In many interesting particulars St. Francis may be compared with General
Booth of the Salvation Army. In their intense religious fervor, in their
insistence upon obedience, humility, and self-denial, in their services
for the welfare of the poor, in their love of the "submerged tenth,"
they are alike. True, there are no monkish vows in the Salvation Army
and its doctrines bear a general resemblance to those of other
Protestant communions, but like the old Franciscan order, it is
dominated by a powerful missionary spirit, and its members are actuated
by an unsurpassed devotion to the common people. In the autocratic,
military features of the Army, it more nearly approaches the ideal of
Loyola. It is quite possible that the differences between Francis and
Booth are due more to the altered historical environment than to any
radical diversities in the characters of the two men.