Chapter 99: A Holiday In The North
Chapter 99.
A Holiday In The North In Scotland—Alarming Adventure—Spurgeon's Tutor—Reminiscences—Canada—Baptist Union at Leeds—Dr. Moffat—The Shoreditch Tabernacle—"Silver Wedding" Testimonial—The Alms-houses—Menton—The Dutchman—Return to the Tabernacle—Conference—Neal Dow—Retirement of Mr. Rogers—Girls' Orphanage—At Glasgow—The Established Church-Death of Mrs. Hillyard—Letters.
The overworked pastor again arranged to spend a few days with his friend Mr. Duncan, of Benmore, after Midsummer; but, on account of a return of gout and the tempestuous weather, the trip had to be postponed. He preached at the Tabernacle on Sunday, July 14, and set out for Scotland on the following morning. No sooner was it known that he was going northward than a large number of applications to preach, not only in Scotland, but on the road down, were received. He could stop for two hours and go on by the next train, and so on. As Spurgeon loved the sea, the chief attraction of the holiday in Scotland was Mr. Duncan's yacht, on board of which he was enabled to visit some of the Western Isles and Highlands. Having touched at Oban, Tobermory, and other places of attraction, he arrived in Rothesay Bay on July 27, and landed in order to take a drive in the Isle of Bute. The sail, so far, had been delightful, the boat having passed round a considerable part of the Isle of Arran; but at Bute an alarming accident occurred, to which reference will presently be made. A correspondent wrote:—
"There is a neat Baptist chapel at Adbeg, Rothesay, ever pleasant and ever popular with visitors. The Baptist chapel here is usually crowded in summer. Mr. Crabbe, one of Mr. Spurgeon's former students, officiates in the said chapel. With much acceptance Mr. Spurgeon worshipped there in the morning. The chapel was crowded, many failing to get admittance.
"Mr. Spurgeon preached in front of the Rothesay Academy in the evening. He stood upon the top of the porch of the mansion of Provost Orkney, and there preached to the assembled thousands, attracted by the fame of the preacher, from Luk 13:10-17. There were present at least 15,000. Behind us, in front of the Academy, there was a great crowd of most attentive listeners. Before us, onwards to the preacher, there was a dense mass of interested hearers. Towards our right hand, the side of the hill, on the summit of which towers the Rothesay Museum, was lined with hundreds on hundreds of hearers. The vast audience being thus seated on a natural amphitheatre, the preacher had full command of his hearers. These had come from all parts of Bute, from Largs, Millport, and Dunoon, not a few having crossed the Firth in yachts and small boats. The weather was delightful. The congregation began to assemble between three and four o'clock p.m., and before six every available seat on the sward was occupied, whilst those who arrived later had to content themselves with standing in the road leading up to the Academy." As regards the preacher's providential escape from a tragic death, the accounts in the papers said that the horses ran away; but it was a somewhat different version that I heard from Mr. Spurgeon himself in the study at Helensburgh House. It is customary with some Highland coachmen to allow horses to rush down steep hills at a headlong pace; but after one feat of the kind had been accomplished, Mr. Spurgeon asked that the English mode might be adopted. "Oh, we always go like that here," said the man; and, on coming to another steep incline, down they went at a rate the English preacher had never travelled at before, except in an express train. Then, because the harness broke and the driver lost all control over the horses, they presented the appearance of frightened runaways. Certain destruction was anticipated, and spectators were terrified; but when the horses reached the bottom—a precipice protected by a fence—they turned into another road which was an incline, and thus came to a standstill. They do not appear to have been stopped by anyone, as reported. When he returned from this tour he complained that even in the most remote parts friends found him out, so that the rest did not do so much for him as might otherwise have been the case. He enjoyed several fishing excursions, and gave an address on Fishing; and on this, I believe, The Daily News had a leading article. A correspondent gave further particulars of this visit to Scotland:—
"Mr. Spurgeon preached at Pollokshaws, near Glasgow, on the 1st of August, Long before the hour fixed for the beginning of the service the place of worship was besieged by crowds of people anxious to get admission, and as it was altogether impracticable to allow others than ticket-holders to pass into the place of meeting, thousands who would willingly have paid to get inside were turned away disappointed. An amusing incident is reported as having occurred at the gates, where a policeman or two and several stalwart office-bearers acted in the capacity of sentries and collected the passports. Mr. Spurgeon, having elbowed his way through the crowd as far as the gate, was asked to show and deliver his ticket; but not being a ticket-holder, the great preacher was peremptorily told to 'Cut his stick.' Happily some person who recognised the familiar face, greatly amused at the comical situation, nudged the policeman's elbow, and he immediately gave way. The crowds who had gone in the hope of getting admission without tickets, and were excluded, were addressed in the Greenbank Public Park by Mr. Spurgeon, jun. Though Mr. Spurgeon's fame as a preacher went before him like the light and radiancy of the bearded comet, his preaching at Rothesay, and we have no doubt at Pollokshaws, has exceeded expectation." At or about this time I heard him make some references to his old schoolmaster which were then quite new. The veteran tutor had been living within a short distance of Clapham unknown to his grateful scholar, and, like some others of his class, had lapsed into penury. He was, however, too independent to solicit aid from friends; but when Mr. Spurgeon knew the truth, he at once sent, I believe, twenty pounds for present relief. This schoolmaster, a most competent judge, entertained very decided opinions on his celebrated scholar's attainments. He volunteered to set those right who went about retailing the news that Spurgeon was "no scholar," the fact being that at an early age Spurgeon was one of the best scholars of the neighbourhood, and one who could have taken his degree at Cambridge without any difficulty. The venerable tutor was justly proud of his former charge; but he was far too staid and proper to submit to anything like a cross-examination on the part of the too inquisitive.
Tuesday, the 6th of August, was the day fixed for the reassembling of the students at the commencement of the session, when twenty-five new candidates were received, making a total for the year of a hundred. The grounds of Helensburgh House and those of Mr. Coventry not far away were opened for this occasion.
He appeared among his friends in a light summer coat, and with the exception of a cold appeared to be in excellent health. He was as genial as ever, and spoke freely on many subjects He said some rather severe things in regard to the sayings and doings of one of the bishops who had not long before been appointed. This dignitary had told another chaplain that "The Treasury of David" was the book on the Psalms. He was not at all conciliated by this compliment, but on the contrary he seemed to be all the more incensed, and remarked that the man said fair things of everybody, and then did what he could to oppose those whom he hated.
After this I saw little of him during the remainder of the summer, although several letters passed between us. He was hindered by illness on one or two Sabbaths from occupying his pulpit, but otherwise all went well, and he was able to attend the October meetings of the Baptist Union at Leeds, where the great speech he delivered, "Drive On," produced a marked sensation. In the meantime preparations were actively progressing for the celebration of the pastoral silver wedding in December. On Saturday, the 19th of October, I went to Clapham and found him alone in his study. He was in very good spirits; and although Saturday was still a day he reserved to himself, so far as outsiders were concerned, he appeared to be really glad to see a friend. He spoke of a new paper which had recently started in the evangelical cause, and referred to it in a desponding tone. There was nothing in it. He also alluded to a more popular organ which was well established, and while remarking that it was very cleverly conducted, he heartily wished it was more evangelical. He thought it did much mischief, while it had the opportunity of doing infinite good.
He also spoke of the furious things which had been said about his sermon on the Princess Alice disaster. One provincial journalist had the impertinence to say that Spurgeon's frequent ailments arose from excessive eating and drinking. One friend became so justly indignant that he consulted a lawyer and made the writer apologise; but even this hardly mended the matter, as the next issue of the journal contained insults equally gross.
He also spoke of the "silver wedding" services which were to come off in December. In showing me some of his books he picked out Withers's "Emblems," a small volume he had just bought as a bargain at £4 10s., and which was supposed to be worth twelve guineas. An invitation to visit the churches of Canada was destined to receive a reply similar to that sent to the United States:—
"Nightingale Lane, Clapham, "September 7, 1878.
"Beloved Brethren,—Your kind letter of July 20 must have been remarkably delayed, for I knew its contents long before its arrival. It is, however, very welcome to my heart, and comes at a time when I am needing some such brotherly word. I thank you heartily for the love which it breathes in every line, and I beg to assure you that my affection to the brethren in Canada is not less than theirs to me.
"I do not, however, feel that I could leave home and cross the Atlantic to accept your generous offer of hospitality. When I do leave the post of actual service I must seek absolute repose, and that I could not find in your country. I fully believe that you would be considerate of my weakness, but I cannot myself be considerate. When I see the eagerness of the people to hear, I must preach, and to refrain from doing so is a greater strain than to deliver one's soul. Hence, I could only come among you when I felt able to work hard; and that also is the time when I most desire to be at home. The work around me, which so largely depends upon my personal presence and oversight, grows every day, and I feel more and more the necessity of being upon the spot. I do not feel that I have my Master's permit to leave the post where He, in great condescension, has hitherto blessed me. I am none the less grateful to you, but all the more so. I beseech the Lord to return into your bosoms this your great spontaneous kindness. And though I may never see your faces in the flesh, may we meet before the eternal throne to unite in everlasting praise! Meanwhile, may your churches multiply in numbers and increase in grace. May you maintain the truth both in doctrine, ordinance, and life; and may the Spirit of the Lord rest upon you abundantly.
"I am feeling better just now, and I ask your prayers that I may, with you, glorify the Lord, both in service and suffering, until He come.—Yours very heartily, "C. H. Spurgeon."
During the autumn of this year Mr. Chown presided at a Conference at the Tabernacle, the subject of discussion being "The Duty of the Church Towards the Young." In the course of his address Mr. Spurgeon gave some reminiscences of his early days:—
"The first looking after the soul of the child belongs to the Christian parent, and there it should begin. I have in my own person to thank God that my father and mother thought their first business was the conversion of their children. Therefore I never went to a Sunday-school. I do not say whether that was good or not. My mother always stayed at home on Sunday evening and gathered us round the table, and we read passages of Scripture, and she spoke to each one of us in such a way that I seldom spent a Sunday evening without tears. She prayed with us, her arms around our necks, and laboured to bring us to Christ. She asked us if we could not pray. I remember I could not, though I felt a good deal. I never forgot father's words and mother's tears; and if all fathers and mothers did the same as mine did, maybe all the children would not be saved, but the exceptions would be very few. They are the persons who have the greatest influence over the children—especially the mothers; and if we can get them to be true and earnest matrons, if they live near to God, we shall have the young people surely enough." At the meeting of the Evangelists' Association it was stated that nearly one thousand one hundred services had been held during the year; and Mr. Spurgeon showed that the work done was a favourable contrast to sensational Revivalism. Thus he remarked: "A woman said to one of our brethren a little while ago, 'If what you preach is true, I am a lost woman.' He said, 'I am sure it is;' and she replied, 'I have been to the Revivalists and have been saved ten times, and it has never been any good; it has been of no use whatever.'" It was during the autumn of 1878 that J. B. Gough lectured first at the Tabernacle, to a full audience, after an absence from England of twenty years.
While the Baptist Union was holding its autumnal meetings at Leeds, Mr. Spurgeon preached in Oxford Place Wesleyan Chapel to an audience of three thousand persons, from the words, "But we preach Christ crucified." We find it remarked: "The hour fixed for commencing the service was three o'clock, hut, in spite of the heavy storms prevailing, crowds were hurrying to secure a seat before two o'clock had struck; and long before the preacher had ascended the pulpit every available space was occupied, and hundreds were unable to obtain admission at all. The announcement of Spurgeon's intention to preach not only created quite a flutter of anxiety within the town itself, but further evinced his continued popularity by attracting hundreds from many miles distant."
It was about this time that an Anglican newspaper gave out that, according to his own confession, Spurgeon preferred the Established Church to the Congregational Union. This seemed to be so startling that a friend asked for an explanation, and received this reply:—
"Nightingale Lane, Clapham, "October 26, 1878.
"Dear Sir,—I should be glad to know when and where I said anything of the kind. Under no conceivable circumstances could I be in the English Church. To the best of my knowledge and belief I never said anything which could be construed into the extract quoted. I have tried to remember, but the very thought is so new to my mind that I can recall nothing approximating to it. If such an expression were ever used by me, there was some connection to explain it. Please see into it. You may print this note.—Yours truly, "C. H. Spurgeon"
Though threatened from time to time with a return of his old complaint, the late autumn of 1878 was, on the whole, a happy time, on account of the progress of the work in general. I believe that the only time I ever saw the late Dr. Moffat at the Tabernacle was on October 25, when two coloured students of the Pastors' College—Messrs. T. L. Johnson and G. H. Richardson—with their wives, took leave of their friends before departure for Africa. The first had been born in slavery, and he was able to give vivid accounts of the state of Richmond on the night when the city was forsaken by the Confederate army and its inhabitants. The pastor warmly welcomed Dr. Moffat, whose work he had been familiar with in the days of childhood. The veteran missionary gave an address, remarking that better days were coming on for Africa, at the same time making touching allusion to the work of Livingstone. Spurgeon looked on such a scene with delight; and four days later came the equally gratifying event of the laying of the memorial-stone of Mr. Cuff's great tabernacle in Shoreditch. Amid so much that was encouraging, however, the pastor was laid aside by illness. He preached on Sunday, November 3, but was not heard again in the Tabernacle until December 22, when he intimated that, if able to stand, he should be present at the great bazaar which was to be opened that week on behalf of the "Silver Wedding" testimonial. Unhappily he was not able to be present; and he did not again occupy his pulpit until Easter Sunday, April 13, 1879.
Meanwhile the co-pastor opened the bazaar at the Tabernacle on behalf of the Testimonial Fund, on the last day of 1878, and though half-a-crown was charged for admission, there was a crowded attendance. Mr. James Spurgeon spoke of his brother's going off from Cambridge to London, to "the great Babylon," as the young preacher called it, shrinking from the prospect before him. though he recognised the Divine leading. Little did anyone think, however, of what the future had in store:—
"No one could have prophesied what our eyes now behold, and what we now know concerning a world-wide work. We can many of us remember the twenty-five years' growth—the growth of the College from the single student to one hundred, the growth of the Colportage and the Orphanage, the universal growth which God has given to the many works entrusted to my brother's hands. It is, I think, well that we should thus celebrate all this as we are now doing. My brother has declined to receive anything for himself, and we are therefore compelled to think of something which will be nearest and dearest to him; and we know full well that he will consider anything done to the almshouses as done to himself. Our good sisters there, although they contrive to be happy, have very little to live upon, and yet, small as the sum required for their maintenance is, it is a burden to the church; and we have to remember that in case of my brother's death it might not be so easy to raise the sum as it now is, hence our desire to raise the necessary amount for endowment purposes." The bazaar was so far a success that the gross takings amounted to £3,400, the donations to the Testimonial Fund being correspondingly liberal. At the annual church meeting the number of names on the roll of membership was 5,066, notwithstanding that over 250 had been told off to form a church at Peckham. The pastor himself was always pleased when such a battalion left the main army to carry on operations elsewhere. The invalided pastor was able to start for Menton on January 15; and he left a characteristic message to those who had been engaged with the bazaar:—
"It overcomes me to think how well, how earnestly, and how happily all was done. But now for a spiritual blessing which shall be still more wonderful. It is even more to be desired; let it be sought and laboured for. The evangelistic meetings during February, if followed up with universal zeal, will, by the blessing of God, bring a great revival and a large increase. Oh that it might come! I shall be far away, but my heart is with you always." On reaching Menton the invalid wrote:—
"By the tender kindness of God the journey hither was made without excessive fatigue, and now I trust that genial weather will bring with it rapid restoration. This place has participated in the severe weather which has swept over the Continent, so that I miss just now the bright sunshine to which I have been formerly accustomed; yet it is comparatively warm, and so far is beneficial to an invalid. Rest is the main thing, and rest I hope to find, that I may come back to you strengthened for sacred service."
Partly in consequence of the Testimonial Bazaar, Spurgeon and his work again attracted the notice of the daily papers. A lengthy and appreciative article appeared in The Daily News, in course of which particular reference was made to the almshouses, which were destined to receive £5,000 from the fund being raised:—
"The almshouses are situate in Station Street, off the New Kent Road, and afford shelter to seventeen old ladies. The elder of the colony is Miss Gay, who is now in her eighty-sixth year, and has for seventy-two years been a member of the congregation to the care of which Mr. Spurgeon succeeded. The lady whose home we had the honour of being received in is Miss Bonser—'spelt with an e,' as she observes, having apparently suffered much tribulation in the course of a long and otherwise happy life by a popular prejudice for spelling her name with an 'o.' Miss Bonser is seventy-five, and is as sprightly as if her years were twenty. She hops about her sitting-room much after the manner of a sparrow, and chirps pleasantly in describing her many blessings, a principal item being a dole of half-a-crown a week from funds bequeathed by a former member of the congregation. Miss Bonser has a good memory, which she regulates exclusively by reference to affairs connected with the church of which she is a member. She is a sort of animated Church Almanack; and, looking down the pages of her life, you will find, instead of the memoranda of the births and deaths of kings and queens, the dates when Dr. Rippon died, when Mr. So-and-so was deacon, and when Miss Something-else was baptised. The walls of her room are decorated with portraits of departed divines—Dr. Rippon, Dr. Adam Clarke, the Rev. James Smith, and others. In a place of honour is a charming engraving of Mrs. Fry, whose placid face and kind eyes have looked out from this framework on Miss Bonser for thirty-three years. 'I have heard her preach for three-quarters of an hour at a stretch,' Miss Bonser says, looking lovingly at the likeness, and evidently regarding the feat as wonderful in a woman. Over the almshouses runs a schoolroom. This is a public school connected with the Tabernacle, where an average of 240 boys and half as many girls receive a sound elementary education. The school is always full." The season at Menton was exceptionally wet. Hence, during the second week of February, Mr. Spurgeon wrote: "The damp and dull weather which has reached us even here has retarded my progress to health and strength, so that I remain a very feeble traveller. But I am greatly improved, and feel that my mind and spirits are the better for rest."
He remained in the sunny south, until Tuesday, April 8th, when he left for Paris; and, spending one night in that city, reached London on Thursday, April 10. Easter Sunday, the 13th of the month, was like the opening of a new era at the Tabernacle; and the joy of all was enhanced by the evident improvement which had taken place in the pastor's health. He remarked that he had resumed his nationality by contracting a bad cold; but otherwise the preacher was like a new man, compared with what he had been five months previously. The weather was also genial and springlike, in keeping with the occasion. The people were thanked for having so well sustained the various works. As regarded himself, Mr. Spurgeon said that, having been so long silent, he felt somewhat rusty; but being a key that had so often been in the lock, he hoped he might still fit it, and find something to say. The service was one of thanksgiving and praise, the sermon being founded on Psa 145:7 : "They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness," etc.
Among the reminiscences of Menton in 1879 some pleasant things might be mentioned in connection with a genial Dutchman who could speak no language save his own, but who every morning greeted Mr. Spurgeon with a cordial shake of the hand and the remark, "We're bruderes." Indeed, the two became quite friendly, and communicated through an interpreter. The oddest thing about this friendship was that the only available interpreter who volunteered his services was a Roman Catholic friend, who confessed that he did not understand much about ecclesiastical terms. The Dutchman was a Mennonite Baptist, who one day asked another gentleman at the hotel if he had ever heard of C. H. Spurgeon of England. "That's he sitting on the sofa," was the reply, and so the friendship commenced. On Thursday in Easter week Spurgeon gave one of his most striking discourses on Hos 14:6 : "His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon." All the illustrations seemed to come fresh from the olive-groves of Menton.
Some very hopeful notes were this year struck at the Conference which opened on May 5, the Monday evening meeting being held at Trinity Chapel, John Street, Edgware Road. The members were pleased because their President seemed to appear before them in new strength and health. Their enthusiasm rose to a higher pitch on the next morning at the College, when the President spoke to them for an hour and a half, giving a good word to the discouraged, while he strove to stimulate all to aim high and succeed. The discussions of Wednesday, the 7th, were on ministerial qualifications and the doctrine of future punishment, which Mr. Spurgeon said was not to be rejected because it was awful. Mr. T. A. Denny presided at the supper in the evening, when the collection amounted to £2,020. What was called the College Testimonial was presented by Professor Gracey on the following morning, and consisted of a sum of £414. According to my own notes, Mr. Spurgeon's remarks on accepting this gift were about as follow:—
"I do not think I could make a fine speech if I were to try, and there are times when fine speaking shows the fool. I am glad to receive the money, because five thousand pounds of this and the coming testimonial will go to the almshouses, and the rest to the other works. I feel a pleasure in receiving, and more in giving away. I have received five pounds from a friend towards paying my expenses to Menton; but, as they are already paid, I have given it to a young brother who needed it more on account of illness. I accept the money, and shall use it in the way which yields me most pleasure. I hope to live to God as long as I live, and to use the money in the same spirit as friends manifest in giving it. I used to have plenty of enemies; but if they are not dead, they are much quieter than they used to be. Lately when ill one of the first notes I received was from the bishop of the diocese; Dean Howson also sent me a book to Menton. I also received a kind message from Archdeacon Law, and another in a similar strain from another very High Churchman—a Ritualist. I think it strange that I should be treated so kindly by people of opposite views, and so different from my own. My heart always sinks when people praise me, and rises correspondingly when they abuse me. If there is any virtue in connection with the College I disown it, except in association with the tutors, the church, and the deacons."
Some sensation was caused by an article which appeared in an American paper, in which it was thought that our great preacher was charged with intemperance. The offending writer sent this letter to an English newspaper:—
"Sir,—In your issue of the 31st January you say, 'Neal Dow has charged the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon with intemperance, saying that he goes to the South of France every year because of the gout, which is due to his intemperate habits.' You have been led into an error. It is not true that I have charged Mr. Spurgeon with intemperance or with any other habit.
"In the New York Daily Witness of December 4, 1878, was a long article of mine on Christian charity, in which I said, 'Here is a case calling loudly not to be judged uncharitably.' Then I spoke of a famous London preacher who freely drank beer, brandy, and sherry. And I said that one morning at a gentleman's house, where he led the family devotions, after the prayer was over, before rising from his knees he struck a match and lighted his cigar. I mentioned no name.
"The American press caught it up, and sent it flying all over the country, headed, 'Neal Dow on Spurgeon.' It was an impertinence to do so. Why not say, 'Neal Dow on Dean Stanley, or Canon Farrar, or Newman Hall?' No one has any warrant from me to say that I had Mr. Spurgeon in mind when I wrote that article.—Respectfully,
"Neal Dow.
"Portland, Maine, U.S.A., 17th February." On the following day the same paper commented on this letter:—
"....The case was that of a 'famous London preacher' who freely drank beer, brandy, and sherry, and who one morning, when leading family devotions at a gentleman's house, struck a match and lighted his cigar before rising from his knees on the conclusion of prayer. We have a serious doubt whether there is any vestige of truth in the latter part of this story. A minister may drink beer or brandy or wine and be none the worse for it; but the cigar incident is utterly improbable. One hears a good deal of talk about the freedom of American manners; but such a thing would scarcely be possible in good society there, and is still less likely to have taken place in any religious home to which 'a famous London preacher' was admitted. But with the truth of the story, or with the question as to its illustrative value in a paper on Christian charity, we need have nothing to do. Our difference is with Mr. Dow and his mode of controversy; and we say that no man, however pure his motive, has a right to make a statement of this kind in such a vague way as to permit of its being applied to this, that, or the other clergyman who may be identified as a 'famous London preacher.'" At this time, on attaining the age of eighty years, the venerable George Rogers, Principal of the College, retired from active service, and was succeeded by Professor Gracey. The latter was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1841, and as a youth made strenuous and successful efforts to secure for himself a university education. He first met with Spurgeon at Glasgow, and soon after became connected with the Pastors' College as assistant in the junior classics. Soon after he succeeded Mr. James Cubitt as classical tutor. Professor Gracey died February 9, 1893, and his remains lie near the grave of Mr. Spurgeon in Norwood Cemetery. The great event of the spring of 1879 was the presentation of the Silver Wedding Testimonial on May 20. The programme was a very full one. On Sunday, the 18th, special sermons were preached; on Monday the poorer members of the church were gathered together; and on the following evening a tea preceded the crowded meeting at which the testimonial was presented. At this meeting interesting addresses were given by Mr. B. W. Carr, Dr, Stanford, and Mr. William Olney. The amount of the testimonial was £6,233; and, as the pastor refused to take any of this for himself, a study clock with ornaments was given, to be kept as a memento of the occasion. After £5,000 for the almshouses was deducted, about £1,200 remained for other objects. The reason that the receiver of this testimonial would reserve nothing for himself was because it was an expression of gratitude to God. Two hundred pounds went to Mrs. Spurgeon for poor ministers, and £50 went to keep company with a like amount which Mrs. Hillyard had sent on behalf of the proposed Orphanage for Girls. Reference was then made to the common report, "Spurgeon makes a very good thing of it." He acknowledged that that was true in regard to his service for God:—
"When I gave myself up to Him at first to be His minister I never reckoned that He would give anything except raiment to put on and bread to eat. I recollect when my income was forty-five pounds a year. Well, I do not know, but I think I had more money to spare then than I have got now. I had not many things to drag at me then; I never wanted anything. When I came to London I desired to keep up the feeling that I was to serve God altogether, and give myself and all that I should ever get entirely to Him, and just be a gentleman-commoner upon the bounty of God, whose livery would always be found him, whose bread would be given him, and whose water would be sure. So I have lived. I get sometimes requests for loans of hundreds of pounds, under the supposition that I am a very rich man. I never was a rich man, and never shall be; and yet I am the richest man in England, if you can make that out, because there is nothing that I want on earth but I have it. I have not any wishes which are not gratified and satisfied, except that I always want to be doing more for Jesus Christ, if possible." On June 9 he once more met the colporteurs, and showed, by the address he gave them, the keen interest he continued to feel in their service. On the occasion of the celebration of his forty-fifth birthday, on June 19, both Mr. Macgregor (Rob Roy) and Sir Charles Reed gave addresses, and a number of additional subscriptions for the girls' houses were announced. In a letter written about this time the President referred to this enterprise:—"It seems to me that the proposal only needs to be made known to be taken up by benevolent individuals. The position of the land which I have purchased is exceedingly advantageous, and it was necessary to purchase it at once, as it was put up to auction. I have not before ventured to make a purchase without having the money in hand, and should not now have done so if necessity had not been laid upon me. I have now the promise of money for four houses; but this, of course, is not available for the purchase of the land, and as I cannot very well hang the houses down by a chain from the sky, the first necessity is to buy the soil on which to place them." When this appeal was made the times were unfavourable, however. The summer of 1879 was remarkable for its scant sunshine and stormy skies; while, in addition to all, there were political troubles at home and abroad. On July 13 a discourse was given at the Tabernacle on the situation, when his opinion seemed to be that unless sin were repented of, the judgment of God might fall upon the nation.
It was at this time that he sent forth his little book on Eccentric Preachers. At Michaelmas farewell was taken of Mr. Thomas Spurgeon at the Tabernacle, on the occasion of his starting off for a second tour in the Australasian colonies; but more important was the inauguration of the Girls' Orphanage on October 1. It was decided that the houses should be larger than the boys', and that the girls should receive a thorough domestic training, and not a mere institutional one. The President gave a lecture on "Hymns and Hymn-Writers." The autumnal meetings of the Baptist Union were held at Glasgow in October, and Mr. Spurgeon preached on the afternoon of the 8th in St. Andrew's Hall, the assembly numbering five thousand persons. The text was Num 14:11 : "How long will it be ere they believe me?" The collection on behalf of the Girls' Orphanage amounted to £273. A Glasgow newspaper gave pen-and-ink portraits of several of the Baptist leaders, and thus referred to our great preacher:—
"Mr. Spurgeon loves the great city which transformed the boy-preacher of the Cambridge Fens into the most widely-renowned pulpit orator of the Anglo-Saxon world; but he cannot stand the London fogs. He says they are meat and drink to him and poison too; and so, especially of late years, he has run away from them as much as possible. If the Glasgow session of the Baptist Union had been fixed for a later date he would not have been able to come; but the managers of the meeting have been fortunate enough to secure him just before his departure for that early winter sojourn at Menton which gives him at once a much-needed rest and deliverance from the fogs that hang so heavy over the English Babylon in November. Though he is himself in the habit of declaring that he cannot lecture, all who have heard him give an address at the Autumnal Congress in past years will probably regret that he is not going to do this, instead of preaching, at Glasgow. From his first sermon in Edinburgh, when the modern Athenians looked askance at the strange phenomenon, down to the present time, when criticism is dumb in his presence, we have often heard him preach; but the most impressive utterance that ever fell from his lips, in our opinion, was the platform address he delivered at the Plymouth Congress in 1875; and next to it we should be inclined to rank the speech he gave in the Free Trade Hall during the Manchester meetings of 1872. For spiritual power they were quite equal to any sermon, while they possessed certain attractive features—a peculiar grace in literary form, a strong personal interest, and a richness of humour—that are not usually found in sermons, not even in those of Mr. Spurgeon. However, we are thankful to accept what he desires to give; and the wide prevalence of this feeling is attested by the fact that the tickets admitting to the sermon were exhausted in a few hours, and have not been procurable for days past either for love or money. Mr. Spurgeon is to be the guest, while in this city, of Provost Wilson, of Govan, but his stay will be brief. We regret to learn that of late his health has been again giving way. Many of his friends would not be sorry to hear that he had listened to the Baptists of Victoria, who are once more urging him to pay Australia a visit. The brethren at the Antipodes have heard—what is, we fear, too true—that a mere three months' rest is not likely to make any permanent improvement in Mr. Spurgeon's health; so they beg him to take a long sea-voyage—good advice, if the Victorians will promise-not to undo the beneficial effects of the voyage by working Mr. Spurgeon too hard when they get him to their side of the globe. On this head we confess we are somewhat sceptical. It is a comforting thing to hear that Mr. Spurgeon's grandfather, the fine old Independent minister with whom he was brought up, used to be a martyr to the gout in middle life, but by-and-by he got over the malady and lived to the great age of ninety. How many will unite in the prayer that this experience may be repeated in the life-story of the grandson!"
Spurgeon had often been accused of defaming the Established Church; but what he said was as often as otherwise unfairly quoted. The present Dr. George Duncan, of Hornsey, made inquiry concerning some alleged extreme statement, and received the following reply:—
"Nightingale Lane, Balham, Surrey, "August 2, 1879.
"Dear Mr. Duncan,—I have so often answered the statement which Mr. H. B. Reed quotes, that I would now just let it stand, and let these Defence agents slander me at their pleasure. The words are wrenched from their connection. They were, originally, rather a compliment to the Church than not. I remarked (some eighteen or more years ago) that our difficulties as to disestablishment lay in the very goodness of the Church, and that I preferred, when I must fight, to fight with a bad man; and therefore, so far as this disestablishment battle is concerned, I could wish, etc. Tell Mr. Reed that he must be very hard up for charges if he goes so far back; that if he pleases I will say a few strong things for him to quote which will be true; and that his cause must be in extremis when it needs this garbled quotation to defend it. I wish his Church and himself would grow better and better, and abandon all erroneous doctrines and erroneous quotations. If you will inform him that I do not entertain the sentiment set forth in the quotation as it stands by itself, and that I never did entertain such a sentiment, I shall have confidence in him as an English gentleman that he will not go on imputing to me a sentiment which I heartily repudiate. If, however, he quotes me thus again I shall regard it as an illustration of that ecclesiastical honesty which enables men to deny baptismal regeneration and yet teach children the Church Catechism.—Yours ever heartily, "C. H. Spurgeon."
During the memorable wet summer of 1879 he wrote a note of sympathy to Mr. James Toller of Waterbeach:—
"Nightingale Lane, Balham, Surrey, "September 23, 1879.
"Dear Friend,—I am deeply grieved that this year should be such a loss to you, but I am yet glad that your faith keeps its hold and that your spirits do not sink. Bless the Lord when He takes as well as when He gives.
"As to the Orphanage, our loss is nothing to yours, but if all our helpers were farmers where should we be? I trust the Lord will give you a double crop next year, and, above all, fill your soul with joy in His own self.—Yours very heartily, "C. H. Spurgeon.
"P.S.—I hope to be preaching each Sabbath till November, when I shall go away awhile." A few days later he wrote again:—
"Nightingale Lane, Balham, Surrey, "October 1, 1879.
"My Dear Mr. Toller,—I am quite unable to go out this weather, and I am soon going abroad to escape it. I am sorry that I have to go to Glasgow, but beyond that I cannot hope to do more.
"I persuaded my son Thomas to take the anniversary, and then we had a note to say it would not come off. He leaves for Australia to-morrow. There is, therefore, no sou to send you, for Charles was with you last year, and having newly settled at Greenwich he cannot often leave his place. I am sorry that there has been a disappointment, but I trust another year I may be up to the mark.
"I am very grateful for your handsome present to the Orphanage. Just like you.—Yours truly, "C. H. Spurgeon." Being an open-air preacher himself, Spurgeon seemed to delight in giving advice to members of that fraternity. A large body of them assembled at the Tabernacle on October 27, when some good things were spoken, but only the following can be quoted:—
"I am consulted about so many things that it is the burden of my life. Sometimes I try to imitate the Delphic Oracle, and give an answer that may be taken two ways. A man wrote to me lately that his master objected to his preaching, and asked me whether he should go on with it, and I wrote him this reply: 'Dear Brother,—If the Lord has opened your mouth the devil cannot shut it; but if the Lord has not opened your mouth, may the devil shut it.' This person said he felt encouraged by the answer. I only hope that my reading of the oracle was the correct one." On Sunday evening, November 9, he took leave of his people, and on the following morning started for Menton; but after his arrival there he was confined to his bed for a time by illness. At the beginning of the New Year, 1880, better news came to hand. The weather was dry and summer-like in loveliness. On January 10 he wrote to me: "I am gathering strength. We have had thirty-live days of fine weather without a break. This is reviving. I hope to set out for home the first week in February; but pray clear your tight little island of frosts and fogs, and of the Jingoes." It was during this stay at Menton, at the Hotel de la Paix, that he preached to fourteen persons from Jas 5:2. Before he reached home, Mrs. Hillyard, the founder of the Orphanage, passed away, her last words being, "My boys! my boys!" One of the principal evangelists associated with, the Pastors' College, Mr. A. J. Clarke, had become invalided, and his place was taken by Mr. Fullerton. Several friends passed away to the silent land during the year, and among them James Grant, ex-editor of The Morning Advertiser. The departure of such early supporters may have served to remind the preacher how he had outgrown the need of such help as they accorded him. His usefulness was said to be greater outside of the Tabernacle than within; for, including the readers of the sermons, Spurgeon's congregation was thought to be not less than a million persons. It was also during the year 1879 that the present Dr. J. A. Spurgeon paid a visit to Canada and the United States.
While in France Mr. Spurgeon wrote this letter to his people:—
"Menton, Christmas Day.
"Dear Brethren,—I am now much better. The weather is so charming that it makes me gather strength, and it takes the rheumatism out of me. I believe that I shall rapidly recover, and I am full of gratitude to God that it is so. I have had a sharp turn of affliction; but it has been comparatively short because of the sunny clime and the lovely weather. Had I been with you in the frost and fog I should not have left my bed for an hour. I am sorry that I must be longer away from the people of my love, but it is evident that so it must be. May those who occupy my place be divinely instructed and blessed. My heart's desire and prayer is that the special services may be the best you have ever held. There must be a general effort if the noon prayer-meeting is to succeed, but it goes to be done. Mr. Jackson Wray wrote to tell me of your great prayer-meeting and collection. I had heard of it from others, but the repetition was still pleasing to me. Surely I have the best of people to deal so lovingly with their poor cripple of a minister. God bless you all! I wish you most earnestly a happy New Year. The Lord be with you all.—Yours most lovingly, "C. H. Spurgeon." In the week following he wrote again:—
"My Beloved Friends,—Now that our special services are beginning, I entreat you to labour as one man to make them a success. It is the Lord's work to send the blessing; but, as a rule, He begins to work upon sinners by first of all arousing His own people. We believe in grace, and in grace alone; but we know by experience that true revival is not a gourd which springs up on a sudden while men sleep; but, like the angel of Bethlehem, it visits those who keep watch over their flocks by night. Grace to us is as new wine, refreshing and inspiring, and not as a soporific potion, creating the slumber of inaction. Messrs. Smith and Fullerton, who conduct the services, have proved their fitness for the position by their success in other congregations. If the pleasure of the Lord does not prosper in their hands among us, it will be our fault and not theirs. What is wanted is, first, much prayer. In this all the Lord's people can join. Attend the noon prayer-meetings, if possible, and, if not, pray all the same. Without the Holy Spirit we are nothing, and prayer alone can win His aid. The next practical step is to make the meetings known.... If you cannot preach the Gospel, you may yet win a soul by letting it be known that the Gospel is preached. The third needful work is to bring in the people. Persuade friends and neighbours to attend; canvass a district; visit from house to house with invitations. 'Compel them to come in,' and, when this is done, give a personal word. Speak for Jesus, if it be with faltering lips, both before and after the addresses of the preachers. Good sermons need following up with personal entreaties. God often blesses feeble efforts; indeed, He suffers no true endeavour to fall to the ground. How I wish I could persuade all the church members to rally to the holy war! God knoweth how much I wish I could be with you myself. My infirmities detain me from the field of sacred action; but my heart watches you. As ye have served the Lord in my presence, so do I pray you much more in my absence, that, if possible, my lack of service may be made up by your overplus of labour. You have not only your own work to do, but mine also. Be pastors to the lambs and to the wandering sheep. If you cannot fill the pulpit, yet tell out the same old, old story which is the one sole message with which it has for many years resounded. To your beloved deacons and elders, and to you all, I send my fervent Christian love, beseeching you all—altogether—with all your strength, to unite in the service of love.—Yours most heartily, "C. H. Spurgeon."
Evangelistic services were held at the Tabernacle during January, 1880; and then, at length, on Sunday, February 15, the pastor again appeared among his people after an absence of three months, the sermon being founded on Psa 68:20-21 : "He that is our God," etc All were thanked for carrying on the work so well during the winter. "I feel sure that I have returned greatly refreshed, and I hope to have a long spell of happy, loving, and useful service among you," said Mr. Spurgeon. "It is a great mercy that everything at the Tabernacle does not depend on the presence of the pastor, but that in his absence all manifest so much earnestness." As this was leap year, and February 29 fell on a Sunday, what is called a leap-year sermon was preached at the Tabernacle in. the evening from the Apostle's words, "One born out of due time." He said he had selected that text because February 29 had fallen on a Sunday.
"There are a large number of you who have never seen the 29th of February on a Sunday before, and there is a still larger number who will never see it again. I suppose that it will be twenty-eight years before it will occur again, for it is a Sunday thrown in—a sort of odd day. If you were to ask our neighbours of the Greek Church they would tell you that there was no such day at all, for they keep to the old system of dates. This plan of putting in an odd day every four years, just to make the days square with the sun, is a very good one, no doubt, but still it is a day thrown in. It has seemed to me that if the Lord would but bless some souls on this odd day in the leap year, what a great blessing it would be—converted on the 29th of February, and that on a Sunday!" On Tuesday, March 9, he encouraged Mr. Cuff and his friends by preaching in the New Shoreditch Tabernacle, Hackney Road, the text being Rev 1:17 : "Fear not." The spring of 1880 was the time of the General Election which resulted in the fall of Lord Beaconsfield's Government; and the meeting of the London Baptist Association at Westbourne Grove Chapel on April 6 seems to have partaken of the general excitement. In referring to the situation, Mr. Spurgeon said that he was filled with unspeakable delight, and pointed out that the Liberal party saw the power of Nonconformists. Prayers were offered for Mr. Gladstone and the Government; a sum of one thousand pounds appears to have been subscribed for mission work abroad; and in the evening Mr. Spurgeon preached on Christ's miracle of turning water into wine.
He did not often write a political letter; but as it was necessary in the then excited state of the public mind to correct false rumours, he penned the following:—
"To the Editor of 'The Baptist.'
"Dear Sir,—The Tories have diligently spread a statement that a Northampton Baptist voter, being puzzled whether he should vote for Mr. Bradlaugh or no, made an inquiry of me, and received for answer that I would vote for the devil if he were a Liberal. Now, it so happened that when this report came under my notice I had not even thought of the Northampton election, and no voter or other person had written me upon the subject. Since then I have so far written upon the matter as to deny that I had ever expressed myself, one way or another, as to Mr. Bradlaugh's candidature. Why such a falsehood should have been started I cannot tell, unless there were party ends to serve.
"In my judgment no man should be made to suffer for his religious opinions, and men of all creeds and of no creed have a right to be represented in the House of Commons if they are numerous enough to be able to return a member. I should greatly prefer to see men of Christian character and principles returned—the better the men the more worthy of the honour. At the same time, the fitness of a man to represent us politically cannot be measured by his piety or his orthodoxy. We employ a physician, not because he is a Baptist, but because he understands medicine; and so we vote for a man to sit in Parliament, not because he is orthodox in religion, but because he holds views in politics which we regard to be right. The less sectarianism comes into the question the better. The moral element in politics should be mainly regarded, and peculiarities of creed only so far as they are involved in the present union of Church and State and other kindred subjects.
"Personally, I may say plainly that I would not have voted for Mr. Bradlaugh, nor should I have recommended others to do so; but that is not a matter of much importance to him or to anyone else, as I have no vote for Northampton. If it had ever been my intention to advise the Northampton Baptist to vote for him, I should certainly not have used the language imputed to me, nor, indeed, in any case should I have so spoken of any man. Northampton Liberals were placed in a very difficult position, and there is ample room for difference of opinion as to what they ought to have done; but there can be no need to mix me up in a matter with which I had nothing to do, either directly or indirectly, nearly or remotely.
"C. H. Spurgeon.
"Nightingale Lane, Balham, "April 13, 1880."