Chapter 66: A Continental Holiday

Chapter 66.
A Continental Holiday The Orphanages—Baptist Union Meetings of 1867—Baptist Noel—Ideal Missionaries—Chapel-Building Fund—Colportage—On the Continent—Conference at Hamburg—Illness of Mr. Spurgeon.

The great enterprise which was in progress during the spring of 1867 was that of the Stockwell Orphanage, the site for which, in the Clapham Road, had already been secured at a cost of £3,000. The sum of £20,000, which Mrs. Hillyard had set aside for the founding of the institution, was in railway debentures, and could not be sold at that time without loss. The cash needed for the purchase of the land had to be borrowed on the security of these debentures, and a strong appeal was made for contributions to the building fund. Mr. George Moore, of Bow Churchyard, sent £250, and ten thousand persons were invited to send a guinea each. The Baptist Union held its spring meetings in London, the Hon. Baptist Noel being chairman. At the session of May 17, at Walworth Road Chapel, Mr. Vince, of Birmingham, read a paper which The Freeman characterised as "one of the most masterly and suggestive papers ever written on the evils of Ritualism and the best means to counteract them." As an ex-Churchman, the honoured chairman defended the evangelical clergy against some of the hard things said about them. He did not think that their preaching was generally so feeble as was represented; and hence, he pleaded, "Be to their faults a little blind, and to their virtues very kind." This aroused Mr. Spurgeon, who remarked that Mr. Noel preached in John Street Chapel, and he had much of the spirit of John, but he was doubtful whether such a spirit would be found equal to doing the work of the present day. What had been said about the preaching of evangelicals was not, he contended, a whit too strong. "He did not think they could be otherwise than feeble when they remembered where and how the sermons were bought. The whole country had been injured to the last degree from sermons that were sold as low as thirteen-pence each." Then, amid some hearty cheers, it was added, that while all should aim at preaching the Gospel in the spirit of Mr. Noel, they should also infuse some of the vigour of Mr. Vince. On the evening of the game day the meeting of the Young Men's Missionary Society was held at the Tabernacle, when Mr. Spurgeon advised that not only should missionaries be sent out, but that the churches should themselves have the missionary spirit. Subscribing to a society did not relieve people of their responsibility to preach the Gospel. Men in love with the work should go forth into foreign lands, and while supporting themselves, should proclaim the truth. By such means alone would the Hindoos be made to see that the work was carried on through love to their souls:—

"Missionaries deserve all they get, and a great deal more; but when it shall please God to raise up at home and abroad free labourers, then, and I do not think until then, shall we thoroughly convince the heathen mind of our singleness of purpose, and possess one grand element of spiritual power by which to get at the minds of men. I do not depreciate any agency now in action, but I pray God to send us something more; for it would be easy to show that at our present rate of progress the kingdoms of this world never could become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Indeed, many in the Church are giving up the idea of it except on the occasion of the advent of Christ, which, as it chimes in with our own idleness, is likely to be a popular doctrine. I myself believe that King Jesus will reign, and the idols be utterly abolished; but I expect the same power which turned the world upside down once will still continue to do it. The Holy Ghost would never suffer the imputation to rest upon His holy name that He was not able to convert the world."

It was urged that young men should learn a handicraft by which they could support themselves, and then go forth to proclaim the Gospel. If two thousand of such were to be forthcoming there would be room for them, and there would no longer be need to complain of missionary results being small. The preacher thus raised a high standard of Christian heroism which he could hardly have expected would ever be realised. At this time it was Mr. Spurgeon's belief that the Holy Spirit, working through the Church, would subdue the world to Christ. It would not appear that this view was held in his later years; I believe that he rather came round to the belief in Christ's personal reign as taught by millenarians. The fund of £5,000, for lending out free of interest in aid of chapel-building enterprises, was not readily subscribed. At Midsummer, 1867, £3,315 had been raised, but at the third annual meeting a further sum of nearly £300 was contributed. In some cases loans of £500 had been granted and had proved of the utmost service. In the course of a short address Mr. Spurgeon showed that such a fund was urgently needed in connection with the College:—

"As the young men who have been sent out are being blessed and their work extended they clamour for new places of worship. It is a sign for which we ought to be very thankful. I regard this fund as a great providence to the denomination. It came into working order and took the place of a gentleman who had largely helped in procuring new chapels, when his circumstances would not any longer allow him to afford that assistance. We have built a large number of new chapels. Our own church is very poor; we have only a few rich members. The majority are perhaps of the middle class, with large families in many cases, and the working classes, who, despite all that has been slanderously said about their not attending our places of worship, very readily attend the Tabernacle." The Colportage Society now employed seven agents, and Mr. Spurgeon and his friends became increasingly interested in the work, partly on account of the great success of the movement in Scotland, where 150 men were at this time engaged in the service. It was found that in the main the colporteur created his own trade. The ordinary bookseller was usually not within reach of his humble customers; but, as the President maintained, if it were otherwise the poor people would not buy of him, while they would readily purchase of the itinerant bookman who temptingly showed his cheap wares at their door. There was naturally an ambition on the part of the promoters to rival Scotland in point of success; but the more shrewd among them were not very sanguine in that respect. It was hoped that each district would find enough friends to support its own man, so that without burdening subscribers nearer home the work might continually extend. "It seems to be just the right sort of thing to take up," said Mr. Spurgeon at the second annual meeting held on Midsummer Day. "There are many of our earnest brethren who might not do as preachers, who might perhaps be scarcely adapted even for wandering about as preachers, but who are just the right sort of men to sell a book, to pray with the sick, to comfort the desponding, to guide the anxious, and to lead sinners to the cross of Christ." On the same occasion he mentioned some facts about the word colporteur, and the connection of colportage with the success of the Reformation:—

"The word colporteur is a horribly ugly name. It is a French word which I wish we were rid of, for it is an abominable name. I have heard people call it coal-porter, and they have thought that a colportage society was a society for carrying coals. Well, that is quite correct. It is a society for carrying live coals about, and those live coals, I believe, set many a place on fire. Still, it is an ugly name, and 'book-hawker' is not much better. There is no good name for it. It is a sort of unmentionable thing, but still unmentionable blessings have certainly come through its agency. In our own country, since those times, the sale of religious books has always been a main help to the cause of truth. You may be quite sure that this would naturally be so, because the sale of irreligious books is a mainstay to the cause of evil. Why, how to this day do the Romanists scatter those little books of Dr. Challoner against Protestantism amongst young people, and on the cover it is stated, and very properly stated, I think, by the author, that we ought not to wonder at Romanists giving away books because we are always doing it. They say that the whole Reformation was got up through the distribution of books, and why should not they adopt the same means that we adopt for the spread of the truth? Quite right; if they believe their teaching to be right they ought to spread it, and they are wise in their generation to spread it in this way. Think of the infidel publications of England, and what is worse than that—the silly, trashy novels, from which people learn all sorts of mischief, and which debauch the mind of England; these things do infinite damage, I believe, to people's souls, and the only way by which we can meet the damaging effect of these books is to scatter good books all over the land."

It seemed to be providential that such a work as this should be commenced just before the era of Board Schools, when the pure Press would need to extend its work in order to counteract the great extension of impure reading. On the last day of July Mr. Spurgeon visited his native county, and preached two sermons at the beautiful village of Earls Colne. As it was a lovely summer day, persons were attracted from all directions; and it was said that there were never so many people in Earls Colne before. Not only was the crowd imposing, the tea and a bazaar all helped to impart to the occasion a fete-like appearance. On August 2, Henry Vincent gave a lecture at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on America and its people, and William Lloyd Garrison was present. It was, I believe, the only occasion on which the voice of the well-known abolitionist was ever heard in the Tabernacle. Garrison was of a Baptist family; but he drifted from the moorings of the Evangelical faith of early days, so that between such a man and Spurgeon there would be no religious sympathy. On Wednesday, August 7, Mr. Spurgeon again crossed the Channel, for the purpose of enjoying a month's rest on the Continent, Messrs. Charles Vince, of Birmingham, Reuben Seddon, of the Congregational Church, Victoria Park, and Henry Varley being engaged to preach successively at the Tabernacle. The pastor and nearly a dozen friends set sail for Hamburg in the good ship Granton, the objects of their visit being to attend the Triennial Conference of Continental Baptists, and to open a new chapel for Pastor Oncken, who was regarded as one of the Apostles of the Continent. The distinguished English visitor suffered from a day or two's illness after landing. Mr. Oncken himself was also indisposed, but both soon recovered; and the German missionary found more than ordinary pleasure in showing his English friends the chief places of interest in Hamburg. There was the house where Mr. Oncken had first preached in the city, more than forty years before; and then there were the places where, in days of persecution, the baptism of converts had to be undertaken secretly at night. One house was famous as the place where the meetings had been broken up by the police, just as had been done in England during the reign of Charles II. Pastor Oncken was able even to show his visitors the prison where he had been shut up for conscience sake. The new chapel which was to be opened was regarded as a noble structure. The Conference attracted friends from New York, as well as from several countries of Northern Europe. A second party arrived from the British. Isles, for referring to Friday, August 9, a correspondent wrote:—"In the evening, we were cheered by the arrival of a number of warm-hearted friends from Scotland, including Mr. Alex. Sharp, of Cupar-Fife, who in the last four years has collected by personal application about £1,500 for the mission and chapel; Mr. David Ker, of Glasgow, one of the oldest and heartiest friends of the mission, and many other brethren who have taken a deep interest in Mr. Oncken's labours. Next came our venerable friends, Revs. J. Cooper, of Wattisham, and S. Collins, of Grundisburgh, who formed the deputation from the Suffolk and Norfolk Association of Baptist Churches; and finally, Dr. Warren, of Boston, and Mr. Osgood, of New York, deputed to bring the cordial salutations of our American brethren."

Mr. Spurgeon was much interested in going over the Rauhe Haus, or orphan asylum, which was then looked after by Dr. Wickern, his wife and daughter. Fifty acres of land attached to the institution was farmed by the boys, and maintained in a high state of cultivation. The children were housed on the family system, each house being picturesquely situated; but although the place was in a sense a hive of industry, it struck the English visitor as not being made the most of. At the same time he looked on all the arrangements with the greatest interest; and was apparently so struck with the account given of the success of the family system, that that system was accepted as the model for the Stockwell Orphanage, then in course of development. This is a description of the Rauhe Haus which Mr. Spurgeon met with at that time:—

"While there is the greatest diversity—each family living apart, having its own house and garden, its own habits and manners, its own history and character—unity is at the same time preserved, lest it should be forgotten that each household is a member of one large family, of which Wickern is the head. It is astonishing how such a system of supervision could be contrived as puts every child day and night under the direct control of an adult person, and yet has nothing about it of the surveillance of the prison, and very little even of the strict discipline of the boarding-school. When reading Stevenson's account of the 'somewhat complex machinery' of the Rauhe Haus family life, with its order of the day marked out from hour to hour—with its weekly meetings, its fortnightly conferences, its journals and records kept by the Brothers, its divisions of labour, and its various rules for regulating each child's business at home, from the cleaning of the bedrooms to the carrying the Bible to chapel—I could not but wonder how this complicated clockwork kept going smoothly. The secret lies in the thorough family feeling with which each household is inspired. The Brothers, who superintend and teach the children, live with them, not as officers live with their soldiers in the barracks, not even as teachers and governors live with their pupils at the boarding-school, but really as elder brothers, as members of one family; and when at work with them, they do not stand by in the attitude of overseers or instructors, but join as fellow-labourers, who have one common task in hand. This family feeling would be impossible were nut everything carefully avoided that would suggest artificial association—such as all the members being of the same trade or of the same age. Nature is followed as much as possible in the constitution of a family. All trades, all ages, and all characters are represented in each. When a child comes to the establishment, it is not registered with a family until after it has been duly tried and examined at the novitiate-house, where it is kept till its nature and character are ascertained. The elder children have always some younger ones about them, who need their help and indulgence. The younger children, on the other hand, always see some elder ones near them, whom they have to thank for kindness, or to rely upon for direction. This engenders a feeling of cordial attachment. Each household is characterised by a family spirit peculiar to itself; and this causes a commendable ambition to keep up the family honour and reputation. Nothing is more dreaded by a family than to see one of its members censured for laziness or bad conduct in the weekly report, which is read in the presence of all the inmates of the establishment. So every one of the twelve is taught to feel an interest in maintaining the rules and regulations of his family, however multifarious these may be, and however cumbrous they may seem to those who stand outside. Such a thing as clannishness, however, is kept out with might and main, sufficient provision being made for the mingling of the families as one community. At school the children are classed according to their ages and capacities; in the fields and the workshops, according to their trade. The family union there completely disappears; but no sooner does the bell ring for meals, than it is formed again, each one, arranged in military file, marching to his own house, to enjoy for an hour the benefits and comforts of a happy home." On Sunday morning, August 11, Pastor Oncken preached in the morning, several other Evangelists taking part in the service. As members of the Church, the choir sang the concluding words of 1 Chron. xvii. Some account of the mission in the past was given, while all were called upon to magnify divine grace in connection with the work of the present. In the afternoon, Pastor Köbnor, who afterwards removed to Copenhagen, preached in German from "Behold, I make all things new." A friend who accompanied Mr. Spurgeon remarked, "A Scotch pastor who was by my side, although he could not understand the sermon, except in so far as my imperfect notes helped him, remarked that he would not have missed seeing the delivery of that sermon on any account." The great attraction of the day was in the. evening, however, when Mr. Spurgeon preached in English, the discourse being founded on the words of Christ, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Some fears had been expressed that the new building would not be altogether a good place to speak in; and, indeed, some alterations needed to be made. Nevertheless, the great English preacher's voice resounded through the new church, while the lofty arched roof seemed to give greater effect to his reiterated appeals to all to take of the water of life. As an acquaintance wrote:—

"The preacher seemed intent upon it that if never before in their lives, then, at all events, the rich merchants of Hamburg should hear the simple, unvarnished tale of redeeming love. It was no ordinary pleasure and privilege to witness the comparatively young soldier of the cross, whose praise is in all the churches, standing beside the now venerable patriarch who, through a long series of years, had amidst evil report and good report witnessed a good confession before many witnesses. Both had suffered reproach in the service of their Master, both had outlived it and forced the world to respect the religion which it cannot love; and it was meet that the younger should cross the ocean to exchange with the elder brotherly recognition and affectionate sympathy in this the hour of his joy and triumph. The delightful services of the day were brought to a close by the observance of the Lord's Supper, which here, as elsewhere throughout our churches in Germany, is held every Lord's day. Many hundreds were present, the members of the church at Hamburg being reinforced by many from surrounding stations, and a large number of visitors from all parts of the continent, as well as from England and America."

All things connected with the new church struck Mr. Spurgeon as being very Germanic, especially the fine singing, the great heat of the building, and the antique windows which would not open to admit of ventilation. The echoes, which were likened to bawling women in a fish-market, may have been less characteristic of the Fatherland; and endeavours were to be made to remedy that defect. Pastor Oncken seemed to keep open house for all comers; and the pleasure felt by everyone was only marred by the illness and pain which overtook the principal guest, who was laid aside for some days in his friend's house. The pastor was gladly welcomed by his people on Sunday, September 8; but on the following Tuesday he was unable to keep his engagement to preach at the opening of the new Baptist chapel at Upper Holloway, of which the present Dr. S. H. Booth was elected pastor. Spurgeon's place at the Tabernacle was taken by Mr. Gange, of Portsmouth; but a letter was read thanking all for the help which the congregation had given to the new enterprise of the Stockwell Orphanage.