Chapter 38: A Visit To Paris

Chapter 38.
A Visit To Paris A Visit to France—Preaches Five Times in Paris—Opinions of the French Pastors—M. Prévost-Paradol in the Journal des Débats—Deaths of Eminent Persons—A Day at Moorfields—Dr. Campbell as a Journalist.

Mr. Spurgeon made a flying visit to Paris in the early part of February 1860; and as he would not consent to be away from his congregation at Exeter Hall or New Park Street for even one Sunday, the trip represented a very hard week's work, although to outsiders it may have appeared like a pleasant excursion. The subject of the discourse at Exeter Hall on the first Sunday morning of the month was, "Mr. Evil-Questioning Tried and Executed," the evil question on which it was founded being, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" (2Ki 5:12). The sermon was an unusually long one, and taken as a whole it was one of the most remarkable examples of the preacher's early style. It was very much of an allegory; and as Mr. Evil-Questioning and his large circle of family connections—all being descendants of Mr. Human-Reason—were brought to the front and examined, the spellbound audience must have thought that John Bunyan the Second was speaking to them. On the following morning, February 6, Mr. Spurgeon appears to have crossed the Channel. He had been invited to Paris by an Episcopal clergyman, who was of opinion that a series of services conducted by such a preacher would be fruitful in the best results. The expectation appears to have been in a large measure realised, the appearance of the young pastor being anticipated in the gay capital with the most lively interest. Five services were held, two at the Church of the Oratoire, and three at the chapel of the American Ambassador. The eagerness to be present was great, many persons of fashion, foreign visitors of rank, ministers of all Protestant denominations, as well as a large number of Roman Catholic priests, being among the hearers. The preacher spoke with all of his accustomed force and earnestness, and the effect was such as had hardly been seen in Paris since the days of the Reformation. One gentleman of high position told the New Park Street deacon, Mr. James Low, that he had never in his life before felt so much interest in a religious service; the touching illustrations and searching appeals so affected him that he concealed himself behind a pillar in the church and there wept. The various pastors of Protestant congregations were of opinion that the visit would leave permanent good results.

Each evening during his stay in the city Mr. Spurgeon was invited to the house of some resident of social position and influence, and on each occasion a large number of friends were also invited, so that these salon gatherings were as remarkable in their way as the public services. Neither Scotland nor Ireland at first had shown such interest in the English preacher, while the French geniality Was altogether charming. The visit to the college at Passy, where a number of students were being educated for missionary service, was a memorable event in connection with this visit. The young men were as much interested as Mr. Spurgeon himself, and appear to have expressed themselves as being very grateful for the visit. The address given to the students was translated by the President.

Various leading inhabitants of Paris were so struck with the effects of this visit that they hoped it might be repeated at an early date. A sum of nearly £70 was collected at the American chapel for the debt on the building; but the managers refused to keep the money, and insisted on its being given to the building fund of the Metropolitan Tabernacle; and in order that it should be sent without deductions, 400 francs were subscribed for the preacher's personal expenses. Two other good collections were also made for the poor of the city. The comments of the Paris newspapers were as remarkable as they were satisfactory: for mere literary men as well as Roman Catholic writers were charmed with the exhibition of Gospel truth by this young man of twenty-six. Dr. Grandpierre, of the National Protestant Church, told the late Dr. Steane, of Camberwell, how greatly he was struck with the young English preacher's voice and distinct enunciation at the Oratoire. Although it was a Protestant church, much of the teaching given forth in its pulpit was of a very doubtful kind. Dr. Grandpierre himself was an Evangelical, and so also were some others who preached in turn with him; but others who had access to the pulpit are said to have been Arians, if not actually Socinians. To hear Spurgeon in such a place, therefore, was like the opening of a new Reformation. The French pastor just named was also impressed with the even flow of Mr. Spurgeon's eloquence, the logical development of his thoughts, and with his facile and always elegant language. Another of Dr. Steane's friends, Dr. Frédéric Monod, was chiefly delighted with the young English preacher's catholicity. Dr. Monod was at that time one of the most devoted of French Protestant ministers, and he had left the National, to join himself with the Free or Congregational, Church. In Spurgeon this ardent reformer saw a man who took into the pulpit no pet theories of his own; he had no system, he wanted to gain no partisans for this or that denomination; his one and only desire was to win converts to Christ. "Mr. Spurgeon is a new proof that God does nothing by halves. If He calls one of His servants to some special work, He gives him the special endowments necessary for it. So in this case; not only have intellectual and spiritual gifts been bestowed, but physical faculties as well: a clear musical voice, an indomitable constitution, and strength which ten sermons a week from year's end to year's end can neither subdue nor exhaust. I have heard him converse, after having been engaged in the pulpit for nearly three hours, with a voice as fresh and clear as before he entered it." It was said that many remarkable conversions occurred as a result of the services. In England no one was more delighted at the result of this visit than Dr. Campbell, who insisted that the voice of Paris was virtually the verdict of Protestant France. "Gold is the same all the world over," exultingly exclaimed the friendly editor. "Latitude, longitude, clime and season, have no effect on its weight, sound, or lustre. So it is with a genius for Christian eloquence. Sect and nationality, manners and politics, affect it not. It controls them all. Mr. Spurgeon furnishes an illustration. No matter where he may appear.... all do homage to the truth, the nature, the attraction, and the power of his preaching." As coming from two of the leading Protestant teachers of France the utterances of Pastors Monod and Grandpierre attracted some attention. In the course of an article on Mr. Spurgeon, the former wrote:—

"In hearing him you forget man, you forget the preacher, and think only of the truths he utters. You are not under the false spell of a vain and high-sounding eloquence, but the heart is touched, the conscience is awakened, and that which thus subdues you is the power of the truth of God. You are not tempted to applaud and cry 'Bravo!' but you feel constrained to retire into yourself, to pray for yourself and for others, and to say from your heart, 'Amen! Lord! Amen!' The basis of the doctrines drawn by Mr. Spurgeon from the Bible is what we call Calvinism; he believes, and he preaches, that the Bible teaches the election of grace and the final perseverance of the saints. But how admirably practical is this Calvinism, how broad and grand it is! He would never straiten the limits of the infinite mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Without reserve, he calls all men to the foot of the cross, and tells them in his Master's words, 'Whosoever cometh shall in no wise be cast out.' His Calvinism is as far removed from Antinomianism as it is from self-righteousness, and would rather lead to holiness, without which no man can see the Lord."

Pastor Monod then enters with some enthusiasm into his subject, and like all other inquirers had done, he asked what was the reason of such astounding success in one who was still so young, and whose church members had increased in six years from 150 to 1,500. He would not have it that imagination, voice, wealth of anecdote, etc., would account for such moral phenomena. It was rather the man's faith that accounted for the thing; the words spoken were mighty because they were founded on eternal truth:—

"His eloquence consists not in the mere clatter of words or in the pleasant arrangement of studied phrases; and if Joseph de Maistre had heard him, he would not have retired, saying, 'A Protestant minister is a man dressed in black, who says soft things.' No; Mr. Spurgeon is powerful because he possesses the faith which he teaches, and that faith possesses him; because he has tested in his own experience the reality and efficacy of those truths he preaches; and because, like John the Baptist, he is willing that Christ should increase and that he should decrease. He speaks because he believes and loves; and one feels that his eloquence has been learned on his knees before God and His Word, and has not been studied in any school of rhetoric. He preaches the truth, all the truth, in all the fulness in which he knows and loves it, because this truth, and this alone, is able to save the soul. Add to this a rare and perfect independence of character—he fears not men, he seeks not their favour; he shrinks not from their anger, but announces 'all the counsel of God' as he finds it revealed in His Word. He knows no other limits than those prescribed by the Gospel. He never asks, 'What will be said of me?' but rather, 'What is the truth, what is the will of God?' and then, when he sees clearly the road which God has marked out for him, he walks in it resolutely, and nothing can stop or hinder him. And is not this the only right way of doing good to men? We have heard of a bishop who, one day addressing the celebrated actor Garrick, said, 'How is that you, who represent only fiction, yet produce such lively impressions upon the people, while we, who preach of realities, too often leave our audiences cold and indifferent?' 'My Lord,' said Garrick, 'perhaps it is because we speak of fiction as if it were reality, while in the pulpit realities are treated as if they were but fiction!' Here then is the secret. When Mr. Spurgeon speaks of sin, of hell, of heaven, of Jesus Christ, of His cross and His blood, of pardon, of salvation, and of life eternal, one feels that these are all realities—aye, as real and earnest as the facts of everyday life. He cries to souls to flee from the wrath to come just as he would cry to a man asleep in a burning house to awake and save his life." The expositions of the Scriptures are said to be as interesting as the sermons, the explanation of Psalm xxiii. at the American Chapel being referred to as especially striking. What struck the Parisians as being chiefly remarkable, however, was the unaffected simplicity and freedom from pride which were characteristic of the young genius. Pastor Monod then gives this interesting passage:—

"Just think for a moment what strong temptations to pride must beset this young preacher of twenty-six years! Not only week after week, but day after day, thousands of eager listeners crowd around his pulpit! From all parts of Great Britain and the United States he receives the most urgent solicitations to go and preach the Gospel. God blesses his words to the conversion of very many souls. His name is a 'household word,' his portrait is sold everywhere, his sermons, taken down in shorthand, are published every week, and then bound in volumes, which are rapidly translated into nearly all the European languages. Now, we ask, seeing a young man in this exalted and dangerous position, do we not expect to find in him—and should we not be even ready to pardon—a certain consciousness of his importance and superiority? But one is most delightfully surprised to find in him a brother full of simplicity and cordiality, possessed of a cheerful, amiable disposition, and without the slightest trace of affectation or pride. This was the impression of all who saw Mr. Spurgeon in private, but especially of those who on Wednesday and Thursday evenings met him at the house of M. Grandpierre, who kindly procured for the numerous friends who desired to be better acquainted with Mr. Spurgeon the opportunity of speaking a few words with him and pressing his hand. He seemed not to be aware that he was the one object of interest to all present, and had a stranger entered that crowded drawing-room, he would have had some difficulty in ascertaining who amongst that motley group formed the chief attraction."

Pastor Grandpierre also gave an article on the same subject in L'Espérance, of February 15, and from this a short passage may be quoted:—

"Spurgeon is truly a poet, and without having heard him one cannot even form an idea of the richness and power of his conceptions, and this, too, without even swerving from the simplicity which beseems the Christian pulpit, or the dignity which becomes a minister of Jesus Christ.... Both before and after his sermons, public and private prayer-meetings were held to invoke the blessing of God on his labours, and we are sure that souls were converted and believers edified, nourished, renewed in their inner life, and stirred up to fresh activity. Our dear and honoured brother received a most cordial welcome from Christians of all denominations in the capital, and he left us interested and grateful, happy in the reception which has been accorded to him, and promising soon to revisit us. On our part, we bless God that the Presbytery and Council of the Reformed Church of Paris considered it an honour to throw open to him the doors of its largest temple, which was filled at both services by an eager crowd. And of this grand assembly, the members of our Church happily formed no inconsiderable portion, thus proving once again that we have in our midst very many souls who know how to love and appreciate the earnest and faithful preaching of the 'Gospel of the grace of God.'" But the good opinion of brethren in the faith such as the evangelical French pasteurs was to be expected, and the full effect of this visit to Paris of the distinguished English preacher was not fully seen or realised until the merely secular papers had made their comments. One of the most distinguished literary men in Paris at that time was M. Prévost-Paradol; and when such a writer, a Roman Catholic, sent forth a eulogy on the Calvinistic Spurgeon in one of the leading daily papers of France, it was looked upon as something very surprising. M. Prévost-Paradol wrote as follows:—

"Mr. Spurgeon has spoken; the indefatigable apostle has passed three days amongst us, and has preached five times without anyone being able to remark in his privileged nature the least trace of fatigue. And yet wo do not think that any orator could throw more of humility into his speech or deliver himself with more ease to his audience. Without ever declaiming or becoming too much excited, Mr. Spurgeon is animated and interesting from one end of his discourse to the other. His subject is often a common one and its development is foreseen: that which one cannot understand before having heard Mr. Spurgeon is the persuasive, familiar, and yet commanding manner which draws on his auditor and conducts him, without fatigue, through that long chain of recitals, images, exhortations, and prayers of which Mr. Spurgeon, with so much art, composes the rich and solid tissues of his discourses. But why speak of art with reference to the most natural, and we would willingly say the most inspired, orator we have ever had the pleasure of hearing? Never has anyone spoken with less apparent preparation, or previous study been less felt, and yet what hearer of Mr. Spurgeon has remarked, we do not say the least indistinctness, but the least feebleness or the least hesitation, in the perpetual flow of his simple and forcible eloquence? One listens with security to that powerful and sympathetic voice which never falls too low, or is raised too high, and which, during whole hours, filled with its even flood the vaults of the church. The man who has received all these gifts, and who makes so generous a use of them, is not yet; twenty-five years of age. It is impossible to look at this energetic and loyal character without reading in it the conviction, the courage, and the genuine happiness of doing good. This orator, who is perhaps more listened to than any other citizen of a free country, where freedom of speech exercises so noble an empire, is at the same time the most modest and simple of all men. It is true he has the happiness of addressing a people who do not think themselves obliged, in order to be liberal, to be unjust towards religion; but, after all, Mr. Spurgeon owes to himself alone the considerable and salutary influence he has acquired, yet no one would suspect him of being proud of it. Truly, and without affectation, he ascribes it all to God. It seems to us that all religious differences ought to lose themselves in rendering justice to such apostles. As for us, who have seen in this eloquent and benevolent young man one of the happiest examples of what can, in these modern times, promote Christianity and liberty, we have felt it a great honour and pleasure to shake hands with him." On the Sunday after his return from Paris Mr. Spurgeon preached at Exeter Hall on the Immeasurableness of Sin, the text being Psa 19:12, "Who can understand his errors?" The freshness and force with which he treated the subject would not have led anyone to suppose that he had just gone through such an arduous week's work on the other side of the Channel. There can now be no doubt that he was working too hard; but so far were all from believing this at the time, that they supposed the iron constitution to be capable of meeting whatever demands youthful enthusiasm might make upon it. On Wednesday, March 14, Mr. Spurgeon visited Dr. Campbell, who was, in the young preacher's estimation, a veritable Greatheart and the Luther of the nineteenth century. The conversation related to the sudden deaths of certain well-known personages which had recently occurred, all present little thinking that news of the death of the veteran editor's son, Mr. George C. Campbell, was even then on the wing. This promising youth, whose manners were frank and genial, had chosen the sea as his profession, but, after completing a few voyages, he perished by drowning during the heavy gales in the Atlantic in the early spring of 1860. The sermon preached at Exeter Hall on March 18 Mr. Spurgeon called "Memento Mori," the text being Deu 32:29, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end;" and references were made to Dr. Campbell as a champion of the faith, and to the brave young officer who had been washed from the deck of the barque Native during a storm in mid-ocean. The visit paid to Dr. Campbell was an annual one, and these occasions were something more than mere exchanges of friendly intercourse. The veteran editor himself once explained their object:—"Every 365 days Mr. Spurgeon and his dear companion, and the two little Princes Imperial, honour my family with their presence for a whole day. We count on it; it is a high day with us. By two sermons on that day I may say Mr. Spurgeon supports almost entirely our City Mission at the Tabernacle." The reference was, of course, to the Tabernacle in Moorfields which had been erected for Whitefield, and of which Dr. Campbell was pastor, although through loss of voice in the later years of his life he devoted his energies to journalism rather than to preaching. Mr. Spurgeon's opinion was that the religious Press of that day had two sides, and that the doctor represented the better side. "He has the most thundering pen in all the universe," the young pastor once emphatically remarked. "If he will give me some portion of the kingdom of the tongue, I shall willingly let him have that of the pen. His pen is like Ithuriel's spear: it has detected many of the toads of false doctrine now in existence, and I have no doubt it will detect and turn up many more."