SPURGEON, CHARLES HADDON (1834–1892), was an English Baptist popularly known as "the prince of preachers." The son and grandson of Congregationalist pastors, Spurgeon was converted in 1850 at a Primitive Methodist chapel and joined a Baptist church in 1851. At age sixteen, circumstances compelled him to preach unprepared in a cottage near Cambridge, England. Word of his oratorical skill and evangelical fervor spread. He was called to pastorates at Waterbeach (1852) and at New Park Street Chapel in London (1854). His preaching attracted such large crowds that it was necessary to rent public accommodations seating up to ten thousand people. In 1861 the Metropolitan Tabernacle was completed in London, and there Spurgeon ministered until his death. By age twenty-two he had become the most popular preacher of his day. He established several institutions, including orphanages and a pastors' college, the latter being the matrix for the founding of numerous churches...