Chapter 50: Waterbeach Revisited.--Spurgeon and Ingoldsby

Chapter 50.
Waterbeach Revisited.—Spurgeon and Ingoldsby

Preaching Tours—Waterbeach Chapel burned down—Spurgeon's Visit—Birmingham—The New Zealand Settlers—Spurgeon in "The Ingoldsby Letters "—Weekly Communion—Mr. J. A. Spurgeon removes to London—Scotland revisited—Death of Friends.

After his return from the Continent, during the spring and summer of 1863, Mr. Spurgeon was frequently found away from home, opening new chapels or preaching on special occasions. On Tuesday the 5th of May he again visited the pretty Cambridgeshire village of Melbourne. At such a time the congregation came in from the surrounding country, there was a great tea-meeting, but not as a rule anything very considerable in the way of a collection. The money was not the first thing which entered into the preacher's calculations, however; he accepted no honorarium for his services, and the ingathering of converts into the Church by the preaching of the Gospel was the only reward he sought. On Monday the 1st of June the pastor had the happiness of attending the opening meetings of Wandsworth Chapel, Mr. J. W. Genders, who had been trained in the College, being the pastor. He made an earnest speech on the duty of giving, remarking that the collections of Christian people were as sweet music in the ears of the Lord. Judge Payne was also present, the subject of the indispensable "tailpiece" being the seasonable one of "The glorious first of June." On the day following Mr. Spurgeon preached twice on behalf of the cause, and in addition he and his people sent £100 to the building fund. On the following day he was found at the stone-laying of Walworth Road Chapel, Mr. Howieson, his neighbour, being the pastor. Mr. Spurgeon strongly commended this enterprise, remarking that though he did not believe in salvation by works, he knew that God still poured out His blessing on works which were rightly done. On Monday the 27th of July, Waterbeach presented a holiday-like appearance, the occasion being the laying of the memorial-stones of a new chapel which now occupies the site of the older structure wherein Mr. Spurgeon commenced his pastoral labours. At that date the sanctuary was hardly sixty years old, having been opened in the spring of 1803, and comely as it may look in a picture, it was hardly adapted to modern requirements. After it had stood for nearly sixty years, on April 25, 1862, the building was totally destroyed by fire, and had it not been for the unique associations of the previous decade, the loss need not have been very greatly deplored, a more commodious meeting-house being desirable. As it was, the villagers looked with dismay on the havoc wrought by the fire, and as a member of the congregation afterwards remarked to the writer, they revered the very smoke as it ascended, so closely connected seemed the great London preacher and that odd-looking little chapel. When they thus lost their chapel, the people did the best they could under the circumstances: they made a barn their Sunday meeting-place, and meanwhile the builder of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London supplied plans for a new chapel at a cost of £750, which were generally approved. There was some ambition to erect a chapel worthy of the village and its great memories. On the summer day already mentioned, Mr. Spurgeon went down to Waterbeach, and in the presence of between one and two thousand people laid the first memorial-stone of the new building, to the fund of which he presented a sum of £120. The silver trowel, which was brought away as a memento of the occasion, was presented by a deacon of the Tabernacle. Deacon King, an old friend of the preacher, offered prayer, Mr. Ewing, then the pastor at Waterbeach, gave an address, and a second stone was laid by Mr. James Toller, a local gentleman. Then followed a great tea-meeting, and in the evening there was the irresistible attraction of a sermon by Spurgeon in the capacious barn to two thousand delighted hearers.

Distinguished Ministers Trained in the Pastors College The preacher's incessant labours at this time prompted Dr. Campbell to remark, "Mr. Spurgeon would seem to be superior to all the frailties of humanity. In point of labour every day is almost a Sabbath, while his Sabbath efforts are such as might well exhaust and lay up for a day or two the strongest man." The pastor of the Tabernacle was compared to Whitefield, for as the great evangelist of the eighteenth century had had to travel far and wide on account of the orphans he undertook to feed, so did his modern successor have to itinerate in the interests of his College. Immense as was the liberality of his own people, he had to seek additional supplies in the distance. Thus we find Spurgeon preaching twice at Birmingham to 6,000 people, the collection of £133 averaging 4fd. each person. Two sermons were also given to 3,400 people at Dudley, where the collection of £112 averaged 8¹/₂d. At Wolverhampton 3,000 gave £91 at two services, the average being 7¹/₄d. Smaller places were also visited in turn, and to such an observer and lover of nature as Spurgeon some of these were of far greater interest than the large manufacturing towns. Take by way of example the visit made at this time to Lymington and the New Forest district:—

"This celebrated preacher paid his long anticipated visit to Lymington on Wednesday last. The event having been duly set before the public in the shape of handbills, posters, notices from the pulpit, etc., one of the largest crowds ever seen in this town gathered from all parts of the neighbourhood to welcome Mr. Spurgeon to Lymington. A monster booth had been erected, capable of holding from two to three thousand persons. It was, however, not large enough to hold the congregation, many of whom had to listen outside the booth to the preacher. The weather was showery, but the people were so determined to hear this remarkable man that the rain was scarcely heeded. Mr. Spurgeon preached in the afternoon and evening, the booth being crammed each time. The appearance of the huge congregations as they defiled out of the tent was very remarkable and striking. We fancy no other man living could create such an excitement in this usually steady-going town. We trust Mr. Spurgeon will pay Lymington another visit, and can assure him he will meet with a cordial and earnest welcome from the public. We are not bold enough to criticise his preaching. His style is peculiarly his own, and is not to be judged by ordinary rules. He is a gifted, earnest, eloquent man—cut out for hard work and plenty of it—and will leave a name behind him when his work is done that will excite the envy of many and the admiration of all. We wish him God-speed." The news which came to hand from time to time respecting the large body of New Zealand settlers on whose behalf the great farewell meeting was held in the Metropolitan Tabernacle must have been somewhat disappointing. "We regret to find that a very serious misunderstanding has occurred between Mr. Brame and his co-trustees," remarked the denominational organ. "The lands in question were sold under the authority of Mr. Brame, who is charged with having secured a Crown grant of them in his own name, while he was understood by the settlers to be acting only as their agent. He, in return, makes large money claims upon the settlement." This would be a sore disappointment to Mr. Spurgeon, who had shown such interest in the welfare of the emigrants. The deserters from the settlement increased rather than diminished, and the number who remained had gone down to about two hundred. The outlook, nevertheless, was in some respects promising. The Sabbath services were well attended; the sale of intoxicants was prohibited, but there was a lack of good schools. The courage of some had failed on account of the heavy expenses of transit.

About this time, some interest was excited in the portraiture of Spurgeon, as given to the world by a High Churchman in the second volume of "The Ingoldsby Letters." It was manifestly a sin in such a writer, as he ingenuously confessed, to leave his parish church for the sake of repairing to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The indiscretion, being once committed, however, was repeated, and the visitor was so deeply moved by what he saw and heard that he could not well refrain from giving his impressions to the public. The service commenced at 10.45, and lasted two hours, and half of the time was occupied by the sermon. In regard to this, it is observed, that "it is not so much the absolute length as the unvarying routine, the repetitions, and icy formality of our Church system which renders the usual morning service tedious even to religious persons, and notoriously repulsive to others." The preacher appeared exactly to time, "dressed in a plain frock-coat without any robes or bands;" but it excited no small astonishment when the first hymn was sung to the tune of "God save the Queen." Having no book and no knowledge of the words of the hymn, both mind and tongue were disposed to get into the groove of—

"Confound their politics;

Frustrate their knavish tricks," etc.

So that it was submitted "to the Coryphaeus of that vast assembly whether it might not be in better taste to confine his selection of tunes to such as are commonly applied to words of seriousness." The writer continues:—

"The hymn concluded, Mr. Spurgeon walked to the table, and taking his stand between it and the sofa, opened a large and handsome clasped Bible (the gift, I was told, of the congregation), 'and when he had found a place,' which was on this occasion the latter part of the sixth chapter of Ephesians, he proceeded to read it with a slow and articulate voice, dwelling upon the more impressive passages, which he illustrated by a short extempore comment as he went along. Never did I hear the 'first' or 'second' lesson in our churches delivered with like effect. Often, too often, have I mourned to hear them mangled in the reading, or hurried through as if a secondary portion of the service for the day, and never (as is well known) accompanied by the smallest attempt at exposition, however 'hard to be understood,' or however fertile or profitable instruction for the humbler class of worshippers. Not a word must pass the lips of the orthodox minister—the unfeigned-assent-and-consent-subscriber to our Liturgy—during the time of reading the prayers and appointed lessons of the day, but what is set down for him in the book, and has been so set down for the last two hundred years, and (according to the Bishop of Oxford) will be set down for the next two hundred. If the officiating minister break this rule—if he attempt, for example, on the 26th of next month, upon reading the second lesson for the evening service, to interrupt the course of Scripture by explaining how the feet of a Christian may be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, or his head covered with the helmet of salvation—he renders himself liable to an action for brawling in church, and may be sequestered from his living for as long a period as if he had been guilty of immorality, or had contravened any of the Thirty-nine Articles of religion.

"This same chapter, or rather a portion of it, explained as he went along by Mr. Spurgeon, was a sermon in itself; and was listened to with profound attention, and I will venture to say, corresponding edification, by all that multitude, who thus drank in the words of the Apostle, made plain and intelligible to the humblest comprehension, at the same time impressed upon all with a fervour and simplicity of illustration worthy both of the matter and object of the writer."

Attention was drawn by the writer to the singing of the second hymn and to the second prayer, which was more special in its character than the first, cases of individuals being mentioned, thus bringing home to each present the value of personal prayer, the Established Church service, with the exception of the Litany, being defective in that respect. Other things are also mentioned; then follows something concerning the preacher himself and the causes of his unique popularity:—

"Meanwhile, I would ask my readers to review calmly what I have written, and to bear in mind that I can have no possible motive in exalting the Conventicle at the expense of the Church; while I would fain have the latter, where it can, take a lesson from the former; as on the other hand, as far as rests with myself, I would see the former amalgamated with the latter by such a relaxation of the terms of subscription as I am persuaded might with safety be undertaken.

"That something is wrong somewhere, when thousands are thus seen to rush Sunday after Sunday (for several years' continuance) to listen to an unauthorised teacher, and to partake of what, without offence, I must designate as a schismatical form of worship, is but too manifest; while the contrast is made more painful by the languid manner in which the ministrations of the Establishment are but too frequently attended, and the vacancies seen along our benches, notwithstanding all the appliances used to induce a cheerful and ready attendance.

"All the learning and piety in the world will not supply the want of a good delivery, and the tact to suit your discourse to the character of your audience. Herein lies the first secret of Mr. Spurgeon's success. He has taken the measure of his congregation's taste and capacity, and adapts himself to it. Like the cunning doctor in Lucretius, he anoints the lips of his cup with honey, and so cheats his patients into swallowing the salutiferous draught. Religion was made agreeable to his hearers, but it is still religion. He makes it apparent both in his preaching and practice that her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.

"The second great cause of Mr. Spurgeon's continued popularity is that he is mighty in the Scriptures. This is his deep well, and he is not sparing of its resources. He draws and draws again as he has occasion, and he does it without forcing. He has carefully studied John Bunyan, and copies him here with considerable skill. Thirdly, he is evidently a man of prayer, and feels therein a hidden source of strength which will not fail him at his need. The same gift which empowers him to pour forth his two extempore prayers in the early part of the service, accompanies him throughout his sermon, and chastens and subdues even the more attractive portions of the discourse. In his lightest illustrations he does not forget the object and the occasion, and thus escapes splitting on a rock that has foundered many a preacher of oratorical powers equal or even superior to his own." So far, the gifts and attainments of the preacher, in this writer's opinion, were sufficiently striking to account for his success; but of course the portraiture would not have been complete without reference to his "full, clear, and melodious voice," which struck most of his hearers in those early days as one of the preacher's most unique endowments. In connection with his manner in the pulpit, however, there were other things which attracted this shrewd observer's attention:—

"He has, moreover, an accurate and quick ear and an expressive eye, developing in a remarkable degree the organ of language, aided by those of ideality, comparison, gaiety, wonder, veneration, and constructiveness. His manner is agreeable, and he is blest with a large fund of animal spirits and considerable strength. Such are Mr. Spurgeon's natural and acquired qualifications as a preacher, to which he has not disdained to add the great advantages of careful study and long cultivation. He understands, too, the art of concealing his art. He holds himself entirely under control. And if for a moment he appears to give way to the excitement of the topic and allows free rein to his tongue, he still has it under subjection, and returns to a quieter mood without effort and without constraint. His transitions are natural, and pleasantly relieve the outline of his bolder strokes. He is no windy orator, and knows when to pause, when to turn. He does not run either himself or his subject out of breath. His diction, though rapid, is sufficiently choice; his figures well selected and full of meaning. His energy is prodigious, and his earnestness bears all the appearance of sincerity and truth."

Spurgeon had thus recommendations which would have made any preacher popular; but there was something else which had to be reckoned among his peculiar advantages, and which so largely accounted for his standing in the front as the "phoenix of Nonconformity." This lay, the writer unhesitatingly declared, in the freedom of the preacher's position:—

"Mr. Spurgeon neither prays nor preaches in chains. He is unconscious of the sword of his bishop hanging by a hair over his head. He is not, I believe, of the Independent persuasion, but he is independent (notwithstanding) of everything except the favour of his flock, who are worthy of him and he of them. They are mutually fond of one another; exacting and expecting no more than is the due between minister and people. The latter not extreme to criticise; the former not fearful to give offence.

"It is this mutual good understanding which, as it first contributed largely to secure his congregation, now serves to cement it. Meanwhile it should not be forgotten that Mr. Spurgeon possesses the additional stimulus of a remarkably propitious soil for the full development of his genius. His tabernacle stands in a densely peopled district of the middle orders, where the voluntary system will always work to the best advantage; a system which, be its effects what they may (and we are far from advocating it for general adoption), has at least the merit of drawing out and bringing into the foreground all the talent and capabilities of its teachers. Under it a preacher finds his level as surely and almost as quickly as do air and water. No envy depresses him. No nepotism or favouritism keeps him perpetually in the background. Conservatism or Radicalism form no part of his religious profession. He has neither to crawl into favour with his diocesan, nor to set his barometer daily to the level indicated by the public horizon.

"Can the same be said of the 20,000 ministers under the Establishment; and is it, then, surprising that we meet with few or no Spurgeons in the Church? I have heard it remarked by a London physician of extensive practice, that there is no profession in which there is such a waste of power as in the Established Church."

What was the remedy for this state of things? The answer of this writer was, "Let us Spurgeonise the Church." The skill which enabled a preacher to give the Gospel to the people in the most acceptable manner could hardly be supposed to be the possession of only one man: Churchmen as well as Baptists could adopt popular methods. In bygone days Simeon, of Cambridge, had attracted a full congregation: why should he not have imitators of his example? There were a few already; but what would be said if there were to be a Simeon or a Spurgeon in every church? "Let them say what they please, so long as they cannot say, with some show of truth, that while the ministers of the Establishment are idly busy purging away common sense amidst whole acres and furlongs of empty benches, their would-be congregation is being gesticulated away by the fervid eloquence of a Spurgeon, or the ungrammatical nonsense of Mr. Stubbs." The sentiments of this talented author may possibly have found as much sympathy among Nonconformists as in the Establishment itself. The two volumes contained 128 letters which had previously appeared, and three letters were devoted to Mr. Spurgeon. "Men of such a spirit are the bonds of all that is good in the Establishment, and the magnets of all that is good beyond it," said one reviewer. "A thousand men, such as the author of 'The Ingoldsby Letters,' in twenty years would put a new face on the Church of England, and would operate in a manner the most salutary on the spirit of Dissent." A work published in 1863 drew attention to the question of the Lord's Supper, advocating the practice of a weekly celebration, references, by the way, being made to Mr. Spurgeon. As is well known, the Church at the Metropolitan Tabernacle maintained the rule of open communion, while the membership was strictly confined to Baptists. This rule was pretty common in the denomination to which Mr. Spurgeon belonged, while the General or Arminian Baptists on the one hand, and the Strict Baptists on the other, were usually of close communion principles. The book just referred to was not concerned with such controversies, however; the object of the author was to prevail on all the Churches to practise weekly communion. Some references were made to New Park Street Chapel and to the Metropolitan Tabernacle as follows:—

"I may here remark that Mr. Spurgeon had fortnightly communion when in Park Street Chapel, and found nothing inconvenient, much less impracticable, in it, although he had latterly in that place a congregation numbering more than 2,000 persons, and a Church consisting of about 1,000 members. And if Mr. Spurgeon administered for years the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to his large Church in Park Street Chapel once every second week without any inconvenience whatever, the inevitable conclusion to which we must come is, that there can be no admissible excuse on that ground for not commemorating the death of Christ on the first day of every week. Indeed, I have great pleasure in being able to say that I have ground for believing that ere long Mr. Spurgeon will see it to be his duty to institute the weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper in his Metropolitan Tabernacle, with its congregation of between 5,000 and 6,000 persons, and members of the Church numbering not much short of 2,500. I fondly trust that my expectations in this matter will be speedily realised, because the fact of weekly communion being established by him would have a powerful influence on other ministers of the Gospel and Churches throughout the land; while the circumstance of weekly partaking of the Supper in the largest place of worship—having also the greatest number of Church members in the world—would prove an unanswerable argument in opposition to those who urge, as their reason for neglecting weekly communion, the inconvenience, if not the impracticability, of dispensing the Sacrament of the Supper weekly in large congregations and Churches." The removal of his brother from Southampton to London during the summer of 1863 would naturally be a matter affording great satisfaction to Mr. Spurgeon. Sir Morton Peto had erected a handsome chapel in Cornwall Road, Notting Hill, and of this Mr. James Spurgeon accepted the pastorate. The chapel was opened on Wednesday, the 1st of July, and the pastor commenced work immediately afterwards. Among the speeches on that occasion was one by Henry Ward Beecher. who had been present at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on the preceding Sunday morning to hear Mr. Spurgeon's sermon on "The Rainbow."

Another visit to Scotland appears to have been undertaken during the summer; and Sunday, the 9th of August, was passed at Helensburgh at the manse of the Free Church minister, John Anderson. It was not quite a day of rest to Mr. Spurgeon, however; for after preaching in the church in the morning he preached again in the evening in the open air near the railway station. The text of the first sermon was St. John 20:25, "We have seen the Lord;" that of the evening was from the same Gospel—vii. 37: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." As regarded entertainment, Helensburgh was probably at this time the place which Mr. Spurgeon loved best to visit in Scotland; but now he had the additional satisfaction of seeing his son in the faith and "First Student" settled as pastor over the Frederick Street congregation in Glasgow. Mr. Medhurst had accepted that charge only a few months previously, and was doing a work which gladdened the heart of his Chief. Great advances had been made by the Baptist denomination in the city; for we find it stated on good authority that a century before "there was not an individual to be found in Glasgow who avowed his conviction of adult baptism." We find it added, that "when a native of a neighbouring parish had his attention drawn to the inquiry, there was none with whom he could communicate." The individual referred to, Archibald McLean, became a Baptist at the age of thirty in 1763. That being then a hundred years ago, we find that there was some desire to have a centenary celebration. "Dr. Gill has passed away," it was remarked. "Mr. Spurgeon treads in his steps, Mr. Medhurst follows in the rear, and the Baptist friends in the capital of the West gather round him to sustain and support him." From first to last it was a most unusual thing for Mr. Spurgeon to leave his own pulpit on a Sunday in order to preach elsewhere; but this happened on Sunday morning, October 18, when he gave a discourse to his brother's congregation at Cornwall Road Chapel, founded on Deu 1:38, "Encourage him." The people received some excellent advice in regard to their conduct towards their minister, some things being said which were very necessary to put in practice, but which the pastor himself could not have spoken with so much effect. The progress made during the year 1863 appears to have been in all respects satisfactory. The Church at the Metropolitan Tabernacle was rapidly growing in numbers, while the College, which was now seven years old, had a staff of competent tutors and sixty-six students, besides nearly two hundred young fellows in its evening classes. The money for all this enterprise was never wanting; no debt was ever incurred; and the pastor himself always declared that all the necessary supplies came in answer to prayer. George Müller, at Bristol, and Spurgeon, in London, were thus alike in their faith and methods. The students prepared for service readily found openings; forty had already settled, and the applications were more numerous than the men to respond to them. The men who were sent forth were found to be peculiarly successful in breaking up new ground, or in making new spheres for themselves. Thoughts of erecting a college building were now first entertained. What was being effected by certain of the more successful of the former students was already justly regarded as striking evidence of the success of the College; and in the number of his paper which appeared on Christmas Day Dr. Campbell said:—

"As one example, take Mr. Gauge, of Portsmouth. He has laboured there a year. His hearers at first were fifty; in a few weeks nine hundred. To protect those who hold seats, he has been obliged to adopt the ticket system of his metropolitan patron. Not a single sitting is unlet. Many persons go away unable to get in. He has received into Church-fellowship considerably more than a hundred persons, his own converts. Besides an inquirers' class and male and female Bible classes, he has also a preachers' class—that is to say, no fewer than thirty-five men, probably young men, meet him every Saturday night, when he trains them in the art of extempore speech as preachers, which holy art they exercise on Sunday afternoons in the open air." The chapel which was soon afterwards erected was the largest Nonconformist place of worship in the county of Hampshire. There for some years Mr. Medhurst, the "First Student," also laboured, Mr. Gange having succeeded to the pulpit of Robert Hall, at Broad-mead, Bristol, where he still remains. The last day of the year falling on a Thursday, the usual week-night sermon at the Tabernacle was succeeded by a watch-night service. The weather was very wet, so that the attendance was not so large as usual. Those who waited were regaled with refreshments in the rooms below; and at eleven o'clock, when the pastor again appeared on the platform, there was a very large congregation. The address was founded on Heb 3:7, "The Holy Ghost saith to-day." It was, he said, a short text, and he meant to preach from it a short sermon. They were words full of meaning and import to everyone present. They set forth, in the first place, their opportunity. That opportunity was the day of mercy. That day might not be past to them; but they must remember it was "to-day." To-morrow it might be gone, and once passed it was lost for ever. It was very variable in its duration. To some it was seventy years, to others not so many weeks, and to some there might not be seventy minutes. Let them, then, seize it while it was to-day. Then the words implied his importunity. The thought of eternity made him earnest in his entreaties with them to flee to the Saviour, and he concluded by calling upon them to spend the few remaining moments of the year in silent and fervent prayer to that Saviour, that He would hear their cry for mercy and enable them by the Spirit to lay hold upon Him as the only medium through which it could be extended towards them.

According to custom, the people spent a few moments in silent prayer while 1863 passed away and the new year came in.

Among those who died during 1863 were Dr. Reed, the philanthropist, Dr. Raffles, Sir Culling Eardley, and Archbishop Whately. Perhaps the loss which would most affect Mr. Spurgeon, however, was that of Dr. Gaussen, the Geneva professor, whose work on the Plenary Inspiration of Scripture the London preacher afterwards republished as one of the books on this subject which he most valued.