The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-12-13 00:00:00

MR. SPURGEON'S COLLEGE.

The annual tea and public meeting in support of
the Pastors' College in connection with the Metropo-
litan Tabernacle took place at the Tabernacle in New-
ington-causeway, on Tuesday evening, and was largety
attended, the proceedings being the more interesting
in consequence of the announcement that the Rev.
Thos. Spurgeon, son of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, who
is about to return to New Zealand, would make a
farewell address. After singing and prayer, the Rev.
C. 11. Spurgeon, who presided, in the course of his
opening address said the success of the ccllege had
always been a wonderful thing to him, but it was
owing to their having, when they commeneed some
twenty-eight years ago, begun on the right forman-
tion—one Lord, one faith, one baptism—and from
that day to this they had never swerved from
that doctrine, and though some had thought
them narrow that doctrine had been as a narrow
bridge which had gone across the stream, while
they had heard of other bridges whose
arches were broken in the middle. During
chose twenty-eight years 688 men had been
ree ived in the college, and this did not
include the students now with them, nor did it include
a number of men who had been with them, but who
did not turn out to be of the right sort. Forty-seven
had gone asleep, and after all deductions 572 had gone
forth from them, 565 of whom were pastors or minis-
ters in their own denomination. They had been well
known in the religious world. They were wondered
at at first, but not at last. He could not say they
had all turned out to be the brightest orators in the
world, but he believed they had faithfully preached
the Gospel, and had upheld the doctrine in which
they had been trained. Sometimes he wished he
could escape from his position, he felt so weak and so
ill. An old friend of his at Dundee, who was a large
manufacturer, built a strong room in which he had an
iron safe, and one of the workmen got into that safe
when the door closed with him inside the safe. The
key was in Birmingham, and it would take two or three
days to get it, and it was said that in the meantime they
were feeding the man through a tube. He had got
into just such a position, and it did not seem possible
for him to get out. But he was safe. (Cheers.) He
had thought once of giving up and getting one of
the deacons to take the preaching. He had some
wonderful deacons, who had great power of speech.
But he remembered a story of a beadle to whom a
clergyman said, " Would you like to take the preach-
ing on Sunday morning ?" and the beadle said,
"Well, I think I could fill your place, but then how
would yo'i get such another beadle ?" (Great
laughter.) And so he thought lie had better keep to
the preaching, for he did not know how to get other
such deacons. The meeting was then addressed by
the Rev. D. Gracey, the Principal of the College,
who spoke of the college work and of the doctrine
taught. He was followed by three of the
students—Mr. Graham, Mr. Cooper, who is going
to Van Diemen's Land, and Mr. Driver, who is to
accompany the Rev. T. Spurgeon on his voyage
after which the Rev. T. Spurgeon gave a valedictory
address, during which he was much cheered. In the
course of it he stated that with the sum collected by
his father before his arrival and what had been
collected by himself since, the contributions to his
Tabernacle at Auckland amounted to £2500.