CREAM OF TARTAR BY C. H, SPURGEON.

DO you know Mrs. Acetate and her friend Miss Tartar? If so, you know that we live in a terrible world, as full of horrible vices and detestable hypocrisies as an egg is full of meat; and you have also been informed that the church is quite as bad as the world, and perhaps a little worse. You did not think so once. In your simplicity you thought that there were good people about you; and, ‘indeed, that here and there the beauty of holiness and the sweetness of benevolence were very manifest. These ladies have opened your eyes; not as Jonathan’s were enlightened with honey, but with the very strongest gall The precious tongues of these dear ladies have been your instructors, and now you feel that everybody is a deceiver, and deserves to be suspected. It certainly is not bliss to have obtained this knowledge; sometimes you wish you could again be ignorant of it. And you might be so with advantage, for the sour females are by no means the daughters of truth, and their tongues are not the oracles of the gods. We have seen on the play-bills the words, “The Lady of the Camelias;” but, these sharp sisters might be called “The Ladies of the Gooseberries.’ Bless you, if one of them should dip her little finger into a honey-posset, it would turn to wormwood. There is a something in the flash of her eye which makes Miss Tartar to be dreaded by her servants as much as if she shot Redditch needles with every glance. She may not be so very narrow about the waist, but she is remarkably contracted in the region of the heart. Her movements are pointed and angular, betokening a lack of joint oil, as of every other sort of oil except the oil of vitriol No one has married the lady, and it is quite as well, for he who courted her would soon find that he had, indeed, caught a Tartar. Her voice is the gem of her corporeal perfections; it cracks like a whip and snaps like a rat-trap, and it has a continuity of sound in it, like the barking of a dog at night. Of course, like every lady’s voice, it is apparently musical, and soft, and low, and sweet; but actually, to those who hear it often, it is shrill, piercing, rasping, and tearing, and the less of it the better. She is the dragon, guarding the tree of honor, lest any one who does not deserve it should obtain a golden apple: right faithfully does she fulfill her dragon-ship. This might be a serviceable vocation if she did not overstep it, as she too often does; for her resolve seems to be that no one shall be well spoken of, even if they do deserve it. She will have a blow at all who are held in repute, be they who they may. The archangel, who brought no railing accusation against the evil one, would hardly content himself with “The Lord rebuke thee,” if he had to stand face to face with this feminine accuser of the brethren and condemner of the sisters.

The sulphurons acid of detraction, which is found concentrated in various individuals, is quite sufficiently perceivable in many quarters. Moreover, caustic is an article of large consumption in certain companies. It is often found in combination with a nauseous drug known as self-esteem, but quite as often in connection with another substance known as disappointed vanity. Wherever it is found, the corrosive power of ill-humor is to be dreaded, and it is well to remember that it is very apt to change into its own nature those upon whom it acts. Many have been rendered bitter by the ungenerous treatment of which they have been the victims.

There are persons in the world who seem to have hawks’ eyes where anything evil is concerned, and especially if there be faults among good people. These are comparable to the eagle mentioned in Job. ‘; From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.” I do not mean to insinuate that these keen-eyed folks are all of them feminine; on the contrary, some of them are exceedingly masculine. They are equal to any emergency in the matter of defamation. Do you talk to them of a minister who is distinguished for his gifts and usefulness? They at once inform you of an extraordinary action on his part, which has done much to damage his work; or, failing to fabricate a slanderous story, they hint that the good man is vain, or eccentric, or too impulsive, or something or other. Speak of a holy woman, who has been moved to a special enterprise, and has been eminently successful in it. In a moment you are informed of her crotchets, her masterfulness, her egotism, her want of tact, or her lack of gentility.

Praise the members of a family distinguished for their benevolence and amiability, and you will speedily learn that they are the meanest and most irritable persons in the parish. Dear, kindly-disposed creature that you are, you are quite in the dark, but you will soon be enlightened, and will then discover that what you thought benevolence is mere ostentation, and what you judged to be true amiability is the cunning instrument of selfish ambition. You will be shown into many a Bluebeard’s cupboard, and find out many hidden “chambers of horrors,” before you have done with your new acquaintances. It is a calamity to be forced to spend a day in the society of these destructive beings. As children break toys, and jackdaws tear up all things within their reach, so do these people rend up reputations and crush up characters. These are your iconoclasts — see how your idols are broken! They are your disenchanters-how many charming visions melt into thin air! Had one of these been in Eden, it would have withered in an hour. Stop! There was one of them there, and through his slanderous voice that Paradise was blasted.

We occasionally meet with persons of such a supremely bitter disposition that they find fault with everything except that which is of their own homegrowth.

Other people’s opinions are denounced: it would seem to be impudence on the part of people to have opinions at all without first asking permission to copy the one which all should follow. Other people’s modes of action are condemned; for none can work so well as the self-appointed model. Even other forms of phraseology are held up to execration, for veneration should perfect its imitation to the letter. These dear creatures will say nothing good of any but their own clique; nay, they will not hear anything good, but they will either flatly refuse to listen to anything to the credit of an outsider, or else they will neutralize the word of praise with some ill-flavored story.

It is our conviction that if all the rest of mankind would believe with them, and increase their party, they would instantaneously secede; and if they found too many secede with them, they would split up again. They believe in the nonconformity of Nonconformists, and in the dissidence of Dissent.

They feel all the more right because their rightness puts so many in the wrong. It is so pleasant to possess virtues which others may admire, but never hope to attain. A keen sense of their own infallibility, and an absolute certainty that nobody else can be compared with them, are their ruling attainments, and these are to be seen cropping up in every conceivable way. When they quote Scripture it would seem as if they knew no edition of the holy book except the Vinegar Bible. In the Prayer-book they are most at home when enjoying the Combination Service, or those delicious damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed. Among all forms of doctrine, they take most comfort; in that which proves the fewness of the saved.

There must be a use even for these human mosquitoes, and we have tried to discover it. May they not serve, first, to keep our godly exemplars from rising in our esteem beyond the range of imitation? If our good men were too good they might not have so much influence over us. Dr. Johnson once said, “If nothing but the bright side of characters were shown, we should sit down in despondency, and think it utterly impossible to imitate them in anything.” George Herbert said, “If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.” Possibly, by making much of human foibles, our acid friends have lessened the number of demi-gods, and kept our heroes within the circle of fallible brotherhood. These worthies take care that our Cromwells are painted “warts and all,” and so far they are our friends.

May they not also be serviceable in affording opportunities for the exercise of patience? Good men might never be so proficient in the point of gentleness and forbearance if they were not provoked by gossips, stung by scandal-mongers, and spurred on by detractors. The creatures themselves are base enough; but they may worry us out of our own baseness; at any rate, they help to unearth our bad temper, which else might lie hid like a fox in his hole. We feel ready at times to smite these bitter ones on the mouth for their want of charity; and this Feeling proves to us our own deficiency in that virtue, and so humbles and benefits us. Fox used to say that every Irishman has a bit of potato in his head; and no doubt we have all a measure of intolerance in our nature. May not this be discovered to us by our snarling friends; and may not this be a help towards its removal?

At any rate, here they are, and we had better make the best we can of them. Our wisest course will be to keep out of their way. The next best thing ‘will be to regard them as beacons, and avoid all malicious talk ourselves. It will be prudent to let them raft away at their leisure, without attaching any importance to what they say. We may also look at our own conduct in the peculiar light which they shed upon it. It will both amuse and edify us, if we remark how actions look under the fault-finding glass: we have no idea how easily a thing can be made to appear quite other than it is, and how readily, by a little distortion, the whole face of a transaction may be changed. This may teach us to be scrupulously truthful ourselves, and help us to be less grieved when our own behavior is misrepresented.

We live in a world where many are color-blind, and more are willfully accustomed to squinting; we should therefore be the less careful as to how a thing will look, and more intensely anxious as to how a matter really is.

NOTES OF DISPERSION.

WHEN Handel once undertook, in a crowded church, to play the dismissal on a very fine organ there, the whole congregation became so entranced with delight that not an individual could stir till the usual organist came impatiently forward and took his seat, saying, in a tone of acknowledged superiority, “You cannot dismiss a congregation. See how soon I can disperse them. We have known excellent men who could use that last sentence without being guilty of the slightest egotism. Whether they conduct a public service, or teach a Bible-class, or lead a prayer-meeting, the result is sure and rapid. Instead of saying with the Babylonian king, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built, they can cry, “See how soon I disperse them!” After one or two such feats, would it not be well for brethren to rest upon their laurels? We have none too many strong institutions at present, and we do not wish that their number should be diminished. f, however, the brother must be seen and heard, let him now try the rake for gathering instead of the fork for scattering. It is the time of hay-harvest; he can learn what we mean by going into the meadows.— C. H.S. FAITH’S PILOTAGE PREFERRED TO THAT OF DOUBT TWO pilots are alongside our vessel; each one is eager to seize the helm.

Let us take stock of the rivals and their several works. Faith in God has evidently steered many into a haven of personal rest, and their voyages have been grandly serviceable to that Humanity which we are nowadays so blandly invited to adore. As for Doubt, that popular guide of man’s youth, it has assuredly left the barques which it has boarded to drift to and fro like derelicts, without owner or harbor. When it has come on board our own vessel we have been all in a flutter till it has swaggered off again.

Usefulness to humanity has come scantily enough from the skeptical principle. It has attempted nothing, and accomplished less. “Weak to perform, though mighty to pretend.” Assuredly there will not be much lost if this popular gentleman called Doubt, who finds it needful ostentatiously to dab himself Honest, should be dropped overboard. He will not drown, and the yielding element will suit him. Investigation, judgment, conscientious care, must ever be exercised; but the harpy of unbelief, perpetually defiling the sacred and tearing to pieces the useful, we cannot and will not endure. To live to jangle is no ambition of ours. Plain common sense leads us to prefer virtue to vice, and, as a way to virtue, that same sense selects faith in God rather than incredulity. Surely it needs no surplus of wit to make this election. How can a man who has a right to be outside of Bedlam long debate which of the two to choose — the faith which sees the invisible God, or the blind unbelief whose highest glory is to know nothing —C.H.S.

THE RAT-CATCHER’S IDEA ACERTAIN country clergyman used to tell a good story of his going to a new parish, and asking a parishioner what his occupation was. “I am the village rat-catcher,” the man replied; “and what are you?” The clergyman answered that he was the village parson, whereupon the rat-catcher was good enough to observe that he supposed “we must all get a living somehow.” If a man’s one object is to get a living, let him by all means take to rat-catching rather than to preaching. It is probably legitimate to kill vermin to earn your bread; but it would be a prostitution of the sacred ministry to pursue it with that design. It is to be feared that not a few look upon the work in that light; and in their cases it is to the loss of the church that they did not buy a ferret and a couple of dogs, and seek small game under the floors of barns and stables. They would then have cleared men’s houses of pests; but as it is, they are themselves the pests of the house of the Lord. Preach with a single eye to the glory of God, or else hold your tongue C.H.S.

WHERE NOT TO SEND POEMS OR BLANK VERSE BY THE LONG-SUFFERING EDITOR OF “THE SWORD AND THE TROWEL.” “BLANK verse was first written in the modern languages in 1508, by Trissine.’ We do not know the gentleman, and do not wish to make his acquaintance. He lived a very long time ago, and it might have been as well had he never lived at all. We have seen a vast. deal of very blank verse in our time, and feel no kind of gratitude to its inventor for having brought upon us this infliction. Oh, poetic: brother, do try your hand at prose! You will be prosy enough then; but now you string together your long lines of nonsense, with such an absence of all thought, that you are altogether unbearable. We once saw an advertisement of a sermon in blank verse: we did not go to hear it, and the good man is since dead. We believe his discourse was dead long before. He has not sold the good-will of the poetical discourse business, and so there is no successor in the blank-versesermon line. Quite as well! Pulpits are dull enough without this last ounce of aggravation.

Milton and Thomson, Young and Cowper, we can all rejoice in; but your’ ordinary imitator of these sweet singers is blank as blankness itself. When the dear man feels that he must cover reams of paper with his effervescences, we have not the remotest objection to his doing so: it may be good for the paper-trade and good for himself; BUT, with the utmost vehemence of our outraged nature, we entreat him not to send his manuscripts to us, that we may pass our opinion upon them, and introduce them to a publisher. This is one of our afflictions, and by no means a light one. The quantity of time it takes to answer poets we dare not attempt to calculate. Moreover, there is the solemn responsibility of having such jewels to take care of. We do not feet worthy to have the charge of such priceless treasures. Burglars might run off with them, rats might eat them, our Mary might either sell them to the waste-paper man, or they might even drop into.

MR. SPURGEON JUBILEE MEETINGS OUR readers will expect us to give them some report of the proceedings at the Jubilee gatherings held at the Tabernacle on June 18th and 19th, but it is difficult to know where to begin, and then where to end. Doubtless most of our friends have seen the full accounts of the meetings which have appeared in the daily and weekly secular and religious papers, and they are therefore already aware of the great success of the whole celebration. It is impossible for any one to chronicle the best part of the festival—viz., the love, esteem, and gratitude that were expressed in the hundreds of letters received from. all parts of the world, or that found utterance during the. two. days in w Inch the Pastor received the congratulations of his friends, first in his vestry, and afterwards in the great public meetings in the Tabernacle. If the building had been twice as large, there would have been no difficulty in filling it on both evenings; and we were very sorry that we had to refuse so many applications for tickets, and still more grieved that some friends who had tickets available for either the 18th or 19th did not use them the first night, and then on the second occasion could not find room in the already over- crowded house. They will, we are sure, understand that when a certain space is quite full you cannot put more into it. Our indefatigable deacon, Mr. Murrell, outdid the labors of Hercules in carrying out his arrangements, and if any one was disappointed it was not. his fault. The first note that rings out from the Tabernacle Jubilee trumpets must be one of heartfelt praise to our gracious God for his tender mercy in permitting the Pastor to reach his 50th birthday, and, together with his beloved wife, to pass through the arduous and exciting gatherings of the week in the enjoyment of such a full measure of health and strength, Both have known for many years the trial of pain and sickness, and they, therefore, all the more appreciated the blessings vouchsafed to them.. It was also no small mercy that the Pastor’s father, brother, four sisters, and son Charles, were able to be present at the gathering of the tribes. The only regret was that the beloved mother did not feel able to appear. Who can sufficiently bless the name of the Lord for all the years of family mercy already granted; and if this could be done, what tongue or pen could adequately express thanks for the blessings which have rested upon the Church ever since “the boy preacher” has been its Pastor? Beyond all this, the Lord’s constant care for all the institutions which have sprung up one after another, like olive plants round about the central tree, demands a song of jubilant thanksgiving, for which our most joyful praises seen all too poor. Truly “the Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”

When we think of the discord which often divides both families and churches, we cannot but leap for joy as we see the dew of brotherly love sparkling all around, and are led by the Good Shepherd beside the still waters of peace.

Having sung our” Te Deum laudamus” with all our hearts, we must thank: the thousands of friends who united to congratulate the Pastor, and to show in a very practical manner their love of him. First and foremost, of course, came our own church-officers and members, seat-holders, and representatives of all our “home” institutions, missions, schools, societies, etc.; but they were closely followed by the wider circle of readers of the sermons and The Sword and the Trowel, and other published works, which have either been the means of leading them to the Savior, or have been their principal and often their only spiritual food, in addition to the Word of God. “You are my minister,” is the, message that. constantly comes from all quarters, and it was, therefore, not at all surprising that the church and congregation outside the, Tabernacle should join in the celebration of the Jubilee. The “list of love, containing the names of the subscribers to the Testimonial Fund is so long that we cannot see how we are ever to publish it, unless we issue a special number of the magazine entirely devoted to the Jubilee; but we can assure all the donors that their names will be lovingly preserved, as their gifts, whether large or small, have been gratefully received, and we pray that all may receive a rich reward for all their generosity and kindness. May that reward be theirs, not only in the present life, but more abundantly in that which is to come. We intend ‘.o keep all the addresses, letters, telegrams, etc., that literally poured in upon us, so that we may have continually before us a record of the many brethren and sisters in Christ who helped to cheer and gladden our hearts on this memorable occasion.

We can only give here a mere outline of the proceedings: for lack of time space, and ability prevents us from doing more than that. We hope to publish a Memorial Volume, containing the special sermons preached from the texts inscribed upon the marble tablet affixed to the Jubilee House; but other work presses heavily, and it may be delayed. If it is done, we hope all who can will help us to circulate it, that it may be everywhere seen what cause we have for praising the name of the Lord, and thanking his children of almost every rank and name.

On Wednesday, June 18, on arriving at his vestry at noon, the Pastor found that the ladies of the Tabernacle Flower Mission had turned the place into a charming conservatory filled with choice flowers and plants. Through this room for about five hours there flowed a steady stream of happy friends, most of whom brought contributions as well as congratulations.

Altogether, during the afternoon, the Pastor received on behalf of the treasurers of the Jubilee Fund more than £600, to be included in the amount to be publicly presented on the following evening. At five o’clock several hundreds of the church members were entertained at tea in the rooms under the Tabernacle, and intensely enthusiastic was the welcome when the Pastor and co-pastor, with the Spurgeon family, came into the midst of their guests. The evening meeting in the Tabernacle was specially intended for our own church and congregation, and representatives of our various institutions and branch schools, societies, missions, etc. When the hour arrived for commencing, there were few vacant seats in the building, and the greatest enthusiasm was manifested as the speakers came upon the platform. Pastor C. H. Spurgeon presided, and the proceedings commenced with the singing of his of the hymn beginning, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name,” the Clapham male choir, and a detachment from the Stockwell Orphanage leading the well-known tune, Miles Lane.

Another hymn was sung, and then prayer was offered by one of the deacons, Mr. C. F. Allison, and one of the elders, Mr. W. Bowker. The Pastor next bore his testimony to the grace of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel which had been preached by him, to which he traced all the success which had been granted to him; and then Mr. J. W. Harrald read the following list of the institutions, etc., connected with the Tabernacle :- The Almshouses; the Pastors’ College; the Pastors’ College Society of Evangelists; the Stockwell Orphanage.; the Colportage Association; Mrs. Spurgeon’s Book Fund, and Pastor’s Aid Fund; the Pastors’ College Evening Classes; the Evangelists’ Association; the Country Mission; the Ladies’ Benevolent Society; the Ladies’ Maternal Society; the Poor Ministers’ Clothing Society. :’ the Loan Tract Society; Spurgeon’s Sermons’. Tract. Society; the Evangelists Training Class; the Orphanage Working Meeting; the Colportage Working Meeting; the Flower Mission; the Gospel Temperance. Society; the Band of Hope; the United Christian Brothers’ Benefit Society; the Christian Sisters’ Benefit Society; the Young Christians’ Association; the Mission to Foreign Seamen; the Mission to Policemen; the Coffee-House Mission; The Metropolitan Tabernacle Sunday School; Mr. Wigney’s Bible Class; Mr. Hoyland’s Bible Class; Miss Swain’s Bible Class; Miss Hobbs’s Bible Class; Miss Hooper’s Bible Class; Mr. Bowker’s Bible Class for Adults of both Sexes; Mr. Dunn’s Bible Class for Men; Mrs. Allison ’s Bible Class for Young Women; Mr. Bartlett’s Bible Class for Young Women; Golden Lane and Hoxton Mission (Mr. Orsman’s); Ebury Mission and Schools, Pimlieo; Green Walk Mission and Schools, Haddon Hall; Richmond Street Mission and Schools; Flint Street Mission and Schools; North Street, Kennington, Mission and Schools; Little George Street Mission, Bermondsey; Snow’s Fields Mission, Bermondsey; the Aimhouses Missions; the Almshouses Sunday Schools; the Almshouses Day Schools; the Townsend Street Mission; the Townley Street Mission; the Deacon Street Mission; the Blenheim Grove Mission, Peckham; the Surrey Gardens Mission; the Vinegar Yard Mission, Old Street;; the Horse Shoe Wharf Mission and Schools; the Upper Ground Street Mission; Thomas Street Mission, Horselydown; the Boundary Row Sunday School, Camberwell; the Great Hunter Street Sunday School, Dover Road ;the Carter ‘,Street Sunday School, Walworth; the Pleasant Row Sunday ‘,Schools, Kennington; the Westmoreland Road Sunday Schools, Walworth; Lansdowne Place Sunday School; Miss Emery’s Banner Class, Brandon Street; Miss Miller’s Mothers’ Meeting; Miss Ivimey’s Mothers’ Meeting; Miss Francies’ Mothers’ Meeting.

After another hymn, the Pastor assured Mr. D. L. Moody of the intense affection felt for him by the whole assembly, and the beloved Evangelist, whom the Lord has so greatly honored, told of his indebtedness to the printed sermons and other works of the Pastor. Mr. Moody’s reception was a burst of vehement love, and intense admiration. Mr. Chamberlain sang, “Abundantly able to save,” and Mr. Harrald read a long list of addresses, telegrams, and resolutions of congratulation which had been received previous to the meeting. We cannot spare the space necessary for the names of all of these, but amongst those which had then or have since arrived we may mention the following :- The Canada Baptist Union, the Philadelphia Conference of Baptist Ministers, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, the Western Association of Baptist Churches, the Denbigh, Flint, and Merioneth Baptist Association, the Carmarthen and Cardigan Baptist Association, the Devon Baptist Association, the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Baptist Association, the Midland Baptist Association, the monthly Fraternal Meeting of General Baptist Ministers in London and its vicinity, a large number of Baptist Ministers and Churches, the Tutors of the Pastors’ College, the Canadian Branch of the Pastors’ College Association, the First Baptist Church Sunday School, Middletown, Ohio, U.S.A., the Professors in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A., several French Pastors and Missionaries, in addition to those afterwards mentioned, the Committee and Officers of the Paris City Mission, and the Methodist Conference of Ireland, meeting in Belfast.

Mr. B. W. Carr, one of the deacons, then read the following address to Mr. Spurgeon : — “TO THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, PASTOR OF THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE.

“With a united voice of thanksgiving to our ever blessed God on your behalf; with a cordial acknowledgment of the good services you have rendered to the universal Church of our Lord Jesus Christ; and with a profound sense of the high. character, and wide reputation you have established, among your fellow Christians, we beg to offer you our sincere congratulations on this the fiftieth anniversary of your birthday. “Accept our assurance that no language but the language of personal affection could fitly express the esteem in which you are held ourselves and by the numerous constituency we represent. Were it possible for the lips of all those who love you as a brother, and those who revere you as a father in Christ, to sound in your ears the sentiments of their hearts, the music of their chorus at this glad hour would be like the noise of many waters. “Gathered together as we now are in this sacred edifice, — sacred not by reason, of any superstitious ceremony- at the opening, but by. the soulsaving miracles of grace subsequently wrought beneath its roof, — it becomes us to greet you first as Pastor of this Ancient Church. More than thirty of those fifty years you chronicle to-day have been spent in our midst. As our Minister, you are known to the utmost ends of the earth.

Richly endowed by the Spirit of God with wisdom and discretion, your conduct as our Ruling Elder has silenced contention and promoted harmony. The three hundred souls you found in fellowship at New Park Street Chapel have multiplied to a fellowship of nearly six thousand in this Tabernacle. And under your watchful oversight the family group has increased without any breach of order. “You came to us in the freshness of your youth. At that flowering age when boys of good promise are wont to change their curriculum from school to college, you had already developed into manliness, and there was ripe fruit as well as pleasant foliage on your branches. The groundwork of your education appeared to be so solid, and the maturity of your character so thoroughly reliable, that you were unanimously elected by venerable members of the Church of Christ to preside over their councils. The fair prospect of your spring-time has not suffered from any blight. Your natural abilities never betrayed you into indolent habits. The talents you possessed gave stimulus to your diligence. A little prosperity did not elate you, or a measure of success prompt the desire to settle down in some quiet restingplace.

You spread your sails to catch the breeze. The ascendancy you began to acquire over the popular mind, instead of making you vainglorious, filled you with awe, and increased the rigor of that discipline you have always exercised over yourself. These were happy auguries of your good speed. Not that the utmost vigilance on yore’ part could have sufficed to uphold you amidst the vast and accumulating responsibilities that have devolved on you as the sphere of your ministry widened, He who ruleth in the heavens has screened you in times of peril, and piloted you through shoals and quicksands, through straits and rapids. His grace and his goodness, his promises and his providence have never failed you. From the hour when you first committed your soul, your circumstances, and your destinies to the keeping of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have never feared such a disaster. To your unwavering faith in his guardian care we venture to attribute the coolness of your head and the courage of your heart in all the great adventures of your life. Some of us have been with you from the beginning of your charge. Since then a generation has almost passed away.

According to a law as legibly written as any law of nature, the Scripture has said, ‘ Instead of the fathers, shall be the children.’ Hence, in n-of a few instances, you must miss the sires while you meet the sons. The retrospect of your career, to those who have followed it throughout, appears like one unbroken series of successes; but as our memory retraces the steps you have taken, we can testify to the exhaustive labors in which you have blithely engaged, the constant self-denial you have cheerfully exercised, and the restless anxieties that have kept you and your comrades incessantly calling on the name of the Lord. By such an experience you have enlarged the field of evangelical enterprise in the various institutions of the church.

And’ it has been your happiness, not only to see the growth of those institutions beyond the most sanguine hopes you cherished when-planting them, but to have received the grateful thanks of those who unspeakable benefit in partaking of their fruits. Such gratitude demands our notice, though only in the lowest degree. Your skillful generalship has laid ten thousand happy donors to your charities under lasting obligations to you for providing outlets for their benevolence. It has pleased the Lord to make whatever you do to prosper. You have been the faithful steward and the kindly executor of hundreds and thousands of pious individuals, whose fond design has been to lay up treasure for themselves in heaven by paying into the exchequer on earth of their substance, for the widow and the fatherless in their distress, for the poor and those who have no helper. Let the acknowledgments of subscribers to the various purses you hold in your hands, as well as those of recipients, cheer you as you enter on a fresh decade of the days of the years of your earthly pilgrimage. “An occasion like this is so solemn, and an address like the present is so serious, that we may well search the sacred volume for suitable words. We feel sure. that brethren in all parts of the. earth pray for you. And we are equally.. certain that the churches which are ,n Christ throughout the world glorify God in you. The Lord preserve and keep you to the end. To this hour you have maintained ‘m unsullied reputation among men. Erring as we all are before God, it is our sincere conviction that if such a thing were possible, a second edition of your life, revised by yourself, could hardly be an amendment. “You braved much calumny on the outset of your career, and you have outlived it. The secularists who once denounced, now salute you. Where your theology has failed to convert them, your philanthropy has sufficed to enchant them. You are lifted in public, esteem above suspicion, as a true man — no traitor or time-server. Your kindness to everybody has made everybody kind to you. You have illustrated the force and the fullness of a divine proverb which has puzzled many a philosopher: ‘ When a man’s ways please the Lord he maketh-even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ “If, dear sir, you give us full credit for the intense sympathy we have felt when sickness and sorrow have weakened your strength in the way, you will not deny us the gratification of alluding to the private and domestic joys that pour down like sunbeams on your face and gladden your Jubilee. · “Your beloved and estimable wife, whose life long trembled in the balance, has been restored to health. Had she been less heroic and more exacting in her protracted illness, you must have been more reserved and less generous in the consecration of your time and thought to the good works you were doing. In the stillness of enforced retirement her inventive genius discovered new channels of usefulness. Her “Book Fund ” is beyond all praise. And her delicate mission has been so appreciated, that throughout the British Isles, and in foreign lands, her name has become linked with your own at every station where an ambassador of Christ publishes the glad tidings of the gospel. “Your father and mother, walking before God in quiet unpretentious piety, have both been spared to see their first-born son in the meridian of a career that has made their once obscure patronymic famous throughout the world. “Your worthy brother, and trusty yoke-fallow in the pastorate, is still by your side rendering good service, for which his fine business tact, and his manly but modest desire to second all your motions to go forward, eminently qualify him. “Your two sons have both devoted themselves to the ministry; and each of them in his own sphere of labor has found proof that he was divinely anointed to his pastorate. “To yourself, however, we turn as a central figure, recognized from afar by tens of thousands o( people, to whom your name is an emblem of purity and power, and by whom you are accounted second to none among living Preachers; and your sermons are appreciated as a faithful exposition of the Gospel of God, instinct with the witness of the Holy Spirit, and therefore quickening in their influence on the consciences and the hearts of men. “On your head we now devoutly invoke those blessings which we believe the Almighty is abundantly willing to bestow. “May your steps in the future be ordered of the Lord, as they have been in the past.’ May a generation yet unborn witness that your old age is luxuriant and fruitful as your youth. May your life on earth wind up like the holy Psalter that you so much love. Be it yours to anchor at last in David’s Psalm of Praise, prolific as it was of other Psalms, into which no groan or sigh could intrude. So may you rest in the Lord with a vision of the everlasting Kingdom dawning on your eyes, and Hallelujah after Hallelujah resounding in your ears.”

After the Pastor had briefly but heartily responded, addresses were delivered by his father, and brother, and son : for these we have not room, but they were speeches which will never be forgotten. Another hymn was sung; Pastor A. G.. Brown gave a soul-stirring speech as the representative of the College; then the students now in the institution, through Mr. H.H. Driver, presented an address, very beautifully illuminated by one of their number, Mr. A C. Chambers. Mr. S. R. Pearce next spoke on behalf of the Tabernacle Sunday School, and, in the name of the officers, teachers, and scholars, handed to the Pastor an address, and a cheque for 60 guineas for the Jubilee Fund. Mr. W. J. Orsman related the story of his conversion through the Pastor’s preaching, and his consequent work among the costermongers and others in Golden Lane and Hexton; Mr. W. L. Lung read the translation of an address from a considerable number of French Pastors, Evangelists, and Missionaries; Mr. W. Olney, Jun., in the name of his absent father, and of the workers at Haddon Hall, congratulated the Pastor, who then concluded the meeting with prayer and the benediction. It was a night long to be remembered. The weight of love and mercy seemed almost more than we could bear. What could we do as we retired to rest but sing of the goodness and loving-kindness of the Lord? Thursday, June 19th, the actual birthday, brought its usual quantity of letters, cards, contributions.. , and good wishes, and a large number of special Jubilee communications and gifts. Many friends came to the Tabernacle during the afternoon to wish the Pastor “many happy returns of the day,” and long before the time announced for the evening meeting our great meeting-house was crowded to its utmost capacity. The venerable Earl of Shaftesbury presided, and spoke of his deep love for the Pastor, and of the beneficial effects of his preaching and work, bearing a peculiarly high testimony to the usefulness at the college. Mr. Harrald again read the lists of the institutions, addresses, etc., and also gave the names of a few of the notable persons who had written letters of congratulation. We may here mention such representative men as the Rt. lion. W. E. Gladstone, M P.; Sir S. Morton Pets, Bart.; Admiral Sir W. King-Hall; the Rev. Sir Emilius Bayley; the Ven. Archdeacon Law, Dean of Gloucester; W. Fowler, Esq., M P. ;and the Revs. Canon Fleming; Dr. Allen; W H.M H. Aitken; Dr.J. Hiles Hitchens; Dr. Cunningham Geikie; Burman Cassin, M A.; R. Glover M A. (President of the Baptist Union); J. C. Harrison; E. Paxton Hood;T. McCullough, (President of the British Wesleyan Conference); J. Guinness Rogers, B A.; Hugh Price Hughes, M A ,and Edward White.

The speakers selected for the evening were Sir W. McArthur, M P., and the Revs. C, anon Basil Wilberforce, Joseph Parker, D.D., Newman Hall, LL B., J P. Chown, and W. Williams; and right nobly did every one of them acquit himself. We had also a deputation from the committee of the London Baptist Association, consisting of the Revs. Dr. Todd, J. R. Wood, J P. Chown, J. T. Wigher, and F. A. Jones, Dr. Underhill, andT. Greenwood, Esq., in whose name a very generous address was read by Mr. Chown; Pastor, W. J. Mayers, of Bristol, sang “When the mists have rolled away’ ; and the Rev. O. P. Gifford, Warren Avenue Baptist Church, Boston, U.S.A., presented an address from the Baptist Ministers of Boston and its vicinity. Mr. Cart again read the address to Mr. Spurgeon; part of the hymn composed for the Jubilee by Mr. Charlesworth was sung, and then the Pastor heartily thanked all who had helped in any way to make the celebration so successful, especially mentioning the treasurers of the Testimonial Fund, Messrsi T. H. Olney and W. C. Murrell, who came forward, and after brief speeches presented to the Pastor a cheque for £4500. Both the speakers stated that it was the wish of nearly all the donors that their contributions should not be given, as on the last occasion, to the various works connected with the Tabernacle, but to the Pastor himself. Mr. Murrell also said that they hoped to. make up the amount to £5000, and that the Fund would be kept open as long as any one wished to contribute to it. In acknowledging the amount, the Pastor expressed his gratitude, first to God, and then to all the he did not want them to give him anything, but he should like them to build the house, and also help the Almshouses, the Colportage, and his son Thomas’s Auckland Tabernacle Building Fund. This suggestion, however, evidently did not please the friends, but they preferred to give it to himself, for including £74 for the Orphanage, less than £250 out of the £4,500 received had been allotted to the various objects specified. Some friends had refused to give if the ,Jubilee was made a pretext for helping the institutions, but they would cheerfully give to the man himself. This being so, the receiver could not give the money in bulk to the various institutions, but he was compelled to accept it, and did so with great gratitude. Still, if the money did ultimately find its way to the institutions, he was sure that no one would get excessively angry. Now that it was all his own, he should like to please himself by appropriating to the Almshouses, £200; to Colportage, £200; to Aucktand Tabernacle, £250. He should also give £100 to the deacons, to be lent to poor members, £50 to the Baptist Fund in his sons name, £100 to the Baptist Union Augmentation Fund, £100 to Mrs. Spurgeon’s Book Fund, and a sufficient amount to St. Thomas’s Hospital to make him a Governor of that Institution, which was so beneficial to the sick poor of the church. It would be convenient to be able to, aid all the work in various private ways which every director of institutions knows are ever present and pressing, but cannot be saddled upon the ordinary expenditure. Matters arise which demand an expenditure which could not be explained to the public, but can be met by personal gifts. These have often drained the Pastor, and he is most grateful to those who have supplied him. with ready money for present and future needs has appeared in the numerous articles which have appeared in the public press, but an amount of kindly feeling has been evoked which must astonish our friends, while it humbles us.

On Friday afternoons, June 20, the series of celebrations was happily finished with a meeting at the Stockwell Orphanage, when an address from-the children and workers connected with the institution was read by Mr. Charlesworth and the little ones seemed overjoyed to give their president a rug for his carriage.

NOTES

On Monday evening, June 9, the annual meeting of the Poor MINISTERS CLOTHING SOCIETY was held in the Tabernacle Lecture-hall. After tea, brief addresses were delivered by Pastors C. H. and J. A. Spurgeon, and Messrq. J. T. Dunn, J. W. Harrald, Duncan S. Miller, and James Stiff. The need of this useful society is as great as ever, for many country pastors receive so little from their impoverished churches that they can scarcely support their families, and were it not for Mrs. Evans and her kind helpers they would often lack proper garments in which to minister before the Lord. During the past year 57 parcels were sent out, containing articles of clothing for the pastors and their wives and children, besides yards of dress material and flannel, and 150 sheets, blankets, and quilts.

The estimated value of the society’s gifts was £373 16s. 10d. The report contained extracts from several letters written by ministers who had been helped by our good sisters, who must have felt well rewarded by the grateful appreciation of their kind services. The Treasurer was able to announce that there was a balance of £7 6s. 10½d. in hand, and the Pastor and Mr. Stiff each promised to give the same amount, so that the society should have a good start for the new year. If any of our lady friends can help at the working meetings, they will be heartily welcomed; possibly others can assist with their needles at home. Contributions and materials, or parcels of clothing, should be addressed to Mrs. Evans, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, London.

COLLEGE.

— Mr. F,. T.. Carter has accepted the pastorate of the church at Barking, Essex; and Mr. G. W. Davidson has settled at Milton, Oxon. Mr. W. F. Edgerton has removed from. Gamlingay to King-street, Oldham, Lancashire; and Mr. R. Marshall from Birmingham to Hayle, Cornwall.

Mr. A. R: Morgan, of Fairford, Gloucesotershire, hopes shortly to sail for the United States. We cordially commend him to our American brethren, and trust he will soon find a church of which he can become the pastor.

We have so large a number of applicants for admission to ‘the College, that it will be useless for any more candidates to write this year. As soon as possible we shall select those whom we can receive after the summer vacation, which will commence in the middle of this month, and terminate on Sept. 1st. We have not yet heard whether any church intends to follow the good example set by Pastor G. W. White and his friends, at Enfield, last year, by inviting the students to spend the first day of the autumn session with them. Pastor W. H. Vivian of Loughton, and his friends, have invited all the London ministers educated in the College to pay them a visit on July 1st. Monday, June 16, was the day set apart for united prayer by the churches in the College Association. The President issued a brief note to the pastors in the United Kingdom reminding them of the arrangement made at the Conference. Many pastors haw; written cheering reports of the meetings at which, they were present, and we trust that all the churches will receive an outpouring of the Holy’ Spirit in answer to the earnest, believing supplications which were offered. At the Tabernacle we had an unusually large attendance, and the prayers of the brethren had special reference to the approaching Jubilee celebration.

EVANGELISTS.

— Messrs. -Fullerton and Smith have been holding services at Dundee during the greater part of the past month. Large numbers have been attracted to hear the word, and many souls have been saved. On June 19th they held a Jubilee Meeting, from which a message of congratulation was telegraphed to the assembly at the Tabernacle. Our brethren are now taking their summer holiday. Towards the end of next month they go to Galashiels and Hawicks and possibly other places in the neighborhood; and in October they are to visit Belfast.

Pastor A. A. Saville reports that many were blessed during Mr. Burnham’s visits to Carlisle and Houghton, and, as usual, the household in which the Evangelist stayed was gladdened with the joy of conversion. This we take as one of the best tokens of the Lord’s approval of our brother’s ministry.

Mr. Russell s services at West Drayton were well attended, and several received the truth that was preached. Pastor A. Smith believes that the church will be substantially benefited by the recent mission, and the sermons by Pastor D. Honour, of Deptford, who followed up the Evangelist’s efforts with much success. During the past month Mr. Russell has been again in the Potteries district, where he has done good work, notwithstanding the difficulties caused by the miners’ strike, and the consequent poverty and depression. Messrs. Mateer and Parker, who have just completed their first year of united service, report that at Taunton many young people were led to the Savior. At Dalton-in-Furness the congregations were largely composed of men, several of whom were converted. This month our brethren are to visit Hersforth, near Leeds, after which they will rest awhile. They have a few vacant dates between this time and Christmas for which application may be made through Pastor T. Perry, 4, Palmerston Terrace, Lordship Lane, S.E. ORPHANAGE—The Annual Fete will be held on Wednesday, July 16th.

Although this year the Jubilee Celebrations have made our meeting a month later than usual, we hope it will be quite as successful as in the past.

Will all our collectors oblige us by bringing or sending their boxes or books, with the amounts collected, so that they may have them exchanged for new ones if they are, as we trust, willing to continue their kind services to the orphans? The new buildings, of which the memorial stones were laid at the last fete, will be opened, and among the speakers we expect our son Thomas, from Auckland. He Was unable to reach home by his father’s birthday, as he had promised to preach at the opening of the new Tabernacle, erected by our good friend, Mr. Gibson, at Launceston, Tasmania, for the ministry of Pastor A. Bird. It is appropriate that, as our son bade his friends “good-bye” at the Orphanage, nearly five years ago, he should greet many of them again at the same place. The program for the day is not yet fully arranged, but we shall endeavor to make it as interesting as on former occasions. Among the speakers we expect W. S. Caine, Esq.

M P., and the Revs. Canon Fleming, Owen Davies, and Colmet B. Symes.

Mr. Charlesworth and his choir have been very successful in their West of England tour. Meetings were held at Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Totnee, Plymouth, Liskeard, Looe, St. Austell, Falmouth, Redruth, Penzance, Hayle, Helston, Truro, and Torquay. The funds of the Orphanage will be augmented by some hundreds of pounds by the tour, and much information concerning the Institution has been given, from which a golden harvest may be anticipated in the future. In many of the cities and towns the chief magistrates presided at the meetings, and everywhere the boys won the highest praise for their singing,’ bell-ringing, recitations, and conduct: both in public and in the homes where they were located. Ministers of various denominations have worked and spoken heartily’ on behalf of the Orphanage, and other kind friends have collected subscriptions, or interested ladies and gentlemen in the Institution, and so contributed to the grand result indicated in the large amounts acknowledged in the present magazine. What can we say to all our generous helpers to express the gratitude we feel for all that they have done for our fatherless family? We pray that the Lord will abundantly reward them, in his own gracious way, for all their low, to us and the orphans under our care The month of August is the time when we give the children a holiday. As some of them have no relatives who can entertain them, we are always glad to hear from friends in the country, or at the sea-side, who will welcome any of the friendless lads or lassies for the whole or a part of the vacation.

All particulars can be obtained of Mr. Charlesworth, Stockwell Orphanage, Clapham Road, London, S W. COLPORTAGE.