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not vast audience-room, with plenty
of
windows and no
. stained glass, every foot of room economized skillfully,
and
two
commodious galleries circling around the
whole,
one above another. The se ts are fairly good the interior
sufficiently solid, neat
and t;lsteful.
One's.common sense
tells him that here the most has been malieof the money
givenbyGod'peopletoprovideworshipping-r00l]1fort\Ie
most sows possible. Already at three-quarters of an hou
before the beginning, afew of the
regu1ar
;tttendants
are
in
. '. their pews; and the strangers
are
beginning to line the
. . .folding-seats in the aisles andthe benches againstthewall
The Tabernacle and the Abbey
byRL abney
Spurgeon's tabernacle, on "London Road," south
of
the
Thames and Westminster Abbey, may fairly stand as the
representative of "Anglicanism" and "Dissent" in England.
Around
the former more Protestant influences
are
centered
than around any othernon-established place ofworshl.p. The
latteris the Mecca ofEnglish Episcopacy;more even thanSt.
Pau1' S, the virtual cathedral of the metropolitan diocese,
because in the heart of the inhabited city, and beside the
''Palace of Parliament," or, as we should
call
them, the
"capitolbuiIdings" of he Empire. Westminster s, moreover,
a fair type
of
Anglicanism, because its "Moderate" and
"Broad
Church
Dean
Dr.
Stanley, keeps out the
exceSses of
ritualism, and directs his worship along those medium lines
acceptable to the average church
tnarl
, tis proposed
to
let the
experiences
of
an attentive observer on the &;nne Sabbath, as
he passed from the one to the other sanctuary, tell their slOry
plainly and simply, touching the two types ofChristianity.
The
Tabernacle Building
But at one quarter of an hour before, the regu1ar inflow
begins with a tide continually increasing. At five minutes
before 11 o'clock a
signal.
is made by a deacon from the
fartherendby a simple clapping ofhandS; whereupon the
strangers by a universal invitation, enter ihe pews and fill
up every vacant seat. The places they leave are at once
refilled,
and
floor and both circuits
of galleries re
a solid
mass of human faces, waiting with an expectant look fo
the
beginning
of
the
serVices.
.
'.
The Services
Precisely at
11
o'clock Mr. Spurgeon hobbled-into his
platform, betraying by his gait and
by
his leaning upon
every object along hisway-the infirniityunder which h
has suffered, a species of rheumatism in hi.s
feet. It
i
unpleasanuo see thathis enforced
inactivity
has increased
his corpwency. Otherwise
he
is ,the s me figure with
which engravings have
m d ~
the Christian world
acquainted,
with
a beard covering
his
massive chin,
bu
without a gray hair, and withhis natural fon:e not
abated
nor his eye dimmed. After an instant of silent lYorship, h
.began his prayer of invocation, which was much longe
than
ours.
Then followeda
hymn,
sung.by the whol
mighty throng, like the voices of many waters
with no
instrument of any kind and no guidance save that of
purely nonprofessional precentor. ' No mechanical sound
could possibly have been added to that chorus of sentien
voices without marring the real effect both as an act o
worship and
an act
of
noble
art.
Then
the
Scriptures were read
at
length and expounded
Mr. Spurgeon's person and preaching have
been
too often briefly. There were two more hynms divided by along bu
describedtoneedpainting. The visitor
finds
the ''Tabernacle'' seasonable and appropriate"prayer,
and
then the sermo
simply a very large and seemly church
of
stone without a and the benediction. The devotional services occupied
steeple, separated from the Streetby a plain, strong railing
of
forty-five minutes, andthe sermon fifty. Those
who
chos
iron, with an area often yards breadth, and then a portico of to partake of he Lord'sSupperthenwent to thehasemen
simple Greek architecture, much like that adorning the Tabb lecture-room, and joined inthat ordinanCe. The Church
i
street church in Petersburg, VA. WithinhefindsalargebUl a Free Communion Baptist
Church,
and all Christian
The
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of Chalcedon Februl ryiMarch 1991
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were invited to partake.
But
the sermon? It
was
quiet
fluent
sensible, scriptural,
Old School boldly Calvinistic, dignified, edifying-just
such preaching
as
one hears in many Southern pulpits,
with
here and there a little gleam quickly repressed, of the
tendency to humor native to the man; usually classic in its
orthoepyandgrammar. The onlyword inwhichthe English
plebeian enmity
to
the was
betrayed,
was
when
he
told
us
that it
was
'Ospital Sunday in ll London churches, andthat
the collection would be for the
sick.
Spurgeon's voice is a
clear tenor sustained without straining on a rather too
equable pitch, with the perfection ofdeliberationanddistinct
articulation, but with a marked accent of those
vivid
staccato emphases which
are
so characteristic of our
Americanextemporepreachers. Everysy11ablewasaudible
from
the beginningto the close byeveryman. On hewhole
the characteristic of the whole performance
was
not
brilliancy, notgenius but robust, good sense scripturalness,
and
sustained
propriety.
The experienced hearer cannot
well avoid raising the question, Is there that in these
performances
which
accounts for the sustained throng?
And he cannot
avoid
answering, There is not. It is a good
performance; very good but in no sense better than our
good
American preachers who never draw more than
few
hundreds.
The Secret ofHis Success
Whence then Spurgeon' sthousands? Perhaps the solution
he
would prefer
to
have given,
would
be
from God's
answer to
believing prayer, blessing customary exertions.
I conceive that under this higher solution the instrumental
ones
are
these:
First London has four millions of people,
and
many hundreds of thousands of church-goers. Hence it
does
not require a very great relative elevation of one
reputation
above others
to collect at one spot enough of
these
multitudes to
make
agreatcrowd. Inanordinarydish,
filled with liquid a change of levelby one-tenth ofan inch
wouldremoveafew hundred
drops
tothepointofdepression
Butinalake of
many
acres ' extent, that
same
change oflevel
limited to one-tenth of an inch, would displace a great mass
of water; there
is
a large surface from which it would
flow.
Secondly, good preaching is so scarce in England where the
Dissenters, who are animated,
are
too often rough. and
offend good taste and the Anglicans, who have scholarly
culture are usually utterly ruinedby their intoning whine
and
doctrinal indifference, that a little excellence counts for
agood deal. Thirdly Spurgeon's executive ability, tactand
strength ofwill evidently
serve
himgreatly in sustaininghis
ascendancy. He is
as
much ofan organizer and general
as
preacher.
But on the whole here
was
true, living, edifying worship
and
proc1arnation
of God's word in the Tabernacle. Here
are more than three thousand communicants and
five
thousand worshippers every Sunday. Here is the Pastor's
College, which is really a theological seminary, giving
instruction for the pastoral work to one hundred and ten
young men at a weekly expense of $590.00. Here are two
orphan asylums
one
for boys and one for girls, continually
en1argingthemselves.
Hereisagreatprintingworkspreading
sermons, religious newspapers and tracts
as
far as the
English language is spoken This is what Spurgeon has
done. Doubtless there
are
blemishes inhis work. Doubtless,
like
ll
other works ofpro
mise
itpresents more flowers than
fruit. Some of its blemishes
are
obvious to the sensible
spectator. For instance, of the five thousand worshippers
and more than three thousand communicants, not more than
four orfive hundred at
most
joined in the Lord's Supper.
Nor indeed, did the pastor seem to expect more, as he held
the service inaroom which could only contain that number.
Nor
was
there all the reverence and tenderness which
one
would desire to see in this sacred ordinance. But after ll
deductions, there is visible a mighty energy for good.
Westminster Abbey
At 3 o'clock
P.M.
the afternoon service is celebrated
with
a sermon in Westminster
Abbey
forthe general public.
The
pile is hoary, venerable, vast, full of impressive
reminiscences, with every second slab on which the
worshipper treads, the grave stone of one who
was
famous
in history; and every compartment along nave and aisle
crowdedwith the monuments of statesmen, warriors, artists
poets, witsactors andfiddlers. Itoccupies, withitsdeaneries,
canonaries, college and chapels, whole acres of ground in
the heart of London, which would now cost millions of
pounds. Inits lofty naves and towers, its countless pinnacles
and buttresses, its labyrinths of corridors, courts and
crypts
t
contains probably enough cut stone to build ten (possibly
twenty) such Tabernacles
as
Spurgeon's. Its lofty vastness
so utterly surpasses the possibilities of vocal worship by any
human voice, that some small part only is used at anyone
time on Sunday afternoon only the transept and
choir.
The m in nave presents this sign that it also
is
sometimes
used for the liturgical worship, that having, like the popish
churches, no pews nor seats t s supplied with a vast thicket
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saw in an oid Kentucky slave cabin
(andnotawhitc1eaner),notbottom:d
indeed with "white .oak splits" or
cords oftwistedcom-shuck, butwith
aspeciesof
coarse
flag, forEngland
is not blessed with Indian
cOm,
and
her oaks are
n
far too "snarly" to
make
a "split."
Punctually at 3 o'clock I went, and
was shown by a circuitous way into
the westem transept. I secured a chair
about half
way
o the pulpit About a
thousand people were present; a few
apparently wrappedintheecstasies of
aesthetic devotion, the major part
patientanddecent, andalrugerilinority
wa kingaboutthevastouterspacesof
the church
and going and coming .
whenever they pleased Everything
wa
s chanted or intoned, except the
lessons of he day. I was about
s
near
the choir and pulpit
as
the average halfof the
audieJtce
, and
being blessed with at least ordinary hearing, I made every
effort which close attention could contribute. But what, with
. the solemn reverberations through "long-drawn aisle and
fretted arch," and
the
disgusting whine
of he
"intoning," and
the profane, mechanical rapidity
of
the chants, and the
despica
ble
school-boy reading of the
r i ~ s
bred
of
intoning and ecclesiastical starch, absolutely not Olle whole
seiltence
of
he service was audible to
me
or those around
me.
In
most sentences
not
a wold
was
audible: My practiced ear,
almost
as
familiar with the words
of
Scripture
as
though
they
had been memorized, caught barely enough
of
he "lessons
of
the day" to surmise that the first was from 1 Samuel (about
Samuel and Eli) , and the second from James .But I am
persuaded that the ordinary laymen near me never guessed
even what portions
of
Scripture were read. The "priests"
conducting the liturgical service imitated the indecimthasteof
the challting boys usually "cutting in" with their rattling
"intone" upon the responses, some syllables before the latter
were completed, notwithstanding the worshippers, who had
prayer books (and knew their places), did their best
to
go at a
hard gallop and get out
of
their reverences' way.
Of he
sermon, which speedily became quite declamatory, we
were able to hear some sentences and a number
of
words, but
no
consecutive paragraph. I caught enough to learn that the
text was, "The poor ye have always with
you,
and that the
preacher was endeavoring to accommodate this fact
to the
demands of Hospital Sunday in London. When all was over
The
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of Chalcedon FebruarylMarch 1991
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the beadles, most impressively draped in surplices, wer
stationed at the doors who obtruded gorgeous, massive gol
plates
tow
feet broad, to receive the alms
of
the retirin
worshippers. A few shillings and six-pences had begun whe
I passed, to dot the lustrous surfaces with a decidedly sordi
look. I had cast in
the
little I felt I could contribute forthe sic
inLondonhospitals,among Spurgeon's peopleintheforenoon
where the cheap wooden boxes were receiving apparently,
a
eager and universal tribute. Utterly discouraged
and
repelle
by
the splendid dishes
of
gold
, I
passed
them
by,
sayin
inwardly to myself, if you would sell the
female
garmen
which disfigure your manhood,
and
sell those useless gol
dishes,andglvetothesufferingpoor,thenlwillgladlyaddm
h u m b l e m i ~
So far as
the
audible voice is oldained byGod as aninstrume
of
worship and instruction, this service mightas well been, lik
the popish, in a dead language. A few drew edification, Ihope
.from their Psalters. A
few
evidently .
mistook the
mer
aesthetic impression
of
ecclesiastical architecture
and
"man
millinery, and the pealing echoes
of
harmonic sounds, fo
spiritual edification. To the most it
was
evidently
but
ceremony, decent and dreary. And this is
what
Westminste
is doing to save souls, with her immense
real
estate, he
princely revenues, her battalion of deans, canons, priest
deacons, organists
and
choristers.
The Sabbath began with
me
happily, cheerily, devoutly;
ended witha chill, like that of he crypt-corridors, surroundin
the scene
of
the ghostly pantomime. n