Chapter 107: Conclusion

Chapter 107.
Conclusion

Through the Divine favour and the help and sympathy of many friends in various parts of the country, I have been enabled to bring this large work to a conclusion. Strictly speaking, it has fallen to my lot to give to English-speaking nations Spurgeon's biography fully written for the first time; for though there are many books about Spurgeon, I have not yet met with one which can be said to furnish even a meagre outline of his wonderful career. The limited space at the command of the writers prevents their giving anything beyond a very few salient facts connected with the preacher's life and work; and it may be truly said that the thousand and one incidents in his life have been unknown to the present generation, because no one has hitherto undertaken the formidable labour of searching the newspapers, magazines, and periodicals of the last forty years in which the materials for such a biography as this are to be found. Though sufficiently onerous, the task has proved thoroughly congenial. Truly to depict Spurgeon as he lived and worked in his early and later life, it seems necessary that one should have also passed through the period during which he lived in London. Some have thought that if at the outset he had only proved himself to be such a preacher as he was at the age of fifty, he would never have commanded that singular popularity which he did at the age of twenty. And yet, when the discourses of the one period are compared with those of the other, competent judges would probably say that the later ones were the best, that they show a growth in knowledge and judgment which was quite natural. At the same time, readers of to-day should not lose sight of the fact that the Spurgeon of forty years ago, when he appeared first in London, was as different from, the staid divine of the Metropolitan Tabernacle of a generation later as could well be. Those who are old enough to have heard the preacher in his youth came away from the services with impressions which time can never efface from the memory. It was something altogether new in their experience, something which it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe in words. To begin with, the pale, round-faced Essex youth was not an ordinary-looking youth at all; and his manners were so unconventional that it seemed that no one save himself could have invented them. Then his unrivalled bell-like voice, which seemed capable of reaching any number of people, was in itself not the least gift which made the preacher what he was. As regards the materials for Spurgeon's biography, it should be clearly understood that they are not only ample, but that they may be said to be public property, accessible to anyone who has leisure and industry to collect them. A man by himself in other respects, Spurgeon was in this matter also quite exceptional; he was not only a great public man, he lived one of the most public of lives, the things that he did and those that he said or wrote being duly registered for the biographer's future reference. That there may be no misapprehension on this point, I will give what Dr. W. C. Wilkinson, of New York, remarks on this subject:—

"In every human generation there is a certain small number of picked men concerning whom public interest, beginning early, continues long to be so general and so vivid that everything proceeding from them, everything said about them, is sure to engage the attention of mankind. Of this select class of men, belonging to our generation, by eminence was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It thus happens that, during many years, Mr. Spurgeon's biography has been, as it were, constantly written up to date in the current periodical literature of his time. At his death nothing, or almost nothing, new remained to be told respecting him. There had long been simply the day's, or the week's, or the month's addition to be made to the biographical bulletins that promptly advised an ever-curious public what was the last thing of note that had befallen the foremost favourite preacher of the present time. This, however, is fully true only for Mr. Spurgeon's equals or superiors in age. A whole generation has grown up since he began to be famous, and, to the members of this new community of minds, the story of his career will be as novel as it is certain to be interesting." This is a clear and succinct statement of the case; and the biography now in the reader's hands may be accepted as ample proof of what the American writer affirms. The materials for the story of Spurgeon's life have been gathered from an area which embraces both the Old and the New World. No sources of information have been neglected; while opponents, as well as admirers, have been allowed, when necessary, to bear their testimony. It is hoped that general admiration for the preacher has not hindered an impartial view being given of his work and character; for, like Dr. Johnson, Spurgeon is one of those who gain by being impartially drawn. To say that he had his faults is only to say that he was human; but when we have a full-length portrait of the preacher, the commanding attributes of the great man appear the more clearly in all their attractiveness. Anything approaching to what he called Boswellism he always heartily disliked; but he would probably have admitted that when the time came, his work and character could only be worthily depicted by one who had been closely associated with him. I cannot, for example, conceive of one who had not come in contact with Spurgeon and his work during the preacher's youth, succeeding in the task of describing things as they were. At that exciting period only one who was a contemporary with him, one who remembers going with the crowd to the Surrey Gardens, and who joined in debate with those who maintained, on the one hand, that Spurgeon was a charlatan, and, on the other hand, that he was the apostle of the age, can understand the unique surroundings of the man. The uncompromising abuse and the equally extravagant praise to which my friend was subjected could hardly be understood in their full significance by one who now only listens to their faint echo through the vista of a third of a century. As a biographer, therefore, I may claim to enjoy the advantage of having lived through the whole period of Spurgeon's ministry in London, although, as he was my senior, my late illustrious friend's memory may have gone somewhat farther back than my own. Through having been personally acquainted with him during considerably more than half that period, and retaining vivid impressions of the earlier years, I have been enabled to give personal recollections or reminiscences. He was quite aware of the extreme interest I felt in his life and work, and oftentimes have I received from himself anecdotes and particulars of his earlier days. He was never careful about correcting false stories or exaggerated accounts of his own doings; and at times, after a lapse of some years, he would even himself forget the exact details. In his time Mr. Spurgeon was engaged in several controversies, which will rank as historical disputes in the theological world. In giving the history of these care has been taken so to arrange the matter that the representatives of opposite sides are allowed to speak for themselves. This seemed to be absolutely necessary in such a case as that of the Baptismal Regeneration dispute of 1864, when the question was, not whether a Romish dogma was anti-Scriptural, but whether the words of the Prayer-book warranted such an interpretation as Mr. Spurgeon's being put upon them. In other instances I have endeavoured to be impartial by allowing representatives of both sides to speak for themselves; and I may be allowed frankly to confess, that while I yield to none in my admiration of Spurgeon, I do not always agree with his opinions. I can imagine a biography being so written as to be virtually an apology for all its subject said or did; but my profound respect for the great man who for so long accorded me his friendship and confidence has prevented me from attempting such a task. Spurgeon himself would have been the first to deprecate such blind veneration; he had no other desire than to appear before the world as he really was—as he lived and wore himself out in the service of the Church. It may be added that there was no need for such a man to harbour any higher ambition. To tell the whole truth about Spurgeon may show that he was not perfect; but, on the whole, it is the way to pronounce the best encomium on the man now that he has gone. At times we may find ourselves thinking about "the Spurgeon of history," wondering what kind of an estimate posterity will form of his work and influence. We need hardly trouble ourselves about this, however, feeling assured that our great preacher will continue to stand out as one of the most commanding figures of the pulpit of the nineteenth century. Though he may be less read as time goes on, the popular interest in his strikingly eventful life must surely continue, of it does not actually increase. Hence, while not blind to the shortcomings of my book, I feel grateful that I have been enabled to complete the onerous, but still congenial task entrusted to me— The Life and Work of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.