of multitudes of blessings. The Christian world noted the example and saw its after-success; they followed it, and to this day, in the theatre and in the cathedral, the Word of Christ is preached where it was never preached before. In each of our movings we have had reason to see the hand of God, and here particularly; for many residents in the West End have, in this place, come to listen to the Word, who, probably, might not have taken a journey beyond the river. Here, God's grace has broken hard hearts; here have souls been renewed, and wanderers reclaimed. 'Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.' And now we journey to the house which God has, in so special a manner, given to us; and this day would I pray as Moses did, 'Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.""

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CHAPTER V.

In Labours More Abundant.

UCH were the crowds that flocked to hear Mr.
Spurgeon, both at New Park Street and Exeter

Hall, in 1856, that the necessity of providing for the erection of a larger place of worship was pressed most forcibly on himself and his friends; and in the month of August of that year a fund was commenced for the purpose. The following October, the first great meeting was held to consider what steps should be taken for erecting a suitable edifice, and meeting its cost. It was proposed to build a large chapel, capable of holding five thousand persons. The proposal was heartily taken up and supported by the preacher's friends; and in all parts of the country practical sympathy was largely shown with the movement. There were those who laughed at the idea as absurd, impracticable, Quixotic; there were those who looked upon it as presumptuous and altogether wicked. But the work went on.

Mr. Spurgeon travelled all over the land, preaching daily, with the promise of half the proceeds of the collection being devoted to the new tabernacle. At the same time, he frequently allowed the whole proceeds to be applied to the

local objects of needy churches and institutions.

While it

would be out of place here to follow him in all his wanderings, certain visits may be named, as indicating the character and extent of his itinerant labours.

In January 1857, he preached at Birmingham. A correspondent of the time says "There are not many names in England which have attraction enough to draw together, at three o'clock on a week-day afternoon, three thousand people to hear a sermon. But this the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon did last Tuesday, in the large hall of Birmingham. The feeling in anticipation of his visit, which had been growing for three or four weeks, had become intense, so that multitudes from town and country flocked to the place of meeting, and long before the service commenced the spacious building was crowded in every part."

On the appearance of the youthful preacher, all eyes were arrested, and a solemn silence ensued. He began by a prayer, uttered in a clear, sonorous voice, which was heard in the remotest part of the vast edifice. After commenting on the 103d Psalm, and offering another prayer, he took for his text, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." He began by saying that, as he was a stranger in Birmingham, he did not wish to appear among them under false colours, but plainly to announce to them the truths he believed, and the doctrines he preached, so that should he ever come again, they would know what they had to expect. And then, for three-quarters of an hour, he unfolded the distinguishing peculiarities of the gospel, and the power of Christ to save, with great earnestness and effect. In the evening a still larger assembly was convened, when he preached from the text, "To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," a sermon which is described as full of eloquence, illustration, and power.

The next day he preached again twice, in Mount Zion chapel. Persons were admitted by ticket. The morning

subject was "Self-examination." The evening discourse was based on seven texts, each of which contained the same sentence-"I have sinned". -a sentence which was uttered by seven individuals, Pharaoh, Balaam, Saul, Achan, Judas, David, and the Prodigal, who were considered as types of different characters. The sermons again were most powerful, and the desire to hear so great, that numbers were unable to obtain admission. The amazing popularity of the preacher drew to these services persons of all denominations—Episcopalians, Wesleyans, Independents, Baptists, Unitarians, men of all creeds and no creed. Merchants, manufacturers, clergymen, dissenting ministers, lawyers, doctors, professors, students, artists, and artisans, literary men and illiterate men were all there; pleased or displeased, according to the variety of their tastes, their habits of thought and feeling, and their views on the great question of religious faith and obligation. The visit was, in some respects, one of the most important of Mr. Spurgeon's engagements at this period.

While engaged in incessant labours during the week in various parts of the provinces, he was at his post Sunday after Sunday in London, where his popularity continued to increase. On the first Sunday of March 1857, there were present, among the vast throng, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Baron Bramwell, and thirty members of Parliament. The Marquis evinced great interest in the service, and was much impressed by the aspect of such an immense congregation. At the close, he sought an interview with the preacher; and strongly urged him to take care of his health, that he might the longer employ the talents which had been given him for usefulness. The following Sunday, the Music Hall was again crowded; and among the congregation were Lord John Russell, Lord Stanley of Alderly, Sir James Graham, and a number of other distinguished persons. The two lords had a lengthened conversation with Mr. Spurgeon on retiring, and expressed their unqualified admiration of

his talents. It was at this time that Mr. John Ruskin was among his hearers, and at the close of a morning service presented him with one hundred pounds to add to the fund for building the tabernacle.

While the common people heard him gladly, the great ones of the land, either influenced by curiosity, or drawn, as no doubt they were in many cases, by other considerations, attended his ministry at the Music Hall. There were seen the Duchess of Sutherland, the Duchess of St. Alban's, the Duke of Athol, the Marquis of Stafford, the Earl of Carlisle, Lord and Lady Blantyre, Lord Grosvenor, Lady Craven, Lord and Lady Coote, Lady Mowbray, Lady Truro, Lady Peel, Lady Courtney Boyle, Lady Franklin, Lord John Hay, Lord Calthorpe, Lord Bolton, Lord Shirley, Miss Florence Nightingale, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sir Joseph Paxton, and sometimes between sixty and seventy members of Parliament. Some of these distinguished persons sought and obtained interviews with the preacher. It was reported that some members of the royal family also were occasionally present at his services. It would be an easy task to lengthen this list of persons of distinction and learning, who once, or oftener, went to hear him.

The following is a specimen of his preaching in these early years:-"I was thinking yesterday, my friends, what a magnificent change would come over the face of Christendom if God were on a sudden to pour out His spirit as he did in the day of Pentecost. I was then sitting down meditating upon this sermon, and I thought, oh! if God should pour His spirit upon me, should I not leap from this place where I am now sitting, and on my knees begin to pray as I never did before? And should I not go next Sabbath day to a congregation who would feel a solemn awe about them! Every word I spoke would strike like arrows from the bow of God; and they themselves would feel that it was 'none other than the house of God, and the very gate