St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-02
REV. @. H. SPURGEON.

III
REV. G. II. STURGEON.
interesting Facts Related by Rev.
William Wilkinson.
/ Speaking yesterday of the death of
Rev. &. ii. Sturgeon. Rev. William
Wilkinson SAID: IL remember him well,
and am so fortunate as to have in my
possession many interesting facts re-
gardlng his remarkable career" Pur-
suing the conversation, he related the
following:
Persons who do not know we'll re-
llglOuS life, at least as it is seen in the
nonconformist bodies in England forty
years ago, can hardly understand the
sensation produced by Mr.. Spurgeon.
Men who at that time had national
| fame are now little more than names.
SpurgeOn came upon the scene as
strange as Il flaming comet in a clear
sky; by tens of thousands he was made
welcome, and hailed as a great teacher
and mighty preacher of righteousness;
by many he was denounced as all adj
venturer and sensationalist. / have
often in my childhood seen him held up
to rdicule in the public press, but.
whatever was said about him, the people
heard him gladly. He came from
Puritan stock, of the sturdiest times.
and in very many ways to his end
he was Puritan. From his earliest
days he was a remarkable child.
Mr.. Spurgeon has told the story of Rev.
Richard Kuill's taking him on his knee
when Spengeon was small boy and.in
presence of his family. saying: Il feel
solemn preSentiment that this child
Will preach the gospel to thousands;
that God will bless him to many souls.
| SO sure am l of this that when my little
man breaches in Rowland Hills chapel,
as he will one day, should like him to
PROMISE me that he will give out the
hymn, God moves in mysterious
way His wonders to perform" Mr..
Spurgeon says this prophecy made him
more intent OH seeking salvation. Few
incidents in biography are more GU
rlOuS or striking than this. After this
he says,my heart hungered for The Lord,
and was not satisfied till he found Him.
How this came about he tells in his
own unique way in the second volume
of his sermons. 1t is Sermon 60. Twas
in the gall of bitterness, in the bonds ST
iniquity; stepped Within the house of
Goa, afraid to look up lest l should be
utterly cut off. The minister rose in his
pulpit, read his text, Look unto Inc,
and be We saved. all We ends of the
earth, for ALI God, and there is none
else" L looked at that moment, the
grace of faith was vOuchsafed to me at
that instant, and
Ere since by faith saw the stream
His flowing wounds supply.
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till die
ut was. He gives this as bit for
boys III Sword and Trowel. His biogra-
pher tells us as soon as he was convert
ed he began to preach in thirteen. vii
lagos with great acceptance. The kind
of preaching he gave them we can esti-
mate if we read one of his poems writ
ten at eighteen years of age.
When hell enraged lifts up her roar,
When Satan stops my path before,
Z When fiends rejoice ana wait my end,
I. When legioned hosts their arrows send,
Fear not my soul. but hurl at hell
Thy battle cry, Immanuel
K "This was the keynote of all his life
+ and every sermon he ever preached.
Small events change destinies of men.
In 1853 SpurgeOn spoke in Cambridge at
"a Sunday school union meeting. A
gentleman heard him who soon after
met deacon from Park Street church.
London. This country minister was not
fashionable enough for Park street,
1T has been said, but mat
tiers in the church grew worse
/ and they asked Sturgeon to come and
preach. One seat Ill every six was oc-
cupied. 1t had thousand vacant
places. He was opposed; ne was a
rustic; but as venture they called him
six months. That was daring act. but
Spurgeon thought il too long; he would
preach three only, and if desirable to
take up the second three, but to be let
retire, OF be retired on two weeks no
tice on either side. But the church
must wrestle in prayer with God, in
public and in private, for His blessing
upon me- Such are Mr.. Surgeons
conditions, and he said: IF the Lord
called me to this work He will support
me in it, He became popular at once.
In 1854 Asiatic cholera appeared;
SpurgeOn had only been in London
year and he was a famous man. He
gave himself up to the work of visiting
the sick, and every day buried the dead.
He was ready to die almost, by his eX-
| ceSsive work. Coming home from
| funeral, up Dover road, he saw bill in
| a shoemaker'S window. 1t read BE
cause thou hast made the Lord thy
refuge, even the Most High thy
habitation, no evil shall befall thee;
| no plague shall come nigh thy dwell
ing 4 felt secure, refreshed. grit
| with immortality. / went OH with my
visitation of the dying with calm and
| peaceful spirit. l felt no fear of evil,
| suffered no harm. l adore the Lord my
God for it, Now began TO be published
| his sermons every week. And his
works have been. sold in larger num-
| bers than the works Of any six religious
writer's in England. In 1855 Mr.. Spur
| geon preached in London to IL, 900 per-
| sons at one time. In 1856 he married a
| woman who has become we'll known by
1,u, II nit fl,n
| the ministry. She has collected money
| for and given tens of thousands of vol
umes of standard books to men who
could never have bought them-Miss
| Susanna Thompson. She has had two
sons, twins, who are both Baptist min
| listers. This year he began to preach at the
Surrey Music hall, till his tabernacle
was built, to hold 5000 persons. 1t was
J well known such crowds caused the
fatal calamity at that time. In 1861 it
was opened. which cost nearly SSOO,OO
In ten years from that time Mr.. Spur
| geOn came to London. He had taken
into the church 1856 persons as men,
bers. Lords and ladies, peers of the
realm. judges and distinguished per-
sons now came to hear SpurgeOn. Men
| like Gladstone and David Livingstone
/ heard him with delight. Two of the
sermons preached at this time had each
100000 copies sold. In 1865 he began
revival services, which 6,COO people at
| tended. Great good was done. Now
he began to send out colporteurs, which
has been very successful. In 1866 lie
set on good foundation the Baptist
| chapel, in Paris, France. In 1867
he began his orphanages at Stock
well, which TO this day are models.
In 1871 he began to show signs
| of overwork; for these months he was
sick. He got better preached his
thousandth sermon, which was pub
lished. and friend gave him $1,000 in
memory of it. for his college which he
had begun for the education of Baptist
/ pastors. In 70 he had ALT members In
4 his church; now he had the Fisk jubilee
i singers at his tabernacle, for he has
been the foe of race pride and caste
| rule He edited the Sword and