Mrs. Spurgeon’s Work
Come in, O strong and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at flood-tide; cover all my powers, drown all my sins, sweep away all my cares, lift up my earth-bound soul, and float it right up to my Lord’s feet, and there let me lie, a poor broken shell, washed up by His love, having no virtue or value, and only venturing to whisper to Him that, if He will put His ear to me. He will hear within faint echoes of the vast waves of His own love which have brought me where it is my delight to lie, even at His feet for ever. — C. H. Spurgeon.
WE have always recoiled from pronouncing fulsome eulogies upon any worthy persons engaged in serving the Church of Jesus Christ; and every right-minded man and woman shrinks from that furm of adulation which is akin to flattery. Mr. Spurgcon has had his share of praise and blame, but has been graciously kept independent of both. Happy is the man who takes no heed to the “flatterer,” and is alike impervious to the shafts of venom shot by a jealous hand.
Mrs. Spurgeon, like her noble husband, would fain have the crown of praise placed on the brow of Jesus, and glory be given to Him for the work she has been permitted to do. Like the model virtuous woman sketched by the wise man, ‘’ she stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.... She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” The work which this amiable lady has so successfully originated and maintained is worthy of emulation on the part of Christian women, whose employment, alas, too often, is that of “killing time.”
Mrs. Spurgeon has been a constant sufferer, unable to participate in the great schemes of benevolence connected with her husband’s labors, yet from her quiet chamber she has personally procured and directed tens of thousands of books to needy pastors, whose libraries were in great need of her generous donations. Besides, she supervises a private and humble mission, which sends clothing to their poorly clad children and suffering wives. Dorcaslike, she labors for the poor, and her work is wisely planned, managed with economy, and precious in its results. The life of this dear afflicted lady is fragrant with benevolence; many homes are made glad as the results of her toil.
Her peculiar ministry has the hearty commendation of her husband, and his most prayerful sympathy; in him she finds a wise counsellor, and a true friend to the poor pastors whose need and trials become the objects of her sympathy and solace. Through him she has received much material help, and every encouragement in the prosecution of her self-imposed task. Thus he writes: —
“How deep is our own interest in Mrs. Spurgeon’s most useful and needful work we need scarcely tell; we trust that our readers will feel a measure of the same sympathy, and exhibit it in tangible form. A famine of books to a teacher of others is almost as distressing as want of bread. Want of good books has, we doubt not, tended greatly to impoverish the ministries of many preachers. How could they fill the minds of others when they had no food for their own?”
From one of Mrs. Spurgeon’s yearly reports we cull the following: —
The Book Fund makes grants to poor pastors of every evangelical denomination who are in actual charge, wholly devoted to the ministry, and whose income from all sources does not exceed $750 per annum.
These grants consist of seven or eight volumes, and usually comprise the ‘* Treasury of David,” or some of Mr. Spurgeon’s sermons, — not to the exclusion of other books, but chiefly because they are the works most sought after by applicants to the fund; and I am not afraid or ashamed to say it, because I know I could not, with the slender means at my command, give any more precious or more helpful. There are several special books for ministers which I would at once add to my list if friends who wish for their circulation would supply me with the means.
Poor ministers are the rule, not the exception: they are not restricted to the Baptist denomination or to our own land, but abound in every connection and in all climes; their needs are very urgent, their prospects seldom brighten, and their ranks never seem to thin. My work for them is as great a necessity now as it was at its commencement, — nay, I think its importance has increased with its extension, the latent thirst for knowledge has been developed by its gifts, and a keener appetite for mental food has been produced by the provision it has furnished. I need not enlarge on the absolute necessity which exists for a minister to possess books, if he would be an efficient teacher and preacher: the mind which is itself not fed cannot very long feed others: but I would point out the impossibility of procuring these essential helps and appliances when a man has to provide for himself and a wife and family on a pittance of $3CX3, $4CX), or $500 per annum.
To such weary “workers with a slender apparatus” my Book Fund stretches forth a helping hand: it fills the empty basket with tools, gives a key to a well-stocked storehouse, replenishes an exhausted brain, supplies ammunition for the combat with evil, makes sunshine in shady places, and by God’s own blessing does a vast amount of good wherever its gifts are scattered.
It is the joy of my life thus to serve the ser’ants of my IMaster, and the daily blessings and tender providences which surround my work are more precious to me than words can express. Some of the subjects of my thankfulness may seem small and inconsiderable to others, but to me they are of constant interest and importance. My retired life shuts out the usual pleasures of social intercourse, but opens wide a world of glad delight in thus “ministering to the necessities of the saints.” I have scores of friends with whose circumstances I am intimately acquainted, yet whose faces I have never looked upon. I hope to know and greet them on the “other shore; “and meanwhile their love and prayers are a sweet reward for such pleasant service as the Lord enables me to render to them. In these pages will be found some of the expressive outpourings of grateful hearts, and though the letters here given form but a small portion of the great mass of affectionate correspondence connected with the fund, they will serve to reveal some of the daily comfort and encouragement I receive through this channel. Ah, if by His grace we can but win from our Master the approving words,” Ye did it unto me,” the joy of service is then only “a little lower” than the supreme felicity of heaven!...
The following tenderly kind little note contains such a testimony to the value of the Book Fund that I am tempted to give it, even though I have to include its unmerited commendation of my own small service: —
‘* My dear Mrs. Spurgeon, — Please accept the enclosed mite toward the Book Fund. If it please God, may you long be spared to carry on this great and blessed work, which has been sanctified to the good of so many of the Lord’s servants, and through them to so many of His people. Surely this must redound to the praise and glory of the Lord Jesus, whose we are and whom we serve. I believe, dear Mrs. Spurgeon, that every day there is praise ascending to Almighty God for the blessings many have received through the books you have been enabled to send, and also through the encouraging little notes you write. I have to thank God for two or three of those little notes, and oh, how precious they are! I shall ever treasure them, for they have been made a means of great blessing to my soul. May God’s richest blessing continue to rest upon you; may you be sustained by grace divine when called upon to suffer and endure; if it be in accordance with God’s will, may you be relieved from pain altogether. Perhaps this may never be on this side Jordan. Plow precious you must have found those words, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Good Matthew Henry says that if God is pleased to lay a heavy burden upon us at an)’ time, and yet fits the shoulder to the burden, we certainly can have no reason to complain, however heavy the cross may be. Is not this true? I pray that all the strength and grace you need may be given from on high, supplied by a loving Father out of His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
To ministers who are not quite so necessitous as those for whom the Book Fund was specially founded, yet who can ill spare the published price of the “Treasury of David,” or the sermons, I offer these books at a somewhat reduced rate, and I have much satisfaction in knowing that the privilege is warmly appreciated.
The following letters are fair samples of the spirit in which the favor is sought, and the warm gratitude evoked by its accordance:
“My DEAR Mrs. Spurgeox, — In the libraries of my friends I have very frequently perused that most choice and savory work of your husband, ‘The Treasury of David; ’ and if I have not actually incurred the guilt of breaking the tenth commandment, I fear I have come near to doing so, and from time to time I have been looking how I could contrive to purchase it, but have found as often that my income has been forestalled by family and other claims. I have long known that you have been doing a most valuable work for the Master by helping poor pastors to some good books, but hitherto I have not ventured to write, lest I should be standing in the way of some brother more necessitous even than myself This week, however, I was in the library of one of my brethren, and again looking over some parts of the * Treasury,’ the desire to possess it for myself returned with such strength that I felt somewhat as I suppose a hungry ox would feel tethered outside, but just in sight of, a luxuriant field of clover. After ruminating over the matter again and again, I came to the conclusion that I could manage part of the price, so I have determined to say to you that I should esteem it a great favor indeed to receive a copy from your hands, if I shall not stand too much in the wa)’ of some other poor brother.”
It t’as, indeed, a great joy to open the gate of the clover field. May the good brother “go in and out and find pasture.”
On the same subject a pastor in one of our great Midland towns writes: —
“I note in your little report that when an applicant is able to purchase, books are sent on the most advantageous terms. Now I hope from time to time to be able to purchase a volume of the sermons, whose true gospel ring is indeed music to one’s soul. Will you kindly jot down on enclosed post-card the price at w’hich I might get the sermons through your hands, so that I may know what to lay by from time to time, in order to add to my store? I am almost ashamed to trouble you so soon after receiving so much from you, but I am hungry for books, and cannot help it.”
There is also a goodly number of workers for the Lord, — evangelists, local preachers, and others, — who, having no pastorate, are ineligible for the free gift of the “Treasury,” yet covet earnestly this precious aid in their work. Many of these save up a little money, and sending it to me by degrees, have in time the joy of receiving the longed-for treasure, which, doubtless, they value none the less for the self-denial which has procured it. I often regret that I cannot give books to all Christian workers; but a strict boundary line is absolutely necessary in a work carried on, not by a society, but by one pair of hands, and those not over strong or capable.
To-day $1000 is mine from the great Testimonial Fund raised last Christmas; $500 is allotted to the Book Fund, and $500 to the Pastors’ Aid Society. My dear husband’s kindness secures this splendid help to my work, and I bless God both for him and his delightful gift. If John Ploughman’s wife might say here what she thinks of John in this and all other matters, it would be an easy task to fill these pages with his praises; but since such a wifely eulogy might be deemed out of place, Mrs. J. P. may at least record in her little book her hearty and appreciative thanks to the hundreds of true friends who have lately done honor to the ‘* Prince of her life,” and furnished him with the means of more abundantly blessing all the poor and needy ones who look to him as their best earthly friend and comforter. If I knew any one who doubted the truth of that Scripture, “There is that scattereth and yet increaseth,” I could bring no more unanswerable proof of its veracity than is found in the unselfish life and loving deeds of the God-honored man I reverence as niy head and husband. I find a graceful appropriateness in the gift of part of this money to Baptist pastors, seeing that to one of themselves the whole magnificent sum is offered as a tribute of devoted admiration and love. What a joy it will be to use this consecrated gold in their service! What heavy burdens it will lift! What aching hearts will be consoled! What praise to God will be given by joyful lips! When I think of all it will do, I wish it were ten times as much! I get greedy for their sakes, — my poor, weary, toiling brethren, — but that only lasts a moment, for indeed I am most fully “satisfied with favor” on their behalf, both from the Lord and from man. 1 Name for Mr. Sourceon suggested by a Welshman.
I have been very pleased during this year to see my work extend among the poorly paid curates of the Church of England, and I trust a great blessing will follow the introduction into their libraries of such books as the “Treasury,” the sermons, and “Lectures to my Students.” These gifts are sought with avidity and welcomed with eager joy, and of all the pleasant letters which I receive none are more courteous in spirit or graceful in language than those penned by clergymen of the Established Church.
‘’ Two years ago,” writes one, *’ you presented me with the
Treasury of David,’ expressing a wish that it might prove a
* treasure ’ indeed. Your wish has been more than gratified, and now I have an acute appetite for the whole of your respected husband’s works. I have the privilege of preaching the gospel five times every week, and if this is to continue to be a pleasure to me, I must keep my soul and mind well fed. Being still ’ a poor curate,’ I have to supply my wants on the lowest terms, so I write to ask whether, in gratifying my ardent desire, any assistance may be obtainpd from that source of benevolence which formerly supplied the * Treasury of David.’”
My readers will be rejoiced to learn that, with some little help from the Book Fund, this clergyman has now on his shelves a complete set of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, in addition to the ‘* Treasury of David” and some smaller works of Mr. Spurgeon’s.
October 4. — Truly this has been a “red-letter day” in Book-Fund experience. “My mouth has been filled with laughter, and my tongue with singing.” My heart praises and extols the goodness of the Lord, and my hand shall at once record the mercy which, like a blessed rain on a thirsty land, has so sweetly refreshed my spirit. This afternoon a constant and generous friend brought $500 for the Book Fund. This was cause for devout thankfulness and great joy, for lately an unusually large number of books has been going out week by week, though funds have flowed in less freely. But it was not till a few hours after receiving this noble donation that I saw fully the Lord’s tender care and pitying love in sending me this help just when He knew I should most sorely need it. By the late post that night came my quarterly account for books, and so heavy was it, that in fear and haste I turned to my ledger to see the available balance, and with an emotion I shall not easily forget I found that but for the gift of $500 a few hours previously I should have been $300 in debt.
Did not the Father’s care thus keep the sparrow from falling to the ground? A sleepless night and much distress of spirit would have resulted from my discovery of so serious a deficit in my funds, but the Lord’s watchful love prevented this. “Before I called He answered,” and though trouble was not very distant, He had said, “It shall not come nigh thee.” O my soul, bless thou the Lord, and forget not this His loving “benefit”! A tumult of joy and delight arose within me as I saw in this incident, not a mere chance, or a happy combination of circumstances, but the guiding and sustaining hand of the loving Lord, who had most certainly arranged and ordered for me this pleasant way of comfort and relief. “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” A fresh revelation of His wonderful love seemed to be vouchsafed to my soul by this opportune blessing, and a cheque became “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” I hastened to my dear husband, that he might share my joy, and I found in him a willing listener to the sweet “old story” of his Master’s grace and power. Then, after a word or two of fervent praise to God on my behalf, he wrote the following letter to the friend by whose liberal hand our gracious God had sent this notable deliverance: —
“Dear Friend, — I should like you to know why you were sent here this afternoon, and what an angel of mercy you were to my dear wife, and so to me. The Lord bless .you. Soon after you were gone, my wife’s quarter’s bill for books came in for $1,700, and she had only $1,400 apart from your cheque. Poor soul, she has never spent more than her income before, and if you had not come, I fear it would have crushed her to be $300 in debt. How good of the Lord to send you in the nick of time! We joined our praises together, and we do also very gratefully join our prayers for you. God bless you, and make up to you your generous gifts above all your own desires. I could not refrain from telling you this: it is one of the sparkling facts which will make happy memories to help to stay our faith in future trials if they come. Again, God bless you. Yours heartily,
C. H. Spurgeon.
As part of the proceeds of his last lecture in London, I have the pleasure of receiving to-day $125 as the generous and graceful gift of Mr. John B. Gough to the Book Fund. Such a gift from such a man is precious and noteworthy, but not unusual, as I believe it is the constant habit of Mr. Gough to bestow blessings as well as to recommend them. Long as his name has been honored in our household, and his special work admired and appreciated, it was not till his recent visit to England that we had the happiness of his personal acquaintance. Now he has been twice to see us (once accompanied by his excellent wife), and a friendship has been contracted between us which, though interrupted by absence from each other on earth, will find its true fruition and best enjoyment in heaven. The hours we spent in his company have left fragrant memories not only of pleasant mirth at the droll tales so inimitably told, but also of sacred joy in sweet and goodly words which “ministered grace unto the hearers.” Cannot my friends imagine that it was a rare treat to listen to the converse of John Ploughman and John Gough?
No ‘* pen of a ready writer “was there to record the good things they said, or to immortalize the brilliant ‘* table talk” which graced each repast; but the sweet communion which knit our hearts together will never be forgotten by us, and so deep a flood of enjoyment came in upon my usually quiet life that day, that it will for ever ripple pleasantly upon the shores of memory. To our very dear friends, ]Ir. and Mrs. Gough, in their far-away home in the West, I send loving greeting; and for this $125, which means so much joy and comfort for the Lord’s poor servants, I give the warmest thanks of a grateful heart....
Two dear ladies brought me $250 to use in the Lord’s work as I please. What bountiful kindness, its preciousness enhanced by my necessity! I divided it between the Book Fund and the Pastors’ Aid, for in these times of universal pressure I can scarcely confine my gifts to books in those cases where I know that, though the daily bread is sure, it is often unaccompanied by more substantial nourishment. It was only the other day I heard of a minister whose last Christmas dinner was to have consisted of a loaf and steak, because he could not afford better fare; and I know many whose most creditable fear of debt compels them not only to keep their bookshelves empty, but the cupboard very bare. One ceases to wonder at the oft-recurring sickness of many ministers’ wives, and the extreme delicacy of their children, when one remembers their many privations, their lack of nourishing food, and their need of suitable clothing. “My income barely enables me to find plain food and scanty clothing for my wife and three children,” writes a country Independent pastor. “Frequently I have saved a few shillings with the view of purchasing a volume of the * Treasury,’ but a pair of shoes or a little dress put the book aside.” In this last matter of clothing for pastors’ families there is very much now being done by kind friends for their relief. I have elsewhere mentioned the many presents I receive for them, and to-day (mercies never come singly) a large chest arrived from Scotland containing the wardrobes of two deceased gentlemen, sent by the desolate wife and mother. It has been a somewhat sad work to allot this valuable gift to seven needy pastors, but their joy in receiving the good warm clothes will not be damped by any sorrowful remembrances of departed friends, and I rejoice beforehand in their joy....
Coming now to the conclusion of these sadly irregular chronicles, I should like to promise — if the Lord spare my life and prosper the Book Fund — to do better next year. The ‘’happy thought,” if it be a Jiappy one, of reporting this little service in “diary-fashion,” ought to be more satisfactorily carried out, and I hope to gather more discreetly and carefully the material to be used at the close of the year 1880. Experience has taught me that there is sure to be a fulness of goodness and mercy to supply the record; but the same teacher sadly proves to me that the *’ recorder “fails and is at fault in not keeping her “book of remembrance” well posted up. But what memory can keep pace with God’s mercies? or what uninspired pen can tell the thousandth part of His loving-kindnesses? “If I should count them they are more in number than the sand.” Could I cull the choicest flowers of language, and bind them in one delightful bundle of thankfulness, it might be an acceptable offering of gratitude to the dear friends who have helped me; but how can I worthily praise and extol the bounty of my gracious, loving God? “Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy Word.” Blessed be Thy name. Thou hast daily loaded me with benefits, Thy hand has supplied all my need. Thy strength has been made perfect in my weakness. Thy loving care has watched over my work, and “there hath not failed one word of all Thy good promise” “upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.” And what can I say more unto Thee? “Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?” Oh, poor dumb lips, that cannot speak His praise aright! Oh, faltering tongue, that as yet cannot “frame to pronounce” the syllables of heaven’s own language!
“How shall I praise Him? Seraphs, when they bring
The homage of their lyre,
Veil their bright face beneath their wing,
And tremble and retire.
“Lost in thy love, yet full of humble trust,
I close the worthless lay,
Bow down my reverent forehead in the dust,
And in meek silence pray.”
Truly there are times when silence is more eloquent than speech, and we are constrained to worship “afar off” from very awe of His goodness. Such a season comes to me now as I sit pondering over all the Lord’s marvellous loving-kindness; and looking back on the great and manifold mercies of the fast-closing year, my spirit is overwhelmed within me, the weight of blessing seems almost too much for me, and I lay aside my poor useless pen to bow the knee before Him in silent adoration and thanksgiving. “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant.”
The following pathetic lines from Mr. Spurgeon show how these devoted servants of Christ toil on even when compassed with many infirmities: —
Should there be errors in the notes, or in acknowledgment of goods, or in aught besides, it is hoped and believed that the editor’s ill-health will be a sufficient apology. We have done our best; but with a pained and wearied brain, which is the root of our malady, we cannot but fail in many ways.
Mrs. Spurgeon has been passing through a very grievous time of pain and weakness, and therefore has felt quite unequal to writing a report. Gladly would we have undertaken it for her, but we have been laid aside also. The Book Fund is beginning to be four years old, and is entering, we hope, upon a still more useful existence. Its need, its urgent need, among poor ministers appears more sadly every day. It is true that pastors ought to be sufficiently paid to be able to buy books for themselves, but so long as they are not it is a good and needful work to find them brain food. A blessing has rested upon Mrs. Spurgeon’s distribution of books, for the recipients have written again and again to acknowledge the invigoration and the reviving received through the volumes. The hearts of others have also been stirred up to think upon the great evil of ministerial poverty, and books have been spontaneously given which otherwise would not have filled the pastors’ shelves. More money was received last year, and more given, and the poor suffering worker had yet strength sufficient, as she hopes to have for another year. It would grieve her much if friends supposed that the work might slacken on account of her illness. She asks for continued remembrance in their prayers....
Mrs. Spurgeon has for some time been largely occupied with supplying books to clergymen of the Church of England whose stipends are too small to allow them to purchase them. The amount of kindly feeling which has been expressed is very pleasing, and we regard this opportunity of spreading evangelical truth as a peculiarly valuable one, which should be largely used. Keeping watch at home all alone, our beloved finds great solace in the kindly words of friends who send her help for her chosen life-work. Its present interesting phase should command the prayers and sympathies of all our friends....
Our dear wife’s Report has sold so well that it has been needful to print a second edition. Many have written to say that its perusal has been a means of grace to them; they could not have said anything more cheering. The little book can still be had of our publishers for sixpence.
Her work in helping poor ministers is specially needful at this time, for the depression in the agricultural interest has rendered it very difficult for village churches to support their ministers. Small salaries have to be cut down, and many men of God are left with incomes below star-ation point. Let all be doubly generous in this hour of need....
The needful work of suppl-ing ministers with books proceeds with great regularity, and considerable numbers of curates and poor ministers in the Church of England, together with pastors of all denominations, apply for “The Treasury of David,” and other works. Could our readers see the letters of thanks, they would know how sharp is the book-hunger which gnaws the soul of many a preacher of the Word. We have said very little of late about this work which is carried on by our beloved. Only a few friends have thought of the Fund of late, and yet hitherto there has been no lack; the Fund personified might almost say, “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” Note the following fact, and let the Lord be glorified by the rehearsal of it. A friend of ours, who is always a princely giver, told us on the night of Mr. Gough’s lecture that he should call at Nightingale Lane next day. Knowing his great business and our own, we half declined the offer, though we are always glad to see him; but he said he should come, and come he did. His errand was to give $500 to the Book Fund. Now, reader, mark this. Mrs. Spurgeon’s quarter’s bill for books came in on that very Saturday evening, and had not that friend insisted on coming down and bringing his $500, our dear one would have been $300 in debt. She would have been almost heart-broken had this been the case, for she had prayed for help and expected it. The Lord would not let her have the trial, but sent His steward at the very hour, though he knew nothing of the need. We were both filled with adoring thankfulness for this memorable interposition. It was not the first time in which we have together adored the Lord in an amazement of gratitude, nor will It be the last. Thus by one and another the Lord has filled up the reservoir which supplies so many of His poor ministers with refreshment; and He will fill it yet again... ..
Mrs. Spurgeon wrote the following note to her subscribers. During the year she has distributed more than seven thousand valuable works to poor ministers: —
My dear Friends, — The past year has been crowned with the goodness of God to me and to my beloved work, and, therefore, I all the more deeply regret that through weakness and affliction I have not as yet been able to prepare a detailed account of the blessings the Book Fund has received and bestowed. This lack of service on my part will, I trust, be soon supplied by a kind friend, and a full report of my work shall then be laid before you. Meanwhile, I send forth this little messenger to testify to the unfailing faithfulness and goodness of the Lord in strengthening me for the service which His love has allotted me.
Sore need have I had for His tender, pitiful care, and He has never failed me; but, in spite of almost constant ill-health. He has enabled me to accomplish even an increased amount of work, and has extended the benefits of the Book Fund far and wide. To His name be the praises of my heart.
From all parts of the world I have abundant testimony to the reviving and refreshment of spirit God’s ministers receive through the quiet agency of this book-giving, and the loving letters of grateful hearts arc no slight comfort and reward for service often done in weariness and pain.
“Mr. Spurgeon’s works are crammed full of the good old corn of Canaan:” so writes a pastor laboring in Queensland; and I count it a high honor that the “Lord of the harvest” has given me charge of so glorious a granary, from whose precious stores I can scatter so widely both “seed for the sower and bread for the eater.” My accounts show that 18,693 volumes have been distributed during three years of the Fund’s existence. This is a brief, bare statement of facts, and does not reveal the joy and blessing which lie beneath it; but, thanks be to God, I can truly say that
“the administration of this service not only suppheth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.”
My most heartfelt thanks are tendered to you, dear friends, for your constant remembrance of my work, the loving interest you have taken in its welfare, and the generous help you have given to its funds.
Your gifts are received as “from the Lord,” often coming as special answers to prayer, and always as tokens of His favor and approval of the work; and when they have thus enriched my soul, they cairy to the weary, toiling servants of the Master substantial blessings, divine luxuries, the worth of which only a poor “bookless” pastor can rightly appreciate.
With a heart full of gratitude to the Lord and to you, believe me, dear friends,
Your deeply obliged servant,
Susie Spurgeox.
Though barely six years of age, Mrs. Spurgeon’s Book Fund shows all the symptoms of vigorous, healthy life, and among the class whom it seeks to benefit, the little institution has naturally become one of the most popular in the country. The complete catholicity of the superintendent will also command our respect; for all evangelical ministers of the Word, whether in the Establishment or out of it, are eligible for grants, provided only that their average incomes are under $750 a year. Upwards of seven thousand volumes have been sent out in the year, besides 6,262 single sermons; and while each of the Nonconformist bodies is well represented, no less than one hundred and thirty Church of England clergymen were among the recipients. The revelations of ministerial indigence are sufficiently saddening; but we are glad to find that Airs. Spurgeon also sends money and clothes to relieve not a few urgent cases of a more pressing kind. The “Report,” to the Christian mind, will be found to be of absorbing interest; the style is terse, and every page is pervaded by that fine sympathy which is characteristic of the writer.
A clergyman of the Church of England, writing to Mrs. Spurgeon for a grant of books, says: ’ “Your husband has, by the pubhcation of a most useful book, * Commenting and Commentaries,’ done more than a little in forming my taste and adding to my desire for books. This book was my consulting guide while at college, and has been of great service to me since in using the libraries of friends and in making purchases.”
Mrs. Spurgeon’s Report of her “Book Fund and its Work” for 1 88 1 is a record of practical Christianity. The good service that she has rendered to the Christian Church, by providing poor pastors with good and helpful books, is in itself incalculable. During the six years of its existence the Fund has enabled her to distribute 41,630 volumes. The Pastors’ Aid Fund is another admirable branch of this invalid lady’s beneficence, and though for good reasons little is said about it, we can very well understand the good that it accomplishes in a quiet and delicate way. Not least among the many recommendations of this noble enterprise is the catholicity of its scope. In days when sectarian rancor often runs high, and there is much division in the Christian camp, we cannot be too thankful for any agency that obliterates these dividing lines by the overflowing tide of sympathy and help.
When we state that Mrs. Spurgeon is the president of the Missionary Working Society, our readers will readily understand how a great deal of information about poor pastors is obtained. Her Book Fund has made her name a household word wherever needy ministers are to be found, but that sweet ministry of love was only the natural supplement of this other equally necessary work which has been quietly carried on for the last twelve years. It was but meet that she who had been so long at the head of a movement for supplying the much-needed * cloke ’ that should keep out the cold, or give the pastor that respectable appearance which his office demanded, should in due time seek to furnish the ‘books* which are as indispensable to those who would ’ give attendance to reading ’ as the desired addition to his little library in his prison at Rome was to the Apostle Paul. Her long and trying affliction has of course prevented the president from actively superintending the preparation and distribution of the different parcels, but many an applicant could tell that a well-directed hint from her first revealed to him a channel throu-h which the wants of himself and his family might be supplied. Here is an extract from one of the most recent letters before us: ’ ]Irs. Spurgeon wrote to me and said you would kindly and efficiently help me and the children.’ It is scarcely necessary to say that the request for help received in such a form as this obtained a ready response. Others write as follows: ‘We are very thankful to dear Mrs. Spurgeon for mentioning our names to you.’ * We are unfeignedly grateful to the utmost degree to our dear friend, ]Irs. Spurgeon, for mentioning our names.” I feel truly grateful to Mrs. Spurgeon for the kind sympathy she has shown towards me and my family in recommending our case to your very valuable society.’
“Any one who goes to the ladies’ room at the Tabernacle on the Wednesday following the third and fourth Sundays in each month can see how heartily our energetic sisters devote their time and energies to the holy enterprise of ministering to the wants of the Lord’s poor servants. We have already stated that their main object is to help the families of needy ministers in England by sending them suitable parcels of clothing; but their Annual Report, issued in May last, informs us that they had also assisted a few of the agents of the Tabernacle Colportage Association who have been ill. The gratitude with which their gifts were received, and the facts that came to light about the straits in which these godly men are often placed, induced the committee to determine to let them continue to share in the bounty they had to dispense, always provided, as our legal friends would say, that the claims of poor pastors were satisfied first. This is what they say: ‘Those who are best acquainted with the colporteurs and their work know that it is a work which involves much self-sacrifice, and which certainly is not overpaid. While we wish to help the colporteurs, we do not intend to forget poor ministers. Our labors for them we shall not in the least abate. What we ask is that our friends will help us in this new development of our society; for without this help is given it will be impossible for us to render assistance to those hard-working and useful servants of our ]Iaster, the colporteurs. We are ready for increased labor; our hands are willing, our hearts are willing. Let our friends come forward and help us, and thus share with us the joy of pouring gladness into hearts which otherwise might have been downcast and sad.’”
The accompanying extracts from letters received by the society reveal what a precious work it is quietly carrying on. A pastor writes: —
“My income is $6 per week, with a wife and four children. Being placed in such an isolated spot, we find the necessaries of life very dear, clothing particularly so, although new garments do not come often in our way, for things have to be turned and altered, and it is often a puzzle to me how my dear wife contrives as she does. My best coat was purchased eight years since, so that you will think I am not wasteful.”
On receipt of the parcel which was sent to him, he wrote: “The great difficulty now is to know how to thank you and your helpers. The fact is you ought to have been here, for no words of mine can adequately express the joy and gladness that were expressed on my wife’s face at the sight of the things you had so kindly sent us. We both join heartily to thank you and your co-workers for the new-year’s gift just received; and if you have at all felt the force of the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive, then I must say that you are blessed indeed,”
Another pastor writes: “I cannot tell you how thankful we both are to you and to the Ladies’ INIission for the very valuable parcel you have sent us. Its contents both surprised and delighted us; it seemed as though you had overheard my dear wife as she had talked with me concerning the many things she absolutely needed, but saw no prospect of obtaining. We can scarcely realize that our needs have been supplied. Truly our Heavenly Father’s hand is in the matter, for He knew our needs.”
Another: ‘* On behalf of my dear wife and myself I write to say that we received your large and valuable parcel this evening. It would have done you and the kind friends good to have seen the joy of our children as, one after another, the articles were unfolded and displayed. Everything, to use my wife’s words, was exactly what was wanted, and the things you sent for her have filled her with joy and thankfulness. The Master will record one more act done to His servants for His sake. We can only thank you; He will commend and reward you for that which sprang from love to Him.”
The following touching incident is from the pen of ]Irs. Spurgeon. May “the afflicted, tost with tempest, and not comforted” reader find relief and rest while reading this sweet story of imprisoned music: —
A curious little incident happened lately during a time of prolonged sickness. At the close of a very dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on, and though all was bright within my cosey little room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked, “Vhy does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lin”;erin”: weakness to hinder the sweet ser’ice I loner to render to His poor servants?” These fretful questions were quickly answered, and though in a strange language, no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my own heart. For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken onl’ by the crackling of the oak-log burning on the hearth. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window. ‘’What can that be?” I said to my companion, who was dozing in the firelight; “surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.” We listened, and again heard the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke for a moment our undisguised wonder. Presently my friend exclaimed, “It comes from the log on the fire!” and we soon ascertained that her surprised assertion was correct. The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak’s inmost heart I Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all went well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heat of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. Ah, thought I, when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed are we purified, and our God is glorified! Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, and insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles round us, and releases tender notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will. “As I mused the fire burned,” and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me. Singing in the fire. Yes. God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard, apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before.
THE NEW
PUBLIC LI
A8TO» i anO
TILDPN FO
Charles Spurgeon„