er!' When they howl, echo cries, 'For ever!'

'For ever' is written on their racks,
'For ever' on their chains;
'For ever' burneth in the fire,
'For ever' ever reigns."

How bodies are to burn without consuming, how a fire could last
for ever, or how a good God could roast his own children in it, are
questions that Spurgeon did not stop to answer. He took the damnable
doctrine of damnation as he found it. He knew it was relished by myriads
of callous, foolish people; and it gave such a pungent flavor to a
long sermon! His listeners were not terrified. Oh dear no! Smith, the
Newington greengrocer, was not alarmed; he twirled his thumbs, and said
to himself, "Spurgeon's in fine form this morning!"

Archdeacon Farrar protests against the notion of a fiery, everlasting
hell as the result of fear, superstition, ignorance, hate, and slavish
letter-worship. He declares that he would resign all hope of immortality
to save a single human soul from the hell of Mr. Spurgeon. But is not
the hell of Mr. Spurgeon the hell of the New Testament? Does not Jesus
speak of everlasting fire? Why seek to limit the duration of hell
by some hocus-pocus of interpretation? It is idle to pretend that
"everlasting" means something less than everlasting. If it means that in
relation to hell it must also mean it in relation to heaven. Dr. Farrar
cannot have two different meanings for the same word in the same verse;
and should he ever go to hell (he will pardon us the supposition), how
much consolation would he derive from knowing that his doom was
not "everlasting" but only "eternal"? There was more honesty and
straightforwardness in Mr. Spurgeon. He preached what the Bible taught
him. He set forth a hateful creed in its true colors. His presentation
of Christianity will continue to satisfy those who belong to the past,
but it will drive many others out of the fold of faith into the broad
pastures of Freethought.

IS SPURGEON IN HEAVEN?

When Mrs. Booth died, the wife of the famous "General," the "Army"
reported her as "Promoted to Glory from Clacton-on-Sea." It was
extremely funny. Clacton-on-Sea is such a prosaic anti-climax after
Glory. One was reminded of Sir Horace Glendower:

Sprat. But the sense of humor is not acute in religious circles.

Mr. Spurgeon frequently gave expression to his dislike and mistrust of
the antics or the Salvation Army. He was far from prim himself, but he
held that if people were n