ART. II.-CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON.

A GREAT man has fallen, a great heart has ceased to beat; but a masterful character, a divine force, a spiritual inspiration still remain to bless the world. It will be a long time before men feel that Charles Haddon Spurgeon is really dead. He projected himself into the life and work of the Church in such a high and helpful sense-the impetus he gave to the minds and hearts of Christian workers the world over was so powerful and all pervading-indeed, his whole life-work was of such an abiding, leavening character that his providential translation will not, outside of his immediate London congregation, be quickly realized by the world.

Mr. Spurgeon was born in June, 1834, and was, therefore, fifty-seven years of age when he died. Not a long life, truly, but in work accomplished and good done as full a life as this or any other century has seen. "How he made the atmosphere far and wide about him hum with his elemental activity!" From 1855, when he first appeared in London, and, spite of his youth and crudities, was soon styled a second Whitefield, down to his very last days, he succeeded in being if not the greatest yet the most popular preacher in the world; and this not by the force of a self-seeking will, or by an adroit use of sensational methods and means, but by sheer devotion to duty, enthusiasm in his work, and an industry which has become monumental.

As seen in his prime he was a rather short and somewhat corpulent man, with a full face, a slight beard worn full, a thick mass of black hair parted in the middle, with a low forehead, slightly projecting upper teeth, and small eyes deeply sunken, and at times scarcely seen by the listener. Not a handsome man, surely, and yet there was that in his frank, genial, sympathetic manner which drew one to him at once. This was especially true in private conversation, where he was the freest and most communicative of men.

The son of an Independent clergyman, Mr. Spurgeon grew up in a stimulating theological atmosphere, and was thoroughly grounded in the belief that the Christian ministry is the highest position, both in usefulness and honor, to which God ever called a man. As a boy, as well as a man, he was full of life,

passionate, impulsive, vehement, and always in a hurry to work out some important purpose. Though neither college nor university bred he secured a good working education, for a clergyman, even; and this, with the mental and moral qualities to which I have already referred, finally made him a scholar in the best sense of the word, and furnished him with an adequate equipment for his life work. In connection with his call to the ministry a remarkable incident occurred in his boyhood, which is well related by Mr. W. T. Stead: "When Mr. Spurgeon was ten years old Richard Knill, who is described in one of the lives of Spurgeon as 'late of Chester, now of New Jerusalem,' met Mr. Spurgeon at his father's house and delivered himself of a prophecy, which is only one among many incidents in Mr. Spurgeon's life that marked it out from that of ordinary mortals. After Richard Knill had preached in the old Puritan meetinghouse he prayed with young Spurgeon, and calling the family together he took him upon his knee and said: 'I do not know how it is, but I feel a solemn presentiment that this child will preach the Gospel to thousands, and God will bless him unto many souls. So sure am I of this that when you, my little man, preach in Rowland Hill's Chapel, as you will one day, I should like you to give out the hymn commencing,

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform.'

The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. He preached, many years afterward, when the Tabernacle was being cleaned and repainted, in Surrey Chapel, and in fulfillment of the prediction he gave out the hymn which Richard Knill had suggested when he was a child of ten."

The account of Mr. Spurgeon's conversion gives the key to his almost unparalleled success as a preacher. Like many another quick-witted boy, when in his teens he began to indulge in theological doubts, and proudly proclaimed himself a freethinker. But a tender conscience and the influence of good training brought about a healthy reaction, and he began to look earnestly for the way of salvation. Mr. Spurgeon himself has told the story of his success in a most characteristic manner :

At last, one snowy day in December, in a Primitive Methodist chapel at Colchester, a preacher, pale as death and thin as a

skeleton, preached from the text, "Look unto me, and be ye saved." Just setting his eyes upon me, as if he knew me all by heart, he said, "Young man, you are in trouble." Well, I was, sure enough. Said he, "You will never get out of it unless you look to Christ." And then, lifting up his hands, he cried out, as only I think a Primitive Methodist could do, "Look, look, look! It is only look," said he. I at once saw the way of salvation. O how I did leap for joy at that moment! I know not what else he said; I did not take much notice of it, I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, they only looked and were healed. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard this word, "Look!" what a charming word it seemed to me! O, I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away; and in heaven I will look on still in my joy unutterable. I now think I am bound never to preach a sermon without preaching to sinners. I do think that a minister who can preach a sermon without addressing sinners does not know how to preach.

Studying, teaching, and now and then preaching, he passed the years until he was nearly twenty, when he accepted the call of the historic New Park Street Baptist Church in London to be their pastor. Presumptuous church! presumptuous youth! and yet time more than justified the call and proved it to be of God. The young pastor keenly felt his limitations and clearly saw the enormous difficulties in his way; but somehow his profound conviction that God had placed him there, and his already confirmed habit of leaning on the divine arm and looking for especial divine guidance in all things, gave him nerve and skill, which, with a sort of righteous audacity and the self-confidence of great faith, speedily made him master of the situation and an acknowledged power in the chief city of the world. Even proud and exclusive Churchmen, who began by sneering at the "Essex Bumpkin" and his vehement utterances, ended by submitting to his leadership and sounding his praises.

The quantity of Mr. Spurgeon's work was always remarkable, and the quality steadily improved, until at last more room was needed for the increasing number of hearers. First the chapel was enlarged; but it soon overflowed, when resort was had to the Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall, the largest available audience room in London. Here literally all classes and conditions of men thronged to hear this pulpit prodigy, who persuaded and exhorted and thundered and lightened, shocking men of fastidious taste, committing many a sin against good

rhetoric, not to say good grammar, but all the time sticking to the Gospel and the book, and crying incessantly, "Look! look! look to Christ!" until thousands were converted and all Lon

don was ready to say, "This is a man sent from God, and he teaches as one having authority." The critics would criticise, and wiseacres would shake their heads and prophesy, but all were forced to admit that it was the greatest pulpit success the world had ever seen, and through the blessing of God and the consecrated life of the preacher the downfall never came. He stood without faltering or waning in power, or yielding his integrity, or losing a jot of his popularity for almost forty years. His career is a wonder of wonders, and has no parallel in modern times. Other men have been greater in almost any one given direction; but as an all-around preacher and bishop of a church Spurgeon has probably had no peer. Music Hall was soon outgrown, and the congregation resolved to rise up and build a church worthy the man and the winning manner of his message, and spacious enough to accommodate all who could regularly be gathered within the sound of one voice. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was finished in 1861, with a seating capacity for five thousand five hundred, and standing room for one thousand more, thus accommodating in all six thousand five hundred persons. Spurgeon filled it at once, and kept it full and running over for more than thirty years, preaching twice on Sunday, and for the greater part of the time on Wednesday night, to congregations composed of the learned and unlearned, people of rank and title, men of place and power, women of society and position, and plain everyday people with hard hands but tender hearts and quick minds, natives and foreigners, old and young, and all have understood his words and all have heard him gladly. In his youth, in the vigor and strength of his days, and when he came to the pulpit with tottering steps and leaning heavily upon his staff, it was ever the same; the multitudes hung upon his lips and joyfully yielded their hearts to Christ under the magic power of his plain but eloquent speech.

In his home life Mr. Spurgeon was a model. He lived in a generous manner, as became a man of his habits and position. One who has enjoyed the hearty hospitality of "Westwood House"-Mr. Spurgeon's semicountry home-with a stroll

57-FIFTH SERIES, VOL. VIII.

about the pleasant grounds and a look at the horses and cows and dogs, with the master himself to point out the best views and expatiate upon the excellencies of his pets, will always remember the occasion with pleasure and pride. Mr. Spurgeon was a true lover of nature and a close student of her mystic lore, and loved best the country both for recreation and for work. He lived well but not extravagantly, and furnished his house for comfort rather than for show. He admired beautiful things and works of art, but detested anything like ostentatious display in such matters. But little time was given each day to recreation; that little, however, he spent in a hearty and even rollicking manner with his boys and his guests, entering with the zest of youth into the simplest of games, laughing and shouting with the liveliest of his companions.

While courteous to all who sought his presence he was the very soul of hospitality and good fellowship to those who came to him on invitation or especially accredited by his friends. In this he was a typical Englishman. It is to me a precious memory that when I first called upon Mr. Spurgeon, presenting letters of introduction from several missionaries in China and India who had been trained in his Pastors' College, and from thence sent out to the foreign field, he said, as he threw his arms about me in a vigorous embrace, "My brother, you are thrice welcome, for Christ's sake, for your own sake, and because you have so recently seen my boys." It happened to be an hour set apart for relaxation and rest, and I found him most delightfully human in his social qualities. He smoked his pipe with relish, and laughed and joked and opened up his exhaustless store of apt anecdotes to my heart's content. And when, according to his custom at that time, the wine was brought, he seemed surprised at first that I should decline the glass, but at once broke out with the laughing exclamation: "Why, here is another one of those Yankee teetotalers!" I am assured that there came a day when Mr. Spurgeon threw the entire weight of his precept and example upon the side of strict temperance; but on the occasion referred to he drank his glass of wine without apology, as one who enjoys and thanks God for a good thing.

Most of his work was done at "Westwood House." His library was large and fairly well selected. It was rich in poetry,