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    A SUNDAY MORNING EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM . "We have received the following curious letter , which , we tliink , will be read with interest : — ( To the Editor of Hie Leader . ") Sib , —Tradition tells us that once upon a time a preacher commenced Iii 3 sermon by assuring his congregation , that the church would be much more crowded were he to advertize his intention of delivering a discourse while standing upon his head , dressed in a cherry-coloured suit of velvet . To every man desirous of setting up an Ebenezer for himself , some new fashion of eccentricity is necessary , and the most successful will be the one which is the least conventional . These extravagances of manner , so long as the doctrine remains unaffected , must not be unreservedly condemned ; for they of ten times attract to the House of God the idle and the curious , who coming

    there to scoff , remain to' pray . My ftwn experiences are a case in point , in a minor degree . In common with the rest of the world , that is , of London , I had heard of the New Park-street Apostle , and was moved by curiosity to behold and listen to a man who had drawn together a larger assemblage than Jullien . Already , indeed , I had been , enabled to form some idea of the matter of his sermons , from having invested sixpence in the purchase of hah' a dozen . Some of his peculiarities , nlso , thus became known to me . I-was aware that he frequentl y dramatized little scenes in . which the Persons of the Trinity were somewhat profanely introduced . " Oh ! methinks , " he once exclaimed ., " there is nothing that should grieve a Christian more than to know that Christ has been wounded in the house of his friends . See , there

    come 3 my Saviour with bleeding hands and foet . ' Oh , my Jesus , my Jesus , who shed that blood ? Whence comes that wound ? ~\ Vhj lookest thou so sad ? ' He replies , I have been wounded , but guess where I received the blow ? ' ' "Why , Lord , sure thou . -wast wounded in the gin-palace ; thou vast wounded where sinners meet , in the seat of the scornful ; thou wast wounded in the infidel hall . ' ' ¦ No , I vvas not , ' saith Christ ; 'I was wounded in the house of ihy friends ; these scars were made by those who . sat at my table , and bore my name , and talked my language ; ' they pierced me and crucified me afresh , and put me to an open shame . ' Far worst of sinners they that pierce Christ thus whilst professing to befriends . Ciesar wept not until Brutus stabbed him ; then was it that he was overcome , and exclaimed , Et tu , Brute!—Andthou , hast thou stabbed me !'"

    Mr . Spurgeon ' s classical allusions are sometimes peculiar , and assume : a" modern -garb ' . It is thus lie adduces an illustration from the battle of Thermopylae : — "When a small band of Protestants were striving for their liberties in Switzerland , they bravely defended a pass against an immense host . Thougli their dearest friends "were slain , and they were themselves weary and ready to drop with fatigue , they stood firm in the defence of the cause they had espoused . On a . suddeii , however , a

    cry was heard—a dread and terrible shriek . The enemy was winding up a steep ncclivity , and when the commander turned his eye thither , oh , how his brow gathered with storm ! He ground his teeth , and '' stamped * his foot , for he knew that some caiti If Protestant had led the blood-thirsty foe up the ' goat-track to slay his friends ; then turning to Ms friends , he said ' On ! ' and like a lion on his prey , they rushed upon his enemies , ready now to die , for a friend had betrayed them . "

    His application of well-known anecdotes , slightly distorted , ia sometimes amusing . Poor Marie Antoinette and her bonbons aie thus made to do duty on one occa-» ion : — "I have heard of a lady who never knew poverty in all her life , and consequently she could not sympathize with the poor . She heard the complaint that bread was extremely dear , when it was running up to fourteen pence a loaf . ' O ! i ! ' she said , ' I have no patience with the poor people , grumbling about the doarness of bread-If bread is so dear , let them live on penny buns ; thoy are always choap enough . ' " At other times he quotes some homely incident from every-day life , after this fashion : —

    "It is astonishing for how little a man ¦ will sell his own soul . I remember an anecdoto—I believe it ia truo ; I bad almost said I Iiopo it is . A minister going across some Holds , met a countryman , and said to him , Well , friend , it is a most delightful day ? ' ''Yes , sir , it is . ' And having spoken to him about the- beauties of the scenery and so fortli , he . said , ' How thankful we ought to be for our mercies ! I hope you never come out Without praying ? ' ' Pray , sir ! ' auid ho , ' why 1 never Pray ; I have got nothing to pray for . ' What a strange » an , ' said tho minister ; ' don ' t your wife pray V ' It ho

    and it -will be a sad thing not to have prayed . * Thoug-hta of this kind « ame over him , and he felt dreadfully miserable ; and the more he thought , tae more miserable he felt . His wife asked him wliat was the matter .. He could hardly tell her for some tune ; at last he confessed be , had taken half-a-crown not to pray again , and that was preying on his mind . The poor ignorant soul thought it was the evil one that had appeared to him . 1 Ay John , ' said she , ¦ ' * sure enough itwasthe devil , and you hare sold your soul to him for that half-crown . ' The poor creature could not work for several days , and he became perfectly miserable , from the conviction that he had sold Limself to the evil one . HoTrever , the minister knew what he was about , and there was a barn

    close by . and he was going to preach'there ; " he guessed the man would be there to ease his terror of mind , and sure enough he was there one Sabbath evening , and he heard the same man who gave him the half-crown take for his text these words , ' " What shall it proiit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " Ay , ' said he , ' what will it profit the man who sold his soul for half-a-crown ? ' Up gets the man , crying out , ' Sir , take it back I take it back I' < Why , ' said tlje minister , ' you want tlie half-crown , and you said you did not need to pray . ' ' But , sir , ' he said , ' I must pray ; if I do not pray , I am lost ; ' and after some testing by parleying , the half-crown was re turned , and . the man was on liis knees praying to God . "

    But although Mr . Spurgeon thus indulges in what may be termed the pre-Rapliaelite school of narrative , he is by no means an admirer of that school of painting . His criticism on Mr . Hunt ' s " Scapegoat" is unique : — " There was this year exhibited in the Art ¦ ¦ Union a fine picture of the scapegoat dying iii the wilderness ; it was represented with a burning sky above it , its feet sticking in the mire ,, surrounded by hundrets : of skeletons , and there dying a doleful and miserable death .

    Now , that was just a piece of gratuitous nonsense , for there is nothing in the Scripture that warrants it in the least degree . The rabbis tell us that this goat was taken by . a man into the wilderness , and there tumbled down a high rock to die ; but , as an excellent commentator tells us , if . ' the . man did push it down the rockj he did more than God ever told . him to do . Gcd told him to take a goat and let it go ; as to what became of it , neither you 3 ipr I know anything ; that is purposely left . - ¦ ¦ . - . ' .. ^ '¦ ; ' ¦ ''¦¦¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ' ¦' . .. ¦• ' ¦ .., ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ .

    . Mr . Spurgeon is , of course , a believer in the pleasant doctrine of election by grace . Some persons , he says , consider it rather unfair that , as all God ' s creatures are his children , any portion of them should ba " sent to hell ; " but he has " got a small question" to ask of such unreasonable beings : — . . " How do you explain this :, that if the devils and fallen angels are all lost , and yet , according to your own showing , fallen men have all a chance of b&ing saved ? How < k > you make that out ? ' Oil ! ' say jou , ' that is a different matter ; I was not calculating about the fallen angels . * Hut if you were to ask the devil about it , he would , not tell you it was a different matter ; he

    would say , ' Sir , if all men are God ' s children , all devils are quite as much so . I am sure they ought to stand on the same footing as men , and a fallen angel has as much right to call himself one of God ' s children as a fallen man . ' And I should like you to answer the devil on that subject on your own hypothesis . Let Sataii for once ask you a question : ' You say it is unfair of God to send one of his children to hell , and take another to heaven . Now , you have said all creatures are hia children . "Well , I am a creature , and therefore I am his child . I want to know , my friend , ' says Satan , ' how you make it just that my Father should send me to hell , and let you go to heaven ? ' Now , you must settle that question with the devil ; I will not answer for you . "

    Boanerges' photograph of the infernal regions ia not inviting : — " Thereis a place , " he says , " as much "beneath imagination as heaven is above it ; a place of murky darknnss , whoro only lurid flames make darkness visible ; a place whero beds of llamo are the fearful couches upon which ' spirits groan ; a place whore'God Almighty from his mouth (!) pours a stream of brimstone , Icindliug that 1 pile of wood and of much smoke ' which Clod has prepared of old as a Tophct for the lost and ruined . There is a spot , whoso only sights arc scenes of fearful woe ; there is a place , I do not know whero it is , it ia somewhere , not in the bowels of this earth I trust—for that were a . sad thing for this world to have hell within its bowels ; but somewhere , in a far-oil * world , there ia a

    place whero the only music is the mournful symphony of damned spirits ; whose howling , groaning , moaning , wailing , and gnashing of teeth make up tho horrid concert . There is a place , where demons lly , swift as air , with whips of knotted burning wire , torturing poor souls , whopc tongues , on fire with agony , burn , tho roofs of inoutlis that shrieks ( sic ) for drops of water—that water nil denied . There is a place , where soul and body endure as much of inllnite wruth ad the finite can bear ; whore the inflictions of justice cru * h tho soul , where tho continual flngcllatiouH of vengeance bent the nesh ; whores the [ orpotual pourings-out oi" tho vinls of eternal wratli scald the spirit , and wliero tho cuttings of tho swui ' il ntriko dcu'p into the hmor num . Ah ! !? ir ^ , 1 ennnut i tic tare thin ; within an hour . some of you may \ i \\ Q \ r it . "

    Is it & minister of the Ohrisidaas' God , or of tie blood-dripping goddess Bhowanee , who utters these impious ravings ? And th ^ n this plaee , which is so-mewlLere , happens to be so dreadfully easy of access , that the reverend gentleman could find w > better UlastratLon of the rapidity of descent than by sliding down the banisters from , tlie pulpit . As a type of the difficulty of the asceat to the celestial regions , he warped . himself up again hand over iand . So , at least , it is currently reported by some who profess to hare beheld the scene

    with their own eyes , and—in the words of Mr . Jlqlea Janin—I would add , " I believe the story to be tme , though I heard it from an eye-witness . " His dialogues with the Deity are , hoTvever , even more startling thau his pulpit gymnastics . On these occasions he assumes the God , affects to nod , or rather to speak ia a . ' proud overbearing manner , no doubt in the way £ n which he would himself act were he invested , with , rank and power . ^ The poor mortal is represented as cringing and trembling , with bending form and faltering voice . Here is a particularly mild ercainple of such a dialogue : -r-BelovedGod has

    " , power to fulfil the promise , ' I will be their G oil . ' ' Oh ! ' cries the sinner , 'I will riot ha-ve thee for a God . ' ' Wilt thou not ?' ¦ says he , and he gives him over to tlie hand of Moses ; Moses takes him a . little and applies the club of the law , drags him to Sinai , when the mountain totters over his head , the lightnings flash , and thunders bellow , and then the sinner cries , ' 6 God , save me ! ' 'Ah ! I thought thou vrouldst not have me for a God . ' 'O Lord , thou shalt he my God , ' says the poor trembling sinner , 'I kave put away my ornaments from me ; O Lord , what wilt thou do unto me ? Save me ! I will give myself to thee . Oh ! take me ! ' £ Ay , ' says the Lord , 'I knew it ; I said that I -will be their God ; and I have 7 r * ads thee willing in the day of my power . '"

    Mr . Spurgeoa's last avatar took place more tban a century ago . A writeT of some amusing sketches af the S cotch , in the London Magazine for January , 1755 , mentions a Presbyterian Minister ( i . e . Mr . S . as he ' us « d to was' ) who delivered himself of the following dialogue relating to the fall of man : — - . ' . ' .. ¦ " ( First he spoke in a low Voice ) : .: — ' And the Lord God came into the garden and said , " Adam , Tvhere art ? " ( Then loud and angrily ) , " Adam , Tvhere art ?" ( Low and humbly ) , "lo , here am I ,. Lord ! " ( Yidleutly ) , V-And what aTe ye deeing there ? " ( Witii a fearful , trembling accent ) , " Lord , I was nacked and I hid mysel' . " ( Outrageously ) , * ' backed ! And what tten ? Hast thou eaten , "'" &c , &c .

    Is it surprising , then , Mr . Editor , that I stould have laid my head on my pillow last night with the fixed determination of beholding on the morrow this mysterious individual , seemingly doomed to appear once in every century upon earth for the amusement of the idlo , the amazement of the iguorant , and the disgust of the conventional ? In my previous wanderings in search of the New Jerusalem—the Luilcling which , by the way , & late distinguished officer of the Bengal army seriously assigned to the souls of Freemasons—no sooner have I sighted the Cape of Good Hope than contrary winds have driven me right across an ocean of doubts to Cape Horn , and there abandoned me to my fate amidst floating icebergs . It was , therefore , with peculiar satisfaction that I looked forward to tlie prospect of discovering a northwest passage under the guidance of such a skilful commander .

    Early on this Sabbath morning , as I awaked from a troubled dream , from pure indigestion bred , I found a piercing north-east wind was rushing into my garret through the broken pane which furnishes tho sole means of ventilation . Hastily closing tho aperture with my last week ' s stockings , I proecedod to make my toilette with unusual care , in the hope of fascinating somo one of the cheerful , well-endowed widows , vulgarly regarded as the pillars ( or pillows ?) of the rum-and-religion , tca-and-tabernacle , cliapel-and-crumpeta interest . My nearest ncighliour , tb « sky , was veiled from mortal -view by a grey mantle of smoke pvovidod by the fires of the rich for the comfort of those who cannot have fires of thoir own . The subj accnt tiles were spotted with hoarfrost , suggest ivo of tlie senility of the year ' 56 , suggestive of minco-pies and mistletoe , suggestive also of the tiiilor no longer cringing . Far away to the soutli-eoet

    Dan Phoebus -was cornintr out of the German Ocean , with Dan Phoebus -was coming out of the German Ocean , with hie honest face all in a glow from his cold ablutions . And now bohold mo equipped for conquest . One laat eoarching gazo into the tarnished mirror , one last vain effort to twist tho horns of my hair into a curl , ono last touch to my patent leather Alberts -with sweet oil rubbed in with an old tooth-brush , and I descend into the streets . How changed from tho bustle mid throng of yesterday . There is so much spare room on the pavement , that in-overyfcody ' fl-way boys prefer playing in tho middles of the road . Tho very curs gambol about

    as in the main street of a village . Pausing an instant tc admire the latest Parisian novelty in front of Furnival'f Inn , and to murmur a blessing on tlto Tinuia for prevent ing the exportation of iron to Russia , and thus enabling us to adorn our streets with such graceful monuinonts I hurry onwards to Blackfriai' 8-hridge "without let oi hindrnnce . The salt tide rushing up broko in thrj wavelets , giving itself airs because it came fron " tho mighty ocean . Great lumbering barges dviftct carelessly and cluniRily tip th « stream , too- Inzj or too boorish oven to look nt tho fussy little

    « likes . ' ' Don ' t your children pray V ' If they like , tnoy do . ' ' Well , you moan to say you do not pray , ' » aid tho minister ( as I tliink , not Very rightly , no doubt no Baw tlie man was superstitious ) . 'Now , 1 will give you hnlf-n-cnnvn if you will promise me not to prny ns » ong as you live . ' ' Very well , ' said the man , ' 1 don ' I 8 eo what 1 have got to pray for ; ' and he took tho luill ' - i \^ ' ^ Vlum llli wont home , tliu thought struck bir . i , Wu haVU * ( l 0 ll ( - ) ' Alm Komi'thing wild to hiui , Well , John , you will dio soon , and yua will want to P *« y then ; you will hayc to attiud beforo your Judgo

    Untitled Article

    Peoembeb 6 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 1155

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1856, page 1155, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2170/page/3/