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Conclusion
MRS. SPURGEON has gone, but her work remains. Her last
thoughts were for the Book Fund, and for the poor ministers who are
benefited by its aid; and by her will she left a sum of money for the
assistance of the work which owed its inception and its continued
success to her untiring zeal. Further, she had expressed a wish that her
friend and companion of forty years, Miss E. H. Thorne, should carry on
the Book Fund with its various branches, in conjunction with Pastor J.
S. Hockey Miss Thorne has willingly agreed to do this, and her enthusiasm
for the work being second only to Mrs. Spurgeon’s, it will be a matter
for satisfaction to all Christian people who followed with interest the
efforts of the deceased lady, that there will be no cessation in the
conduct of the Book Fund.
C. H. Spurgeon once wrote: “This good work of
providing mental food for ministers ought never to cease till their
incomes are doubled. May Mrs. Spurgeon’s Book Fund become a permanent
source of blessing to ministers and churches!” The work must not flag for
lack of funds, and as the demand has always been so much greater than the
supply, the wherewithal to provide the books cannot be received too
quickly. That the devoted woman who originated the ‘Fund, who conducted
it with such splendid success for so long, and who gave so generously in
her lifetime of her services and substance, has left some money for the
Fund, will doubtless only act as an incentive to other “stewards of the
Lord” to give liberally, so that this important effort may more and more
cope with the need which led to its institution. As a tribute to the
memory of Mrs. Spurgeon, what could be better than a gift to the Book
Fund which will still bear her name? If greatness depends upon the amount
of good which one does in the world, if it is only another name for
unselfish devotion in the service of others — and surely true greatness
is all this — then Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon will go down to posterity as one
of the greatest women of her time.
1892 Mr. Spurgeon passed away at 11:00 pm. on Sunday, January 31st. The
news was headlined in the London newspapers on the following Monday
morning. According to French law, the body was required to remain in the
hotel for 24 hours. A service was conducted at the Scottish Presbyterian
Church in Mentone. The telephone wires were blocked with messages of
condolence from all around the world. The body was shipped back to London
and lay in view at the Common Room of the College, while some
50,000 people passed by. Five funeral services were planned at the
Tabernacle, four of them on Wednesday, February 10th. The first was for
all the church members; the second, for ministers and students; the
third, for the “Christian workers”; and the last one, for the general
public. Another service was held the following morning before the body
was transported to Norwood Cemetery. Hundreds of thousands lined the
route. At the orphanage a stand had been erected for the children to
stand on to sing while the body passed, however, they could only weep.
Barriers had been placed around the tomb, within which 1,000 mourners
assembled, and beyond which several thousand crowded. The last words were
spoken by Archibald Brown, a graduate of the College. Others who joined
in the funeral services included Dr. A. T. Pierson, Dr. Alexander
MacLann, Dr. F. B. Meyer, and Ira D. Sankey on behalf of D. L. Moody, who
was conducting meetings in Scotland and was unable to attend. After 57
years of living, 40 years of preaching, and 14,692 baptisms which led to
membership at the Tabernacle, the “silver bell” was silenced, his “pen”
still preaching to millions in our generation. If he is doing what he
predicted, he is now standing on some street comer in the celestial city,
proclaiming to passing angels “the old, old story of Jesus and His love.”
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