18 JULY 1891, Page 19

The accounts of Mr. Spurgeon during the week have been

steadily growing worse, and we fear that hope is gradually declining even in the minds of those who cling most eagerly to hope. The universal sympathy with him and his family is a singular testimony to the power, simplicity, and earnest- ness of his character, in spite of the narrowness of his creed. Every one recognises that there has never been a trace of spiritual unctuousness, or even of religious conceit and pre- tension, about Mr. Spurgeon.