CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21179, 1 June 1934, Page 9

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

CENTENARY TO BR CELEBRATED \ (■ RLAT ITvE.U HER AM) TEACHER The centenary of the birth of the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the most accomplished and versatile pcyr s-onality ever associated with the Baptist Church, and one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century, is now being celebrated in all parts of the world. 1.1 Auckland a few days 820 there was a very large meeting, notable in that it was attended, in a private capacity, by the GovernorGeneral 'Lord Elect itsloeL the only occasion on which he has attended a public function uninvited in New Zealand, Christeliureh will recognise the centenary with .1 commemorative service at the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church this evening. The Rev. J. K. Archer will speak on the story of his life, the Rev. L. A. North on Spurgeon's workas a preacher, and t|ie Rev. J. Ewen {Simpson on his work as a writer. Mr 11. 11. Driver, of Auckland, one of Spurgcon's personal pupils, lias contributed the following account of the preacher's life and work to "The Press." "It is a rare thing for a preacher to attain a world-wide reputation and to have his achievements recalled and celebrated 42 years after I;is life has closed." writes Mr Driver. "Many men have won fame by their learning and eloquence and have swayed multitudes by their powerful and persuasive snecch, but their liaincs have begun fade as soon as their voic:s have bejii silenced by death. Charles , Haddon Spvrfieon has survived such a. fate. Alt over the world the centenary of his birth is being celebrated, and his remarkable career is being re- ' counted. Beyond the limit of the denomination to which he gave unpre- ; cedented prominence, his name is honoured, and the secular press is everywhere helping to perpetuate his iamc. "gpifrgeorj was 4 typical Englishman. He came of a sturdy stock. Hjs boyish clays were spent among farming folk. He was familiar with their difficulties and hardships and he learnt their homely speech and grew fond of their shrewd and pithy sayings. When he attained a popularity and an eminence that woijld have turned many a young man's head, and made him a prig or a cad, he retained his > naturalness and associated freely wilh > his fellowmcn. His fame never gave; him an air of aloofness and superior- | ity, His sympathies were always with ! ihe pool - , the oppressed, the degraded.!

I.ovetl bv (lie People "The conunoii people heard Inn gladly, bocciu.?;- lie used terms they could understand, tn]d stories that arrested their attention, relieved the , strain of a mighty argument by a j stroke of humour, played upon their i heart-strings with a touch of pathos, 1 and addressed them wilh an unaffected sincerity and an accent of conviction, i lie never puzzled them with intricate •' problem? and deftly-spun theories. Ho I never baffled them by imposing and ' ponderous terms and Ion.? sentences. . His uniform aim was to make his , thought c!e : ir to his least intelligent, hearer. His own mind was steeped in (he English of the Bible and Bunyan. end if in the heal, of public speech he used any pompous Latin words, lie would change them for simple Saxon when he earns lo revise a sermon for the press. "He had great native endowment.-; which went far lo account for the unique position he came to hold among the preachers, of his day. He had a sturdy frame capable of great exertion. His voice was of singular richness and sweetness and of great compass. He could whisper and be heard all over the spacious tabernacle in which for 30 years his ministry was exercised. In (lie open air he could address a crowd of 20,000. G'i ; the day appointed tor national humiliation over the Indian Mutiny, :he prayed to people in the j Crystal Palace and was heard by all. jHe possessed natural gifts of elocu- i j tion and could never understand why I ! any needed to acquire the ai l by j ! diligent discipline. !

Miiytnr of Oratory i i ".Seen after he startled London by j • | 'us eloquence, Sheridan Kncwles said: i i'Me is only a boy, but he is the most! I wonderful preacher in the world. He j 1 1 is absolutely perfect in oratory and j ■ i a master in the art of acting. He i has nothing to learn from mo or any-j j one else. He is simply perfect.' j I "He had, too, a memory which hisj j brother James declared to be 'eapaI cious as a barn and tenacious as a I I vice.' He could master the contents j I of a book by pimply turn ins over it:? I pages. Pie kept hit-' mind alert by j 'studying many .sciences in turn, and | wli'le he had no university train in ; ' and von no colleMo dearie:- he acquired a vast amount o,' knowledge j ' which he used to sood purpose. ! 1 ; : i 11 of humour was an a: set of no' ..'mall value. He lutd a keen ej e I'ov, tltc ludicrous and a ready wit which j - flashed and scintillated all through j li'.v preaching. Many blamed him fo:-j ; his jocularity when handling sacred ! thsn.es. but he said that if they only i knew how many witty remarks he j Eunore.'-scd they would pity him. ! "There was nothing artificial and ; unreal about his preaching. Artless, natural, sincere, he talked to his hearers with an intense earnestness and a direct appeal. He had come in his youthful days through a remarkable spiritual experience, akin to that of John Bunyan and other mystics, which coloured all his later ministry. He had a definite evangelistic message and all his preaching centred round the Cross of Christ. His Popularity ; "He declared that, his success was I due not to his preaching of the Gospel ; but to the Gospel he preached. But i others preached the same Gospel

without achieving the bite sucee-; His rare endowment- enabled him to fill with ease the largest buildiuv.s the metropolis contained. The new Park street chapel, to which he wa 1 ealled from Waterbeaeh, was soon packed to excess. Exeter Hall, which seated nearly 5000 was then taken and overcrowded. "The Surrey Mufic Hall, .•-•catinp. 10,000, was taken, and there a disaster occurred through n malicious cry ot fire which led to the death of seven [and the injury of 30 and made lhe i .young preacher's reason reel. Yet tor [three yrars the Sunday morning ser- ! vice was held there, and the hu 'C i building was; always full. The Metropolitan Tabernacle, costing £31.3:22, land seating 5000, war. opened in 1861. and there for 30 years Spurgeon car- ! ried on his marvellous ministry with ! undiminished popularity. ; "The decayed and depressed church to which he came grew until when i he died in 1802 the membership stood lat 5.111. His Kcnnoi.'s were published week by week from 1855 1o 1017 <"or 25 years after lus deaths un.il they numbered 3503 and filled 62 volumes--an absolutely unparalleled record. It is estimated that 100,000,000 of them have been published. And they still sell! Literary Work "Spurgcon's literary indusity wa* amazing. In addition to the weekly revision of the sermon, lie wrote during 20 years a commentary un the Psalms which filled seven large volumes and of which many thousands of sets were sold. Fond of proverbial and aphoristic lore, he wrote ■John Ploughman'.*, Talk and the Salt-: Cellars which had an enormous vogue, j For 26 years he edited the 'Sword and Trowel.' Altogether IGo volumes bear his name as author or editor. All Ihis implies a mental energy and vivacity perfectly marvellous. He might have been pardoned if this un-j equalled popularity had fostered) vanity in him, but lie retained his lowliness to the end. ! "In addition to all his preaching | and publishing activities he founded i great institutions of IV.r-ruaehing use-1 full",', ss. The Stockwell Orphanage, j which cares continually for 500 chil-j dren. and frur. which 5000 have -lone; to take their pari in the world's work i at Pastors' College, in which 1400' men have been trained as ministers j or missionaries, the Colportage Asso- j cintion. which employs 100 men !o| carry healthy literature to lonely; places, and many other agencies were | '•'t. on foot by this great benefactor. His piety was intensely practical. He j was a philanthropist as well as a i preacher. His Calvinistic and Puritanic sermons were allird with lh: service of humanity, and his. manysided excellencies entitled him to grateful remembrance." I