Preface

By C. H. Spurgeon

I gratefully adore the goodness of our heavenly Father in directing my beloved wife to a work which has been to her fruitful in unutterable happiness. That it has cost her more pain than it would be fitting to reveal is most true; but that it has brought her a boundless j oy is equally certain. Our .gracious Lord ministered to His suffering child in the most -effectual manner when He graciously led her to minister to the necessities of His servants. By this means He called her away from her personal griefs, gave tone and concentration to her life, led her to continual dealings with Himself, and raised her nearer the centre of that region where other than -earthly joys and sorrows reign supreme. Let every believer accept this as the inference of experience: that for most human maladies the best relief and antidote will be found in self-sacrificing work for the Lord Jesus.

If I said a word in praise of the worker herself my Preface would not be acceptable to the author of these Reports; and therefore I must content myself with expressing my conviction that the work was sadly needed, has been exceedingly useful, and is still urgently called for. How can many of our ministers buy books? How can those in the villages get at them at all? What must their ministries become if their minds are starved? Is it not a duty to relieve the famine which is raging in many a manse? Is it not a prudential measure, worthy of the attention of all who wish to see the masses influenced by religion, that the preachers who occupy our pulpits should be kept well furnished with material for thought?

By the Book Fund not less than 12,000 ministers of all denominations have been supplied with at least a few fresh books. Sometimes men have been aided in somewhat unusual studies, for which they had a special predilection: not long ago I had to become adviser to the Fund as to a grammar, and so forth, for the study of Syriac, for the use of

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Preface.

one who had a call in that direction. The Fund does not profess to grant works other than those needed for the special work of the ministry, but even this gives a wide range, especially in the case of missionaries. I think great discretion has been used in the distribution of the bounty: I am sure it has been blended with the utmost sympathy and Christian love.

From this date the beloved worker feels that she must slacken. The business has overpowered her: the waggon is running over the horse. A measure of this ministry must pass into other hands, for, to my great sorrow, I have seen that over-pressure is now causing a growing sense of weariness. It cannot long be possible to wake up every morning with a dread of that pile of letters; to sit all day, with scarce an interval, writing and book-keeping; and to go to bed at night with a sigh that the last stroke has hardly been made before the eyes have closed. However brave an invalid may be, love will not always allow such incessant toil to grind down a willing spirit. As the embodiment of loving prudence, I feel that I must place an urgent veto upon the continuance of this labour at its present rate.

Especially the Report-writing has been dreadful drudgery. I think the outcome of the drudgery is most memorable, and I do not wonder that the Reports have commanded a host of interested readers; but they cost too much of the life-blood of their author, and are to me like the water from the well of Bethlehem, whereof David refused to drink when he knew at what a price it was procured. I trust our many friends will henceforth be content with brief Reports of a somewhat diminished work, and will believe that the matter is so arranged because it must be.

Oh for a blessing on the thousands of books which have gone out from our beloved “Westwood”! Prayer never ceases on this account May the Lord lead others of His servants to carry on such part of this ministry as may cease from our doors, and doubly bless that portion which remains with us!

C. H. SPURGEON.

Westwood, Beulah Hill,

March, 1886.