ME SPURGEON ON PREACHERS AND PEOPLE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 40, 15 February 1877, Page 4

ME SPURGEON ON PREACHERS AND PEOPLE.

Recently; Mr Spufgeon took part in .■. the proceedings in connection with tha c lay iog of the foundation-atone of a' nejsv hall, in George-street, Camberwell, in ■' Y'T which Ned Wright proposes for the T* future to carry on the mission service, "".* for' which hia present Wooden and iron structure basoesome inadequate. There ; very, crowded attendance,- and Mr Wright .seemed -to have. ••; manly sympathised, by boa of the most liberal Vi T«)f,w^offl7rMr R.A. crray-r-thej 1 atone The follbwingrepbrtf pf Mr Spurgeon's speech is from: the Daily Telegraph.— v^ <j "-I c_!me to-day to help a neighbor. The time waa when nobody would go inside auy place ol worship unless he agreed wUh ; all that was^aid and done there; but we have now oome to rejoice > Tin; diversity of operations where we can °;' see that they are directed to the der vice 'of tlle same Lord. I believe- there is ... not Jialf as. much groundior the anxiety people feel when : they look at the various denominations iii the Church, f as they euppoee. I have known one) ■place in a town as dead as death r could v be, and another .place waa opened, t and then both were filled. (Hear, - hear.) For my-part r if Ned -Wright or anybody else, can run away with my . congregation— (a laugh) — they are un- . commonly welcome; but. it will take them all their time, for I always think that it there is a new coach put on the road the old coach should be horsed better so aa to keep < the . customers. - (Great-laughter.) - What we. want to do is by some means, to get the great mass of people to hear the Gospel. I _ am always hearing it aaid that the great f pr^lem is to get the working classes' to . to the Gospel, I do not believe tbat to be the problem at all, and I deny altogether that the workiojg classes; of London attend ; less at the house of God than other classes in -London. In proportion to. their numbers they attend as well as any other class. ; At least that is my .experience. People oome to the Tabernacle, and when they see the congregation coming c^'OOt^theyv-'say --ho working classes go f there, /because they, would not be ao well dressed. But; why should not a working man .wear as good a suit of clothes as be possibly can get? , Do you expect that on Sunday he would wear the same clothes in which during the week he is bricklaying or carpentering, in which he. is tip to his neck in ..dust, or in which he goes down a aewer? One of the first .things I notice about a - • man when he turns from his evil ways, is tbat be gets a decent suit of clothes, and if ever he had such a thing before ■" 'X am afraid he was in the habit of leav--1 log- them rather long at his uncle's, .. (Laughter*.) I don't believe anyone in ._ i-urope can tell the difference between a working. man in his best clothes and any other swell. (Renewed laughter.) 1 suppose two-thirds of my congregation at- the Tabernacle are working men and wherever you have a vigorous liviug church you will find that tbe bulk of it is made up of the very men whom it is sold. to be tbe problem to get. to go. to the house ot God. , Thare is a problem I should like to see solved, ana - that is jiow to get the people of the West end into church, because although there are many places in connection with the Churcb of England in which the Gospel is truly preached, I must say I do not call it going to the house ' of God; .when a man goes to witness processions and pomps and; shows. • And I know there are hundreds of , thousands of people living in' the suburbs surrounding London, having large incomes and fine houses, who do.LO.t attend chnrch any more than the poor people do. Let us look at ( the objections people urge to going out on Sunday. Some say their clothes are not good, enough. But they are good enough if tbey have been paid - for. (Laughter.) I admit thera are ' : persons who should not go to oburch—jthose who wear boots thai squeak, and ..^ladies whose .umbrellas are alwayp falling down with a snap. Then you ... find .people who say they don't go because of the heat and the bad air. I could iod icate some places where they could . have three pews to themselves if they liked — (laughter) — and plenty oif : air. . To all sextons and chapel-keeper? I would .give this wrinkle — open your windows often. (Laughter.) I often preach in country chapels where - the people get packed like herrings in a barrel— (laughter) and I have tried to get the windows opened, and they wouldn't open, for they never had been opened. (A laugh.) I went into one of these places once, and it was so close and hot tbat I asked every gentleman near a window to smash a pane - or two. (Laughter.) There was certainly a very grand smash, but then the beautiful fresh air streamed in. I paid the bill afterwards like an honest man; but it was much better to do that than bear about the cruelty of preaching in such an atmosphere, or forcing people to listen when they are more disposed to sleep. There is a common complaint that the " ; preacher can neither be understood nor heard, and. there is aome truth in it. I wish some preaohers who mumble at a j very great rate, would get a new set of j teeth. If men have anything worth ' being heajdj they should speak out. I have heard of clergymen in Australia ' :/ aad Africa— l-,, did- cot say in England —(a laugh)— of whom it is said that when you hear them once, you hear as \ much of them as you want to hear* ! \. £raaqhert._ use various kinds of Engl I '^ishr^pna iwith omacy-syllabled Words^ I other the Saxon their A talked, and which they

themselves began to use when thoy prattled as children. I beard a afcojry once of a number of sailors who were playing cards up aloft, and bad a light for tbe purpose. The oaptain sent ; a midshipman to tell them to put it out, and tbe midshipman told them to " extinguish that luminary." But the sailors did not understand him. Then the captain called out " Douse that glim," — aud out went the candle. (Great laughter.) I shoald have , said, "Put out that candle, boys.'. : (Laugeter.) I believe " high-falutiu" is too much used in the pulpit. We preachers should speak so that people could not misunderstand us if they tried to do so. Some men occasionally stay away from communion because tbeir wives have a largo little family, (a laugh) and these poor women can-? not leave the children. I should like to whisper in the ears of some Christian youug women that they might go and take care of the ohildren for .a Sunday, and let the mother go out. (Applause.) As for the husbands, j I don't think they always take their fair' turn with their wives, for I see soma Christian men out on Sunday whose wives v. never get-out for j a month; together. I think, too, that the people;! have a good deal to do with the filling of the Churches, >nd that, they might bring frienda wh.n they could, aud certainly when they found it necessary to say the good man preaching had bjls . wits a wool-gatheriog, they ought only to;.say it out in ithe country,; whei^ there is no one withih a mile; or so of them. (Laughter.) I'll tell you'what Toften find When Igo into a street and ask for a chapel, I am told it is round the corner, by the. Duke of Prussia, or the Marquis of Granby, or the Mother Red Qap; but I don't; find that ;the churches r, ar c conspicuous places. Don't let th is hapen with you. Advertise, distribute handbills, for the life of business is black ink. You ought to distribute tracts — I mean good ones — and if J knew where you could get good onesjl should tell you, for they are generally soporiferouo articles. (Laughter.) Mr Spurgeon concluded, after an earnest exhortation, by remarking tbat as book numbers sold best when they were illustrated with platea, so in that meeting they wer going to see what could, be done with plates. A handsome collection was taken up, Mr Spurgeon beginning it with £10. — Brett's Bastings Gazette.