Chapter 48: "Number Five Hundred"

Chapter 48.
"Number Five Hundred"

Distress in Lancashire—No. 500 of the Published Sermons—A Week-night Festival—Spurgeon's Address—Speeches of Friends—The Watchman and Reflector —Spurgeon attacked by J. B. Gough—Visit to Whitefield's Tabernacle—Spurgeon and the Wesleyans.

The distress in Lancashire continued to attract attention, and individually Mr. Spurgeon seems to have done all that lay in his power to relieve the sufferings of those who were chiefly affected. The pastor of Pole Street Chapel, Preston, acknowledged the gift of £50 with a crate of clothing from the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. A little later, a sum of £150 was sent to the Lancashire Baptist Relief Fund.

Sunday, March 15, 1863, was an interesting day on account of No. 500 of the published Sermons being delivered at the Tabernacle in the morning. The text was 1Sa 7:12, "Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." On the following Wednesday the publishers invited a number of friends to a supper to celebrate the event. Mr. J. Spicer, who had rendered great service in procuring the site for the Tabernacle, was to have presided, but though present, he desired that the place of honour should be taken by Mr. Rogers, the. Principal of the College. Mr. Spurgeon explained that it was quite a social party and not a public meeting; and they were assembled in the lecture-room because their entertainers had not a drawing-room large enough for their accommodation. The general object of the meeting was to obtain additional subscriptions for extending the work of the College. Mr. Spurgeon said he trusted he might ask them, to join with him in very sincere and fervent gratitude to God for the help which He had given him, so that he was able to say "Ebenezer—hitherto the Lord hath helped me." They could sympathise with him in some degree, he was sure, in the pleasure, in the surprise, that he felt in that God had been thus gracious to him. It would be utterly impossible for them fully to enter into the depth of the debt which he owed to the Lord his God. He remembered what he was, and therefore he marvelled that there should have been found Christians to listen to him all these years. He remembered when he was, some twelve or thirteen years ago, teaching small boys in a country place—an occupation by no means congenial to his tastes. Goldsmith had said that a man had better be hanged than have such work to do, and he was quite of that opinion. He should hesitate, perhaps, for a time, but in the end, no doubt, prefer the alternative of hanging. He was not, at the time alluded to, big enough to be a master; and not small enough to be a boy. He had had no college education. This he said not by way of boasting—far from it. He would have learned more if he had had the opportunity; but, that not being the case, he did what all ought to do—he made the very best use he could of such opportunities as he had. He should never forget the first time when he went out to preach. His friend Mr. Trestrail recollected his addresses in the Sunday-school, but before then, while yet in a jacket, he had addressed the boys, and there were always found large numbers of persons to listen to him. The schoolroom was crowded. It was in a queer little cottage that he delivered his first sermon, with a ceiling so low that a hole had to be cut in it to enable tall preachers to stand upright. That hole, however, was not necessary in his case. He was very glad when his sermon came to an end, and as he sat down an old woman asked him how old he was. He said he would talk to her after the benediction had been pronounced; and so he did, and told her that he was under forty. She held that he must be considerably under twenty. As to his five hundred sermons, the later ones were rough enough, no doubt, but they were exceedingly superfine as compared with the earlier discourses of the series. The fact was that he had used a homely oyster-knife where a razor would have been but of little use. Nothing could be of more real service to a young preacher than the style of criticism to which he had been subjected—men who not only expressed their opinions very frankly, but sometimes in a bitter, nasty way—and many a joke had been cracked at his expense. Young preachers never liked such critics, but after all they were their best friends.

Reference was made with good effect to the out-of-the-way places to which the sermons found their way, such as Central Africa, the Bahamas, New Zealand, etc.; and to a preacher who had, since coming to London, preached nine times a week, it was an encouraging thing to be able to maintain sufficient freshness to command an increasing circulation. There were, no doubt, persons who harboured the opinion that preaching was such an easy thing that a man had only to elevate his arms and the words would run out of the mouth; but a great mental strain was necessary in the case of one who preached so frequently.

Some interesting facts relating to the circulation of the weekly issue were given at this meeting. The publication had gone on for eight years—an average of a million numbers a year had been sold; and one friend who attended the meeting had himself circulated a quarter of a million of the discourses. As the object of the gathering was to help the funds of the College, Mr. Spurgeon gave some facts relative to the work of the students as supplementary to what he said about the sermons. The German translation, he said, was sold off at the last Leipsic fair; in Holland a Dutch version had had a large sale; and on a visit to that country he found that many knew his name though they could not pronounce it. In fact, he did not know himself what they called him. In Sweden and in Norway editions had been published; and in France the discourses appeared in three different shapes. A friend had also arranged for an Italian edition. Since he had been pastor of that church he had baptised 3,000 persons, most of whom he might call his spiritual' children, they having been brought to a knowledge of the Truth either by hearing or by reading those sermons. As to the College, they had now fifty-four students preparing for the ministry; and so greatly had the cause prospered, that if they had four hundred instead of fifty-four, they could place them out at once in suitable spheres of labour. These students, in fact, did not wait for what were called promising openings, but preferred rather to go into unlikely places, where their efforts might be blessed. Referring to the liberality with which the College was supported, he stated the case of a lady subscriber, who, on coming into the possession of considerable property, offered to support at her own cost a minister in her locality, and allow him to preach in her own drawing-room till he found a congregation, when she would build him a chapel. During the first six weeks of this year £600 had been subscribed towards the College, and he had no doubt that if they had faith enough to double the number of students, the funds would be forthcoming. They received a great many one-pound notes from Scotland—some of them, he thought, must come from Presbyterians, because there were not nearly so many Baptists in Scotland as they had received one-pound notes. Some young men who had attended their other classes at Scottish universities came to his college to complete their theological course, and some came even from the colleges in America, so that he felt greatly encouraged in his work.

Mr. Spicer characterised the whole thing as unparalleled. There was no other minister, either in London or the provinces, who would have liked to be published to such an extent as Mr. Spurgeon had been. A Churchman who had not seen the Tabernacle had been encountered, and the advice given to him was, "If you wish to have your mind enlarged, go: you little know what is done there."

Many other speeches were made, the most interesting being those by James Grant, of The Morning Advertiser, and Dr. Campbell, who, as champions of the cause which Spurgeon represented, were regarded at the Tabernacle as two of his chief friends. The former said that public speaking was not his vocation; and had he known that he would be called upon for a speech, the probability was that he would have remained in his editorial quarters in Fleet Street. When the tongue of the popular journalist became unloosed, however, he said some good things:—

"It may not be known to anyone here that I was the first person connected with the newspaper press who made reference to Mr. Spurgeon. Since that time I have had very great pleasure in frequently referring to his public ministrations as well as to his public works, and no one rejoices more cordially than I do in all the success which has attended him. Mr. Spurgeon has referred to various quarters from whence he had received most gratifying evidence of the good his works have been productive of; and only the week before last I received a communication from a person in London, educated for the Church of England, in which he spoke of the very signal service he had received from a sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's. I know from various quarters that the printed sermons have got into places where very few of us would ever imagine, where the persons have been educated in all the fashionable pursuits of the world, where the Gospel was altogether unknown; and from my own knowledge I know that in many instances persons who have read those sermons have been led to abandon their evil ways. Some time ago the daughter of an Archbishop being recognised by a friend in the Tabernacle, and feeling that she had no right inside a Dissenting place of worship, put her hand to her lips as much as to say, 'Don't say I was here.'" When the turn came round for Dr. Campbell to speak, that veteran was loudly cheered as the hero of the evening; and this was not only on account of his private and public worth, it was the manner in which those assembled expressed their satisfaction at his success in what the chairman called "bearding the lion in his den," in connection with an action for libel against a leading weekly paper. For reasons best known to the proprietor, this journal manifested a strange kind of dislike to Spurgeon, while Grant and Campbell were hardly more favoured. Campbell took the bull by the horns, however, and in a suit for libel won £50 damages, an application for a new trial being unsuccessful. It was on account of this victory that the audience cheered the name of Campbell, and repeated their plaudits when the old journalist rose from his seat. In the course of his speech he showed that his neighbour of the Advertiser "did not exactly do justice to himself. The truth is," it was added, "he was the first of our public writers to sound the tocsin, to blow the trumpet, and to announce that there was a young prophet among us." The doctor confessed to having been one of the last of the London ministers to become reconciled to Spurgeon's methods. He then showed in what sense the young pastor was an innovator:—

"There was no preaching in... great public edifices till Mr. Spurgeon went to Exeter Hall; but now people, both Churchmen and Dissenters, are eager to imitate him. Deans and chapters and bishops and clergy are all imitating him; and as if the great cathedral were not enough, they actually go to Exeter Hall; nay, they rush to the very theatres. All this, whether for good or for evil, undoubtedly originated with Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Is that nothing? Why, it is a mighty thing. This unpretending, humble, but gifted youth, who came from the country, this lad with the little basket and the 'barley loaves,' to use a phrase supplied us by the Holy Book, has set all, from the Bishop of London downwards, in motion. All Mr. Spurgeon's movements have been new; the form and character of this stupendous structure are new; his style of talking is new; his style of praying is new; his style of preaching is new; everything is new—and there is something else that is new—the idea of preaching and printing a weekly sermon. That never entered the head of anybody; but then, next to that in novelty and wonder, is the assembly this evening to celebrate the five-hundredth sermon. Why, Steele with his Tatters, Addison with his Spectators, and Johnson with his Ramblers and Idlers, were all little men compared with this stripling. The sale of their papers was limited to London, while Charles H. Spurgeon has supporters throughout these Isles and all over the world. For a time he was in mighty favour with the States of the South; but they discovered at last that he was not to their liking, that he was too much the friend of the slave, and then cursed him as much as they had blessed him before. They have a mighty gift of cursing. They burnt his sermons from the time that they discovered his principles, and there was an end of the sale among the Southerners, as you have heard. They will come to their senses by-and-by." This little festival, at which Mr. Spurgeon's publishers were the hosts dispensing hospitality to a choice circle of supporters and admirers, was talked about and written about in a way which at least testified to the preacher's unique popularity. One weekly journal which never showed anything save hostility to Spurgeon thus referred to the celebration:—

"It appears that Mr. Spurgeon is gradually declining the comic business of which he has proved himself so great a master. The publication of his five-hundredth printed sermon was celebrated on Tuesday evening by a sort of festival at the Tabernacle. Many hundreds of people were collected by the attraction of tea and speeches at a shilling a head, or speeches simple without any charge. It would not be just to say that those who did not pay for tea got milk-and-water, for no enemy would venture to call Mr. Spurgeon's speaking weak, and several of Mr. Spurgeon's young men performed creditably, considering their inexperience. The objects of the meeting were: first, the consumption of tea and cake; secondly, to hear Mr. Spurgeon recount his own rise and progress as a preacher; thirdly, to promote the collection of a fund for the support of the College which he has established for training ministers; fourthly, to give some of the pupils of that College an opportunity of exercising their powers of public speaking; and lastly, to combine with these more serious exercises a little of that jocosity which seems requisite to maintain the popularity of the Tabernacle. The history of Mr. Spurgeon's ministration was traced by one of his admirers through the volumes of his five hundred sermons. It would be superfluous to criticise Mr. Spurgeon's conduct in presiding at a meeting while this elaborate compliment to his abilities and success was being read; because it is evident that if he were a man of sensitive delicacy he would not have a Tabernacle to preach in. Mr. Spurgeon's followers are a good sort of people in their way, but it would not be likely to occur to them that there was any impropriety in puffing spiritual commodities. But if Mr. Spurgeon's sermons were to be examined by an impartial critic, it would not be difficult to derive from them a conclusion more flattering to the preacher than to his congregation. The truth is, that Mr. Spurgeon used methods to acquire popularity which he began to lay aside when he saw that his position was secure. He has gained by extravagance a power and influence which he means to use discreetly, and, having become prosperous, he thinks it time to cease being amusing.... As an example of practical sagacity, let us just observe him trotting out his best pupils before the meeting. He wants to make these young men preachers like himself, and, knowing that public speaking can only be learned by practice, he seizes the opportunity of putting them up to speak to a sympathising audience on a congenial theme. In this respect the Church might possibly learn a useful lesson from the Tabernacle."

It was remarked at this meeting that the idea of printing and publishing a sermon weekly was a new idea which never entered the head of anyone before; but as was pointed out, the late Joseph Irons, of Camberwell, issued through Mr. Collingridge, of The City Press office, a discourse weekly from June 4, 1848, till the preacher's death.

Some interest was shown by Mr. Spurgeon in the Surrey Mission, a society which had for its object the spread of the Gospel in the county. On April 16 we find the pastor preaching on behalf of this cause at Union Chapel, Brixton. There earnest evangelists were already employed, and the committee, being greatly encouraged by their past efforts, were hoping to engage others for service in distant parts of the county. When he accepted the joint-editorship of The Baptist Magazine, Mr. Spurgeon discontinued his letters to the Transatlantic journal The Watchman and Reflector, but during the year 1863 that correspondence was resumed. A letter which appeared in April contained some personal allusions which show what methods were adopted in answering the slanders of enemies:—

"I have a good friend whose common sense is of the richest kind, and I have frequently heard him observe that it is a great mercy that bad men are allowed to use ill-language. 'For then,' says he, 'I know what they are and how to deal with them.' If lions could bleat like lambs, they would be far more dangerous. The rattle of a rattlesnake is a useful appendage, for it sounds a warning to the unwary. Every man, then, after his own order. It should be very shallow wisdom to make all men speak by one rule, or to induce them to adopt a language which is not in harmony with their hearts.

"Pardon me, friendly readers, if I here digress a little. You will excuse me if ever you have been the subject of the same provocation. Continually am I assailed with accusations from every quarter, bringing to my charge words I never uttered and deeds I have never dreamed of. From the first day till now I have never answered a slander. I have seen my best motives impugned, my holiest aspirations ridiculed, and my most disinterested actions calumniated, and hitherto I have held my peace. The silence which at first was one of moral courage, now assumes a tinge of contempt. 'I am crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto me.'

"Its loudest censures are almost as powerless as thunders in a dead man's ear, and its praises have even less effect upon me. There is no love lost between me and a world which despised Christ. Let it speak ill of me, for I have good cause to say far worse of it than it of me."

Then comes a passage concerning John B. Gough, which will remind us that at this time Spurgeon was not a teetotaller, and that the popular Temperance advocate did not speak of him in the kindly strain that was characteristic of after days:—

"I have turned aside from copying from the dear companions of my study, to write out of my own heart, because, singularly enough, a paper has reached me since I have written the last extract, containing a most cowardly and undeserved attack upon me by Mr. Gough, the temperance orator. I will not be tempted even by so urgent a case to turn aside from my fixed rule. I had always honoured Mr. Gough as a great and good man, far removed from any suspicion of falsehood, and equally clear of the folly of attacking God's ministers in order to defend his opinions. I imagined that he knew too well the cruelty of slander to spread a libel against another. I had supposed, also, that he was a gentleman, and better still, a Christian, who esteemed the cause of religion even more highly than that of teeotalism. We live to learn, and there is some learning which costs us bitter grief and the deepest sorrow. When my tongue knows how to speak evil of my fellow-labourer's character, let it rot from my mouth. If I have a cause near to my heart which cannot be defended without slander, perish the cause, even though my heart break from the disappointment.

"Friends, let us leave this personal matter, for I am half inclined to put this letter into the fire even now, and would do so but that the lesson may be useful to us. Let us believe nothing against God's people unless the testimony be ample and decisive, for there are ever these about us to whom it is sport to do mischief. We have been harshly judged; let us not commit the same sin, but ever rest assured that there is real grace upon the earth, and far more of it than some would have us believe." This was the kind of rebuke which Gough would be able to lay to heart, and although many years were to elapse before the preacher would accept the principles of the teetotal champion, the day ultimately came when Gough and Spurgeon were good friends, and when costly presents were exchanged. The lecturer once sent the pastor a magnificent gold-headed walking-stick, to which a Clapham burglar unhappily took a fancy; and I was at the Tabernacle when a beautifully bound set of Spurgeon's Sermons was presented to "the most extraordinary of English orators," as Gough was called by his more gushing admirers. On April 15 Mr. Spurgeon, accompanied by his wife and sons, paid his annual visit to Dr. Campbell, and preached twice on behalf of the Whitefield Tabernacle Auxiliary of the London City Mission. The party at dinner was a brilliant one, and the day was long remembered by the veteran editor as one of the happiest of his life. George Smith, then the well-known pastor at Poplar, was present, and as a good conversationalist did much to enliven the occasion. Even more attractive in regard to the reminiscences he was able to give of other days, was Thomas Jackson, who in his time had served the Wesleyan body as President of the Conference, as Principal of Richmond College, and as editor of many denominational works. This "father" among his own people held Mr. Spurgeon in great respect, and though he was an Arminian in the company of Calvinists, he got on very well. The crowd was so great in the evening at the chapel that the outer gates had to be closed to keep the people back. The aged Wesleyan leader made one of the congregation, and it so happened that the sermon was a decidedly Calvinistic one, powerful throughout, and peculiarly searching in certain passages. When the friends met after the service, the old Methodist remarked in kindly tones to the young pastor—"If I had heard you sixty years ago, I should have preached better." One friend was of opinion that Spurgeon felt this compliment, for the Wesleyan patriarch was so well pleased with the appeals to the unconverted which he had heard that he meant all he said. As host, Dr. Campbell himself was perhaps the best pleased of the party. He looked at a matter like this from a thoroughly Catholic standpoint. "The God of love and mercy blessed, and blessed equally, both Whitefield and Wesley, and it ill behoves their followers to reproach or unchurch each other. It is a proof that both have 'the root of the matter' in them, that both 'hold the head,' and that both embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King."