CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2691, 14 December 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON.

HIS WIT AND WISDOM. From our London Correspondent. London, October 11, An authorised biography of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, which will have the advantage of the supervision and assistance of his .widow and her sons, is understood to be in preparation, and will be warmly welcomed by the'public. Meanwhile I can commend 10 you a pleasantly ■ written volume of personal reminiscences of the great preacher by his friend and fellow-minister, Mr Williams, of Upton Chapel. The twang of the conventicle and tone of sugary piety which some ministers can never shake off is agreeably absent from this little book. The virility, directness, and above all the sense of humour in Spurgeon himself seem to have permeated , the narrator,-, and ho gives us a delightfully „ incisive series of anecdotes and pictures. , ■ 1 , I have never myself been able ialtogother to reconcile Spurgeon's reputation for burning eloquence with his written sermons. These do not seem to me, to differ much either in language or material from what I can hear to-day from Mr Tom Spurgeon at the Tabpruaole, or from Mr Stone "at Abbey road , chapel, St. John’s Wood. The latter is supposed to bo 0. H. Spurgeon’s most promising pupil, and has an enormous congregation. I went to hoar him hopefully, and I was amazed. He pounded the Bible physically and metaphorically. Ho pleaded and prayed and roared and threatened, and ho backed up every argument with cataracts of texts many of thein' glaringly inappropriate. I kept thinking of, the pastor who, preached a funeral sermon on an eminently' 1 respectable tradesman from the words “The Lord hath need of him," and- —so accustomed was he to using bits of texts without considering the contexts—that ho got well into his, “ secondly, brethren," before he remembered our Lord’s requirement at that moment was an ass. When Mr Stone concluded I, said ,to myself, •; Surely Spurgeon wasn’t litre that, or if ho was ho had -other qualities besides.” Mr Williams! book explains much. Spurgeon possessed- a magic personality, which affected everything ho said and did. Moreover there was no narrow asceticism in Mr Spurgeon’s nature, and ho made no secret of the fact that it was to this that he attributed- no -small part of his great power and influence. He agreed with the Writer who said that “horrors are a ■ poor bait,” and who was of opinion that tho world, wonld nevor be converted until Christians cry less and laugh and sing more. This spirit reveals itself in his lament that the Evangelicals are not So careful as the Ritualists in making, as someone 'has put it, “ God’s acre beautiful.” “ You can, always tell,” ho once regretfully observed, “ whether the incumbent of a church is Ritualistic or Evangelical by the way the church and churchyard arc kept.” His wise wit is familiar to all readers' of his “ SaltCellars," and is indeed,,to bp .found in all his’'published; writings! It 'shows itselfperhaps most conspicuously in his homely counsels to students, of which. Mr Williams has gathered many samples. “Put plenty-info your sermons,-gentlemen,” he once observed, -. “'AftVr ' hearing some discourses X have, been reminded of tho request of the farmer's boy—‘Missus, I wish ■ you -would let that chicken run through this-broth once more” ” Again, ‘‘Long prayers injure prayer mootings; fancy, a man praying for twenty. minutes and then asking God to forgive his short-, comings.” Here are some specimens : Mind you avoid inappropriate texts. One brother, preached on the loss of a ship with all .hands; on .board from “So he!; bringeth them to their desired haven,” and another returning from his 1 marriage holiday “The, troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh ! bring me out of my distresses.’’,,,.

; Mind your illustrations are correct. It will never do to describe Noah as ono did,, sitting outside the ark reading his Bible—always -get the -true.meaning-of a text. One local preacher took “He for our profit,” and preached onThe prophetical office of Christ”’-' Miid your figures of speech are not cracked. Don’t talk like the brother who said—“ I fiy from star to star, from- cherry-beam to cherrybeam.” Get amongst your people or sojuebody, maybe saying of you as' oho old lady-.said.of .her minister- that ho. was invisible all the week and incomprehep-.. oiblq on. Sundays,; Shun all .affectionfin' the pulpit-, and mind you never get imo the goody-goody style. One of this sort said —“ 1 was readingthis morning in dear Hebrews.”, Mind the.them© of your sermon 'suits. yourself., A beardless boy should not preach from “ I have been young and now am old”—keep to your topic; you can't have every subject in one discourse. Some put too muck into a sermon—-it’s'a field of corn, not bread. Don’t: imitate the peculiarities of great preachers.: Thomas Binney used to pull his thoughts out of the palm of his left hand with' two'’’fingers, 1 and very wonderful thoughts they often were. ’ The’ students of New College, who Mten hoard him, used to .try,'tho -same dodge, but most of them found the-palm of their hand had nothing in it, and' so they looked rather ridiouldus.- SCek-Tb.;develop your'whole character. A student .who grows lopsided will never make ban- all-round minister. Be careful of your emphasis. One read, “Ho said unto his sons .saddle me the" ass ;‘Ae they’saddled-7iim.”- -Keep from: wandering in your preaching. “ I ’am wandering in ' my mind,” said one. “Well,” said a friend, “ you won’t have far to go.” Some preachers have no settled doctrine.,; .When;l was at-Pompeii I saw a God-smith’s shop. He had several statues finished up. to the face; the faces of these were in the adjoining room to suit purchasers. 1 Occasionally his wit took a lighter and more 1 playful turn. “ I did not see'you at Conference," he remarked tc one. “No, sir,! Came up in ,the night." “ Oh, you are like Jonah’s gourd, then. X hope you won’t perish in a night." Again, “ I don’t like dancing.. It was through a dance that the first Baptist minister : lost his head, and I may well be afraid of it." Of an orator who had notithe art of the homely style, he said—“Ho,pays out sovereigns occasionally, but ho has not fourpeuny bits for ordinary use.": One capital stoi-y’ —illustrating the necessity of allowing for dulness of comprehension in your bearers i—belongs, ■if Mr -Williams is not mistaken; to the Spurgeon, repertoire, though it, has lately, foiind its,.way into the memoirs ofa great dignitary of the church;. It is that of an old farmer who, after listening with all the intelligence and attention he was master of to ■ a discourse on the text, “ The fool hath said in his, heart there.is no God," said to the preacher, “ I Relieve there is a God after all, though your sermon was very clever." It : may cnoouragb diffident speakers to learn. that one day when Mr Williams said tb his'friend, “ Shall I over get over my terrible nervousness before going into the pulpit ho received the answer, “If ever you do your power will be gone. I suffer from it and always have done, as no tongue can tell.",- Here is an anecdote of a distinguished member of Mr Spurgebn's congregation:—

■John Ruskin, when he lived at Huh wich,i attended the- Tabernacle, Mr Spurgeon was not the-man to be in the least affected, by the presence of either men of -letters, philosophers* statesmen,; noblemen, eleven kings and queens, and id,turn he/had them'all to hear him.. Jobd' Buskin was. a,devoted attendant upon his ministry for years, and occasionally visited Mr Spurgeon at his house. The pastor, when going over his valuable ; and extensive library of scientific, historical and political books, which adorn the shelves pf hia beautiful drawing-room, pointed-' oat '-to me a first edition of Eriskin’s works,- worth, he said, - about .£3O, and which bo had received as a gift from the author. The two.raon, however, as the. reader may . easily imagine; were for from being in agreement upon many matters. - Upon' oho occasion Mr Buskin

told him ho was fitted for something far bettor than constantly preaching to “ that herd at Newington." This roused tha preacher's righteous ire. , The biographer tells us that in one volume of Mr Spurgeon's writings ho has . counted half-a-dozen apt quotations from - Buskin. In speaking of tha variety of experiences that may come to a.preacher. Mr Spurgeon' once related to his biographer the following anecdote; —One day a visitor called at Nightingale lane with a request that he might, bo allowed to seo Mr Spurgeon at once on urgent business. He was told that an interview could not bo had just then, but persistency prevailed. On entering the study- the stranger closed tho door, stood with his back to it, and began. “What’s this you vo been telling the people at tho Tabernacle about me ?’* “ Why, nothing, my friend." “Oh yes you have, and I’ve come to have it out with you, I’m not going to stand this sort of tiling.” Seeing ■ that the man was stout aud strong, and That he carried a stick like himself, Mr Spurgeon adopted a soothing, matter-of-fact, reasoning tone. “ Well, my friend, you are a stranger to me, I don’t think I ever saw you before, and I certainly don’t know you. If 1 know nothing about you I can’t toll anything, can I ?” “ No,” said the man, “ I suppose you can’t,” and then, after a meditative pause, asked, “Have you a brother?" “Yes.” “Is !

he much like you?” “No, I can’t say he is.” Then came a furious burst. “No, it wasn’t your brother, it was you ; and I mean to settle tho. matter. Do you know that I have been in an asylum ?" “ Have you? lam sorry to hoar that.” “Yes, and when I was there I was so strong that it took ten men to hold me.” Tho man began to flourish his stick and make threatening advances, from which there seemed no possibility of escape, and then asked, “ Are you strong ?” This was the preacher's opportunity, and power of will over brute strength at onoo asserted itself. “ Yes, X am terrifically 1” - “ What, as strong as ten men?" Mr Spurgeon sprang to his foot, assumed a tragic tone, and shouted, “ Yes, I’m stronger than a hundred men, and if ,you don’t got out of this room I'll crush every bone in your retched little body." The man trembled with fear, turned to. tha .door,'tlffew it aside, rushed,down the stairs, out through tho doorway, and along the road, as if pursued by furies, leaving his stick behind as a memento of his visit; J ■ 1 ?

Aii experience of a different, but hardly loss "startling kind, is recorded" In the following story of ;“Tho ■ Sham Mr Beecher." —Like many public men, Mr Spurgeon had* to- exercise "constant i vigilance against impositions by bogging impostors. Ho told me a.singular,circumstance that happened to him. - A smart, 1 well-dressed young fellow called at Westwood, and introduced himself ns Henry Ward’ Beecher’s son, Mr Spurgeon saw him and took him for a walk round tho garden. Ho brought, ho said, his father’s esteem ‘ and affection to.him, and told quite a 'number of stories,' all imaginary, about Mr’ Beecher’s family and , ehurcb.., Eventually - Mr Spurgeon saidihe must bid him good-bye, when the young man bald, “ Oh, 1 Mr' Spurgeon, would you oblige mo by Cashing 'a cheque for,., me? 1 His supioioh yvas; immediatelyTaroused, and he said,’ “No', I cannot; and. I don’t: think you ought to ask, or'expect me to do sot. You are a perfect stranger'to mo. If you'are Mr Beecher’s, son you have with you, surely, sufficient .credentials to enable you to get change, at „ the right . quarter/ !'", The pseudo-Beecher quickly left him. A few days after this happened a terrible murder vyas committed bn tho London and Brighton railway., An elderly gentlemen, .met his death in a;first-class carriage at the hands of a young man named Lefroy, who was subsequently captured. His portrait appeared in the illustrated papers,: Mr Spurgeon saw it, and at once recognised it as that’ of, the young man'-who had called on him as Mr Beecher’s son.