Chapter 40: Eight Weeks On The Continent

Chapter 40.
Eight Weeks On The Continent

Tour on the Continent—Letter from Baden-Baden—The late Emperor of the French—Antwerp—Brussels—A Gospel Sermon in a Roman Catholic Church—Gambling at Baden—First Sight of the Alps—Zürich—Lucerne—Geneva—In Calvin's Pulpit—Reappearance at Exeter Hall—A Wet Summer.

Although Mr. Spurgeon did not consent to take notes for a book such as would have delighted the heart of a publisher, he supplied his friend Dr. Campbell with at least one ample letter which is even now of historical interest, especially when read in connection with what has since happened in France and Germany. The young pastor happened to be at Baden-Baden at the time of the Conference of June, 1860, which was attended by the late Emperor of the French, and eight other crowned heads. "One could hardly walk in any direction without stumbling upon a Grand-Duke, or being run over by the horses of an Emperor," we find it remarked. The hotels were not only overcrowded; the demands of their regal visitors were so urgent that more humble patrons, whose custom at ordinary times was welcome, had to stand and admire at a distance. The late Emperor of the French passed through Strasburg on Friday, June 15, when the streets were abundantly decorated and crowded with sightseers. One striking feature of the scene was the large number of country people who came in to see the pageant. Garlands of oak-leaves and tricolour flags decorated the quaint-looking old houses of the more ancient streets, as well as the more elegant mansions of the newer thoroughfares. Even the guards, of whom travellers had sometimes to complain, were in a good humour. Across the river, "the town of Kehl was resplendent with the orange and red colours of the Grand-Duke of Baden." It was supposed that there was enough of the "French element" in the populace to account for the existence of this "Imperial fever" on one side of the river as on the other. What Mr. Spurgeon wrote of the French Emperor, who then had ten years of rule before him, will be read with interest:—

"If the people of Kehl received the Emperor heartily, they were the only Germans who would have done so, for everywhere throughout Belgium, Prussia, and the small German kingdoms, he is either dreaded or execrated. It is the universal belief that he will never be content until he has completed the 'natural boundary' scheme by subduing all the territory on the west of the Rhine to his imperial sway. If the English are no friends to Napoleon, the Germans go even further, and are more anti-Imperial than ourselves.

"On Saturday the Emperor might be seen early in the morning walking in the garden leaning upon his walking-stick, and looking more decrepit than his age might justify. It is a theme for great gratitude that he is not a young man, and that, be his ambition what it may, he has no great time before him in which to work out his political adventures. On horseback or in his carriage, all men confess his noble bearing, and no signs of decay are manifest, but when he is walking, the spectator foresees that the greatest of men are mortal. During the greater part of the day the Emperor returned the visits of the Princes who had waited upon him in the morning. Possibly the laws of etiquette may in this case have been very agreeable to the great one, for it enabled him first to see all the Princes together, and then to give them a lesson privately and individually. "Who can tell what devices were in the heart of the mighty? Who shall fathom the depth of the thoughts of kings? May the Lord rule and overrule, and out of every evil may His glory spring. The Princes and Dukes may have rejoiced at the coming of the Lord of France, but the people wondered what it all could mean, and forebodings of evil were neither rare nor frivolous. As for the little Kings, they came to this place like moths to a candle. Uninvited and unexpected, they must needs come forth to the presence of the potentate, if not to be lacqueys to his pride, at least to sun themselves in his superior glory. It is to be hoped that the dexterous player has not succeeded in throwing the apple of discord among these minor monarchs: divided they would soon be overcome, but united they might oppose a serious barrier to any aggrandisement he may anticipate. I like not to see either thieves in company or kings in conclave. Eagles come not together unless they scent the prey. All may be well, and the meeting may be a friendly visit and an exchange of courtesies, but uneasy thoughts will suggest themselves; for when the wolf inspects the sheepfolds and dines with the shepherds, the silliest of the sheep are troubled at nightfall.

"When the Emperor came forth from the hotel to his carriage, the populace of Baden gave him unmistakable evidence of their feelings towards him. Several gentlemen have assured me that the hissing was very far in excess of the few notes of acclamation. Even in the Conversation House, where the élite of the visitors were assembled, the hisses were very distinct, and must have been an unpleasant sound to one who breathes the air of flattery and eats the bread of adulation. "When the Grand-Duke afterwards appeared, the people cheered him very heartily, as if to show for whom the sounds of disapproval had been intended.

"After all, as far as I can judge, it is not what he has done, but what he may do, which causes this ill-feeling towards him. Some men would have done less and have had more credit for it, but this man continues to mar all his good deeds by a crooked policy which leads most men to suspect his best actions and to impute to him designs which may be very far from his thoughts. "Worse men than he have been better liked; and yet there is no injustice in this treatment of him, for his conduct courts suspicion and his dark reserve creates distrust."

Sunday, June 17, appears to have been the day chosen by these magnates for their chief time of deliberation. When neither crisis nor disaster was impending it seemed to be a scandal to the young London preacher that this should be the case. "Here were all the days in the week, all equally available, no haste compelling, no wars alarming, and yet none of their own six days will suit them: they must usurp God's peculiar day, as if they were lords of the Sabbath, or irresponsible to the laws of Heaven." In what degree were these potentates responsible for the gaieties of the Continental Sunday, which deprived the weekly rest day of its use and charm? Mr. Spurgeon continues:—

"The companies of country people who filled the roads were very interesting to observe; and as I looked from the windows of my quiet chamber upon the gaiety which the advent of these princes had caused upon a day consecrated to rest and worship, I could not fail to remember that men in high places have vast responsibilities, and God alone knows how much of the sins of the nations will be visited upon the heads of their governors. They are not only partakers of other men's sins, but creators of evil. Surely there are chains of darkness of unusual weight reserved for these ringleaders in rebellion."

Mr. Spurgeon witnessed the departure of Napoleon III. for Strasburg, and he penned this little word-picture of what was an interesting historical scene:—

"The Emperor left for Strasburg at 10 o'clock p.m., and his train started the midst of a silence more profound than I had ever remarked before. Standing on the edge of the crowd, I was astonished to the utmost at a stillness like that of death—a quiet which was not broken until the cause of it had departed; then every man breathed freely, and as the Duke of Baden rode back to his castle, the people gave him loyal cheers, which contrasted with the gloomy silence with which the Gallic despot had been greeted. To my mind there was something truly dignified in this noiseless censure: to hiss might be but a display of weak impertinence, but to be sternly silent was the noble rebuke of resolute minds. I ought to have said that on Saturday there was a fine illumination at the Conversation House, which is the grand resort for the company who are staying in the neighbourhood, and the building in which is concentrated the gambling for which the town is famous. Beyond this one display I did not perceive a flag or light upon any house or hotel. This was very strange to me, for if in any English town there had been but one king, much less nine, there would have been some sort of display, unless, indeed, the unpopularity of one of the number had been great enough to compel the people to ignore the existence of the other eight."

These passages, as coming quite fresh to readers of this generation, will be read with keen interest. They are a fair sample of the book which such a writer would have produced had such work been the object of his tour. The truth was, however, that the storing up of illustrations for his discourses, and thus to utilise all other material that might be gathered on his travels, was much more advantageous to Mr. Spurgeon than it would have been to give it in books or in newspaper letters. What the pastor says about the Emperor shows him to have been a keen observer of life. What were the notions of the once mighty potentate respecting the great English preacher? I once heard that, when Napoleon was a refugee at Chislehurst, in his last days, a friend who encountered him in his walks asked the fallen ruler a question concerning the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. "The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, I thought your Majesty might have heard of him?" It transpired, however, that the ex-Emperor had been so engaged with other matters that he knew nothing about the most popular of English preachers.

Mr. Spurgeon gave an account of his adventures during this tour at a large gathering of friends, who, on his return to England, welcomed him home in the then half-finished Tabernacle; but it will be more convenient to conclude the account of the holiday before any reference is made to the business meeting. When he left London in that March-like month of June, the pastor was accompanied as far as Gravesend by a number of friends; and, after taking farewell of these, he proceeded to Antwerp with an Essex captain, who was well competent to exchange anecdotes with a genially communicative passenger. Concerning this veteran Mr. Spurgeon said:—

"We soon chimed in: I began to tell him some anecdotes and he began to tell me some. Some of his were original: I will tell you one, because it tends to illustrate the town in which we landed—Antwerp. Antwerp is so full of Virgin Maries that you cannot turn the corner of a street without meeting one—sometimes under a canopy of many colours and arrayed in all manner of pretended jewellery. Well, so many of these Virgin Maries are there that the sailors believe every image they see to be the Virgin. A sailor who landed went and bought some tobacco. When he came to the ship, one of them said, 'This is very good tobacco, Jack; where did you get it?' 'Oh,' he said, 'you will know the shop, for there is the Virgin Mary sitting over the door smoking a pipe.'"

Judging from appearances, it was inferred that more was thought of the Virgin Mary in the city than of Christ Himself. A grand procession from the fine old cathedral, the priests and their attendants carrying lamps and candles in the daylight, made this even more apparent. They were said to be taking the sacrament to certain sick persons; and, as the ecclesiastics passed the houses, candles were lighted, although these were blown, out as soon as the procession had passed. What was regarded as being especially scandalous was the fact that even Protestants were seen to light candles in honour of the host. "I should like to have seen Martin Luther with a candle before his door," remarked Mr. Spurgeon. "If there had been one, it would have been to set the priests' dresses on fire, or to have burned the Pope's Bull." Beneath the shadow of the cathedral, things too grossly indecent on the one hand, and crosses on the other, might have been purchased, thus showing that Romanism failed even to affect for the better the morals of the people, so that the English preacher had his Protestant sympathies strengthened:—"When I saw the gems that were in the shrines, the costly marbles, the rich and rare pictures; and when I saw their Calvaries, as they call them, with representations of Christ and His Apostles, and all those things, I felt my spirit stirred within me at the sight of a people so wholly given to idolatry. I believe Antwerp to be the most religious place on the face of the earth in a bad sense, that is, the most superstitious."

It was found that the Emperor Napoleon was as much disliked in Belgium as he was feared in Prussia, so that the storm-clouds of war, which were to burst with such disastrous effect ten years later, were already gathering. Mr. Spurgeon judged of the national feeling from what was said by a party of gentlemen with whom he had some conversation, and who maintained that, as Napoleon had already been permitted to annex Savoy, no hindrance would be offered by England to his taking Switzerland, or rectifying the borders of the Rhine, should he feel so inclined. The preacher appears to have said the best that could be said for his country. "Do you not think that if Napoleon were to touch any of your provinces on the Rhine, England would certainly speak out?" he asked. "No," replied one of the Prussians; "your nation never speaks out except it touches your commerce: you are a people that care for nothing or nobody except Manchester." This was thought to be not far from the mark. While shrinking from doing anything which might stir up the war spirit, Mr. Spurgeon maintained that Oliver Cromwell was the best peace-maker; for to say the right word at the right time, and to strike evil-doers, tended to peacemaking more than did vacillation.

Brussels was visited, but that city was not found to be of any remarkable interest. What such a divine found reason to say of the preaching of certain priests in the Romish communion, however, must be given:—

"I heard a sermon in a Romish church. By the side of the pulpit was fixed up a crucifix, and the good man—for I believe he was a good man—was continually pointing to it and preaching Christ crucified. He did preach Christ crucified; he spoke of the love of Christ so that I, who am a very poor hand at the French language, could understand him. He did not say 'justification by faith,' but he did say 'efficacy of the blood,' which conies to very much the same thing. He did not tell us we were saved by grace and not by works, but he did say that all the works of men were less than nothing when brought into competition with the blood of Christ, and that blood was in itself enough. I was pleased to find my opinion verified that there are some even in that apostate Church who cleave unto the Lord—some sparks of heavenly fire which may perhaps guide poor souls to the rock Christ Jesus. I saw in that church a box for contributions to the Pope. He will never grow rich with what I gave him. I have seen money-boxes on the Continent for different saints—Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Dominique—another box for the Virgin, and another for the poor. But I could never make out how the money got to the Virgin and to the rest of them."

Something was said about several towns, and the long hours which the people worked, especially the women, who, in some parts, appeared to be strong and masculine, while they did more than the men. Many Irish were also met with here and there—men who volunteered to serve in the army of the Pope, and to whom no compliment could be paid. After passing through Frankfort and Heidelberg, a stay was made at Baden, and the gaming found to be going on there was characterised as the most dreadful sight this young pastor had ever beheld:—

"The Conversation House is a most gorgeous building. Wealth could not make it more splendid than it is. You are admitted without charge. The most beautiful music that can be found is there; and if there is a special concert, it is always free. The theatres are free, all the places of amusement are free, even the public library is free; nothing has to be paid for. You ask me how this is supported. To the left of the building there are two rooms for gaming. I went in. Here is a great table and a large crowd standing round it. Pour men sit in the middle with a kind of rake pulling money this way and that way, and pushing it here and there. I hardly ever saw such a lot of money except at a banker's counter. You see a young man come in, he looks round him, but he does not seem like a gambler at all. He puts down half a napoleon. In a minute it is shovelled away and he has lost his money. He walks round again, puts down another: this time he is successful, and has got two. You see women sitting in this place all night long playing high stakes. Some people win, but everybody must lose sooner or later. The banks clear a tremendous sum every year by simply making the odds so great against those who play that they must lose; and thus all these splendid places, the theatres and so on, are kept up by the gains of sin. Besides this, a large sum of money is paid to the State, and the shareholders divide a large percentage upon their money. None but fools will go there to play, yet I had the sorrow of seeing many such. Some will spend so much there that they have scarcely enough to take them to England—some not enough. Such is the infatuation, that you feel you must put down something; and if you had not strong principles you would be carried away by the torrent. Some defend the system, but I hold it to be fraught with the deadliest evils of anything ever invented by Satan himself. I saw an old, respectable-looking man, not unlike my friend Dr. Campbell. He came there and put down £10, he won; put down £20, again fortune favoured him—£40—£80—in a few minutes he won £160; then he took it all up, put it in his pocket, and walked away as coolly as possible. That man will certainly lose, for he would come on the morrow, and play so deep that he would sell the house that covered his children's heads, and the very pillow from under his wife. The worst thing that can happen to a man commencing to play is to win."

Some earnest warnings against gambling were given; and the change from the gaming-tables at Baden to the Alps at Schaffhausen was a grateful one. The first sight of the "everlasting hills" made an impression which was lasting. "Is that solid—that snowy glitter that I see yonder? Is it the sunrise, is it cloud, or is it a mountain?" Passing on to Zurich, the fair was found to be interesting, while the costumes of the country were remarkable. The Reformation had also its agents still in the country:—

"At Zürich, I saw in the fair, what I also saw at Baden, that which gave me great pleasure. Opposite the house at Baden, where sin and wickedness reigned, there was an agent of the Bible Society selling Bibles and Testaments. I purchased a Testament, and felt quite cheered to see that little battery erected right before the fortifications of Satan; for I felt in my soul that it was mighty, through God, to the pulling down of his strongholds. In the midst of the fair at Zurich, where, like at John Bunyan's Vanity Fair, all manner of things were exposed for sale, stood a humble-looking man selling Bibles, Ryle's tracts, and somebody's sermons. I must confess I felt pleased to see my own sermons, for they have been translated into French, German, Dutch, and "Welsh, so that you may scarcely go anywhere where you may not hit upon a copy."

After a Sabbath at Lucerne, the party ascended the Rigi, and then a visit was paid to the pastor of Geneva and historian of the Reformation, Dr. Merle d'Aubigné, and also to Pastor Bach. The doctor missed the great English preacher at the railway station; but, while in the city, he met with a friend who gladly recognised him, and who said, "Come to my house—the very house where Calvin lived." Mr. Spurgeon appears to have been entertained in the house of an eminent banker named Lombar, who is described as a "godly and gracious man." The company was in all respects suited to his taste, and his enjoyment correspondingly great. The Established and the Free Churches had had some differences, but their differences occasioned less friction than of old, and all welcomed most heartily their distinguished English visitor. Some of Mr. Spurgeon's further experiences in this city of Calvin and of the Reformation may be given in his own words:—

"I was really allowed to stand in the pulpit of John Calvin. I am not superstitious, but the first time I saw the medal of John Calvin I kissed it; and when the pastors saw my reverence for him, they presented me with a magnificent medal. I preached in the cathedral of St. Peter. I do not suppose half the people understood me, but it did not matter about understanding, for they were very glad to see, and to join in heart with the worship in which they could not join with the understanding. I did not feel very comfortable when I came out in full canonicals, but the request was put to me in such a beautiful way that I could have worn the Pope's tiara if they had asked me. They said, 'Our dear brother comes to us from another country. Now, when an ambassador comes from another country, he has a right to wear his own costume at court, but, as a mark of very great esteem, he sometimes condescends to the weakness of the country which he visits, and will wear Court dress.' 'Well,' I said, 'yes, that I will, certainly; but I shall feel like running in a sack.' It was John Calvin's cloak, and that reconciled me to it very much. I do love that man of God, suffering all his life long, and yet not only enduring persecution from without, but a complication of disorders from within, and yet serving his Master with all his heart. I want to ask your prayers for the Church at Geneva. That little Republic stands like an island surrounded by France. But I can assure you there are no greater anti-Gallicans in the whole world than the Genevese. I took rather a wicked delight in saying to them, 'Why, you are almost French people.' At last they hinted to me that they did not like me to say so, and I would not say it any more. They are afraid of being Frenchified; they cannot endure it. They know the sweets of liberty, and cannot bear that they should be absorbed with that huge monarchy. M. d'Aubigné charged me with this message, 'Stir up the Christians of England to make Geneva a matter of special prayer. We do not dread the arms of France, nor invasion, but something worse than that—namely, the introduction of French principles.'" At that time arrangements were being made for the Evangelical Alliance to meet at Geneva in the following year, and Mr. Spurgeon was regretting that he would not be able to be present. The journey from Geneva to Chamouni was an exhilarating experience never to be forgotten:—"You feel that you are going up to heaven just as these mountains are." Then came the passage of the Simplon Pass, and the entertainment at the famous Hospice on the summit, in which were found four or five Augustine monks. The very name of the illustrious Christian Father made this a congenial retreat:—

"They asked us to go in; we entered, and were shown into a very nice room, where cake and wine were awaiting us, and, if one had chosen to order it, we could have had soup, or fish, or anything we liked, and nothing to pay. They told us that they always fed a hundred people every day gratuitously, and sometimes as many as twelve hundred. Of course, no one who could afford it would go away without giving anything to the poor-box. I was delighted to find that they were all Augustine monks, because, next to Calvin, I love Augustine. I feel that Augustine was the great mine out of which Calvin digged his mental wealth; and the Augustine monks in practising their holy charity seemed to say:—'Our master was a teacher of grace, and we will practise it, and give without money and without price to all comers whatsoever they shall need.'"

While on his interesting tour Mr. Spurgeon passed through France, Belgium, the minor States of Germany, and Switzerland. Two sermons were preached at Geneva, and these discourses were published both in French and German. The medal of John Calvin was voted to the preacher by the congregational authorities as a memento of his visit. The principal places on the Rhone, Milan, Mantua, Verona, and Venice were visited, five days being given to the last-named city.

Mr. Spurgeon was very cordially welcomed back by his people on Sunday, July 29, when he preached at Exeter Hall. The text was Job 12:9-10; and the improved health and spirits of the pastor afforded great satisfaction to all friends. The Tabernacle builders had made considerable progress with their work, and a determined effort was now necessary in order to obtain the needful funds in time for the opening. Many difficulties had to be overcome. Some of these were of the usual commonplace kind; and then there was the drawback of an unfavourable season through excess of rain. Under such conditions, and when the building would cost over £31,000, it required some courage for a young pastor to declare that he would not conduct a Sabbath service in the chapel until the builder was fully paid.