Chapter 73: Spurgeon At Liverpool

Chapter 73.
Spurgeon At Liverpool

Spurgeon depicted in The Daily News—A Day of Prayer—Stockwell Orphanage Bazaar—Visit to Liverpool—Opinion of The Porcupine—Sir James Simpson—Baptist Union.

A letter addressed to The Christian Visitor, St. John, New Brunswick, in the summer of 1868, and relating to the various sections of Baptists in Great Britain, may be given here:—

"Dear Sir,—You seem to imagine that the Baptists of England are rent by great internal schism, and have among them no brotherly love. Who gave such information I know not, but as far as I know it is utterly false—a most pernicious fiction, untrue from top to bottom. With regard to the vast majority of our churches, I venture to affirm that at no time since the Pentecostal era has there been such fervent brotherly love as reigns among us. The churches of Antinomian sentiment I cannot speak for, but these are mostly very weak and numerically insignificant; those churches who unite in the Baptist Union appear to me to be of one heart and of one soul, and each desires to promote the good of all. I was not aware that our strict communion brethren were divided among themselves. I thought them to be, as a body, exceedingly at peace, internally and externally. As for the open communion churches, I know of no divisions among them; certainly in London our union is as complete as can well be this side of heaven. I would have you, Mr. Editor, beware of random statements and rash generalisations, such as abound in most letters of regular correspondents to newspapers. Our churches in England are not what we wish them to be, but, thanks to eternal grace, we are growing, and are not at all behindhand in unity and co-operation.—Yours truly, "C. H. Spurgeon."

"August 14, 1868.

"Hearing Mr. Spurgeon" was still a taking newspaper theme, and as the preacher was viewed from a number of different standpoints by different writers, the theme seldom failed to be interesting. On Sunday, August 30, a representative of The Daily News visited the Tabernacle, and hearing Mr. Spurgeon for the first time, he gave his impressions to the world through the popular Liberal journal, which, in 1868, first began to be published at a penny. There was no falling off in the crowd; for while about five hundred persons were waiting at the doors to be admitted, the chapel itself was so well filled when the visitor entered with a ticket a short time before the doors were opened, that he calculated there was not room for another hundred to find seats. Altogether the spectacle appeared to strike the roving journalist as unique, and he gives this description of the preliminary part of the service:—

"Such a sight, I believe, can be witnessed nowhere else than in England. I had been in my seat in front of the platform about two minutes when Mr. Spurgeon entered. The photographs of the shop windows had prepared me to expect to see a man of heavy, not to say coarse, countenance, but the photographs do the original great injustice. Precisely at a quarter to eleven Mr. Spurgeon advanced to the railing of the platform and said, in a clear, soft voice, which filled the building without effort, 'Let us worship God in prayer.' Accustomed to the habit of worship in the Church of England, it was with regret I found that there was no provision for kneeling, and that that appropriate attitude had not been renounced because the congregation preferred to stand. The sight of six thousand people sitting during the worship of prayer is not pleasing. Mr. Spurgeon, however, stood. He does not pray so well as he preaches—his prayer was good so far as it went. It was very high and mystical, abounding with figurative expressions from the Hebrew poetry; but it was defective in the element which we all prize so much in the Litany—a tender, lowly, human sympathy. Mr. Spurgeon once referred to those present as a 'chosen people,' and there was too much of this exclusive feeling throughout the service. The confession of sin struck me as meagre and general. In one of the 'Tracts for the Times' it is said that the prayers of the Church of England are pitched in too low and plaintive a key, and it is hinted that there is a penal judgment on that Church. For the first of these opinions I think there is some foundation. The prayers of the Tabernacle, on the other hand, seemed to me over-confident. The singing is accomplished without instrumental aid, being conducted by a precentor, who stands beside Mr. Spurgeon. Of course, under such disadvantages only slow tunes can be sung; but the voices were kept together much better than might have been expected. No psalm was read, and only one lesson, a portion of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Mr. Spurgeon is a good reader, and it was satisfactory to hear him give the hymns out himself."

It was particularly noticed that the preacher conducted the whole of the service himself. The first part of the proceedings occupied just fifty-five minutes, and as that was also the length of the sermon, the hour and fifty minutes was about evenly divided. The text was 1Co 15:31, "I die daily." The critical hearer continues:—

"Having read his text, he advanced from the side table, where his Bible lay, to the rails, on which he leaned with both hands while uttering his first few sentences. He at once fixed the attention of the vast audience by connecting his text with common human experience, then set forth its original, heroic sense in the life of the Apostle, and afterwards announced that he should treat it as of general application. I did not think the sermon well organised. For instance, having announced that his subject would be the art of dying daily, he made certain preliminary requisites of that art the first division of his sermon before he explained what he understood by this daily dying. Probably, however, there were few in the building to whom this would be a serious objection. At all events, the people listened with breathless attention from first to last, a fact which I commend to the attention of those who are telling us that sermons and preaching are out of date." The visitor was not quite satisfied with the Tabernacle Gospel; but he would have been glad to listen to the preacher for twice as long as he did. Then came the question, "What were the elements of the preacher's popularity?" They were simple, and might exist in other preachers; it was the combination of the elements of success in Spurgeon which made him what he was. The delineation of the preacher's character is written with some force:—

"In the first place, he has a very definite and positive system of doctrine in which ho thoroughly believes. He does not tell his hearers what different views have been taken of this and that doctrine, and that on a balance of opinions he has come to such and such a conclusion. There is only one truth which all persons are concerned to know, and it is his duty to preach it. It is more than his duty; it is evidently his delight. My experience is that the great majority of people like to take their religion on a strong assurance. In the second place, Mr. Spurgeon is evidently a happy man. He has good animal spirits to begin with. If at any time these have betrayed him into indecorum, certainly there was no tinge of it in his demeanour yesterday. The whole service was conducted most devoutly. Nevertheless, it is apparent that he is a happy man, and happiness is, thank God, contagious. In the third place, and most important of all, Mr. Spurgeon is a great master of the art of direct address. I have no doubt he considered the matter well before he abolished the use of a pulpit and substituted a platform. His sermon yesterday was delivered to the people, not merely before them. The use of notes was out of the question, unless he had held them in his hands. Every word was spoken as from man to man, and every word was to the point. There was no resort to expletive, no use of padding. Every sentence contributed something to the effect which was constantly in the contemplation of the preacher. No one, I think, could doubt that Mr. Spurgeon was expressing, in virtue of his ready command of language, thoughts which he had thoroughly worked out in his study. I can no more believe that yesterday's discourse was delivered memoriter than that he spoke on the inspiration of the occasion. To speak of the substance of the discourse might lead me on to debatable ground; I will only say, therefore, that his matter was as abundant as it was pertinent. He made considerable, but not excessive, use of figure, introduced frequent illustrations from legend, natural history, and fable, and quoted George Herbert and other poets. At the close of the service, which had lasted an hour and fifty-five minutes, I thought he seemed fatigued, as well he might be. On leaving the building, I found a box into which every worshipper is invited to drop a penny for the support of Mr. Spurgeon's College, which is maintained at an expenditure of £5,000 a year. A card over the box announced that on the previous Sunday £36 had been deposited in these receptacles." The Monday on which the Liberal newspaper gave its article on the preacher of the Tabernacle was also the day set apart by the churches of South London as a day of fasting and prayer. The chief meeting, which took place at Walworth Road Chapel, lasted from seven o'clock a.m. till six p.m., the arrangement being that there should be a President for each hour. During the second hour, or from eight till nine, Mr. Spurgeon presided, and some six or seven hundred persons were present. He remarked that the meetings which were then being held were an open declaration of their belief in the efficacy of prayer, and of its power in heaven. He trusted that no vain repetitions or lengthy sermonisings would mar their supplications, but that all would be brief and earnest. When he himself offered prayer, he gave expression to a strong desire that the world might not be permitted to think Christianity a worn-out thing of the past. He also prayed that if aught hindered the descent of the Holy Spirit on the churches and pastors, any of those with whom the fault lay might be severely punished. At this time Mr. Spurgeon was not only recognised as a great preacher, his advice on the art of preaching was becoming more and more welcome to all who were interested in the subject. The fame of the striking lectures which had been given to the students of the Pastors' College had got abroad, and the fact that a selection was to be published created widespread interest. On Monday evening, September 7, an address, accompanied by a purse containing £574, was presented to Mr. Charles Stovel, pastor of Commercial Street Chapel, and to this fund Mr. Spurgeon would seem to have been a contributor. He also wrote a letter to Mr. Stovel assuring him of profoundest respect. On the following day, in chilly September weather, a bazaar was opened at the Stockwell Orphanage in aid of the building-fund. The stalls presented a pretty and very inviting appearance. Mrs. Spurgeon's stall was the chief centre of attraction; the College and the Sunday-school also had their stalls. The contributors were said to be of all classes, from the poorest. In the evening Mr. Spurgeon gave his lecture, "Sermons in Candles," in a tent to two thousand persons. Fresh matter and new illustrations were given, "in evidence," as one remarked, "that his own candle was not yet burnt out." On Tuesday, September 15, a memorable visit was paid to Liverpool, two services being conducted in Myrtle Street Chapel, of which the then celebrated Hugh Stowell Brown was pastor. It was said at the time that in accepting this invitation Mr. Spurgeon was simply moved by a desire to serve an old and much-esteemed friend. On the other hand, friends at Liverpool were quite as desirous of serving Mr. Spurgeon; and thus, on his arrival, they informed him that the whole of the collection would be given to the Stockwell Orphanage. As had been the case elsewhere, the demand for tickets was overwhelming; and as fair a division as possible was made among the members of various denominations. After the chapel was thronged there was still a great crowd without. The morning sermon, on Spiritual Health, was founded on the second verse of the Third Epistle of St. John; and in the opening, some remarks were made on the want of communion between religious bodies and individuals. In illustration, the preacher mentioned the experience of which we have already spoken. If a warmer and closer feeling of communion existed among congregations, if a man felt that he would be treated as a friend and not as a stranger, the preacher thought that the Church would be greatly benefited, and the interests of true religion materially advanced. In reference to the prosperity referred to by the Apostle, it was remarked that many thought ministers very unbusinesslike men, who did not want others to prosper. That was a mistake; they wished men to prosper. It was to be desired that Christian and charitable men should be successful in the affairs of this life, for then they would have greater store from which to distribute to the poor and needy. But the remarkable part of the text was this—John wished that Gaius might prosper as his soul prospered. Gaius must have been a very remarkable man. Turning over the list of his acquaintance, he could not recall such a man to mind. Why, if some of them prospered as their souls prospered they would soon be bankrupt, utterly ruined; colossal fortunes would melt away; and many who are now rich would speedily be poor indeed if they prospered no better than their souls. The terrible results which would afflict humanity if we were in health only as the soul prospered were briefly depicted in forcible and eloquent terms; and the preacher then passed on to notice, firstly, some of the signs of spiritual sickness; secondly, some of the cures for the ailment; and thirdly, the necessity of seeking for spiritual prosperity. The first symptom of spiritual sickness was a chill in the blood. There was not a more grievous symptom than this. Some people lived continually in a chill. If you took them by the hand it fell into yours like a dead fish. Everything they did was without fire or force. But the proper temperature for a Christian was red-hot; anything below that was a falling off from the true state in which a Christian should live. The high duties of the Church were not to be touched with cold and clammy hands. The preacher went on to speak of that contraction of the heart which was also a symptom of spiritual unhealthiness; and those who suffered from it commonly showed an intense love for those who were affected in like manner. This symptom might exist in people who had the truth as well as in those who had it not. He had seen it in different congregations, who were jealous lest one should gain at the expense of the other, totally forgetting that the gain of one was the gain of the whole. This contraction of the heart, however, he trusted that they were getting rid of. Truth was not sold only at one stall in the market; there were others which had a supply of the good stock. He trusted that we should in future see less of the intolerance which produced contraction of the heart. The third symptom of spiritual sickness was loss of appetite. This was a common complaint. At first people went to church and were satisfied with simple arrangements, but by-and-bye they became dissatisfied. They wanted seats with nice easy cushions, and wished the preacher to cull tit-bits for their especial entertainment. They sighed for dainty morsels of spiritual edification, and insisted that the dish should be made spicy. Then they became more dissatisfied still, and degenerated into spiritual vagrants, wandering from place to place in search of the elegance and dainties which they could not obtain in their old church or chapel. This want of appetite for the plain truths of Christianity was very, very common, and had been the ruin of many who might have proved useful in the Church. If they had a spiritual tonic they would not sit and consider the elegance of the church or criticise the elocution of the preacher. Such a tonic would be one of the best blessings that God could send to men.

It was then shown that religious declension often came as a consequence of the neglect of prayer. Another bad symptom was "palsy of the hand and arm," e.g.:—

"A man will often say, 'I have done my turn; let others do their turn.' How false is this view of man's obligations. If the sun and the moon and the rain were to suspend their operations simply because they have been in action so long, what a poor world this would be. And if Christ were to say, 'I have done my share,' and the Spirit of God, 'I have done my part,' what would be the result? Never let a man think that he has even begun to arrive at a period when he can leave off. Ho must work to the very last; burn till he is burnt to the snuff—nothing wasted. It is a bad sign when a man's fingers do not move well. I have seen instances in which a man has got something, say money, in his hand, and the fingers have become so contracted that it almost requires a crowbar to open them. You may smile at this, but the Spirit of God grieves." In prescribing a remedy, Mr. Spurgeon showed that a man in sickness had to attend to his diet. Much of the spiritual sickness of the age came as a result of "the slops and air-bubbles" on which people fed, instead of living on sound Gospel. But even good food alone would not do without good air: they must breathe the atmosphere of Christ. They also wanted good exercise, and that could be had by seeking out the distressed and the lost and relieving their necessities. In the evening the entrances to the chapel were besieged by a great crowd anxious to gain admittance. A contemporary account says: "At fifteen minutes to eight o'clock a tremendous rush was made towards the principal entrance of the building, every part of which was then well filled, and a living stream crowded into the aisles, rendering it necessary for personal safety to close the doors, to the great disappointment of some, who expressed their indignation by loudly knocking at the doors at intervals during the service." The subject of the evening was founded on St. John 20:25, "We have seen the Lord," when some characteristic references to different kinds of preaching were made. At these services a sum of £250 was collected for the Orphanage.

Hugh Stowell Brown, for whom these services were undertaken, was about ten years the senior of Mr. Spurgeon, and he died February 24, 1886. He was highly valued by the people of Liverpool; and throughout the country he carried a good reputation as a preacher, being peculiarly appreciated as a lecturer to young men and the working classes. On the occasion of his visit to Liverpool, a political, social, and satirical journal, published in the city, had something to say about Spurgeon's success:—

"The glib way of accounting for Mr. Spurgeon's success is, of course, to blame the public taste. The public prefers Mr. Spurgeon to somebody whose preaching is more intellectual and refined, simply because the public has neither intellectuality nor refinement. The success of Mr. Spurgeon, it is sometimes affirmed, is neither more nor less than a development of the mediocrity of the present generation; and we suppose we must, on the other hand, assume that the failure of some parsons to fill their churches or chapels is a proof of the vastness of their intellectual capacities." That was apparently a comfortable reflection, but it failed to do away with the difficulties which half-filled places of worship presented. A preacher was a messenger to the people, and if he failed his failure was a great fact for him to consider. If the public did not appreciate him it might be questioned whether the public taste was at fault. The writer continued:—

"The public makes mistakes of this kind; it is true; but then it does not take long to find them out, and when it does, it is very prompt at correcting them. When a man has for a number of years secured the attention of nearly 6,000 persons every week, when wherever he goes his audience is only limited by the size of the building he speaks in, when his sermons are read with avidity all over England, America, and Australia, and when this state of things not only lasts but increases, why it looks a little like impudence to say, 'Oh, that is all because the public knows no better.' As a rule, the public measures justly the abilities of every public speaker, and especially a preacher. Thoughtful and eloquent discourses are appreciated by it, and by none more than the very class whose alleged indifference to religion gives some people so much concern. But thought and eloquence will never be accepted as a substitute for the two most prominent characteristics of Mr. Spurgeon's preaching. We mean earnestness and affection. These shine out in every word he says so strongly that he exercises an influence to which mere eloquence, powerful as it is, must yield the palm. Judging from Mr. Spurgeon, we should say that, given these two characteristics, along with fluency of speech and a cultivated mind, and you have the materials for a successful preacher.

"Were all preachers possessed of these essentials, there would be no outcry about empty churches and chapels. Essays and orations are very well in their way, but to fall in with them when one is in search of warm-hearted, earnest, simple speech, is like meeting a statue where we expected to find a living man. We point to that which, in our opinion, is Mr. Spurgeon's most trenchant weapon, because we believe that, although the present age has many faults, callous indifference to religious truth is not among them. On the contrary, men's minds have lately been stirred by religious questions as they have not been for years, and we believe there never was a time more favourable for successful preaching. If modern preaching does not gain the ear of the people, then look to the preaching, for it is certain that wherever men find a teacher filled with a spirit of earnestness, and doing his work with affectionate, self-sacrificing zeal, to him they will flock, and be they rich or be they poor, they will be charmed by his influence and conquered by his power." In the autumn of this year Spurgeon was brought into close contact with the late eminent physician and discoverer of chloroform, Sir James Y. Simpson. The distinguished surgeon and the great preacher—the former being a member of the Free Church—had become acquainted about four years previously at the house of their common friend, Mr. William Dickson, of York Place, Edinburgh. In that hospitable house the two friends had been accustomed to meet at such times as Mr. and Mrs. Spurgeon had visited the northern capital. "Not a little similar in type, physically as well as mentally," remarks one friend, "an affectionate friendship was quickly the result, and both seemed greatly to enjoy their brief subsequent opportunities of intercourse."

When, in the year 1867, the celebrated physician heard of the illness of Mrs. Spurgeon and of her prolonged suffering, he offered his professional services, and did so through Mr. William Dickson. "But remember, if I go it is as a friend and not as a doctor," said Sir James emphatically. The offer was of course accepted with gladness and gratitude. On September 27 Mr. Spurgeon wrote thus to Mr. William Dickson:—

"I am no small trouble to you, but what can I do?... My dear wife grows worse.... I wrote to Sir James about a week ago.... You will do me a service incalculable and never to be forgotten if you can see our kind friend and get him to appoint a time." This note was sent on October 7:—

"My Dear Friend,—Let me live to the age of Methuselah, I shall not forget your goodness. The Lord reward you, I cannot. This is to bear one another's burdens, and to fulfil the law of Christ."

Finally, after Sir James Simpson had operated on the patient, Mr Dickson received this note:—

"Clapham, Tuesday, 1 a.m.

"My Very Dear Friend,—I am writing far into the night to tell friends how my dear wife has sped. That dear angel of mercy, Sir James Simpson, has been very successful, as usual, and the operation is well over; patient very patient, and in good spirits. If you know 10,000 eloquent men in Scotland I would give them work for the next hundred years—viz., to praise the Lord for sending to us such a man, so skilful and so noble a doctor." The Baptist Union held its autumnal meetings at Bristol, Monday, October 12, being the first day. It was thought that something might be done to improve the stipends of the denominational pastors throughout the country, and Mr. Charles Williams, of Southampton, opened a discussion on a proposed Sustentation Fund. "Taking the whole of the denomination," said Mr. Williams, "I believe it would be found that one-fifth of our English ministers are in receipt of more than £150; another fifth from £150 to £100; and about three-fifths average, I should think, from £70 to £80 a year. The practical question before us is, Should, and will, one-fifth of our churches assist their poorer yet sister churches in providing a sufficient maintenance for their pastors?" There was a long discussion, and Dr. Angus moved an amendment to the effect that the time had come to take some practical steps to assist Baptist churches in providing a more adequate maintenance for their ministers. Mr. Spurgeon was less sanguine than some others of anything being done in the way of establishing a Sustentation Fund. He spoke of having for years assisted the Particular Baptist Fund; and if they were allowed to go on with their work he would vote for the Union doing what it liked. He would not stand in the way; but at the same time would not promise any large help, because the Tabernacle was already doing what was possible for the fund actually in existence. Mr. Spurgeon went on to say that he should be delighted to find that they were able to raise the salaries at once to £150, which would not make their ministers rich then; but looking through the "Handbook" he could not discover that Mr.

Williams's statistics were quite correct. He did not think that there were more than one hundred and fifty ministers in England who had £150 and upwards, and he did not think that out of them there were more than eighty who could, and would, subscribe to the Sustentation Fund. He thought that, looking at the facts, it would be only a very small amount that they would be likely to get.

Some of the meetings were held at Colston Hall, and the programme included a sermon by Mr. Spurgeon on Thursday evening, October 15. So eager were the Bristol people to hear the great London preacher, that a formidable crush was anticipated; and Mr. Spurgeon was heartily cheered when, in order to gratify friends, he announced that he would preach at nine in the morning as well as in the evening. A large number of tickets for this service were distributed at the soirée given on the evening before, and were accepted with an eagerness which proved that the popularity of the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle increased rather than diminished. After he had preached to a full congregation in the morning, the crowd was sufficiently great at night to make up two other large audiences, to which others ministered. It was commonly believed by many in London at this time that Spurgeon's powers, mighty as they had long been, were still growing.