expand beyond control. The ripple on 
 the ocean's brink may be small in itself, but it is the in- 
 dicator of a power which is omnipotent : it shows the 
 direction of the current. It will be seen, by reference 
 to preceding pages, that for nearly one hundred and 
 twenty years the church of New Park-street had been 
 presided over by only two pastors, both of whom were 
 called to the pastorate while very young. Here then 
 was the prestige of example to justify the choice of the 
 church in appointing Mr. Spnrgeon their pastor. Such 
 was the depressed condition of all the funds of the 
 church, that there was no pecuniary inducement what- 
 soever to entice the popular preacher. Nor has this 
 motive ever been chargeable on Mr. Spurgeon since he 
 has been in the ministry. He has always been content 
 with, and thankful for, whatever the circumstances of 
 the church afforded. As a teacher, his financial pros- 
 pects would have been much brighter ; as a preacher, he 
 had not hitherto received a fair compensation for his nn- 
 tiring and earnest labors. But the call to London opened 
 up to him a much wider prospect of doing good : he 
 thanked God, and entered on the duty in the month of 
 January, 1854. 
 
 He had not long ofBoiated in Southwark before the 
 chapel began to fill, and applications for sittings rapidly 
 increased. The tidings of his preaching spread from 
 friend to friend, and almost from house to house, in the 
 
60 .REV. 0. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 neigtborliood, until tlie place was filled to overflowing. 
 Many who had been members, but who had strayed, 
 now returned to their old church, and great fear was 
 freely expressed in some neighboring congregations, lest 
 the members should leave to go and hear and sit under 
 the young divine. Every fresh accession, either to the 
 church or congregation, served to increase the excite- 
 ment, and large numbers were often unable to get within 
 either the chapel or the school-room. The following 
 description of the preacher's style at this period is one 
 of the earliest we have met with : " His voice is clear 
 and musical ; his language plain ; his style flowing, yet 
 terse ; his method lucid and orderly ; his matter sound 
 and suitable ; his tone and spirit cordial ; his remarks 
 always pithy and pungent, sometimes familiar and col- 
 loquial, yet never light or coarse, mu.ch less profane. 
 Judging from a single sermon, we supposed that he 
 would become a plain, faithful, forcible, and affectionate 
 preacher of the gospel in the form called Calvinistic ; 
 and our judgment was the raore favorable, because, 
 while there was a solidity beyond his years, we detected 
 little of the wild luxuriance naturally characteristic of 
 very young preachers." Want of order and arrange- 
 ment was a fault the preacher soon found out himself, 
 and refers to it when he says : " Once I put all my 
 knowledge together in glorious confusion ; but now I 
 have a shelf in my head for every thing, and whatever 
 I read or hear, I know where to stow it away for use at 
 the proper time." 
 
 Among the weekly multitudes who assembled to hear 
 
TESTIMONT OF A " FRIEND." 61 
 
 the now popular preaclier, after lie was establislied at 
 New Park-street, was a member of the Society of Friends, 
 who, being deeply impressed by what he saw and heard, 
 wrote a lengthened article on the subject, which was 
 published in " The Friend." A few extracts from this 
 account, by an unprejudiced observer, will very appro- 
 priately supply reliable information respecting Mr. Spur- 
 geon at that early period of his ministry in London. 
 " The Friend" says : 
 
 " An extraordinary sensation has recently been pro- 
 duced in London by the preaching of a young Baptist 
 minister named 0. H. Spurgeon. The crowds which 
 have been drawn to hear him, the interest excited by 
 his ministry, and the conflicting opinions expressed in 
 reference to his qualifications and usefulness, have been 
 altogether without parallel in modern times. What 
 renders the present case remarkable is, the juvenility of 
 the preacher — bis hold on the public being established 
 before he had attained his twentieth year ; and his first 
 appearance in London being that of a country youth, 
 without any of the supposed advantages of a college 
 education or ordinary ministerial training. 
 
 "Early in 1854, he undertook the charge of the con- 
 gregation assembling in New Park-street chapel, South- 
 wark. It was a remarkable sight to see this round-faced 
 country youth thus placed in a position of such solemn 
 and arduous responsibility, yet addressing himself to the 
 fulfillment of its onerous duties with a gravity, self- 
 possession, and vigor that proved him well fitted to the 
 task he had assumed. Li a few weeks, the pews which 
 
62 EEV. C. H. SPUBGEOK. 
 
 • 
 
 had been so long tenantless were crowded, every sitting 
 in the chapel was let, and ere many months had elapsed, 
 the eagerness to hear him had become so great, that 
 every standing-place within the chapel walls was occu- 
 pied on each succeeding Sabbath, and it became evident 
 that increased accommodation must be provided for the 
 wants of the congregation. It was about this period, in 
 the autumn of 1854, that we first heard C. H. Spurgeon, 
 on the occasion of his preaching te the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. The preliminary portions of the 
 service were conducted in a manner at once to impress 
 the hearer with a sense of the earnest reverence which 
 the young pastor felt in his work. He read a portion 
 of Scripture, accompanying it with a few forcible and 
 pointed expository remarks ; these expository efforts 
 being of peculiar value to the class of hearers of which 
 his congregations are mostly composed. His sermon 
 was a deeply impressive one. He spoke as a young man 
 to young men, sympathizing in their tastes, their trials, 
 their temptations, and their wants. He unfolded the 
 plan of salvation, and urged the importance of a manly 
 and decided profession of Christianity." 
 
 These extracts are sufhcient to show that there is 
 something in Mr. Spurgeon more than ordinary, to se- 
 cure for him in his pablic ministrations such crowds of 
 attentive hearers. Nor was it alone in his own chapel 
 that these multitudes of people gathered to hear him. 
 He was employed almost every day in preaching for 
 some benevolent object, either in London or its suburbs, 
 or in some provincial town or village ; and on every 
 
63 
 
 m 
 
 occasion, he not only had a large audience, but the 
 largest, in most cases, AY'hich had ever assembled at such 
 services. 
 
 During the autumn of the first year, 1854, many who 
 were unable to go and hear Mr. Spurgeon for them- 
 selves, formed an estimate of the young divine by his 
 sermons, several of which were published at short inter- 
 vals. These met with such a ready sale, that by the 
 end of the year, Mr. Joseph Passmore, a relative of the 
 late Dr. Rippon's, and an intimate personal friend of Mr. 
 Spurgeon 's, commenced a publication entitled, " The 
 New Park-street Pulpit," containing sermons preached 
 and revised by the Eev. C. H. Spurgeon. It may be 
 desirable to add, that "no sermons are genuine reports 
 unless they bear the title, The New Park-street Pulpit, or 
 the names of Alabaster & Passmore, and of those issued 
 in America the imprint of Sheldon, Blakeman & Co." 
 These sermons have from the first been sold at one 
 penny weekly ; and being the only authorized sermons 
 of Mr. Spurgeon, the demand for them has so far ex- 
 ceeded the supply as at first published, that all the early 
 sermons have reached a second edition, and some of the 
 later ones also. At the present time, the demand for 
 these sermons is increasing weekly ; and taking into ac- 
 count the regular weekly issue during the past two 
 years, there can not be less than half a million of Mr. 
 Spurgeon's sermons in circulation at the present time in 
 Great Britain. Nor is it in England alone that these 
 sermons are so much desired. 
 
 It was at this period — the autumn of 1854 — that the 
 
64 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 faith, patience, courage, and zeal of Mr. Spurgeon were 
 tested in- a remarkable manner. Already he was popu- 
 lar, among the poor particularly. There was then rag- 
 ing over Europe one of the scourges of the world — 
 the cholera. Almost without intermission, by night 
 and by day, the presence of the New Park-street pastor 
 was entreated by the suffering and the dying. So great 
 was his faith in God, that young though he was, he 
 went wheresoever he was summoned ; and during its 
 continuance, so many were the cases he visited, read to, 
 prayed and conversed with, that the recital of those 
 scenes would be something appalling. He toiled until 
 his physical energies were well-nigh exhausted ; and 
 when, on one occasion, having that day witnessed some 
 half dozen of these terrible deaths, he was again hurried 
 from home to witness the same distressing agonies re- 
 peated, his heart almost yielded to rest. He went out 
 mournfully contemplating, when, seeing a scrap of paper 
 wafered on a shop window, curiosity led him to read 
 the words written upon it. They were, " Thou shalt 
 not be afraid for the terror by night ; nor for the arrow 
 that flieth by day ; nor for the pestilence that walketh 
 in darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth at 
 noonday."' — Psalm xci. 5, 6. God's servant was re- 
 assured ; his faith was coniirmed ; and thus Providence 
 helped when help was most required. 
 
 The popularity of Mr. Spurgeon had so far increased 
 his audience on the Sabbath day at New Park-street, 
 and inconvenienced the members of the church, that the 
 chapel became far too small for the weekly require- 
 
PREACHES IN EXETEB HALL. 65 
 
 ments, and before the year 1854 had passed, the 
 deacons resolved to enlarge the chapel. While this 
 change was in progress, Mr. Spurgeon's members and 
 friends met every Sunday for worship in Exeter Hall, 
 in the Strand. Here arose one of the many problems 
 which have been proposed by the press and the public 
 concerning this young man, "Will Mr. Spurgeon fill 
 Exeter Hall ?" Some doubted, but the solution in this 
 case was speedily arrived at. The first time Mr. Spur- 
 geon preached in the large room, Exeter Hall, was on 
 Sunday morning, February 11th, 1855. Truly it was 
 an imposing sight to see such a large audience gathered, 
 from every part of London, to hear a sermon by a 
 young man but lately fresh from the country. The 
 large hall was filled in every part, and so great was the 
 desire to join in these services, that often during the 
 four months required for enlarging the chapel, the 
 crowds were far greater than the hall could accommo- 
 date. The hall was occupied during the months of 
 February, March, April, and May ; the last service was 
 on the 27th of May. The chapel in New Park-street 
 having had the northern end wall removed, several 
 yards were added to the length of the building, which 
 afforded sittings for nearly three hundred additional 
 persons. After the re-opening of the chapel, with all 
 the new sitings taken, and numerous applications fox 
 sittings being still unsatisfied, the deacons were obliged 
 to content themselves with having provided as much 
 room as the space would afford, and all who could not 
 gain admission were obliged to leave the place. The 
 
66 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 number thus disappointed every Sunday amounted to 
 hundreds, often to thousands. 
 
 His ministrations continued with unahated interest, 
 and with astonishing success, during the year 1855, 
 which was his second as a London pastor : on Sunday, 
 twice in his own tabernacle in Southwark, and again 
 on Monday and Thursday evenings, with a chapel filled 
 on each occasion ; while during the intervening days, 
 we see his name in the public papers constantly, advo- 
 cating as a preacher the cause of some religious society. 
 Thus the beDevo]ence of his heart is taxed, as much as 
 the energies of his body and mind, in trying to benefit 
 mankind on a large scale. One very remarkable fea- 
 ture of Mr. Spurgeon's popularity is, that it knows no 
 variation or diminution. Does he occupy his own pul- 
 pit, either on Sunday, or on a week day, the place is 
 always full. Is he in the suburbs, or in the provinces, 
 on any day in the week, whether in the morning, after- 
 noon, or evening, the place is full, and often the assem- 
 bly outside is greater in numbers than those within the 
 building, and not unfrequently an address has been de- 
 livered to the congregation outside by some other min- 
 ister. 
 
 Seasons of special blessings should be recognized by 
 Christians as occasions for special acknowledgment and 
 thanksgiving. The Jews are remarkable for their strict 
 observance of their annual festivals and their jubilees. 
 In the summer of this year, 1855, Mr. Spurgeon com- 
 pleted his twenty-first year. This festive occasion was 
 commemorated by a sermon which Mr. Spurgeon 
 
SCOTLAJSTD. 67 
 
 preaclied in Ms own ctapel, to a very large audience, 
 ■wbicli was published, and has since passed through 
 several editions, under the title of " Pictures of Life, and 
 Birth-day Eeflections." 
 
 The greater part of the month of July Mr. Spurgeon 
 spent in the north of England. During his travels and 
 preaching engagements among the Scotch, an impres- 
 sion was made upon the mind of the inhabitants for 
 good which wUl live after many days. In the city of 
 Glasgow, which was his head-quarters, he visited all the 
 buildings and places of note. Like the great Apostle 
 Paul when at Athens, his spirit was moved within him, 
 and he gave free vent to his feelings. Of one of his 
 rambles, he writes : " One feels all his hatred of popery 
 revived when he finds himself on the eminence of the 
 Necropolis, by the base of Knox's monument. There 
 he stands, stern as Elijah, rough as the Baptist, and earn- 
 est as Luther. The statue is well placed on a hill over- 
 looking the cathedral, so that the fine structure seems 
 to lie at his feet, and he appears to view with compla- 
 cency the house he had so thoroughly purged." On 
 Sunday, the 15th, Mr. Spurgeon preached to perhaps 
 the largest audiences ever gathered to hear the gospel in 
 that city; in the morniag, in Dr. Patterson's Baptist 
 chapel, Hope-street, the largest in Glasgow ; and in the 
 evening, to a multitude ta Dr. Wardlaw's IndependAit 
 chapel. West George-street. Mr. Spurgeon was re- 
 ceived with great suspicion in Scotland. " At the close 
 of each of these services," observes Mr. Spurgeon, " I 
 learned the meaning of the test, ' So then, we are no 
 
68 EEV. C. H. SPUBGEON. 
 
 longer strangers and foreigners ;' for I found tliat the 
 children of God recognized tlie herald of truth, and 
 cheerfully gave me their hearts and hands." He pro- 
 ceeded northward to Perth, Dunkeld and Aberfeldy. 
 Of this journey, Mr. Spurgeon writes : " If any thing in 
 our island could raise the feelings of a man toward 
 heaven, surely the sight of the scenery of Scotland 
 might suf&ce to do it ; for my own part, when viewing 
 the rocks of Aberfeldy, I could not refrain from clap- 
 ping my hands for very joy at such a noble display of 
 my Father's power, and my heart leaped at the thought 
 that the Captain had provided such a magnificent resting 
 place for his warriors." While at this romantic village, 
 the bellman was thrice sent round to announce a sermon 
 by a minister from the south, in these words — "Your 
 auld playmate, and auld acquaintance, Shony Carstair, 
 wants to see you all at the Independent chapel at 7 
 o'clock to hear my dear friend, the Rev. C. H. Spur- 
 geon, preach." Here followed an account of the crowds 
 who had flocked to hear the preacher at Exeter Hall, 
 and concluded thus: "Mind, he has come 500 miles to 
 tell you something for your good, and the Rev. 0. H. 
 Spurgeon and myself expect you all to come and give 
 us a hearty shake hands." Such an unusual mode of 
 announcing a sermon was sure of success — the whole 
 village was moved, and though the preacher, during the 
 service, "tried all means to move them," the cold blood 
 of the men far north was undisturbed by Mr. Spurgeon's 
 appeals, and the only movement seen in the congrega- 
 tion was a free use of the snuff box, the men " using a 
 
YOKKSHIEE. 69 
 
 small spoon to shovel the snuff from the box to the 
 nose!" The sermon over, before the benediction -was 
 pronounced, a rush was made simultaneously, and ere 
 the preacher could descend from the pulpit, the chapel 
 was deserted ! Such is a glance at Mr. Spurgeon's day- 
 spent at Aberfeldy, and of a Highland congregation. 
 
 Returning home from the north, Mr. Spurgeon 
 preached at Bradford, in St. George's Hall. On Sun- 
 day the 13th July, he had addressed multitudes in Glas- 
 gow ; on the 22d the locality is changed, and so is the 
 scene. The Scotch character is but little susceptible of 
 those emotions which, in a more southerly temperature, 
 spread from mind to mind, enkiadling warmth as they 
 spread. The largest edifice in that populous town was 
 engaged for the use of Mr. Spurgeon. Admission was 
 by ticket, and days before the services the tickets were 
 selling at a premium. On the Sunday morning, hours 
 before the service, all the roads leading to the town 
 were thronged with eager pilgrims, journeying to hear 
 this evangelist from the south. One of the thousands 
 who were unable to gain admission into that vast haU 
 has described to us his astonishment at seeing such mul- 
 titudes, old and young, rich and poor, the merchant and 
 the weaver, all gathering to one spot to hear the gospel. 
 The whole town was in commotion. The morning ser- 
 mon was preached from the address of Pilate to the 
 Jews, " Behold the Man 1" In the evening the scene 
 was one which defies description. Although 5000 per- 
 sons were crowded into the hall both morning and even- 
 ing, there were assembled in the evening outside the 
 
70 BET. C. H. SPUBGEON. 
 
 Lall, unable to gain admission, fully 5000 persons more. 
 The sum of £150 was collected at tliese services on be- 
 half of three of the Sunday-schools in Bradford. 
 
 Immediately on his return from the north, we find 
 the active mind of the New Park-street pastor anxiously 
 and earnestly engaged in the work of ameliorating the 
 condition of the poor around the chapel. In the district 
 of St. Peter's, Southwark, in which Park-street is situ- 
 ated, there are more than 3,000 children under 14 years 
 of age. For these, there is Sabbath-school accommoda- 
 tion for only 800, and day-schools for only 360. In 
 order' partially to remedy this sad state of things, a 
 number of gentlemen connected with New Park-street 
 chapel were formed into a committee to establish a mis- 
 sion hall, reading and school-rooms, under the direction 
 of the Bev. C. H. Spurgeon. A trip to Eosherville, 
 August the 7th, first brought this proposal prominently 
 before the church and the public. Half the sum required 
 for the work was realized by that trip. At a public 
 meeting held on November 9th, following, the remainder 
 of the sum of £250 was obtained to enable the commit- 
 tee to establish the mission hall and schools. Premises 
 were at once taken in Gruildford-street, on a lease for 
 twenty-one years ; an active missionary was appointed 
 to visit every family in the district ; and on the 29th of 
 October, 1855, the new premises were opened by a 
 prayer-meeting, after which 150 children were admitted 
 into the day-school, 100 of whom had never before been 
 in any school. The readiag-room, and the lectures given 
 therein, have been a great blessing to many poor fam- 
 
"heaven and hell." 71 
 
 ilies in tBe district. The first anniversary meeting was 
 held in January, 1857, at which a very encouraging and 
 satisfactory account was given of the working of the 
 school during the year. 
 
 About the end of the summer, 1855, a younger 
 brother of Mr. Spurgeon's, the Eev. James A. Spurgeon, 
 then about seventeen years of age, who is still a student 
 in the Baptist College, Eegent's Park, commenced his 
 pulpit ministrations in London with much acceptance. 
 Owing to the unparalleled popularity of the elder brother 
 at New Park-street, Mr. James Spurgeon has often had 
 to supply the appointments made by his brother. He 
 has met with a welcome in the churches where he has 
 preached, which bespeaks for him a respectable place 
 among the uprising divines of our own times. Two of 
 the sermons preached by the Eev. James A. Spurgeon 
 have been published, one of which has met with public 
 favor, the second having been just published, entitled 
 " Peter's Danger and Peter's Safety." 
 
 Early in September, Mr. Spurgeon gathered around 
 him in a field at Hackney, a concourse of about twelve 
 thousand persons, to whom he delivered a sermon of 
 extraordinary power and pathos, which was soon pub- 
 lished, and entitled "Heaven and Hell."* So greatly 
 was that vast multitude influenced for good by the ser- 
 mon, that its publication was required, and it has had a 
 sale of nearly ten thousand copies. 
 
 In the autumn of 1855, we find the public papers of 
 the west of England for several weeks fall of accounts 
 * To be found in the Eirst Series, published by Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. 
 
72 REV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 of the immense gatherings of people, and the extraordi- 
 nary sermons of Mr. Spurgeon, in the two great cities 
 of the west, namely, Bath and Bristol. Early in the 
 month of October, he had undergone the toils of a 
 preaching tour in the east of England, starting from his 
 old rendezvous, Waterheach, and passing through Cam- 
 bridgeshire and Suffolk, preaching daily, and sometimes 
 twice or thrice. On the 30th of October he preached 
 at Ebenezer chapel, Bath, and in Castle Green chapel, 
 Bristol. On the nest evening, the large Broadmead 
 Eooms were taken by storm by an eager audience, and 
 a thousand citizens stood outside in that wide thorough- 
 fare, unable to enter, but determined to listen. On this 
 occasion Mr. Spurgeon introduced the story of Jack the 
 Huckster in his sermon, with an effect for good which 
 will last for many days. On the morning of November 
 1st, Arly chapel was crowded by citizens of the upper 
 class. By this time tlae city was in a commotion with the 
 preaching of the young Baptist minister from London. 
 The last of the Bristol services was held in the chapel 
 of good old sainted Winter, at Counterslip, on the 
 next morning. Here high and low, rich and poor, were 
 gathered together, and in that audience were two, at the 
 least, professed unbelievers — infidels — upon whose minds 
 the Holy Spirit of God wrought with such power, by 
 means of that sermon, that they abandoned their false 
 principles, and became converts to the truth of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 With the opening of the new year, we find Mr. Spur- 
 geon entering on a new and changed condition. For 
 
MAEBIAGE. 73 
 
 several months previously, many strange statements had 
 been in circulation respecting presents made by ladies 
 to Mr. Spurgeon, which had no foundation in truth. 
 The marriage of this popular minister had been a sub- 
 ject of very frequent remark, and public opinion had 
 selected many partners for the young pastor. But Mr. 
 Spurgeon made his own choice, and was married on 
 Tuesday, January 8th, 1856, to Miss Susannah, daughter 
 of Mr. Kobert Thompson, of Falcon Square, London. 
 This event was to the happy pair a religious service, 
 and not, as is too often the case, looked upon merely as 
 a civil contract. On that auspicious morning, New 
 Park-street chapel was filled to excess, and some two 
 thousand persons remained outside unable to gain ad- 
 mission. Dr. Fletcher, of Finsbury chapel, commenced 
 the service at eleven o'clock, by giving out the well- 
 known hymn, "Salvation! the joyful sound!" The 
 , doctor then read the one hundredth Psalm, and then 
 offered up a solemn and affecting prayer. A short and 
 appropriate address followed. The form of marriage 
 used by Protestant Dissenters was then gone through, 
 and after Dr. Fletcher had pronounced them man and 
 wife, part of Ephesians v. was read, and the wedding 
 hymn sung, commencing, "Since Jesus freely did ap- 
 pear." Dr. Fletcher again implored a blessing on the 
 happy pair, who, having left the chapel, the assembly 
 separated. The bride and bridegroom were both at- 
 tended by their parents. We have thus detailed an 
 outline of a Christian marriage ; it may serve as a model 
 
 4 
 
74 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 ■wortliy the imitation of many Cliristians, and particu- 
 larly of Christian ministers. 
 
 After a brief sojonrn on the continent, we find Mr. 
 Spurgeon in a synagogue of the Jews ; remembering 
 the example of the great Teacher who, before his ascen- 
 sion, coHlmissioned his disciples to preach the gospel to 
 every creature. He manifested his love to the Jews by 
 adding to that commission " beginnings at Jerusalem." 
 Christ loved the Jews, although they crucified him ; and 
 Mr. Spurgeon, in his written account of the Jewish syn- 
 agogue of Duke-street, after describing the service and 
 his introduction to and conversation with Dr. AdlerJ- the 
 chief rabbi, observes: "We must express oar intense 
 love for the Jews, and earnestly hope that the church 
 of Jesus will arouse itself to a more determined efiert 
 for the conversion of this' ancient race." 
 
 On. the 14th of March, Mr. Spurgeon preached to a 
 . large audience in the Hanover Square Eooms, on behalf 
 of the Exeter Buildings' Eagged School. This sermon 
 has since been jsublished, under the title of " A Visit to 
 Calvary," in the second series of sermons issued by 
 Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. 
 
 Early in April, Mr. Spurgeon delivered a lecture on 
 the Study of Theology, before the Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Association at Newington. The lecture abounded 
 with various practical illustrations, and in it the lecturer 
 stated, that his own method of breaking up hard texts 
 of Scripture was, to consult first the best conmientaries 
 at his command, and if they failed, 'Jie took his Bible- 
 and oifered this prayer : " Lorcl I teach me what this 
 
NEOLOGT. 75 
 
 means ;" and " it is marvelous," observes Mr, Spurgeon, 
 " ho-w a Bard flinty_,text struck out sparks witli the steel 
 of prayer." 
 
 On Good Friday, in 1856 and iu 1857, Mr. Spiirgeon 
 preached to very large audiences in Cambridge. Dur- 
 ing the same month, April, again he made a preaching 
 tour to the west of England, extending to Brighton, and 
 over part of the eastern counties. At Trowbridge, the 
 multitude was so great at the evening congregation, that 
 in consideration of the large 'number who were unable 
 either to see or hear -the preacher, Mr. Spurgeon, after a 
 little refreshment, preached a'gain to the disappointed 
 • people at ten o'clock at night. 
 
 About the same, period, a momentous controversy 
 was pervading every religious community in England, 
 arising out of a few pages of rhyming nonsense, pub- 
 lished by the Rev. T. T. Lynch. The point in dispute 
 was "Neology," or Rationalism from Germany. In 
 May, Mr. Spurgeon published " Mine Opinion" on this 
 volume, and a more withering exposure of dangerous 
 theology and bad poetry we do not remember to have 
 met with. 
 
 During the month of June, we find Mr. Spurgeon 
 preaching one day in Exeter Hall ; on another, to a 
 multitude who had to adjourn from a chapel into an 
 orchard ; the day following, to a mixed multitude in a 
 large barn. Next, he is surrounded by an immense as- 
 sembly in the Bunyan Meeting at Bedford ; then at 
 the Beaumont Institution, Mile End, and he closes the 
 month's journey ings by a week's sojourn and preaching 
 
76 REV. 0. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 at Bristol and Clifton, preacWng usually twelve sermons 
 weekly. 
 
 We find him in July, 1856, attracting immense mul- 
 titudes to his ministry in various parts of Scotland ; he 
 next takes the sedate city of Oxford by surprise, of 
 which visit the Oxford Chronicle says : " Few of the im- 
 mense audience who were privileged to listen to his pul- 
 pit ministrations here but were astonished and dehghted 
 at the wonderful power and ability with which Mr. 
 Spurgeon is so highly gifted." 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon commenced the month of September 
 by preaching in Dr. Fletcher's chapel, Finsbury ; on the 
 following day, in St. Martin's Hall, Long Acre, he 
 preached a very remarkable sermon, entitled " Seest 
 thou this woman?" on behalf of the London Female 
 Dormitory. On the 16th he preached two sermons in 
 Luton, and a local journal, in recording this visit, in- 
 forms its readers that these special services of Mr. Spur- 
 geon are purely gratuitous, as he never charges more, 
 and sometimes less, than his traveling expenses. This 
 statement we not only can confirm, but can add, that 
 during the past year, Mr. Spurgeon has himself stated 
 that he sustained a loss of £25 by these preaching tours, 
 for when he preached for his poorer brother pastors, he 
 usually declined to receive any contribution whatsoever 
 toward his personal outlay. 
 
 At the end of the month of September, a great meet- 
 ing was held in New Park-street chapel to adopt meas- 
 ures for the erection of a large tabernacle. After 
 describing the utter inadequacy of the chapel to accom- 
 
NECESSITY OF ENLARGEMENT. 77 
 
 modate the tliousands who assembled every week to 
 hear the minister, Mr. Spurgeon observed, that "he 
 came to the determination to become an itinerant evan- 
 gelist, if a place were not erected of a size more com- 
 mensurate with the extraordinary congregations who 
 flocked to hear him. He confessed that it- gave him 
 great pain to see people who had come long distances 
 having to stand during the whole of the services, while 
 large numbers could not enter the building, yet remained 
 to hear stray sentences, and crowds went away without 
 being able to get even within hearing." Mr. Spurgeon 
 farther observed, that " they had an accession of 500 
 communicants in little more than two years, who had 
 given credible testimony of having been the subjects of 
 conversion." Mr. Deacon Moore confirmed the remarks 
 of their pastor, and added, that " from thirty to forty 
 communicants were added to their church every month, 
 tiU they now, as a church, numbered nearly 900 mem- 
 bers." It was finally determined that no steps be taken 
 toward the erection, or the selection of a site, until the 
 expiration of twelve months, during which period the 
 friends are to exert their energies in obtaining contribu- 
 tions. It is expected that $60,000 will be required, and 
 it is proposed that the new tabernacle shall accommo- 
 date five thousand persons. 
 
 Owing to the multitude of people who flocked every 
 Sunday to hear Mr. Spurgeon in Exeter Hall, which 
 was always filled to overflowing, it became necessary 
 to find another capacious edifice when Exeter Hall was 
 no longer available. The deacons of New Park-street 
 
78 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEOK. 
 
 . chapel next entered into an arrangement with the pro- 
 prietors of the Eoyal Surrey Music Hall for the use of 
 that building once at least on the Sunday, for which the 
 sum of £60 was to be paid for four Sundays. The first 
 service was commenced on Sunday evening, October 19, 
 when some 14,000 persons assembled in the hall. From 
 some cause, which is not satisfactorily accounted for to 
 this day, an alarming excitement was created at one 
 corner of the building, which soon spread throughout 
 the vast audience, and in consequence several persons 
 lost their lives and many were injured. After an in- 
 Testigation by the coroner, which extended over several 
 days, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death 
 with regard to those who had lost their lives. No one 
 suffered more from this sad event than the pastor him- 
 self So heavy was the blow upon his nervous system, 
 that had he not been at once removed into the country, 
 it is very doubtful whether he would have been again 
 in a condition to preach. Mr. Spurgeon had, during 
 the whole of his previous life, enjoyed good health, but 
 this event completely prostrated all the energies of a 
 strong man. On Sunday morning, November 2d, 
 though far from well, he again appeared in the midst 
 of his beloved people at the Surrey Gardens, and was 
 received with every manifestation of joy. 
 
 November, last year, 1856, was one hundred years 
 since George Whitefield opened the Tottenham Court 
 Eoad Tabernacle. The centenary services were held in 
 that mouth, and Mr. Spurgeon preached the third of the 
 sermons, from the prayer of Habakkuk, " Lord, re- 
 
DISTINGUISHED VISITOES. 79 
 
 yiye thy work." It is computed that the building 
 ■would hold 4000 persons; but a much larger number 
 were packed within its walls on that occasion. Such a 
 crowd probably has not been seen in the building dur- 
 ing the present century. Since the services we have 
 just noticed, an unfortunate fire has left this fine and 
 memorable edifice a heap of blackened ruins ; nothing 
 but the external walls are now remaining. 
 
 Thfi desire to hear Mr. Spurgeon at the Music Hall 
 during the present year, 185T, has been on the constant 
 increase. Nor is the excitement confined to the lower, 
 or middle, classes of society. One of the earliest men 
 of mark who attended to hear Mr. Spurgeon, was the 
 Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Campbell, who 
 met there on that occasion, Sir Eichard Mayne, chief 
 Commissioner of Police, to whom his lordship remarked, 
 after the service, "He is doing great good, sir, great 
 good." The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, Lord John and 
 Lady Eussell, Lord Alfred Paget, Lord Panmure, the 
 Earl of Shaftesbury, Earl Grey, the Bishop of London, 
 Sir James Graham, the Duchess of Sutherland, the. Earl 
 of Carlisle, the Earl of Elgin, Baron Bramwell, Miss 
 Florence Nightingale, Dr. Livingston, Lady Lionel 
 Rothschild, and many other distinguished persons have 
 since formed part of Mr. Spurgeon 's audience. What is 
 it attracts all these persons firom time to time to hear 
 the youthful divine ? There is a cause — who will de- 
 clare it ? 
 
 Early in the present year, 1857, there appeared the 
 second volume of the New Park-street Pulpit, containing 
 
80 REV. 0. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 fifty-three sermons, preached and revised by the Eev. 0. 
 H. Spurgeon. This volume contains the principal ser- 
 mons preached by Mr. Spurgeon during the year 1856, 
 and the most of these are contained in the second series 
 published by Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. Not the least 
 ■useful and remarkable of the sermons in that volume is 
 the last one, entitled, " Turn or Burn 1" and with those 
 solemn and impressive words the volume is closed. It 
 would be invidious to particularize any of those ser- 
 mons, but some of them have been made specially use- 
 fal in arresting sinners, and in stopping them in their 
 career of wickedness. 
 
 A penny sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's was made instru- 
 mental in the hands of God, in stopping an infidel of 
 some renown in Norwich, in his career of unbelief and 
 sin ; and so deeply was the man's mind impressed with 
 the truth of divine revelation, by reading tha,t sermon, 
 that he took all his infidel publications and publicly 
 burned them in the cattle-market in that city. So fierce 
 has been the persecution which the secularists of Nor- 
 wich and Norfolk have poured on the head of this va- 
 liant champion of truth, that he has been obliged to 
 remove to another town, to secure to himself and family 
 the peace of a home where Christ reigns. Only a few 
 weeks ago, while on our way from the country on Sab- 
 bath morning to the Music Hall, Mr. Spurgeon was the 
 subject of conversation in the railway, when a gentle- 
 man observed, "For seventeen years I have been an 
 infidel; but hearing that young man preach a few 
 times, my unbelief has fled, and I have now no greater 
 
DEMAND FOK HIS PRINTED SEEMONS. 81 
 
 deliglit than in attending on the ministry of the young 
 man who has been the means, in the hands of God, of 
 totally altering my religious views, my habits, and man- 
 ner of life." Besides a numerous class of persons who 
 have voluntarily supplied information of the benefit they 
 have personally derived from reading these sermons, 
 there are others who, in secluded places, far removed 
 from church or chapel, having become acquainted with 
 these sermons, now obtain a regular weekly supply, and 
 on the Sabbath, the inmates of two or three cottages 
 assemble and read them as they appear. Not a few 
 farmers have supplied themselves with a volume, and 
 on every Sabbath evening the servants unite with the 
 family in domestic worship, and a sermon of Mr. Spur- 
 geon's always closes the service. Quite recently, a 
 gentleman in Sunderland obtained a few of Mr. Spur- 
 geon's sermons, and on Sunday morning a large num- 
 ber of working men assembled in a public room to hear 
 one of the sermons read. The audience was so de- 
 lighted, that a large supply was demanded, and the 
 gentleman was requested to continue the service. Not 
 only in these private assemblies is good being done by 
 Mr. Spurgeon's published sermons, but in other places, 
 more publicly, is the good work being carried on. Cler- 
 gymen, and ministers of various denominations, send for 
 large assortments of these disco\irses, and, not in a few 
 cases, by inquiry, we have ascertained that Mr. Spur- 
 geon's sermons are delivered to more than one public 
 congregation, and often in consecrated edifices, on the 
 Sabbath day. Who shall measure the amount of good 
 
 4* 
 
82 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 •which is being thus done daily, in every part of the 
 country, by these penny weekly sermons? 
 
 One of the most widely circulated religious newspapers 
 in England, and one conducted with great ability, says 
 of this extraordinary man and his preaching : 
 
 " Mr. Spurgeon is unquestionably a phenomenon ; a 
 star, a meteor, or at all events something strange and 
 dazzling in the horizon of the ' religious world.' The 
 old lights have gone down, and since Irving, and Hall, 
 and Chalmers ' fell asleep,' there has been no preacher 
 that has created a ' sensation' at all to be compared with 
 the young preacher at New Park-street chapel. But do 
 not let our readers imagine that they have found here 
 a luminary of the same class with those we have just 
 named. Whatever Mr. Spurgeon's merits may be — and 
 he has some rare ones — they are of a very different order 
 from those which distinguished the mighty preachers of 
 the last generation. They were all men of gigantic rea- 
 soning powers, of refined taste, of profound scholarship, 
 and of vast theological learning. Of all these quali- 
 ties, Mr. Spurgeon has little enough ; nor, to do him 
 justice, does he pretend to any of them, except perhaps 
 in some unlucky moments to the last. But it will prob- 
 ably be agreed to by all competent judges, that neither 
 Irving, nor Hall, nor even Chalmers, was so well fitted 
 to carry the gospel to the poor and ignorant, as is this 
 modern orator of the pulpit. Their writings will last 
 for many generations, and will be as fresh to the latest 
 as they are to-day ; Mr. Spurgeon's sermons will, per- 
 haps, soon be forgotten for ever, but they go to the 
 
STYLE OF PREACHING. 83 
 
 hearts of the multitude ; and as he has the good sense 
 to know the direction in which his talent lies, he prom- 
 ises to be incomparably useful in a class of society 
 which preachers too often complain is utterly beyond 
 their reach. 
 
 "A lively imagination, sometimes rising to the region 
 of poetry, but more frequently delighting in homely 
 and familiar figures of speech ; a free colloquial man- 
 ner of address, that goes directly to the understanding 
 of the simplest ; and an enthusiastic ardor, that may 
 prove catching to all his hearers, unless they are more 
 than usually insensible, are the chief legitimate attrac- 
 tions of Mr. Spurgeon's style ; and they are qualities so 
 rare in their combination, and are in him so strongly 
 developed, as to stamp him, in our judgment, with the 
 decided impress of genius. We should suppose that it 
 must be impossible to hear him without acquiring for 
 him a sentiment of respect ; for if offended by his ex- 
 travagances, as the thoughtful certainly will be, the 
 oflfense is so immediately atoned for by some genuine 
 outburst of feeling, that you remember that his extrav- 
 agances are but the errors of a youth, and that the 
 material on which these excrescences appear is that out 
 of which apostles and martyrs have in every age been 
 fashioned. You pardon his follies, for they are nothing 
 else, for the sake of his unquestionable sincerity and 
 impassioned zeal. You wish that it had been possible 
 that a mind so gifted might have received more culture 
 Defore it was called into its present dangerous posi- 
 tion ; but finding it as it is, you accept it with gratitude, 
 
84 REV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 and pray God, the All-wise, to be its guide and pro- 
 tector.'' 
 
 And an American newspaper of a denomination to 
 which Mr. Spurgeon does not belong, bears the follow- 
 ing noble testimony to the power and goodness joined 
 in this remarkable preacher : 
 
 " Effects prove a canse. "Where results are undenia- 
 ble, reasons for such results must exist. When, then, 
 we find men thronging in thousands, month after month, 
 to hear the preaching of the plainest truths of the gos- 
 pel by a young man of twenty-three, with nothing ex- 
 ternal to himself to clothe him with popularity, we may 
 rest assured that there is a cause for the fact. Having 
 received from the publishers a volume of the sermons 
 of Spurgeon, the London celebrity, we opened it, with 
 a desire to search for a clew to his extraordinary popu- 
 larity. This we did, not from mere curiosity, but in 
 the belief that our ministry might find profit from 
 the study of the sources of his power, wherever they 
 might lie. 
 
 " We are free to confess that we have been agreeably 
 disappointed in these sermons. There is in them more 
 to praise and less to condemn than we had been led to 
 suppose by current reports and descriptions. They by 
 no means so abound in frothy declamations, extravagan- 
 cies, and coarse wit, as many may suppose ; nor can the 
 popularity of the preacher be attributed to these sources 
 of attraction for the populace. On the contrary, these 
 sermons contain the evidences of a real power and effect- 
 iveness in the highest sense. They are well worthy of 
 
THE BIBLE AND THE HYMN-BOOK. 85 
 
 the study of those who long for an increase of influence 
 over the hearts of men. 
 
 " His style is in many respects admirable. It is En- 
 glish ; not Latin, not Greek, not French, but English— 
 the language, not of Coleridge, nor of Johnson, but of 
 the Bible and of Bunyan — not of the metaphysician and 
 theologian, but of the farmer, the mechanic, and the la- 
 boring man — in short, the langniage of common life, the 
 language understood, spoken and appreciated by nine 
 tenths of the people. Here is one of his strong points. 
 We have in these days too much preaching for the par- 
 lor, and too little for the kitchen. Our pastors speak 
 rather to the most than to the least learned in their 
 flock. Spurgeon speaks to the common people in their 
 own tongue, and the common people hear him gladly. 
 Yet he is not vulgar as to style — every page shows that 
 the Bible and the Hymn-book are the two fountains 
 from which he draws his greatest store of literary 
 wealth, and we -know of no two sources so valuable ; 
 the Scripture-text and the verse of sacred song always 
 command attention. These Spurgeon constantly uses. 
 He evidently has them at his tongue's end. 
 
 " His mental characteristics stand out boldly. Imag- 
 ination lively and uncultivated, at times defective, native 
 mother-wit frequently more than verging on coarseness 
 or profanity, fine descriptive powers, with intense earn- 
 estness. Take the first sermon in the series, ' God our 
 glorious Habitation.' Commencing in simple style, he 
 leads you to the wilderness, to stand with Moses on the 
 rock, or points you with lively imagination to the peo- 
 
86 EEV. C. H. SPUBGEON. 
 
 pie passing through the arid wastes of the desert ; his 
 wit keeps you awake ; his descriptions and illustrations 
 preserve a lively state of attention ; his hymns and 
 scriptural quotations touch and improve ; and his earn- 
 estness drives home the whole with the power of a great 
 reality upon the hearer. 
 
 " The pulpit, in refined communities, is in danger of 
 being emasculated by a care for the proprieties, of being 
 frozen by dignity, and petrified by conventionalism. 
 Rowland Hill-like, Spurgeon dares to meet the people 
 on their own level, and they, in return, flock to meet 
 him. He does not befog them with ' objective' and 
 'subjective' views of subjects, or put them to sleep 
 with well-rounded periods, or weave fine-spun webs of 
 philosophic net-work, in which to envelop a plain truth 
 — but he gives them the truth as plainly as God has 
 given it to him ; rough, at times, it is true, but we can 
 excuse roughness in cannon-balls, and flaws in the sword 
 that cleaves through helmet and mail. 
 
 " Spurgeon is thoroughly in earnest. His theology is 
 a positive one, a tough, old-fashioned Calvinism, and he 
 seems to believe it and to feel it. He appears to have, 
 what of all things is the most essential to a preacher, an 
 individual religious experience. He feels strongly, and 
 he speaks strongly, nor is he afraid to let the people 
 know that he believes for himself what he commends to 
 them. If we may judge of a man by his words, this 
 young man communes with his Bible, and through it 
 with God, and gets his power thence. We see no great 
 evidence of the study of theology, but we do see evi- 
 
NEED OF SUCH MEN. 87 
 
 dence of the study of God's "Word — we see deep convic- 
 tion of the reality of heaven and hell — we see a hearty, 
 open, earnest utterance of this belief enforced by all the 
 abilities which God has given him, and we do not won- 
 der that Spurgeon is popiilar." 
 
 Such is the testimony that pours in upon the publish- 
 ers of these sermons from every quarter, in England and 
 America. Wherever the English language is spoken 
 they are read with instruction and joy, and fruit is 
 borne to the glory and praise of God. 
 
 One of the most eminent Presbyterian divines, him- 
 self distinguished for the learning and grace with which 
 he adorns the pulpit, has expressed the wish that there 
 were a hundred Spurgeons in London and fifty in New 
 York, at this moment. What a power, what a glory 
 would such an army with the banners of salvation pro- 
 duce! Who can estimate the effect that would be 
 wrought if only a score of such men should stand in 
 our halls and churches from Sabbath to Sabbath pro- 
 claiming, with burning words, the everlasting gospel of 
 Christ ! In saying this we make no reflection upon the 
 able and excellent men whose ministry it pleases God 
 so largely to bless at the present time. It is not in the 
 order of his providence to raise up men like Spurgeon 
 often. They come, " like angels' visits, few and far be- 
 tween :" but when they do come, they are to be hailed 
 as special messengers of mercy, to call sinners to re- 
 pentance. Such a man was Whitefield, and God was 
 honored in his labors, his life, and his death ; and there 
 are hundreds now in heaven praising God for the gift 
 
88 EEV. C. H. SPUBGEON. 
 
 of " that seraphic man," who turned many to righteous- 
 ness, and now shines as a star in the firmament. Such 
 a man was Summerfield, whose sun went down in the 
 morning ; but he left behind him a memory, fragrant as 
 the most precious ointment, in the church of Grod. 
 
 Spurgeon is not a whit behind either of these men in 
 graphic power, while he is vastly superior to them in 
 logic and illustration. He grapples with the strongest 
 truths, unfolds the profoundest doctrines, plies the 
 lever with the stoutest arguments, and aims at con- 
 vincing before he attempts to persuade. He has, there- 
 fore, all the elements of great usefulness and of perma- 
 nent popularity. 
 
 The reception of his sermons in the United States of 
 America, has no parallel in the history of this depart- 
 ment of religious literature. "Without any of those aids 
 to popularity that they have in England, where the 
 voice of the young living preacher has been heard all 
 over the land, and thousands will try to read the elo- 
 quence that has thrilled their hearts. Here no one has 
 heard his voice, but these printed pages have come with 
 messages of salvation, and have been hailed with joyful 
 emotion by thousands in all parts of this vast country. 
 Up to this date forty-four thousand volumes have been 
 sold, and it is less than a year since the first was pub- 
 lished. Twenty-five thousand of these volumes have 
 been sold within the last twelve weeks, and orders are 
 flowing in for them so rapidly that a thousand copies 
 per week will not supply the demand. This is the 
 more remarkable as it occurs at a time when there is 
 
OPINTON OF THE CHRISTIAN REVIEW. 89 
 
 comparative! J little demand for books, and the trade is 
 languishing. The publishers receive daily from the 
 clergy of all evangelical denominations, the most valua- 
 ble and hearty assurances that the sermons of Mr. Sj)ur- 
 geon are just what they and their people need and love. 
 Ohurcbes that are destitute of pastors have called for 
 these sermons that they may be read from the vacant 
 pulpit. And it may be safely said that 
 
 HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS 
 
 in this western world have already been brought under 
 the power of the truth as preached by this youthful 
 herald of the cross. 
 
 One of the most extraordinary facts remains to be 
 mentioned : the secular press in the United States, with 
 unexampled unanimity, has commended these sermons. 
 Their boldness and directness, their glowing eloquence 
 and great ability, command the respect and admiration 
 of all cultivated men. 
 
 From the various reviews in the Magazines and 
 Quarterlies we take the following from the Christian 
 Beview, as a fair analysis of Mr. Spurgeon's manner, 
 style, and secret of the power with which his sermons 
 are pervaded. 
 
 SPUEGEON AS A PEEAGHEE. 
 
 It is a fact in the history of pulpit oratory, which 
 ought no longer to be blinked, that the sermons which 
 have most powerfully moved the common mind, have 
 
90 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON'. 
 
 always been marked by certain peculiarities of matter, 
 language, and illustration. Different from each other 
 they are, in many. lesser points, but in the main features 
 they all bear a general family resemblance, which dis- 
 tinguishes them from the mass of discourses which are 
 composed by learned and experienced pastors, and in- 
 tended to edify the pious of their flocks, or to lead to 
 the cross the unbelievers of their congregations. Before 
 hearing Mr. Spurgeon we had come to some conclusions 
 as to the general nature of his eloquence, apart from the 
 special attraction of his delivery, his youth, and his per- 
 sonal appearance — apart from the piety of the preacher, 
 and the zeal, spirituality, and co-operation of his flock — 
 apart, also, from the gracious co-working of the divine 
 Spirit, whose all-powerful agency is, on no account to 
 be ignored, in any fair estimate of the cause of ministe- 
 rial success. Waiving for the present the statement of 
 these conclusions, it is sufficient here to say that we were 
 fully confirmed in them when we heard the young 
 preacher on various occasions, and under circumstances 
 that were likely to call out all his powers,, and display 
 them in an advantageous light. 
 
 As you stand among the crowd at his chapel, waiting 
 to enter, you see a young man to whom all give way, as 
 he lifts his hat, and bows along his path to the vestry. 
 Many who stand in the outer edge of the throng, are 
 glad to catch even a glimpse of the young preacher, as 
 they have but a faint hope of gaining a place where 
 they can hear him. They see so much good nature in 
 his face, and so much civility and heartiness in his man- 
 
THE CONGEEGATIOK. 91 
 
 ners, that they are more eager than before to listen to 
 the sound of his voice. They are sure that he does not 
 think himself holier than other good people, or lifted by 
 his honors above the poorest of London's poor. Upon 
 taking your seat in a crowded pew, you observe none 
 of that profound silence which usually reigns where a 
 congregation of strangers are merely waiting to hear 
 some great but unknown preacher. The kind and cor- 
 dial deacons. in white cravats are very busy giving a 
 place to this comer, and promising one to that, pres- 
 ently. From the seat behind, you overhear two young 
 converts talking anxiously in an undertone, about a 
 young friend, for whose conversion they say they are 
 praying, and they hope that Mr. Spurgeon may have a 
 message for his poor soul to-night. Soon every voice is 
 hushed, and all eyes are turned toward the pulpit. In 
 walks a young man, with an air of perfect abstraction. 
 His erect attitude, and his slow and careful step, suggest 
 to you the idea of a hollow man of, glass, who could not 
 be jostled in the least without spilling something, and 
 which would be broken into a thousand pieces, were it 
 by any accident to come in contact with the side of the 
 pulpit. But the stateliness vanishes the moment he 
 sommences talking about the hymn which he is going to 
 read. He evidently would banish all formality, with- 
 out loss of time, and fasten the attention of his audience 
 Dn the holy work they have come to do. The hymn 
 Deing read, the entire congregation join in the song, 
 ivith hearty and honest spirit. It is no mere feeble 
 
 " Quayering and semi-quavering care away." 
 
92 EEV. C. H. SPITEGEON. 
 
 It is no plaintive air, sung by a choir, nor yet is it a 
 solo, executed by some leader of an operatic troupe. It 
 is a plain, old, bomely bymn, such as poor people carry 
 about in their hearts and memories, repeat at the fireside, 
 at the family altar, and while plying their tasks ; — such 
 as the pious mother sings to her infant while rocking 
 the cradle, and the plowboy sings to the gods of the 
 winds, the birds and the brooks ;■ — such as the godly 
 craftsman sings to the timing of his tools, and the patient 
 porter hums to his heavy tread, as he trudges along the 
 smoky lane. 
 
 Then follow his readings and expositions of the Holy 
 Word. His talent for exposition, which he regularly 
 exercises, is truly extraordinary, and is no doubt en- 
 riched by considerable study. Without being nicely 
 critical, his remarks are discriminating, and at the same 
 time pithy and practical. He excels in spiritualization, 
 and in happy turns of devout thought, and sidewise 
 views of familiar passages. His prayers are marked by 
 fervor, simplicity, and brevity. He gives a loose rein 
 to his imagination in his prayers even more than in his 
 sermons ; and his utterances of adoration and praise are 
 often truly sublime. His importunities and pleadings, 
 especially for the aids of the Holy Spirit, are humble 
 and earnest. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon is a little below the common stature, 
 with a person that inclines to the thick and plump. The 
 color of his eyes is black, that of his hair dark chestnut, 
 and his complexion is bloodless ; his face is a medium 
 between the circle and the square, and approaches either 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 93 
 
 according to the point from whicli it is viewed. It is 
 rather sleek and inexpressive, and as the lymphatic pre- 
 vails in his temperament, it is in keeping with a spirit 
 naturally cheerful and content. In his general figure, 
 he does not promise to become a St. Bernard, tall, thin, 
 dehcate and fleshless. His joints are by no means firmly 
 set ; and he has a curious litheness of limb. One is at 
 a loss to comprehend how the oily and the adipose could 
 long keep the company of so firm, active and persever- 
 ing a mind. His voice is fall, clear, and musical. It is 
 not commonly raised above the conversational tone, and 
 is never heard in vociferous bursts and fulminations. It 
 is singularly adapted to the expression of the plaintive 
 and the pathetic. He is not a rapid or fervent speaker, 
 being never caught up and carried away with his sub- 
 ject, but rather keeping that firm footing whereby he is 
 able to catch up and carry away his audience. His ges- 
 tures are few and natural. When animated with high 
 thoughts, he looks aloft, and has the rapt and enthusias- 
 tic air of Powers's new statue, H Pensoroso ; when his 
 ideas are femihar, he stoops over the pulpit, rests on his 
 elbow, and sometimes ungracefully places his breast on 
 his open Bible. His general manner is serious, frank, 
 and calm, yet tender and genial. He has more humor 
 than wit, but httle of either has yet ever appeared in 
 his sermons, and it may admit of a doubt whether either 
 has much share in his mental composition. 
 
 With such advantages of person and manner, he as- 
 sociates higher qualities, which he possesses in common 
 with most of the great preachers, who have been the 
 
94 REV. C. H. SPURGEOIT. 
 
 favorites of the people. One of tlie most conspicuous 
 of these qualities is boldness. This young preacher's 
 boldness manifests itself in various ways. We can not 
 concur with those who say that he is very impudent, 
 though he may sometimes seem very impudent to 
 those who do not consider that it is not optional with 
 this lad whether he will only utter such truths as would 
 adorn the modesty of a youth who has no higher call 
 than that of talking in a parlor. He may also seem very 
 impudent in the eyes of those pulpit orators of the 
 metropolis whose audiences are thinned in numbers by 
 his superior attractions, anc^ very impudent to those 
 senior laymen to whose ears the force of the naked truth 
 is too painful. And still it must be allowed that he has 
 a moderate amount of impudence, which it is hoped 
 that his growing graces will temper. 
 
 His boldness oftener shows itself in manliness and 
 even nobleness of thought. Of all preachers, save 
 Paul, Chrysostom has ever seemed to us most excellent 
 in this regard. But he reserves it mainly for great 
 themes and gTeat occasions, whereas Spurgeon has a 
 faculty of ennobling common and familiar subjects by 
 taking high and extended views of them, or by having 
 the courage to set a plain truth on a higher and more 
 suitable pedestal that it was wont to occupy. He invests 
 the work of saving souls from death with a godlike dig- 
 nity ; he restores to their place of moral grandeur, the 
 miracles of Christian experience, and, without permit- 
 ting the unregenerate man to pride himself on the im- 
 pulses of his humanity, he teaches the poorest saint to 
 
BOLDISTESS. 95 
 
 glory in tlie riches of present grace, and the hopes of 
 heavenly glory. His boldness also assists him to main- 
 tain his independence. Many young preachers are en- 
 feebled by. officious advisers, or corrupted by persons 
 of some consideration in the church, who imagine them- 
 selves to be, and woulihave the young pastor believe 
 they really are, the makers and destroyers of clerical 
 reputations. Their counsel? are 'to be his law, their 
 usages his precedents, and their example his guide. 
 Not unfrequently some old man sets himself up as dic- 
 tator, and as .the young man has not the hardihood to 
 resist the authority of gTay hairs, he dutifully places 
 his hand into that of his blind and trembling guide, not 
 considering that according to Solomon "the hoary head 
 is a crown of glory" only when it is " found in the way 
 of righteousness^" and not considering that the young 
 prophet who could resist the tempting offer of half a 
 ■kingdom was turned aside into the way of destruction 
 by the advice of " the old prophet." There are those 
 wlio think Mr. Spurgeon very audacious in adopting as 
 his motto, Cedo nulli, " I yield to none." But it seems 
 to us that he would have been really more audacious if 
 he had made the multitude of his counselors, or any one 
 of them, the keeper of his conscience and of his reason, 
 the regulators of his zeal, and the taskmasters who should 
 assign him his field and his work. Advice would not 
 be given so freely as it is, if it were prepared at any 
 great cost of thought, and if the adviser were made 
 personally respwnsible-^for the results in time, and at the 
 last judgment. 
 
96 EEV. C. H. SPtTEGEON. 
 
 Our preacher's boldness often takes the shape of 
 frankness. Somebody has well defined eloquence to be 
 simply speaking out — a definition that is especially ap- 
 plicable to the higest eloquence of the pulpit. The gos- 
 pel is an inward light whose very nature it is to shine 
 whether through the lips or in the life. The man of 
 God is, or ought to be, so filled with the Spirit of all 
 grace, and so habitually swayed by the principles of the 
 gospel, that he has nothing to fear from flinging forth 
 all his uppermost thoughts, and giving voice to his 
 most transient emotions. And this he may do without 
 bolting out what his reason and conscience forewarn him 
 not to say ; without uttering what is immodest, laugh- 
 able, and coarse ; without that stick-at-nothing kind of 
 impudence which regards neither person, time, nor 
 place. Mr. Spurgeon often betrays a positiveness and 
 even dogmatism, which his boldness assists to sustain. 
 He knows that cool and connected reasoning would be 
 lost upon most of those who go to hear him, and that it is 
 worse than in vain to argue plain questions with cavilers 
 and skeptics ; that as we correct the senses by reason, so 
 we ought to correct reason by the heart ; that, if he can 
 first convince the conscience and move the affections, then 
 reason wiU not only do its of6.ce better than before, but 
 will not, as it is often to be feared it will, continue turn- 
 ing over the question and starting doubts about it, on 
 purpose to keep the moral sense fast asleep. 
 
 Another quality that pervades his discourses, is clear- 
 ness, in the fullest sense of the word. When we con- 
 sider that Mr. Spurgeon's themes conduct him down 
 
CLEARNESS. 97 
 
 into the deepest mysteries of Christian experience, and 
 aloft away into the clouds and darkness of the divine 
 purposes and providence— that he stops not on the con- 
 fines of this world, but penetrates far into the unlimited 
 hght of heaven, and the smoke and glare of hell — when 
 we consider these things, along with the fact that his 
 mind is naturally of the poetic order, it is surprising 
 that his ideas should be couched in language so lumin- 
 ous and distinct, that the most ignorant and feeble- 
 minded of his flock could find no difi&culty in compre- 
 hending them. We must hazard the assertion that no 
 preacher of any note, in our language, is so great a mas- 
 ter of the quality in question, if we except John Bun- 
 yan, who well understood its power as a means of moral 
 aggTession. In the "Holy War" he mentions " Plain- 
 .Truth Hill" as one of those mounds which were cast up 
 outside the walls of Mansoul, and upon which were 
 stationed slingers, to throw stones into the beleagured 
 town. Most orators become verbose and obscure when 
 they are seized with a grand or sublime thought, but 
 this young preacher, in common with a few orators, 
 such as Demosthenes, Chatham, and Eobert Hall, has 
 the rare power of expressing grand and sublime ideas in 
 language the most simple and unambitious. He makes 
 it his boast, that, like Whitefield, he uses " market lan- 
 guage," though in fact it is something quite superior to 
 it. However, it is such plain and pure old English as 
 brings him into full sympathy with the people, and en- 
 ables him to exercise lordship over their hearts. 
 This preacher has formed one habit of mind which 
 
 5 
 
98 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 affords him great assistance amid his crowded engage- 
 ments This is a habit of assimilation. " I can't make 
 out," said a minister to him, " when' you study. Brother 
 Spurgeon. When do you make your sermons?" " !" 
 he replied, " I am always studying — I am sucking in 
 something from every thing ; — if you were to ask me 
 home to dine with you, I should suck a sermon out of 
 you I" Most active is the process by which his intellect 
 converts the fruits of his reading and observation into 
 its own nature and substance. Let it be a striking fact 
 in science, a curious work of art, or some rural scene, a 
 popular saying or a poetic quotation, or an anecdote, or 
 an event in history, or some classic myth, or Rabbinic 
 legend — ^it is sure to pass to its place in the depths of 
 his memory, there to await the fires of his heart to melt 
 it into the common mass of discourse, and project it upon 
 his audience. When you examine some of his discourses 
 critically, you are reminded of those masses of lava, into 
 which precious stones and pieces of gold have been 
 kneaded by the action of subterraneous fires. Most 
 speakers and writers possess this faculty, but few ply it 
 with such burning earnestness as to melt finer substances 
 into the original matter so completely that it is well- 
 nigh impossible to separate them. Let it not be sup- 
 posed, however, that this habit of assimilation hangs as 
 a clog upon his soaring genius, forbidding it to mount 
 superior to all merely human sources of information. 
 Those who judge these sermons by the rules laid down 
 in our theological schools, may perhaps say that some 
 of them are second-rate, but they can not say they are 
 
second-liand. We live at too late a day in the march of 
 centuries for borrowed eloquence to make any great 
 commotion, even in England, where it is most tolerated. 
 When the real Jupiter thunders, he shakes the heavens 
 and the earth, but when your mock Jupiter Salmoneus 
 manufactures noise, he simply stuns my ears and shocks 
 my nerves. While, therefore, his habit of assimilation 
 does not diminish aught of his power to create, it is a 
 source of that freshness and fruitfolness of thought for 
 which his sermons are remarkable. He has revived that 
 mode of treating religious subjects which was pursued 
 by most of the old Puritan preachers. Like them he 
 has not been ashamed to labor with a view to furnish 
 the people with a variety of "things new and old." He 
 has, at the same time, offered them something more de- 
 licious than they were accustomed to receive, more deli- 
 cious because new to them, though in reality it is older 
 than that which they have generally regarded as the 
 oldest. He has now supplied them with the " old corn 
 of the land," after they had been fed forty years with 
 the daily manna in the wilderness. The mass of modem 
 church-goers are strangers to some of the better qualities 
 of the old Puritan preachers and orators. They have 
 seldom, if ever, tasted the sweetness, juiciness, and 
 wholesomeness of Bunyan, Baxter, Flavel, Bishop Hall, 
 Leighton, Gurnell, Thomas Brooks, Matthew Mead, and 
 Thomas Watson. Serious, quaint, and pedantic as these 
 writers sometimes are, they nevertheless abound in lus- 
 cious clusters of heavenly thought, in beautiful lessons 
 of experience, and in a generous unction and thorough 
 
100 REV. C. H. SPURGEOK. 
 
 practicalness 'whicli came of long and varied afflictions, 
 leisurely study, and devout meditations, duly combined 
 with, laborious activity in the care of poor and persecut- 
 ed flocks. Mr. Spurgeon has deeply imbued his mind 
 with, the spirit of these old writers, and, without copying 
 the style, or quoting much of the matter of any of them, 
 he has been led by the reading of them up to the sources 
 of their inspiration in the oracles of God. He has thus 
 pursued a course which will enable him to overtake, if 
 not to go before them. 
 
 The pathos, which is another cbaracteristic of Mr. 
 Spurgeon's eloquence, is rather the result of his com- 
 passion for human woe, his power of personification, 
 and his skill in the delineation of scenes in the life of 
 the poor, than of any melting sensibility that is natural 
 to him. Often bringing tears into many an eye, he 
 •hardly ever weeps himself Indeed, lie appears to be 
 deficient in what the Romanists ascribe to some of their 
 saints — "the gift of tears." His neighbor. Rev. Gordon 
 Hall, who occupies the pulpit of Rowland Hill, has far 
 more sensibility than he, but much less power to excite 
 that of his congregation. So far from grief being neces- 
 sary to excite grief in others, sheer dissimulation to woe 
 may suffice : 
 
 " False tears true pity move." 
 
 Besfdes, there may be something in the subject itself, 
 or in the occasion, or in the circumstances of the au- 
 dience, to elicit a degree of feeling to which the speaker 
 is a stranger. Our orator finds the true pathos in the 
 
TOUCHING THE HEABT. 101 
 
 scenes of common life, for they appeal to tLe sympathies 
 of our common nature. The parable of the prodigal 
 son touches all hearts, because all cherish affecting 
 memories of father, brother, boyhood and home. And 
 accordingly our preacher tells, perhaps, of a mother's 
 love for a wayward son, or her tenderness to a sick 
 daughter; of the poor father's daily toil to keep hia 
 family from starving, or of some Magdalen's repentance 
 and pardon. Perhaps he describes how some stout- 
 hearted father was bowed down by overhearing his 
 little daughter praying for him, or how some wandering 
 son is brought to his knees by the reading of an old 
 letter, discolored with the tears of his now sainted 
 mother. He is fully aware that he can not come at the 
 feehngs of some except by a circuitous path. In his 
 account of a preaching tour in Scotland, he says : " I 
 knew that you must often enter the heart by ridicule. 
 Tender hearts may be entered by pathos, but hard 
 hearts must be touched by something telling and singu- 
 lar." These last must, in his opinion, be made to smile, 
 before they will weep. We must, however, avow our- 
 selves to be of the number of those who doubt the ne- 
 cessity of raising a laugh before we can start a tear, and 
 who doubt the genuineness of that pathos which is 
 obliged to resort to such means of attaining its object ; 
 for we know that the buffoon can make people weep 
 through sheer excess of mirth. What are such tears 
 worth ? The debauchee can weep in the morning fol- 
 lowing the night of his revel, but axe his tears those of 
 a contrite spirit ? 
 
102 REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 But our preacher is sometimes compelled to go back 
 still further, in order to find his way to the hearts of the 
 dull and untutored multitude. He must first arrest, and 
 then hold their attention — a difficulty of which those 
 preachers who customarily address refined and educated 
 congregations have little knowledge. In one of his ser- 
 mons in Park-street chapel, Mr. Spurgeon said : 
 
 " I am not very scrupulous about my manner of doing good. I 
 told the people of Scotland, when they said I preached in such an 
 extraordinary way that they really did not understand me, ' Why, 
 bless your hearts I I would preach standing on my head, if I thought 
 I could convert your souls, rather than preach on my feetl' " 
 
 Whitefield, Berridge, Eowland Hill and Cecil, occa- 
 sionally resorted to tact and ingenuity to recall the 
 vagrant thoughts of their congregations. It is a fact 
 not generally known to classical scholars, that Demos- 
 thenes himself employed a little pleasant artifice to re- 
 buke the inattention of the fickle Athenians. While he 
 was one day speaking to them upon a state of political 
 affairs, he observed that something had diverted them 
 from what he was saying. Whereupon, he immediately 
 broke off his argument, and told them that he had some- 
 thing special to relate, if they would lend their atten- 
 tion. The curiosity of all was awakened. " Two men," 
 said he, "having bargained for an ass, were traveling 
 from Athens to Megara on a very hot day. Both strove 
 to walk in the shadow of the ass. One insisted that the 
 other had hired the ass, and not his shadow, and the 
 other maintained that he had hired the ass and his 
 
CALVINISM. 103 
 
 sbadow too." At this point Demosthenes began to re- 
 tire from the assembly, but the Athenians besought 
 him, with vehement cries, to return and finish the story, 
 when the orator re-appeared and said, " 0, ye Athenians, 
 wUl ye attend when I speak to you of a shadow and an 
 ass, and will ye not attend when I speak of the great 
 interests of the state ?" 
 
 It must not escape our consideration, that these ser- 
 mons are thoroughly Biblical in doctrine. No undue 
 prominence is given to a favorite dogma, and no argu- 
 mentation is employed in its defense or promotion. 
 Ever bold in confessing himself a staunch Calvinist, he 
 devotes but little time or space to the direct furtherance 
 of any one point of his cherished faith. Taking the 
 ground that Calvinism long ago fought and won the 
 battle, he conceives it to be his duty to sit down among 
 the trophies of the victory, and arrange the articles of a 
 safe and abiding peace with all poor, weaponless sinners. 
 " It is my firm behef," says he, " that what is commonly 
 called Calvinism, is neither more nor less than the good 
 old gospel of the Puritans, the Martyrs, the Apostles, 
 and of our Lord Jesus Christ." The doctrines which 
 have been of late most generally preached in England, 
 are Arminianism and Eationalism ; and inasmuch as 
 they had obtained great popularity, it has been justly 
 thought to be the sign of a mighty reaction in religious 
 opinion, to find a man obtaining great fame by a bold 
 preaching of what are called the Doctrines of Grace. 
 And we can not help believing, that Mr. Spurgeon owes 
 much of his success in winning souls to the cross, by 
 
104 EEV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 Ms open and uncompromising declaration of the doc- 
 trines in question. Sir James Mackintosh has recorded 
 an opinion on this subject, which is worth the most 
 serious attention, coming, as it does, from a historian 
 and a philosopher who stood aloof from every Christian 
 persuasion, and, it is to be feared, from Christ himself. 
 In his journal he says : " The revival of religious zeal 
 is indeed common to all Christian communions ; and I 
 found remarkable symptoms of it last year among the 
 Jews in Holland. But I do not know how to explain 
 what seems to be a pretty certain fact, that in propor- 
 tion as it becomes ardent, it appjoaches more or less to 
 a Calvinistic form."* To a mere philosopher, it might 
 indeed seem strange, that a system which ascribes so 
 much to the divine sovereignty and grace, and whose 
 practical workings seem to him to be intended to waste 
 the energies of the soul in the barren contemplation of 
 what was in the Infinite mind before the world was, and. 
 to paralyze all its moral powers, by leading it to brood 
 over its own helplessness — that such a system should, in 
 its actual operation, rouse it to the most strenuous en- 
 deavors to obtain the free and unmerited gift of salva- 
 tion. 
 
 Another ingredient of his excellence as a preacher, is 
 the directness of his applications. Like Massillon and 
 Baxter, he makes frequent use of the pronouns Ae, you, 
 thee, and thou, and whenever you hear him, you feel that 
 you are brought, not only in contact with the speaker, 
 but with his subject as well. You feel that religion is 
 * Life of James Mackintosh, vol. ii., p. 421 (Journal, Sept. 12th, 1825) 
 
DIRECTNESS OF APPLICATION. 105 
 
 not merely the great interest of mankind in general, 
 but yonr own personal concern. His warm and fre- 
 quent interrogatives, also, produce the same impression 
 upon you. He is not careful to regard that cold rule of 
 criticism which forbids their use, except for the purpose 
 of clinching an argument or urging a conclusion. 
 
 In nothing are modern sermons more deficient than 
 in the length and closeness of the application. Mostly 
 occupied with exposition, illustration, or discussion, 
 they aiford httle space for " uses," and these are often 
 vague and pointless. The Pharisees of eighteen centu- 
 ries ago, or the Papists of distant Italy, would be warned 
 and instructed very effectually were they present to hear, 
 but unhappily they are not present, and the Phariseeism 
 and Eomanism in the hearts and lives of those who are, 
 could not be exposed without molesting much peaceable 
 self-complacency and much comfortable good-will. A 
 great number of passages might be quoted from the ser- 
 mons of Mr. Spurgeon, to prove that he has rebuked 
 the worst sins of a corrupt capital, and urged considera- 
 tions for abandoning them at the foot of the cross with 
 moving earnestness and pointed and straightforward 
 freedom. 
 
 The following passage will illustrate, in part, what we 
 have just said with respect to his applications : 
 
 " There was a feast once, such as, I think, scarcely ever was seen. 
 Ten thousand lamps lit up the gorgeous halls ; the king sat on his 
 throne ; and around him were his wives and concubines. They ate, 
 they drank ; the bowls were filled to the brim, and merrily the hours 
 danced on. Loud was the bacchanaUan shout, and loud the song. 
 
 6* 
 
106 REV. C. H. SPUEGEOK. 
 
 They Jrank deep, they drank curses to the Q-od of Jacob ; they took 
 the sacred ivine-oup, and they poured in their unhallowed liquors ; 
 they drank them down, and drank again, and the merry shout rang 
 through th ; halls ; the viol and harp were there, and the music 
 sounded. List I list! list I it is the last feast that Babel shall ever 
 see. Even now the enenaies are at the gates. They come 1 they 
 come I Belshazzar I read that writing there — ' Thou art weighed 
 in the balance, and art found wanting.' Belshazzar 1 stay thy 
 feasting ; see the shaft of God. Lo I the death-shaft ! It is whiz- 
 zing in the air 1 it has pierced his heart I He falls I he falls ! and 
 with him Babel falls I That feast was a feast of death. ' Better to 
 go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting' such as 
 that. I have read thy record, mistress of the house I I say, 
 woman ! I have read thy record, and it is enough. I need not cross 
 thy threshold ; I do not want to see thy magnificent temple ; I never 
 wish to sit in thy splendid halls. It is enough I I am satisfied. 
 Eather would I sleep nightly in my shroud, and sit on my coffin, 
 and ha'^e my grave-stone in the wall of my study, and live in a vault 
 forever, than I would enter that house of feasting. Good God ! may 
 I be kept from sinful mirth ! may I be kept from the house of sinful 
 feasting I may I never be tempted to cross that threshold I 1 then, 
 young man, who art enchanted by its gayety, charmed by its music, 
 stay ! stay ! for every plank in the floor is rotten, every stone that is 
 there is dug from the quarries of hell ; and if thou enterest into that 
 house, thou shalt find that her steps lead down to hell, and go down 
 to the chambers of everlasting woe." 
 
 It has often been remarked, that the sermons of 
 Whitefield are destitute of striking remarks and gems 
 of thought, and that they do not betray extensive read- 
 ing, or afford much food for the understanding. A 
 shrewd critic is of opinion, that though Mr. Spurgeon's 
 sermons do not display such broad flashes of eloquence, 
 and such gifts and graces of declamation, yet their efEi- 
 
METAPHOES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 107 
 
 ciency is of a higher and better grade, because they are 
 addressed more to the twofold nature of man — the in- 
 telligence not less than the feelings. Accordingly, his 
 sermons abound in sayings, allusions, and metaphors 
 which suggest thought and nourish meditation. Here 
 are a few of them : 
 
 Although my house is not so with God. — " It is necessary that 
 you should have an ' although' in your lot, because if you had not, 
 you know what you would do : you would build a very downy nest 
 on the earth, and there you would he down in sleep. It was said 
 by the old writers that the nightingale never sang so sweetly as 
 when she sat among thorns, since, say they, the thorns prick her 
 breast and remind her of her song. So God puts a thorn in your 
 nest in order that you may sing. * * * Tour soul, without 
 trouble, would be as a sea without tide or motion ; it would become 
 foul and noxious. As Coleridge describes the sea after a wondrous 
 cahn, so would the soul breed contagion and death." 
 
 Ambition in the Churches. — " The next enemy to peace is ambi- 
 tion. ' Diotrephes loveth to have the pre-eminence,' and that fellow 
 hath spoiled many a happy church. A man does not want, perhaps, 
 to be pre-eminent, but then he is afraid that another should be, and 
 so he would have him put dovm. Thus brethren are finding fault ; 
 they are afraid that such a one will go too fast, and that such an- 
 other will go too fast. The best way is to try to go as fast as he 
 does. It is no use finding fault because some have a httle pre-emi- 
 nence. After all, what is the pre-eminence ? ■ It is the pre-eminence 
 of one little animalcule over another. Look in a drop of water. 
 One of these httle fellows is five times as big as another, but we 
 never think of that. I dare say he is very large, and thinks ' I have 
 the pre-eminence inside my drop.' So we live in the little drop of 
 the world, not much bigger in God's esteem than a drop of the 
 bucket ; and one of us seems a little larger than the other ; a worm 
 a httle above his fellow- worms. But how big we get I and we 
 
108 REV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 want to get a little bigger, to get a little more prominent ; but what 
 is the use of it? for when we get ever so big, we shall then be so 
 small that an angel would not find us out if God did not tell him 
 where we were. "Who ever heard up in heaven any thing about 
 emperors and kings, small, tiny insects ? God can see the animal- 
 cute, therefore he can see us ; but if he had not an eye to see the 
 most minute, he would never discover us." 
 
 Memory. — " ! my friends, is it not too sadly true that we can 
 recollect any thing but Christ, and forget nothing so easily as him 
 whom we ought to remember ? While memory will preserve a 
 poisonous weed, it suifereth the Rose of Sharon to wither." 
 
 Troubles are needful clogs to the soul. — " Some people call troubles 
 weights. Verily they are so. But if trials be weights, I wiH tell 
 you of a happy secret. There is such a thing as mailing a weight 
 lift you. Give me pulleys and certain appliances, and I can make a 
 weight lift me up. A gentleman once asked a friend concerning a 
 beautiful horse of liis, feeding about in the pasture with a clog on 
 his foot, ' Why do you clog such a noble animal ?' ' Sir,' said he, 
 ' I would a great deal sooner clog him than lose him ; he is given to 
 leaping hedges.' That is why God clogs his people. They want a 
 tether to prevent their straying, and then God binds them with af- 
 flictions to keep them near him." 
 
 The journey of life. — "What varied scenes the traveler wUl behold! 
 Sometimes he will be on the mountains ; anon he will descend into 
 the valleys; here he wiU be where the brooks shine hke silver, 
 where the birds warble, where the air is balmy and the trees are 
 green, and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste ; anon he 
 will find himself in the arid desert, where no hfe is found, and no 
 sound is heard except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where 
 he finds no rest for the sole of his foot — the burning sky above him 
 and the hot sand beneath him — no roof, no tree, and no rock to 
 shelter himself; at another time in a sweet oasis, resting himself by 
 the springs of water, and plucking fruit from palm-trees. One mo- 
 ment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge where all 
 is darkness ; at another time he ascends the hill Mizar ; now he ds- 
 
PEEACHING FOR THE COMMON PEOPLE. 109 
 
 soends into the valley of Baoa ; and he climbs the hill of Bashan, a 
 high hill is the hill of Bashan ; and yet again going into a den of 
 leopards, he suffers trial and afSictions : such is life — ever changing." 
 
 Like Christmas Evans, our preacher occasioDally 
 makes use of allegory, and gives life, complexioD, and 
 action to some of the sermons by the employment of 
 domestic personifications, but our space will not allow 
 us to quote some beautiful passages of this description 
 which we had marked. 
 
 It is not possible by so few extracts to give any suf- 
 ficient notion of Mr. Spurgeon's power as a preacher. 
 And some of those who shall read all his sermons, from 
 beginning to end, may be disappointed in not meeting 
 with more of those nicer literary excellencies which 
 they have been accustomed to admiire. Such should 
 consider that as this young Timothy's, mission is to 
 move multitudes of the ignorant and thoughtless, it is 
 the part of wisdom in him to paint in that bold fi-esco 
 which at once strikes all eyes and moves all hearts, 
 rather than in that delicate miniature which might please 
 the glassed eye of the connoisseur, but which could not 
 be so much as seen by a great crowd of the common 
 people. It is this very kind of preaching which is but 
 foUy to the philosopher, and but blundering to the critic, 
 that, after all, somehow converts philosophers, and brings 
 even critics to repentance. -Let the reader further con- 
 sider that much which renders any popular sermon ef- 
 fectual, is not to be printed. The melodies of the voice, 
 the language of the eye, the graces of gesture, and the 
 enlivening presence of a vast congregation, can not be 
 
110 EEV. C. H. SPURGEOK. 
 
 reduced to •writing. Once see and hear the man, and 
 then you sit down and find meanings in his printed ser- 
 mons which mere words can not exjjress. A nobleman 
 that went to see the sword with which Scanderberg had 
 performed his great exploits, remarked, with a disap- 
 pointed air: "The sword is no great matter, after all." 
 "True," said a by-stander, "but your lordship will 
 please recollect that you see only the sword, and not the 
 arm that wielded it." 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon's style is simple, terse, easy, idiomatic, 
 and picturesque. It is remarkably free from manner- 
 isms, being natural, and therefore lively, flexible, and 
 variable. At most times he talks right on, in a plain, 
 prudent, common sense way, and yet he has a peculiar 
 command of good, old-fashioned Enghsh. While he is 
 by no means deficient in the knowledge of its most 
 modern elements, he always wisely prefers to employ 
 the Saxon. His sentences are rather laconic than peri- 
 odic, and as he does not think in long, connected trains 
 of argumentation, the successive sentences are separate 
 dictates of the intellect, such as the generality can readily 
 comprehend. There is in many of them a self-sufficient, 
 head-strong fling, and a firm, stalking tramp, which 
 mark the peculiar movements of his mind. Still he has 
 nothing of the measured tread and slow evolutions of 
 Milton and Jeremy Taylor, nor has he the circumlocu- 
 tion of Chalmers, Edward Irving, and Henry Melville — 
 those divines who declare the will of heaven while they 
 are walking round in a circle. The gyromancies of 
 these last would quite confound and bewilder many of 
 
HABIT OF COMPOSITIOK 111 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon's pkin and unlearned auditors. His method 
 is simple and lucid, but he never allows it to hamper his 
 imagination, or to curb his feelings. He oftener de- 
 scends to the familiar and colloquial, than he ascends to 
 the sublime and awful, for which he has a high, though 
 not the highest capacity. 
 
 With respect to his habits of composition, he assured 
 us that not one word of his sermons is written before 
 delivery, and that the only use he makes of his pen 
 upon them is to correct the errors of the stenographer. 
 His happy faculty of mere mental composition, and of 
 remembering what he thus composes, saves him much 
 time and drudgery. He can exercise it anywhere; but 
 probably with more success in the pulpit, whUe he is 
 giving utterance to what he has pre-arranged in his 
 mind. Learning not to need manuscript out of the 
 pulpit, is the best preparation for not needing it in the 
 pulpit, and he who in his study can think well inde- 
 pendently of it, will, in the pulpit, think better without 
 it ; for the excitement occasioned by speaking what he 
 has premeditated — if that excitement does not produce 
 too deep feehng — will summon new thoughts to fill up 
 the old ranks, and lead whole divisions of fresh recruits 
 into the field. 
 
 It would be sacrilegious to subject to severe criticism 
 sermons which have been the channels of saving grace 
 to so many sinners ; have received the imprimatur of 
 heavei , and have been so eagerly heard and so exten- 
 sively read by great numbers of every class of society, 
 and of all Christian denominations. Even the vipers 
 
112 REV. 0. H. SPTXEGEON. 
 
 of the London press, who have been accustomed to ren- 
 der unto God and unto Cfesar nothing but black and 
 unmingled venom, have forgotten their malice while 
 listening to this young preacher, and witnessing, if not 
 feeling, the blessed effects of the grace and truth of 
 which he is the instrument. Nevertheless, we may 
 speak of some of the faults of his preaching, if we do 
 it without irreverence and without censoriousness. His 
 sermons display an exuberance of fancy, and an inordi- 
 nate love of poetic quotations, in the frequent introduc- 
 tion of which, his good memory is by far too prompt and 
 complaisant. These lines of poetry are often so woven 
 into the prose as to pass for original matter with those 
 who are not deeply read in the effusions of the muses, 
 and more than one critic — and we are perhaps among the 
 number — has admired as his own what he had borrowed, 
 and carelessly thrown among his own. Then there are 
 many fine little phrases and sentences of his own, which 
 display more fancy than is compatible with the force 
 and fervor of natural composition. Let him give us 
 more imagination and less fancy ; the wild flowers of an 
 uncultivated soil are always attractive where they are 
 not too numerous. Corinna, the learned Theban lady, 
 reproved Pindar, whom she had five times overcome in 
 a trial of skill, for having scattered the flowers of Par- 
 nassus too prodigally through all his works, remarking 
 to him that men sow with the hand, and not with the 
 sack. However, we may reasonably hope that the lapse 
 of years and the maturity of the faculties will substitute 
 ripe fruit for these natural blessings of youth. 
 
CENSORSHIP OVER HIS BRETHREST. 113 
 
 There is another fault still more boyish, but showing 
 a far less certain sign of promise. We refer to the dis- 
 mal punning in which he has more than once indulged. 
 In his sermon, " Storming of the Battlements," he thus 
 sorrily amuses himself : — "Says the man, ' I can make 
 myself better.' — 0, blessed day when God directs his 
 shot against that. I know I hugged that old idea a long 
 while, with my ' cans,' ' cans,' ' cans ;' but I found my 
 'cans' would hold no water, and suffered all I put in 
 to run out." Hear another: "Ah I ye who have never 
 been entranced by the precious sound contained in that 
 word, Jesu ; ye who know not that Jesu means I-ES-U 
 (' I ease you'), ye have lost the joy and comfort of your 
 lives, and must live miserable and unhappy." We need 
 not say that so heinous a pun is a great blot upon a ser- 
 mon. It is hardly deserving of a place among the quib- 
 bles of the Eabbins, the interpretations of the Cabalists, 
 or the Eosicrucians. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon is wont to ezercise a censorship over 
 his brethren in the ministry, which seems rather to 
 offend than to improve them. Like some of our own 
 evangelists, he helps to swell the ribald outcry of the 
 profane against the ministry in general. Now, instead 
 of holding up to public scorn solitary cases of clerical 
 folly and dullness, impiety and unfaithfulness, and then 
 by sweeping assertions, spreading that scorn over the 
 entire ministry of England, and by implication telling 
 his audiences that it is the fault of their pastors that 
 they did not repent long ago — ought he not rather to 
 show them that their condemnation is all the heavier 
 
114 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 because they have not heeded the minister whom they 
 have been permitted to hear. " Pride, Covetousness, 
 and Envy," says Luther, " are three dogs that should 
 never be allowed to come into the pulpit." Mr. Spur- 
 geon is not covetous, and he has no occasion to envy 
 either the gifts or the graces of any preacher now living. 
 It can only be pride that can prompt him to look down 
 with contempt upon those whose talents and acquire- 
 ments make them able and successful preachers and 
 pastors for the few rather than for the many. Who 
 was the instrument of Mr. Spurgeon's own conversion ? 
 A man of his own talents — a man capable of causing 
 such a general excitement and furor? Far from it. 
 He was, according to his own account of him, " a tail, 
 thin man, with a feeble voice," who preached "in a 
 little place of worship." A man whom he had never 
 seen from that day, and probably never will see till 
 they meet in heaven. May not Mr. Spurgeon, without 
 any neglect of his prophetic vocation, be a little more 
 charitable to those ministers whom neither nature nor 
 grace has qualified to follow in his own steps ? There 
 are, no doubt, in London, many pastors under whose 
 care not a few of the young converts in the New Park- 
 street church might place themselves, with a better 
 hope than they now have a right to entertain, of grow- 
 ing up to be men and women in faith, in knowledge, 
 and in charity. Shall this Paul who plants, tax with 
 ineflicienoy ApoUos who waters, because he can not 
 plant also ? "Why may not men of different gifts dis- 
 cover in each other the same spirit, and their equal rela- 
 
SECEET OF HIS POPULARITY. 115 
 
 tion to the work of contributing to the perfection of the 
 saints ? Why should not the son of thunder give the 
 right hand of fellowship to the son of consolation ? 
 Why should not the evangelist cordially co-operate 
 with the pastor, and the pastor with the evangelist, and 
 aU with the missionary ? 
 
 Qur young preacher has also added to the numher 
 of his adversaries by denouncing the whole system of 
 collegiate and theological education now in operation 
 throughout the world. He recommends that those who 
 are called to the ministry, be placed under the tuition 
 of some pastor for the acquisition of all the knowledge 
 and wisdom requisite for their work. We will not here 
 dilate on a question which is already practically, and as 
 we think, wisely, settled, at least in our land, and for 
 the present generation of American pastors. 
 
 The question has often been asked on both sides of 
 the Atlantic — " What is the great secret of Mr. Spur- 
 geon's popularity ?" It has seemed to us that all those 
 who have publicly ventured an opinion on this point, 
 have failed because they have hazarded a generalization 
 from one or two darling facts. We rather incline to the 
 view that we should take into the account not only all 
 Mr. Spurgeon's peculiar talents and attractions, but es- 
 pecially also the grace and providence of God. This is, 
 if we mistake not, his own way of regarding his success. 
 He confesses that he sees a thousand chances, as men 
 would call them, all working together like wheels in a 
 great machine, to fix him just where he is ; and he looks 
 back to a hundred places where if one of those little 
 
116 EEV. C. H. SPUEGEON. 
 
 wheels had run awry, he might have been occupying a 
 very different position. 
 
 We must confess, that for ourselves, the spectacle 
 which is presented by Mr. Spurgeon's preaching to the 
 poor of London, is more affecting than the hearing of 
 the most pathetic strains of his eloquence. 
 
 No wonder that it cheered the sad heart of John the 
 Baptist, when in prison he was told that Christ was 
 preaching glad tidings to the poor, and that it prepared 
 him joyfully to lay down his neck for his fidelity to the 
 souls of the rich. See what crowds of artisans are turning 
 away from the halls of the political meetings, of the in- 
 fidel lectures, and the minor theaters, to gather about Mr. 
 Spurgeon's pulpit. See the weary laborers of Bankside 
 going to hear him even on the nights of the week days. 
 See twelve thousand of the working people of Bethnal 
 Green, flocking around him in the open field at Hack- 
 ney. Take a nearer view. Fix your eyes on individ- 
 uals here and there. See the poor harlot, who was a 
 few minutes ago passing the doors of the New Park- 
 street chapel, determined to cast herself off Blackfriars 
 Bridge. She thought she would step in and for the last 
 time hear something that will prepare her to stand be- 
 fore her Maker. She is just in time to hear the text, 
 " Seest thou this woman?" The preacher speaks of 
 Mary Magdalen, her sins, her washing the Saviour's 
 feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hair of 
 her head. There stands the woman, melted with the 
 thoughts of her own past life, as she hears it described, 
 and more melted with the description of the pardoning 
 
EEMEDY FOR VICE. 117 
 
 loTe of Jesus. Thus is she saved from death, temporal 
 and eternal. Go and hear him, ye Thackerays, who 
 satirize the lying, the lust, and the vanity of the English 
 aristocracy, without offering any remedy therefor. — 
 There is a man who is offering the remedy to the vices 
 of some even of these. Go and hear him, ye Dickenses, 
 whose stories of the shame, the loneliness, the misery, 
 and the patience of London's poor, have dissolved many 
 a fine lady in tears, without opening her hand to im- 
 ploring woe. There is a man of liberal and loving 
 soul, who actually shakes hands with all this dirt and 
 rags, searches for the hearts that are buried benefith it, 
 and holds them up to the light of the cross, where 
 they fledge their wings and soar to the glories of heaven. 
 Go and hear him, ye who are secretly glorying in the 
 large donations ye have made for the benefit of the poor. 
 There you will find a man who in body, soul, spirit, 
 "and grace, is God's own donation to the poor, preaching 
 to them the good old gospel of his grace, in good old 
 English words, and, by the aid of his good Spirit, lead- 
 ing them to the Good Shepherd, " God's unspeakable 
 gift." 
 
)utline of '^x. Sprgeatt's Cm^. 
 
 Many strange rumors having been put into circulation respect- 
 ing the doctrines preached by Mr. Spurgeon, before he had been 
 in London a year, it was thought desirable to publish a new 
 edition of that most estimable summary of doctrine, the Bap- 
 tist Confession of Faith, as drawn up and signed by thirty-seven 
 Baptist ministers, in the year 1689. This edition, revised by 
 Mr. Spurgeon, who added to it a preface, was published in the 
 autumn of 1855. The articles are thirty-two in number, of 
 which the following is an outline, little more than the names of 
 the successive articles being here given, the reader being referred 
 to the work itself for further details. 
 
 I. That the Jlohj Scripture is the only sufficient rule of 
 
 faith. 
 II. That God is one, consisting of three subsistences — the 
 Father, the Word, and Holy Spirit. 
 
 III. That God hath decreed all things. That some men and 
 
 angels are predestinated to eternal life ; and others 
 being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation. 
 
 IV. That God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, did create 
 
 the world in six days. 
 V. That God, in his providence, doth uphold, dire.ct, dispose, 
 and govern all creatures and things. 
 
OtTTLrNE OF HIS CREED. 119 
 
 VI. That man was created upright ; that by sin he fell 
 
 from original righteousness, and his sin is imputed 
 
 to all mankind. 
 VII. That God made a covenant of grace, offering life and 
 
 salvation by that covenant through Jesus Christ. 
 Vin. That the Lord Jesus is ordained the Mediator be 
 
 tween God and man. 
 IX. That God hath indued the will of man with natural 
 
 liberty, and power of acting upon choice : that is, 
 
 free-will. 
 
 X. That those whom God hath predestinated unto life, 
 he is pleased in his own time effectually to call by 
 his Word and Spirit, out of a state of sin and death, 
 to grace and salvation. Infants that die in infancy 
 are saved by Christ, through the Spirit. 
 XI. Those whom God calleth he justifieth, by pardoning 
 
 their sins, and accepting them as righteous. 
 XII. That aU those that are justified, God makes them 
 partakers of the grace of adoption. 
 
 XTTT. That those who are called, and regenerate, through 
 the death of Christ, are also sanctified. 
 
 XIV. That the faith whereby the elect are enabled to be- 
 lieve for salvation, is the work of the Spirit of 
 Christ. 
 XV. That such of the elect as live in sin for many years, 
 God in their effectual calling, giveth them repent- 
 ance unto life and salvation. 
 
 XVI. That good works are only such as God hath com- 
 manded, such as are the fruits of a lively faith ; that 
 our best works can not merit the pardon of sin. 
 
120 REV. C. H. SPtJEGEON. 
 
 XVII. That those whom God hath called, and sanctified, can 
 neither totally nor finally fall from grace, but shall 
 persevere therein to the end. 
 XVIII. That such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, may in 
 this life be certainly assured that they are in a state 
 of grace and salvation. 
 
 XIX. That God gave to Adam a law of obedience ; that the 
 moral law given on Sinai doth for ever bind all, as 
 well justified persons as others to obedience thereof. 
 XX. That the covenant of works being broken by sin, God 
 was pleased to give the promise of Christ and sal- 
 vation by him, which is revealed only in the Word 
 of God. That Christ is revealed in the gospel, 
 which revelation is sufficient to the saving of all 
 men. 
 
 XXI. That Christian liberty consists in freedom from the 
 guilt of sin, and from the yoke and curse of the 
 law. That God hath left the conscience free from 
 the doctrines and commandments of men. 
 
 XXII. That God is to be worshiped ; that religious worship 
 is to be given to God the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Spirit, and to him alone. That religious wor- 
 ship) is required of all ; and that the Sabbath be 
 kept holy unto the Lord. 
 
 XXIII. That a lawflil oath is a part of religious worship, and 
 
 should be taken with holy fear and reverence ; that 
 voius be made to God alone, and performed sacredly. 
 
 XXIV. That the civil magistrate is set over the people to 
 
 promote the glory of God and the public good, by 
 maintaining justice and peace. That we should 
 pray for kings and all that are in authority. 
 
OUTLINE OF HIS CREED. 121 
 
 XXV. That marriage is to be between one man and one 
 woman ; that all people with sound judgment may 
 marry, but within the degrees of affinity. 
 
 XXVI. That the Church consists of the whole number of the 
 elect throughout the world professing the faith of 
 the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ ; the 
 Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church ; that 
 the Pope of Kome is anti-christ ; that church mem- 
 bers are saints by calling ; that pastors and other 
 gifted persons may preach ; that believers are bound 
 to join particular churches. Provision is also made 
 for offenses, difficulties, and differences. 
 
 XXVn. That all saints united to Jesus Christ should have 
 fellowship with him and with each other. 
 
 XXVin. That baptism and the Lord's Supper are positive or- 
 dinances to be continued to the end of time. 
 
 XXTX - That baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, 
 a sign of the believer's fellowship with Christ ; that 
 those only are proper subjects for baptism who pro- 
 fess repentance toward God and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Gtrist ; that immersion or dipping in water 
 is necessary to the due administration of this or- 
 dinance. 
 
 XXX. That the Supper of the Lord is to be observed to the 
 end of the world, as a remembrance of the sacrifice 
 and death of Christ, and for the confirmation and 
 spiritual nourishment of believers. That ignorant 
 and ungodly persons may not partake of those holy 
 mysteries. 
 
 6 
 
122 EEV. C. H. SPTJEGEOH". 
 
 XXXI. That the bodies of men after death return to dust, 
 and their souls have an immortal subsistence ; the 
 righteous are admitted into heaven, the wicked are 
 cast into hell. .That all the dead shall he raised 
 up with the self-same bodies at the last day, and 
 shall be united to their souls for ever. 
 
 XXXII. That at the last judgment, all the world shall be 
 judged by Jesus Christ. That the day of judgment 
 shall be unknown to men till it shall arrive, that 
 all may bo constantly prepared for the coming of 
 the Lord. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 After so mucTi has been said in tlie body of this 
 work of the estimation in which Mr. Spurgeon's ser- 
 mons are held by those who give tone to public senti- 
 ment in the religious and literary world, it may appear 
 superfluous to make further extracts from the number- 
 less commentary notices of the press. Yet it is due to a 
 man who has been most wantonly and unjustly assailed, 
 not only by criticism, but by the grossest and most ex- 
 aggerated misrepresentations, to present, in a condensed 
 and comprehensive form, the testimonies of intelligent 
 and impartial men. 
 
 PKOM THE NEW TORE OBSERVER. 
 
 Sermons by the Rfiy. 0. H. Spdeqeon. New York : Sheldon, Blake- 
 man & Co. 
 
 A second series by the young preacher whose fame is so wide 
 spread, and whose popularity in London is so great, that no house 
 can be obtained adequate to the crowds which hang upon his min- 
 istry. We have been reading the discourses to discover if in them 
 lies the charm that attracts the multitude. We find them, so far as 
 we have read, to be evangeUcal, in doctrine strongly Calvinistio, emi- 
 nently scriptural in illustration and proof, and intensely glowing with 
 
124 APPENDIX. 
 
 the terrors of the law, which he presents with boldness, severity, and 
 power. We scarcely ever meet with a word or phrase that is coarse, 
 no attempt to excite a smOe, but we find a solemnity of thought, 
 and a weight of feeUng that speak a soul deeply in earnest, and seek- 
 ing the salvation of others. We do rejoice that the crowds who 
 flock to hear must Usten to such preaching as this. It is adapted to 
 make a deep impression on the sinner, and we should consider the 
 preacher to be a prayerful man, feeling his dependence on divine 
 aid, and looking to God to give the Holy Spirit to make the word 
 effectual 
 
 After having said so much it is not worth while to add criticism. 
 The preacher is a mere boy, twenty-two years of age, and if he has 
 been puffed up with praise, and made somewhat egotistical, it is no 
 wonder. We confess our surprise that he knows so much, and can 
 speak with such fervid eloquence, and sustains such efforts as he 
 makes ; and however he may be criticised, we can not but regard 
 him as the most remarkable young preacher of the age. This vol- 
 ume will add to his reputation in this country. 
 
 FROM THE NEW YORK EVAIJGELIST. 
 
 There is no gift of Christ to his church for which she has more 
 reason devoutly to thank her Lord and Head, than that of A man to 
 preach the gospel. Not a mere automaton; a repeater of other 
 men's thoughts, and a dissembler of their emotions ; a gUb reciter of 
 formal creeds, or a mumbler of prescribed formulas of devotion ; pro- 
 ducing an impression of extraordinary sanctity by solemn grimace 
 and whining tones, but a true, living man — one who has thought for 
 himself, and learned by hard experience ; who, out of the struggles 
 of his own mind with doubt and despair, has at length come to be- 
 heve ; and who, in the bitterness of remorse, has found peace and 
 forgiveness by penitence and prayer ; and who thus is able to speak 
 to other men from the fresh thoughts of his own mind, and the deep 
 experience of his own tried, tempted, and suffering soul. Such a 
 
APPENDIX. 125 
 
 man — clear in thought and strong in faith, of bold spirit and eloquent 
 voice — alone seems worthy to be the herald of rehgien, and fitted to 
 assert its just supremacy in human affairs. 
 
 Such preachers are not very common in our day. And yet we 
 have had on both sides of the Atlantic some kingly examples — here 
 Mason and GrifEn, and there Chalmers and Robert Hall and Edward 
 Irving. The latter of these was long om- special study and admira- 
 tion. It is many years since we read his Orations for the Oracles of 
 G-od, and his Argument for Judgment to come, as he called his fiery 
 discourses, dropping the very name of Sermon, as of itself sufficient 
 to inspire drowsiness and slumber. At that time he seemed to ua 
 the very type of manhood in the preacher — one of the old prophets 
 come again — a John the Baptist preaching repentance to a sinful and 
 adulterous generation. Here, says Carlyle, " was a man who strove 
 to be a priest in an age ahen to the character.'' This erratic genius 
 was caught and honized in London, as a wild Cameronian, fresh from 
 the Grampian Hills, and men crowded to hear his impetuous elo- 
 quence. The excitement of great popularity and immense labor did 
 its work upon his body and brain, but it took the modern Babylon, 
 with its roar and strife, its loud applause and bitter censures, ten 
 years to kfll him. 
 
 Such was the impression made by his extraordinary career, that 
 when we visited London, almost the first spot to which we niade a 
 pilgrimage was the chapel in which he preached. As we stood in 
 his pulpit, we saw again the mighty audiences to which he once 
 thundered, crowded with the rank and wealth and vrit of England ; 
 with Brougham and Canning and Sir James Mackintosh hanging 
 upon his lips; orators and generals and statesmen, all bowing before 
 the eloquence of the preacher — hke English oaks rocking in the 
 storm. At that moment we noticed that the pulpit was draped in 
 black, and asking the cause, were told. It was for Dr. Chalmees. It 
 was the first we had heard of his death. Thus at the same moment 
 we were reminded of the loss of the two great preachers of Scot- 
 land — ^perhaps the most effective pulpit orators of modern times. 
 
126 APPENDIX. 
 
 It is sad to think of such giants passing away, and we fear that 
 their place can never be i311ed. Mournfully we repeat, 
 " We ne'er shall look upon their like again." 
 
 But when kings die, princes succeed to their thrones, who sometimes 
 are found not unworthy to bear their fathers' sceptres. So it may 
 be that G-od wiU raise up other men in Loudon and Edinburg, in 
 England and America, to preach with the same power and success. 
 
 Within a year or two our readers may have seen frequent notices 
 of a ■young preacher who has appeared in London, and attracted 
 great attention, causing a sensation hardly equaled since the days 
 of Edward L-ving. From the first we have been suspicious of this 
 new prodigy. Some passages, quoted from his sermons, seemed so 
 full of egotism, and so wanting in taste, that we set him down as a 
 mountebank in the pulpit; a compound of small talents with inordi- 
 nate vanity ; with just enough of dramatic skill to make a London 
 audience gape and stare, while the staple of his discourse was made 
 up of low illustrations and tlureadbare anecdotes. We judged him 
 therefore to be master of a httle stage effect, but wholly destitute of 
 ahy thing which might be considered as remarkable either for intel- 
 lect or eloquence. 
 
 But a second volume of his sermons has lately appeared from the 
 press of Messrs. Sheldon Blakeman, & Co. to which we have given more 
 attention, and in which we are obhged to confess the unmistakable 
 signs of power. In these we see few traces of that rhetorical clap- 
 trap by which charlatans contrive to attract attention. There is httle 
 of that high-flown rhetoric which makes the vulgar gape, and which 
 sometimes passes for eloquence. Indeed the style is remarkable for 
 simplicity.^ -The sentences are short, and the words are chiefly of 
 the old, vigorous Saxon. The plain, homely phrases, often remind 
 us of the pat and pithy expressions of John Bunyan, whom Spur- 
 geon has evidently studied much, and seems to have taken as a 
 model of style. WhUe he often treats of the doctrines of the Bible, 
 he introduces no metaphysical distinctions, no theological refine- 
 ments, he never reasons abstractly, but by analogy, by illustration, 
 
APPENDIX. 127 
 
 and by example. Thus all ia made plain to the humblest compre- 
 hension. 
 
 His sennons abound in illustrations, which are always simple, and 
 yet often very felicitous and beautiful. He is also full of anecdotes, 
 and tells a story with great effect. The impression of these is height- 
 ened by his remarkable dramatic talent, in which he resembles 
 Grough, or Father Taylor, the sailor's preacher of Boston. Mingled 
 with these vivid pictures are frequent quotations of spirit-stirring 
 hymns, which quicken the blood hke the sound of a trumpet. When 
 to these elements of power, we add a voice of such compass as to be 
 heard distinctly by an assembly of ten thousand persons, we are at 
 no loss to understand his great popularity. 
 
 But his object is not merely entertainment. Overriding all is an 
 earnest purpose to do good. Under these similes and illustrations is 
 the plaiu gospel truth, earnestly appUed to the hearts and consciences 
 of men. His sermons abound in direct appeals to the hearers. The 
 preacher speaks, not to mankind in general, but to those right before 
 him, to the tradesmen and working-people of London. As we read 
 these fervid discourses, we can easily imagine their effect upon such 
 an audience. None can doubt that the crowds that flock to hear this 
 eloquent young preacher go away pricked in conscience, humbled in 
 heart, and often reformed in hfe. 
 
 "With this altered impression of the man, we rejoice in the raising 
 up of such an earnest and faithful preacher of Christ, in the heart of 
 England, and we are inclined to predict great good from his labors. 
 It is too soon to say that he will be another Chalmers or Robert 
 Hall. " He is yet in the morning of his career. He began to preach 
 very young, and is still but twenty-three years old. Some are ready 
 to " despise his youth,'' as if such a boy could not know any thing, or 
 say any thing worth hstening to. But what if he be young ? So 
 was Summerfield. Lamed, of New Orleans, died when he was but 
 twenty-four, and yet he was at that moment perhaps the most elo- 
 quent preacher in America. Thomas Spencer, of Liverpool, closed 
 his career at twenty, but he feid already thrilled tens of thousands 
 by his eloquence. Youth indeed is liable to great mistakes from 
 
128 APPENDIX. 
 
 ignorance and inexperience. But it has also great advantages in its 
 robust vitality and natural fervor and enthusiasm. 
 
 There is indeed danger that a young man, Hfted into sudden popu- 
 larity, may be puffed up with conceit, and so be given up to suffer a 
 humiliating fall. This young pulpit celebrity is certainly exposed to 
 great danger. His best friends must pray that he be not spoiled by 
 flattery. But if this be avoided, and his Mfe and health be spared — 
 if the remorseless London pubhc do not kUl him, as they killed Ed- 
 ward Irving — he may prove a great blessing to the church and to 
 England. 
 
 The following was contributed to tlie columns of the 
 New York Observer by a distinguished pastor of a Pres- 
 byterian church in New York, whose fame as a preacher 
 and teacher of theology is world-wide : 
 
 " The religious pubhc is much divided about Mr. Spurgeon, some 
 saying, ' He is a good man,' and others, ' Nay, but he deceiveth the 
 people ;' some extolling him as a new wonder of evangelical elo- 
 quence, and others stigmatizing him as a ranter, a charlatan, and a 
 pulpit merry-andrew. We avow ourselves to be among the number 
 of those who bless Grod that our day has witnessed the rise of one 
 so well fitted to startle and electrify the indolent and godless masses 
 of the great modern Babylon into reUgious interest ; and we wish 
 there were to-day a hundred such as he in London, and fifty such 
 in New York. While we, more nice and dainty preachers, come 
 weekly before our well-dressed and decorous assembUes with ser- 
 mons compounded according to all the rules, and read with every 
 observance of orthoepy, there are a hundred thousand poor people 
 without, who do not come near us, and who would perhaps go to 
 sleep if they did. If G-od intends the ' common people' to be roused 
 into a great rehgious revolution, and the rapidly degenerating popu- 
 lace of London and New York to be awakened, he wiU raise up 
 
APPENDIX. 129 
 
 Whiteflelds, Rowland Hills and Spurgeons. Just so preached 
 Luther and Latimer ; the Kkenesses extending even to the odd and 
 sometimes ludicrous expressions, which are not indeed to our taste, 
 but which abound even more in the reported sermons of Whitefield, 
 and which belong to the idiosyncrasy of the men. A greater fault 
 is the frequent putting forward of his own personality ; but all of 
 these are specks upon a fair and brilliant disk. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon preaches the truth of God ; let this be always borne 
 in mind ; and he preaches it to ten thousand at a time. Is not this 
 a fact to be rejoiced at ? We do not mean his tenet concerning 
 baptism, nor his tenet concerning the second advent, neither of 
 which is made prominent ; we will not underwrite any of his crotch- 
 ets of opinion, or his particular expositions of Scripture ; but we 
 recognize in his constant teachings the great evangeUcal and saving 
 doctrines of the New Testament and the Westminster A.ssembly. 
 Mr. Spurgeon shows in every sermon that he has been a dihgent 
 reader, not only of the Bible, but of theology. To this he owes 
 much of his force. The family terms of old Nonconformist divinity 
 faU freely from his Ups, and he affectionately names their great au- 
 thors. The outcry against him is sufiiciently accounted for, by his 
 brandishing the terrors of the law, by his exalting the free grace of 
 the gospel, and by his constant and unflinching avowal of Calvinism. 
 Nothing which has yet been uttered against him in the way of vitu- 
 peration equals the assaults upon Mr. Whitefield, both in England 
 and America. No one needs to be informed how much is lost when 
 we read the cold-written reports of imaginative and impassioned elo- 
 quence. The sermons of Dean Kirwan and of Whitefield are strik- 
 ing instances. Yet no one can peruse a single sermon of Mr. Spur- 
 geon's without feeling himself to be within the grasp of a great 
 undisciplined and daring genius, who, amid some foibles and num- 
 berless violations of taste, wields the sword of a champion, and is all 
 on fire with zeal for God. We heartily agree with our honored 
 friend. Dr. Wayland, that the world and the church need such 
 preachers ; and looking down-hill toward the close of our own 
 work, with many regrets over wrong methods, we rejoice and hope 
 
130 APPENDIX. 
 
 at the sight of young men brought into the field with such energies 
 and success. Even where the standard of homiletics is not ours, 
 'Christ is preached, and we therein do rejoice, yea, and wUl re- 
 joice.' " 
 
 PROM HARPER'S WEEKLY. 
 
 Sermons of the Eev. 0. H. Spurgeon, of London. Second Series. 
 
 New York : Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. 
 
 The portrait which is given in this book of the young preacher 
 who draws such immense houses in London, represents him as a 
 fuU-faced, fat, boyish-looking man, of twenty-two or twenty-three 
 years old, and it is doubtless a correct Ukeness. Young as he is, his 
 sermons are tremendous in their eiFect. Their faults are prominent 
 and great — the faults of extreme youth and inexperience both in the 
 world and in rhetoric — but their virtues are also very great. He is 
 in the main what would be called an orthodox Calvinist in senti- 
 ment, while his style of preaching is directed to the consciences and 
 hearts of his hearers. We can readily imagine the eifect which some 
 of these bold, daring appeals must have on the minds of hearers 
 when hurled at them from the sacred desk. 
 
 Much there is in Mr. Spurgeon's eloquence that is admirable ; 
 much that is thriUing, overpowering ; but, at the same time, there is 
 much that is startling. With the abstract doctrine contained in his 
 sermon on election, we suppose no Calvinist of the straitest sect 
 would find fault ; but the manner of the concluding appeal strikes us 
 as the coolest piece of argument that has as yet been addressed by a 
 clergyman to a sinner. This is an extract from it : 
 
 "O sinner, come to the throne of electing mercy. Thou may est 
 die where thou art. G-o to God; and, even supposing he should 
 spurn thee, suppose his uplifted hand should drive thee away — a 
 thing impossible — yet thou wilt not lose any thing ; thou wUt not 
 be the more damned for that. Besides, supposing thou be damned, 
 thou wouldst have the satisfaction at least of being able to lift up 
 
APPENDIX. 131 
 
 thine eyes in hell and say, ' God, I asked mercy of thee, and thou 
 wouldst not grant it ; I sought it, but thou didst refuse it.' " 
 
 The pecuMarity of Mr. Spurgeon's style is in his brief, strong sen- 
 tences. His words are short, sharp, and telling. He never goes 
 around a truth ; never wraps it up to administer it ; never attempts 
 to touch his cannon off softly. If he hves twenty years he will re- 
 pent of his present sins, and be a greater preacher. For the present, 
 this book is the most readable collection of sermons, without excep- 
 tion, that has ever found its way to our hands, and will repay the 
 purchaser a hundred-fold. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE OP THE NEW TORE INDEPENDENT. 
 
 Great orators, whether pulpit, platform, or senatorial, make many 
 fnends and many foes. This being inevitable, we are at no loss to 
 account for the applause and contumely which have been profusely 
 heaped upon the young minister, the Rev. 0. H. Spurgeon, whose 
 appearance and labors in the metropolis have excited in all reUgious 
 circles, and even beyond them, attention and surprise, and in some 
 instances unbounded admiration. Scarcely more than a youth in 
 years, comparatively untutored, and without a name, he enters the 
 greatest city in the world, and almost simultaneously commands au- 
 diences larger than have usually listened to her most favored preach- 
 ers. Almost daily has he occupied pulpits in various parts of town 
 atd country, and everywhere been greeted by overflowing congre- 
 gations. 
 
 As might be expected, many who have listened to bing have gone 
 away to speak iU of his name ; while others, and by far the greater 
 number, have been instructed by his arguments, nielted by his "ap- 
 peals, and stimulated by his earnestness. There have been seen 
 among his hearers ministers of mark, of nearly every section of the 
 Christian church ; laymen well known in all circles as the supporters 
 of the benevolent and evangelical institutions of the day ; citizens of 
 
132 APPENDIX. 
 
 renown, from the chief magistrate down to the parish beadle ; and 
 Holyoake, the editor of the infidel serial, The Reasoner, has, by his 
 own confession, been among his hearers. That the man who causes 
 such a furore must possess some power not commonly found in men 
 of his profession, wiU only be doubted by his prejudiced detractors. 
 Whether that power be physical, intellectual, or moral, or a happy 
 blending of them all, is, perhaps, a question not yet ripe for de- 
 cision. 
 
 It can not be disputed that Mr. Spurgeon is in various respects an 
 extraordinary man. Never, since the days of George Whitefield 
 and Edward Irvrng, has any minister of reUgion acquired so great a 
 reputation as this Baptist preacher in so short a time. Here is a 
 mere youth — a perfect striphng, only twenty-one years of age — in- 
 comparably the most popular preacher of the day. There is no man 
 in Great Britain who could draw such immense audiences ; and 
 none who, in his happiest efforts, can so completely enthrall the 
 attention and delight the minds of his hearers. While the enlarge- 
 ment of his chapel in New Park-street was taking place, Mr. Spur- 
 geon preached in Exeter HaU ; but this spacious building soon 
 proved far too small to hold the crowds who thronged to hear the 
 youthful Boanerges. It was no unusual sight on a Sunday evening 
 to see placards put up outside the building announcing that the Hall 
 was fioll, and that no more could be admitted. Since the enlarge- 
 ment of his chapel, which is now capable of holding 1800 people, it 
 has been found necessary for the police to be present at every ser- 
 vice, and the pew-holders are admitted by ticket through a side- 
 door. This accomphshed, at ten minutes prior to the commencement 
 of the service the front doors are opened, and a rush commences ; 
 but it is speedily over, for the chapel is fuU — not only the seats but 
 every inch of standing-room being occupied, and the gates have to 
 be closed, with an immense crowd of disappointed expectant hearers 
 outside. 
 
 Although some of Mr. Spurgeon's vilifiers speak of irreverence 
 and witticisms, your correspondent, when he listened to the youthfuh 
 evangeUst, was especially impressed with the stillness and solemnity 
 
APPENDIX. 133 
 
 pervading the entire service. Some of Hs appeals to the conscience, 
 some of his remonstrances vfith the careless, constituted specimens 
 of a very high order of oratorical power. When pronouncing the 
 doom of those who hve and die in a state of impenitence, he makes 
 hundreds of liis congregation quaU and quake in their seats. He 
 places their awful destiny in such vivid colors before their eyes, that 
 they almost imagine they are already in the regions of darlmess and 
 despair. In his preface to a volume of sermons just published, he 
 tells us that such has been the impression produced by some of his 
 sermons that he has ascertained upward of twenty cases of conver- 
 sion as the result of one discourse, to say nothing of those instances 
 of a saving change wrought on his hearers, which will be unknown 
 until the world to come has made its important and unexpected rev- 
 elations. 
 
 When this able and eloquent preacher iirst made his appearance 
 in the horizon of the rehgious world, and dazzled the masses in Lon- 
 don by his brUlianoy, many feared that he either might get intoxi- 
 cated by the large draughts of popularity which he had daily to 
 drink, or that he would not be able, owing to the want of variety, 
 to sustain the reputation he had so suddenly acquired. Neither re- 
 sult has happened. Whatever may be his defect, either as a man or 
 as a preacher of the gospel, it is due to him to state that he has not 
 been spoiled by popular applause. Constitutionally he has no small 
 amount of self-esteem ; but so far from its growing with his daily 
 extending fame, he appears to be more humble and more subdued 
 than when he first burst on our astonished gaze. And with regard 
 to the fear that his excellence as a preacher would not be sustained, 
 the event has proved the groundlessness of such an apprehension. 
 There is no falling off whatever. On the contrary, he is in not a few 
 respects improving with the lapse of time. His striking originahty 
 can be seen to greater advantage than at first. There is no same- 
 ness in Ins sermons. The variety of his matter, not of course as re- 
 gards his doctrines, but as relates to his expositions, illustrations, and 
 applications of divine truth, is as great as ever. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon has been thought by' many to entertain and advance 
 
134 APPENDIX. 
 
 the crude views of the hyper-0a.hfiniat3. He may, at times, lay him- 
 self open to such a charge ; but, we verily beUeve, he has in truth 
 little sympathy with those of the class referred to : his offer of a free 
 gospel, and appeals to the sinner being sufficient evidence in the 
 matter with all who know any thing of the preachers of the Dr. 
 Crisp school. It can not be doubted that he holds Calvinistic views 
 of Christianity, and proclaims this doctrine strongly and boldly, thus 
 presenting himself and his preaching as a conspicuous mark for con- 
 troversial censure. But there is a courageous and transparent con- 
 sistency characterizing the man and his mission that ought most 
 assuredly to neutralize aU unfair and bitter criticism. 
 
 It must be evident to all who have read Mr. Spurgeon's sermons 
 that he is no superficial thinker. He has long been a diligent and 
 earnest seeker after truth, and is theoretically and experimentally 
 acquainted with much of the deep spirituality of divine truth. He 
 must have studied profoundly Leighton's writings and Wesley's 
 hymns ; for he has much of the experience of Wesley, and a high 
 degree of the spirituality of Leighton. Some have said that WUliam 
 Jay, of Bath, and Robert Hall, of Bristol, are the models on which 
 he has sought to mold his style of address ; but he needs the logical 
 acumen of the one, and the polished elegance of diction which char- 
 acterized the other. He has, however, their better quahties of 
 thorough devotion to the service of the gospel, and a power and 
 pathos far transcending theirs. But he is too originally constituted 
 to be an imitator, and is more hkely to found a style of his own, than 
 to imitate that of another. True, he has much of Rowland Hill's 
 quaintness of illustration, and not unfrequently provokes a smile by 
 some startling expression or figure ; but the general seriousness and 
 earnestness of his tone and manner forbid any feehng of levity ; and 
 if occasionally his humor excites a passing smile, the depth of his 
 pathos more frequently draws tears from the greater part of his 
 congregation. 
 
 During the year 1855, Mr. Spurgeon's Sunday morning sermon 
 has been regularly pubhshed in the course of the succeeding week 
 for one penny, or two cents, and some of them have reached as high 
 
APPENDIX. 135 
 
 a sale as 60,000 copies. These fifty-three sermons are now repub- 
 lished in a neat volume, with a preface by Mr. Spurgeon, in which 
 he states that he has documentary evidence that every sermon has 
 received the seal of God's blessing, in having been employed as an 
 instrument in the conversion of sinners to Christ. The volume is 
 certain to have an immense sale ; and from its circulation in every 
 corner of the world where the English language is read, there is 
 every reason to hope and believe that it will be productive of great 
 good. 
 
 The London ministers generally have looked upon Mr. Spurgeon 
 with coolness, and in some instances with dislike. Some noble ex- 
 ceptions there have been; such as the Eev. James Sherman, of 
 Blackheath, and Dr. A. Fletcher, of Knsbury chapel. And even the 
 Baptist Missionary Society so far yielded to the popular feeling in 
 favor of Mr. Spurgeon, as to solicit him to preach one of the anni- 
 versary sermons for their Society this year. The religious press, too, 
 has fearlessly stood by Mr. Spurgeon against his calumniators. The 
 London Patriot, Banner, and Christian Neivs, have commended this 
 second Whitefield. May the Head of the church continue to hold 
 this youthful Timothy as a star in his right hand, and through his 
 instrumentahty bring many souls to bow to the sceptre of his love 1 
 
 Beta. 
 
 ENSLiiTD, March liih, 18S6. 
 
 FEOM THE CHICAGO JOUESTAL. 
 
 There used to be such a thing as " a call " to preach. Men that 
 heard it obeyed, and "left their nets.'' Now, sometimes at least, 
 they go iviihoui hearing, and to get nets — ^with fish in them. 
 
 A "call" is supposed to imply three things: disposition, abihty, 
 and opj'Ortunity; that is, a door must be opened, and somebody 
 waiting, who is able and willing to go in at it. "What work those 
 people make — and they are not few — who have two thirds of a call 
 to preach, needs no description at our hand. 
 
136 APPENDIX. 
 
 To know how to tdl what we know, is the rarest knowledge in 
 the world, and yet, it is to truth, precisely what the range is to the 
 powder — -just the only thing that can render it effective. 
 
 We have heard men preach who were very much in the predica- 
 ment of soldiers that blow up their own magazines without so much 
 as singeing an enemy's eyebrow ; magnificent fireworks, but no 
 grape. 
 
 Of all intellectual cutlery, a sermon should be the keenest. It 
 should not tear and mutilate ; we have no fancy for a real war- 
 sword, and are not afraid of a hoe, but if the choice were left us with 
 which implement our quietus should be made, we should give a ver- 
 dict for the sword without leaving the court. In fact a sermon 
 should have the sort of edge and sweep to it that is supposed to be- 
 long to that good " Toledo" whose victims did not know they were 
 being decapitated until their heads were gone entirely, whereupon 
 they were in a worse condition than Briareus — but one pair of hands, 
 and no head at all. 
 
 The beast of Balaam waited for the touch of the miraculous hand 
 before he attempted to say any thing, but this age of ours is faster 
 than they were in Balaam's time, and the day of miracles has passed. 
 
 The world generally, we beheve, are disposed to look leniently 
 upon the sermon as a hterary production, provided the author be 
 honest and earnest and loving ; if the world were less forgiving, we 
 might have fewer sermons, but there would be a great deal more of 
 them. To take a theme from the sacred page, as familiar to the 
 mass of men in civilized communities as the household word " home," 
 and so present it as to arrest the attention and interest the heart, is 
 about as difficult as the capture of Gibraltar, and yet a thing attempted 
 every week by multitudes of men, who begin to talk themselves into 
 thought, and end by talking their theme into nothing, and their 
 hearers into a drowse. 
 
 If one theme more than another deserves the choicest of illustra- 
 tion, the most sinewy of argument, and the most persuasive of ap- 
 peal, that theme is Heaven and the hopes that hang on it, like dews 
 upon the morning. 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 There seema to us, even at this far remove of the editorial chair, 
 no office so grand as that he fills who stands, in the old but unworn 
 stereotype of Sabbath phrase, " between two worlds," wherein, in 
 the words of Napier, d*reU those we love, and those we have loved ; 
 nothing so beautiful as the robing of a truth that contains no element 
 of human frailty ; but unsulhed by the breath of passion, unsoiled by 
 the fingers of mortality, is held aloft to the gaze of the great congre- 
 gation, pure as the Southern Cross that bends in holy sign over the 
 humblest sailor upon the sea. 
 
 How beautiiul we have thought — ay, how beautiful we have seen — 
 such a hfe may be, flying hke a white dove with music in its wing, 
 'twixt earth and heaven. 
 
 The time has gone by when we fancied " the minister " could 
 never die; that even the hghtning would respect his person, and 
 flicker harmless around his head ; that sweet faith of childhood has 
 fled, for we have seen him laid to rest, and remembered, as they left 
 him, how " He giveth his beloved sleep.'' 
 
 Nature found out the secret of his grave long ago, and claimed his 
 dust for the uses of the budding spring, but the blamelessness of his 
 life, the warmth of his heart, and the singleness of his purpose, com- 
 posed the subUmest of sermons. No error of the uttered word, no 
 faltering of the feeble voice, no lack of arrangement there, and so, 
 though dead, he speaketh yet. 
 
 The style of men who were more eloquent in their works than 
 they were in their words, is an old style, and fashions are changeful 
 as the moon; the men who never forget their mission, nor put off 
 their calling with their Sabbath-day attire, are becoming fewer, and 
 we are constrained to believe that those who remain rather belong 
 to a past age than to the present 
 
 Truth walks a good deal, now-a-days, upon carpets in listed sUp- 
 pers ; trenchant blades are wielded, but they are safe housed in the 
 scabbards. Nobody is harmed a hair, and over and over, is Sancho 
 Panza's beatitude repeated: "Blessed is the man who invented 
 sleep ;'' and there are numbers to claim it, and of course numbers to 
 be blest ; and so, blessed be poppies I 
 
138 APPENDIX. 
 
 But besides these makers of the Sunday siesta, there are those who 
 are not content to stand with the great Apostle to the Gentiles, upon 
 Mars Hill, but they must needs take up their abode on Sinai, and 
 their tables of the law are all stone, and clouds and darkness are 
 their chief dehght. 
 
 Abou Ben Adhem is a heathenish name, but we wish every pulpit 
 in the land had a Ben Adhem in it. " May his tribe increase I" 
 Abou Ben Adhem, who 
 
 "Awoke, one night, from a deep dream of peace. 
 And saw, within the moonlight of his room, 
 Making it rich, and-like a hly in bloom, 
 An angel writing in a hook of gold. 
 Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem hola, 
 And to the presence in the room he said ; 
 ' What writest thou ?' The vision raised its head, 
 And, with a look made all sweet accord, 
 Answered — ' The name of those who love the Lord.' 
 * And is mine one?' said Abou. 'Nay, not so,' 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 
 But cheerily still, and said — ■' I pray thee then, 
 Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.' 
 The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night 
 It came again with a great wakening light. 
 And showed the names of those whom love of God had blessed. 
 And, lo 1 Ben Adhem's name led all the rest I" 
 
 Precious Uttle as we know about preaching, such were the 
 thoughts that we have been betrayed into expressing by the 
 
 SERMONS OF THE BET. C. K SPURGEON, OE LONDON, 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 Of this young man, who, like an unannounced comet, scintillated 
 into the clerical sphere, the majority of our readers know something. 
 Fervid in style, vivid in illustration, earnest in appeal, versed in bib- 
 heal lore, his youth increased the wonder, he was at once rechris- 
 tened a " Whitefield,' and multitudes thronged to hsten and applaud; 
 and thus was inaugurated what, for want of a better term, we may 
 
APPENDIX. ■ 139 
 
 call " a star engagement " in winning souls. We do not like the dis- 
 play that attends his ministrations ; we do not see why the language 
 should be beggared of its best adjectives to do him homage. If God 
 has given him- more talents than his neighbor, and he is employing 
 them for God and the truth's sake, he is entitled to be numbered 
 with that old man whose whole life was a sermon, and the place of 
 whose grave is quite forgotten. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon is an orator of wonderful power, as he must be 
 whose syllables rise articulate above the Babel of London. We have 
 here twenty-seven discourses, differing in thought and theme, mani- 
 festing varied degrees of power, but all exhibiting the peculiar direct- 
 ness and earnestness of the man. 
 
 The Harvest Time is his theme, and he calls flowers " the thoughts 
 of God soUdified," and the seasons " the four evangelists '' of the 
 earthly temple. He talks of Songs in the Night, and tells us " any 
 fool can sing in the day. It is easy enough for an JEolian harp to 
 whisper music when the winds blow ; the difficulty is for music to 
 come when no- wind bloweth. It is easy to sing when we can read 
 the notes by dayhght ; but the skillful singer is he who can sing when 
 there is not a ray of light to read by — who sings from his heart, and 
 not from a book that he can see." 
 
 But we have no space for the several passages we had marked for 
 pubUcation, and must refer the reader to the volume itself, assuring 
 him that, while he wiU find somewhat to condemn, he will be re- 
 warded with much of original and beautifiil thought, set forth with 
 an earnestness that leaves the magnetic power of their author no 
 mystery. Marred, as these discourses are, with forms of expression 
 that the disciples of Alison and Burke would deem sins against taste 
 and beauty, and the believers in Whateley condemn, yet there is 
 more than enough to disarm criticism. Some hand may be needed 
 " to lop the wanton growth," but Time, no doubt, will turn, for the 
 once, his scythe into a pruning-hook. As to the precise character 
 of this new Hght in the firmament of the religious world, we can not 
 speak ; whether it will disappear as suddenly as it has flashed forth, 
 is no question for cur answering. One thing is certain : it did not 
 
140 • APPENDIX. 
 
 rise as the stars do, but burst out all at once, and was well up before 
 any body had descried a dawn. The popular fear of comets every- 
 where is based, not so much upon^ their magnitude or the length of 
 their trains, as upon the suddenness of their appearance, and the 
 doubtful route of their orbits. 
 
 FROM THE REV. E. G. ROBINSOIT, D.D., 
 
 PEOFEBSOR OP BIBLICAL AND PASTOEAL THEOLOGY IN EOOHESTEE UNIVEESITT. 
 
 Messes. Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., 
 
 Gentlemen : Many thanks for your new volume of Spurgeon. 
 I opened it with a good deal of misgiving, but must confess to a 
 most agreeable surprise. It is an extremely rare thing that the ser- 
 mons of a popular preacher will bear reading ; but these of Spur- 
 geon are not only better arranged and more logical than I had ex- 
 pected, but with soundness of doctrine; are also written in true 
 Bunyan-Uke simplicity, directness, and beauty. I am not surprised 
 at his popularity, and am only glad it is so well founded. I shall 
 recommend them to the attention of my class, and shah take up one 
 or two of them for analysis, as a special exercise. 
 
 EespectMly yours, 
 
 E. G-. EOBINSON. 
 
 FROM FRANCIS WATLAND, D.D. 
 
 Providence, December 15th, 1856. 
 
 Gentlemen : When I wrote you last I was reading Spurgeon's 
 Sermons. I have now finished them ; and I thank God that such a 
 preacher has been raised up to teach us how to address men on the 
 subject of their salvation. I am surprised at their eloquence, but es- 
 pecially at the source of it. They are the result of a most thorough 
 reading of the New Testament by a man of very remarkable gifts as 
 
APPENDIX. 141 
 
 a public speaker. They are the simple truths of the New Testament 
 brought home to the consciences of men with a simplicity, honesty, 
 fearlessness, and affection, such as I have rarely, if ever witnessed. 
 
 F. Watland. 
 
 PROM THE RET. S. IRENiEUS PRIME, D.D. 
 
 New Toek, February 23d, 185Y. 
 
 Messes. Sheldon, Blaeeiian & Co.: 
 
 I am indebted to you for the pleasure of reading several of the 
 sermons you propose to publish of the Eev. Mr. Spurgeon. They 
 are far more able, interesting, and instructive, freer from coarseness 
 and extravagance, and more evangeUoal and scriptural than I had 
 supposed from the notices I had read of his preaching. These ser- 
 mons have the root of the matter in them, while their fervid style, 
 earnest appeal, and vivid illustration, arrest the attention and impress 
 the truth. The Eev. Dr. Campbell, of London, is the editor of the 
 British Banner. He is the valiant opponent of the " Negative The- 
 ology" now infesting the dissenting churches of England. In his 
 paper he says of Mr. Spurgeon: "That young minister has more 
 knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, the source of aU genuine theol- 
 ogy, than the whole of his traducers multiplied by the highest figure 
 of the table. Nay, he is a better theologian than was either Grim- 
 shaw, or Berridge, or Whitefield, or Wesley, at the outset of their 
 respective careers, and inferior to none of them at the close." I shall 
 be pleased to commend the volume to the public when you bring it 
 
 out. 
 
 Truly, yours, 
 
 S. I. Phime. 
 
Boohs Puhlished hy Sheldon, Blakeman <b Go. 
 
 SOME RECENT AND VALUABLE PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 OF THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, 
 
 Of London. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. Witli an Introduction and Sketch of Us Life, by the Eot. E. L. 
 Magoon, D.D. 1 vol., 12mo, 400 pages. "With a fine Lithograph Portrait Price $1. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. Eerised by the Author, and Publishednvith his sanction ; contain- 
 ing a new Steel Plate Portrait, engraved expressly for the Volume. Price $1. 
 
 THIRD SERIES, Revised by the Author, and puhlished with his sanction. 
 Will be Ready about September 1st. 
 
 NOW REABY. 
 AN ILLUSTRATED SKETCH OP THE 
 
 LIFE AND MINISTRY OF THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 Compiled from original and authentic documents, with numerous Anecdotes atid Incidents 
 of Trarel ; and Illustrated witb. a Portrait of Mr. Spurgeon, engravings of New Park- 
 street Chapel, "Waterheach Chapel, Mr. Spurgeon in his Pulpit, his Birth-place, etc; 
 with an Outline of his Articles of Faith. 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Muslin. Price 60 cents. 
 1 volume, 12mo. Paper Cover. Price 40 cents. 
 
 GRAGIE AMBER. 
 
 By Mrs. Mabt A. Denison. 1 vol., 12mo. Price $1 25. 
 
 " Mrs. Denison writes with extraordinary power and feeling. Portions of this hook 
 remind us of Alton Locke in their force and pathos. The character of Jitpe is from the 
 beginning to the end most admirably sustained, and would do honor to any writer what- 
 ever. Mrs. Denison is taking the first rank as a female writer." — Sai'per's Weekly. 
 
 GRACE TRUMAN; 
 
 OR, LOVE AND PRINCIPLE. 
 
 , By Sailte Rociiestee Ford. With Steel Plate Portrait of the Authoress. 
 
 1 vol., 12mo. Price $1. 
 
 " "We have been borne through the perusal of this book with unflagging interest. Like 
 * Theodosia Ernest,' it is debigned for the illustration and defense of our denominational 
 principles; and without detracting in the slightest from the enviable reputation of that 
 work^ we do not hesitate to pronounce this more ornate in style, more artistic in plot, 
 more thrilling in incident. It can not fail of a wide popularity and an extensive circula- 
 tion." — Richmond Religious Herald. 
 
Sooks Published by Sheldon, Blaketnan <& Co. 
 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF BAPTISTS. 
 
 By FsANOis Watiaito, D.D. 1 voL, 12mo. Cloth, $1. 
 
 "It is in style of utterance, to use an image of Bacon's, but the first crushing of the 
 clusters in the press, not the protracted twisting that leaves the harsh taste of grape-skin 
 and stems in the wine. It is, unless we greatly misjudge, a work likely to remain, and 
 to leave the enduring mark of its happiest influence upon our denomination, history, and 
 character,* ' — Examiner. 
 
 NEW WORK BY W. R. WILLIAMS, D.D. 
 
 CHARITY AND THE GOSPEL; 
 
 Being Lectures on First Corinthians, 13th Chapter. 
 " Will be Kkativ ajjout Septembee 1st. 
 
 THE ENGLISH BIBLE; 
 
 Ob, history OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES 
 
 INTO THE ENGLISH TONGUE. 
 
 ■With Specimens of the early English Versions, and Portraits of Wickliffe and Tyndale. 
 
 By Mrs. H. C. Conant. 1 vol., 12mo. Price $1 25. 
 
 " Her style is clear, vigorous, and sprightly, glowing with enthusiasm inspired hy her 
 subject, and gracefully adapting itself to the moods of feeling created by the varying for- 
 tunes of the Divine Word ; and its translators and propagators, now under the ban of the 
 hierarchy, now on the career of progress and triumph, and through alternating pulses and 
 waves of Hght and darkness, slowly advancing from the dawn to the unclouded day of 
 scriptural Imowledge and religious freedom." — North Atneriean Review. 
 
 LIFE IN ISRAEL; 
 
 Oe, PORTRAITURES OF HEBREW CHARACTERS. 
 
 By Maeia T. Richaeds. 1 vol., 12mo. Price $1. 
 
 " Its historical and chronological fidelity; its conformity to the widest and best knowl- 
 edge possessed of the people and the time ; its careful toning to a harmony with the twi- 
 light of Messianic hope ; its Christian spirit, and its simple, pious reverence, at once place 
 it at the head of all efforts of its kind with which we are familiar." — Boston Traveler. 
 
 CHILDHOOD : ITS PROMISE AND TRAINING. 
 
 By Rev. W. W. Evaets, D.D. 1 vol., 12mo. Price 75 cents. 
 
 "As presenting more fully and justly the claims and promise of childhood, and in depth 
 and range of thought, this work is far beyond any we have yet seen upon the same sub- 
 ject. To those who are acquainted with his characteristics as a writer, the name of the 
 author will be a sufficient guaranty for its literary merit. The style of the composition 
 is original and impressive, the diction elegant, and the illustrations truthful and appro- 
 priate." — LouisvUle Journal. 
 
 LIFE-PICTURES FROM A PASTOR'S NOTE-BOOK. 
 
 By RoBEET Ttjenbttll, D.D. 1 vol., 12mo. Price $1. 
 
 *' With a skillful and elegant pen, with a rich and entertaining fund of social and pastoral 
 reminiscence, Dr. Tumbull teaches truth in the garb of interesting narrative, making a 
 most useful book of these sketches. The book is one to be sought for and circulated." — 
 Lutheran Observer. 
 
Ill.llll ' I '