The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-01-06 00:00:00

MR. SPURGEON'S CONTINENTAL
TOUR.

(From the Daily News.)

Mr. Spurgeon lectured on Tuesday evening at the
Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, on his recent
visit to Rome and the journey thither. The magnifi-
cent building was crowded in every part, and even
the passages were turned into sitting places. The
sight of the thousands of well-dressed people rising to
their feet by common consent, in a beautifully lighted
building, to welcome the lecturer with every demon-
stration of enthusiasm, was a sight not soon to be
forgotten. Such a gathering at the Metropolitan Taber-
nacle is always an attractive harvest lie-hi for the pick-
pocket fraternity, and although Mr. Spurgeon on this
occasion early warned his audience of the presence of
thieves, the rogues managed to gain their end, and
amongst others who were robbed a lady brought by Mr.
Spurgeon himself had her pocket, containing a purse,
dexterously cut away from her dress. The eagerness
manifested to hear the lecture was so great that a
promise welt held out during the evening that it will
be repeated at some future time. Just before the
lecture one of the gifts common at the fabernaele was
handed up, viz., • cheque for £2OO, half for the
Orphanage, and the remainder for the College con-
nected with the church.
Mr. Spurgeon, confessing that he might not always be
accurate as to his facts about Rome, glanced at France in le-
scribing his Journey acmes that country. lie dermunced the
deeds a the Communists, and said there was danger of up-
heavals In all large cities, but were we in consequence
to repress the people t No any such attempt would
produce greater mischief ; but let the populations
be educated and Christianised, and there would
be nothing to fear. Some blamed the priests for
what had happened in France; but the priestho.l
had no power there. Frenchmen had tom ceased to believe
their pretensions. Des,ribing his journey day by day, he
said there was nothing particular to note respecting Dijon
except that the dinner which the passenger paid for had to
be eaten at express speed if eaten at all, why could
not railway people be brought to see that things
would he a good deal better if the passengers were Hot
so much shouted at and hurried when there was
no occasion font? According to all accounts, at Lyons they
were to get Into a genial atnrosphere ; and it was genial—
genial enough to chap Ms hands, and make Min shiver-
(ugly Unlink that a good wood dre would be a very
pleasant thing. (Laughter. Fires they got, but the
people there had a habit of burning stoves that required
sitting round to keep them warm, and being warm, sent
all their warmth up the chimney Laughter): At Mar-
seilles It was wants even in the evening but what pleased
him most was that at length he saw the NI edit, rranean. litre
the apostle of the lin utiles salient, I-re the Euroclydon blew,
and on its shone lie landed to preach the gospel at Rome, in
all probability in Spain, and pethaps in Britain. It was
pleasing to see that tideless sea warn, from the hot
shores .4 Africa, and bringing softness to the eh ees • of the
sunny South. And chat a ride it was from Marseilles to
Nice; it toss like a dream, so delicionte wee it—rocks on
either side of the loveliest colour, like shot ME:, arying ever
so you passed between them—peeps ever RI d anon of the
trice see; olive gardens ever) where, whin ir made him
think more than ever he thought before s( Gethsemane
and its 40.1" e kr/knit:ll, so famed ip sacred hist ty ; and orange
groves, in full bearing, so that you could i ntrnily see the
trees for the oranges. Nevertheless. he s."olliti ten his
friends as a seerrt that If they svantn.2sl tog, t good oranges
they must get theni at how.. There was r.n. place in the
world what they could get things al they en. Id get them In
London.

By the time he and his friends reached Nice the climate
hail changed marvellously, and he soon cenad to wonder
why the sick went there. At N ice he spent his first
Sunday, and he hail a curious little lodging, pretty well at
the top of the house. but not too high for Min, because
It opened on the roof. Therefore, on the Sunday, lie
felt very much like l'eter on the housetop. He could im,k
ta the Alps I.n the one hand, and the sea on the other.
Although, as in the case of Peter, no sheet was let down
to him—neither wan be bidden to rise, kill, and eat—he did
learn that there was nothing common and unclean. Ile
hail learnt to enjoy the beauties of nature, for he was
not as sonic good people who thought it wicked to look
at and enjoy anything beautifol, but believed that there
was nothing CoMIIIO/1 or unclean beyond what lay within
44u-wive& Ile went out to hear the Free Church
minister, for he was no longer a raptist then, hot a
Free-churchman. Laughter.) A lovely place was Nice;
lint it hail its drawback,. Although it was December, he
tell in with the mosquitoes. They were natty little fellows,
as nnich like gnats as posslide—(laughter)—true, he had
mosquito curtains, and shut them close, but unfortenately
shut the Insects inside. (laughter.) In the week he went,
at the invitation of the captain of an American manotwar,
so preach on board hie vessel: his congregation wascomposed of
English, French. Spaniards, lancers , and one of the boys came
and shook hands with him, and toi,lhlni he used to belong to the
Tabernacle school at Newington. At Nice there was a river.
The inhabitants first built a bridge, and then made the river.
In which people might always be ace,l washing clothes Ile
often wondered what it was the Italian people snaked; it
could not be their own clothes, unless they kept one suit to
wsah and another to wear. (Laughter.) Still, washing they
always were, and he had come to the conclusion that where
there was a good deal of washing there was very little clean
linen; just as where there was • good deal of Fharasaical
observance there was very little goodness 01- time religion.
(Cheers.)
-

Nice soon got too warm for him In the host sense. There
were too many friends and finding that he wise in for the
mine work as he did at home, he proceeded towards Italy.

It wail a charming ride by Monaco, whose prince derives
most of hi. rev clines Isom gambling. That prince's father never
did the same although he never lived there ; but he taxed the
people to the hilt, and an epitaph written was. 'Here lies a man
who had many good intentions." Well, if they did not take
to paving with asphalte there was a certain road which
would long be, AA it long had been, paved with good Intel,
ti.ns, and the little Prince of Monaco had contributed very
largdy towarls keeping that thoroughfare in repair. Oh,
that rues would pull their good intontur, up, loathe }tench
pulled up stones when they eructed barricades, and hurl
them at Satan's head ! (('heers.)
lis wished he could take every one of his Mende along
the beautiful road ft Mentone to Genoa. The road was
indeed superb: it was a succession of rooky corners,
picturesque bridges and torrents, orange, olive, and
palm trees folds :where maim, Indian oorn, and all
manner of atnni-tropleal produce had been reaped,
and with everything the air was balmy, and the pros.
poet indeserilialile The last part of the. journey was
by the slowrit rtilway in the world, except, indeed, it
Might be any other Italian railway. (Laughter.) They
were the slowest things tout. (Laughter.) Genoa was said
to be a superb town. but it did snit strike him In that light ;
but he learnt one thing there—that ft took three Christians
to he equal to one Jew in cheating. (Laughter.) It had been
said that at Genoa, as at Aberdeen, the Jews found it impossi-
ble to live on account of the hardness of the inhabitants,
but he could not vouch for the fart 'Laughter.) The
tower at Pisa seemed to lean even mere than the pictures
of it represented, and his decided impression was that if
it leaned a little more it would lean no longer. Another
impression was that in all the cmcerns of life the straight
and square style of boiling looked and answered the best.
(Cheers.) At Pisa there was a splendid baptistry that evi-
dently was never built Mr mere babies, any more than the
Mont Cents Tunnel WaS built bra fly to burs through.

Ile went to Rome to escape the rigours of the climate,
and found bed the only warm place, while in the niorning there
wan snow, the first it was said that tail fallen for five years.
Let a man say what he w told, a thrill must peas through
his soni at the thought 44 being in Rome, that he would not
experienee anywhere else except perhaps iaJernn,alem. He
had not a grain of superstition about him, hut at the same
time there were associations clustering around tile Etereal
City that most be felt by soy man who had a soul at all.
The Arch of Titus was &memorable thing to stabil and look
upon. The relief showed Titus retiunieg from the war of
Jerusalem with the golden candlesticks and triunpets, and
while those things stood there it was idle for infidels to say
the Book wan not true. There was the plain history
written in gone, and the more such discoveries were made
the mom would the truth of the grand old [look he con-
firmed. (Cheers.) As for the Coliseum, the Metropolitan
Tabernacle would have to grow for a thousand years before
it would reach its size. St. Peter's was a church indeed.
Looked at from the outside the dome seemed smug, and it
had nothing of the glory of our own St. Paul's. But it was
a thing that grew- epee you; it was so huge iuid enormous
tfig it tilled the soul with awe; you had to grow big your-
selves if you would appreciate it, and its excellent propor-
tions. %bat shocked him .as to see the statue of St. Peter
there. Some people said it was the statue of Jupiter, and to
that it hail been replied if it was not Jupiter it was the Jew
Peter, so it did not matter. (Laughter.) The ainging thing
was to see the people kissing the toe of the statue. (laugh-
ter.) His audience laughed, but it was actually dom. Ile
saw gentlemen wiping the toe with their handkerchiefs and
kisslng it, iild women being helped up to do the same,
mid little children lifted up to follew the ex-
ample. There also was the chair in which Peter
never sat, and people howling down to pay homage
to it. it was in truth a big joss house ; an idol atop, and
nothing better. (Cheers.) It was not the worst image house
in Rome, but it was had enough. and whatever might be said
by those who turned to and professed the Catholic faith,
if they were not idolators there were no idolaters on
earth. ((leers ) He went to the Vatican, where the
Pope had lived in seclusion since September twelve-month ;
and perhaps it was us well he kept inn-doors. It was very'
curious to see ace of Victor Emniannel's soldiers at the
bottom 44 .the steps, and a handsoniely.dressmi Papal soldier
half-adldgen steps higher up. All Italy belonged now tin a
free people, except that trio solitary house in which the Pope
lived ; and he Imped nobody would envy him that. Those
two soldiers marked the difference. Tne eigign of liberty
was typified in Victor Emmanuel's sohlkr, and the cruellest
of deep. isms In the other. Ile would say the worst con
ceivable goveniment under which mortals ever suffered was
the government of the Pope.

The lecturer described other objects of interest in Rome,
remarking of the pictures its the Vatican that although they
were by Raffaele and Michael Angelo—it was all Michael
Angelo In Rome—he somehow liked the copies which
the young people were making almost as well as the
dim originals. lie spoke nest of the Casette, and. the
barbarites formerly suffered there by the Jews. flow
was it possible that a Jew could be converted to
Popery with as much Idolatry around him? We had all
lately read that what was declared to be a bottle of
the Virgin Mary's milk was worshipped and adored. In-
deed any beastliness Wollid it,, for a feed In Rome. The
Egyptians worshipped onions ; but these men, with their
bones, sm-aps ssf hair, and the like, worshipped that which
might have manured the oohs.. Ile wondered how
humseity could have fallen so low. „Cheers.) The only
relic be brem_ht away from Rome was the piece of was candle
he hot used Os the catacombs. (Laughter.) At the Church
of St. John there were people on their knees, guitsg up
amt down the steps, which were said to have been tredden
by the Saviour when he wax brought before Pilate. It was
a serrowful sight to see men, women, and children crawl-
ing up and down these stairs, and kissing and touching
them with their foreheads, because it was said the SlViultr
faintest on them, and he could only pray as he stood
there for another Luther to ascend stud descend thence as
brave Martin Luther did. (Cheers.) In some cloisters at
the baths of Diocletian some soldiers were practising the
geese step, fifes and drums were there, and altogether
Victor Emmanuel seemed about to teach the monks not to
lead too quiet a life. The Capuchins appeared to have
nothing, to its but polish up the leases of their friends who
had died. It was said there was no bad smell from the
skeletons and bones upon which they worked, and which
were vbsissle in various forms; but in his nostrils there
WU a stink—a defiGite stink. Ile spoke Saxon and that
was the fast Cheers. What an uncommonly spacer
way these mooks had of spetelie4 thAr lives Sense of
them at the time of Isis visit were making a most awful
'wise he thought he should like to have lows] tht is
Sutarior ; he woulst have preset ibed one penama—wash,
wash, WWIII. (Laugher.) In a dungeon us here Paul and
Peter were said to have been confined, they showed him
what was supposed to have been the hupressien of Peter's
face when pushed violently against the wall by the gaoler.
(Laughter.) it was a curious thing, however, that while
the Isec ha of Peter'a feet in itai.ther place outside of Itono
were those if a Inall at least twelve feet high, the Imprint
of Isis inGe amt features its the slung:son was that of a man
nss tidrrer 'lO4ll himseif. laughter.) It wanted, in fact,
much faith and little sense to /swallow umoy of the pretty
stories toll oue in Itets..

Mr. Spurgeon dem Med the services lie held in Rome, and
the interruption of one of them by it FemiLir priest, will
declined, however, to enter into a penile diectihdon. lie
preached in the Presbyterian free church, where there was
a crowded house, and was geld to have sail and done
some very strange things. Those prehmt who knew any.
thing of the forms of dissenting worship did not ap-
pear to think so. lie did nothing et:mark:lMo, but
preached there the some as he did at home.
Before c meluding lie described a genuine baptistry he found
In one of the catacombs ; showing, he said, from its slmence
of Popish symbol., that it was a relic of the old Church
which was older than Catlio idsm or Protestantism. The
lecture concluded amidst loud cheering and it was followed
by a number of dissolving views painted from photographs
sent home by Mr. Spurgeon during his journey.