The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-02-03
H DEAD MAN.


ply of Mr.. Sturgeon is printed at the re
quest of several Of our Baptist friends:
Charles Hadden Sturgeon, the mos
celebrated Baptist pulpit orator o
modern times, was born at KelVedOn
Essex, England, June 10, 1884. Boil
his father and grandfather were non con
formist preachers of the denomination
known in England as independents
whose doctrines and ferns Of church
government are nearly akin to those Of
American Congregationalism. Charles
was naturally trained in the religious
faith of his ancestors, and, being en-
dowed with a deeply emotional charac
tor, Inexperienced religion" in childhood
and was destined for the Independent
ministry. His education, which was not
very profound, was acquired at a school
in Colchester, and at the age of sixteen
he became usher of an educational insti-
tuition at Newmarket, a village in the
edge of Suffolk, only ten miles from
Cambridge. Here he fell in with Bap
fist influences and soon removed to Cam
bridge, where he joined the Baptist con
gregation founded by the celebrated
Robert Hall. Missionary work among
the common people of the country was a
part Of ordinary religious life of the
earnest Baptist Of Cambridge, and all
the lay talent of their churches was as
~siduOusly developed in that direction.
The seed fell on good ground in the in
stance of young Spurgeon, who, being
called upon to take part in the prayer
and praise meetings, developed such
unctuous %eloquence that he was quickly
enrolled in the Lay Preachers Associa-
ton" and set to work in the surround
ing small village.
No formal theological education nor
competitive examination was deemed by
the Baptist of Cambridge a Prerequisite
to preaching the gospel of good tidings
to perishing sinners. In truth, their
theology consisted OF very few articles,
and they were such as had been instilled
from infancy into plant minds, and
therefore no obstacle existed to any pi-
Gus youth commencing the work Of evan
gelization as sOO as he might listen to
hat divine call which stood in place of
episcopal ordination. s%purgeon went
out TO distribute tracts and call the way
farers into the fold, and made his first
formal address at F~eYersham, a small
village near Cambridge. The eloqnence
of the boy Of seventeen years speedily
became famous through all the country
and within a>year he made a reg
ulsr engagement to preach on Sundays
to an improvised Baptist society which
wOrshipped in a barn at Waterbeach.
the fame Of the boy Preacher
attracted throngs from the n%eigLboring
towns and even from Cambridge. The
barn could no longer contain his regular
auditors and hundreds had to
themselves with listening from
he outside. A large theatre of activity
necessary and q brisk competi-
ion sprang up among the surrounding
to secure his evangelical visits.
Two years were passed in this manner
The boy was approaching manhood, he
lad corrected some of his early defcien-
Of the theological knowledge and
lad become by assiduous study and prac-
Ice a trained orator, when in 1863, at the
lge of nineteen, he accepted the offer of
regular engagement at the Baptist
Chapel in New Park street, Southwark,
london, where the noted DR.. Nippon
formerly OBLIGATED.
His fame now became national and
ven cosmopolitan, crowds thronged
week by week In and around the little
and all owned the magic power of :
silver voiced youth. Within two ,
ears 1t was deemed expedient to enlarge
he building and in the interval of four ,
lonths Spurgeon preached with his &C :
STONED success from the famous plat Q
orm of Exter Hall, the stronghold Of :
British evangelical doctrine. Even the ,
nlarged chapel in Park street soon be- :;
inadequate to hold the multitude ;
t regular hearers and the still greater y
lrong Of curious visitors. The Surrey >
lusic Hall was engaged, and here the ~
ressure gave occasion to a lamentable !,
ccident, attended with loss of life, in T
'ctober, 1856. Mr.. Surgeons congre. i
alton now erected for him a vast Tab. ~
at Newington Butts, Southwark, b
apable of seating 5000 auditors, which "
as formally opened in 1861. From an A
'rly period of his ministration in the E.
ritish metropolis the skill of the short :.
and writer was invoked to reproduce q,
n the devout reading world a portion :,
the pleasure experienced by his aud +,
ors. 1t was found that, contrary to o.
might have been expected, the i'm
roptu utterances of the gifted boy read
well in print and when read to other .