The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1872-12-03
STURGEON AT HOME.

spend an nour with MI. SpurgeOn lie resides
several miles from his church, on the beautiful
| Nightingale Road-Clapham. The Road is
lined with shade embowered villas, like Clinton
Avenue, Brooklyn. "Helensburgh House"
the residence of the great preacher, is a very
attractive mansion, surrounded by the most
yet seen in London. The grounds cover two
or three acres, and were purchased by Mr..
Sturgeon when this quarter of London was
new and unoccupied, and the land was COM
paratively cheap. In time this place will be a
fortune to its owner. Mr.. Surgeons income
from his Tabernacle and from his work is
large, but nobly has he earned it, and gener-
ously does he use it. One of the most labori-
GUS of Christ's workers, he has a right to a
beautiful home.
| He greeted us in his free, cordial style,
which is like my neighbor Beecher's genial
manner. There are many points of resem-
blance between these two foremost preachers
of the day; their stout broad physique, their
exuberant spirits, ready will, marvellous fluen-
cy and superabounding Juices of manhood
that seems utterly inexhaustible. Surgeons
hair is just slightly tinged with its first grey ;
he is as stout as ever. In this flesh dwelleth
no good thing he said playfully
We spend pleasant hour in his library,
| which overlooks the charming grounds. He
showed us twelve or fifteen stately volumes of
his printed sermons, besides several of his
works translated into Dutch, Norwegian and
German. He is now at work on Bible in
terspersed with notes and helps of peculiar
kind. But the most interesting object was a
small pile of sermon preparations--each one
on half sheet of note paper, or ON the back
of an envelope. Only the heads of the SER
mons are committed to paper and not one
syllable more. When we asked him if he had
ever written a discourse, he replied: "Iwould
rather be hung" His usual method is to
choose his text, and devote half-hour to pre-
pairing the plan and putting it bit of pa
per. AN the rest is left to the pulpit. eff
had month given me to prepare sermon,
said he, 81 would spend thirty days and
twenty three hours in something else, and in
the last hour would make the sermon. If /
could not do it in an hour could not do it in
Il nlOUDl1. lis ID CeIbtillllJ I'LL
mental habit. But let it be observed, that if
Spurgeon spends but few minutes in dffang-
ing sermon, he spends many days of prayer
full, careful study of Gods Word and of the
richest Puritan writers on theology and ex-
perimental religion. He is all the time filling
up tie cdsk, so that when he turns the spigot,
a sermon flows out in a few moments. His
fluency in language has also become about
perfect from long and constant practice. But
never does he go to the pulpit without men
tai agitation, amounting, often, to physical
distress .sFor years, said he, 81 suffered
so much before entering the pulpit, that it
often brought on violent attacks of vomiting
and profuse outbreaks of perspiration. Only
lately have outgrown these fits of physical
suffering"
! Mr. Spurgeon took us through his beautiful
grounds. In the rear of his garden he has
perched up his old "Park Street pulpit into
a tree! The pulpit-stairs wind down around
the trunk and up in this eyrie he sits in
hot summer day. Like our neighbor, he has
keen appetite for flowers. His family is
small. Two twin boys, of the age of sixteen,
are at school. His invalid wife waved her
hand to us as we walked through the grounds
before her window. The painful illness of
this devoted wife is the shadow that falls over
his beautiful home. The "crook in the lot y
has been a Christening, mellowing sorrow to
him.
The delightful hour which I passed with
Spurgeon only increased my estimate of him
as minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
marvellous voice, which sweeps over five thou
sand auditors in the Tabernacle, is exceed
ingly pleasing in conversation. AS l parted
from him, felt anew that there is but one
Spurgeon in the world. As he stands in the
loftiest pulpit in Europe, long may he continue
to have all Christendom for his congregation
REV THEODORE l.. CUYLER, d. D., in the
Observer.