The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-11-14
Timothy Titeomb Or. HOlland Gives a
Picture of Mr.. Sturgeon.

Picture of Mr.. Spurgeon.
The rush to Mr.. Surgeons church is so
great that I took all early start, on a bright
Sunday morning, in order to be served
among the first strangers, if possible
On alighting at the door of the church, in
stead of being obliged to wait, l was met
by some officer of the place and day, who
inquired whether l would like to go direct
ly into church and wait my chance there.
Responding in the affirmative to his polite
proposition, he led the way, at the same
time putting into my hand 4 slip of paper
which he begged me to read. 1t was a
request for contribution to Mr.. Spurgeon's
institution for the education of clergymen
1t was very neat business transaction
one for which the practical and business
like Mr.. Sturgeon is justly celebrated
1t was as much rs to say :-"I have taken
you out of the sun and given you a good
chance for a good seat now, if this amounts
to anything to you, state the sum in silver or
gold in the contribution box I stated it,
waiting stand, near the entrance. The
officer told gentleman that some Gamer
lean friends would like seats and we
myself and party-were soon invited for
ward, and seated in some of the best pews
in the house.
Mr. Surgeons church is very large
and wcll-contrived house, capable of hold
ing larger congregation, Judge, than
that Of Mr.. Beecher, in Brooklyn. Indeed,
it is claimed that it affords comfortable
sitting to five thousand persons. There
were not more than five hundred people in
the church when l entered, but they came
pouring in from that time forward until
every part of the building was crowded.
The interior is oval, the platform pulpit
standing out from one extremity, and per-
hitting the seats to sweep entirely around,
an arrangement which gives pretty good
sized audience only the chance of seeing
personal appearance of the great preacher
has become SO familiar to Americans,
through engravings and the descriptions of
letter-writers, that l need not say more
than that he impressed me, as he stepped
quietly upon the stand, as a hearty, healthy,
powerful man. After giving out a hymn,
and begging the congregation not to sing
it too slowly, he joined with them in the
music Then read a telegram he had just
received from some distant part of the
kingdom, from a man who was dying, and
who found himself, in dark hour, unsus-
tanned by the Christians hope. His prayer
for this stranger was one of the most
touching things ever heard. Indeed, the
whole prayer, of which this formed an cpl
sode, was marked with greater fervor,
thorough spirituality, and flow and
command of language which much sur
passed my expectations. When he finish
understand the secret of his power. He
is good man, a strong man, thoroughly
i'll earnest. There were passages in his
sermon, not a few which reminded me of
Beecher. The same directness, the same
bursts of grand and sweeping power, the
same felicities of diction, which distin-
guish the performance of the American
preacher We're scattered through the SER
mon. Mr.. Surgeons vocabulary is not so
large as that of Mr.. Beecher. He is not
so completely en- rapport with the world of
nature, and his fancy and imagination are
not so active but he is dramatic, under
stands human nature. believes i'll Christi
anity "a good thing in a preacher), knows
exactly what he wants to do, and drives
straight forward to the end he seeks. do
not know that Mr.. Sturgeon is Mr.. Beech
er's superior in anything, except it may be
as business man. His faculty of organi-
zation-of so setting other people to work
as to multiply his own personal power a
thousand fold-must distinguish him, in
the results of his life, from Mr.. Beecher.-
Mr.. Spurgeon is doing by organization and
institution what Mr.. Beecher does by per-
sonal magnetism; Mr.. Beecher inspires
other clergymen; Mr.. Sturgeon educates
them, and SO builds and shapes the policy
of institutions that he will be producing
preachers after his own kind long after he
has passed away. The spirit of the man is
kindly. His manner towards his people is
familiar and fatherly. Like the Brooklyn
preacher, too, he is not without his dash of
humor. In short, left his presence, at
last, with good taste in my mouth, and
the firmest wish i'll my heart that the Lord
would send into the world, and set to work.
ten thousand just such sensational fanatics
as Mr.. Spurgeon.