The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1885-10-07
Naluaiialr GazettE.
II,rnrrsn1Y- OCTOBER Z 1855
MR.. sPURGEoN's TABERNACLE.
A ciInnce at the Great London Preacher.

n JIMMY -
Mr.. Spurgeon and his Tabernacle, are
one of the sights of London, and nobody
who "does" the city thoroughly fails to
nav visit to this institution. The Iaoer-
nacle is in the Borough, as the part OF the
CITY on the Surrey side OF the Thames is
called, and faces the street called NewIng-
TON Butts. l suppose the street Is SO
named because there formerly was r1ile
range in the neighbOrhood; but could
pet no information on this point, although
I made inquiries of several persons who
onobt To know. / walked to Newlngton
Rnfts from St. Paul's, going by way OF
London Bridge and the Borough High
! street The most direct route would have
been by Blackfnar's Bridge and Black
friar's Road: but ! was curious to go
through the neighborhood Of the Bank
and contrast the Sunday quiet with the
weekday hustle in that crowded quarter
| In the streets where day or two before
had found it almost dangerous TO at
tempt to cross, only now and then a bus
or an occasional hansome was to be seen.
The contrast was almost startling.
The great preachers Tabernacle Is
solid looking structure, with no claim to
be called handsome. There is a large
portico in front supported by SIX massive
columns. The evening service begins at
6:3O. When / arrived 1t was 5:45, but
already people were assembling on the
sidewalk. and in a minute or two the high
iron gates were thrown back and the PEG
pie were allowed to take places In the por-
| tico. Some stood in front of the oak
doors, while others sat on the steps or the
pediment of the columns. The crowd
gathered slowly Meantime pew holders
and favored persons passed in by side
entrance. By 6:15 the portico was pretty
well filed, there being 300 or 400 men and
women in waiting. The doors were not
opened until seven minutes later, and by
| that time the crowd had nearly doubled.
The five or six doors opening from the
portico were thrown back at the same mo
ment, and rush was made for the inte-
rior. There was some pushing and Jost-
| ling, but not much. PLENTY of seats,
cried an usher go as far as you can
Room enough at the bottom" cried
another, meaning near the pulpit | got
a good seat near the middle of the church
1T is only chapel here, however, IN spite
of It's pretentious name), and while others
were being seated had an opportunity to
glance about me. The building is rect
angular in shape with two galleries run
ming all the way round it. The windows
are numerous and plain. The gas was
lighted. but turned low The oldest
thing in the building is the pulpit 1t is
a small platform built out on Il level with
the bottom of the first gallery. A rail
ing extends around it, and astairway runs
up on each side. Within the railing are
a table and a red-upholstered chair. I'm
derneath this pulpit platform and extend
| ing out a little distance Is small plat
| form, some five feet above the ground
floor. | at first supposed that this was
the place for the choir; but found that
there is no choir Neither is there an or
gan or any other instrument. The sing
ing is congregational, being led by what
/ a young man who sat next to me called a
''precentor.
When l looked at the pulpit again the
chair was occupied by a stoutly built
man with iron gray hair and whiskers,
rather closely cut When he rose. a
minute or two after $50, he was seen to
be above the medium height and well pro
portioned. He wore a black Prince Albert
coat, unbuttoned. He introduced the ser
vice with brief but earnest prayer The
first impression was that of a simple sin
cere, straightforward man; and the i'm
preston was strengthened as the service
proceeded. His voice Is easily heard
throughout the huge building, and yet he
speaks without apparent effort. He an
nounced hymn, reading the first stanza
and repeating the first two lines; when
that was sung he reads the second stanza
and so on; reminding one of the frontier
preachers who used to line the hymn, be
cause the congregation were not all sup
piled with hymn books The second
hymn, however, Mr.. Spurgeon read entire
but the third he took Up stanza by stanza.
This hymn, by the way, is a favo1ite and
familiar one in revival meetings. Before
reading the third or fourth stanzas the
preacher said: The next verse very
softly; therefore let only the sisters
voices be heard" and so it was sung
through by the women alone. After the
first hymn came Scripture lesson. with
plentiful comments. The preacher never
hesitated for word, and rarely selected
awrong one. The second hymn was follow
ed by prayer which was long and impetu-
Gus. Mr.. Spurgeon at first leaned partly
upon the railing; then he would grasp it
with both hands; at intervals he would
raise one or both In gestures There were
half audible 'amensn and similar ejacula-
tons here and there in the congregation,
which was composed of respectable peo-
pie of the middle class, should say.
After the third hymn the preacher nut
on his spectacles and read his text. Then
he laid them aside, stepped forward to
the railing and began to talk in simple.
easy fashion. There was no ranting. His
gestures were emphatic, but not numerous.
and IN good taste. The only mannerism
in gesture that | noticed was that several
times he raised his right hand to his
head and seemed to push back his hair.
His language was plain and easily under
stood, even by people below the average
IN intelligence. Saxon words predomin-
ated and ali the sentences were short.
There were no rounded periods. Il hate
oratory," he said. Il go down as low as
can. High flying and fine language
seems to me wicked when souls are perish
ing" He said that large numbers of PEG
pie in London did not go to hear preach
ing, adding: "And a good deal of the
preaching isn't worth hearing. 1t is in
what may be called Latinized English.
They ought to use the good old Anglo
Saxon mother tongue.
All his illustrations were of the sim
plest kind, drawn from every day life. He
described in a most vivid manner the
reading of Will to the heirs and relatives
of dead man; and later he told how he
had stood not long ago under beech
tree, IN which he saw squirrel, who made
his home there and lived on the nuts. His
only classical allusion was to Ulysses and
the sirens. He used one odd word. con
vincement; and once he reversed the
usual mode of expression, remarling
quantity: Say then this much and l
have done" He pronounced filled" in
two syllables-.fH-ed To impress the
points of his sermon on his hearers he
found in his text a precept, proverb and
a promise certainly easy things to re
member. He also urged his people to
hear attentively and retentively.
Some of his expressions were singular.
but no doubt characteristic and well suited
to his auditors. MAY Gods spirit come
to home grips with you" fWhat you
fish for you shall catch" "The best
preaching of the Gospel is when the
preacher enjoys it." He said there was
"a cornucopia in the hand of God,'' and
spoke of stepping away from preaching. .