The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-20 00:00:00

LioN , AlO DIY EVENING, OCTOBER I_o, 1856.

crowd, through the trees, and along the paths thronged
with well-dressed people, it was ghastly to see the festive-
wreathed pillars of light and the garlanded lamps, at
Vauxhall, shining at such a moment, like mistimed merri-
ment at a funeral, where death and mourning, and the
terrible uncertainty and agony of those who had friends
known to be in the building were now assuming a painful
ascendancy.
To revert to the alarm. Those who had rushed first from
the hall made their way in panic to the gates, which they
found closed. These making the story known to the people
outside, the gates were at once borne down with a rush,
and a new element added to the terror and confusion..
Fresh crowds poured into the hall. As they tramped hur-
riedly up the grand walk the noise they made gave occa-
sion to a new panic, which Mr. Spurgeon vainly attempted
to tranquilise by another hymn. An attempt was then
male to resume the sermon, and it will hardly be believed
that even at this period the earnest entreaty of several
gentlemen could not prevent many well-dressed ladies,
young and old, from dragging in their husbands and bro-
thers "to hear the sermon." At last, on the remonstrance
of tha inspector in attendance, " that he was hindered
in removing the dead by the crowding of the people," a
gentleman took upon himself to explain the exact position
of affairs to Mr. Spurgeon, who immediately " dismissed
his congregation." To set them in motion, to clear first
the galleries and then the hall, to break up the groups
loitering in the gardens and about the carriage road, to
stop ingress and secure egress, was the work of much'
labour and time, facilitated, however, as it here was, by
the arrival of a strong body of police.
The next point was to get out the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon—
to secure him Se ww> Matt the too forger care of his own
" feilond4," as from the possible, and by no means im-
probable, indignation of the excited mob, who might per-
haps have regarded him as the cause of a calamity which,
fearful as were its consequences, they had already greatly
exaggerated. The rev. gentleman was found stretched
upon the ground in a state of great mental prostration,
and, finally, by the assistance of one of the firemen of the
gardens, was convoyed through the cooking department to
a private exit, where a cab having boon procured ho do-
ps,rted in safety for his residence.

The particulars of, and the names of the parties killed
and wounded; so far as they can be obtained in such a time
of excitement, will be found below, with such other ac-
counts as may reach us in time for press.

The following sufferers have been identified at the New.
ington workhouse :--

Elizabeth Mead, married woman, aged 40 years, of 7,
Love•la,ne, Stockwell.

Harriet Barlow, single woman, aged 24 years.
Ann Mathews, married woman, aged 35 years; and
Samuel Hand, aged 40 years.
Grace Skipper, married woman, of 40, Dobson-terrace,
Now-street, Kennington, was brought out dead, and con,
veyed to her own residence.
Among the seriously injured are—

of Grange-road, Bermondsey ; broken
thigh.
mas Pearse,

Mary Aldis, of 10, Mansion-house-terrace, Kennington
elightly injured.

Ellen Stanton, of 5, Penton-grove, Pentonville; slightly
in j ared.

lane, Bermondsey ; seri James Arthur, of 100, Long.
ously injured.

In the confusion resulting upon the accident it was, of
course, difficult to obtain an accurote list of the injured
parties. It is, however, certain there are many other
wounded persons in addition to the above list; and it is
currently reported that two other persons—a man and a
boy—are included in the fatal casualties.

A EURTHER ACCOUNT.
The following account has been furnished to us by one of
the gentlemen connected with the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon :
A dreadful calamity occurred last evening at the Music
Hall in the Surrey-gardens. In consequence of the refusal
of the Exeter Hall committee to allow Mr. Spurgeon the
use of that building, it was determined to rent the above
edifice, and the novelty of the service attracted an immense
audience. The service was commenced, and proceeded,
with occasional slight interruptions, until the second
prayer, during the course of which the large congrega.
tion were reclining in prayer, a noise which resembled the
rumbling of wheels approaching the building was heard—
a confused hum of voices—which gradually merged into
loud shrieks of " Fire ! Fire !" filled the place, and crowds
rushed to every door tad outlet of escape. It. was dur-
ing this terrible scene that the catastrophe occurred.
Persons from the galleries in large masses fled to the stairs,
and unfortunately the balustrading of the staircase gave
way, and several persons fell, among whom five were im-
mediately killed. Mr. Spurgeon, overcome with emotion,
was unable to proceed, and Ones of "Go on," "Preach on,"
only elicited from him an observation that he did not know
what to say to them. A. gentleman here directed the
audience to go out at a certain door, intimating that pass-
age from the other was impeded by the dead bodies. This
completed the dreadful scene. Mr. Spurgeon was utterly
overcome, and was assisted down by several gentlemen,
witk his head sunk on his breast, and apparently insensible•
Several of the individuals who spread the cry w ere appre-
hended by the police.

I satisfaction, and cries arose from every part of the hall of
"Go on, preach." After a short delay,
The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon then said—My friends, what
shall I preach about? You bid me preach to-night. lam
ready to do all I can, but in the midst of all this confusion
what shall be my subject? May God's Holy Spirit give me
a subject on this solemn occasion. My friends, there is a
terrible day corning, when the terror and alarm of this
evening shall be as nothing. That will be a time when the
thunder and lightning and blackest darkness shall have
their fullest power ; when the earth shall reel to and fro
beneath us; and when the arches of the solid heavens shall
totter to their centre. The day is coming when the clouds
shall reveal their wonders and portent, and Christ shall
sit upon those clouds in glory, and shall call you to judg-
ment. Many men have gone away to-night in the midst Of
this terrible confusion, and so shall it been that great day.
I can, however, believe that the results of that day will
show that there will be a great many—not a less proportion
than those who now remain to those who have left—who
will stand the ordeal of that great day. The alarm which
has just arisen has been produced in some measure by that
instinct which teaches us to seek self-preservation. But in
the more numerous of the cases it is not so much the dread
of death who has influenced them, as the dread of some-
thing afterwards—that undiscovered country from whose
bourne no traveller returns. 'Tis conscience that makes
cowards of them. Many were afraid to stop here, because
they thought it was to stop and be damned. They were
aware—and many of you are aware—that if you were hur-
ried before your Maker ;to-night, you would be brought
there unshriven, unpardoned, and condemned. But what
are your terrors now to what they will be_ on that terrible
day of reckoning of the Almighty, when the heaven shall
shrink above you, and hell open her month beneath you?
'But knowyou not, my friends, that grace, sovereign grace,
can yet save you? Have you never heard the welcome
news that Jesus came into the world to save sinners? You
aro the chief among sinners. Believe that Christ died for
you, and you may be saved from the torments of hell that
await you. Do you not know that you are lost and
ruined—that none but Jesus can do the sinner
good ? You are sick and diseased. Jesus can do you
good, and will. I thought this night of preaching
from the text " The curio of the Lord is in the
house of tho wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the
just." I feel I cannot preach as I wish. You will have
another alarm yet, and I would rather that some of you
would seek to retire gradually, in order that no harm may
be done. My text will be found in the 3d chapter of Pro-
verbs, at the 33d verse. The rev. gentleman had just re-
peated the words of the text, when another panic ensued,
and the most terrific confusion took place.
Comparative silence was again obtained, after a singing
of a part of another hymn, when the rev. gentleman pro-
ceeeded to comment upon his text, and after saying that
although his congregation might suppose that there were
fifty classes of persons, there were in the eyes of God but
two, the righteous and the wicked. God knows nothing
of any olass save the righteous and the wicked, the wicked
and the just. Here the agitation and tremor of the
preacher became 'painfully visible, and he broke off his
discourse by saying, " You ask me to preach, but how can
leiter this terrible scene ? My brain is in a whirl, and I
scarcely know where I am, so great are my apprehensions
that many persons must have bean injured by rushing out.
I would rather that you retired gradually, and may God
Almighty dismiss you with his blessing, and carry you in
safety to your homes. If our friends will go out by the
central doors, we will sing while. they go, and pray that

some good may yet como out of this great evil after all.
Do not, however, be in a hurry. Let those nearest the
door go first. The second verse of the hymn, previously
announced, " His sovereign power without our aid," was
given out, and many persons began to leave the hall. At
the conclusion of the hymn,
Mr. Spurgeon once more addressed the crowd and said;

"This event will, I trust, teach us the necessity of having
a building of our own. We thought wo had a sufficient
number of police present to preserve order. But we
have been disappointed. When mice a cry is raised to
serve the purpose of thieves, you all run away like silly
sheep, and thus create the confusion which it is the object
of those parties to create and profit by. Now that you
are a little more calm, let us begin again ; but while I am
preaching let our friends retire gradually from the
My text was, ' The curse of the Lord is in the house
of the wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the just.'
I was saying, my friends, just now, that God knew of none
but two classes of persons—the righteous and the wicked.
God judges not by the outward ironclad, but by the heart.
Like a wise physician, he looks not to the skin, but to the
innermost parts of the body. However fair may be the out-
ward appearance, it was seen, to the eye of God, but as a
green and sorry tomb, where the worm and corruption
lurk within. Hy friends, many good sorts of persons, so
called, must be classed among the wicked. It may be that
persons of this class may regularly attend the house of
God, and even join in a prayer to him, but alas ! there
may be nothing in the heart pleasing to God." The
preacher's agitation had uow reached a most distressing
point, and, after a pause, he said, " I am attempting an
impossibility ; it is impossible for me to preach to you
this night. I know not how to speak to you."
One of the deacons here shouted out, " Another signs,
has now been given from the galleries, bat do not becom
excites ; there is nothing to fear." In spite of this warning
another rush was made, and numbers of persons, smashing
the windows of the ground floor, made their exit into the
gardens. Mr. Spurgeon exclaimed, " God be pleased to
pardon those who have done this great wrong ; retire
quietly, my friends, and may God carry you home in
safety !" Having pronounced the benediction, Mr. Spur-
geon, accompanied by several of his deacons, withdrew,
exhausted and agitated, as may well be supposed, after
the extraordinary scene which he had witnessed. After
his retirement ono of the deacons said that although no
sermon had been preached, still the largo expense of the
hall must be paid, and ho hoped on leaving the congrega-
tion would not omit to aid by their contributions in defray-

ing the charge.
Police-constable Radcliffe, of the P division, exerted
himself in the most praiseworthy manner to control the
downward lush of the frantic crowd out of the building.
By sheer force he extricated one or two ladies from the
most perilous position; and rendered timely ant valuable
assistance to several others who were in. a fainting and
wounded state. Had it not been for the precautions taken
by Mr. Diggings, the superintendent of the gardens, in
shutting the outer gates when he conceived a sufficient
number to fill the hall hud been admitted, it is impossible
to say how much greater amount of injury might not have
been caused by the increased pressure of the crowd.

Long before six o'clock tho entrance gates were closed
and locked, to the great annoyance of a dense crowd, who
were anxious to obtain admission, and not loss to the chag-
rin of those who had obtained access within the enclosure,
and were anxious to make their escape. As soon as the
alarm was given the gates were thrown or forced open, and
the rush was so tremendous that the besieging crowd were
obliged to give way before the impetuous torrent. The
screams of women and children were most awful. Many
persons were carried away in a state of total insensibility;
a considerable number whose limbs had been fractured
were carefully removed by those who had escaped injury ;
and, as will be seen from the accounts above given, several
lives have been lost. Immense numbers of people remained
in the neighbourhood until a very late hour, inquiring
after their relatives and friends, respecting whose fate they
were in a state of painful uncertainty. We may add that
the publicans in the vicinity of the Gardens reaped a rich
harvest from the excitement consequent upon Mr. Spur-
geon's appearance, and there can be no doubt that the
light-fingered gentry did not lose the opportunity of profit-
ing by the occasion.