Chapter 31: A Sermon In The Crystal Palace

Chapter 31.
A Sermon In The Crystal Palace

Spurgeon's Popularity still an Enigma to many—The British Quarterly Review—A Thanksgiving Meeting—Day of Prayer on Account of the Indian Mutiny—Spurgeon Preaches at the Crystal Palace—Reports concerning the Preacher—Spurgeon at Lowestoft,

The reaction of public feeling in Mr. Spurgeon's favour seemed to become more and more marked as the year 1857 advanced. The eager crowd at the Music Hall Sunday after Sunday so far increased in volume that, on every occasion of the doors being opened, a multitude which would in itself have constituted a large congregation had to turn away disappointed, unable to gain admission. The unique spectacle was a phenomenon which the town and its quidnuncs still professed to be unable to understand. Some, however, were knowing enough to find an explanation—it was the easiest thing in the world to command an audience in London, and if any doubted that simple truth it could be put to the test by their standing still for a time in Cheapside. Still, such reasoning as this went but a very little way; for anyone with common sense was well aware that for a preacher to attract and then keep a crowded congregation was really one of the most difficult of achievements. Competent judges who were not in full sympathy with Mr. Spurgeon's teaching, but who, nevertheless, wished to write impartially, saw this and made generous allowance in the preacher's favour. Some went further, and in what was being done recognised the hand of God. Thus, in the course of an article on the two annual volumes of sermons already published, a leading Quarterly remarked:—

"We believe ourselves that, to explain the fact presented in the Sunday meetings at the Surrey Gardens, we must go beyond the personal as found in the preacher, beyond the scheme of truth which he propounds, and beyond the nature to which he propounds it—that we must rest in nothing short of the Divine hand itself. The All-wise has often worked by instruments, and in ways, which would seem to have been chosen for the purpose of making a mock of the world's wisdom. He did so when he founded Christianity—he may do much like it again."

Certain characteristics which had contributed to Mr. Spurgeon's success have some reference made to them, such, for example, as his elocution, his dramatic power, his unflagging earnestness, and his faith in the Gospel to supply all the needs of man. The subject is then summed up:—

"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 could have crossed his path. He not only gives forth the old doctrine of St. 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 among 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 before him 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 business of collecting funds for the erection of the new Tabernacle still went on. Any person walking along the Southwark High Street on Monday, September 7, would have noticed bills announcing a meeting for that evening at New Park Street for the purpose "of returning thanks to the Most High for the success that has attended the labours of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon in his endeavours to obtain the means for erecting a large Tabernacle where the masses may assemble to hear the Word of Life." On this occasion Mr. Spurgeon himself made a statement of some length which enabled all who were interested in the movement clearly to understand the situation. Reference was made to the services which had been held in Exeter Hall—services which had been derided and scouted at the time as undesirable innovations; but which had been fruitful in conversions, and otherwise so successful that the bishops of the Established Church were then doing the same kind of thing on their own account. Having then shown that the enlargement of New Park Street Chapel had been of little use, for the services were as crowded as they were before, he continued:—

"In order to assist in raising a fund for that purpose, a second series of services was commenced in Exeter Hall, which were being conducted with as great success as the first, when they were told, for some reason mysterious to him, that they could have the hall no longer. He did not wish to impute motives to anyone in respect of that matter, but he could never yet understand the reason why the hall was refused them, and why they were obliged to discontinue their services in it. That being the case, however, what were they to do? It was no use going back to their old chapel, as it could not contain the half of the numbers who came to attend the services, and the Surrey Music Hall having been found to be eligible, it was resolved to secure it, and try the holding of the services there as an experiment. He would not pain their feelings by alluding to the untoward circumstances attending their first meeting there. It was a painful prelude to most magnificent results, and Satan never met with a greater failure than he did in that attempt at coercion. Had it not been for the lamentable accident which took place on that occasion, so many thousands would never have been brought within the sound of the Gospel. That accident was the means of causing their meeting there to be known among the highest of the land; and although he considered this of little consequence, many of these had since attended their service, and heard the Gospel in its simplicity. Their meetings there had been eminently successful; but, in order fully to carry out their object, they must have a place of worship of their own, where they could have service when they pleased, and which would afford sufficient accommodation to those who might attend. At the present moment he could with certainty state that, had they such an edifice, 5,000 seats, at the least, would find occupants, and he did so from seeing far more than that number, Sunday after Sunday, regularly hearing him in the Surrey Music Hall. They were, in fact, regular attenders, occupying always the same seat, and might be safely calculated on as hearers in a new place of worship had they one erected, and he had no doubt that could they effect their object, they would have the best and strongest church in London. To carry out that object then, a committee had been appointed, who had been unremitting in their labours to procure money for the erection of the building, and a site on which to erect it. Some three months ago he had the honour of breakfasting with Sir S. M. Peto, who promised him a hundred pounds donation when the foundation-stone of such a building was laid, and another hundred pounds when it was finished, besides a promise of further assistance. He also told him that he would cause his agent to look out for a site suitable for the erection of such a structure, in respect of which he was to communicate with the committee, but as he understood Sir M. Peto had been in Portugal mostly ever since, no conclusion had been come to in that respect." At this time some £4,000 appeared to be in hand, more being promised; and nearly £600 of the total had been collected by the pastor himself in. the way of collections after his services. During the preceding week he had secured £179 by such means, but then he had had to travel long distances, and to preach twice each day. The object of the meeting was to inspire the people with the enthusiasm in the enterprise which animated the pastor. The chief preaching occasion of the year was the great service at the Crystal Palace on Wednesday, October 7, which was set apart as a day of humiliation and prayer on account of the Indian Mutiny. Younger persons of the present generation will not be able to realise the intensity of feeling which the atrocities of that outbreak aroused; and even so good a friend as Dr. Campbell thought that Mr. Spurgeon spoke in too vindictive a strain. It was not always easy to be calm when reading details of the horrors which characterised the action of the rebels. The day was too wet and cold for the convenience of those who wished to turn the occasion into a holiday; but a sermon in the transept of the palace of glass at Sydenham had attraction for thousands. The trains commenced running at half-past seven in the morning; and by noon an immense congregation had assembled. The pulpit erected at the north-east corner of the transept was the one which had already done such good service at the Surrey Gardens. In the course of a brief prayer, the preacher commended to God those who had suffered through the mutiny—the widows and the fatherless. As regarded the soldiers he prayed God "to hid them remember that they are not warriors merely, but executioners, and bid them go with steady tramp to battle, believing that God wills that they shall utterly destroy the enemy that has defied Britain and denied themselves among men." The people sang a second time, the volume of sound producing a grand effect in the vast building; and then came the sermon, which was founded on Mic 6:9, "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." In the course of a sermon which lasted thirty-five minutes, the preacher said he looked upon the events in India as a national punishment inflicted upon this country by means of the Sepoys, who had voluntarily joined their standard, and had taken the oath of fidelity to her Majesty and her officers, and who had no cause to find fault, because they had been always petted and dandled on the knee of favouritism. If the people of India revolted, they might think they had patriots in their midst who sought to relieve their country from a tyrannical nation; but it was only men who were actuated by lust and ambition that had risen against them. They had now rebels to be executed, and he looked upon every gallows as a fearful evil, and regarded every gibbet as a dreadful visitation upon the land. Whenever the arm of the ruler was outstretched for the punishment of death, it must always be looked upon by the country as a serious affliction; but these men must be punished; both heaven and earth demanded it. He did not believe this was a war at all in the proper sense of the term. Their troops were not fighting with the troops of an enemy, but were going forth against revolted subjects, who, by their crimes and murders and other unmentionable sins, had incurred the punishment of death. It was a horrible and dreadful thing to think of taking away the lives of their fellow-subjects, and they had that day to bemoan, amongst

Mr. Spurgeon Preaching at the Crystal Palace other evils, that the sword must be taken from the sheath to cut off their fellow-subjects by thousands. He saw God's hand in this war, and he hoped He had only ordained this evil in order that great good might follow from it. The sins of the Government of India had been black and deep; and those who had heard the shrieks of the tormented natives and the cries of dethroned princes might well prophesy that it would not be long before God would unsheath His sword to revenge the oppressed. Had it been the Indian nation that had revolted, he should have prayed to God that they might be brought under British rule again, for the sake of civilisation; but they should not preach a crusade against them lest they should be smiting patriots who were endeavouring to succour an oppressed country. He considered that the Indian Government should never have tolerated the religion of the Hindoos; but they had aided and abetted the folly for which God now visited them with His punishment. It was said that one part of the cause of the evil was the sin of the English people themselves, and there were certainly sins in the community that should never have been allowed. The horrible nuisance of Holy well Street had been long allowed to exist, although it was now pretty well done for; but what did they see in Regent Street and the Haymarket? If there was a crime for which God should punish England, it was the crime of allowing infamy to work out its designs in such places before their eyes. They knew likewise that lords and ladies sat in playhouses and listened to plays that were far from decent; and those sins of the community had in part brought the rod upon them. He also attributed the evil to the acts of those who only thought of their fellows as stepping-stones to gain. But he could not enumerate all the evils that had led to it. The Christian Church, in his opinion, had been remiss in its duty; but he hoped that its revival had begun, because last year had seen more preaching than any year since the days of the Apostles. They prayed that day; but when victory came to them, they would praise God by buying fireworks, by firing off rockets, and by illuminations, as they had done at the close of the late war. The preacher made a strong appeal on behalf of the sufferers in the mutiny. "Lives there a man who will refuse his help for those of his countrymen who have suffered? No, there does not live such a man; at least, none such in Britain. Was there such a miserable miscreant without a heart, who would, when God had given him enough, shut up his bowels of compassion? No! he would not slander them with the suspicion. He could not think there was such a monster present. When the plates were handed round let them give their pence if they could not give pounds; but let all give in accordance with their means." The collection for the Indian Belief Fund amounted to £675 16s. 11¹/₂d., including £200 from the Crystal Palace Company out of the day's proceeds. Mr. Spurgeon's services were understood to be gratuitous. The "Hallelujah Chorus" and the benediction closed the service. The number of persons who entered the building was 23,654. This service was acknowledged to be the most notable thing which took place in connection with the fast day; but that class which can never be satisfied with anything, found plenty of reason to find fault. It was a dexterous dodge on the part of the Crystal Palace Company on the one hand; on the other hand it was not a becoming thing to make a religious service a chief attraction in a place devoted to amusement. Dr. Campbell stood forth as Mr. Spurgeon's defender. No reasonable objection could be raised; the place was a proper one to preach in on such an occasion. The collection was not far short of all the other collections in London put together; while "the assembly was the largest ever addressed by a preacher of the Gospel in Europe or the world."

Having thus spoken on behalf of his friend, and expressed his satisfaction at the tone of the several pulpit utterances generally, Dr. Campbell went on to disclaim sympathy with the spirit of the prayer offered at the Crystal Palace, a part of which has been quoted. It was thought that the young preacher "somewhat forgot himself," which was much to be regretted. "For Mr. Spurgeon, however, large allowances ought to be made," it was added. "Had his profession been that of arms, he would probably have made a second Havelock, if not a Napoleon I. He has a soul within him equal to great enterprises But the idea of military butchery is most incongruous with the exercise of devotion." On Sunday, November 22, Mr. Spurgeon preached from Rev 3:19, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." He stated that through the death of a child he was somewhat disqualified from preaching, and had almost felt that he would be unable to be present. The discourse was spoken of as "not so vigorous as usual;" but the congregation was in hearty sympathy with the pastor, and the hall was densely crowded in every part. The London correspondent of The Glasgow Examiner happened to be present at this service, and some kindly references to the preacher and his work appeared in the paper of that same week. Scottish readers were told that Mr. Spurgeon had preached from the text in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth;" and having thus quoted the wrong text, the Scottish journalist proceeded to make a somewhat singular comment upon it. "Mr. Spurgeon now lives in a splendid mansion," he remarked, "keeps a handsome one-horse carriage, and a large retinue of servants—four female and two male servants. His income is said to be a long way over a thousand pounds. His works will now considerably augment his stated income." Of course, good Dr. Campbell wished that people should beware of accepting such statements. They entrenched "a little on privacy." In this case the report was supposed to be "too good to be true;" but if it was correct, no man, it was averred, better deserved what had fallen to this young pastor's lot.

Tuesday, December 1, was a memorable day at Lowestoft, for Mr. Spurgeon preached twice in the town on behalf of the Baptist Chapel, and the collections amounted to almost £100. The services were held in the Continental Goods Depot of the North of Europe Steam Navigation Company, and three thousand persons were present on each occasion. Being carried at low fares, people came from the surrounding country in large numbers. The late Sir S. Morton Peto, the vicar of Lowestoft, and many of the clergy and Dissenting ministers, were also present, as were also representatives of the principal families resident in the district.