Chapter 80: National Education
Chapter 80.
National Education
Day of Prayer—Spurgeon's Letter in The Daily News—Mr. G.. M. Murphy—Chapel Debts-Bazaars—Christmas Day—"Apostate Churches"—New Year's Address—The College.
Monday, November 7, was the day set apart by the London Baptist Association for special prayer on behalf of the churches of London; and, accordingly, in the course of his Sunday morning sermon, Mr. Spurgeon said something about "Modern Phases of Belief," the text being St. Luk 11:11-13 : "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father," etc. Though his faith in the final triumph of the cause of Christ was never shaken, the preacher's survey of the Church in general was not that of an optimist:—
"To-morrow is the day of prayer, and I hope you may be all with one accord in one place in prayer, and I humbly suggest to you as one topic of prayer that we should all pray throughout that day and onward that God will give to the churches more and more of the Holy Spirit. Just now I do not know how you feel, but I sometimes feel very great alarm. The Church of England seems to be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism, but Nonconformity appears to me to be almost as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith. At first it was the doctrine of the eternity of future punishment that had to be given up; now it must be the very doctrine of the Fall—first one thing, then another; the whole must go. They treat our doctrines as though they were all to bo knocked down at their good pleasure when they choose to amend our theology. Through and through I believe the very heart of England is honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still to go into the pulpit and call itself Christian. I do pray God may preserve our denomination from it. But my prayer shall rather go up that God will give us the Holy Spirit, for men never go wrong with the Holy Spirit. He will keep them right, lead them into all truth, and keep them in the truth. Soundness of doctrine is only worth having when it is the result of the living in-dwelling of God in the Church; and because too much of the Holy Spirit has departed we see here and there the signs that the orthodox faith is to be given up, and the inventions of man preached instead thereof. Sometimes I breathe, as I walk along, this prayer: that God would raise up more ministers to preach the Gospel with power. There is so much feeble talking, so much feeble preaching, so much twaddling, and not the declaration of the Gospel with force. But I do not know that I will pray that prayer again; I will put up this—'Lord, send Thy Spirit on the Churches.' Then will come the ministers, then will come the earnest workers. The Spirit of God in the men will touch their tongues with fire, and they will say, 'Here am I—send me;' and once again we shall have back the Puritanic age of preaching, and days of ministry like those of Whitefield and Wesley may be restored to us once more. The Spirit of God it is who is the power of the Church, and speaks with might in her." In the fall of this year the election of the members of the first London School Board excited great interest in the public mind. Numbers of persons appear to have been undecided as to the way they ought to vote, and not a few were wishing to have some advice from the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Being extremely interested in the election, but having no time to allow of his taking any active part, Mr. Spurgeon had to be content with writing the following letter:—
"To the Editor of 'The Daily News.'
"Sir,—Having been asked to give my opinion as to the forthcoming election for the School Board for Lambeth, and being unable to attend public meetings, I venture to address a few remarks to the public through the medium of the Press. It is very undesirable that this election should become a contest between Church and Dissent. Surely we can give the present measure a fair trial without importing religious disputes into a matter in which we are all equally concerned for the general good. It is most pleasant to observe that all the candidates, with, perhaps, one exception, agree that the liberty for Bible reading given by the Bill should be carefully maintained; beyond that none have expressed a desire to go, nor could they if they would. The qualifications for the Board as to character and position it is not needful to discuss, but we will for the moment assume that all the candidates are in this respect equal—a supposition which each elector will readily be able to substantiate or reject. One very important requisite is not, however, found at all—viz., acquaintance with the subject in hand. If we had to select a national astronomer, we should rightly consider a man's character and standing as collateral matters, but the main thing would be his knowledge of astronomy; so in the present case, one very important element is the candidate's acquaintance with education, educators, educational processes, and educational literature. Some members of the Board should very fitly represent the financial element, and keep the expenditure in check; others should represent the working classes, who are on the receiving side of the question, and see that the economy does not degenerate into meanness; but first and foremost we need educationists—practical teachers—men who understand the work which the Board will be called upon to do. If this opinion be correct, I feel that I need not apologise for recommending to my fellow-electors Mr. W. R. Selway, a gentleman well known to many of them. He has for many years been associated with every philanthropic effort for the instruction of the people, and has also been during that time engaged personally as a public instructor. Many gentlemen can spend more money in soliciting their votes, but no one on the ground of educational fitness will better deserve them. Not only will he be at home in matters referring to the importation of the bare elements of knowledge, but ho will be able to render important service should the Government ever see fit to give a technical education to the people. I hope to see Mr. Selway returned at the head of the poll, and I feel persuaded that no man on the Board will prove himself more quietly efficient. Several of the other candidates on other grounds deserve their suffrages; but I am sorry to see on the list the names of clergymen and Dissenting ministers. If their places of worship are full, they will have abundance of employment for their time in attending to their congregations; and if they are empty, they will do well to use their strength in filling them. When we have so many able men ready for their office, it seems a pity to call away preachers of the Gospel from their spiritual engagements. In conclusion, it is but just that one of the working-men's candidates should be returned. Their class is more immediately concerned in the present movement, and ought to be represented; but the working men themselves will best judge of their own candidates, and I can only hope that the best man may win.—I am, etc., "Clapham, November 15."
"C. H. Spurgeon. A reply to the above by Mr. G. M. Murphy appeared in The Daily News, and of this effusion The Freeman remarked: "It aims at being smart, and succeeds in being abusive, and can hardly fail to strengthen the impression that one at least of the ministerial candidates for Lambeth does not possess the requisite qualifications for the office he seeks." This was an unhappy disagreement; for George Murphy was a good man who did admirable Christian service among working people, which commanded the admiration of Mr. Spurgeon himself. Mrs. Taylor speaks of her brother's contribution to the controversy as an "angry and, as I think, uncharacteristic letter." He seems to have said some things which were not in good taste, but he soon repented of the indiscretion. For example, Murphy boasted of addressing nearly as many people at once as the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, "and none of these were taken from anybody else's congregation." He then wrote to Mr. Spurgeon, and received this reply:—"I beg to assure you that, so far from despising you, I have always admired your earnest efforts to do good. This is as much the case as ever, and I could not have dreamed that my opinions as to ministers and clergymen being on the School Board could have so incensed you. I do not write to complain of anything you have written, but to assure you that I never had any but the most respectful feelings towards you. I think your candidature is a mistake; but this is, I hope, quite compatible with the highest appreciation of you in other departures. I sincerely trust you will not cherish any hard thoughts of me; but if you do I shall regret it, but shall not imitate the example. I wish you success in all your efforts except in the election for the School Board."
Though not successful in this first instance, time ultimately proved that Murphy's candidature was not a mistake; for being elected to serve on the London School Board in 1873, he lived to do good service upon it, as Spurgeon himself would have admitted.
"While personally doing what he could to lessen the chapel debts of London, Mr. Spurgeon differed in opinion from some of his friends by cordially approving of bazaars as a means of raising money. One day in December he did what was always to him a formidable undertaking—he drove across London in order to open a bazaar at Grove Road Chapel, South Hackney, and that was only one of many such sales which he had thus recently attended, being prompted thus to give his time by intense anxiety to relieve the churches of the burden of debt which rested upon them, and which hindered their usefulness.
While he approved generally of bazaars, no one more emphatically protested against their abuse by lotteries and "fast" entertainments, etc. The wonder is that, with the pressure of work of this busy year, he was either able or willing to give the greater part of a day to merely opening one bazaar and then another. This was at least a telling testimony to his ever-growing popularity. However, that the preacher's fame continued to extend in every direction throughout the English-speaking world was evident to everyone save those jaundiced detractors in the Press who gave out that, at last, Spurgeon was "going down." The fact was that all classes were now appreciating the preacher as had never been the case before. Not only was he a commanding figure in Great Britain—the great congregation at the Metropolitan Tabernacle being supplemented by the tens of thousands who read the sermons weekly—but the American newspapers carried the discourses into countless homes throughout the Republic; and his unique popularity also extended through the Australasian colonies. Indeed, Spurgeon was popular on the sea as well as on land. About this time we find a Transatlantic newspaper giving an example of the attraction which the printed discourses had for steamboat passengers:—
"At our prayer-meeting, the other Sunday evening, a brother, to show the different ways of doing good, mentioned an incident that occurred on board a steamer in which some time before he was a passenger up the Pacific Coast to Oregon. It was Sunday, and a passenger who had with him a volume of Spurgeon's sermons went round asking one and another to read one of them aloud. The passengers declined, till he came to our brother, who consented to act as reader. Quite a company gathered round him, which gradually increased as he went on with the discourse, until, looking up after a little time, he saw that not only the passengers, but all the crew who could possibly be at liberty were among his audience, and that all were very attentive. The informal service was soon over—but not so the effect of the sermon; for some months after, being in San Francisco, he was abruptly saluted in the street one day by a stranger—a sailor—who seemed overjoyed at meeting him. 'How do you do—don't you know me? Why, I heard you preach!' 'I am not a preacher; you must have made a mistake.' 'No; I heard you preach. Don't you know—that steamer going so-and-so?' 'Oh, yes; I read one of Mr. Spurgeon's sermons.' 'Well, I never forgot it. It made me feel that I was a sinner, and I have found Christ, and I am so glad to see you!' Reader, 'Cast thy bread upon the waters.'" The closing months of 1870 represent a time of incessant labour on Mr. Spurgeon's part, some six weeks being devoted to the great effort he had voluntarily undertaken of trying to reduce the debts of the chapels in London. He felt the strain, but in his own sphere he found plenty to stimulate and encourage him. He was in especially good spirits at the annual meeting in December of the members of the Evening Classes, when seventy young men were present, and about a dozen made speeches. The new schools for the accommodation of four hundred children, in connection with the chapel at Vauxhall, also yielded rare satisfaction. Then there was a prospect of a church being founded at Portslade, near Brighton. On December 6 he opened a new chapel at Peckham, and on the following day he was preaching at the opening of the building at Croydon which had been erected for Mr. J. A. Spurgeon and his people. Thirty-eight persons were baptised at the Tabernacle during December.
Christmas Day was the last Sunday of the year, and through the prevalence of a dense, freezing fog, it was about as uncomfortable as inclement weather could make it. At the morning service the gas was lighted throughout the great building; but even then the familiar figure of the preacher was hardly discernible by his auditors a few yards away from the pulpit. Though he no more believed that December 25 was the anniversary of Christ's birth than the most uncompromising Quaker, Mr. Spurgeon was not averse to turning to account such seasons as occupied the people's attention and thoughts. He remarked that the incarnation of the Son of God was one of the greatest of all events in the history of the universe. Its actual occurrence was made known to certain shepherds and to certain wise men in the East. The shepherds were little acquainted with books, but the coming of Christ was made known to them, and they hastened to Bethlehem to see the great sight, while the Scribes and Pharisees did not seem to know when Christ was born. In expounding St. Matt. ii., Christ was shown to be the great personage of the picture; though Mary was present, the wise men did not worship her. The sermon was founded on St. Mat 2:2 : "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" etc. On the following day Christmas was celebrated at the Stockwell Orphanage in a way which delighted the boys; and on many successive Christmas Days the President himself dined at the institution, and did his part towards making everybody happy. The readiest way to his heart seemed to be to do something to promote the welfare of his family of orphans, and details of how the supplies came in had for him extraordinary interest. Thus something happened about this time which caused him some merriment. A friend sent a large quantity of turnips to the Orphanage, and remarked that he hoped that someone else would send the mutton. Within an hour a whole sheep arrived from another donor. Supplies in kind were, of course, as welcome as money; and a striking instance of what could be done in one household was seen when, at the end of 1870, one ladies' school had made several hundred shirts for the boys. The second volume of "The Treasury of David" now appeared, and, being equal in value to its predecessor, was quite as cordially welcomed. Though he was never very greatly affected by the attacks of opponents, no one ever more heartily appreciated the favourable opinion of friends than Mr. Spurgeon. I well remember his being extremely pleased on one occasion with a passage in the diary of Dr. James Morgan, of Belfast, which related to the "Treasury." Sitting in his study at Helensburgh House, he directed my attention to what Dr. Morgan had written, and gave me the volume. This is the passage:—
"November 26.—I have spent my evenings this week in reading Mr. Spurgeon's book on the first twenty-six Psalms—a large volume, consisting of his exposition of each of the Psalms, with quotations from other writers much more lengthened than his own comments. His exposition is truly good, sound, able, elegant, new, and altogether admirable. There are many passages of the finest English composition—pure Saxon—simple, refined, and clear as crystal. They are more correct than his sermons, as might be expected, being carefully written by himself; and yet they are no less spiritual and practical and popular. I trust they may lead to a more careful perusal and study of this portion of the Divine Word. The accompanying notes, bulking very large in the volume, are most varied and instructive and interesting. This is the man who was accounted a few years ago unlearned, and not sufficiently educated for the Christian ministry. I never regarded such opinions of him otherwise than as the delusions of spiritual ignorance. I believe him to be the greatest power of any man of the present age."
After the publication of the sermon on "Baptismal Regeneration" the relations between the preacher of the Tabernacle and some friends in the Established Church, who might be supposed to sympathise with him in his work, were at the best somewhat strained. Further cause of irritation now arose in connection with the service of Christmas morning. On that occasion, when the great chapel itself was filled with smoky fog, some present were startled to hear the preacher refer to the Romish and Anglican communions, "and other apostate churches," during the general prayer. A correspondent of The Record took the question in hand; and, seeing that the matter might be seriously misunderstood, Mr. Spurgeon sent a reply to the same journal, and this was written with the characteristic force of a man who realised that, even if he had made a slip, he still had a strong case. Mr. Spurgeon wrote:—
"I have no doubt the expression objected to was used by me; but out of their connection words may or may not convey the same meaning. Should I use the expression at this moment I should mean no more nor less than this, which I fear you will think very uncharitable; but it is what I feel. As I look around me I am horrified at the widespread Popish teaching of the Established Church, and I am at once surprised and indignant at the degraded form which its superstition is assuming, equalling, if not excelling, the idolatry of the Church of Rome. This pestilent influence is carried far and wide by an able priesthood and prolific Press. In view of the fearful mischief which your Church is thus doing, I do not feel that it is more than the truth to say that she has apostatised from her Protestant position. It is as painful to me to use the expression as it can be to others to hear it.
"At the same time, I can never forget the many gracious and faithful men who remain in this Church, nor can I cease to pray for them. Towards these brethren, as earnest adherents and promulgators of evangelical truth, I sincerely cherish the warmest love. In these dangerous times, when so many heresies are abroad, it is most delightful to feel that common love to the grand old Gospel creates a bond of union which no ecclesiastical differences can break.
"I am thus in a strait betwixt two. I see around me a Church which largely teaches Popish doctrine—must I not denounce it? I see in connection with that Church some of the most earnest preachers of the Gospel—what shall I say to these? Express my opinion as to their position. I have done so, and they reply that I have done them a sore injustice. They do not see their position from my point of view. They are evidently not intentionally in a false position; by some means they have become satisfied that it is their duty to remain where they are. What then? If they are generous enough to accord me fellowship after the many sharp things which I have said, and with no pledge but that I may say them again, am I to refuse every sort of co-operation with them? It seems not so to me. If there are matters in which we may unite as Christians upon terms which do not require the least concealment on either side, thank God for it. A prayer-meeting for the revival of religion is surely one of these; and therefore when asked to address the assembly at the Freemasons' Hall I cheerfully consented.
"You may charge me if you will with 'culpable eccentricities,' but to me the position of affairs seems to be far more eccentric. I have the difficult path to tread of one who loathes Popery, whether in the Church or in the Romish Antichrist, but who in his heart of hearts feels the deepest Christian love to many brethren in the Anglican establishment. To err is human under any circumstances, but in such as the present it is almost impossible to be always in the right. May the Providence of God and the power of His Spirit render the way to the visible fellowship of believers more plain; in spirit and in truth it is evermore abiding." The newspaper comments on both sides may have been more irritating than the original statement, or the explanation, but no good purpose would be answered by further quotations. On Monday evening, January 2, an address by Mr. Spurgeon was given at Freemasons' Tavern in connection with the arrangements of the Evangelical Alliance for the week of united prayer. On the same evening he also addressed the members of the South London Teachers' Union at their communion service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the College was also held about this time, when the oft-repeated story of how the work originated was once more told. At various places, from the North of Scotland to Worcestershire, men had successfully settled, while between twenty and thirty others were preaching with a view to pastoral settlements. These occasions so far differed from the meetings of the spring Conference, however, that the people who crowded the Tabernacle did not so much meet to hear about the College as to look upon pretty dissolving views and to hear the President's lecture upon them. This time the subject was "Stones;" by no means a sterile theme with such a speaker. Stones of various kinds were referred to, and many useful lessons were drawn from them; and then, in order to illustrate the subject, varieties of stones were exhibited. Millstones, such as the Hebrews had used to grind their corn, were shown; and then there was one similar to what David had used in the sling when he killed Goliath. Then came some specimens of diamonds and other costly gems. While showing these, it was remarked that there were few crowns in Europe which had not sham jewels among their precious ones; but that was not the case with the Crown of England—every gem in that was genuine. The lesson drawn from this was an obvious one—"Take care that you yourselves become as pure stones in the crown of your Maker."