THERE seem to be a few men in every age and country in whom there is centred all that is purest, noblest, and best in the moral, religious, and intellectual life of their people. And, if it be true, as Pope says, that “The proper study of mankind is man,” then it is a desirable thing to be thrown with these men who are religiously pure, morally good, and intellectually great. “As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” What can be more inspiring than to come in contact with men “on whom God has set his seal,” and of each of whom it may be said, as of Brutus,
“His life is gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world: ‘This is a man.’”
I shall not now speak of England’s law-makers and political magnates, neither of her authors and literary lights; of these I shall have something to say hereafter. But in this chapter I shall confine myself to three religious leaders, who are well worthy of our careful study.
Joseph Parker, Canon Farrar, and Charles Spurgeon are three preachers in whom, I think, are centred all the “gifts and graces” of the English pulpit. I listen to these men with great interest, and, I hope, not without some profit. I study them closely. I try, as best I can, to discover the secret of their power and marvellous success. No one can reasonably question their power, or deny their success. For eighteen or twenty years, Doctor Parker has been preaching three times a week in the great City Temple of London. The house holds 2,500 or 3,000 people. It is always crowded on Sunday, at morning and night. On Thursday at noon he has 1,200 to 1,800 persons to listen to him. Hundreds of the best business men in the city leave their places of employment, and go to hear him one hour each week.
Frederick W. Farrar is Canon of Westminster Abbey, and Chaplain to the Queen. The Abbey is one of the most splendid temples on earth. As the preacher stands in the pulpit, he is surrounded by the busts and statues, by the tombs and monuments, of historians and statesmen, of poets and artists. His audience is composed chiefly of the aristocracy of England. Here is where the dukes and earls and lords, the kings and queens and princes, of the nation most do congregate. To minister in holy things, from year to year, to an audience like this, one must, of necessity, be possessed of splendid powers.
