Chapter 15: Mr. Spurgeon's Predecessors
Chapter 15.
Mr. Spurgeon's Predecessors A Church, with a Notable History—The Days of Strafford and "Thorough"—The Brownists and Early Puritans—Accomplished Scholars in straitened Circumstances—William Rider, the first Pastor—Henry Jessey—Benjamin Keach—Old-time "Justice"—Benjamin Stinton—Divisions after his Death—John Gill—An eminent Scholar—Life in the City of London—Gill's "Commentary"—A social Age—Clubs and Coffee-houses—The Singing at Carter Lane Chapel—Dr. Rippon—A long Pastorate—New London Bridge and New Park Street Chapel—Dr. Joseph Angus—James Smith—William Walters—Long Pastorates.
The church and congregation which had succeeded in securing the services of the young itinerant preacher of the Fens could boast of a notable history, extending back as far as the stirring days of the Commonwealth. Even before the ascendency of Cromwell, in the early days of the Long Parliament, the Baptists of Southwark began to show sympathy on the side of the people and against the king in the dispute that was to be settled by war. Strafford, with his scheme of "Thorough," and his friend "William the Fox," as many already called the Archbishop of Canterbury, were not any more in favour "over the water" than they were in the City. We hear of Brownists being imprisoned in the Clink because they would not use prayers "made by bishops"; and it was by such interference with the right of private judgment, as well as by the imposition of illegal taxes, that the crisis of civil war was hastened. The Brownists became somewhat numerous in Southwark during the reign of James I.; and, though they were more sweeping in their desires for reform than the Puritans of after days, these sectaries were really the forerunners of the Puritans. What is especially striking in the character of these early Nonconformists is their devotion to duty and their indifference to worldly comfort or distinction so long as conscience was satisfied. Those were the days when even accomplished scholars who refused to be timeservers had to be content with coarse fare and a poor lodging. We find Ainsworth, a first-class Hebraist, working as a bookseller's porter. Roger Williams lived on a few pence a day, and John Canne, the Baptist itinerant preacher, who was the first to collate marginal references for the English Bible, appears to have worked as a printer. In the dangerous times of Charles I., the Baptists of Southern London met in private houses in order to elude the informers, and their first recognised pastor appears to have been William Rider, of whom little is known beyond the facts that he was tolerably well-to-do in the world, and published a book to advocate the practice of laying of hands on such as were baptised. Although the rule of the country had passed from the king to the Parliament, a teacher who held Baptist views and did not hesitate to proclaim them had no easy time of it. Eider was one of those who became sufferers for conscience' sake. Then it happened that Henry Jessey, who held the living of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, was converted to the views of Eider, the consequence being that many others followed. Popular excitement on the question of baptism by immersion found vent in public disputes. When or where the first pastor died is not known; but he was succeeded by the more celebrated Benjamin Keach in the year 1668, when London was recovering from the ravages of plague and fire. Born in 1640, Keach was a native of Buckinghamshire, and like young Spurgeon, about two hundred years later, he at the age of fifteen gave up the Pædobaptist views in which he had been educated to accept the faith and practice of the Baptists. Keach, as a youth, also preached up and down his native county, just as his successor afterwards did in the Fens; the difference being that in the seventeenth century a preacher might have his labours interrupted by the military and be haled off to gaol. Persecution, however, could never repress such a man's ardour. On one occasion he was arraigned for publishing a primer for children. The language used by the judge in passing sentence is remarkable for the insight it affords into the character of the times. "Benjamin Keach," remarked the representative of English justice as it was understood in the seventeenth century, "you are here convicted for writing, printing, and publishing a seditious and schismatical book, for which the Court's judgment is this, and the Court doth award: That you shall go to gaol for a fortnight without bail or mainprize, and the next Saturday to stand upon the pillory at Aylesbury, in the open market, from eleven o'clock till one, with a paper upon your head with this inscription: 'For writing, printing, and publishing a schismatical book entitled, "The Child's Instructor; or, a New and Easy Primer."' And the next Thursday to stand in the same manner and for the same time in the market at Winslow; and there your book shall be openly burnt before your face by the common hangman in disgrace of you and your doctrine. And you shall forfeit to the King's Majesty the sum of twenty pounds, and shall remain in gaol until you find sureties for your good behaviour, and for your appearance at the next assizes, there to renounce your doctrines and make such public submission as shall be enjoined you. Take him away, keeper."
Even an experience of this kind could not discourage such a man; he persisted in preaching and teaching as opportunities offered, and the country people had more admiration for the evangelist than for his persecutors. Truth could not be repressed by burning in market-places piles of the books which contained it. I believe that the meetinghouse at Winslow in which this worthy preached is still standing. In his twenty-eighth year, Keach left Buckinghamshire to succeed William Eider in the pastorate at Southwark; but on arriving at his destination he was penniless, robbers on the road having taken his money. He was cordially welcomed by the Baptists, and his loss made good. The chapel in which he preached was, for those days, an attractive-looking building. On entering the iron gates a visitor passed on through a pretty avenue of lime-trees. There Keach laboured amid many difficulties until the atmosphere of the religious world was cleared by the Revolution. The meetings were often disturbed by representatives of the law, and when liberty of conscience was ensured by the accession of William III., other troubles disturbed the peace of the congregation. The pastor was in favour of introducing the practice of singing hymns during public worship; but others were so violently opposed to what they believed to be a mere anti-Christian innovation that they seceded, and founded a rival congregation. Others were for observing Saturday as the true Sabbath; and it was this latter agitation which led to the publication of Keach's book on "The Jewish Sabbath abrogated." Keach was much loved by his people, and till the last maintained a spotless character. The labours in which he engaged were so abundant that he was quite worn out at the time of his death, in the summer of 1704. He had a son named Elias, who planted two Baptist churches in Pennsylvania and afterwards preached at Wapping. With the death of Benjamin Keach the Puritan age of the church may be said to have closed. How sincerely he was mourned is shown by a broadside poem issued at the time in accordance with a practice then common:—
"Is he no more? has heaven withdrawn his light, And left us to lament in sable shades of night Our loss?
Death boasts his triumph, for the rumour's spread Through Salem's plains, Keach, dear Keach, is dead."
In all, Keach left over forty published works; and while one of these, "The Rector Rectified," shows his taste for controversy, the best remembered is his "Key to open Scripture Metaphors." His remains were laid to rest in a graveyard owned by the Baptists in the Park, Southwark. Hence the future name of New Park Street, in which was situated the chapel wherein Mr. Spurgeon opened his London ministry a century and a half later.
Keach had a son-in-law, named Benjamin Stinton, who now became pastor of the church. The responsible office was accepted very reluctantly, however, for Stinton was at this time thirty years old, and he had received no proper training for ministerial work. He did the best he could under the circumstances: he studied hard under a competent tutor, and was soon able to discharge, in more than a creditable manner, the duties required of him. The old Baptist historian, Thomas Crosby, speaks of him as "a very painful and laborious minister of the Gospel," adding that, "though he had not the advantage of an academical education, yet by his own industry, under the assistance of the famous Mr. Ainsworth (author of the Latin Dictionary), after he had taken upon him the ministerial office, he acquired a good degree of knowledge in the languages and other useful parts of literature, which added lustre to those natural endowments which were very conspicuous in him."
Mr. Stinton was zealous as a pastor, and, although we do not know very much about him, he was a commanding figure in the Southwark of the days of Queen Anne and of the earlier part of the reign of George I. The pastor was before his times; and it was not until the Protestant Succession had triumphed by the Crown passing to the House of Brunswick that a charity-school for Dissenters could be established. He also collected materials for a work on the denominational annals, and these appear to have been largely used by Crosby in the compilation of his History. Neal, the historian of the Puritans, also had the papers in his possession for several years, but without making any particular use of them. Another distinguished piece of service on the part of Benjamin Stinton was the part he took in founding the Baptist Fund in the year 1717. This fund remains until our own day; and Mr. Spurgeon, being one of the trustees, always manifested becoming interest in its welfare on account of the eminent service rendered by the distribution of a large sum annually amongst aged or necessitous ministers. The death of Benjamin Stinton occasioned a division in the congregation, through one section wishing to have "William Arnold for his successor, while the choice of others fell upon John Gill, of Kettering, who was then a youth very nearly corresponding in age to Mr. Spurgeon when he left Waterbeach. The chapel was then in Groat Street; but some time afterwards a more convenient building was erected in Unicorn Yard. This was at length forsaken, in 1757, for the chapel in Carter Lane, Tooley Street, and this was the place of meeting until its removal necessitated the building of New Park Street Chapel. Should anyone be interested in discovering the site of this eighteenth century chapel, it may be seen at the south end of London Bridge, at the entrance to the railway-station yard.
John Gill, who now succeeded to the pastorate which he retained for more than fifty years, was a native of Kettering, and was born in 1697. In childhood and youth he was famed for his genius and acquirements; and a proverb which became current among the market people indicated his general character—"As surely as John Gill is in the bookseller's shop." Immediately after his birth, a stranger who happened to be passing is said to have voluntarily made the prophecy that the child would become a great scholar. He began to preach in 1716, and soon attracted some attention. It is possible, however, that he may have been too hard a Calvinist for some of the critical hearers of Southwark, who raised a loud outcry against his election, and would not rest until they had submitted their case to the ministerial coterie which then assembled at the Hanover Coffee-house. The only thing to do was for each section of disputants to retain its man, and live in peace with those who thought differently from themselves. The fact was, that those who objected to the young preacher were as little aware of his power as those who at first thought little of Mr. Spurgeon were aware of his wonderful gifts. Although John Gill was not a Spurgeon, he soon established his claim to rank as the foremost man of his denomination. Apart from his idiosyncrasies, he was one of the best scholars of his time, and, judged by the quantity he wrote, its most industrious author. When it was customary to live in the City, he found a congenial home in Gracechurch Street. In tastes and habits he was a man of the eighteenth century. As a Hebrew scholar Dr. Gill had few equals among his contemporaries. The Baptist Fund, which still annually supplies a number of young pastors with grants of books, assisted him to purchase a valuable collection of Hebrew works; and being competent to read the Talmud and the Targums in the original, Grill turned this advantage to excellent account. He read systematically with a view to the exposition of Scripture, and after more than twenty years of labour commenced the publication of that voluminous commentary which originally extended through nine folio volumes. This achievement won for its author the distinction of Doctor in Divinity, the diploma coming from Marischal College, Aberdeen. The work also attracted the admiring notice of the pious Hervey, to whom the annotations on Solomon's Song, more especially, were "a paradisiacal garden." Of the honour which came to him from the Scottish University, Dr. Grill spoke in a characteristic way when he remarked, "I neither thought it, nor bought it, nor sought it."
While as a commentator he had accomplishments which were peculiar to himself, Dr. Gill was also an ardent controversialist. Such was his unceasing industry that a proverb which now became current in London was to the effect, "As surely as Dr. Grill is in his study." On a certain day he was not in his sanctum, however; but his temporary absence seemed to be providential when a heavy stack of chimneys crashed through the roof and shattered the writing-table. The doctor appears not to have possessed even the elementary social qualities; he had lived as a recluse in his study until he seemed to have little or no talent for conversation. To Samuel Johnson, who was then passing his time in London, and who made talking about the chief business of life, this would have looked like a serious drawback to life itself. The London of the middle of the last century, when traders and merchants who had their businesses in the City lived there, seems to have attractions of its own as we look back upon it. What a centre of social enjoyment such a town must have been when a large circle of friends all lived within the bounds of so comparatively small an area! Thus while Dr. Grill lived in Gracechurch Street, his son-in-law and publisher, George Keith, was at the "Bible and Crown" hard by. Other friends, who were also booksellers, were found in Mr. Ward of the "King's Head," in Little Britain, and Mr. Whiteridge, of Castle Alley, near the Royal Exchange. The age seems to have been a more social one than our own, and that may have been because people had more leisure. Everybody of any importance had perforce to belong to some club or coterie; and, despite his shyness in conversation, the presence of Dr. Gill was necessary to make complete the circle of the club whose members met at the Gloucestershire Coffee-house. Then there was the weekly dinner which Mr. Thomas Watson, of Cripplegate, gave regularly on Tuesdays to Nonconformist ministers of every denomination. The members of the church also had a grand dinner at Christmas, when the wants of the poor were the appropriate topic of conversation. In his later days Dr. Gill lived at Camberwell; but though his strength was well maintained, and he could till the last read the smallest print without glasses, he survived long enough to see the congregation to which he ministered decline. The people, who valued his ministry as greatly as ever, would have engaged an assistant; but he persistently objected to such an arrangement. "Christ gave pastors, but not co-pastors," he said; and that was an intimation that nothing more was to be said on so distasteful a subject. In the middle of the eighteenth century psalmody in Nonconformist chapels appears to have been in a very primitive condition; and while £4 a year was considered a good salary for a pew-opener, a mere precentor had to be content with an annual stipend of forty shillings. It is hardly to be wondered at that, in such a case, persons with musical ears were able to detect flaws in the singing. One worthy woman, in particular, was moved to ask that some improvements might be introduced, and to effect her purpose she boldly waited on the commentator himself. When he had listened to her well-founded complaints respecting the precentor's shortcomings, Dr. Grill asked, "What tunes would you like, good woman?" "Why, sir, I should very much like David's tunes," responded the old lady. "Well, if you will get David's tunes for us, we will try to sing them," replied the doctor. As a pastor and preacher, the good doctor met with experiences such as might have happened to Mr. Spurgeon himself a century later. There was a man who, after sermon, would meet the pastor at the foot of the pulpit stairs with the question, "Is this preaching?" or, "Is this the great Dr. Grill?" The doctor was not one to be very much irritated by such annoyances; but on one occasion he said rather brusquely, "Go up and do better!" Those were also the days when even Baptist ministers wore the white bands, which imparted to them a very ecclesiastical appearance. A lady at one time became so profoundly impressed with the length of the doctor's bibs, that soon afterwards she called at his residence, armed with a pair of scissors, and asked to be allowed to shorten them. Consent was readily given; but when the bands were reduced to the approved length the doctor remarked, "Now, my good sister, you must do me a good turn also." Consent being given, the pastor went on, "You have something about you which is a great deal too long," and having borrowed the scissors to use as he pleased, he added, with grim emphasis, "Come, then, good sister, put out your tongue!"
Dr. Gill died in October, 1771, and was buried in Bunhill Fields. Many funeral sermons on his life and work were published. Toplady, who was well acquainted with him, regarded him as the greatest divine of his age, and not merely the leading man of the Baptist body. When a successor had to be elected to the great commentator, the choice of the majority of the people fell on John Rippon, then a student at Bristol College, and twenty years old. A body of members seceded, but, as the pastor moved that they should have a sum of £300 voted to them to aid them in building a chapel, an excellent spirit prevailed. In time the seceders may have discovered their mistake; for the church they had left prospered.
Dr. Rippon had neither the gifts nor the acquirements of his predecessor, but his character commanded respect, and he was a man of great industry. The church and congregation grew in numbers and in wealth; and the high position the pastor was supposed to occupy caused his opinion to carry great weight in all denominational councils. In a degenerate age discipline appears to have been well maintained; and such diversions as theatre-going, card-playing, dancing, etc., were rigorously proscribed. The members were expected to avoid even such a place as Vauxhall Gardens—then a very fashionable recreation-ground. Nor might enthusiasts presume to teach religion without receiving proper license. One excellent characteristic of the well-to-do people was their liberality to the poor; for not only were these liberally dealt with in general, but Dr. Rippon, in the year 1803, founded the almshouses which on being rebuilt were afterwards endowed by Mr. Spurgeon with a sum of £5,000. The old chapel had to be enlarged in 1792, and the fact that at that time a collection on a special occasion would amount to £40 or £50 shows the comfortable circumstances of the congregation.
Though not possessing talents of the first order, Dr. Rippon showed some literary ambition. His compilation of hymns was for long exceedingly popular, and the copyright was equivalent to a large estate. Among his unpublished works is a full history of Bunhill Fields burial-grounds, the MS. of which is still preserved. The pastorate of Dr. Rippon was one of the longest on record; it extended through the sixty-three years ending with 1836. He was over eighty when the first stone of New Park Street Chapel was laid in the spring of 1832, and he was present at the opening some months later, although he is supposed to have outlived his usefulness. The compulsory turning-out of the people from the old sanctuary at Carter Lane to seek a home in a damp, low-lying locality like New Park Street, was a genuine disaster. The site was a most out-of-the-way place for a chapel, and the disadvantages attending it were so many that Mr. Spurgeon might well find the congregation seemingly on the verge of extinction when, twenty years later, he first visited the uninviting locality. When the builders of the present London Bridge necessarily swept away many buildings, there was naturally a keen competition for other sites, and New Park Street was probably chosen by the builders of the new chapel because the land was cheap and was near the old river.
Dr. Rippon was succeeded in the pastorate by the present Dr. Joseph Angus, of Regent's Park College, who at that time was a youth only twenty-one years of age—the time-honoured custom of the church in choosing a very young pastor, when one had to be selected, being still maintained. He was a native of Newcastle, and after attending the Grammar School in that town he studied successively at Stepney College and the University of Edinburgh. It was while at New Park Street that Mr. Angus produced his prize essay on "Church Establishments." This was in reply to the views of Dr. Chalmers on the same subject, set forth by the Edinburgh Professor in lectures delivered in London. Dr. Angus resigned his charge in 1840 to accept the secretaryship of the Baptist Missionary Society. From 1841 to 1850 the pastorate was held by Mr. James Smith, who had been stationed at Cheltenham, and who again returned to that town. He was a good preacher and the author of a large number of printed works. The air of London did not suit him; but though he at last acted on medical advice and sought a purer air, he died in 1861, at the comparatively early age of fifty-nine. He was succeeded by Mr. William Walters, of Preston, who afterwards removed to Birmingham, and who had only recently resigned when Mr. Spurgeon was invited to occupy the vacant pulpit.
It will be seen from this outline that the church and congregation of which Mr. Spurgeon was invited to accept the pastorate was just about two hundred years old when the young preacher left Waterbeach. He was proud of his predecessors, and in his early days, more particularly, he would refer at times to Dr. Gill with great satisfaction. It will be observed that the election of a new pastor, when the need arose, nearly always occasioned a division; but the seceders soon saw that the fears which prompted their action were groundless. It was also a singular thing that the pastors should successively have been so often chosen at or about the age of twenty, to be retained till death. Probably no other congregation in the country could show a record in which only two pastors were elected during the space of one hundred and seventeen years. Thus Dr. Gill occupied the pastorate in 1719, and his successor, Dr. Rippon, held on until 1836. The next longest pastorate was that of Mr. Spurgeon himself, which extended to almost thirty-eight years. When Dr. Gill arrived in London the Dissenters were troubled by disputes concerning the Trinity. As the eighteenth century advanced many congregations drifted from their old moorings of orthodox belief; but these Baptists of Southwark went on unaffected by the passing storms.