Chapter 62: Work and Progress in 1866

Chapter 62.
Work and Progress in 1866

Foreign Missionaries—State of London—The Cholera—Final Closing of New Park Street Chapel—A Street Adventure—Baptist Union at Liverpool—Spurgeon at New College—Sermon on Ritualism.

Mr. Spurgeon appears to have learned some things in Scotland which he was able to turn to good use; and at a meeting of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Chapel Building and College Reserve Fund, on Wednesday, June 13, 1866, he gave the people some account of the visit to the North. He seems to have been struck with the systematic way in which the Free Church organised its various enterprises, and with the mode in which printed reports were presented to the presbyteries. There did not appear to be any prospect of the Baptists ever working in union in a similar manner, however, although some of the methods of the Scotch might with profit be adopted by the congregation. It was recommended that committees should be formed—one to promote the circulation of pure literature, one to see after the Sunday-school and to arrange for the establishment of a day-school, and one for benevolent purposes. There should also be one for foreign missions, and another to look after political privileges and present petitions to Parliament, as necessity might arise. The continued interest which the people at the Metropolitan Tabernacle manifested in the work of foreign missionaries was shown by a meeting which was held on Monday, July 30, when farewell was taken of certain missionaries who were about to proceed to India. Mr. Spurgeon said that they wanted to see the heroic age of missions come back; they wanted some examples of self-sacrifice such as should stir up the hearts of the people:—

"Some have spoken of the astonishing labours of such men as Francis Xavier, and of the Jesuits of China, whose zeal was truly apostolic. I think that if something rare were done—something so rash as to astonish people, as in the case of, poor rash Carey—that a greater blessing might accompany our missionary work. There is a feeling growing up in many churches—I only say what others have stated—that there is less preaching by missionaries than in former times. Translations, writing tracts, and teaching knowledge are, I consider, subordinate things to preaching the Gospel. The pulpit is, I consider, the great Thermopylæ of Christendom, and, as I am accustomed to say to the students of the College, 'If you cannot preach, you can do nothing.' I venture to say that because missionaries are apt to forget it." The year 1866 is still remembered as a time of panic and of cholera. The insanitary condition of the more crowded quarters of London encouraged the spread of the plague when it once appeared, and what that condition was may be inferred from what the pastor of Commercial Road Chapel said of his surroundings:—

"In this often ignored and overlooked district of the teeming multitudinous world of London there are thick jungles of immorality and heathenism uncleared and almost unvisited, where are always more deadly foes than fever or cholera, plague or pestilence, which kill the body and leave no more that they can do. I myself know well a locality where 10,000 or more inhabitants are huddled together in filthy narrow streets, and where for years, amid the lowest forms of vice and the greatest profanity and Sabbath desecration, only a solitary and heroic missionary has been found toiling and labouring for the good of the people." On Sunday, August 12, special attention was drawn to the cholera visitation in a sermon founded on Amo 3:3-6. The preacher did not think that every such affliction was a judgment sent by God on the nation; and he did not believe in judgments coming on particular persons except in extraordinary cases. Individuals were rewarded or punished in the next state; but as there would then be no nations, nations, as such, were punished in the present world. The national sin of drunkenness was enlarged upon:—

"Alas! alas! this drunken city may well expect that God should visit it. The debauchery of the streets is a pestilence which is enough to cause God's health-giving providence to refuse to walk with us. I think that the constant neglect of the worship of God is a sin of which London is peculiarly and pre-eminently guilty. In some of our country towns and villages the accommodation in places of worship is even larger than the population, and I know places in England where there is scarcely a soul to be found at home at the hour of public worship—certainly not more than absolutely necessary to nurse the sick, care for the infants, and protect the doors—for the whole population turn out to attend the place of worship. But in London the habitual forsakers of public worship are probably in a large majority. It must be so, because we know that, even if they wished to go, the provision of seat room is most lamentably short of what they would require, and yet, short as it is, there is not half so much want of churches and chapels in London as there is of inclination to go to either the one or the other. The masses of our people regard not God, care not for the Lord Jesus, and have no thought about eternal things. This is a Christian city, we sometimes say, but where shall be found more thorough heathens than we may find here? In Canton, Calcutta, or even Timbuctoo, the people have at least a form of worship and a reverence for some idea of a God, but here tens of thousands make no pretence of religious worship. I protest unto you all that whereas you think Christianity to be well known in our streets and lanes, you only think so because you have not penetrated into their depths, for thick darkness covers the people. There are discoveries yet to be made in this city that may make the hearts of Christendom melt for shame that we should have permitted such God-dishonouring ignorance, that in the very blaze of the sun, as we think our country to be, there should be black spots where Christian light has never penetrated. One design of the cholera seems to be to wake up the indifferent population—to make them remember that there is a God, to render them susceptible to the influences of the Gospel, to drive them to the house of prayer, to influence their minds to receive the Word, and, moreover, to startle Christians into energy and earnestness, that they may work while it is called to-day. Already I have been told by Christian brethren labouring in the east of London that there is a greater willingness to listen to Gospel truth, and that if there be a religious service it is more acceptable to the people now than it was, for which I thank God as an indication that affliction is answering its purpose. There is, perhaps, no part of London more destitute of the means of grace, and of the desire to use the means, than that particular district where the plague has fallen; and if the Lord shall but make those teeming thousands anxious to hear the Gospel of Jesus, and teach them to trust in Him, then the design will be answered."

Towards the end of the summer of this year, the congregation which had been accustomed to meet in New Park Street Chapel finally took leave of the building, which they had learned to love on account of its hallowed associations, and despite its uncanny surroundings. During the preceding eighteen months Mr. George Kew had conducted the services, and on leaving the place he was presented with a handsome family Bible. As the old sanctuary now, as it were, disappears from the scenes, we may ourselves take account of what is called Dr. Rippon's Prophetic Prayer, which that veteran offered up towards the close of his long pastorate. The doctor is said to have asked the Lord that it would please Him "to anoint and to commission a young minister, who peradventure is not yet born, to be witness for the Gospel, and a leader of God's flock, and whose successful career shall throw the great annals of the past into the shade." The congregation which had overflowed in the time of Mr. Spurgeon's pastorate had again dwindled to a very small company. The sale of the property gave the funds needed for the establishment of a day-school, while the almshouses were rebuilt on a more eligible site.

It was also at this time that the public heard for the first time of the proposal to found an Orphanage in connection with the Metropolitan Tabernacle, the report now gaining currency that a lady had promised Mr. Spurgeon £20,000 with which to found an Orphanage.

Among other things that were given to the world in 1866 was a report concerning a "Miss Spurgeon," who was supposed to exist, and which at least served to prove that fiction is sometimes stranger than truth. Thus The New York Home Journal said:—"Miss Spurgeon, the daughter of the popular preacher, accompanied Queen Emma to this country. Miss Spurgeon is on her way to the Sandwich Islands, in the hope of being able to instruct the natives in the doctrines of Christianity. She is twenty-four years of age, has a fine intellectual face, and very prepossessing manners." At this time the reputed father of this imaginary young lady was himself only thirty-two years old. The great preacher would occasionally meet with adventures in the streets which would be more or less diverting, according to circumstances. I never knew of his ever travelling by omnibus, and in his later years he was not accustomed to walk about the streets; he would employ either his own brougham or a cab. In the earlier years of his service he walked about, however, and this is a relation of one of his adventures as told by himself:—"I remember, in the streets of London, a man took off his hat and bowed to me—'The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon; a great humbug.' I took off my hat, too, and said, 'I am obliged to you, sir, that I am great at anything.' We passed on, parting very amicably. I have not had the pleasure of meeting him since, but I felt highly flattered that day." Commenting on this interchange of civilities, a weekly journal, which always looked at Spurgeon through the green spectacles of the narrowest Anglican prejudice, said, "The story is a good one, and does credit to the discrimination of both parties. The gentleman who politely characterised Mr. Spurgeon in this way certainly did not hate him; and the kind way in which Mr. Spurgeon accepted the compliment showed his character and his appreciation of notoriety. Any notice was better than no notice at all; any pre-eminence, even as a pretender, was grateful; and notoriety, even that of censure, is acceptable." A paragraph which appeared in the newspapers at the end of August, 1866, had the effect of making the young pastor appear extremely peculiar in the eyes of a large number of people:—"Mr. Spurgeon has just notified, on smart pink paper, to a member of his flock, that he discourages as much as possible the practice of returning thanks after childbirth by any of his congregation, since, in most cases, it is an absurd superstitious practice." The Baptist Union autumnal meetings took place at Liverpool during the second week of October, Mr. J. Aldis, of Reading, being in the chair. The proceedings in general were probably of more than average interest. The denomination appeared to be making progress, for it was stated that one-fourth of the Baptist chapels of England had been erected during the preceding twenty years. Congratulations were given and received in regard to the generosity of the churches during the cotton famine; might they now band together to ward off a still worse famine—that of "The Bread of Life?" A paper was read by Mr. James Benham, then treasurer of the Baptist Building Fund, on "The Deacon's Office in Relation to Church Finance." A discussion followed. Then the scene suddenly changes:—

"Whispers are numerous, and speedily a loud burst of applause is heard. It greets a brother whom all love to see and delight to honour, and there he stands—the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. He speaks of elders as well as deacons in the Tabernacle church, and from grateful experience recommends sister churches to have them too. Many business men are not needed in a church, but elders are. Let them be employed; the result will justify the step. A pastor's support is no gratuity. 'The labourer is worthy,' not of 'what Providence sends,' or 'what can be raised,' but 'worthy of his hire,' and the Master enjoined this because He knew that certain influences in churches rendered the injunction necessary. We ought to rise to that munificence which only entire consecration to Christ can secure. An inefficient deacon is to be remonstrated with, and if he go away offended we lose only a bad man; if he remain and improve, we keep a good one."

It was on this occasion that Mr. Spurgeon made the confession that he had once received the offer of a partnership in a mercantile firm with £3,000, on which he might have made himself comfortable and retired, had he been so disposed. On Wednesday, the 17th, he attended the Welsh meeting at Myrtle Street Chapel, preferring that to the conversazione held at the Philharmonic Hall at the same time. Several of the addresses at Myrtle Street Chapel were in Welsh, a dialect which the London preacher never attempted to learn, though he always affected to believe that it must have been the language of Paradise. He had a liking for the Welsh people, however, and was gratified by finding that the volume of his sermons then recently translated was meeting with a ready sale. In addressing the Welsh friends on this occasion, something was said about what is called Welsh fire in preaching, and then followed some remarks which must have gone home to the hearts of many of those present:—

"I always desire to mingle with the preaching of the Word as much of fire as is characteristic of Welshmen and is consistent with its being fire from off God's altar. Englishmen have been very apt to lie back on the laurels of William Knibb and men of that class among them, and some of my Welsh friends are always talking about their Christmas Evans. That is all well enough, but every minister ought to seek to emulate the heroes of the past. It is a good thing to think of the men who went before us, in order that our courage may be strengthened and our pulse quickened; but to rest there would be the saddest thing that could occur to the Church. Our honour before God must depend on the exertions of to-day—nay, our very existence much longer might depend on our making advances on the foe. Ministers must make up their mind that they will preach better. If they preach the best they know they must learn more, and if they have attained unto some degree of success, they must forget what they have attained unto and press on for something yet beyond; for if the kingdom of Christ is to be spread, very much depends upon the ministers being quickened in all respects in the work of the ministry. The Welsh churches furnish a considerable proportion of members to the English churches through the constant progress of immigration. May I ask you, with the deepest affection and respect, to see as much as ever you can to the discipline of the Church? We do not complain of our churches as they might exist, but we have to complain that sometimes Welshmen in London are very different from Welshmen among the hills; that, although they may be very useful members of their own churches, they do succumb very terribly to the temptations of London. Whether or not this indicates that there must be some of them unconverted, or whether they are simply backsliders, I leave to my brethren to judge. But we must be very scrupulous about our membership."

Lotteries, or "gambling for the glory of God," as Mr. Spurgeon described it, appears to have been comparatively common at that time; and, while he strongly condemned the practice, he mentioned having had two tickets sent to him, which were then sent to the Home Secretary. Some references were made to the spread of Romish practices in the Established Church; and it was then shown how the mere patronage of royal and great personages was not enough to advance a great reformation:—

"How well the Reformation went on under Martin Luther until kings came in to help it! The king's hand is said to cure the scrofula or king's evil; I believe it gives it. As soon as ever the kings touched the Reformation, the Reformation ceased. It never went further; it could not, it was impossible. There was another Reformation in the days of Oliver Cromwell, but that Reformation was very much achieved by carnal weapons. I deplore the fact that men who loved God so well ever took sword and pistol in hand at all. The next Reformation must be by the clear, sheer force of the Holy Ghost's power, earnest prayer, and the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Though I think we must use all political means as citizens, yet as Christians this is our chief means, and we may rest assured that the old battering-ram of the Gospel, which shakes the walls of heathenism, though it is hoary with age, and makes them come tottering down in one colossal ruin, will shake the walls of Antichrist, and make them come down too. It is a part of patriotism to denounce that which will lead us back to Popery. It is a part of our Christianity, not only to preach truth, but denounce error. I urge you, by your love of souls, to spread abroad the Gospel; by your love of "Christ to spread that Gospel lovingly; by your hatred of everything which touches the crown jewels of Christ, which sets up any king but Jesus in the Church, which brings out any law but the Bible, and which would teach us to trust in anything but the precious blood, to rely on anything but the finished work of the Saviour; by your hatred of these to be instant in season and out of season; to let your testimony be bold, clear, strong, united, consistent, honest, and true."

After the pastor's return from Liverpool his earnestness in the work to which he had set his hand seemed to become more manifest than ever. His sermon to the Union, preached to an immense audience, in the Philharmonic Hall, had been founded on Eph 5:14, "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." The discourse seems to have been like a call to renewed diligence and consecration. When he again settled down in London Mr. Spurgeon read Dr. Manning's pastoral letter, asking for daily prayers for the Pope, and that suggested the institution of daily prayer-meetings at the Tabernacle to ask for a special blessing upon the Church at large in its varied operations. The morning meetings were at seven o'clock, and those of the evening at seven, or half an hour later. The fifth of November was also set apart by the London Baptist Association as a day of fasting and prayer, that being thought to be more profitable than bonfires and fireworks.

Having done so much in the department of ministerial education, Mr. Spurgeon was naturally regarded with much interest by the tutors and students of other colleges. At this time Dr. Halley was principal of New College, and for years that veteran writer, preacher, and teacher had asked the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle to pay him and his students a visit. Not until the evening of Friday, October 26, however, was Mr. Spurgeon able to accept the invitation. Dr. Halley presided at tea, and a meeting was afterwards held in the library, a battalion of young men from Regent's Park College being also present. Mr. Spurgeon, having offered prayer, was cordially welcomed, and he then proceeded to give an address on "The Power of the Pulpit":—

"By the pulpit I do not, of coarse, mean the large, wooden box in which many men are shut up; though, in passing, I may say a word or two about this as a hindrance to the efficiency of preaching. It has been said that pulpits are scriptural, and that Ezra had a pulpit. But a reference to the passage shows that the pulpit held fourteen people. The Saviour did not preach from a pulpit; Raffaelle, in bis cartoon of 'Paul at Athens,' has not represented the Apostle as addressing the people from a pulpit. It is one of the greatest proofs of the inspiration of the Bible that it has survived the introduction of pulpits. When a man is in earnest his whole body speaks, and he ought not to be concealed from his congregation. The main business of a minister is his pulpit. The visitation of the sick, private visitation among his people, organisation of useful and benevolent institutions, platform speaking, occasional contributions to magazines and reviews—these are all good and important; but the work of the pulpit is more important than any of them. The pulpit is the Thermopylæ of Christendom. It has not done everything; it is not intended to do everything; but it has done a great deal. Look at its history. It over-rode philosophy and bigotry, which is almost as strong as philosophy. Against these Paul had nothing but preaching as an instrument. It overthrew idolatry and the colossal system of the Church of Rome. Much was done for the Reformation by the writings of Erasmus, by caricatures, by translations, but the lever by which was lifted the monstrous stone covering the sepulchre of spiritual life was the preaching of Luther. The pulpit did much to overthrow Stuart tyranny; Cromwell's Ironsides could not have done without a sermon. Great were the effects of the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley last century; and nowadays, with all its defects, men cannot do without the pulpit. Preachers are worth all that their congregations give them, and worth a great deal more. If any young man present is conscious of having received more than he ought for his occasional ministrations, let him stand forward and say so. If there is such a one he is a rara avis, or rather a goose. In all ages preaching has been the great instrument of conversion. Then as to edifying: it is true that some men have the gift of dispersion largely developed, and their power of thinning a congregation is wonderful; but, after all, the pulpit is a great instructing power."

It was then shown that, even in the matter of purely secular education, a good deal was done by preaching; and the pulpit did much also in the way of encouraging and directing beneficent action, as was proved by the collections for good objects which were made by congregations. Thus, in some measure, the pulpit affected the entire well-being of the country. Wherein, then, consisted the power of the pulpit?—

"The preacher mast be a man. He must have force of character, and personal life above suspicion. There is much, also, in his manner: how powerful are the tears which sometimes testify to the power of the subject over the preacher! and more powerful still are those dry tears which tell of inward agony. But the main force of the pulpit is in the matter; a preacher must not talk book. Men first thought of communicating by talking to one another. Speaking came before writing. As to the choice of matter, I can speak from a point of experience. For twelve years most of my sermons have been reported and printed, and yet in my search for something now, I pace up and down my study, embarrassed with the abundance of topics, and not knowing which to choose. If John B. Gough were to take Exeter Hall, and twice a week speak on teetotalism, or Mr. Bright do a similar thing with reference to politics, I will undertake to say that at the end of twelve months they would have to turn to something else. Their subject would have lost its interest. It is not so with the preacher. He goes back into the council chambers of Jehovah and far into eternity; up to the Triune God and down to the degradation of the soul in sin. Then as to the doctrine: correctness is of more importance than most men think. A man may go over a great many big stones, but one little one in his shoe will trouble him. So we may know a thousand heresies, but if we get one into our creed, it will bother us. Doctrine is the food of thought and the mainstay of practice." The chief element of pulpit power, of course, consisted in the promised presence of the Holy Spirit. Mr. Spurgeon then passed on to show how the pulpit might be overturned, or have its power for good destroyed:—

"It may be done by putting empty-headed men in the pulpit, men who have nothing to say, and say it; or frothy, feathery men, men who introduce a joke in the pulpit for joking's sake, and who, not being particularly conscious of any other mission in the world, make themselves generally agreeable and think that sufficient. Iron men, too, are dangerous in the pulpit—men who in preaching the wrath of God do it without a tear, men who will discuss and wrangle, clear-headed, but cold and hard, like a snowy night with the moon shining. Then there are idle men. Idle students are bad enough; but idle ministers—what shall I say of them? There are also what I call men of putty—men who are influenced by everybody, and have no opinions except those of the last person they met. There are starched brethren—men wrapped in dignity, who come from the pulpit, and walk down the aisle, their minds absorbed by heavenly contemplation. Finally, there are weathercock brethren—men whose religious opinions veer with the prevailing doctrinal current in their neighbourhood—men who in their time have boxed the spiritual compass, and said that every point is the North Pole. Of course, I speak of these as curiosities; probably no one present has ever met with them."

Some of the qualifications for pulpit efficiency were then mentioned—unflinching faithfulness to themselves and to others, a growing spirituality, hard work and holy boldness, all being supplemented by much prayer and love of souls. Then came the conclusion of the address, which had lasted for two hours:—

"Above all, it is imperative to see to our weapons and their efficient handling. We have to fight against Ritualism and against Rome. We must preach the truth of Christ. It was not to listen to moral essays and rules of ordinary conduct that, in the old persecuting days, brave men and women assembled at dead of night under the walls of Antwerp. It was not to inculcate simply domestic and social duties that Cameron and Renwick preached on the hill-sides of Scotland while the Claverhouses with their dragoons were hunting them from place to place. Let us be worthy of our sires, and do better even than they did in the cause of truth and God."

Many men who are now settled in the ministry, but who were present on this memorable occasion, have probably carried with them into the world the words of the great preacher—his wise counsels drawn from actual experience, and his earnest exhortations to faithfulness which were the outcome of his glowing enthusiasm for the Gospel cause. It was on such great occasions that Spurgeon was carried away, as it were, by his subject; and it was not until he reached home that he realised how much the effort had taken out of him. On Sunday morning, October 28, a very different theme engaged the preacher's attention at the Metropolitan Tabernacle; for he then spoke on Ritualism and its work in the Established Church. The text was Isa 59:19, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." It was remarked that no language could well exaggerate the sad condition of things in the Church of England, and Mr. Spurgeon then went on to say:—

"It was not now from without, but from within, that the greatest danger manifested itself. High Church! What was it? Bastard Popery. Broad Church! What was that? Dishonest infidelity—not honest enough to come out at once and say it did not believe in Scripture, but dishonest enough to take pay for that which it did not believe. Both those parties were making a great noise, so much so that some Evangelical friends were being somewhat cast down, and asking what was to be done. He saw no help likely to arise from any quarter except this one—that the Holy Spirit would now interpose and show His strength; and there were signs that the Holy Spirit was coming. He did not want the bishops to interfere with the Ritualists, because what service had the bishops ever rendered to the Church, or what benefit would they ever render to it? Neither did he want. Parliament to interfere with them. He wanted the Holy Ghost to lift up the standard against them. He thought ho could perceive that there was a general spirit of prayer coming over the Churches that were faithful to Christ. He had appointed the 5th of November as a day for fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle, and the friends at Birmingham, without any dictation on his part, had appointed the same day for a like purpose. The brethren, then, were creeping together and preparing for the conflict which was impending, and he was happy to say that among them minor points were being given up. They must stand together shoulder to shoulder in this day of trial. He was happy to say, too, that there was coming back to the Protestant churches a greater love of the old truths than there was before, that some of the ministers were getting sick of their philosophical speculations and geological views, and were giving more of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to their flocks. They were beginning to see that wherever the old standard was borne to the breeze it would bring victory. Let them press to that standard everywhere, and let every man do his duty now in the Church, and be found faithfully at his post. And let them never despair, let them not even fear for the result, but let them be of good courage, for God was with them; and, if only they acted very courageously and very earnestly, they might rely upon it that the Spirit of the Lord would lift up the standard." At the time when these words were spoken there appears to have been some extra commotion in the ecclesiastical world in regard to the practices of the Ritualists. The Church Congress had just been held at York, and while The Pall Mall Gazette, in commenting on "A Catalogue of the Ritualistic Show" in the northern city, remarked that it might be "accepted as a pocket edition of the Directorium Anglicanum," The Times thought it was time that "some decided measures should be taken to repress such pernicious extravagances." In a letter to the leading journal, the then well-known writer, "S. G. O.," warmly reprimanded the bishops who had taken part in the meetings at York for not protesting against "the Tussaud exhibition of ecclesiastical millinery."

Monday, November 5, appears to have been a day set apart for special prayer. At the meeting at the Tabernacle in the evening prayer was asked on behalf of Mr. Gillet, who had been met with in Oxfordshire; and having now passed through the College curriculum, had accepted the offer of an Indian gentleman who was desirous of assisting a young man with a view to missionary service.