PASTOR T. SPURGEON ON " TACT."

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2695, 19 October 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

PASTOR T. SPURGEON ON " TACT."

The following is a brief synopsis of a lecture delivered in tho Baptist Tabernacle, Cambridge, on Monday, September, 30th, by Pastor Thomas Spurgeon of Auckland who attended to bid farewell to the congregation, as he is about to leave the colony. He said it was the usual custom of lecturers to first give a definition of the Bubject of their discourse ; but he found " Tact" a very difficult quality to define. Some things were better understood from a negative definition than by a positive i. e., by stating what a thiuir is not, rather than what it is, as was well illustrated by a school-boy, who, when asked by tho school-master to dofino salt, said :—" Pleaso sir, salt is that stuff that makes the potatoes taste very nasty, if you hav'nt got none of it with 'un." And so it was with " Tact things that could manage to get along without it were vastly improved by its addition, in fact, it embellished nearly everything. " Tact" tells us what to say, how to say it, and when to say it ; it acts like the rudder to the ship, the tail to the kite, tho feather to the arrow, and the rein on tho stied. The wise King, Solomon possessed the faculty in a high degree, as was shown by the manner in which he settled the quarrel between to women. " Tact" was implanted by nature in some persons; others had to.strive hard to acquire it ; it was indigenous to some characters, while in others it had to bo imported, and carefully cultivated. Again, there were others who did not possess a single grain of it, and these were the people who were continually wounding the feelings of others by their blunt remarks and manners. Some exhibited " Tact" in nearly everything ; if they had a disagreeable thing to do, they intintively did it in a pleasant manner, "and metaphorically speaking, if they had to administer a pill, it was always sugar-cooated, and usually a little jam was given after to take away any nasty flavour, if any remained. _ A German officer was reported to have invented a nickel-plated bullet that would go clean through a man without causing as mnch pain or damage as a lead one would do. That, perhaps, might be called " Tact," but he (the lecturer) thought it had a strong admixture of irony with it. These in whom " Ta3t" was indigenoues used it on all occasions. In tho house they would make !)d go as far as others, who did not possess it, would Is ; in business they could see as far through a brick wall as anyone, and if that was not sufficient, they had a knack of looking over the wall. These he called class 1. Class 2 consisted of those who had schooled themselves by practise until the faculty flourished, not naturally, but as an exotic, which, however, in time, bore flowers and fruit. The third class are those minus of " Tact" in any degree. These are tho fire-eaters who ride roughshod over everyone's tender feelings, and always say a disagreeable thing in as unpleasant a manner as possible. They enter in such speculations, close their eyes and do not observe storms that are brewing, and build without any foundation. As soon as they open their mouth, they put their foot in it ; and sooner or later, come to grief. Some quadrupeds show more " Tact" than these species of bipeds notwithstanding the fact that they have two legs and short ears. They woakl pardon him if he related some anecdotes with reference to his beloved father, wherein he had shown " Tact." He had been blamed for this sort of thing before, but he was going to repeat the offence. On the occasion of, what is commonly called a '• tea-fight," at the Soudan Tabernacle, his futher noticed a woman take a pound of butter from one of the tables and slip it into her pocket. He immediately went and spoko to her, asked her if she would not take a seat—which ho arranged, was closo to a fire, and with the pocket side of the dress towards it— and there kept her conversing until the butter was fairly melted. This " Tact" displayed was calculated to teach the culprit a stronger lesson than if she had been handed over to a policeman. When ono day holding a service in the Surrey Music Hall, his fathei noticed a number of young men at the back of the building who had not taken their hats off. Instead of asking them to do so, he said he had lately visited the Jewish Synagogue, and wheu he entered the building, as was his custom on entering any place of worship, he had removed his hat from his head. He was requested to put it on again by one of those assembled, and in deference to their wishes he at once did so. I hope, continued Mr Spurgeon, when Jews visit my place of worship, they will conform to my ideas, and will kindly take their h its of}". It is needless ti sly that all heads were at once uncovered, as tho request implied that any who did not do so would be J,ows. John Wesley was once ditiiny at the house of a country Methodist gentleman, who had a daughter who was fond of jewellery. A deacon of the Church —one of class three, without any " Tact"—was sitting next to tho young lady, and during a pause, caught hold of her hand, which was covered with rings, and held it up, exclaiming ; " What do you think of this for a Methodist hand, Mr Wesley.' John Wesley was averse to a display of jewellery, but with consutnate " Tact" he replied ; " The hand is very beautiful." This not only paid a graceful compliment to the young lady, but at tho same time reproved her for having such an extensive display of jewellery. When they met again at the tea-table there was not a single ring npon tho young lady's hand. A deacon of the Rev. Roland Hill's Church once prayed for him because he rode his horse on Sunday ; during the sermon Mr Hill commented upon it, and said if the deacon would have the saddle put on his back, he would ride him home. He couldn't verv well call the deacon a donkey in plain terms, although heimplieditby theanswersriven. Perhaps the greatest amount of " Tact is required in settling quarrels, and especially those that occasionally arise among tho members of Church choirs. Tho lecturer said ho had had some experience with various choirs, and had always found them rather quarrelsome bodies. Ho thought musicians as a rule were of a very nervous temperament, and indeed, sometimes their nerves were so sensitive that you trod on their corns before you knew you were anywhere near them. A very good anecdote was told of Dr. Samuel West of New Bedford, whose choir had struck and refused to sing, although they were present in their places. He gave out a well-known hymn of Dr. Watts', and when the organist had played over the tune, Dr. West said : " My friends, we will begin at the second verse,'' and turning to the choir he gave out the two first lines : " Let those refuse to sing, who never knew our God." That settled the matter, each member of the choir singing most lustily. '' Tact" was required in business, as well as in other matters ; although there was a good deal of business that had no business to be business, in which, however, " Tact" was not found, for it abjured all shady transac tions. It aids a man to plan without plotting, and to trade without cheating. " Tact'' was largely shown by the novel methods of advertising, now largely adopted. On Batty's bottles of pickles was printed ; " If you like the pickles, try the sauce." In America advertising was even carried on upon gravestones and monuments. One of the best that he had heard of was the following : "Jane, the beloved wife of A. B. Erected as a tribute to her memory by her husband, and as a specimen of his woik. Monuments, same style, 250 dollars." It is needless to say that the husb:ind was a stonemason. At tho Niagara falls, a monument was erected to the memory of a poor fellow who hid fallen over them, and underneath it stated photographs of the spot could be obtained at tho hotel. " Tact" was indispensible in tho performance of christian work of every description. The Marquis of Salisbury once entered a Wesleyan Church at Tunbr'd ;e Wells under the impression that it was an Anglican ; and he was so impressed with the cordial reception ho received, that he afterwards said ho did not wonder at tho Wesleyan Church thriving, if that was I

the way they treated strangers. He evidently had met with someone who employed " Tact". District visiting required a great amount of " Tact," to do any good. The lecturer quoted a case in which a district visitor visited a dying I person, and could find nothing more com- I forting to sny, than, " My dear, worms are waiting to devour you." Another who went to condole with a mother who had just lost a little child : " I know how you must feel, for I had similar feelings when I lost my little dog Osoar." These both belonged to class three. A minister ha knew was visiting in a country village, and asked an old resident how he liked the rector. The man replied : "Heis a very good man, sir, and preaches good sermons, but I think ho wants a little " Tact." Mr Spurgeon said the old man was perhaps right, for he was afraid clergymen of all denominations, sometimes wanted " a little " Tact" to stir them up. " Tact" distributing again requires " Tact" to be successful. It is useless to treat on " The evils of dancing," to a man with a wooden leg ; or one about " The deceitfulness of riches," to the inmates of a refuge.

(We will recollect an instance that came within our own knowledge of a clergyman who illustrated Mr Spurgeon's last remark, The Rev. William Rushton, a very worthy and good man, was the second master of tha Brewood Grammar School in Staffordshire ; he was also chaplain to the workhouse in that vicinity, and having a good stock of sermons that lie had composed in days gone by, he used to retail them to the inmates on Sunday afternoon. Ho rather astonished the master of the worknouse one Sunday, by taking for his text : " Lay not up for yourselves treasures where moth and dustdoth corrupt etc.," and his attention waß called to the fact that it was not an appropriate subject. However, not being an extempore preacher, and only having brought the one sermon with him, he went through his contract, and expounded to the poor paupers the sinfulness of laying up riches.) Continuing, Mr Spurgeon said he did not think those people who would persist in distributing tracts on board ships, to persons suffering from sea sickness, displayed any " Tact and as a final illustration of the danger of distributing tracts without " Tact," he mentioned how an unmarried young minister had written a business letter to a young lady of his congregation and, as was his want, he enclosed a trac 1 . Just as liejwas about to seal the letter his eye fell upon the head line of the tract, and he was horrified to read : " Thou never gavest me a kiss." Had the young lady received such a sweet expostulation, there is no knowing what the consequences might have been. The Rev. Christmas Evans was once preaching in a district that was noted for sheep stealing, and feeling sure that some of the culprits were among the congregation, he requested all those in any way connected with the crime not to put any money in the plate. The collection was the largest known for years. In like manner Roland Hill once requested those who had not paid their debts, to abstain from giving ; and again everybody contributed, and the collection was a big one. The lecturer gave several other amusinjr illustrations of "Tact" displayed by various persons, and wound up by awarding the palm to women, whom ho contended were preminently the finest exponents of •' Tact but from the manner in which Mr Spurgeou described the tactics of the ladies, we do not think they will feel flattered, as—to our thinkiug—the methods described, partook more of cunning than of " Tact."