The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-10-01
Mr.. SURGEONS PREACHING.

iS WHICH may be offensive to others.
| Mr.. SURGEONS PREACHING.
The London Morning. Post has a lengthy g
count OF one Of Mr.. Spurgeons exercises at 4
Surrey Music Hall, from which we make son
extracts:
THE COMPANY
IL wants three quarters of an hour to servi
T T%e, ana we have full leisure to look about u
nc neat Is overwhelming outside, but the hs
eAceiienuy ventilated, and although hundre,
are pouring In, and the place is becomir
ito sufocation." The admirable nronor 70
OF the hall, its ightness, and elegant arrann
men: throughout, draw forth enthusiastic co1
ments on every side. The companv-for II
scarcely congregation in the religions sen,
OF the words extremely we'll dressed-scsrc
ly shabbily clad person to be seen. The hod
OF the hall is filled with rich people of the mi,
die class-the stalls in the galleries with IL
aristocracy, arrayed as for Sala, and as me,
~ and chatty as at fancy fair. ,Eyervtb;n
denotes that it is not the Lords day-tbat W
are not at church, and are not assembled f.
religious worship. AS the stalls fill, the con-
d@H is equal to that of the opera. and In
ouzz OF conversation is quite as cheerful. Look
ing through one of the windows, we see tn
iake and pasteboard representation of dis
1ant mountain scenery, which, when remembe,
ca 10 connection with the various pyrotechni
displays witnessed by us in past DAYS from tina
waters edge, adds greatly to the secularitv O
the occasion. This worldly effect is still furfhe
confirmed by observing how thoroughly ever,
one seems to have left the thought of religion
ana worship behind him. A few seats to ON,
ngnt sits q gentleman, well known in the
house OF Commons, with his hat on, reading
Inc economist. Some one else immsdiatei,
unoer our eye has the Examiner. The circum
stance Is suggestive, and we count fourteen per
sons reading newspapers, and make a round
guess mat at least hundred and fifty gentle
men Keep their hats on. Never before did we
reel 30 strongly the virtue and the reason O,
consecrated places. With the one execution
mat nearly every one of the assembly was fur.
nisneo with what might have been hymn book.
prayer Dook, or Bible, there was nothing in the
place., the company, or the occasion, to lead a
stranger to suppose that anything like the
worship OF God had entered into the remotest
contemplation of those present.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF MIR. STURGEON
The personal appearance of Mr.. Spurgeon ia
not in his favor. Nature has not bIesseJ h;n :,
With good development, as the phvsioloe;sts
would say his aspect is forbiddinc' and tho
expression of his face betokens an inferior in.
eiieetual organization. He has most power.
ful voice, but a coarse provincial accent sno;ls
much IN 1t that is good. Thus he pronounces
bray as preay, God as Gasod, holv as haule,
ruth as trooth. Although, however. yulpar;ty
the characteristic of his voice, signs of cult;.
'ation are not wanting, and the his are never
It fault. His loud notes are those of the actor
lot OF the orator; they are from use and
mack, not from any actual suitability arising
'ut OF what he is saying, and are rather a man.
ierism than grace. Still the voice is clear
mo penetrating, and not person in that vast
'a'S N lhNea9r everv word with
The prayer concluded, Mr. Spurgeon gave
'ut the welLknown hymn beginning
"Before Jehovah's awful throne"
de read it through, having FIRST announced
hat the tune would be the /" Old Hundredth, :"
md then read each verse separately, before it
vas sung. 1t is scarcely possible to give any
dea of the sublime effect produced by these
en thousar voices, as they ewelled the massive
,armonies of that grand tune with fullness of
breath rarely heard. After singing the second
verse, Mr.. Spurgeon said: 81 will read the
bird verse, and you will sing the fourth, and
ct the uplifting of your voices be as the sound
Of many waters !" His audience responded to
his wish. The words of the verse were:
"We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful songs,
High as the Heavens voices raise:
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
Shall NIL Thy courts with sounding praise"
Most magnificent was the shout of praise that
mn or
where occasionally some ones nerves we're
overpowered by tie massive rolling chorus that
rose on every side. Never did we so realize
what congregational singing might become.
1t was an uplifting of voice and heart, such as
one can hope to hear only few times in the
course of life. Much of this grand effect was
no doubt owing to the majesty of the tune it.
self-much to the fact that all the congregation
knew it-something to the exciting effect of
perhaps not little to the prac-
tice of reading each verse before it is suug; a
practice we have always thought very reason
able one, especially amongst the poor and those
who cannot read.
THE SERMON
The text was in these words: "My soul,
wait thou only upon my God, for my expecta.
ton is from him." He divided his subject into
The exhortation, My soul, wait thou only upon
the whole body. Keep that right with God,
and all else will be right. The Christian soul
is to wait upon God for the great object of life,
for the means of life, for protection, and direc.
ton. After much more in this kind, he select.
ed Sir Walter Scott as an instance of one who
had conspiciously erred through waiting upon
worldly ambition, and not upon God. "What
was his ambition 2" said the speaker. "To
be laird, to found family, to plant deep the
roots of great ancestral tree, whose boughs
should stretch out into the earth, and whose
fruit should be gathered by many generations
So he in effect said, Ny soul, wait thou only
upon novel-writing; and he succeeded. he
founded his family, he reared his palace, he got
him his title, and seemed to have his reward but
one day, one of those under currents that rur
hidden along the course of trade ard specula
ton rose up to the surface, and, like food
swept all his wealth away, and overthrow hil
last and greatest hopes. Without entertaining
the question as to the propriety and justice o
this treatment of the great novelist's charac
ter, there is no denying that it was eloquenty
and ably said. The company listened to it al
to powerful piece of defamation, and wer'
with reluctance kept from applauding th'
speaker.
INSTANCES OF HIS HUMOR
After stating a variety of cases in which
some were anxious for q competency, other
for great wealth, others for simple respect
ability, and others again for independence
pointing to different portions of his audi
ence as he spoke, as if certain that he coult
lay his finger upon the exact example il
point, he broke out: know an Independent
gentleman, whose income is IS. cd. week
IA roar of laughter showed the relish for pleas
sntry.l 1t is parish pay, and he lives upon j
and enjoys it. For all else that he wants, b,
draws upon the bank of Faith, where he has
large credit, and his cheques are never dishon
ored. If you tell him that his pay is stopped
he will answer that he does not Law it to heart