Chapter Fourteen
Chapter 14.
Memorial Service for Christian Workers On Wednesday evening, February 10th, 1892, the service specially designed for Christian workers of all denominations, and church members, other than members of the Tabernacle, commenced at seven o'clock. George Williams, Esq., presided.
Mr. W. J. Orsman, of the Golden Lane Mission, opened the meeting with prayer, in which he thanked God that, as a wayward youth, he heard Mr. Spurgeon in the Surrey Music Hall, and that there his feet were turned into the way of life. He voiced the feeling of many when he said:
"We are sore in heart—troubled, stunned, bowed down with great sorrow, blinded with the bitterest tears we ever shed. Many of thy children are learning the awful mystery of heart-breaking,—carrying griefs they cannot speak, their lives curtained with darkness and suffering; but we pray that in this starless night thou wilt come over the troubled waters, speaking peace to our souls. Thou loving Binder and Healer of torn hearts, in thy pitifulness strengthen us that we may say—'He hath done all things well.'"
Mr. A. H. Baynes, Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society, announced Mr. Spurgeon's own version of the thirty-ninth Psalm, so appropriate to the occasion. With great solemnity these verses were sung—
"Behold, O Lord, my days are made A handbreadth at the most;
Ere yet 'tis noon my flower must fade, And I give up the ghost.
Then teach me, Lord, to know mine end, And know that I am frail; To heaven let all my thoughts ascend, And let not earth prevail.
What is there here that I should wait, My hope's in thee alone; When wilt thou open glory's gate And call me to thy throne?
A stranger in this land am I, A sojourner with thee;
Oh, be not silent at my cry, But show thyself to me.
Though I'm exiled from glory's land Yet not from glory's King; My God is ever near at hand, And therefore I will sing."
Mr. George Williams, President of the Young Men's Christian Association, said: "Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the gift of the great Father to the church universal. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the great centre of his labours, but the result of his labours could not be contained within these walls. They flowed over like a fountain; bubbling up here, they reached the whole metropolis, the whole of England, all over the world where the English tongue is spoken, and in many countries where it is unknown. Therefore it is that we are exceedingly grateful to this church for giving us, the outside Christian public, the opportunity of coming and expressing our devout gratitude to Almighty God for having raised up Charles Haddon Spurgeon to be a blessing to the whole world!
"What a welcome he must have received in heaven ere this! What an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ must have been his! What shouts and Hallelujahs! What palms of victory and triumph! We are left sorrowing, but we will rejoice that God lent him to the church militant so long. With what power, with what force, with what strength of will he laboured here! A very Samson, he slew the Philistines right and left! Like David, no Goliath was too large for him to encounter and to overcome in the strength of the Lord!
"Now that he has gone, we desire that his mantle might fall upon us. What was the secret of his strength? Was it not his nearness to his dear Lord, the communion which he had with his Master? Was it not the intensity of his love, the steadfastness of his faith? Is not God saying to us, through his beloved servant, 'Be it unto you according to your faith'? I remember hearing of a conversation which he had with a minister who came to him depressed because of the lack of conversions as a result of his ministry.
"Mr. Spurgeon said to him, 'But surely you do not always expect conversions when you preach?'" 'No, of course I do not,' the minister replied.
" 'Well, then,' Mr. Spurgeon said, 'be it unto you according to your faith.'" I believe that dear man of God, as he stood in this pulpit, expected conversions, and what he expected God gave him. May the implicit faith which he had in God, dwell also in us.
"His will be a great name in the history of England for this century. As the names of Whitefield and Wesley have such a sweet savour amongst us, so will his be for ever fragrant. We shall speak now of Whitefield and Wesley and Spurgeon as the three great departed leaders in the evangelical cause.
"We praise God for this gift, which we have not yet fully appreciated. What good cause did not dear Mr. Spurgeon help? How often he put new life into a meeting by his presence. Wherever he went the people came, and his great sense, and love, and faith inspired all with confidence. How the British and Foreign Bible Society valued his presence at their annual gatherings! How the London City Mission benefited by his aid! How the Young Men's Christian Association relied upon the advocacy of his voice and pen! How the various missionary societies were stimulated by his enthusiasm! When we think, too, of what he did for other churches and other denominations, what a focus of power for good is seen in his life.
"I desire, on behalf of the multitude outside of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, to give expression to the intensity of our admiration, and love for your beloved Pastor. All of us—the Church of England, the Congregationalists, the Wesleyans, the Presbyterians, and every other congregation&mdashsaw in him a champion, a holy, mighty man of God, ready to stand in the front, and to maintain those blessed doctrines of the old gospel, which had won his heart, and which he knew would win the hearts of other men. Therefore, it is that we desire to express to the beloved wife, and to the dear sons, our intense sympathy. How rejoiced he must have been to have had such sons! God bless them! May the mantle of their father fall upon them, and upon his dear brother and sisters may the blessing of God abundantly rest. God be praised for sparing them. We pray that the dear friend from America, who is ministering in holy things in this place, may be preserved and guided in all the future; that the crowds who have been in the habit of attending here, may continue to attend, and that benefit and blessing may continue to flow out from this congregation to the ends of the earth."
Sir Arthur Blackwood, K.C.B., President of the Mild-may Conference, said:—"If the beloved brother whose remains lie here to-night could speak to us, I believe that he would say, 'Speak not of me, but of my Saviour; or, if you must speak of me, speak of the great God who was magnified in me.' He ever loved to hide himself, so far as his strong personality permitted, behind the Saviour whom he preached. Wrapped in the folds of the banner of the Cross, which he so courageously, so steadfastly, so persistently waved, his main desire was to be nothing, that Christ might be all and in all. We shall honour him most truly, we shall express our love most fittingly, we shall justify our regard for his person most really, if we seek to do as he would bid us do.
If our brother has desires concerning the work of God on earth, surely they are that, by his entrance into the kingdom of glory, multitudes might find their entrance to God's kingdom of grace on earth. As with zeal, he ever delighted to draw the sword of battle against the enemies of the truth, that they might become its friends; and as multitudes have fallen beneath the weighty strokes of that weapon, so he would wish that those whom he slew in his death should be more than they whom he slew in his life. If perchance it was permitted to Elisha to know and to rejoice in the fact that his very remains possessed such life-giving power that the man whom they were burying hastily in his grave no sooner touched them than he came to life, well may our beloved and departed brother rejoice, if it be permitted to him to know, that by his death many have entered into life eternal. And as for him to live was Christ, in this sense to die will be most certainly gain. Thus we can rejoice with him and thank God; and if we weep we will look upward through our tears, and rejoice as we think of the perfect bliss and ineffable enjoyment which is now his. He has entered into rest by the side of the River of the Water of Life, whose streams he has ministered in such fulness to thirsty multitudes on earth. He has also entered upon a career of service which no pain, nor weakness, nor sickness, can ever interrupt. The hand that, like Eleazar's, clenched the sword with such a grip that it could not be unloosed, now waves the triumphant palm; and the voice that told out with such inexhaustible fulness the unsearchable riches of Christ his Lord, now sings that new song with multitudes around the throne.
"What was it that gave Charles Haddon Spurgeon his power? What may we learn from the testimony of his life? Is it not this above all things, that the glorious gospel of the blessed God which so permeated his whole being, and which he so rejoiced in preaching, lives on, and has undying power within it to turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to fascinate the humble, to abase them that sit on high; to lift up the beggar from the dunghill, and to set him among the princes in the very presence of God? What was it that, when our brother lay stricken by mortal illness last summer, evoked such anxious solicitude from the very steps of the throne, from the bishop's bench, from the great, the noble, throughout the land, and from millions of unknown folk who had hung upon his lips and read his writings? What was it that made this man so great? What is it that now causes princes to send their telegrams of sympathy to his bereaved widow? that causes the Bishop of this diocese, with true brotherly Christian love and respect and esteem for his memory, to follow him to his grave; what makes millions upon millions mourn to-night throughout the whole world? What is it that made this man the object of such respect, such veneration, and such love? Was it his wide range of philosophy, his extensive scientific knowledge, his soaring intellect? No; the cause lies deeper than these. Was it his mother wit, his command of his native tongue, his genial face, his loving grasp? No; it was the firm grasp that he had of the gospel of Christ, the unflinching earnestness and faithfulness with which he preached it, the valour with which he stood in the gap when men fled on all sides, his adherence to the doctrines of grace, and his determination to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him crucified. This it was that gave him his hold upon the hearts of thousands.
"I may well quote the eloquent, truthful, and noble words that, but three days ago, were uttered by the Archdeacon of London, in St. Paul's Cathedral, as he said that it was 'the unswerving strength, the exuberant vitality of his faith in God's revelation to man through his Son Jesus Christ, combined with the weight and warmth of his zealous love for souls, that gave him that unbounded power which he exercised so loyally for Christian belief among the classes who are the very backbone of England, and throughout the English-speaking race.'" 'When he left the pulpit,' said Lord Houghton, 'whatever your impressions might have been as a mere critical hearer when you came in, he left it an inspired apostle.'" He has now left the pulpit for ever, but his apostleship lives on in the quickened hearts and lives of innumerable hearers, and his inspiration is acknowledged of all men. That is why his funeral will be made almost a national occasion, and why all good and devout men among his countrymen, without distinction of faith or sect, will stand in spirit around his grave.
"A sympathetic, yet not uncritical writer, has lately observed, 'Mr. Spurgeon had but one sermon, but that sermon was always new. To him, Christianity was not an argument but a message, and a message to be believed at once by those who heard him.' No higher praise than that can be given to a minister of Christ's gospel. He took for his style and dignity, the apostolic words, 'We are ambassadors for Christ.' He trod in his footsteps who, amid all the vapourings of the schools, poured contempt upon the philosophies, falsely so called, that filled the air, and said, 'I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.'" When we think of the universal sorrow, of the worldwide feeling of respect and love that his deeply-lamented removal from us has aroused throughout the whole world, is it not a token for good that God's Spirit yet remaineth among us; and that in these days of darkness, doubt, difficulty, unbelief, and intensified worldliness, wherever the gospel of Christ is firmly held and purely preached, multitudes are won and God is still glorified among us.
"Speaking for myself, highly privileged to stand here to-night, I feel as one who has lost a very personal friend. We did not meet often, but when we did, how refreshing it was to look him in the face, to grasp his hand, and to hear his cheery voice. What a lift up he gave at Mildmay Conference not once nor twice only; how he carried us with him in his enthusiastic and eloquent utterances of truth! I remember what good it did me when, some years ago, after he had preached in some country church, I ventured to speak a word with him in the vestry. Putting his hand on my shoulder, he said, 'Well, brother, we always know where to find you.' That cheery word of kindly commendation made me feel six inches taller than I had ever felt before, and sent me on my way rejoicing.
"Still more do I feel that in him I have lost in common with you all, a trusted leader, one to whom we instinctively looked for words of counsel when days were dark. He had almost intuitive, because God-given, discernment of the things that Israel ought to do in times of perplexity, and often uttered a word of vigorous cheer, loud and plain above the din of battle, which sent courage into all who could catch its notes.
"It seems as if a light that had burned brightly and savingly on a stormy coast, and had lighted many a ship safely into her haven, had suddenly been quenched. But we look up and forward. We know that he who fitted Charles Haddon Spurgeon for the work to which he called him here on earth is well able to supply his place. It may not be exactly in the same way, for God has no duplicates in his museum; it may be by men of other gifts and other powers; but surely that life is a token that God has not left his people; and that, as the century waxes old, and the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, he will send forth labourers into his vineyard.
"Upon us, however feeble our strength, however small our sphere, lies the responsibility of holding aloft, with all the vigour that God shall give us, the torch of truth which he has put into our hands; of following, though it may be at a distance and humbly, the steps of that valiant leader and champion of cur Lord Jesus Christ's cause on earth, To us it remains to defend his truth in our measure as he defended it; and then, when we shall see our brother again, it shall be with the joy of feeling through God's grace that we have endeavoured to carry on the work that he has commenced His work will never end, his voice echoes still; by his printed page, circulated in every land, and by thousands and thousands of souls whom God permitted him to win for Christ, Charles Spurgeon's voice will go on and on as long as this world shall last. As long as the names of Latimer and Ridley, of Baxter and Bunyan, of Wesley and of Whitefield are known and loved, so long will the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon be esteemed and remembered. God grant us grace to follow his steps, for Christ's sake."
Mr. Ira D. Sankey said: "I feel it a very great privilege to meet here with the thousands who gather around this bier, to pay some little note of homage to one who has done so much for me. That voice is silenced for ever on earth, but who of us here cannot recall its clarion tones as it has moved us from time to time in this great temple.
It has always been my custom, when coming from my own land to this country, to visit this Tabernacle, to have my torch lighted anew for the work in which I have been for years engaged; and never have I come into this building without receiving a blessing from that grand man whom I remember so well standing in this honoured spot, proclaiming the glorious gospel of the Son of God. I have now come from Scotland, where, for over three months, Mr. Moody and I have been holding services throughout the country, preaching the same old gospel that fell from the lips of that honoured man; and I bear testimony to-night in the name of my Master, that the old gospel has not lost its power.
"For years we have watched England and Scotland from our own shores, and a few lighthouses along this coast always attracted our eye. None shone so brightly as the torch that was burning continually in this Tabernacle. When darkness seemed to be spreading over the religious world, we would often cast longing eyes to London, and watch what this great captain was saying and doing. We always found inspiration from this pulpit, and always felt that in him we had a friend who would stand against all foes, a leader that we could safely follow. Many a prayer has come across the sea for him, from those who never had the joy of hearing his magnificent voice, and they are in sympathy with us to-night. Our land loves Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The Church of God on yonder shore has looked to him for years; and now he has gone, they will continue to pray that God may bless the people at the Tabernacle, and send them a man after his own heart to preach the old gospel, the power of God unto salvation.
"I learnt from the Pastor of this church, how to use the voice that God had given me, that I might preach to thousands who have assembled in our great congregations throughout this country and our own land. I might almost say that he taught me how to sing the praises of God. I have held him up as an example to hundreds of congregations, as a man who could inspire his people to worship in hymns of praise, by devoting time to the reading of the hymn, and then himself standing and singing with the people. I hope this example may be largely followed by the ministers of the gospel. The praise of God is a part of the worship, and should not be slighted.
"I bring to-night, to this great congregation, loving messages from Mr. Moody. When he heard that this great man of God had passed away, the first thing he said was, 'I want to go to London to stand by the grave of him who has done so much for me.' C. H. Spurgeon has been a constant inspiration and joy to D. L. Moody. He wanted to come to the funeral, but we could not both of us come away at once, so he said, 'You go, Mr. Sankey, and sing a hymn in honour of that dear man of God.' He remains yonder preaching the gospel, winning souls to Christ; just where dear Mr. Spurgeon would have him to be.
"I will not take up time further, but sing a little hymn that I think may be appropriate for this occasion. It is said that the early Christians, to express their certainty of seeing their friends who had passed away, only bade them 'Good-night,' so sure were they of meeting them on the Resurrection morning. I will sing a little hymn based on that fact, and may God bless the singing to all our hearts."
Mr. Sankey then sang, with exquisite feeling, the hymn beginning—
"Sleep on beloved, sleep and take thy rest, Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast;
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best, Good-night! Good-night! Good-night!"
Rev. Canon Palmer, M.A., Rector of Newington, in which parish the Tabernacle is situated, said:—"It requires some courage to attempt to make you hear my voice after the pathetic sounds to which you have just listened. The Pastor for whom you mourn, if he was remarkable for one thing more than another, it was for his fearlessness in speaking the truth. He spoke the truth through evil report and good report, without caring either for praise or blame of men, but only for the opinion of his Master. I am sure, therefore, that you, in this great Tabernacle, have been taught by him not merely to hear truth, but to bear truth; and you will bear with me if, at the outset, I venture to speak some words of truth with respect to myself. I cannot but remember the only other time that I stood in this place. The occasion of my visit was the return of a missionary of the Church of England from Japan, who came bearing a message from a missionary in Japan connected with your own communion—he had, I believe, been educated in your Pastors' College, at any rate, he looked to your Pastor for sympathy and for guidance. The missionary of the Church of England, Mr. Wright, had formerly been curate in the parish of St. Mary, Newington, and, as he was charged to deliver the message from your own missionary to Mr. Spurgeon himself, he wrote to me and asked if I could arrange an interview for him. I wrote to Mr. Spurgeon, and the answer I received to my request was:—"'Dear Sir,—At this present time it is still an effort to get in and out of the carriage, will you therefore come to me? I think it most kind of you to write to me. Would you like to come to my vestry at the Tabernacle on Monday at six, or on Wednesday at three? Would you send word to the Tabernacle on Sunday morning, for, as I am going away, everybody wants to see me during the next few days, almost as if I were going "to that bourne," etc.' "I came to the Tabernacle, and spent several hours here, and in the course of a very interesting conversation with Mr. Spurgeon, our remarks turned in the direction of the Church Catechism. He said to me:—"'I learnt that when I was a boy, and there is a great deal in it which I think very good.'" I playfully rejoined, 'If you had thought it all very good perhaps you might have been Archbishop of Canterbury.'" Now I am sure you will suffer me to say that I, at least, think it all very good, and you would think the worse of me, as a minister of the Church, if I did not. For if there are parts of the Church Catechism with which Mr. Spurgeon did not agree, and with which you do not agree, there are parts of it, at least, with regard to which we are one. I am sure that everyone in this Tabernacle would repeat, if it were necessary, the answer to the question, 'What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief?' 'First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world; secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind; thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God.'" There are many things in which I agree with you as well as in that. I agree with you in admiration for a Pastor from whose eloquent lips thrilling and heartfelt words shall be heard in this life no more. I agree with you in sympathy as to the perplexity which you must feel in finding someone to be, at any rate at once, all to you that he has been to you. He was no doubt the greatest preacher of this century. In the pulpit at St. Paul's last Sunday there was testimony to that. There is no one whom I can think of who could have held these thousands together Sunday after Sunday, and year after year, as he did. And as the rector of this parish I am here to testify that he was a benefit to every denomination, for he was the great foe to indifference. When the voices of other men would deepen apathy, his voice, like the voice of a trumpet, aroused men and compelled them to think. The gospel which he preached was that saying which is 'worthy of all acceptation,' and which all Christians accept, that 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'; and if I should not agree with the definition of election which you might give, I should at least be in accord with you in heartily believing that he whose earthly tabernacle lies before us is one of the elect.
"Who had a heart of compassion amongst men if such a heart did not beat in the breast of your Pastor? That heart which beats no more was ever warm with compassion. No one could speak to him, no one could hear the tender thrill of his voice, without at once recognizing the compassion in his heart. Let the Almshouses, which he founded; let the Orphanages, where the fatherless found shelter regardless of the creed of their parents, testify for many a long year to the greatness of the compassion which beat in that great heart of his.
"Here, perhaps, it will not be ungrateful to you if I refer to another of his letters, the first one which I ever received from him. I was reminded of it just now when I entered this assembly by the sound of the bell. It was out of that bell, not a musical sound I admit, that our intercourse arose. This was the letter Mr. Spurgeon wrote to me. The year is not put down, but 'July 6' is the date upon it. It was a particularly hot and sultry July.
"'Nightingale Lane.
"'Dear Sir,—I beg to call your attention to the great disturbance caused by the ringing of the bells at St. Gabriel's, while the congregation at the Tabernacle is engaged in prayer. I reminded your predecessor that no right of bell-ringing belongs to any but a parish church, and informed him that I really must appeal to the law to stop the needless nuisance.
I am sure it is far from me to wish to interfere with the peculiarities of my neighbours, but when we are disturbed by the clanging of a loud bell I am obliged to complain. The hours at which we are at worship are after 6.30 on Sunday, from 7 to 8.30 on Monday, and 7 on Thursday. Wishing to be on good terms with all in the parish, I trust you will not allow the bell-ringers to disturb us further, and will substitute a few strokes for the many which are now given.'" I have no copy of my answer, but I think I could remember its effect tolerably well. It was, that I did not know what the law might order, but I was quite sure of what the gospel required. It required that my neighbours should not be unnecessarily troubled, and I would give orders at once that the bell-ringing should be confined to a few strokes, and that I had no doubt that the bell ringer would be very much obliged to Mr. Spurgeon for mitigating his labours in that extremely hot weather. He wrote me at once.
"'Dear Sir,—I am exceedingly obliged by your prompt and Christian reply. I felt it needful to make my protest against the bell-ringing somewhat strong, that I might not appear to be asking a favour merely, but claiming a right not to be disturbed. Otherwise the lapse of years gives right to a custom against which no protest is entered. This, and no unfriendliness to you, prompted what you considered to be a threat. I can only hope that future correspondence may be, on my part, on a more pleasant subject, and, on your part, may be in the same generous tone.'" I had occasion to write to him afterwards, but I find that his replies are not all in my possession. They have been carried off by other people. One, I know, is in the possession of a bishop, and another in the hands of an archdeacon, so that I am afraid I shall never be able to get my correspondence again. But I afterwards referred to this little incident of bell-ringing, and he wrote to me and said:—"'I have been very ill since I returned, but I am now better and ready for work. I am so glad the bell-ringing led to your hearty letter. God bless you.'" Now, I ask you, was not that a man worth knowing? Does not that show his kindness of heart? He was perfectly right to protect his congregation from disturbance, but, mark his generosity. Directly he saw that I was ready to look at the matter in a reasonable way, his heart overflowed with kindness. When the Secretary of the Hospital Sunday Fund proposed that we should have a joint meeting to promote the cause of hospitals, I want you again to mark your late Pastor's considerate kindness. He at once supposed that I should not tike to come to the Tabernacle, and so he said to the secretary:
"'I do not think the Rector would like to come to me, but I should be very glad to come to him, if he will invite me.'" So I wrote at once and invited him to have dinner with me beforehand on the evening of the meeting. He answered:—"'Right joyfully would I have accepted your hospitality, but my own meeting does not close till 8.30, and it is a very special one. Its speciality I was not aware of till this week. I hope I may come and see you at some other time, and take a cup of tea with you. This time I must decline. This is unavoidable, and not of my choice. It would give me great pleasure to have an hour with you at the Rectory or here.'" There were other letters, but I will only refer to one more, as it relates to an important movement, and it aptly illustrates his humility of mind. Some of you may remember that I was appointed by the Bishop as Secretary to a movement for having some lectures on Socialism at the Lambeth Baths. I wrote to Mr. Spurgeon, seeking his co-operation. I asked him, at any rate, if he would put up some bills at the Tabernacle, and he wrote at once—"Send the bills to the Tabernacle for our lobbies; they shall be put up there. I find notices to be given out at divine service are not congruous, and in making a discriminating choice I might give offence; so I give out only our own needful ones, and wish to dispense even with these. I rely upon the lecturers not to give way to the Socialistic idea, for this means the utter subversion of society. Faith in the eternal verities will come through the force of truth, by the Holy Spirit, and not through any yielding to popular remonstrances. The subject will need careful handling. I feel refreshed, but I have stern work before me. What should I do without my Divine Helper?'"Our Lord says we are to know the elect by their fruits, and Mr. Spurgeon put on all those Christian virtues and excellencies which are indications of the elect in an eminent degree. It was not that he wore them for a short time, but that he wore them for a long time. When he was at Menton, I had occasion to write to him. Having an impression that he was of the same age as myself, I put the question to him, and at the bottom of the postcard, which came in reply, he wrote these words—'Yes, fifty-seven is my number until June 19, 1892. May you make it seventy-seven at least.'" His preaching, unlike the preaching of many others, was eminently illustrated by his practice. You will remember not only the lessons of his words, but the lessons of his life. I trust that I shall remember them also. I have that hoary head which is referred to in the text of one of Mr. Spurgeon's first sermons; and, therefore, I hope that my fellow ministers who are near me will pardon me if I say, that, great as may be the difference between ministers of one denomination and another, there is one thing which belongs to us all, which Mr. Spurgeon has helped to teach me, and which, I trust, I shall never forget, that over all that belongs to us, over our orthodoxy, over our eloquence, and over our energy, we must put on that one cloak or dress to which the apostle referred, if we too are to be considered amongst the elect—namely, that charity which the apostle calls, 'the bond of perfectness.'"
Colonel Griffin, President of the Baptist Union, said:—"We are gathered here to-night under the shadow of a great sorrow. A prince and a great man has been called from our midst, and we sorrow most of all that we shall see his face no more. It is now at least twenty-five years since I first entered this great Tabernacle a stranger in London. I came here in common with thousands of strangers who visit this great metropolis. My first and great desire upon the first Sunday of my stay was to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Little did I then think that I should ever get to enjoy anything like intimacy with the great man who occupied this platform. But, in the providence of God, my stay was prolonged, we became acquainted, we became fast friends, and although my intimacy with Mr. Spurgeon has not been that which many have enjoyed, I learnt to love him and to revere his memory. He has gone from us, gone to his eternal rest, but his works shall long follow him.
"It was his delight to preach Christ Jesus and him crucified. He had but one text, but what a marvellous text it was, from which over 3,000 separate sermons could be preached, which have been scattered far and wide throughout the length and breadth of the world. One text, but it was the text for which the world was longing, 'Christ, the Saviour of the world'; Christ and his cross was his song here on earth, and to-night he is rejoicing with Moses and the Lamb above. One text he had, rather let us say one Book, and from that Book he preached his thousands of sermons. One Book, in which he believed most fully, and which he accepted in all its entirety. In that Book he found first the promise of a Saviour to redeem; then the prophecy regarding that Christ; then the realization of the prophecies by Christ on earth;his grand mission, his glorious work: his sufferings and his death. This was where Mr. Spurgeon found his power; it was in telling the 'Old, old story of Jesus and his love' that he won the multitudes. Those who knew him best, and enjoyed close intimacy with him, can rejoice that they were ever privileged thus to hold communion with an 'honest man, the noblest work of God.'" There were some that differed from Mr. Spurgeon. He and I, although occupying different positions, and sometimes apparently antagonistic, have never had an unfriendly word, nor has he ever breathed aught else than a spirit of Christian love and fervent charity. It is my privilege to stand here, not for my own worth or individual merit, but because of my official position representing the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. Mr. Spurgeon thought fit to sever his relations with that Union. We honoured him for his sincerity of purpose, although we were sorry he saw it wise to withdraw from us. Amongst the members of that Union today, throughout the length and breadth of this country, there is but one common thought, one common feeling of intense love, and earnest respect for him who was a prince in Israel.
"He is not dead; no, brothers, he still lives! There is no death to such as he!
'The stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore; And bright in heaven's jewelled crown They shine for evermore.'
Mr. Spurgeon has left us, but we rejoice that his spirit still lives. Even if you were to close this mighty Tabernacle, to dissolve the College, to stop the ingathering of the orphans, to blot out the thousands of sermons that have been scattered far and wide, Mr. Spurgeon would still live, and his influence would still be felt throughout this great universe. Generation after generation, the tradition will be handed down of him who laboured here, and whom God enabled to be a minister of his eternal truth.
"We mourn, and yet we mourn not as those who are without hope. The God whom Mr. Spurgeon served is still 'God over all, blessed for ever.' We will trust him; and while he, who was our leader, has gone before, we will seek to follow in his footsteps, when God shall call us to our eternal rest, that we may be meet for that inheritance which is above. My heart is full; there is much that I could say, but time will not permit. Oh, may all in this mighty assembly, with those who have preceded us today in the other services, and the more than fifty thousand who passed by this bier yesterday, remember, as we think of him who has gone, that his power and strength came from the God and the living Saviour, whom he so faithfully represented! May we be led to imitate the example of him, who, through faith and patience, now inherits the promises; and who, while we are meeting here, is rejoicing in the fulness of that light, which comes from the throne of glory on high!"
Rev. A. G. Barley, of Paris, said: "As one of the most humble and unknown of the many workers whom our beloved President enabled to take their place in the Lord's vineyard, I come to speak on behalf of the Baptists of France. Until yesterday I fully expected that my honoured colleague, M. Saillens, would have performed this sad duty. He was, however, yesterday stricken by evident signs of the dread epidemic, and I have therefore to stand in his place and to speak in his name. Being an Englishman, I felt that I should not be able, in my own words, to express the feelings of French Christians, and therefore I asked that a French message might be written for me to read. The "address is as follows:—"We, the pastors, evangelists, and members of the French Baptist Churches, desire to bring our homage, and the tribute of our respectful love, to the memory of the great man whose loss is mourned today.
"It seems to us appropriate that our voices, though few, should be heard at this sorrowful hour. It was to our country that Mr. Spurgeon came for many successive years, to seek rest and recuperation; it was on French soil that his last days were spent; his glorious soul has ascended to heaven from France. He loved our clear sky, our blue sea, our fragrant flowers—he loved our people.
"There are other and higher reasons for which we feel a right to claim Spurgeon as partly our own. This great Puritan of the nineteenth century bore a strong resemblance to the greatest Frenchman who ever lived—John Calvin.
"The same attachment to the divine revelation; the same strong, firm faith in the sovereignty of the all-wise God; the same disdain for mere human theories, traditions, and fashions; the same rock-like fidelity to the truth, however difficult to believe, however hard to practise—these characteristics will make Calvin and Spurgeon appear before the eyes of posterity as men of the same mental and spiritual mould. Men such as these, moreover, are too great to be monopolized by any single church or nation; they are possessed, in their own degree, of the great cosmopolitan spirit of Christ himself, who, though a Jew by natural birth, is the elder brother of us all.
"The influence of Spurgeon upon modern Christianity in France, though indirect, has been great. Only once was he able to comply with our oft-repeated requests to preach in Paris; the manifold demand of his ministry and his physical weakness compelled him to hurry through our country, in every city of which he might have had large and eager audiences. But though he did not speak, his voice was heard through the printed sermons, many of which were translated and have been a means of salvation, of comfort, and of joy to thousands of souls. Some of us remember how, when we were still young, the marvellous report of God's blessing upon the youthful English preacher made a great impression upon us. The crumbs which fell from your richly-spread table were eagerly sought by isolated Christians, who, thirty years ago, lived under the persecuting hand of the Empire, when no dissenting place of worship was allowed to be opened; when meetings of more than twenty persons were prohibited; when the Baptist pastor of Paris was even forbidden to read the Bible in private houses with his friends. Who can tell how much, in those trying times, Spurgeon's sermons helped to maintain the faith, the patience and the courage of God's scattered people in France?
"The recent attitude taken by Mr. Spurgeon with regard to the New Theology has been a wonderful encouragement to those French Protestants, who still hold the faith for which their fathers suffered. The struggle between Faith and Reason, between the Bible and 'Science falsely so-called,' is raging in France even more than in England. The controversy has been long enough to show us where the new doctrines will surely lead their followers. How thankful therefore, felt the few witnesses of the Truth among us, when Spurgeon's voice was heard—so clear, so uncompromising, so full of assurance! That doctrine must be true which is preached by a man on whose altar the heavenly fire has so often and so unmistakably descended.
"One of the last productions of Mr. Spurgeon's indefatigable pen (now laid aside for ever), viz., The Greatest Fight in the World, has created a profound interest in our French Protestant Churches. One of our religious periodicals has characterized it as 'Spurgeon's Swan Song.' More of his works will, we trust, be made accessible to our people, and thus for France, as for England and for the whole world, it will be true, for generations to come, yea even as long as his dust shall await the resurrection call, that he 'being dead, yet speaketh.'" We mourn with you, dear English brethren, and yet we would not grudge to our departed brother the rest which he now enjoys. His life has been wholly to the glory of God—must we not believe also, however difficult it may be to do so, that the glory of God is magnified in his death?
"Our Saviour lives still. The cause which Spurgeon defended is imperishable. The Lord never took up an Elijah to heaven, without leaving an Elisha behind, on whose shoulders fell the mantle of the departed. May we all take courage, and, receiving a new baptism of the Spirit, take up, with a strong grip, the weapons which these valiant hands have for ever laid aside, in order to receive the crown of victory!
"On behalf of the Baptist Churches of France, "R. Saillens."
Mr. C. Russell Hurditch, the last speaker of the evening, took the two texts Mr. Spurgeon heard the day in which he found rest in Christ, and grouped all his life around them. His preaching to unconverted men was ever "Look unto Me," and his teaching for the people of God was constantly of the privileges and power which became ours when Accepted in the Beloved."
Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D., announced the hymn, "Give me the wings of faith to rise," which being sung, the meeting closed with the Benediction.