The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-02-01

the same tides of Puritan blood which bad
made him real and wholesome. Plenty of
them had been brought up from the cradle
by pious kindred to be preachers But
among them all there was only one Spur
geon.
HARD TO TELL WHAT HE WAS.
It is better to try to tell what he was
than merely to try to tell what he did. Yet
what he was showed in what he did, and
one has to write about both to make true
story of him. The churches in which he
first preached became too small Even
Exeter Hall was not big enough. and he
did not wish to preach in q general place,
anyhow. He wanted O. home for himself
and his people. So Sir Morton Peto. whom
q large number of Americans have met,
became the head man of those who
built for Mr.. SpurReon's use and for that of
his people the church in which he wrought
and taught for over thirty years. 1t will
hold about seven thousand persons when
crowded. 1t cost SlS7. .07o.55. Every cent or
Its cost was paid before Spurgeon began 20
preach in it. for he said he wolld not 60
into it until that was done. Therein he
spoke twice every Sunday and the place
was always filled. This was true from May,
1860. when it was opened, until the man
was laid aside by illness. Every morning
sermon he preached there was printed and,
as soon as enough of them to make a book
had been reached, volume was issued.
Some fifty volumes of those sermons have
been published, In many languages beside
everywhere. They stand the test of types
well. They have about them many of the
things which make Bcnyan's "Pilgrim's
Progress" q book that will last forever.
They are all about the Bible and they are
very like the Bible.
This man, however, was not merely
taiker, a thinker, prose poet and master
of pathos, humor and wit. He was doer.
also. His congregation was drilled for
work. There were no drones in that hive.
They believed the same things Spurgeon
did and they believed them just as much
as he did, and then, under him, they went
out and worked their belief up into their
life. Two great things of theirs and his
best memorial of both on the earth. One is
an orphanage, wherein over 250 helpless
ones find homo. school. trades or other call
ings and are made able to get on In the
The other thing Is what 10 commonly called
Spurgeon's College, where people who are
religious and earnest and who cannot af
ford the time or money for regular courses
are specially taught about the word of God.
about the wants of men and about the best
way of getting people to believe and live
the gospel.
NOT TO GLORIFY sPURGE0N.
There Is no sham about that college.
Those who have come out of it have gone
to the ends of the world as workers for re-
ligion. Neither the Orphanage nor the col
lege was set up to splurge the man who
started them. This worker always kept
himself behind his work and did not use
his work as q horn or o trumpet. through
which to blow his own fame. Besides his
sermons. SpurgeOn wrote books and kept
going monthly. One OF the books was
called Treasury of David" q treatise on
the Psalms, a massive work of Elk large
quarto volumes, q great storehouse OF
learning, thought and feeling The month
ly was called the Sword and TrOwel. and
books of his. John Plonghlnan's Talk"
ing.n The SAINT and the Saviour" Types
and Emblems." Lectures to My Students"
and many Others spread this mans mind
and heart over all the world.
Mr.. Spurgeon published O sermon weekly
since the first week of 1855. and at the end
of 1889 the SERIES inclusive of double num-
bers had reached No. 2l20. The weekly
circulation OF these sermons was about
twenty-five thousand. He carried on q So
ciety for evangelists at home and another
for mission work in north Africa. His
church has about thirty mission halls and
schools affiliated with it. In 1879 he re-
$4,000, and in 1884. on attaining his fiftieth
year, another sum of about $4,000 WINS pre-
sented. These funds were almost entirely
distributed in charity. $4,000 having been
nacle lms-houses. In 1857 Mr.. Spurgeon
withdrew from the Baptist Union. He had
been q patient sufferer for many years from
q compl cation of diseases chief of which
was rheumatic CONT. Added to this was in
Beulah Hill. Upper Norwood, pretty
suburb of London.
HIRED FIVE STENOGRAPHERS.
Mr. Spurgeon was q busy man. employing
five stenogrsphera and keeping them all
going. With the exception of Mr.. Glad
man In the three Kingdoms A great many
of his letters from sailors, from soldiers,
from poor fellows whom he had managed
to help out of the gutter. were simply ad-
dressed "Spurgeon, England" To these he
replied cheerfully and was always ready to
give advice. Nor was this all. He freely
gave of his money. In fact. he was poor
man. If it had not been for the kindness
of his congregation he would have been
house for him, the house at Norwood, the
southern ridge of the wooded heights of
Sydenham. Upon the occasion of the
twenty-fifth anniversary of his pastorate
of the church his congregation presented
him with large purse OF money as token
of it's esteem. 1t was intended that he
should pay Oft the mortgage on his house
and take the remainder for holiday. He
did nothing of the kind; he divided the
large sum equally between the pastors
college and the orphanage. If il had not
been for Sbe prudence of some of his friends,
who insis ted that it was his duty to keep
his house free. he would have lived in hired
apartments. His charity was not indis-
criminate. His money was only given to
those who deserved it.
He declined as many as score of invi.
tations to lecture throughout Europe and
America at fabulous prices. because. as he
explained. he was not lecturer, and he
didn't want the money, and he preferred to
work In his own way among his own po0-
pie In London. When an American lecture
agency offered him recently 1000 for every
lecture and to pay all the expenses of him.
self and wife and secretary from London
to America on great lecture tour. and held
out the tempting offer that he could make
SO. 900, Mr.. SpurgeOn declined it. He said
he could do better. He would stay in Lon
don and try to save fifty souls.
Mr. Spurgeon's sermons were always pre-
He did not memorize them. He simply Sc
lected his text, made q few notes, took an
hour In his study thinking over
the subject, and went TO the pul.
pit next day prepared to deliver
q sermon that would stand for
all time as model of simplicity. clearness
and eloquence. An old and favored short
| hand reporter took his sermons verbatim
and on Monday the great preacher revised
them. Monday was O day of rest and OF
seeing visitors. or. rather. personal friends
| On Tuesday and Wednesday be was gener
ally away somewhere preaching. He de-
voted some portion of each day to literary
work, editing bis magazines or preparing
| his lectures for his college students. Thurs
| day morninQ he devoted to the orphanage