SPURGEON, sper'jim, Charles Haddon, English Baptist preacher: b. Kelvedon, Essex, 19 June 1834; d. Mentone, France, 21 Jan. 1892. He was the son of a Congregationalist minister and was educated at Colchester and Maidstone. In 1849 he was appointed usher in a school at Newmarket and soon after engaged in religious work at Cambridge and the neigh borhood, being known locally as the °boy preacher." Having joined the Baptist body he accepted the pastorate of a small Baptist con gregation at Waterbeach at 18. Becoming known for his eloquence he was called, in 1854, to the pastorate of the Baptist chapel in New Park street, Southwark, and this, becoming too small for his audience, his congregation suc cessively removed to Exeter Hall and the Sur rey Music Hall, and ultimately built, in 1861, the great Metropolitan Tabernacle, which could accommodate 6,000 persons. Here he preached and labored for the rest of his life, his dis courses attracting hearers from all parts of the world. Besides his ordinary ministrations and the publication from 1855 of a weekly sermon he founded the Pastors' College, at which the ministers of 36 London chapels were trained by him, the Stockwell Orphanage, almshouses, schools, etc. Earnestness, simplicity, direct
ness, liveliness and not infrequently a genuine touch of humor were the chief characteristics of his sermons. Sagacity, common sense, straightforwardness, hatred for sham and falsity were prominent traits of his character as a man. He was the author of numerous vol umes, among which the best-known are 'The Saint and his Saviour' (1867) ; 'John Plough man's Talk' (1868) ; 'Feathers for Arrows' (1870); 'The Treasury of David,' a com mentary on the Psalms — extending to seven volumes (1865-80) ; 'Types and Emblems' (1875) ; 'The Metropolitan Tabernacle and its Work' (1876) ; (Farm Sermons' (1882) ; 'The Present Truth' (1883) ; 'Storm Signals' (1886) ; 'Salt Cellars' (1889) ; and he edited the monthly magazine Sword and Trowel. Consult (Life) by Shindler (1892) and 'Autobiography Compiled by his Wife' (1900).