Chapter 54: Work and Progress in 1864

Chapter 54.
Work and Progress in 1864

Temperance—Helensburgh—Work at the Tabernacle—A Remarkable Service—The Christian World and its Editor—The Divine Decrees—Glasgow.

For years after his coming to London Mr. Spurgeon was so little of a teetotal advocate in the conventional sense that, as has been already shown, he said something which J. B. Gough resented in language too warm to be pleasant. There seems to have been a tendency towards total abstinence in the College, however, which the President had no desire to check; and in the summer of 1864 a temperance society in connection with that institution was formed. The late Dr. Hannay attended as a deputation from the National Temperance League; and the chair was occupied by Mr. J. R. Selway, who was then scientific lecturer in the College, and who accepted the post of president of the society. To-day a large proportion of the pastors educated in the College are ardent teetotallers.

During the days now under review, many friendly messages passed between Clapham and Helensburgh, where John Anderson, the Free Church pastor, still preached, in a sense, after the manner of Baxter—"As a dying man to dying men." In the early summer Mr. Anderson made one of his flying visits to London; and having hastened back to Scotland without calling at Nightingale Lane, the following letter was sent to him on Midsummer Day:—

"Helensburgh House, "My Dear Mr. Anderson, "June 24, 1864.

"You deprived us of a great pleasure by flying home without alighting at our nest; but we felt very much comfort in the thought that your wings had grown strong, and that you were hoping to sing the old sweet song. I am very much your debtor for the kind token of remembrance you have sent me; I shall read it with great pleasure.

"The good work grows in my hands; the battle thickens; the victory is all the nearer. My sermon on baptismal regeneration has stirred up the rattlesnakes' den; but as their venomous fangs cannot reach me they may rattle as long as they please. Of course, I lose the friendship of the evangelicals; but I can bear that sooner than an ill conscience.

"The College prospers abundantly. The men are much in request, and usually succeed in the highest degree—especially in soul-winning. Passmore is out sniffing the salt sea, and we are beginning to look, like Elijah's servant, in the same direction. We cannot, however, venture into the 'land o' cakes,' for an habitation is already secured in the little village of Walton-on-the-Naze. My kindest regards I hereby present you; praying that your health may be confirmed, your ministry blest, and your heart encouraged. Mrs. Spurgeon and the boys send also their love.—Yours ever truly, "C. H. Spurgeon."

Although he made no pretensions to being a teetotaller, we find Mr. Spurgeon about this time giving a lecture on Poland on behalf of the funds of the Band of Hope Union. The pastor's deliverance on the subject of the oppressed Poles so delighted Dr. Campbell that he called the lecturer "that mighty man-of-all-work." What had been spoken in the British Senate on this subject was declared to be "but fribble and babble" in comparison. The young patriot's old friend added: "We wish Mr. Spurgeon could have found his way into the House of Commons for the occasion, and have poured himself out in the hearing of the gallery, that his grand, glorious, and philanthropic aspirations might have gone forth to the ends of the world on the wings of the British Press." This may be grandiloquent, but it is characteristic.

Dr. Marsh, for whom Mr. Spurgeon harboured a high opinion, died in August at the age of ninety years. The doctor may be regarded as the last member of the original Clapham Set; for he had been associated with Simeon of Cambridge, Henry Thornton, and William Wilberforce. The progress of the work at the Metropolitan Tabernacle during the year 1864 was in all respects encouraging and satisfactory. Mr. Spurgeon had now been ten years in London; and the way in which the small and scattered congregation at New Park Street had been revived was generally regarded as the most striking thing which had ever occurred in the annals of Nonconformity. The old chapel, capable of seating 1,200 persons, had been crowded from the outset of the pastor's career; and the great Tabernacle, into which 7,000 could be packed, had been filled on Sundays from the day of its opening. The church which removed from New Park Street in March, 1861, numbered nearly 1,200 members. At the close of 1864 this total had increased to nearly 2,900. Altogether, Mr. Spurgeon had received close upon 3,600 into membership; and out of this number 47 had become ministers of the Gospel, 7 were working as City missionaries, while 3 were Biblewomen. The aim was to make this great organisation a good example of a working church. In the general oversight of his large flock, the pastor was assisted by ten deacons and over twenty elders. The deacons, who were elected for life, had to "serve tables," or look after the temporal affairs of the church; the elders were chosen annually, and it was their business to see candidates for membership, etc. It was necessary thus early, also, to have an assistant in the pastorate, whose duty it was to attend to cases of discipline and to visit the people in their own homes. Mr. J. T. Dunn succeeded Mr. Ness in this office. Great care was taken in the matter of selecting candidates, or the roll of membership would have been a much greater one. No candidates save those who had made a favourable impression on one of the elders were seen by the pastor, and he was thus saved from work which others were as capable of doing as himself. In the course of his duties in connection with the Church and the College, the pastor came in contact with many remarkable characters. One good man, who is said to be still living, was a convert before he was even able to read. His wife was accustomed to read the Scriptures to him; and with the texts in his memory he would go out into back streets, or wherever he could draw together a congregation, and then proclaim the Gospel with a power which was altogether singular under the circumstances. In due course others were themselves converted; but there were persons who did not quite approve of a man undertaking to preach who was so illiterate. Complaints of the assumed irregularity were even made to Mr. Spurgeon, and it seemed necessary that the pastor should see the offender. "Well, brother, so you are out preaching," said Mr. Spurgeon. "I do not know much about preaching, sir," replied the other; "but bless the Lord, I must tell of His love to me, and try to bring others to love Him." "But I am told that you do not know grammar." "Grammar! What's that, sir?" asked the young Christian, with an expression of perplexity on his features which at least showed his honesty. The conversation went on a little longer, and after further explanations had been given, Mr. Spurgeon turned to his deacons and said: "This good brother means to preach, and there is only one way to stop him that I know of, and that is to take his head off." My informant remarks that no deacon, "not even in those days," was equal to such an undertaking as that; and, being in full sympathy with them, the pastor added, "If you do not feel disposed to take his head off, the next best thing will be to put something in it." The result of the interview was that the illiterate evangelist was taken in hand; he was first of all sent to a night-school, and afterwards he was received into the College. He has now been preaching, with good results, for over thirty years.

About the same time that this happened, Mr. Spurgeon was continually meeting with adventures in the provinces, of which it is to be regretted that a more particular account was not preserved by those who accompanied him. Thus, when a visit was paid to Ogbourne St. George, near Marlborough, the service would have been held in the open air; out wintry weather came on, and other arrangements had to be made. There was a wealthy farmer in the place who had a tent erected to accommodate a thousand people, and to provide seats for them he ordered a stack of prime meadow hay to be cut into trusses as level as forms, and the perfume of which filled the tent. When this was done a heavy fall of snow came on, which covered the ground for over fourteen inches. The distance from the village to the tent was a quarter of a mile; and in order to give the people a dry path, the farmer who had put up the tent had a rick of straw cut up, and with this the road was plentifully covered, so that no one had to complain of damp. "I know I have many Primitive Methodists here," said Mr. Spurgeon; who then added, "I was converted in a Primitive Methodist chapel; but I soon got over to the other side of the hedge." It was a memorable occasion; and one who heard Mr. Spurgeon many times afterwards says that he never heard the great preacher with more pleasure or profit than when the sermon was given in that village tent at Ogbourne St. George.

Among the friends who stood by Mr. Spurgeon and advocated his cause in the days now under review, must be reckoned the late Mr. James Clarke, editor and proprietor of The Christian World. For some years the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle strongly recommended Mr. Clarke's paper; and when he felt that he could no longer give such a recommendation on account of its broad theological tendencies, Mr. Spurgeon still received his old friend's annual contribution to the College funds.

Like Mr. Spurgeon, James Clarke was an Essex man, though his early days were spent at Ipswich. When he came to London as a young man to make his way, he for a time acted as shorthand amanuensis to Dr. Campbell. The young man, who had been reared in an evangelical school as strict as that in which Mr. Spurgeon himself had been brought up, was not only in hearty sympathy with all Christian work, he was himself an active worker, who would preach, as opportunity offered, in lodging-house kitchens or in the open air. At that time Spurgeon was no doubt regarded by the young journalist as one of the best models of a Christian worker the times had produced; but while the pastor still adhered to his grandfather's teaching, Mr. Clarke embraced broader, and what he regarded as more liberal, views. At the same time, the busy journalist looked on the varied work in progress with a friendly eye; and not only gave money to it, but in his paper, in a way, advocated Spurgeon's cause. In addition to accounts from time to time of meetings and of work, helpful notices of Mr. Spurgeon's works also appeared in The Christian World. The attitude of each toward the other was that of a man who agreed to differ with his fellow and to remain friendly. Without any compromise of principle on either side, I wrote for Mr. Clarke's paper at the time I was serving Mr. Spurgeon on The Sword and the Trowel. Each was well aware that I served the other, and I was handsomely treated by both. A man who preached a sermon every week could not expect never to utter a sentiment from which none even of his best friends dissented. On May 8 a sermon was preached at the Tabernacle on "Divine Decrees;" and one passage, which seemed to declare that every act and thought of man was pre-ordained by the Creator, was taken exception to as savouring of fatalism. One writer, who called attention to this discourse, says its doctrine was pointed out to him by a friend. "It had filled him with consternation, and he was carrying the sermon about in his pocket in order to keep it from falling into the hands of his young people." The writer proceeds:—

"Now, the first thing that occurs to one to ask on reading such a passage is, How does Mr. Spurgeon know this? Has he access to some source of information not open to other intelligent men? He cannot find it, nor anything like it, in the Bible. If he can, he can tell us where, and so place the matter beyond dispute. The truth is, the Bible is very reticent on this subject of the Divine decrees; while I believe there is not one of its writers who would not have shrunk with horror from identifying the contents of that 'hidden roll' with the black and troubled history of this bad and miserable world. But has Mr. Spurgeon seen the 'roll' himself? Or has someone else seen it and told him all that it contains? In either case it is no longer a 'hidden roll,' and it must be competent to Mr. Spurgeon, if he chooses to use the power he has acquired, to make the whole world acquainted with its contents. That would, indeed, be a new revelation, and such as would throw utterly into the shade the Book which God has given us to be our guide.

"But if Mr. Spurgeon does not know this, his assertion is very bold, and I, for one, think it is a very daring one. If 'God had written down with His wise finger every thought which man should think, every word which he should utter, and every deed which he should do,' then He had so written down all that Mr. Spurgeon was thinking, saying, and doing at that moment. Mr. Spurgeon's sermon, therefore, is nothing more than a copy taken from that 'hidden roll' and first preached to his people, and then handed to Messrs. Passmore and Alabaster for the purpose of a wider circulation. And not only so, but all the worst thoughts which men have indulged, all the vilest words they have uttered, and all the wickedest acts they have performed, are traceable to the same paternity. Let the world once come to believe that, and there is an end of conscience and duty together." In such a case as this, the preacher probably did not intend to teach all that "Delta" inferred, and it was a case in which a public man might well have offered some further explanation. In itself, as quoted, the passage looks very much like what a fatalist might have said; but Mr. Spurgeon was no fatalist, and the discourse must be read as a whole before any fair judgment can be given.

While the year 1864 was drawing to a close, all the works carried on at the Metropolitan Tabernacle showed no signs of flagging. Some thought that increased energy was apparent. The preacher had no doubt alienated a certain number of friends by the action he had taken in regard to the question of baptismal regeneration, but his popularity was not in any way diminished. The question which had been asked before again arose—Would Spurgeon found a sect after the manner of Wesley or the Countess of Huntingdon? Some supposed that this would be the natural development of his system. As one said, "He is being rapidly surrounded by a system which will probably go on to develop itself till nothing further remains to effect this end. He is less of an Independent, be it known, than of a Presbyterian; and the probabilities are that his community will be worked up into a close, compact structure, which will render a hundred churches more efficient for good than several hundreds united by no tie." This is no doubt a correct representation of the case. If Mr. Spurgeon had not been a Baptist, he would probably have joined one of the Presbyterian communions.

One of the stations which had been among the first to be visited by Spurgeon when he was the boy-preacher of the Fens, had been Milton, in Cambridgeshire; and on the 9th of November, 1864, the memorial-stone of a new chapel was laid. For half a century the place had been visited by the Baptist local preachers, the services being carried on in an ancient barn fitted up as a chapel. At length a friend presented a site for a new sanctuary, and the stone-laying festival was a high day at Milton. New Testaments were given to all young persons who chose to apply for them; a tea-meeting was held at the White Horse Inn, and the stimulating addresses were followed by a good collection. On November 14 Mr. Spurgeon preached in a chapel situated close to Vauxhall Gardens, Mr. Hearson, one of the College students, having done some good aggressive Christian work in that district. The building was not a new one; it had been erected some years before by the Independents, and after being vacated by them it was used as an Episcopal chapel. Mr. Hearson had already collected a congregation, and the chapel being available, he and his people removed into it. On November 25 another visit was paid to Glasgow, when Mr. Spurgeon preached at Elgin Place Chapel and also at the City Hall, on account of the somewhat heavy debt on North Frederick Street Chapel, where Mr. T. W. Medhurst, the first student, was stationed. Great congregations were attracted, and a sum of £100 was collected. On December 15 the autumn session of the Pastors' College was brought to a close, and on Friday, the 16th, there was a tea for friends, after which a meeting took place in the Tabernacle. The popularity of the work at this date may be inferred from the fact that close upon two thousand persons came to tea, and about double that number attended the after-meeting.