Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

spur'jun, Charles Haddon (1834-1892), a noted Baptist preacher of London. In 1861 the famous "Tabernacle," seating 6,000 people, was built for him in the thickly settled district south of the Thames. Spurgeon was a power among the working people of London. As he uttered homely truths, heads nodded approval and hearty voices cried "Amen," "Right, brother." It was pretty difficult to maintain so large an establishment without a financial scheme. People who came, not to scoff, but to see, were very properly required to contribute before entering. Spurgeon's sermons--he spoke offhand--were taken down in shorthand, revised carefully by himself, published in weekly numbers, and translated into many languages. They reached a weekly circulation of 30,000. His printed volumes ran well up to 100 in number. Spurgeon was a man of tireless energy. He left a training school for ministers, an almshouse, an orphanage, and thirty-six chapels as memorials of his work for laboring people. See Wesley