"But here comes a man-no Whitefield in voice, in presence, in dignity, or genius, who, nevertheless, as with one stroke of his hand, sweeps away all this sickly sentimentalism, this craven misbelief. It is all to him as so much of the merest gossamer web that might have crossed his path. He not only gives forth the old doctrine of Paul in all the strength of Paul's language, but with exaggerations of his own, such as Paul would have been forward to disavow. This man knows nothing of doubt as to whence the gospel is, what it is, or wherefore it has its place amongst us. On all such subjects his mind is that of a made-up man. In place of suspecting that the old accredited doctrines of the gospel have pretty well done their work, he expects good from nothing else, and all that he clusters about them is for the sake of them. "The philosophical precision, the literary refinements, the nice discriminations between what we may know of a doctrine and what we may not, leaving us in the end, perhaps, scarcely anything to know about it,-all this which, according to some, is so much needed by the age, is Mr. Spurgeon's utter scorn. He is the direct, dogmatic enunciator of the old Pauline truth, without the slightest attempt to soften its outline, its substance, or its results; and what has followed? Truly, Providence would seem once more to have made foolish the wisdom of this world. While the gentlemen, who know so well how people ought to preach, are left to exemplify their profound lessons before empty benches and in obscure corners, the young man at the Surrey Gardens can point to his 9 000 auditors, and ask, 'Who, with such a sight before him, dares despair of making the gospel, the good old gospel, a power in the great heart of humanity? . The following extracts from an article written by Mr. J. Ewing Ritchie (“Christopher Crayon "), and published in his volume entitled, The London Pulpit, will show that, even in 1857, "all men" did not "speak well" of the young preacher : "THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON. I fear there is very little difference between the Church and the world. In both, the tide seems strongly set in favour of ignorance, presumption, and charlatanism. In the case of Mr. Spurgeon, they have both agreed to worship the same idol. Nowhere more abound the vulgar, be they great or little, than at the Surrey Music Hall on a Sunday morning. Mr. Spurgeon's service commences at a quarter to eleven, but the doors are opened an hour and a half previously, and all the while there will be a continuous stream of men and women,—some on foot, some in cabs, many in carriages,-all drawn together by this world's wonder. The motley crowd is worth a study. . . A very mixed congregation is this one at the Surrey Gardens. The real flock-the aborigines from Park Street Chapel-are a peculiar people,-very plain, much given to the wearing of clothes of an ancient cut,-and easy of recognition. The men are narrow, hard, griping, to look at ;-the women stern and unlovely; yet they, and such as they alone, if we are to believe them, are to walk the pearly streets of the New Jerusalem, and to sit down with martyrs and prophets and saints,—with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,—at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 66 'Here is a peer, and there his tailor. Here Lady Clara Vere de Vere kills a weary hour, and there is the poor girl who sat up all night to stitch her ladyship's costly robe. Here is a blasphemer come to laugh; there, a saint to pray. Can these dry bones live? Can the preacher touch the heart of this listening mass? Breathed on by a spell more potent than his own, will it in its anguish and agony exclaim, 'What must we do to be saved?' You think how this multitude would have melted beneath the consecrated genius of a Chalmers, or a Parsons, or a Melville, or an Irving,-and look to see the same torrent of human emotions here. Ah, you are mistaken!—Mr. Spurgeon has not the power to wield 'all thoughts, all passions, all delights.' It is not in him to shake the arsenal, and fulmine over Greece.' In the very midst of his fiercest declamation, you will find his audience untouched; so coarse is the colouring, and clumsy the description, you can sit calm and unmoved through it all;-and all the while the haughty beauty by your side will fan herself with a languor Charles Matthews in Used Up' might envy. Look at the preacher ;—the riddle is solved. You see at once that he is not the man to soar; and, soaring, bear his audience, trembling and enraptured, with him in his Heavenward flight. “Of course, at times, there is a rude eloquence on his lips, or, rather, a fluent declamation, which the mob around takes for such. The orator always soars with his audience. With excited thousands waiting his lightest word, he cannot remain passionless and unmoved. Words and thoughts are borne to him from them. There is excitement in the hour; there is excitement in the theme; there is excitement in the living mass; and, it may be, as the preacher speaks of a physical hell and displays a physical heaven, some sensual nature is aroused, and a change may be effected in a man's career. 'Little causes may produce great events; one chance word one chance word may be the beginning of a new and a better life; but the thoughtful hearer will learn nothing, will be induced to feel nothing, will find that, as regards Christian edification, he had much better have stayed at home. At the best, Mr. Spurgeon will seem to him a preacher of extraordinary volubility. Most probably he will return from one of Mr. Spurgeon's services disgusted with the noisy crowding, reminding him of the Adelphi rather than the house of God; disgusted with the commonplace prayer; disgusted with the questionable style of oratory; disgusted with the narrowness of the preacher's creed, and its pitiful misrepresentations of 'the glorious gospel of the blessed God;' disgusted with the stupidity that can take, for a Divine afflatus, brazen impudence and leathern lungs. Most probably, he will come back confessing that Mr. Spurgeon is the youngest, and the loudest, and the most notorious preacher in London,-little more; the idol of people who dare not go to theatres, and yet pant for theatrical excitement.. "Will not Mr. Spurgeon's very converts, as they become older,-as they understand Christianity better,-as the excitement produced by dramatic dialogues in the midst of feverish audiences dies away-feel this themselves? And yet this man actually got nearly 24,000 to hear him on the Day of Humiliation. Such a thing seems marvellous. If popularity means anything, which, however, it does not, Mr. Spurgeon is one of our greatest orators. It is true, it is not difficult to collect a crowd in London. If I simply stand stock still in Cheapside, in the middle of the day, a crowd is immediately collected. The upper class of society requires finer weapons than any Mr. Spurgeon wields; but he preaches to the people in a homely style, and they like it, for he is always plain, and never dull. Then, his voice is wonderful; of itself, a thing worth going to hear; and he has a readiness rare in the pulpit, and which is invaluable to an orator. Then, again, the matter of his discourses commends itself to uneducated hearers. We have done with the old miracleplays, wherein God the Father appeared upon the stage in a blue coat, and wherein the devil had very visible hoofs and tail; but the principle to which they appealed— the love of man for dramatic representations rather than abstract truths—remains, and Mr. Spurgeon avails himself of it successfully. Another singular fact-Mr. Spurgeon would quote it as a proof of its truth,-is that what is called high doctrine, -the doctrine Mr. Spurgeon preaches, -the doctrine which lays down all human pride, which teaches us we are villains by necessity, and fools by a Divine thrusting on,-is always popular, and, singular as it may seem, especially on the Surrey side of the water. "In conclusion, let me not be understood as blaming Mr. Spurgeon. We do not blame Stephani when Caliban falls at his feet, and swears that 'he's a brave god, and bears celestial liquor.' Few ministers get people to hear them. Mr. Spurgeon has succeeded in doing so. It may be a pity that the people will not go and hear better preachers; but, in the meanwhile, no one can blame Mr. Spurgeon that he fearlessly and honestly preaches what he deems the truth." In the Preface to the volume, From the Usher's Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit, Mr. Shindler thus writes concerning the group represented on page 256:—“In the hall at Westwood' there hangs a picture, of considerable size,-containing the portraits of one hundred and ninety-three men and women of mark, almost The Lord gave the word: great was the Company of those that published it. (For key to above illustration, see page 257; for description, see pages 255 and 258.) 1 Edward Ashburner, M.A. 3 George Burder, D.D. 4 Sir Edward Buxton. 5 John Butterworth. 6 William Bull. 7 William Bates, D.D. 10 J. Brown (Commentator). 13 John Bunyan 14 Samuel Brewer. 15 H. Blair, D.D. 16 George Betts. 17 Benjamin Brook. 18 J. Bradford (Martyr, 1555). 20 Theodore Beza. 21 John Berridge, M.A. 22 T. Cranmer (Martyr, 1556). 23 Cornelius Cayley. 24 Thomas Craig. 25 John Carter. 26 William Carey, D.D. 27 Richard Cecil. 28 Thomas Charles. 29 Dr. Chalmers. 30 Tobias Crisp, D.D. 31 William Cowper. 35 John Clayton, Sen. 36 "Cupido.” 37 Doctor Collyer. 38 John Cooke. 39 William Cooper. 40 Edmund Calamy, B.D. 50 Dr. Doddridge. 51 Timothy Dwight. 58 William Fox. 59 John Gill, D.D. 60 S. Greathead. 61 Colonel Gardener 62 W. A. Gunn. 63 Thomas Goodwin, D.D. 65 W. M. Goode, M.A. 93 Samuel Medley. 95 Erasmus Middleton. 99 John Milton. 104 Dr. Ridley (Martyr, 1555). 66 J. Hooper, D D. (Mtr. 1555) 105 William Roby. 67 Elizabeth Rowe. 68 George Herbert, B.A. 69 John Howe. 70 Joseph Hussey. 71 John Hyatt. 72 William Huntington. 73 J. Huss D.D. (Mtr. 1415.) 75 Rowland Hill, M.A. 77 Thomas Hawies, D.D. 78 Richard Hurd, D.D. 106 John Ryland, Sen. 110 Edward Reynolds, D.D. 116 William Newman, D.D. 118 Augustus Toplady, B.A. 121 Henry Thornton, M.P. 123 William Wilberforce. 133 W. Wilkinson, M.A. 135 David Denham. KEY TO GROUP ON PREVIOUS PAGE. 149 William Lepard. 154 Duchess of Ferrara. 155 J. H. Hinton, M.A. 156 John Flavel. 157 Reginald Heber, D D. 164 S. Pearce. 165 Dr. Kitto. 166 J. Thomas. 167 Archbishop Usher. 170 Robert Maguire, M.A. 171 Dr. Livingstone. 172 J. H. Evans, M A. 174 Joseph Ivimey. 175 Sir S. M. Peto, M.P. |