New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-14
MIR. STURGEON.
WHAT WAS THOUGHT OF HIM IN LIFE. AND
WHAT Is SAID OF HIM UPON HIS
DEATH


Afr Snurreons death and wha; has bcca said
# him since his death rase again the question
whether the general opinion about man DC Oh
te not truly expressed during his lif'. Honor Ii
now done 70 his memory by those WHO Cid ht'lr
honor 70 the man. lie was regarded by large
classes Of people III England kind Of show
something TO be seen AMI heard because II "aS' III
its own way. of a Superior kind. Inc arIN'"S
stranger especially TIE American used - be toid:
oh, YOU must be to hear S2nrgcon JU''
as he was told not TO miss the Geological Gard rs
or the Lyccum. The lions OF Regents PARK ana
of Wellington-st. and OF the Tabernacle wer" al
lions. and all worthy of visit Spurgcon was
the Beecher Of this country. said TIA traNeicd
Englishman. who had st.aycd as far as fiNihou'h
Church. The comparison is an obvious one ana
il was commonly made by those to Whoh O)'H
were merely spectaCls. or a kind OF natural pne'
noln.na 1t is not far to Spurgeon to press ihe
comparison. at least the private SIDE. sinco
Spurgeon's private life was entirely nee from
scandal
gnt hardly anv,cher, in the inrumerable COM
rcnts on the great English preacher who died
On Sunday will any Renaissance of this Barnnih
view bc found except in the news columns. The
Earnu1 tOuch-I am reluctant to say 1T, ana
mean T. anger nob0dv-cOmcS ont in the nnucNy
tee3r0ns which announced bis death. Outsl"'
tie Tabernacle in London were posted up pnnlc0
comics sf this djSpatch "Our beloved pastor
entered heaven ll.j Sunday night. liarralJ'
And on the door of the Mentone Hotel WHERE he
WIS Staying appeared pacor!: Mr.. Spureeoh
fell asleep in Jesus at 1l.5 p. M. which rs III
more extravagant taste than the o;aey. Tie
effect in both eases is srotcsqur because Of the in
,congruty The mixture Of Biblical imagery with
the sPithme.ica notation of railway timetable
otisturbs the mind. and 50 docs the title Mr..
applied as it is TO the Christian departing III the
lecstasv OF hope in his Redcemcr. The world might
also have been spared the testimony OF ore OF
the r-ws agencies that all persons staying ~
The hotel speak i'm Culo.;tic terms Of his manners
ard disposition" Soma OF the papers have good
sense and good feeling enough to suppress these
iinpertincnces. but they seem 10 have been borne
on tie wings Of tn, wind to the uttermost parts
OF the earth.
IN thoee journals which are known as Dis
sentne organs. nothing but panegyTic was to be
expected. Sturgeon was, the great journal
which is before all things Church Of England
organ says. the best known and most popular Nom
confornist minister of the day. As sach the Non
conformists do him homage 1t is sincere, II Is
honorable 10 them and to bin. but II Is not par
ticnlarly profitable to the inquirer who cares -
make ont what manner Of man he was An
estimate must he discriminating if 1t is To
he helpful: it must be. in the right
said without offence that the attitude oil the Non-
confornist mind with reference TO Nonconlormis'
thincs or persons is not primarily a critical attl-
tude Like all other sacjs the English Dissent
crs give m TO sect something of what was meant
for mankind They gorfy the great Noncon-
fpImist preacher because he was great Noncon-
formist preacher We all sympathiZe with Their
loyalty TO their leader, and respect them and ilm
the more for it, None the less are we obliged
fn-
mGI.
Yet when we turn elsewhere still con-
f.onted with the language Of culocy; less in
discriminate, with less Of that rash use OF The
s1pcrlaiive which is the most ineffective Of all
methods Of eulogy, but penetrated with both
admiration and sympathy neither Of them stintcd
or grudging. Sturgeon was thought in life to
have rGfcd the taste Of the iastidious, ana not
Of the fastidious only He outraged the religious
sensiblitics Of many excellent peCpe, one used -
lear: lie was a rock of offence to Churcinen
Well, Churchmen in this country the word means,
OF course, members Of the Church Of Engiani-
have always. consciously or Unc0nSciOuSly. held
themselves above those who are not Churchmen.
Their collective attitude is that Of the superior
perscn, and that is naturally dsagreeabie to the
inferior person, TO the person who knows that
lie is thought TO be inferior. The Church Of
England all over England is the Church of good
society. III you wish not merely 10 ne saved. but
10 be saved in good company, il is tie Church. and
not the Chapel, You will select as q means OF
grace. Whether one be more cficacious than the
other from doctrina or religious point Of view
may BE- disputed. We do not know accurately
as might he wished about the next world, but il
is pretty generally assumed that in the neNt
world introduction from either will insure
the newcomer good reception In this world
or in that small insuiar part Of it which lies
between the Atlantic ard the North German
oceans, the social ascendency Of the Church is
conceded. 1t is conceded reluctantly and resent
fully by those who are not of it, but it is con-
coded
On Sturgeon, therefore, raincd down durina
most of his long ministry the kind Of critical
comment which the superior person or sect COM
monty bestows him whom lie thinks inferior
] used sometimes TO wonder whether had the
preacher OF the Tabernacle been clergyman of
the Church. we should have heard so mucn about
his Vugarity, his irreverence. his ccarsencsS. ana
other sins against the proprictcs There is no
use in wondering 1t is impossible to conceive
Of Sturgeon in surplicc, or IT'S ANYTHING but
what he was, free and Independent minister Of
what he believed to he true gion. lie had Il
mission lie was tremendously in earnest He
believed himself sent into this world 10 save the
sous of his fcllow-men from damnation. in which
also he believed; and he did not care how he
sayed them 50 long as they were saved Ont OF
these convictions and impulses came his strength
and also his weakness lie would do anythine
20 get hold Of Lis audience tell story or cracl;
Joke, or use the homcicst illustration or trea,
the God whom he worshippcd with what othor,
sometimes thought bas?hcmouS familiarity
lie shocked some of his hearers and many marc
who were not his hearers. Legends and u,ytAs
formed about him as they cid about Ecccler