I am posting this today because there might be someone who is interested in how Mr. Spurgeon went into full time Christian service 160 years ago - Rick
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Chapter VIII.
C. H. Spurgeon
IT is not to be expected that we should write the story of our own personal ministry: this must be left to other pens, if it be thought worth while to write it at all. We could not turn these pages into an autobiography, nor could we very well ask any one else to write about us, and therefore we shall simply give bare facts, and extracts from the remarks of others. On one of the last Sabbaths of the month of December, 1853, C. H. Spurgeon, being then nineteen years of age, preached in New Park Street Chapel, in response to an invitation which, very much to his surprise, called him away from a loving people in Waterbeach, near Cambridge, to supply a London pulpit. The congregation was a mere handful. The chapel seemed very large to the preacher, and very gloomy, but he stayed himself on the Lord, and delivered his message from James i. 17. There was an improvement even on the first evening, and the place looked more cheerful; the text was, "They are without fault before the throne of God."
In answer to earnest requests, C. H. Spurgeon agreed to preach in London on the first, third, and fifth Sundays in January, 1854, but before the last of these Sabbaths he had received an invitation, dated Jan. 25, inviting him to occupy the pulpit for six months upon probation. The reply to this invitation will be found entire in Mr. Pike's "Sketches of Nonconformity in Southwark."
The six months' probation was never fulfilled, for there was no need. The place was filling, the prayer-meetings were full of power, and conversion was going on. A requisition for a special meeting, signed by fifty of the male members was sent in to the deacons on April 12, and according to the church book it was, on April 19, resolved unanimously, "that we tender our brother, the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, a most cordial and affectionate invitation forthwith to become pastor of this church, and we pray that the result of his services may be owned of God with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a revival of religion in our midst; that it may be fruitful in the conversion of sinners and in the edification of those that believe."
C. H. SPURGEON.
To this there was but one reply, and it was therefore answered in the affirmative in a letter dated, 75, Dover Road, April 28, 1854, also inserted in Mr. Pike's book, which can be had of our publishers. In a very short time the congregation so multiplied as to make the chapel in the evening, when the gas was burning, like the black-hole of Calcutta. One evening in 1854 the preacher exclaimed, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and by faith this wall at the back shall come down, too." An aged and prudent deacon in somewhat domineering terms observed to him, at the close of the sermon. "Let us never hear of that again." "What do you mean?" said the preacher, "you will hear no more about it when it is done, and therefore the sooner you set about doing it the better." A meeting was held, and a fund was commenced, and in due course the vestries and schools were laid into the chapel and a new schoolroom was erected along the side of the chapel, with windows which could be let down, to allow those who were seated in the school to hear the preacher. While this was being done, worship was carried on at Exeter Hall, from Feb. 11, 1855, to May 27 of the same year. At this time paragraphs began to appear in the papers announcing that the Strand was blocked up by crowds who gathered to hear a young man in Exeter Hall. Remarks of no very flattering character appeared in various journals, and the multitude was thereby increased. Caricatures, such as "Brimstone and Treacle" adorned the printsellers' windows, the most ridiculous stories were circulated, and the most cruel falsehoods invented, but all these things worked together for good. The great Lord blessed the word more and more to the conversion of the hearers, and Exeter Hall was thronged throughout the whole time of our sojourn.
BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE.
To return to New Park-street, enlarged though it was, resembled the attempt to put the sea into a teapot. We were more inconvenienced than ever. To turn many hundreds away was the general if not the universal necessity, and those who gained admission were but little better off, for the packing was dense in the extreme, and the heat something terrible even to remember. Our enemies continued to make our name more and more known by penny pamphlets and letters in the papers, which all tended to swell the crowd. More caricatures appeared, and among the rest "Catch-'em-alive-O!"
CATCH-'EM-ALIVE-O!
In June 1856 we were again at Exeter Hall, preaching there in the evening and at the chapel in the morning; but this was felt to be inconvenient, and therefore in August a fund was commenced to provide for the erection of a larger house of prayer. Meanwhile the Exeter Hall proprietors intimated that they were unable to let their hall continuously to one congregation, and therefore we looked about us for another place. Most opportunely a large hall, in the Royal Surrey Gardens, was just completed for the monster concerts of M. Jullien, and, with some trembling at the magnitude of the enterprise, this hall was secured for Sabbath evenings.
We find the following entry in the Church-book:—"Lord's-day, Oct. 19, 1856. On the evening of this day, in accordance with the resolution passed at the Church meeting, Oct. 6th, the church and congregation assembled to hear our pastor, in the Music Hall of the Royal Surrey Gardens. A very large number of persons (about 7000) were assembled on that occasion, and the service was commenced in the usual way, by singing, reading the Scriptures, and prayer. Just, however, after our Pastor had commenced his prayer, a disturbance was caused (as it is supposed, by some evil-disposed persons acting in concert), and the whole congregation were seized with a sudden panic.
SURREY MUSIC HALL
This caused a fearful rush to the doors, particularly from the galleries. Several persons, either in consequence of their heedless haste, or from the extreme pressure of the crowd behind, were thrown down on the stone steps of the north-west staircase, and were trampled on by the crowd pressing upon them. The lamentable result was that seven persons lost their lives, and twenty-eight were removed to the hospitals seriously bruised and injured. Our pastor not being aware that any loss of life had occurred, continued in the pulpit, endeavouring by every means in his power to alleviate the fear of the people, and was successful to a very considerable extent. In attempting to renew the service, it was found that the people were too excited to listen to him, and the service was closed, and the people who remained dispersed quietly. This lamentable circumstance produced very serious effects on the nervous system of our pastor. He was entirely prostrated for some days, and compelled to relinquish his preaching engagements. Through the great mercy of our heavenly Father, he was, however, restored so as to be able to occupy the pulpit in our own chapel on Sunday, Oct. 31st, and gradually recovered his wonted health and vigour. 'The Lord's name be praised!' "The church desire to note this event in their minutes, and to record their devout thankfulness to God that in this sad calamity the lives of their beloved pastor, the deacons, and members were all preserved; and also with the hope that our heavenly Father from this seeming evil may produce the greatest amount of real lasting good."
This was the way in which this great affliction was viewed by our church; but we had, in addition to the unutterable pain of the whole catastrophe, to bear the wicked accusations of the public press. We will give only one specimen; it is taken from a popular newspaper which has long been most friendly to us, and therefore we will not mention names. In the days of its ignorance it said—"Mr. Spurgeon is a preacher who hurls damnation at the heads of his sinful hearers. Some men there are who, taking their precepts from Holy "Writ, would beckon erring souls to a rightful path with fair words and gentle admonition; Mr. Spurgeon would take them by the nose and bully them into religion. Let us set up a barrier to the encroachments and blasphemies of men like Spurgeon, saying to them, 'Thus far shalt thou come and no further;' let us devise some powerful means which shall tell to the thousands who now stand in need of enlightenment—This man, in his own opinion, is a righteous Christian, but in ours nothing more than a ranting charlatan. We are neither straightlaced nor Sabbatarian in our sentiments: but we would keep apart, widely apart, the theatre and the church—above all, would we place in the hand of every right-thinking man, a whip to scourge from society the authors of such vile blasphemies as on Sunday night, above the cries of the dead and the dying, and louder than the wails of misery from the maimed and suffering, resounded from the mouth of Mr. Spurgeon in the Music Hall of the Surrey Gardens."
A fund was raised to help the poor sufferers, and to avoid all fear of further panic the preacher resolved to hold the service in the morning, though that part of the day is least favourable to large congregations. The multitude came, however, and continued still to come for three good years. All classes came, both high and low. We have before us a list of the nobility who attended the Music Hall, but as we never felt any great elation at their attendance, or cared to have their presence blazoned abroad, we will not insert the names. It was a far greater joy to us that hundreds came who were led to seek the Lord, and to find eternal life in him.
A famous letter, signed Habitans in Sicco, and dated from Broad Phylactery, Westminster, appeared at this period in the "Times," and as it was known to be written by an eminent scholar it produced a very favourable impression. Part of the letter ran as follows:—
"I want to hear Spurgeon; let us go." Now, I am supposed to be a high churchman, so I answered, "What! go and hear a Calvinist—a Baptist!—a man who ought to be ashamed of himself for being so near the Church, and yet not within its pale?" "Never mind; come and hear him." Well, we went yesterday morning to the Music Hall, in the Surrey Gardens.....Fancy a congregation consisting of 10,000 souls, streaming into the Hall, mounting the galleries, humming, buzzing, and swarming—a mighty hive of bees—eager to secure at first the best places, and, at last, any place at all. After waiting more than half an hour—for if you wish to have a seat you must be there at least that space of time in advance—Mr. Spurgeon ascended his tribune. To the hum, and rush, and trampling of men, succeeded a low, concentrated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed to run at once, like an electric current, through the breast of every one present; and by this magnetic chain, the preacher held us fast bound for about two hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary of his discourse. It is enough to say of his voice, that its power and volume are sufficient to reach every one in that vast assembly; of his language, that it is neither high-flown nor homely; of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times declamatory, but always happy, and often eloquent; of his doctrine, that neither the Calvinist nor the Baptist appears in the forefront of the battle which is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity, and with gospel weapons, against irreligion, cant, hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom sins which so easily beset a man in daily life; and to sum up all in a word, it is enough to say of the man himself, that he impresses you with a perfect conviction of his sincerity.
But I have not written so much about my children's want of spiritual food when they listened to the mumbling of the Archbishop of—, and my own banquet at the Surrey Gardens, without a desire to draw a practical conclusion from these two stories, and to point them by a moral. Here is a man not more Calvinistic than many an incumbent of the Established Church, who "humbles and mumbles," as old Latimer says, over his liturgy and text—here is a man who says the complete immersion, or something of the kind, of adults is necessary to baptism. These are his faults of doctrine; but if I were the examining chaplain of the Archbishop of—, I would say, "May it please your grace, here is a man able to preach eloquently, able to fill the largest church in England with his voice, and what is more to the purpose, with people. And may it please your grace, here are two churches in the metropolis, St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey. What does your grace think of inviting Mr. Spurgeon, this heretical Calvinist and Baptist, who is able to draw 10,000 souls after him, just to try his voice, some Sunday morning, in the nave of either of those churches?"
On October 7th, 1857, the day of National Humiliation for the Indian Mutiny, Mr. Spurgeon preached in the centre transept of the Crystal Palace to more than 23,000 people, and the sum of £686 was paid over to the National Fund.
Meanwhile the collection of funds for a new building went on, and in January, 1858, the money in hand was £6100; by January, 1859, it was £9,639, and £5,000 of it was set aside to pay for the ground near the Elephant and Castle. We went plodding on, the pastor collecting personally, or by his sermons, very much of the money, travelling far and wide to do so; Scotch friends especially helping; till in January, 1860, after the first stone had been laid, £16,868 was in hand, or more than half of the sum required, so that the land had been paid for, and instalments paid to the builder as required. The first stone of the Metropolitan Tabernacle was laid with great rejoicings, August 16th, 1859, by Sir Morton Peto; but as a report of the whole proceedings can be procured of our publishers we will say but little here. We feel constrained, however, to mention the singular providence which placed Mr. Spicer and other friends upon the Court of the Fishmongers' Company, so as to secure the land; next, the fact that the company was able to sell the freehold; and, next, that the late Mr. William Joynson, of Mary Cray, deposited the amount to pay for an Act of Parliament to enable the company to sell in case it had turned out that they had not the legal power to do so. Singularly happy also was the circumstance that a gentleman in Bristol, who had never heard the pastor, nevertheless gave no less a sum than £5,000 towards the building. Eternity alone can reveal all the generous feeling and self-denying liberality evinced by Christian people in connection with this enterprise,—to us at any rate so gigantic at the time that apart from divine aid we could never have carried it through. One of the chief of our mercies was the fact that our beloved brother, William Higgs, was our builder, and treated us with unbounded liberality throughout the whole affair. He is now a worthy deacon of our church.
In December, 1859, we left the Surrey Music Hall. We paid the company a large sum for our morning service, and this was the only amount out of which a dividend was paid. They proposed to open the gardens for amusement on the Lord's-day evening, and we threatened to give up our tenancy if they did so. This prevented the evil for some time, but at length the baser sort prevailed, and under the notion that Sunday "pleasure" would prove remunerative, they advertised that the gardens would be opened on the Sabbath: we, therefore, felt bound in honour to leave the place, and we did so. After a while a fire almost destroyed the building, and the relics were for years turned into a hospital. We commenced on December 18th, 1859, our third and longest sojourn at Exeter Hall, which ended on March 1st, 1861. A few of our remarks upon leaving that place may fitly be quoted here.
"In the providence of God we, as a church and people, have had to wander often. This is our third sojourn within these walls. It is now about to close. We have had at all times and seasons a compulsion for moving: sometimes a compulsion of conscience, at other times a compulsion of pleasure, as on this occasion. I am sure that when we first went to the Surrey Music Hall, God went with us. Satan went too, but he fled before us. That frightful calamity, the impression of which can never be erased from my mind, turned out in the providence of God to be one of the most wonderful means of turning public attention to special services, and I do not doubt that—fearful catastrophe though it was—it has been the mother of multitudes of blessings. The Christian world noted the example; and saw its after-success; they followed it; and to this day, in the theatre and in the cathedral, the word of Christ is preached where it was never preached before. In each of our movings we have had reason to see the hand of God, and here particularly; for many residents in the West End have in this place come to listen to the word, who probably might not have taken a journey beyond the river. Here God's grace has broken hard hearts; here have souls been renewed, and wanderers reclaimed. 'Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.' And now we journey to the house which God has in so special a manner given to us, and this day would I pray as Moses did, 'Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee.'"
In 1859, the church for the first time appointed Elders to aid the Pastor in the spiritual concerns of the church. This arrangement has been of vital importance and has met a manifest necessity. Of honoured men who have filled this office we could mention many names, but it would extend this history beyond our limits.
In Feb. 1860, the Pastor visited Paris, preaching in the Eglise de l'Oratoire, and in the American Chapel, to crowded houses. At this time M. Provost Paradol wrote an enthusiastic critique, which from a Catholic was the more remarkable. We have, however, no space for it, nor for more than an allusion to sermons preached in June of this year in Geneva, in the Cathedral from the pulpit of John Calvin, and in the church of M. D'Aubigné.
Under date January 6th, 1861, there stands in our records the following solemn declaration, signed by the pastor and leading friends:—"This church needs rather more than £4,000 to enable it to open the New Tabernacle free of all debt. It humbly asks this temporal mercy of God, and believes that for Jesus' sake the prayer will be heard and the boon bestowed. As witness our hands."
Now let the reader mark that, on May 6th of the same year, the pastor and many friends also signed their names to another testimony, which is worded as follows: "We, the undersigned members of the church lately worshipping in New Park Street Chapel, but now assembling in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, desire with overflowing hearts to make known and record the lovingkindness of our faithful God. We asked in faith, but our Lord has exceeded our desires, for not only was the whole sum given us, but far sooner than we had looked for it. Truly the Lord is good and worthy to be praised. We are ashamed of ourselves that we have ever doubted him, and we pray that as a church and as individuals we may be enabled to trust in the Lord at all times with confidence, so that in quietness we may possess our souls. To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost we offer praise and thanksgiving, and we set to our seal that God is true."
After about a month of Opening Services of which a full account can be had of our publishers, we began regular work at the Tabernacle in May 1861, the whole building being free of debt, and the accounts showing that £31,332 4s. 10d. had been received, and the same amount expended. Truly we serve a gracious God.
The Tabernacle is 146 feet long, 81 feet broad, and 62 feet high. There are some 5,500 sittings of all kinds. There is room for 6,000 persons without excessive crowding; and we have also a lecture-hall holding about 900, schoolroom for 1000 children, six class-rooms, kitchen, lavatory, and retiring rooms below stairs. We have a ladies' room for working meetings, young men's classroom, and Secretary's room on the ground floor; three vestries, for pastor, deacons, and elders on first floor, and three store-rooms on the second floor. The accommodation is all too little for the work to be carried on, and we are glad to use the rooms at the almshouses and the college.
During the month of January, 1863, the Pastor preached in most of the large towns of Holland, and had a lengthened interview with the Queen of the Netherlands. The sermons are largely circulated in the Dutch language.
In the month of June, 1864, a sermon was preached by C. H. S. in the Metropolitan Tabernacle which raised a wide-spread controversy, upon the important subject of Baptismal Regeneration. Rectors, and curates, and deans, and canons, rose in the fulness of their indignation, and fulminated pamphlets, which were met with replies of equal warmth. The sermon itself has reached a circulation of 200,000, and remains as our earnest protest against the unnatural use of language by the clergy, and as a proof positive that the Book of Common Prayer contains words which are calculated to teach the most deadly error. The vituperation which followed upon this discourse, has been cheerfully endured for the truth's sake, until at this moment some of of our fiercest opponents are our friends, and hundreds who were led to look into the matter for the first time are now among our firmest adherents. "When the time comes some curious incidents connected with this conflict may be narrated, but not now.
Many interesting events have occurred since then, but we have not space to record them. In May, 1867, while the Tabernacle was repaired, we occupied the Agricultural Hall for five Sabbaths, and had it crowded every morning with not less than 20,000 persons, and what is better, the Holy Spirit put life and power into the word.
In Oct. 1867, the Pastor having for several years been laid aside at intervals by painful illness, and it having been stated by eminent physicians that this was due to the over-straining of his mental powers, the deacons and elders, after consulting together, recommended the church to request
MR. J. A. SPURGEON
to become co-pastor with his brother, to relieve him of much of the pastoral work. This happy arrangement was carried out Jan. 9, 1868, and has been a great comfort to the senior pastor, both in church and college work. Mr. James Spurgeon is now also the pastor of a large and growing church in Croydon, for which he has erected a noble chapel, where he is able to exercise his ministry on the Lord's-day; his help being mainly required at the Tabernacle upon week days, and in the general oversight of the church. No more efficient or sympathetic helper could possibly have been found.
Here we may claim space to notice how much the church of late years has been indebted to some of her departed workers; for instance, Deacon Thomas Cook, who superintended the work of collecting funds for the New Tabernacle; to Elder Dransfield, one of the happiest and most useful Christians in the world; and to Mrs. Bartlett, whose loss we cannot cease to deplore, for she not only led hundreds of young women to Jesus, but was also a pastor and mother to them. Among those who are yet living there are some of the best and most gracious of men and women, but it would be invidious to name some where so many are doing their best. Yet, even at the risk of this evil, we must mention our. Deacon William Olney, whose illness is a calamity to us all, and Deacon W. C. Murrell, who for many years has borne all the buffetings of the crowd at the doors and by the sacrifice of his own personal comfort has enabled us to worship in peace and quietness.
JAMES A. SPURGEON.
To us the most noteworthy fact has been the increase of our membership. Of this we subjoin a table.
From this it will be seen how steadily the process of addition to the church has gone on even in those years in which the clear increase has been small. Had we lost none we should now number 8,500. Emigrations and removals to other churches take from us so large a number that it has in some years needed three persons to be added in the gross to secure a permanent increase of one. Nor does this at all distress us; it is well that it should be so. If the converts all remained in our church the Tabernacle would not hold them, and there would certainly be no room for the unconverted to come and hear; but now we pass them on to other churches with pleasure, believing that they will be a salt in the earth, and rejoicing that others are being drawn by the Spirit to fill their places. We can hardly expect to increase beyond 5,000 as we have not sufficient seat room for more than that number.
Out of these converts a very large number have become ministers, colporteurs, and City missionaries, and of late the missionary spirit has also been developed, so that quite a number of our friends have gone forth among the heathen, to our great joy and rejoicing.
At this date (March, 1876) all is proceeding with regularity and life under the divine smile. Our Deacons number nine, and our Elders thirty-one. Mr. J. T. Dunn aids us in visitation and discipline, and Mr. Charlesworth, the Head Master of the Orphanage, is also a great assistance to us in conducting Bible Classes and public services.
The Sermons, published weekly, have now reached No. 1,284, and the "Sword and Trowel" is in the 12th volume; the circulation of both being well sustained.
We have almost completed the 22nd year of our pastorate, and though we long to see greater things, yet we magnify the name of the Lord as we hear the watchman cry "All is well."
--The Metropolitan Tabernacle. [2]
Chapter 8.
Mr. Spurgeon's Call To London
At Cambridge there is a very efficient Sunday School Union, and at its anniversary in 1853 Mr. Spurgeon was called upon to speak. This simple, and, as it were, casual incident, was an important link in a chain of events which led to great results. There was a gentleman present, worthy old Mr. Gould, a deacon of the Baptist Church at Loughton, Essex, who felt there was something unusual in the youthful speaker; and what he heard of his preaching at Waterbeach, and elsewhere, deepened and confirmed the impressions made.
Shortly after this, Mr. Gould met, in London, his friend, Mr. Thomas Olney, one of the deacons of the church meeting in New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, who bemoaned the low estate of that church, which had been one of the largest, richest, and most influential of all the London Baptist churches. Mr. Gould spoke of the youthful Cambridgeshire preacher, and suggested that he might be the means of reviving the decayed interest at New Park Street. The two friends separated, Mr. Olney not being deeply impressed in favor of his friend's suggestion. Meanwhile things grew worse and worse at New Park Street. The chapel was badly placed, and the neighborhood was fast deteriorating, or being changed into a place for warehouses rather than dwelling-houses.
New Park Street Chapel.
After a time the two deacons met again, and Mr. Gould renewed his suggestion respecting the young Waterbeach pastor, and this time made a deeper impression on good Thomas Olney. There might be a gleam of hope for the cause in the suggestions made. Thomas Olney mentioned the matter to his fellow-deacon, James Low, and they consulted with their brethren in office, as the result of which a correspondence was opened between Mr. Low and the Waterbeach pastor, which led to the latter receiving an invitation to preach on a certain Sunday in the large but almost empty chapel. The pastorate had been vacant some three months or more, and things were gloomy in the extreme. As we hope to devote a short chapter to the history of this memorable church, we shall confine ourselves now to matters concerning Mr. Spurgeon's accession to the pastorate, and its wonderful results.
Mr. Spurgeon's first Sunday in London was in December, 1853. Everything wore the appearance of gloom; virtually, there was no hopeful inspiration,—a gloomy month, in a gloomy neighborhood, in a chapel seating twelve hundred, where hardly two hundred were assembled. The preacher stayed himself upon the Lord, and preached. His first text was well chosen,—a more suitable one could not have been selected; and it has had a wonderful illustration in the whole of his subsequent ministry. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). He spoke with great freedom and boldness, as one who believed what he preached, and that he had a message from God. The result was that some were disappointed; others resolved to oppose, and did oppose; but a large majority desired to hear him again. The evening congregation showed that the morning sermon had fallen on attentive and willing ears. The number of hearers was greatly increased,—partly from the youth's unusual style, and partly from the earnestness and faithfulness of the preacher.
It was on that first Sunday that he found a suitable companion and friend in Mr. Joseph Passmore, who has from that day been closely associated with him as a brother and fellow-soldier, an elder and a deacon, and as one of the firm which, from the beginning, has published his sermons and other works.
Mr. Spurgeon was invited to repeat his visit, which he did, on the first, third, and fifth Lord's-days in January, 1854; but before the last of these Sabbaths he had received an invitation, dated 25th January, to occupy the pulpit for six months on probation. Mr. Spurgeon's reply to this invitation is characteristic of the man, though, at the time, he wanted some months of twenty years of age. It was worthy of a man of long experience, and displayed alike that distrust in self, that plain common-sense and sagacity, and that simple faith in the Lord's leading and guidance, which have marked his entire course.
- No. 60 Park Street, Cambridge,
- January 27th, 1854. To James Low Esq.:
My dear Sir,—I cannot help feeling intense gratification at the unanimity of the church at New Park Street in relation to their invitation to me. Had I been uncomfortable in my present situation I should have felt unmixed pleasure at the prospect Providence seems to open up before me; but, having a devoted and loving people, I feel I know not how.One thing I know, namely, that I must soon be severed from them by necessity, for they do not raise sufficient to maintain me in comfort. Had they done so I should have turned a deaf ear to any request to leave them, at least for the present. But now my heavenly Father drives me forth from this little Garden of Eden, and while I see that I must go out, I leave it with reluctance, and tremble to tread the unknown land before me.When I first ventured to preach at Waterbeach I only accepted an invitation for three months, on the condition that if in that time I should see good reason for leaving, or they, on their part, should wish for it, I should be at liberty to cease supplying, or they should have the same power to request me to do so, before the expiration of the time.With regard to a six months' invitation from you, I have no objection to the length of time, but rather approve of the prudence of the church in wishing to have one so young as myself on an extended period of approbation. But I write after well weighing the matter when I say positively that I cannot, I dare not, accept an unqualified invitation for so long a time. My objection is not to the length of time of probation, but it ill becomes a youth to promise to preach to a London congregation so long, until he knows them and they know him. I would engage to supply for three months of that time, and then, should the congregation fail, or the church disagree, I would reserve to myself liberty, without breach of engagement, to retire; and you would, on your part, have the right to dismiss me without seeming to treat me ill. Should I see no reason for so doing, and the church still retain their wish for me, I can remain the other three months, either with or without the formality of a further invitation; but even during the second three months, I should not like to regard myself as a fixture, in case of ill success, but would only be a supply, liable to a fortnight's dismissal or resignation.Perhaps this is not business-like—I do not know; but this is the course I should prefer, if it would be agreeable to the church. Enthusiasm and popularity are often like the crackling of thorns, and soon expire. I do not wish to be a hindrance, if I cannot be a help.With regard to coming at once, I think I must not. My own deacons just hint that I ought to finish the quarter here, though by "ought" they simply mean, Pray do so if you can. This would be too long a delay. I wish to help them until they can get supplies, which is only to be done with great difficulty, and as I have given you four Sabbaths, I hope you will allow me to give them four in return. I would give them the first and second Sabbaths in February, and two more in a month or six weeks' time. I owe them much for their kindness, although they insist that the debt lies on their side. Some of them hope, and almost pray, that you may be tired of me in three months, so that I may be again sent back to them.Thus, my dear sir, I have honestly poured out my heart to you. You are too kind. You will excuse me if I err, for I wish to do right to you, to my people, and to all, as being not mine own, but bought with a price.I respect the honesty and boldness of the small minority, and only wonder that the number was not greater. I pray God that if He does not see fit that I should remain with you, the majority may be quite as much the other way at the end of six months, so that I may never divide you into parties.Pecuniary matters I am well satisfied with. And now one thing is due to every minister, and I pray you to remind the church of it,—namely, that in private, as well as in public, they must all wrestle in prayer to God that I may be sustained in the great work.I am, with best wishes for your health, and the greatest respect,
Yours truly,
C. H. Spurgeon.
Looking back to the earliest year of Mr. Spurgeon's ministry at New Park Street, we well remember what charges of audacity, impudence, overweening conceit, self-assertion, and such like things,—improper enough in any man, but especially in a young man,—were brought against him, and hurled at him, like clods and stones, instead of rotten eggs and gutter garbage. This was done, not alone by newspaper writers, but by professing Christians, and even ministers. So they misunderstood his boldness and faithfulness in preaching the gospel. But what trace is there in the letter we have just quoted of anything of the kind? No young man, however small his gifts, and however limited his resources as a preacher, could have written more humbly, and with more of healthy self-distrust, and at the same time with greater frankness and straightforward honesty. The cautious letter was well received, and the honesty of the writer was well rewarded. Unexpected results followed his second visit. The spacious chapel, notwithstanding many drawbacks, and, not least, its bad situation, and the fact that the nearest way to it from the city was over Southwark Bridge, which involved a toll, was rapidly filling, the prayer-meetings were full of power, and conversion work was going on. There was a strong feeling at once to take steps to secure his election to the pastorate. Accordingly, a requisition for a special church-meeting was signed by fifty of the male members, and sent in to the deacons on 12th April. A meeting was held a week later, when the following resolution was passed unanimously:—
"That we tender our brother, Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, a most cordial and affectionate invitation forthwith, to become pastor of this church, and we pray that the result of his services may be owned of God, with an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, and a revival of religion in our midst; that it may be fruitful in the conversion of sinners, and in the edification of those that believe."
To this invitation there could be but one reply: the hand of the Lord and the will of the Lord were so manifest that they could not be mistaken. Accordingly, Mr. Spurgeon wrote:—
- 75 Dover Road, Borough,
- April 28th, 1854.
To the Baptist Church of Christ worshipping in New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus,—I have received your unanimous invitation, as contained in a resolution passed by you on the 19th inst., desiring me to accept the pastorate among you. No lengthened reply is required; there is but one answer to so loving and cordial an invitation. I accept it. I have not been perplexed as to what my reply shall be, for many things constrain me thus to answer.I sought not to come to you, for I was the minister of an obscure but affectionate people; I never solicited advancement. The first note of invitation from your deacons came to me quite unlooked-for, and I trembled at the idea of preaching in London. I could not understand how it came about, and even now I am filled with astonishment at the wondrous Providence. I would wish to give myself into the hands of our covenant God, whose wisdom directs all things. He shall choose for me; and so far as I can judge, this is His choice.I feel it to be a high honor to be the pastor of a people who can mention glorious names as my predecessors, and I entreat of you to remember me in prayer, that I may realize the solemn responsibility of my trust. Remember my youth and inexperience; pray that these may not hinder my usefulness. I trust also that the remembrance of these may lead you to forgive the mistakes I may make, or unguarded words I may utter.Blessed be the name of the Most High! if He has called me to this office He will support me in it; otherwise how should a child—a youth—have the presumption thus to attempt a work which filled the heart and hands of Jesus? Your kindness to me has been very great, and my heart is knit unto you. I fear not your steadfastness, I fear my own. The gospel, I believe, enables me to venture great things, and by faith I venture this. I ask your co-operation in every good work; in visiting the sick, in bringing in inquirers, and in mutual edification.Oh that I may be no injury to you, but a lasting benefit! I have no more to say, only this, that if I have expressed myself in these few words in a manner unbecoming my youth and inexperience, you will not impute it to arrogance, but forgive my mistake.And now, commending you to our covenant-keeping God, the Triune Jehovah,I am,Yours to serve in the Gospel,C. H. Spurgeon.
Before he was twenty years of age this young man was therefore installed as pastor of a church some of whose previous pastors had been among the most learned, useful, and honored of their day.
At this point it seems necessary to give a short sketch of the earlier history of the church which now worships at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, with brief notes of some of its distinguished pastors.
--From the Usher's Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit: The Life and Labours of Pastor C. H. Spurgeon.[1]
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The Metropolitan Tabernacle
Its History and Work
by
C. H. SpurgeonDatabase © 2007 WORDsearch Corp.
Chapter VIII.
C. H. Spurgeon
IT is not to be expected that we should write the story of our own personal ministry: this must be left to other pens, if it be thought worth while to write it at all. We could not turn these pages into an autobiography, nor could we very well ask any one else to write about us, and therefore we shall simply give bare facts, and extracts from the remarks of others. On one of the last Sabbaths of the month of December, 1853, C. H. Spurgeon, being then nineteen years of age, preached in New Park Street Chapel, in response to an invitation which, very much to his surprise, called him away from a loving people in Waterbeach, near Cambridge, to supply a London pulpit. The congregation was a mere handful. The chapel seemed very large to the preacher, and very gloomy, but he stayed himself on the Lord, and delivered his message from James i. 17. There was an improvement even on the first evening, and the place looked more cheerful; the text was, "They are without fault before the throne of God."
In answer to earnest requests, C. H. Spurgeon agreed to preach in London on the first, third, and fifth Sundays in January, 1854, but before the last of these Sabbaths he had received an invitation, dated Jan. 25, inviting him to occupy the pulpit for six months upon probation. The reply to this invitation will be found entire in Mr. Pike's "Sketches of Nonconformity in Southwark."
The six months' probation was never fulfilled, for there was no need. The place was filling, the prayer-meetings were full of power, and conversion was going on. A requisition for a special meeting, signed by fifty of the male members was sent in to the deacons on April 12, and according to the church book it was, on April 19, resolved unanimously, "that we tender our brother, the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, a most cordial and affectionate invitation forthwith to become pastor of this church, and we pray that the result of his services may be owned of God with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a revival of religion in our midst; that it may be fruitful in the conversion of sinners and in the edification of those that believe."
C. H. SPURGEON.
To this there was but one reply, and it was therefore answered in the affirmative in a letter dated, 75, Dover Road, April 28, 1854, also inserted in Mr. Pike's book, which can be had of our publishers. In a very short time the congregation so multiplied as to make the chapel in the evening, when the gas was burning, like the black-hole of Calcutta. One evening in 1854 the preacher exclaimed, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and by faith this wall at the back shall come down, too." An aged and prudent deacon in somewhat domineering terms observed to him, at the close of the sermon. "Let us never hear of that again." "What do you mean?" said the preacher, "you will hear no more about it when it is done, and therefore the sooner you set about doing it the better." A meeting was held, and a fund was commenced, and in due course the vestries and schools were laid into the chapel and a new schoolroom was erected along the side of the chapel, with windows which could be let down, to allow those who were seated in the school to hear the preacher. While this was being done, worship was carried on at Exeter Hall, from Feb. 11, 1855, to May 27 of the same year. At this time paragraphs began to appear in the papers announcing that the Strand was blocked up by crowds who gathered to hear a young man in Exeter Hall. Remarks of no very flattering character appeared in various journals, and the multitude was thereby increased. Caricatures, such as "Brimstone and Treacle" adorned the printsellers' windows, the most ridiculous stories were circulated, and the most cruel falsehoods invented, but all these things worked together for good. The great Lord blessed the word more and more to the conversion of the hearers, and Exeter Hall was thronged throughout the whole time of our sojourn.
BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE.
To return to New Park-street, enlarged though it was, resembled the attempt to put the sea into a teapot. We were more inconvenienced than ever. To turn many hundreds away was the general if not the universal necessity, and those who gained admission were but little better off, for the packing was dense in the extreme, and the heat something terrible even to remember. Our enemies continued to make our name more and more known by penny pamphlets and letters in the papers, which all tended to swell the crowd. More caricatures appeared, and among the rest "Catch-'em-alive-O!"
CATCH-'EM-ALIVE-O!
In June 1856 we were again at Exeter Hall, preaching there in the evening and at the chapel in the morning; but this was felt to be inconvenient, and therefore in August a fund was commenced to provide for the erection of a larger house of prayer. Meanwhile the Exeter Hall proprietors intimated that they were unable to let their hall continuously to one congregation, and therefore we looked about us for another place. Most opportunely a large hall, in the Royal Surrey Gardens, was just completed for the monster concerts of M. Jullien, and, with some trembling at the magnitude of the enterprise, this hall was secured for Sabbath evenings.
We find the following entry in the Church-book:—"Lord's-day, Oct. 19, 1856. On the evening of this day, in accordance with the resolution passed at the Church meeting, Oct. 6th, the church and congregation assembled to hear our pastor, in the Music Hall of the Royal Surrey Gardens. A very large number of persons (about 7000) were assembled on that occasion, and the service was commenced in the usual way, by singing, reading the Scriptures, and prayer. Just, however, after our Pastor had commenced his prayer, a disturbance was caused (as it is supposed, by some evil-disposed persons acting in concert), and the whole congregation were seized with a sudden panic.
SURREY MUSIC HALL
This caused a fearful rush to the doors, particularly from the galleries. Several persons, either in consequence of their heedless haste, or from the extreme pressure of the crowd behind, were thrown down on the stone steps of the north-west staircase, and were trampled on by the crowd pressing upon them. The lamentable result was that seven persons lost their lives, and twenty-eight were removed to the hospitals seriously bruised and injured. Our pastor not being aware that any loss of life had occurred, continued in the pulpit, endeavouring by every means in his power to alleviate the fear of the people, and was successful to a very considerable extent. In attempting to renew the service, it was found that the people were too excited to listen to him, and the service was closed, and the people who remained dispersed quietly. This lamentable circumstance produced very serious effects on the nervous system of our pastor. He was entirely prostrated for some days, and compelled to relinquish his preaching engagements. Through the great mercy of our heavenly Father, he was, however, restored so as to be able to occupy the pulpit in our own chapel on Sunday, Oct. 31st, and gradually recovered his wonted health and vigour. 'The Lord's name be praised!' "The church desire to note this event in their minutes, and to record their devout thankfulness to God that in this sad calamity the lives of their beloved pastor, the deacons, and members were all preserved; and also with the hope that our heavenly Father from this seeming evil may produce the greatest amount of real lasting good."
This was the way in which this great affliction was viewed by our church; but we had, in addition to the unutterable pain of the whole catastrophe, to bear the wicked accusations of the public press. We will give only one specimen; it is taken from a popular newspaper which has long been most friendly to us, and therefore we will not mention names. In the days of its ignorance it said—"Mr. Spurgeon is a preacher who hurls damnation at the heads of his sinful hearers. Some men there are who, taking their precepts from Holy "Writ, would beckon erring souls to a rightful path with fair words and gentle admonition; Mr. Spurgeon would take them by the nose and bully them into religion. Let us set up a barrier to the encroachments and blasphemies of men like Spurgeon, saying to them, 'Thus far shalt thou come and no further;' let us devise some powerful means which shall tell to the thousands who now stand in need of enlightenment—This man, in his own opinion, is a righteous Christian, but in ours nothing more than a ranting charlatan. We are neither straightlaced nor Sabbatarian in our sentiments: but we would keep apart, widely apart, the theatre and the church—above all, would we place in the hand of every right-thinking man, a whip to scourge from society the authors of such vile blasphemies as on Sunday night, above the cries of the dead and the dying, and louder than the wails of misery from the maimed and suffering, resounded from the mouth of Mr. Spurgeon in the Music Hall of the Surrey Gardens."
A fund was raised to help the poor sufferers, and to avoid all fear of further panic the preacher resolved to hold the service in the morning, though that part of the day is least favourable to large congregations. The multitude came, however, and continued still to come for three good years. All classes came, both high and low. We have before us a list of the nobility who attended the Music Hall, but as we never felt any great elation at their attendance, or cared to have their presence blazoned abroad, we will not insert the names. It was a far greater joy to us that hundreds came who were led to seek the Lord, and to find eternal life in him.
A famous letter, signed Habitans in Sicco, and dated from Broad Phylactery, Westminster, appeared at this period in the "Times," and as it was known to be written by an eminent scholar it produced a very favourable impression. Part of the letter ran as follows:—
"I want to hear Spurgeon; let us go." Now, I am supposed to be a high churchman, so I answered, "What! go and hear a Calvinist—a Baptist!—a man who ought to be ashamed of himself for being so near the Church, and yet not within its pale?" "Never mind; come and hear him." Well, we went yesterday morning to the Music Hall, in the Surrey Gardens.....Fancy a congregation consisting of 10,000 souls, streaming into the Hall, mounting the galleries, humming, buzzing, and swarming—a mighty hive of bees—eager to secure at first the best places, and, at last, any place at all. After waiting more than half an hour—for if you wish to have a seat you must be there at least that space of time in advance—Mr. Spurgeon ascended his tribune. To the hum, and rush, and trampling of men, succeeded a low, concentrated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed to run at once, like an electric current, through the breast of every one present; and by this magnetic chain, the preacher held us fast bound for about two hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary of his discourse. It is enough to say of his voice, that its power and volume are sufficient to reach every one in that vast assembly; of his language, that it is neither high-flown nor homely; of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times declamatory, but always happy, and often eloquent; of his doctrine, that neither the Calvinist nor the Baptist appears in the forefront of the battle which is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity, and with gospel weapons, against irreligion, cant, hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom sins which so easily beset a man in daily life; and to sum up all in a word, it is enough to say of the man himself, that he impresses you with a perfect conviction of his sincerity.
But I have not written so much about my children's want of spiritual food when they listened to the mumbling of the Archbishop of—, and my own banquet at the Surrey Gardens, without a desire to draw a practical conclusion from these two stories, and to point them by a moral. Here is a man not more Calvinistic than many an incumbent of the Established Church, who "humbles and mumbles," as old Latimer says, over his liturgy and text—here is a man who says the complete immersion, or something of the kind, of adults is necessary to baptism. These are his faults of doctrine; but if I were the examining chaplain of the Archbishop of—, I would say, "May it please your grace, here is a man able to preach eloquently, able to fill the largest church in England with his voice, and what is more to the purpose, with people. And may it please your grace, here are two churches in the metropolis, St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey. What does your grace think of inviting Mr. Spurgeon, this heretical Calvinist and Baptist, who is able to draw 10,000 souls after him, just to try his voice, some Sunday morning, in the nave of either of those churches?"
On October 7th, 1857, the day of National Humiliation for the Indian Mutiny, Mr. Spurgeon preached in the centre transept of the Crystal Palace to more than 23,000 people, and the sum of £686 was paid over to the National Fund.
Meanwhile the collection of funds for a new building went on, and in January, 1858, the money in hand was £6100; by January, 1859, it was £9,639, and £5,000 of it was set aside to pay for the ground near the Elephant and Castle. We went plodding on, the pastor collecting personally, or by his sermons, very much of the money, travelling far and wide to do so; Scotch friends especially helping; till in January, 1860, after the first stone had been laid, £16,868 was in hand, or more than half of the sum required, so that the land had been paid for, and instalments paid to the builder as required. The first stone of the Metropolitan Tabernacle was laid with great rejoicings, August 16th, 1859, by Sir Morton Peto; but as a report of the whole proceedings can be procured of our publishers we will say but little here. We feel constrained, however, to mention the singular providence which placed Mr. Spicer and other friends upon the Court of the Fishmongers' Company, so as to secure the land; next, the fact that the company was able to sell the freehold; and, next, that the late Mr. William Joynson, of Mary Cray, deposited the amount to pay for an Act of Parliament to enable the company to sell in case it had turned out that they had not the legal power to do so. Singularly happy also was the circumstance that a gentleman in Bristol, who had never heard the pastor, nevertheless gave no less a sum than £5,000 towards the building. Eternity alone can reveal all the generous feeling and self-denying liberality evinced by Christian people in connection with this enterprise,—to us at any rate so gigantic at the time that apart from divine aid we could never have carried it through. One of the chief of our mercies was the fact that our beloved brother, William Higgs, was our builder, and treated us with unbounded liberality throughout the whole affair. He is now a worthy deacon of our church.
In December, 1859, we left the Surrey Music Hall. We paid the company a large sum for our morning service, and this was the only amount out of which a dividend was paid. They proposed to open the gardens for amusement on the Lord's-day evening, and we threatened to give up our tenancy if they did so. This prevented the evil for some time, but at length the baser sort prevailed, and under the notion that Sunday "pleasure" would prove remunerative, they advertised that the gardens would be opened on the Sabbath: we, therefore, felt bound in honour to leave the place, and we did so. After a while a fire almost destroyed the building, and the relics were for years turned into a hospital. We commenced on December 18th, 1859, our third and longest sojourn at Exeter Hall, which ended on March 1st, 1861. A few of our remarks upon leaving that place may fitly be quoted here.
"In the providence of God we, as a church and people, have had to wander often. This is our third sojourn within these walls. It is now about to close. We have had at all times and seasons a compulsion for moving: sometimes a compulsion of conscience, at other times a compulsion of pleasure, as on this occasion. I am sure that when we first went to the Surrey Music Hall, God went with us. Satan went too, but he fled before us. That frightful calamity, the impression of which can never be erased from my mind, turned out in the providence of God to be one of the most wonderful means of turning public attention to special services, and I do not doubt that—fearful catastrophe though it was—it has been the mother of multitudes of blessings. The Christian world noted the example; and saw its after-success; they followed it; and to this day, in the theatre and in the cathedral, the word of Christ is preached where it was never preached before. In each of our movings we have had reason to see the hand of God, and here particularly; for many residents in the West End have in this place come to listen to the word, who probably might not have taken a journey beyond the river. Here God's grace has broken hard hearts; here have souls been renewed, and wanderers reclaimed. 'Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.' And now we journey to the house which God has in so special a manner given to us, and this day would I pray as Moses did, 'Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee.'"
In 1859, the church for the first time appointed Elders to aid the Pastor in the spiritual concerns of the church. This arrangement has been of vital importance and has met a manifest necessity. Of honoured men who have filled this office we could mention many names, but it would extend this history beyond our limits.
In Feb. 1860, the Pastor visited Paris, preaching in the Eglise de l'Oratoire, and in the American Chapel, to crowded houses. At this time M. Provost Paradol wrote an enthusiastic critique, which from a Catholic was the more remarkable. We have, however, no space for it, nor for more than an allusion to sermons preached in June of this year in Geneva, in the Cathedral from the pulpit of John Calvin, and in the church of M. D'Aubigné.
Under date January 6th, 1861, there stands in our records the following solemn declaration, signed by the pastor and leading friends:—"This church needs rather more than £4,000 to enable it to open the New Tabernacle free of all debt. It humbly asks this temporal mercy of God, and believes that for Jesus' sake the prayer will be heard and the boon bestowed. As witness our hands."
Now let the reader mark that, on May 6th of the same year, the pastor and many friends also signed their names to another testimony, which is worded as follows: "We, the undersigned members of the church lately worshipping in New Park Street Chapel, but now assembling in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, desire with overflowing hearts to make known and record the lovingkindness of our faithful God. We asked in faith, but our Lord has exceeded our desires, for not only was the whole sum given us, but far sooner than we had looked for it. Truly the Lord is good and worthy to be praised. We are ashamed of ourselves that we have ever doubted him, and we pray that as a church and as individuals we may be enabled to trust in the Lord at all times with confidence, so that in quietness we may possess our souls. To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost we offer praise and thanksgiving, and we set to our seal that God is true."
After about a month of Opening Services of which a full account can be had of our publishers, we began regular work at the Tabernacle in May 1861, the whole building being free of debt, and the accounts showing that £31,332 4s. 10d. had been received, and the same amount expended. Truly we serve a gracious God.
The Tabernacle is 146 feet long, 81 feet broad, and 62 feet high. There are some 5,500 sittings of all kinds. There is room for 6,000 persons without excessive crowding; and we have also a lecture-hall holding about 900, schoolroom for 1000 children, six class-rooms, kitchen, lavatory, and retiring rooms below stairs. We have a ladies' room for working meetings, young men's classroom, and Secretary's room on the ground floor; three vestries, for pastor, deacons, and elders on first floor, and three store-rooms on the second floor. The accommodation is all too little for the work to be carried on, and we are glad to use the rooms at the almshouses and the college.
During the month of January, 1863, the Pastor preached in most of the large towns of Holland, and had a lengthened interview with the Queen of the Netherlands. The sermons are largely circulated in the Dutch language.
In the month of June, 1864, a sermon was preached by C. H. S. in the Metropolitan Tabernacle which raised a wide-spread controversy, upon the important subject of Baptismal Regeneration. Rectors, and curates, and deans, and canons, rose in the fulness of their indignation, and fulminated pamphlets, which were met with replies of equal warmth. The sermon itself has reached a circulation of 200,000, and remains as our earnest protest against the unnatural use of language by the clergy, and as a proof positive that the Book of Common Prayer contains words which are calculated to teach the most deadly error. The vituperation which followed upon this discourse, has been cheerfully endured for the truth's sake, until at this moment some of of our fiercest opponents are our friends, and hundreds who were led to look into the matter for the first time are now among our firmest adherents. "When the time comes some curious incidents connected with this conflict may be narrated, but not now.
Many interesting events have occurred since then, but we have not space to record them. In May, 1867, while the Tabernacle was repaired, we occupied the Agricultural Hall for five Sabbaths, and had it crowded every morning with not less than 20,000 persons, and what is better, the Holy Spirit put life and power into the word.
In Oct. 1867, the Pastor having for several years been laid aside at intervals by painful illness, and it having been stated by eminent physicians that this was due to the over-straining of his mental powers, the deacons and elders, after consulting together, recommended the church to request
MR. J. A. SPURGEON
to become co-pastor with his brother, to relieve him of much of the pastoral work. This happy arrangement was carried out Jan. 9, 1868, and has been a great comfort to the senior pastor, both in church and college work. Mr. James Spurgeon is now also the pastor of a large and growing church in Croydon, for which he has erected a noble chapel, where he is able to exercise his ministry on the Lord's-day; his help being mainly required at the Tabernacle upon week days, and in the general oversight of the church. No more efficient or sympathetic helper could possibly have been found.
Here we may claim space to notice how much the church of late years has been indebted to some of her departed workers; for instance, Deacon Thomas Cook, who superintended the work of collecting funds for the New Tabernacle; to Elder Dransfield, one of the happiest and most useful Christians in the world; and to Mrs. Bartlett, whose loss we cannot cease to deplore, for she not only led hundreds of young women to Jesus, but was also a pastor and mother to them. Among those who are yet living there are some of the best and most gracious of men and women, but it would be invidious to name some where so many are doing their best. Yet, even at the risk of this evil, we must mention our. Deacon William Olney, whose illness is a calamity to us all, and Deacon W. C. Murrell, who for many years has borne all the buffetings of the crowd at the doors and by the sacrifice of his own personal comfort has enabled us to worship in peace and quietness.
JAMES A. SPURGEON.
To us the most noteworthy fact has been the increase of our membership. Of this we subjoin a table.
| Close of Year | Membership. | Gross increase. | Clear increase |
| 1854 | 313 | ||
| 1855 | 595 | 282 | 282 |
| 1856 | 860 | 279 | 265 |
| 1857 | 1046 | 216 | 186 |
| 1858 | 1183 | 231 | 137 |
| 1859 | 1332 | 217 | 149 |
| 1860 | 1494 | 217 | 162 |
| 1861 | 1875 | 439 | 381 |
| 1862 | 2227 | 463 | 352 |
| 1863 | 2555 | 427 | 328 |
| 1864 | 2937 | 486 | 382 |
| 1865 | 3293 | 497 | 356 |
| 1866 | 3458 | 447 | 165 |
| 1867 | 3682 | 413 | 224 |
| 1868 | 3888 | 452 | 206 |
| 1869 | 4047 | 451 | 159 |
| 1870 | 4165 | 409 | 118 |
| 1871 | 4165 | 312 | __ |
| 1872 | 4473 | 571 | 308 |
| 1873 | 4503 | 359 | 30 |
| 1874 | 4681 | 509 | 178 |
| 1875 | 4813 | 510 | 132 |
Out of these converts a very large number have become ministers, colporteurs, and City missionaries, and of late the missionary spirit has also been developed, so that quite a number of our friends have gone forth among the heathen, to our great joy and rejoicing.
At this date (March, 1876) all is proceeding with regularity and life under the divine smile. Our Deacons number nine, and our Elders thirty-one. Mr. J. T. Dunn aids us in visitation and discipline, and Mr. Charlesworth, the Head Master of the Orphanage, is also a great assistance to us in conducting Bible Classes and public services.
The Sermons, published weekly, have now reached No. 1,284, and the "Sword and Trowel" is in the 12th volume; the circulation of both being well sustained.
We have almost completed the 22nd year of our pastorate, and though we long to see greater things, yet we magnify the name of the Lord as we hear the watchman cry "All is well."
--The Metropolitan Tabernacle. [2]
Appendix / Bibliography
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