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THE

SWORD AND THE TROWEL.

JULY, 1873.

New Buildings for the Pastors' College.

BY C. H. SPURGEON.

HE frontispiece of this month's number represents the proposed new buildings for the Pastors' College. They are simple and unpretentious, but we trust they will not appear unworthy of the Institution. The ground upon which they will be erected adjoins the site of the Tabernacle, and as this was an indispensable matter, we have to be content with a position in a street at the rear, the land nearer the front being occupied by the parochial schools and valuable business premises which it would not have been possible to purchase at any price. For this reason also we were glad to obtain a plot of ground of a very inconvenient shape. and we can but admire the ingenuity of the architect (Mr. Currey, of Norfolk-street, Strand) who has managed to cover almost every inch of it, and to give us exactly the accommodation we require.

We thought it wise to present our readers with the plans of the interior, that they might judge of the amount of accommodation provided. Upon the ground story many of the Class-rooms will be used for the Sabbath School on Lord's-days, and for various other uses in connection with the work at the Tabernacle. Where movable partitions are indicated, the object is to form one large room for teameetings, and especially for the meals of the Annual Conference, which will hold its sessions for the future in the Large Hall above.

On the first story the College proper will be carried on, and better arrangements for that end we can hardly imagine. The Library will be lit by a lantern in the roof, so as to give as much wall-space as

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possible for books. The Large Hall will be available for the Sabbath School on Sundays, and for College purposes at all times. The whole will be put in trust in connection with the Tabernacle.

We have now one very earnest appeal to make to our own flock, to our sermon readers, to all our friends, and to Christians in general who approve of our work. Do help us, and help us at once. The work will be done, for it is of the Lord, and already a large proportion of the money is in our hands; but much more is needed. We shall proceed to build, believing that the money will be forthcoming, and forthcoming it will be. We thank the many donors who have aided, but our hope is that many more will be added to the list. The building is needed, needed for the best of purposes. God has intrusted many of our friends with substance, and here is a method of confessing and exercising their stewardship. The noble gift of

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SCALE OF FEET

-PLAN OF GROUND STORY

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£1,000 by one unknown donor may be beyond the imitation of the great majority, but many littles will achieve the result quite as surely This work is peculiarly dear to our heart, and no one can do us a greater pleasure or service than by aiding to erect this new house for the school of the prophets.

The ministers who have been educated at the College have resolved to raise £1,000 towards the work. This is a large sum, and they cannot realize their wish unless all their churches aid them heartily. May we press this matter with special earnestness in that direction? Such churches are those to which we naturally look for assistance.

It is not needful to say more. Our friends are of such a kind that for them to know that our work has need is quite enough to move them to generous action.

OUR

Squire Brooke.

UR Wesleyan brethren have lately lost from their ministry an eminently useful preacher, who was the last survivor of a little band of eccentrics who in their day were mighty winners of souls. William Dawson and Samuel Hick were worthily perpetuated in Squire Brooke, who entered into rest in January, 1871. We must not be supposed to endorse all his theology, or to hold up to admiration all his modes of procedure, but it has been our method in these pages to introduce notices of good men of all denominations, and to give our readers those portions of notable lives which are most noteworthy. We have no patience with those who imagine that you cannot admire a man's character unless you agree with him in sentiment; our belief is that more may often be learned from those with whom we differ than from our nearer neighbours. We are not Wesleyan, but there is much that is earnest and holy about Methodism which we do not only approve of, but which we desire to follow after.

Squire Brooke came of a substantial Yorkshire family, which possessed a considerable estate among the wild moorlands of the North. His parents belonged to the Established Church while Edward was in his boyhood, but were brought to know the Lord in after years by the preaching of their zealous son. Edward was not sent to Eton or Harrow, as he should have been; but following the bent of his inclination he was allowed to remain upon the farm, to fish and hunt, and shoot, and to develop a fine constitution and an original mind. This might have proved his ruin, and in nine cases out of ten where it has been tried it has been so; but the grace of God interposed, and turned it into a blessing. Amid the rocks and the heather, the forest trees and the ferns, Edward Brooke, with his dogs and his gun, found both sport and health; or dashing over the country after the hounds, he enjoyed exhilaration and trained his courage in the hunt. Up to the age of twenty-two he seems to have been devoid of religious thought; but as we Calvinists are wont to put it, the time appointed of the Lord drew near, and sovereign grace issued its writ of arrest against him, resolving in infinite love to make him a captive to its power.

"Early in the year of 1821, Edward Brooke rose one morning, intent on pleasure. Equipped for his favourite sport, with gun in hand and followed by his dogs, he was crossing the Honley Moors, when a lone man met him with a message from God. The man was a Primitive Methodist preacher, named Thomas Holladay, one of those strongminded, earnest evangelists, the validity of whose orders is disdainfully denied by many, but who, judged by the results of their ministry, hold a commission higher than bishops can bestow-a commission signed and sealed by Him who is head over all things to His church.'

"Intent upon his Master's work, 'in season and out of season,’ Holladay was prompt to seize an opportunity of usefulness. Passing

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the young sportsman he respectfully saluted him, and said, with pitying earnestness, Master, you are seeking happiness where you will never find it. On went the man of God, perhaps little dreaming that the arrow thus shot at a venture had pierced the joints of the armour

encasing the young sportman's heart. Yet so it was. Those few simple words, winged by the Spirit, entered and stuck like a barbed arrow in the young master's soul. However the moor game fared that day, the sportsman himself was shot. That was a grand day's work for Holladay. He had preached many a laboured sermon with less result. If that one stroke had been Holladay's life-work he had not lived in vain, or been an uncrowned minister of Christ in the great day of recompense. "Home went the wounded sportsman, the words of Holladay still sounding in his ears, 'Master, you are seeking happiness where you will never find it.' The time was opportune. It was a day of visitation for that neighbourhood. The Spirit of God was moving upon the population. A great revival was in progress. It commenced at Thong, and spread from house to house, till nearly every family felt its power. On every hand sinners were strangely affected by a sense of their guilt and danger, as transgressors of the law of God, and exclaimed Men and brethren, what must we do?' Many believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and found peace through believing; their altered and happy life proclaiming them to be new creatures in Christ Jesus. Drunkards became sober, and abodes of misery were transformed into homes of peace."

The awakened young gentleman began to attend cottage prayer-meetings and to converse with the godly men of the neighbourhood, and thus his anxiety was greatly deepened, and his desire for salvation inflamed. His biographer tells the story of his finding peace with God in a very striking manner, and we quote it because it shows how very much alike the birth of joy in one soul is to the same event in another. The gloom of the heart grew heavier till Jesus, like the star of the morning, shone through the darkest shades, and all was light.

"It was the day of his sister's wedding. Ill-prepared to join in the festivities of the occasion, because of the sorrow of his heart, Edward Brooke spent the previous night hours in reading his Bible and wrestling with God for salvation.

All night the lonely suppliant prayed,

All night his earnest crying made.

About four o'clock in the morning, whilst kneeling by the old armchair in his father's kitchen, still pleading for mercy through the mediation of Jesus, his soul grew desperate, and like Jacob wrestling with the angel till the break of day, he resolved, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.'

That mighty importunity was the manifestation of true faith. He was enabled to receive Jesus as his Saviour, and believing with the heart unto righteousness, these words were applied to his heart, as distinctly and impressively as though spoken by a voice from heaven, Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee, go in peace and sin no more.'

"Just as the words of Jesus, ' peace be still,' quelled the storm upon the sea of Galilee, when the big waves broke into the ship, and the terrified disciples cried, Lord, save us, we perish,' so did these words, divinely spoken, Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee, go in peace and sin no more,' bring instant quietness to the storm-tossed heart of that struggling penitent, and there was a great calm.' He

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