Immediately after C. H. Spurgeon's death in 1892 biographies began to appear, written by those who knew him well, and continued for several years. Although about twenty such volumes appeared within a few years, only one has a chapter on "Mr. Spurgeon as a Hymn-Writer," that by Robert Shindler called "The Authorized Edition" and entitled From the Usher's Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit. It was printed in 1892 by Spurgeon's printers of his sermons, Passmore & Alabaster.

Also in 1892 appeared the biography The Prince of Preachers by James Douglas. In a single paragraph he refers to some lines written in a friend's album and signed by C. H. Spurgeon, July 1889. The verse begins and ends thus —

In 1903 a more 'modern' biography of Spurgeon was written by Charles Ray, The Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He wrote — "A passing reference must be made to Charles Haddon Spurgeon as a hymn-writer." More than a "passing reference" is needed for this is a much-neglected aspect of Spurgeon's genius and some aspiring student seeking a doctoral thesis subject might well study the hymns and poems of the Prince of Preachers.

It appears from what Shindler has written that Spurgeon first began writing poetry as the age of eighteen — a six-stanza hymn with the title "Immanuel." Later on poems and hymns were written and published in his monthly magazine, The Sword and the Trowel.

Since, as Charles Ray points out, "no book of songs for public worship could be found that exactly suited the needs of the Tabernacle congregation, the Pastor decided to compile a Volume of hymns specially for the use of his people." In 1866 he published "A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public, Social, and Private Worship," which became known as "Our Own Hymn-Book" [re-printed in 1974 by Pilgrim Publications — and again in 2002 (2nd edition)]. In the Preface he wrote — "The editor has inserted, with great diffidence, a very few of his own composition." He actually included 28, including paraphrases of various Psalms (samples below).

The hymns, naturally, were composed around the doctrines of grace that he preached and appear in the hymn-book under such sections as "The Holy Spirit," "Conflict and Encouragement," "Choosing a Minister," "Election of deacons and elders," "Baptism," "The Lord's Supper," "Prayer Meetings," "Opening Places of Worship," and finally some choice "graces" or "Thanks and Blessings" before and after meals.

Today most Baptist hymn-books only include his Hymn for an Early Morning Prayer Meeting — "Sweetly the holy hymn breaks on the morning air..." What a pity some of his communion hymns are not also included, the Lord's Supper would be greatly enriched if we sang them today.

His last hymn The Fountain of Praise (beginning "All my soul was dry and dead — Till I learned that Jesus bled") was sung by 500 ministers and students at the annual college conference in 1890. They sat to begin the hymn but were soon all standing as the time quickened to the cornet accompaniment of Spurgeon's evangelist, Manton Smith.

(Article) Written by Eric W. Hayden

"Many a saved man has felt the sins of his younger days in his bones. I have heard good men say that when a hymn has been sung, a snatch of an old lascivious song has come up before them; and sights which to the unsullied would have suggested nothing but purity, have awakened in them recollections of unclean acts in early youth which have been a cross and a curse to them. May God grant that we may be led in the paths of righteousness from the earliest period, that we may not have to go down to our grave with regrets." — C. H. Spurgeon, The Sword and the Trowel  (1874, pg. 551)

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In the early years of his ministry, Mr. Spurgeon sometimes indulged in the making of verses; and even before this, he gave proof of ability, if not of genius, in this field. Space will not allow us to be very copious in our quotations; but a few specimens may be given. We give, first, a copy of verses, written at the age of eighteen, on the Redeemer's name —

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In 1866, Mr. Spurgeon published "A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, for Public, Social, and Private Worship," to which he gave the title of "Our Own Hymn-Book." In this collection there are about a dozen psalms, and as many hymns, from the compiler's own pen. In the preface he makes the following all too modest reference to his own compositions —

"The editor has inserted, with great diffidence, a very few of his own composition, chiefly among the Psalms; and his only apology for so doing is the fact that of certain difficult Psalms he could find no version at all fitted for singing, and was therefore driven to turn them into verse himself. As these original compositions are but few, it is hoped that they will not prejudice the ordinary reader against the rest of the collection, and possibly one or two of them may gratify the generous judgment of our friends."

We give two of his paraphrases of the Psalms, and two of his Hymns —

At various times Mr. Spurgeon has written Hymns that have been published in The Sword and the Trowel. We give two of them as specimens of the variety of styles in which he writes...

This hymn [above] was written only a year or two ago. Those who read it will note that the same love to Christ, which was the burden of the hymn of the youth of eighteen, is the theme of the matured Christian pastor, who has, meanwhile, become the most popular preacher of the century. The judicious reader will not fail to see, however, the mellowing and enriching influence of years of experience, and of those labours, conflicts, and trials which have tested and proved the value of his early convictions and beliefs. Those who were present at the College Conference of 1890 are not likely to forget the thrilling effect of this hymn when sung, to the tune "Nottingham," by five hundred ministers and students. The assembly sat at the commencement; but for the later verses all rose, the time was quickened, and Mr. Manton Smith's cornet helped to swell the volume of praise expressed by the writer.

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Yes, the end has come. The faithful warrior is crowned. There is sadness on earth, for "a prince and a great man in Israel has fallen" — but there is also joy; and joy there should be, for all his weariness and sufferings are past. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In such words the redeemed spirit would speak to us, if only we could hear; and yet, hear we can and do. In the stillness of that contemplation, in which we follow him to the world of light and joy whither he is gone, may we not hear him say to us:

"The weakness once I sank beneath, I never more shall know. Lay on my coffin many a palm, victors empalmed are seen; and lo! my soul attains through death the crown of evergreen, that blooms in fadeless groves of heaven; and this great victor's crown, that mighty Son of God hath given, who for my sake came down.

Twas but a while that I was sent to dwell among you here; now God resumes what He hath lent, Oh, grieve not o'er my bier; but say, 'twas given at His command, who takes it; He is just; our life and death are in His hand, whom all His servants trust.' "

We should, therefore, rejoice for all that he was enabled to do for God, while here — and what pen but an angel's can ever record it? — and for all that to which he has attained through sovereign grace, that grace he so faithfully declared, that grace in which his very soul delighted, and which he lived to extol. How he delighted to dwell upon the theme in his ministry, the world knows; and how he used to repeat and sing his favourite hymn... "Grace, 'tis a charming sound;" to his favourite tune (Cranbrook); and, in the exultant strains of John Kent, to declare —

"We'll sing the same while life shall last, and when, at the archangel's blast, our sleeping dust shall rise, then, in a song for ever new, the glorious theme we'll still pursue throughout the azure skies." [Our Own Hymnbook]

But the believer has not to wait for the resurrection to take up in sweeter strains the songs of earth. "The song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb" is hymned by all "the spirits of the just made perfect," as they pass from the holy to the holiest, and take their place before the throne as the "redeemed from among men."

Is there any shadow of disappointment anywhere that there was no utterance in his last moments, attesting with his dying voice the witness of his whole life? There could not be, from the nature of the disease which was God's messenger to call him hence; and there needed not to be. God, liberal as he is with his gifts, does not bestow them uselessly. Such a ministry, and such a life, in all respects its counterpart and its commendation, was a testimony which, if men will not believe it, and regard it, and lay it to heart, neither will they be persuaded by any words from the death-chamber, nor even could be arise from the dead.

And yet some words from the short address, given by Mr. Spurgeon at Mentone, on the last evening of 1891, may be taken as his dying testimony —

" 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' On that blessed fact I rest my soul. Though I have preached Christ Crucified for more than forty years, and have led many to my Master's feet, I have at this moment no ray of hope but that which comes from what my Lord Jesus has done for guilty men."

Well, therefore, was the following text of Holy Scripture, inscribed on his coffin, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" [2 Timothy 4:7]. He did not apply the words to himself; but he might truly have done so.

Before this concluding chapter, in a book delayed in publication by Spurgeon's long illness, reaches the public eye, the memorial and funeral services will have come to an end, and the first pang of sorrow for the loss which all his myriad friends have sustained will have been somewhat assauged [relieved]; and as we write, we pray that the God of all consolation may comfort their hearts with the contemplation of "the joy of the Lord" into which he has entered, and with the happy expectation and joyous hope a blessed reunion, where there will be a knitting up of all severed friendships, and a perfect accord of all the servants of God, where "the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."

To his bereaved widow, beloved by all who know her, and by multitudes besides, heartfelt sympathy goes forth, and will go forth, that, weakened as she is by long and painful bodily affliction, bowed with grief at her loss, and called, as she will be, to exercise important functions in connection with her husband's publications and papers, she may prove the truth of the promise, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." And with one voice, the one Church throughout the world will pray, not for her alone, but for the deacons, elders, and members of the Tabernacle Church, that needed wisdom and grace may be given, that in the future, as in the past, the testimony of the Lord may be according to "the simplicity that is in Christ," and that the "candle of the Lord" may continue to burn with undiminished brightness and unfading lustre.

The night of 31st January, 1892, will be "a night to be much remembered," as that in which the greatest preacher of his age passed to his rest and reward. May it prove an eventful night to many who have hitherto slighted, neglected, or refused the "great salvation" he proclaimed! May the earnest pleadings of him, whose mortal lips are now silent in the grave, come back to them with a thousandfold energy and emphasis, and with the power of the Holy Spirit; that, as Samson slew more at his death than in his life, so now the blessing resting on the testimony of the lips sealed in silence may be manifold more abundant than on the living utterances of the great soul-winner!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was signally called and fitted to do a great work for God, unparalleled in his day, as in all previous ages of Christianity. That he has been specially used by God to an extent to which no living man besides has been used, is a fact that very few will will question; but the extent to which he has been used will never be fully known, until the veil of eternity shall be lifted, and the secrets of all hearts be made known.

It is abundantly evident that he is a God-made man, and in a very special sense, a God-sent man. As the Lord sent Gideon, so has He sent Mr. Spurgeon. Both, as young men, were full of self-depreciation, but both were clothed with divine power, and both performed faithfully the work committed to them by the Lord. Both, too, gave God all the glory of their achievements.

But the great preacher of the Metropolitan Tabernacle has exceeded the son of the Abi-ezrite, alike as to the quality of his work, the wide extent of his influence, and the duration of the power he has wielded. The words addressed to the young Hebrew, by which he was clothed as with a divine panoply [ceremonial attire], apply with a thousand-fold emphasis, to the preacher who, when little more than a boy, began his wonderful career: "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour... And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might... have not I sent thee?" [Judges 6:12, 14]. By no other means could Mr. Spurgeon have accomplished what he has done; and no man on earth would exceed him in the depth, and fervour, and profound sincerity and thankfulness of the ascription — "TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!"

One closing word to all who bear the Christian name, as coming from the silent grave of the dear and beloved departed one, whose heart embraced all believers, and thrilled with love for all mankind —

"Wake, awake, for night is flying, the watchmen on the heights are crying; awake Jerusalem, at last! Midnight hears the welcome voices, and at the thrilling cry rejoices: come forth, ye virgins, night is past! The bridegroom comes, awake, your lamps in gladness take; Hallelujah! And for his marriage feast prepare, for ye must go to meet Him there!" — Dr. Philip Nicolai (1556-1601)

Mr. Spurgeon was a man, as we have seen, who most sincerely believed in the use of printers' ink, and he used it in many different forms, where it would catch the eye or strike the heart.

He organized the Colportage Association, for the express purpose of distributing, tracts and sermons; and these missionaries going from house to house in prescribed districts of London, selling books if they could and giving them away if they could not make a sale; added greatly to the influence of Mr. Spurgeon's church.

A book or a leaflet would reach into homes or shops where the spoken word could not go and touch the hearts of persons who never attended church.

In one of his sermons referring to the annual report upon the work of the Colportage Association, he gave his opinion of the value of printed matter in the furtherance of the gospel.

Mr. Spurgeon most pertinently said: —

"The printing-press is the mightiest agency on earth for good or evil. The position of a minister of religion standing in his pulpit is a responsible position, but it does not appear so responsible a position as that of the editor and the publisher. Men die, but the literary influences they project, go on forever. I believe that God has made the printing-press to be a great agent in the world's correction and evangelization, and that the great final battle of the world will be fought, not with guns and swords, but with types and presses, a gospellized and purified literature triumphing over and tramping under foot and crushing out a corrupt literature. God speed the cylinders of an honest, intelligent, aggressive, Christian printing-press."

Many of the leaflets used by the Colportage Association contained the gospel message in verse, written by Mr. Spurgeon. Often in his sermons, but more frequently in his writings he introduced original poetry, some of which is positively beautiful, but the greater portion of which was intended directly to teach the most practical thought.

If Mr. Spurgeon had given his attention to the composition of poetry, he might not have reached a position of one of the standard poets, but he would have produced poems that would have lived on in the pages of standard literature; but he was too intensely in earnest and in too much of hurry to save souls to stop long enough to permit his muse to lead him into the fairy realms of poetic imagination. Yet he fully appreciated the value of figures, pictures, similes [metaphors] and poetic illumination and expressed his admiration of them in the following most remarkable manner, —

"The worlds of nature and of providence are full of parallels to things moral and spiritual, and serve as pictures to make the written book of inspiration more clear to the children of God. The Bible itself abounds in metaphors, types and symbols; it is a great picture-book; there is scarcely a poetical figure which may not be found in the law and the prophets, or in the words of Jesus and His apostles. The preacher is bidden to speak the oracles of God, and consequently he should imitate their illustrative method, and abound in emblems and parables. A sermon which is full of "likes" is full of windows to enlighten the mind and hands to hold it captive. Discourses decked with similes will not only give pleasure to the children, but persons of riper years will be charmed and instructed thereby."

His arrangements of the Psalms in rhyme and his composition of the hymns which were published in the hymn book used in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, showed too clearly a direct and earnest purpose to admit of much poetical ornament.

He simply used the poetical forms of expressions simply because his knowledge of human nature convinced him that it was the best form to attract the eye, yet it is clear to every reader of his literary productions that he had a natural genius for the expression of his ideas in the truest poetry. He loved the standard English poems and in his quotations generally selected the most sublime or the most touching portions of other productions yet his own compositions were like aron spears adorned with ribbons intended more for use than for aesthetic purposes, and his poetry was of great use in the salvation of many thousand people. Verses from his hymns and songs found their way into all classes of society, and many of them in the form of proverbs have become a part of the common language of the working people of London. When he was but eighteen years of age he exhibited no little poetic taste which seemed afterwards to be considerably marred by the fierce conflicts in which he was compelled, as a popular preacher, to engage.

Probably nothing has appeared in print out of his many hymns and poems, which was more sweetly devout than his composition written at eighteen, entitled "Immanuel." [SEE ABOVE]

The hymn which has been most extensively used in the hymn books published by other churches and other denominations, was hastily written on one Saturday afternoon and used the next day at the celebration of the Lord's supper. It was entitled "Jesus' Presence Delightful." [SEE ABOVE]

In his own hymn book appears a composition from his pen, which was so strikingly appropriate for the services of his church after he had been taken up into the "Shining," that I cannot forbear to quote it...

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