During this first visit of twelve days to Sweden, he travelled by rail

over 3,000 kilometres (say 2,000 miles), held twenty-eight public

Meetings, besides a number of private ones with press interviews, and

wayside gatherings at railway stations. Five nights were spent in the

trains, mostly in crowded compartments, for the days of comfortable

"sleepers" on all lines had not yet come. He had, besides his

interpreter, a young English companion, who paid his own expenses, and

he could seldom be persuaded to take any refreshment whilst travelling

that could not be got in the carriage. It must not be forgotten that in

winning and retaining the enthusiastic affection of such multitudes of

persons, The General has had to face the difficulty of only being able

to speak through an interpreter, and that he has had to endure campaigns

of opposition and slander, of which we can say very little, but which,

founded so largely as they have been upon his being "a foreigner," have

had so good a chance to build up walls of difficulty before him.

After this tremendous journey and reception, The General continues:--

"In the night Meeting I felt a little nervous. The Riding School

was nearly full, another 100 persons would have filled every seat,

although a charge had been made for admission, in order to help

with the heavy expenses.

"Many had stayed away for fear of the crush. The audience, which

was most respectable, included the Police Master. I was very tired,

and no particular topic had been announced. However, I spoke an

hour and a half, and all seemed intensely interested.

"Sunday.--The Riding School was full for the morning Holiness

Meeting. Much power. About 100 stood up to make a full surrender of

themselves to God.

"In the afternoon the Hall was again full. The police, of whom

there were twenty present, would only allow persons to stand in the

end aisles. Spoke an hour or more.

"Night. Full an hour before the time. Many convicted. About twelve

pressed forward.

"Monday.--Inspected new Hall and Training Home--building to cost

£5,000. Also visited present Training Home and attended to

correspondence.

"At night the Riding School was full long before we arrived. Spoke

two hours. Immense impression seemed to be produced.

"Tuesday.--Morning, addressed Officers and Cadets. One o'clock,

Meeting of Clergy and Evangelistic workers, at which 300 were

present. Spoke an hour, and answered questions for an hour. Was

enabled, I think, to answer all objections, putting every one to

silence.

"Dined with Lieutenant Lagercrantz of the King's army. He is a dear

fellow, and he has a dear wife. They are in deep sympathy with us.

She put on a bonnet and riband that night.

"I was determined to have a free Meeting for the poorest, a charge

for admission having been made for all the Meetings yet held in

Stockholm. So called one at 6 p.m. in our own Hall in the south of

the city. At six we were quite full. I spoke an hour or more, and

some twenty or more came out for a clean heart. Closed at 8.15 p.m.

"At 8.30 p.m. Soldiers' Meeting. Some 500 were present. Spoke for

nearly two hours. At the close cleared the front as a Mercy Seat,

and nearly all in the place--Officers, Cadets, and Soldiers--went

down in company after company. The wonderful Meeting closed about

midnight.

"Wednesday.--Rose at 6 a.m., not having had much sleep. Away in

Norrköping at 7.30 a.m. Arrived at 2.30 p.m. Meeting at 3.30 p.m.

in a great church, where 800 were present. Good time. Very tired.

"Night. I,500 present. Talked two hours. Afterwards, at 10.30 p.m.,

had a Meeting for Soldiers. Got home about 11.45 p.m.

"Thursday.--Meeting at 10 a.m. to say 'Farewell.' Spoke about an

hour, and left at one o'clock for Lynköping, arriving at 2.30 p.m.

Meeting in our beautiful Theatre at 2.30 p.m. Fine audience."

Mere lack of space forbids further quotation. But surely enough has

been said to show with what marvellous exertion The General managed in

one brief journey to do so much for all classes, and so much not merely

in the way of Meetings but of organisation and administration in every

way.

And the diary tells us nothing of his talks with Officers between

Meetings, which have formed so important a part of all his travels. By

means of such conversations, especially in the case of Officers who are

not English, The General has gained a close knowledge of them and their

difficulties as they have of his thoughts and wishes.

Between his arrival at Gothenburg and his Sundsvall Meetings came a

rough journey to Norway, where we had as yet no Officers, yet where,

nevertheless, a great Meeting had been arranged for by friends, who

later helped in the establishment of our work in their country! The

General passed on to Denmark, where our work was in its first year.

On the afternoon of his arrival he tells us he rested, wrote up

correspondence and journal, and had some little thought about the coming

Meetings.

"Night. Welcome Meeting in the Methodist Church. Packed. There must

have been nearly 1,300 people present. The admission was free, and

there were many Philistines, some socialists, and some lads bent on

mischief. To add to our difficulties, my interpreter did his work

so miserably that we had some confusion and restlessness. After an

hour's talk, I paused for the collection to be taken, and changed

interpreters. The second one did very much better. His voice,

however, was feeble and his manner very quiet, so that things were

not very much better for a time. Then we had a little quiet, and a

decent finish. It was a considerable disappointment, however, and

next door to a defeat. I retired to rest very sad, and with awkward

forebodings about the coming Meetings.

"The great funereal vault of a church, the interpreting, the

mocking young fellows void of any sense of honour or conscience to

appeal to, or any respect for a stranger, the intense anxiety of

the Officer in command to have good Meetings, and above all my

longings to meet the needs of the hungry crowd, only wanting to

hear, and many of them equally willing to obey: these and other

troubling thoughts haunted my mind and spoiled my night's sleep.

But I fell back on my old remedy, and, comforting myself in the

Lord, resolved to do what could be done and left myself in His

hands.

"Sunday.--11 a.m. Had a local minister to translate; he did well.

Some fifty or sixty stood up at the close as seekers for a clean

heart.

"Afternoon. The great church packed. Interpretation went fairly

well. Began at 3 p.m. and went on till 5.20 p.m.

"Night. Police sent up word soon after six that the street was

filling up, and the doors must be opened. When this was done the

young fellows who had made so much trouble on Saturday night--or at

least some hundreds of this class--forced their way in through all

else, leaving hundreds more outside. They talked and laughed, and

although now and then a policeman marched a row of them out,

their game went on, spoiling everything.

"The voice of the interpreter was weak, and the confusion flustered

him. So my dreams of a smash and of a hundred seekers were not

realised, and we terminated with some six or seven gathered out of

the crowd immediately near to the platform.

"It was a great disappointment. I felt beaten, and went home

confessing it. And yet what could be done? My tongue was all but

tied. I was helpless without an interpreter capable of conveying my

meaning to the people. Such a man was wanting. Commending the whole

matter and the anxious crowds of people so eager to hear to my

Master, I retired at midnight.

"Monday.--Breakfast, 8.30 a.m. 9 a.m., spoke with a gentleman from

Kiel, who is anxious to see The Army open there, and is building us

a Hall. Saw his plans and arranged terms.

"9.30 a.m., saw the Officer from Stuttgart. He has a heavy

struggle. 12 noon, drove round the city. In summer time it must be

a very pleasant place.

"3.30 p.m., Meeting. Fine audience, very nearly filling the church.

Commenced with a new interpreter, a student--execrable! I soon had

to fall back on one of the others.

"7 p.m., as full as the police would allow. Continued till 10 p.m.

And then had a Soldiers' Meeting till 11.30 p.m.

"Left Copenhagen the next morning at 8.30 a.m."

We who have since seen some of The General's greatest triumphs in that

city, and have watched the steady growth of The Army in Denmark till it

has won the sympathy of the Royal Family and of every other decent

family in the country, must rejoice in this record of his first

desperate battles there, and can guess how much of all the subsequent

victory is due to what his people learned in those days.

But the record has a far wider interest, for it lets us see, as we have

little opportunity ordinarily, the inward conflicts through which The

General passed in so many places where, out of his weakness, or the

weakness of his forces, he, or they, were "made strong."

Few achievements of The General's lifetime will, I fancy, impress future

generations more than his establishment of The Army in Finland at the

very time when all the former liberties of that country were gradually

being taken away.

Formerly recognised by treaties as a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire,

with its own Parliament and laws, which were supposed to be permanently

guaranteed, Finland found itself looked upon with a growing jealousy

just when a new constitution was slowly changing the governmental

arrangements of Russia. It is, as yet, too early for outsiders to

understand how it came to pass that the country was regarded as a centre

of disaffection, or why, ever and anon some new step was taken to

nullify its Parliament, and to place it more and more under military

control. What we are concerned with is the simple fact that these things

interfered but little with the steady progress of The Army, and that

this proved at every step the soundness of The General's principles, the

completeness with which he succeeded in planting them in the hearts of

his most distant followers, and the marvellous way in which God guided,

protected, and blessed his work, just where he could do the least for

its development.

The very beginning of the Work was due entirely to one of his most

daring decisions, for it may well be doubted whether any attempt, under

the leadership of a foreigner, would have been tolerated at that time.

But when a young lady, who had become acquainted with The Army in

Stockholm, devoted herself to its service, and after passing some time

in Training in London, was sent back with two or three subordinates to

begin work in Helsingfors, who could look upon her with suspicion?

The moment she succeeded, however, in inducing a few of her first

Converts to put on our uniform or insignia, the police came down upon

them, took away all their badges, and declared that the formation of a

Corps there must be regarded as for ever prohibited. Even when the

Converts were provided with a second supply of badges, they were called

to the police-station, and again deprived of them. But the leader had

learnt from The General too well the lessons of patient endurance and

continuance to give way. And when the police saw her followers supplied

a third time with the signs of union with us, having in the meantime

had so many opportunities to learn more both of the leader and of her

people, they concluded that it would be, after all, the best for the

public interest to let them alone.

Two newspapers in the two languages of the country were issued and sold

in all the public-houses. Congregations were gathered in all the cities,

and even small towns, and everywhere the authorities could see that no

spirit of discontent with anything but sin and evil habits was being

created, but that the police would find their tasks lightened, and the

life of the poorest of the people brightened and bettered, if they let

the work go on.

Chapter XIV.

Children Conquerors in Holland and Elsewhere

The General's own personal experience, as well as numberless instances

that came under his observation in his own and other families, gave him

the same assurance as to the need and possibility of the Salvation of

children as he had with regard to adults.

If human beings cannot hope to please God until they are born again of

His Spirit, what folly it would be to give up the best years of life to

mere outside instruction, instead of aiming first of all at this first

and greatest need. This law he always laid down as the guiding line with

regard to all work amongst children, instead of the ordinary Sunday

School idea "first teach, and then try to lead the children to Christ."

In his first publication, _How to Reach the Masses with the Gospel_, he

wrote in 1871:--

"Great pains are taken, we know, to make the children acquainted

with the history and theory of Christianity; but their conversion,

which is the main thing, seems to us to be sadly and sorely

overlooked. That the immediate gathering of the children to Christ

is the teacher's work, is recognised, we fear, in very few schools.

It is not the aim of the present moment; and, consequently, little

effort is made to bring it about. Feeling all this, we resolved

that, if ever opportunity offered, we would try services as much

adapted for the conversion and instruction of children as our other

services are for adults.

"On the first Sunday afternoon in April, 1869, we held our first

'Children's Salvation Service,' in our late Hall in the old Bethnal

Green Road, and five children professed to find the Saviour."

But of all The General's revolutionary tasks this has, perhaps, proved

to be the toughest. His eldest son--now General Bramwell Booth--made the

children's work his earliest care, and in later years held annually

Councils for all Officers engaged in it in England.

But, although God has wrought wonders amongst the children in every

land, so that we have now thousands of Officers who have been won in

their early years by that Junior work, the spectre of the Sunday School

ever and anon rises to threaten with a peaceful death, this Divine

undertaking. Only the most persistent watchfulness can prevent the

narrow idea of instruction, and unbelief as to children's Salvation

which is its foundation, from gaining the upper hand. It is so easy to

get a thousand children drilled into pretty attention, pretty

performances, pretty recitations and singing, and even into some degree

of knowledge of the killing letter, but so hard to get any one child

really to submit to the one great Teacher of mankind, and be saved!

Therefore we take special pleasure in dwelling upon the fact that The

General's theory has been proved, on trial, to result in producing

heroes and heroines, capable, almost in infancy, of daring battle for

God, and becoming, before they reach their majority, thoroughly

experienced and intelligent conquerors.

In that earliest record we read:--

"Although the services are strictly for children, it is not an

unusual thing to see adults sitting by the side of the little ones,

and sometimes to see parent and child kneeling together seeking 'to

know Him whom to know is life eternal.' One Sunday evening a woman

brought her young son, who a short time previously had been

detected in an act of dishonesty. During the service God's Spirit

strove with both. The mother saw that she would have to give an

account of her doings, as well as the boy, and so, side by side,

they knelt, sought and professed to find pardon.

"A young lad who had been a source of great annoyance at our

Meetings, and a dreadful swearer, a short time ago died triumphant

in the faith. When lying in the London Hospital, evidently dying,

he sent a request that I would tell the children that he was

'going Home'; 'but tell them I'm not afraid; and, Oh, tell them not

to swear.'"

Many of our leading Officers of to-day were truly converted before they

were ten years old, so that, at thirty, they were already veterans in

the Fight. Two Colonels, who were later most frequently seen closely

associated with The General's Campaigns, like him were converted at

fifteen--one of them being at that time almost overlooked by the

Sergeant, who was counting the Penitents. "Captain," said he, "there are

seventy-one; or seventy-two, if you count this lad."

The General has not only counted his young lads and lasses whenever they

were true Penitents, but has dared to set them at once to work to bring

others to Christ and that with such effect that whole countries have

felt the result.

Our first Dutch Officer was a young teacher, dismissed from his

employment because he would persist in seeking the Salvation, as well as

the instruction, of his young pupils. After spending a few months in

England in order to be able to translate for us, he became the

Lieutenant and general helper of our pioneer Officer there. The way had

been prepared before us by a retired Major of the Dutch Army, who had

for some time been carrying on mission work in the city of Amsterdam,

and who, having seen something of The Army in England, turned over his

Mission Hall to us and gave us all possible help. He was rewarded by

seeing all his own children converted.

Holland has suffered, perhaps, more than any country in the world, from

the substitution of head knowledge for real heart acquaintance with God.

The refuge of true believers in days of terrible persecution, it has

seen its Churches either paralysed with the narrowest and coldest

orthodoxy, proclaiming the impossibility of Salvation for any but the

few elect, or the natural reaction, a wild "liberalism," which doubts

everything. How far the two million Catholics of the country hold fast

their old faith is doubtful; but it is admitted that very few of the

other four millions profess to be "born again."

But The General never sought to trim his sails to catch any "modern"

breeze. Upon his every visit to the country he spoke out with the same

simple liberty as in England. Of the fisherman leader he sent to

represent him in Holland, knowing "only a handful" of Dutch words, a

lady said, "He prays just like a man who is drowning." Such praying, and

corresponding effort, for "the perishing" soon brought thousands to

kneel in penitence before God.

The General has visited the country repeatedly, presiding over the

Annual Reviews, which have generally been held on some great land

proprietor's estate, or holding "Days with God" in its largest theatres.

Of one such visit, in 1906, he writes:--

"I have just had a wonderful campaign in Holland--Meetings,

enthusiasm, collections, and souls far beyond anything that has

preceded it in my experience. Praise the dear Lord."

The simple old Gospel that any child can understand, has indeed made The

Army triumphant all over Holland, and the following extracts from The

General's diary, during his visit of 1908, will show how childlike a

faith and devotion our people there have:--

"Rotterdam, Saturday, _March 14th_.--Soldiers' and ex-Soldiers'

Meeting fine--three-fourths men. A great improvement on anything I

have seen in the way of Soldiers' Meetings in this place. I got the

truth out, and thirty-seven of them fell at the Penitent-Form to

seek power to walk in its light.

"Sunday.--The Doelen Hall (one of the largest auditoriums in the

city) full in the morning, and crowds shut out afternoon and night.

People hard at first; but twenty-two came to the Penitent-Form in

the morning, and fifty-eight at night. Never saw men weep more

freely. £212 given during the day.

"Monday.--Came on to Amsterdam and commenced Officers' Councils.

"Tuesday.--A tired, restless night for some reason or other. Sleep

flew. Occupied with many matters, but not very anxious. Still, did

not get much refreshment or invigoration for the day's work, and

felt accordingly. On the whole, the three Meetings were

interesting, and, I think, useful to the Officers present, although

nothing remarkable.

"Wednesday.--What I said of the Councils yesterday may be repeated

to-day. I had a great deal more material than I could possibly

introduce into two days, and on leaving out some topics, on the

spur of the moment, some were left out that might have been of

great benefit. However, everybody was pleased, and, I think,

profited. The only question in my mind, similar to the one that

haunts me in every Officers' Council, is whether I am making the

most of the opportunity.

"There is no doubt that we have here a powerful body of men and

women, good, devoted, and loyal to the principles of The Army,

proud to be connected with it, and ready to receive instructions,

and to carry them out. The great lack appears to be a want of

energy, enterprise, and daring, the being content with a little

success instead of reaching out to all that is possible and

promising. However, they are wonderfully improved, and I hope the

present Commissioner's health will allow of his carrying them a

long way farther in the direction of enthusiasm than they have

reached before.

"Lieut.-Colonel Schoch (our original friend before referred to) was

with us at all the Meetings. He is very cordial, and in making the

closing speech, described his oneness with The Army in every

direction.

"My correspondence with London is somewhat heavy.

"Thursday.--Fair night's sleep, but feeling rather tired, which

must be expected. We are away to Den Helder at 9.42 a.m., so must

be stirring. Den Helder is a naval port, the headquarters of the

Dutch navy. We were billetted with Rear-Admiral van den Bosch, who

is in command of the port, fleet, dockyards, and many other things.

We were received at the station in a formal but hearty manner by

the leading people of the town, in the large waiting-room

(decorated for the occasion), by the minister of the State Church,

who made a really eloquent address. The great point of his speech

was the work of the Holy Spirit--God working through us to the

benefit of mankind. As he stood there talking in that circle of

sixty or seventy of the leading inhabitants of the place, including

naval officers of rank, professionals of various classes, and

prominent people, I could not help feeling, as I often feel now,

what a change has come over the people, not only with respect to

The Army, but towards myself.

"I answered in a few words that I trust were useful and beneficial

to all present. The whole thing, from the moment of my being

received at the door of my railway carriage, until I left next

morning, had been prearranged through the instrumentality of one of

our Local Officers, to his great credit, to the credit of his town,

and to the satisfaction of his General.

"The mail brought me a request to take over a certain county

council's lodging-house for poor men, on which they are losing a

large sum, also another to take over an inebriates' home, which

cost £40,000 and is an utter failure. In such exploits people will

not have The Salvation Army at the onset, otherwise they might save

a good deal of expense, etc.

"Friday.--Arriving at Amsterdam, the mail brought confirmation of

my agreement of yesterday to postpone my South African visit to

September, and to begin my Motor Tour at Dundee, and finish at the

Crystal Palace. In all these things the maxim is ever present to my

mind, 'Man proposes, but God disposes.' Closed the night at the

desk, which is becoming more and more a difficult task from the

failure of my eyes.

"Saturday.--Good night's sleep. That is for me, anyway, a great

improvement on recent nights. So now for a good day's work, of

which there is plenty lying before me.

"7.30 p.m., Soldiers' Meeting. We have always been crowded out

before, so this time the Palace Theatre was taken, as an

experiment, and it justified my reckonings for several years gone

by, namely, that we could fill any reasonable place on Saturday

night here, and yet keep the Meeting select; that is, confine it to

Soldiers and ex-Soldiers, adherents, and those concerned about

religion. We were more than full, and the place holds 1,500. I had

much liberty in speaking, the After Meeting went with a swing

seldom known on the Continent or elsewhere, and we had eighty-four

at the Penitent-Form, some of them remarkable cases."

No wonder this octogenarian Leader finds his young Dutchmen wanting in

enterprise!

"Sunday.--The theatre again in the morning at ten. An excellent

plan. Oh, that it could be adopted the world over! The senseless

system of beginning at eleven makes you feel it is time to close

almost before you have had time to get well started. We were

crowded, large numbers outside clamouring for admission, so much so

that the police called out their reserves, and fifty men guarded

the entrance. We had an excellent service inside, and forty at the

Mercy-Seat. It was a beautiful Meeting, and made a mark for ever on

my heart, and on the hearts of many more.

"Afternoon. The large Hall of the People's Palace had been arranged

for this as well as the Night Meeting. We were full, and many were

turned away. I lectured on 'The Duty of the Community.' Great

satisfaction among my own people, and a good impression made upon

the minds of a good many of the leading people of the city.

"Night, 7.30. Again full. It is a building erected for an

Exhibition, and made suitable for a Meeting only by putting up a

great screen across the centre. I suppose we could have filled the

entire space; but whether my interpreter could then have been

heard, I am not sure. I preached with point and power--more

breathless attention I never had in my life. I reckoned on an easy

conquest, but we had one of the hardest fights I ever remember

before we got a soul out. I left at 10.30, completely played out. A

wall of policemen on either side kept the people back while I got

into the carriage, the crowd having waited a long time to catch a

glimpse of me. Had long, restless, and sleepless spells during the

night; but still I have not done amiss on the whole. I must now

prepare myself for the coming Berlin Staff Congress."

So much for the general effect upon a largely unbelieving people of

simple, childlike faith!

But The General was, of course, always just as earnest about instructing

all who came to him, old or young, in the way of life, as about getting

them into it. In the midst of these tremendous Campaigns, he repeatedly

prepared Lesson-books for both children and adults. To a lady who had

tried to help him by sending him a number of catechisms for children, on

such an occasion, he wrote:--

"Thanks for your letter, and your catechisms sent here.

"The particular catechisms you send I already had--not that the

church affair could be of any advantage to me, and I should

imagine it would not be of much use to any one else, especially to

children.

"I am trying to produce something that will be a boon to The Army

by being blessed to hundreds of thousands of children for years to

come. You do not seem to think it is a very important task. I count

it the most important work I have had my hands on for years.

"I had a proper day at----. I got at the peasantry for once,

although I have often had that privilege before, and we had a

mighty day. Oh, the joy of leading those simple souls into the

light and power and freedom of the Kingdom! I am keeping better.

Praise the Lord!"

Whether The General's hopes for the use of his writings to the good of

children will be fully realised, remains to be seen; but it is a great

thing to have established even the purpose of making the way to Heaven

plain enough for the youngest feet to find.

The other day I heard a Captain explaining how he was "conscripted" into

The Army at ten years of age. He was standing outside the door of one of

our Halls on an evening when children were not admitted. He had tried,

in vain, boylike, to dodge through the doorkeeper's legs--but a drunken

woman came up and not only insisted on getting in, but on dragging him

in "to keep her company." Once inside, she went right up to the

Penitent-Form with her prisoner, and made him kneel with her there. He

had never seen so many grown-up people kneeling before, and, as they

prayed, he felt what a naughty boy he had been, and began both to weep

and pray. However little any older people might think of him that night,

God heard and saved him, and he is now fighting under our Flag in the

West Indies.

And others, who in their early years came to Christ, are now occupying

leading positions all over the world. One of them remembers, when a lad

of fifteen, hearing The General, whilst giving out the verse, "Sure, I

must fight, if I would reign; Increase my courage, Lord," say, "I would

like to alter it, to--'Sure, I will fight, and I shall reign.'" The lad

shouted, "Hallelujah!" and, as he was on the front seat in the theatre,

The General both heard and noticed him, and remarked: "I hope you will

make as good a fighter as you are a shouter." Thirty-three years of

faithful warfare have replied to The General's encouraging challenge.

And we have no means as yet of calculating how many such youthful

disciples have been equally helped by The General into a conquering

life. May this record help to multiply the number, for it is the will of

God to make all His children "strong in the power of His might."

It is, indeed, this bringing all, whether old or young, forward, in the

development of all their powers for God, which constitutes everywhere a

great part of The Army's work.

The enlarging influence of a close contact with Christ has hardly yet

been fully realised even by ourselves. The peasant, whose whole circle

of thought was so limited and stereotyped that his life only rose by few

degrees above that of the animals he drove before him, is taught by The

Army to pray and sing to the Maker and Saviour of the world:--

Give me a heart like Thine;

By Thy wonderful power,

By Thy grace every hour,

Give me a heart like Thine.

In a few years' time you will find that man capable of directing the War

over a wide stretch of country--dealing not merely with as many Meetings

in a week as some men would be content to hold in a year, and with the

diversified needs of thousands of souls; but taking his share in any

business transactions, or councils with civic authorities, as ably as

any city-born man.

What has so enlarged his capacity, broadened his sympathies, and turned

him into the polite and valued associate of any one, high or low, with

whom he comes in contact? His library, if, indeed he has any, beyond the

few Army publications he needs for his work, is still scanty enough to

make his removal at a few hours' notice remarkably easy, and he will

not be found much in public reading-rooms either. He has very little

time for fellowship with any of the intelligent friends who, for The

Army's sake, might now be willing to help him on.

He has simply had that oft-repeated prayer answered, and with the heart

of a saviour of all men comes an interest in men's thoughts and ways

which leads the man ever onward, overcoming all his own ignorance and

incapacities, for the sake of helping on the War.

Thus The General's declaration at an early moment, that he would get his

preachers out of the public-houses, has not merely been justified with

regard to the first elementary lines of recruiting; but the grace of God

has proved capable of developing, out of the most limited and despoiled

human material, the most able and large-hearted of organisers and

leaders, without building up any artificial or educational barriers

between them and their former associates.

How, indeed, could it be otherwise? Those who are ignorant of God may

well doubt the possibility of any mental improvement by means of prayer.

But those who believe that it is possible for the poorest to dwell on

earth with their Saviour, and to hold continual intercourse with Him,

will perfectly understand how enlightening, how elevating, how inspiring

such fellowship must ever be. Alas! how few there are yet in the world

who can truly say, "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son,

Jesus Christ".

Chapter XV

India and Devotees

Nowhere has The Army shown its marvellous power to unite men of all

races and classes so rapidly and completely as in India. With its

Headquarters in Simla, and its leader, formerly a magistrate under the

Indian Government, looked upon almost as a felon, and imprisoned when he

first began leading Open-Air Meetings in Bombay, but now honoured by the

highest both of British and Indian rulers and by the lowest of its

outcasts equally, The Army has become the fully-recognised friend of

Governors and governed alike.

When The General decided upon issuing a weekly paper called _The War

Cry_, it was to be as nearly as possible The Salvation Army in print,

and Mr. Booth-Tucker, then an Indian official, at once got the idea,

from the copy he read, that such a force as it described was exactly

what was wanted in that country--a set of Christians determined to fight

for the establishment of Christ's Kingdom by every method love could

devise; but loving especially the poorest and weakest, and proving their

love by working continually amongst them. After visiting England, to see

The Army and its leaders for himself, he had no hesitation in abandoning

his Government appointment, and giving himself up for life to this War.

Such was the devotion of our Officers, and especially of the first

Indians they won, that The General, far from having to urge them

forward, had rather to check the tendency needlessly to sacrifice health

and life. He gladly gave, at later dates, two of his own daughters to

the Work; and, perfectly informed by his own repeated visits to the

country, and by what he learnt from the actualities of the War, he was

the better able to correct mistakes, and so to utilise to the uttermost

the forces that were raised in various parts of the vast peninsula.

Nobody would hesitate to acknowledge how much his counsels helped to

prevent an excessive zeal from sacrificing precious lives.

He divided the country into six Territories, each under a separate

Commander, realising that India could not be treated as one country, but

that its diverse people must be dealt with according to their several

needs, and that unless those using different languages were trained to

act independently enough of each other they could never form strong

enough forces to cope with the vast enterprises required. But the

following account, written to his children, of his first visit to the

country gives a photographic view, both of his own activities and

successes, and of the attitude of the high and mighty generally towards

him at that remote date. He writes from Benares, January 13, 1892, just

ten years after our beginning in India:--

"Benares, _January_ 13, 1892.

"My Dear Children,--

"Wednesday and Thursday, 6th and 7th, were consumed in travelling

to Calcutta, and, all things considered, I got through the journey

very well. Nevertheless, I was exceedingly weary on being roused at

five o'clock to prepare for the arrival.

"It was early, 5.35 a.m., and Colonel Ajeet Singh did not expect

any reception beyond that of our own Officers.

"To our surprise, however, we found the platform crowded with our

own enthusiastic little party (who raised some music from a scratch

Band), some native Christians, and a very large number of Hindu

gentlemen.

"I was taken by surprise, and, unaware of the extent of the

demonstration, allowed them to leave by only shaking hands.

"Interview upon interview followed during the morning, but in the

afternoon I was down for the Town Hall Meeting. I scarcely ever

remember in my life feeling more thoroughly weary than on that day.

Three times I laid down to try to sleep, and each time failed to

get a wink, and my brain was benumbed and bewildered when I entered

that immense building and was called upon by General Merrill, the

American Consul, who presided, to address that crowd.

"I don't know whether Commissioner Booth-Tucker ever had a Meeting

at the Town Hall. It is a long building, 120 feet long, with the

most clumsy pillars down the sides shutting out almost the side

seats from view.

"There was quite as large an audience as I expected, although it

was not what it might have been. There were a few Europeans present

and a few native Christians, and the remainder were composed of the

non-Christian element.

"Amongst others who interviewed me during the day, or were

introduced to me before the Meeting, was the successor to Chunder

Singh and the two most prominent teachers of the Brahmo Samaj, and

a number of other leading people. On the platform was the Judge of

the Supreme Court and Vice-Chancellor of the University, and one of

the few Hindus who are strict observers of every principle and

usage of their sect. Near to me was the Nawal Abdool Luteef

(Mohammedan), and just behind me was a boy of about fourteen, a son

and heir of a Maharajah whose father had intended to have been at

the Meeting, but was prevented, and so sent his son, a bright-eyed

youth who paid every attention to what was said.

"General Merrill had consented to preside at the last moment, being

induced to do so very largely from the fact that every one of the

English of any note had refused.

"Bombay, _January 16th_.

"I broke off at the beginning of my Calcutta Campaign as above, not

having had a moment's space to resume. Never had I such a crush of

engagements before, and it was really all I could possibly do to

keep pace with them, and that I only did to some extent in a

poorish way.

"The detail of them I must leave to another day.

"I may say, however, that Calcutta in interest exceeded anything I

have seen since I left England. From the rush of welcome at the

railway station at six in the morning, to the pack who came to say

farewell (in which the papers say there were 3,000 people), it was

one series of surprises. Although the Town Hall Meeting was stiff,

and the Europeans were conspicuous by their absence, still there

was sufficient indication of the high esteem in which The Army was

held in general, and myself in particular, to make it a matter of

great interest and encouragement.

"Of the welcomes that followed from individuals of note, such as

Mr. Bannerjee and Mr. Bhose (representing the Brahmo Samaj); and

the Successor of Chunderssing, Mr. Chuckervetty, the lay reader of

the Yogal Samaj, His Highness the Maharajah Sir Joteendro Mohun, of

Tanjore, one of the most princely men of the city; the Nawab

Abdool Luteef, the most distinguished leader of the Mohammedans,

etc.; and of the several missionaries who came up, all was really

complimentary and respectful--nay affectionate.

"Then there were the crowds, perhaps the greatest in the Emerald

Theatre, in which there must have been nearly 3,000 people, inside

and out, listening through the doorways. It was certainly the most

remarkable audience I ever addressed. Exclusively native. I only

saw one white face in the crowd beyond our own people. Nothing more

hearty could have been conceived. Then came Meeting upon Meeting;

but the Circus on Sunday night outdid almost anything in some

respects, that I have ever witnessed in my life. It came upon me

quite by surprise. The hour fixed was the same as the churches, and

it had been predicted that we should not get an audience. It was

right away outside the city, in a park in the swellest part of the

suburbs. Consequently, it was not at all attractive to the native,

who doesn't like to get outside his own quarter.

"The Emerald Theatre had been a great success because it was in the

midst of his quarter; the Europeans would not come there, and now

it was fair to assume that the native would not come to the

European centre.

"As to any attendance of English people, that was hardly to be

expected. They had cold-shouldered me at the Town Hall, the

Lieutenant-Governor had even refused to see one of our Officers

when she called, although he had the reputation of being a

Christian man. The Viceroy had been civil to me--he could not have

been otherwise; in fact, he verged on friendliness before we

parted--but that was all. His Military Secretary had been as stiff

as military etiquette could possibly make him. There seemed to be,

therefore, nothing much to expect as to audience from them.

"Then I was tired out--a more wearying morning and afternoon I had

seldom experienced--and I bargained in my own mind, and even

mentioned it to Ajeet Singh, that if there was not much of an

audience I should leave them to bear the brunt of the burden.

"As we drove up the appearance of things seemed to confirm my

anticipations. Everything was silent. They had been afraid of the

roaring of the wild beasts disturbing the Meetings, but there was

not a growl to be heard, nor a carriage to be seen, nor even a

pedestrian. It is true we were at the back part of the Circus.

"Hoe came to meet us, however, at the gates, and when asked about

the audience very coolly announced, to our amazement, that they

were _full_. Without any delay, therefore, I mounted the platform,

and the sight that met me certainly was sufficiently surprising to

be actually bewildering. They say the place seated 3,500; it

appeared to be full. It was a simple circle, with a ring set in the

centre. At one end was a little platform seating myself and my

Staff, opposite me was the entrance for the horses, which was

packed by the crowd, while the remaining space, on circle upon

circle, tier upon tier, the audience was to be seen. On the right

hand we had row after row of Queen's soldiers in their red jackets,

lower down the Eurasian and middle-class Europeans, with a few

natives. In the centre we had a very fair proportion of the _élite_

of Calcutta: there was the Lieut.-Governor, the Chief Commissioner

of Police, the Consuls of America and two or three other countries,

some great native swells, ladies bespangled with jewellery and

finery, while on the left was one mass of dark faces reaching right

up to the canvas sky. It was the most picturesque audience I ever

addressed, to say the least of it.

"Our singing of 'Grace is flowing like a river,' was very weak,

still everybody listened, nobody more so than the swell Europeans.

"The solo, 'On Calvary,' was sung with good effect, and then I rose

to do my best. The opportunity put new life into me. I was

announced to speak on 'The Religion of Humanity,' but this did not

seem to me to be the hour for argument of any description; there

was no time for dissertation. I felt I must have something that

went straight to the point. I had been talking to these Brahmo

Samaj and other people upon Social Work, alluring them on

afterwards by indirect arguments long enough. Now I felt that I

must go as straight to the point as it was possible to do. So I

took 'What must I do with Jesus?' and made it fit into 'The

Religion of Humanity' as best I could.

"I never hit out straighter in my life, and was never listened to

with more breathless attention--except for the few wretched natives

in the top seats, who would go out, I guessed, because they did not

know the language, and came perhaps expecting I should be

translated, and after sitting an hour felt that was enough.

However, they soon cleared out, the audience taking no notice of

the process.

"Once done, however, a general movement took place; a Prayer

Meeting was impossible. We retired feeling that a victory had been

gained so far.

"I cannot stop here to speak of the Meeting at which the Brahmo

Samaj presented me with an Address of Welcome the next day.

"All I know is, that nothing surprised me more than to hear some of

the priests and laymen declare that they had gone with me in every

word I had said the night before.

"Other Meetings followed, interviews, visits to the houses of the

leading natives, and with blessings without stint poured upon my

head, and hand-shaking that almost threatened to lame me, the train

tore me away from the packed platform, and I left Calcutta with

unfeigned regret.

"I stayed a night at Benares, and had the Town Hall crowded, with a

leading Hindu in the chair. Quiet Meeting. Landed here (Bombay) six

this morning with a hearty welcome, and, I think, with the promise

of good Meetings, although anything equal to Calcutta is not to be

expected; and the news of the death of the Prince has come in our

way, the news of which we have only just received.

"This will be my last letter, I presume, and I send with it, as

ever, my undiminished affection to you all.

"For THE GENERAL,

"J. C. R.

"Written in a terrible haste."

This was immediately followed by the following final days:--

"Saturday:--

Noon. Interview with Governor.

5.0 p.m. Interview with native Christian Committee.

5.30 p.m. Welcome in pandal; a large temporary structure capable of

holding people, no seating being needed.

"Sunday:--

10.30 a.m. Meeting in pandal.

3.0 p.m. Interview with Indian Judge.

6.0 p.m. Meeting in pandal.

"Monday:--

10.0 a.m. Visit to our Institutions.

3.0 p.m. Visit to General Assembly Institute.

5.30 p.m. Drawing-room Meeting.

8.45 p.m. Meeting of gentlemen at Town Hall.

The Bombay programme further included:--

"Tuesday:--

7.0 a.m. Visit to the Leper Asylum.

Midday. Visit to the Gaekwar of Baroda.

3.0 p.m. Meeting in a pandal.

Evening. Meeting with native Christians.

"Wednesday:--

8.0 a.m. An assembly at the Institute.

8.15 a.m. Interview with a solicitor.

8.30 a.m. Interview with a Parsee engineer.

9.30 a.m. Interview with Pressmen, who took him to see hospital for

animals.

2.0 p.m. Interview with gentleman, who took him to see the

Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute.

4.30 p.m. Reception at Mr. Jamsetjee Tatas.

5.30 p.m. Meeting in the pandal.

9.0 p.m. Lecture in the Framjee Cowasjee Institute to Indian

gentlemen.

"Thursday:--

8.30 a.m. Officers' Meeting.

3.45 p.m. Officers' Meeting.

4.30 p.m. Farewell procession.

5.30 p.m. Farewell Meeting in pandal.

"Friday:--

8.0 a.m. Staff Council.

5.0 p.m. Reception at Mr. Cowasjee Jehangiers. (This was, however,

abandoned on account of Prince Albert Victor's death.)

"Saturday: Sailed for Europe."

Remembering that The General was already nearly sixty-three years old,

such programmes in India might well, fatigue him. But these were easy

days, compared with many country ones of this journey, during which he

traversed Ceylon, visited South India, spoke to some 8,000 Syrian

Christians, and, calling at Madras and Calcutta, went on to the Punjab

and Guzerat. His final days in Bombay were, as we have seen, clouded by

a bereavement of the Royal House. But to his telegram to the Prince and

Princess of Wales (now King George and Queen Mary), he got the cabled

reply:--

"Their Royal Highnesses' thanks for your prayers and sympathy."

It had thus already been seen that The General's plans for India were

answering their purpose. It became possible first to march large parties

through various tracts of country, so impressing thousands in a few days

more than the isolated labours of the best individuals could have done

in the course of years, and then it came to learn later from Officers

placed amongst them. All this The General knew could not mean all that

it would have meant amongst peoples who understood more perfectly our

teachings; but he saw no reason for not making the most of such

incidents. Why not abandon, so far as such people were concerned, our

system elsewhere, and recognise them as "Adherents," leaving them to

learn after, from Officers placed amongst them, all that was necessary

for them to become Salvation Soldiers. By this plan we avoided any

watering-down of our teachings or requirements, and yet those who were

not fit to be enrolled in our ranks were able, so far as they chose, to

abandon idolatry and every evil practice, to get the advantages of

Christian schooling for their children, and generally to improve

themselves, under our influence.

Famines, epidemics of cholera and plague, and other general calamities

really helped us to increase our influence in various districts. We

gathered many orphans and abandoned children and brought them up as our

own, whilst over wide tracts of country the people learnt to look upon

us as a family of "brothers born for adversity," whose help could be

relied upon not merely with regard to heavenly but to earthly things.

The barriers of caste, which bind Indians to treat each other to so

large an extent as if they were enemies are naturally a constant and

serious hindrance to us, especially as most of our people naturally

belong to the lower castes, or are even outcasts. And our plan of

organisation has helped us wonderfully in this matter, for the villager

of Guzerat, or Ceylon, who might be very greatly hampered amongst his

own natural surroundings, may be placed in an infinitely better position

in some other part of the country. Indians are marvellously quick at

learning languages, so that we need seldom hesitate about their

usefulness in any new appointment on account of difference of language.

And thus it has come about that we have already, after some thirty

years' work, nearly 2,000 Indian Officers, as absolutely devoted to the

service of Christ as any of their comrades of any other land. And the

forces under their command have shown already that they can deal

effectively with peoples utterly inaccessible to the ordinary Europeans.

The Bheels, when we first went amongst them, were all armed with bows

and arrows, living entirely by the chase, and so terrified at any sign

of officialism that our Officers had to avoid taking a scrap of paper

with them when visiting their districts. But we have now many Bheel

villages entirely under our teaching, and quite a number of Bheel

Officers who have learnt to read their own language, and to lead their

countrymen as fully to follow Christ as they do themselves.

So many of our people in Guzerat were weavers that one Officer set

himself specially to the task of improving their loom. He was soon able

to make one with which they could double their daily product. The making

of these looms created a new industry, also, so that we have been able

thus to help many. In India we have also commenced in three of our

Territories medical work, making it, after first cost of buildings,

equipment, and Staff, largely self-supporting, as we found that the

people really appreciated help more for which they were called upon to

make ever so small a return.

In the same way, respecting all our work, The General has always urged

the importance of applying, as far as possible, our general rule of

self-support; for though the people may have very little to give, the

very least they can do helps to protect us from the prejudice created by

the term "rice Christians," applied to those who are believed to have

made professions of Christianity for the sake of the food they hope to

receive.

And now the Government, having seen the practical effect of our work,

are beginning to give us opportunities such as we never had before. The

Doms, a tribe systematically trained to live by thieving, were placed

under our special care, and the result was such as to lead to our having

other unmanageables likewise given over to us. In fact, we are barely

now beginning to reap in India what in twenty-eight arduous years had

been sown.

Does some one ask, Where does The General's own hand appear in much of

this? Is it not all rather due to his having from the beginning, had so

able a helper, acquainted with the languages and mental habits of the

country, and other exceptionally able Officers both here and there?

Even if it were so, I should ask how all these people of ability placed

themselves so absolutely at The General's disposal as to wish to spend

all their lives under his direction in the greatest poverty in that

far-away land? And I should inquire, further, how it came to pass that

British, French, American, Swedish, Swiss, Dutch, and others could be

got to submit, not only to work in union under the same "iron"

regulations, but often under the leadership of women, and often under

that of Indian Staff Officers? Who else but General Booth has ever

attempted to place under command of a woman a missionary work, carried

on largely by men, over a territory larger and more populous than the

United Kingdom? Yet, undoubtedly, nothing has more contributed to the

success of our work in a country where women have been so largely

repressed, as the fact that The Army has thus demonstrated its

confidence in God's power to lift up the weakest to the uttermost

degree.

Nobody who reflects on these things will dispute that whatever The Army

has done for India has been due most of all to its first General. And so

surely as the knowledge of what is already done grows, shall we be

allowed to do more and more to show India what Christ really desires,

and so to capture it for Him.

In connexion with all our Indian work, one vastly important part of The

General's work comes ever before us, whether we think of Commissioner

Booth-Tucker or of one of his humblest native helpers.

Commonly enough in recent times The General was honoured because he had

won from the path of vice to that of virtue some notorious sinner. But

did he not even more remarkably earn the general gratitude by changing

the comparatively helpless and uninfluential, though well-meaning, into

enterprising and widely useful leaders in good work? How many millions

of people he has taught or urged to sing:--

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

That grand verse was well known in this country, and widely sung, of

course, long before he was born. But alas! how many sing it even now

"with the understanding"?

How many thousands of choice spirits first learnt, under The General's

direction, to look fairly at the immensity of their responsibility to

God, as they sang that and similar verses? And how many only found out,

as ever-widening responsibilities were pressed upon them, how great

their "all" really could become. The humble labourer, without any great

speaking ability, and often involved in a struggle to earn the barest

livelihood for himself and family, was taught how to share in seeking

the Salvation of men. To-day he has become a well-known benefactor in

one way or another to thousands of his fellow-townsmen, and his

children, in the Far East or West, are helping to realise his grandest

thoughts of winning the whole world for God.

This result would never have come about simply by the reading and

singing of the most beautiful words. But the man who was first of all

made responsible, perhaps, only for the keeping of a Hall door, learnt

with astonishing rapidity how much our common life could accomplish for

God, and went on expanding in thought and purpose, as his

responsibilities were increased, until he became not merely a local

leader in every form of Salvationist effort, but a foreman or tradesman

exercising a widespread influence amongst his fellow-townsmen for all

that is good, and urging thousands of a younger generation forward in

every way, to the glory of God and the advancement of their country.

Such development, when it comes to be applied, say, to an educated lady,

produces one of those wise mothers of mankind whose practical counsels

and help are being sought by the greatest cities in these days, when men

have found out what largeness of both heart and understanding are often

to be found under a Salvation Army bonnet.

Chapter XVI

South Africa and Colonisation

The General visited South Africa three times--in 1891, 1895, and 1908.

His visits were very largely dominated, as will be seen, by the idea

that in South Africa good and abundant space could be found for Over-Sea

Colonies; enough space, in fact, to accommodate all the surplus

population of England.

The following extract from the record of his first journey is taken, in

the main, from one of his "letters to my children," dated from

Kimberley:--

"The afternoon Meeting was a select gathering, with the Mayor in

the chair. Most of the ministers of the district were present. I

talked with freedom, questions were proposed, and I carried the

audience with me.

"At night we had a Social Meeting in the amphitheatre, which was

well filled. The ex-Mayor presided. I do not know how long I

talked, but they say two hours. Everybody was much interested. The

doctor with whom I was staying, and a brother physician, came into

the house and thanked me for my 'magnificent speech,' giving £5 to

the fund for which we were collecting.

"I was very glad to get to bed, and to find that I had not taken a

serious cold, for everything was open behind me in the theatre, and

the night was piercingly cold, whilst I perspired with the exertion

of speaking, and felt the wind blowing at my back, striking me like

a wet blanket. I was very tired.

"Tuesday.--Officers' Meetings all day. If I had been pleased with

what I saw of the Officers before, I was more so to-day. Their

eagerness to hear, and quickness to understand, the readiness with

which they assented to every call and everything laid before them,

was delightful. No body of men more simple or apparently ready for

action ever sat before me.

"At night I endeavoured to deal with their hearts, making clear

what a full consecration to the War included, and appealing to

them for it. I don't think I ever gave a more heart-searching

address, and it awoke a solemn feeling, almost amounting to gloom,

which settled down upon every soul. You could see it in their

faces. The knife of conviction pierced them through and through, as

I called up the particulars in which they came short of that life

of love, sacrifice, and service which the War demanded. We then

cleared the decks, inviting those who felt condemned in regard to

the past, and who were willing to make the surrender, to come out.

The first to roll up was about as handsome a fellow as I ever saw,

a Cornish-man, who fell down and began to cry out aloud to God.

Others followed, and before we finished I suppose we should have

nearly seventy down, row after row, sincere, beautiful cases. Some

of the testimonies that followed were delightful. T. was one of the

first to come out, and he confessed down to the ground, and wept

like a child, the whole audience being much moved. It was ten

o'clock when I got home, having talked nearly seven hours, and I

was glad to get to bed.

"Wednesday.--Officers' Meeting in the morning. A very precious time

on matters of detail, which I believe helped the Officers very

much."

Only those who thoroughly take in the meaning of these Officers'

Meetings can hope to understand The General's hold upon The Army, or the

value of his various journeys, for such Meetings had far more to do with

the success of his work than any of his great public gatherings. He

frequently uses the word "simple" in describing Officers, meaning men

who have not got so much puffed up by applause as to be incapable of

seeing their defects, and learning how to do better.

Can it be necessary to remind the reader that in The Army no

distinctions of race, country, age or colour exist, so far as Officers

are concerned? When it is inevitable to have together in one Officers'

Meeting groups who do not speak the language chiefly employed, some one

of their number is so placed amongst the group as to be able to

translate to them The General's addresses.

Here we have a gathering of men and women from near and far, most of

whom must needs carry on their work amidst small communities living very

widely apart, and where they could very rarely see another Officer, or

be visited by any leader. To bring all these up before the tribunal of

their own consciences as to the extent to which they had discharged all

the obligations they took upon them when they first engaged to form and

lead on the forces whose duties, in so vast a territory, must be too

varied and too difficult to prescribe by any fixed routine, could not

but be of priceless value. Would to God that all persons engaged in

missionary work were periodically passed through such examinations, by

fire! How easily may any one in such solitary spheres yield to

discouragement, or to some ill-feeling towards a predecessor in the same

appointment, or towards some leader who has not seemed sympathetic

enough!

Remembering that each of these has to go back to some position of lonely

toil, with no guarantee of salary, and no prospect of improving

circumstances, in a country whose large towns could be counted on the

fingers of one hand, you can understand the supreme importance and the

after-effect of such Meetings. The letter goes on:--

"On this and the previous day, my host, the Doctor, had invited

guests to meet me at luncheon. Yesterday we had the ministers, who

were mostly very friendly and sympathetic. As the Doctor put it,

'To-day we had the sinners,' who he reckoned were by far the most

enjoyable--Judges, Commissioners of Crown Lands, etc. All were very

respectful, and, to say the least of it, were in sympathy with my

Social scheme, if not actually having strong faith in its success.

"I had some further conversation with a member of the South African

Cabinet, who said he was on the most intimate terms both with the

leaders of the Afrikander Bund, and with Mr. Rhodes. He was quite

sure that however any one from political motives, might disguise

their feelings, they were equally in sympathy with me. We had some

conversation as to the co-operation of the authorities, supposing

lazy people turned out unwilling to carry out the engagements they

might sign in England. He said he felt sure if anything were

wanting in present law to ensure authority being respected, that it

would readily be remedied."

This has reference to the scheme of an Over-Sea Colony in South Africa

with which The General had been occupied ever since 1890. He, of course,

always foresaw the risk that persons, who were sent out in connexion

with such a plan, might see in the colonies an easier career than that

of the cultivation of land, and that there must needs be some assurance

of their being held to their agreement in any such case. He goes on:--

"At night, Farewell Meeting in the amphitheatre. It was a

considerable strain on me, as I hadn't a minute to prepare. I had

promised myself a couple of hours in the afternoon, when some Dutch

ministers came down upon me to open a Y.W.C.A. building that they

had just converted from a low public-house at Beaconsfield a suburb

of Kimberley. If I would only go for half an hour they would be so

grateful. I couldn't refuse, so my bit of leisure was seized upon.

"However, we had a very good Meeting. We were nearly full. I made a

new speech which went, I thought, with considerable power, and then

commissioned separate detachments for operations amongst the Zulus

and Swazis--outriders for the Orange Free State, and Officers for

various branches of Social Work. The leaders of each detachment

spoke very well indeed. Promising fellows, all of them.

"At the close of the public Meeting I had to have another for

Soldiers, Officers, and Auxiliaries. This I was compelled to

conclude earlier than I should otherwise have done by the

announcement that the electric light would soon give out. However,

we had a very nice finish, and I got to bed about 11.30.

"Thursday.--Breakfast with the Staff Officers at 8. An hour and

three-quarters' good straight talk afterwards with beautiful

influence, everybody so tender. At the close I said, 'Now let us

kneel down,' and after a little prayer asked them to link hands

with me, and let us give ourselves up again to Jesus for the

service of God and The Army."

Such tender-hearted linkings together of those who have the leadership

of The Army's various departments have alone prevented the separations

of heart that must inevitably be threatened wherever a number of very

strong-willed men and women are engaged in labours into which they throw

their whole soul, and in which they cannot, perhaps should not, avoid

the feeling that their own department is, after all, the most important

in the world. But any one who thinks will understand how men and women

so blended together in fellowship with God and each other have been able

to override all contrary influences in every country.

"E. (the leader of our Work in South Africa) then turned to me"

(the letter goes on) "and made a few appropriate remarks about his

own devotion to The Army, and on behalf of every Officer, present

and absent, assured me that they loved The Army as it was, and did

not want any alterations in _Orders_ or _Regulations_, and were

prepared to live and die in the War. I don't remember anything more

tender and affecting on the conclusion of a Council.

"I shook hands all round and we parted. God bless them. I made a

hasty call at the Rescue Home, and was very pleased with it--a

really nice little place.

"The platform at the station was crowded. A passage was made for

me; but I readily reached the compartment, and having five minutes

or so made a little speech, which was received with volley after

volley, and cheer after cheer. There was a good deal of

handshaking, any number of 'God bless you's,' and the train bore me

away from a people with whom I have certainly had a really hearty

and happy fellowship.

"I should have said that, by request of my host, I went through a

kind of board school, in a very commodious and suitable building. I

saw room after room so far as I could judge of the happiest,

healthiest, and I might say, most beautiful lot of children it was

ever my privilege to see. They ought to make a splendid body of men

and women for the future.

"Friday.--I did not get on very well last night with the 'plank

bed' or shelf which was dignified with the name of a sleeping

berth. There was very little spring and no cushion. Moreover, I had

heartburn. It was a cold night, and altogether I was glad when

daylight came. The sun came out, and it was just as hot by noon as

it had been cold at night.

"We stopped at Cradock a little time, where a gentleman interviewed

me with regard to 80,000 acres of land possessed by some syndicate

of the town at Prieska, up beyond Kimberley. This kind of thing

happens almost every day.

"At a station a little further on quite a crowd of Salvationists

and others had gathered. I could not see any sign of a town beyond

two or three shanties. I used to think some of the places that had

been dignified by the name of 'cities' in Canada were rather

grotesque; but here it is carried to a greater extreme. However,

they must have some method of distinguishing the place of ingress

and egress from the train, and perhaps they are named in the hope

of becoming what they are said to be--things that are spoken of as

if they were.

"Well, on the platform was as picturesque and motley a crowd as

well could be imagined. I only wished at the moment the pencil of

some artist had been there to have painted the Kafirs in their

showy turbans and half-naked bodies, the women with babies on their

backs, and the whites of various ranks and conditions, all mixed up

with Salvationists. Among others was a Salvationist old woman,

half-caste, who had trudged over the mountain fourteen miles from

Somerset East, with a big drum over her shoulders, travelling

during the night in order to get a glimpse of The General. All at

once, whilst the people stared, she struck up a lively chorus,

leading the singing, and beating the drum most vigorously. Then

followed the choruses: 'No, we never, never, never will give in,'

'Never say die,' and 'Steadily keep advancing,' etc. I beckoned to

her, shook hands with her, wrote her name in a copy of _Aggressive

Christianity_ in the presence of the crowd, and gave it to her, all

of which was interpreted to her, as she spoke only Dutch. Then she

wound up in good English with 'Victory for me, through the Blood of

Christ my Saviour.' The little scene altogether was very striking."

Yes, surely that scene was striking for every one, and for evermore.

That union of races and languages to the glory of Christ, and for the

highest well-being of the whole world; that valuing of the humblest true

Soldier of the Cross above all the great ones of this world, accounts

for the creation, maintenance, and spread of The Army wherever they are

seen.

The following report of one of his Meetings with the natives fairly

represents one of them:--

"The room could not contain the people who wished to listen to the

General. Dark faces were to be seen at every window. The General

did not talk at them, but he talked into them, and their close

attention and many 'Amen!' showed that he was well understood. No

sooner had he ceased talking than the mercy-seat was filled, and at

least a hundred came to Christ to seek deliverance from sin, and

the supplying of their hearts' needs. Amongst the number were eight

or nine women from Central Africa; they had been brought down for

immoral purposes, but the Army had got hold of them and rescued

them.

"Ere the General turned away he gave them still further advice as

follows:

"'My heart is drawn out to you. I am going a long way off, but I

want you to think of me, and when you think of me, I want you to

pray for me. Be decided to fight for Jesus. God will be on your

side. Go in and get all your people saved, and be the friends of

all. Before I go I should like to know who have made up their minds

to trust God,'--and up went a hundred hands. 'That's right. Now all

who have made up their minds to meet me in Heaven raise their hands

again'--and once more every hand went up, this time accompanied by

a tremendous shout."

These journeys to South Africa were, indeed, taken together, amongst the

most painful lessons of The General's life as to the smallness of hope

from the great ones of this world. The first visit, paid on the swell of

the first admiration for the "Darkest England" Scheme, filled him with

great expectations; and no wonder, for everywhere at that time

Governments, municipalities, and wealthy magnates talked as if they were

ready to assist him immediately to place the deserving, though poor,

crowds of the Old Country on the magnificent tracts of land he saw

everywhere unoccupied, or very slightly used.

But "Governments" of the elected type come and go, making the most

lavish promises and denouncing "the other party," who, on turning them

out, do ditto. And so it came to pass that The General made his third

journey to South Africa, in 1908, when seventy-nine years of age. His

life ran serious risk, because his going to Rhodesia himself was

considered indispensable in order so to impress some British or South

African "statesmen" that they might give him the needed help to

establish an Over-Sea Colony there. And, then, all the "statesmen"

denounced to Colonel Kitching by one of themselves as "a set of

----fools" say that "nothing can be done at present." And the old man

returns to die with his great dream unrealised.

[Illustration: MRS. BRAMWELL BOOTH]

The following account of one journey taken by Colonel Kitching alone,

who was not only his Secretary but his representative in many directions

throughout his latest years, shows the loving willingness of an Army

Secretary to do and bear anything for Christ's sake, and, what our Staff

Officers generally understand by the words "indefatigable," and

"unconquerable":--

"After a long journey of thirty hours I reached ---- railway

station, expecting, in the virgin simplicity of my youthful mind,

to find his place within sight--perhaps across a couple of

stiles--instead of which I found that it was thirty-six miles or

more--four hours' drive in a Cape cart. The only 'boy' at the

station with a vehicle was engaged, so I bade him come back again

for me as soon as he had got rid of his fare, which he did in

something over an hour, although he had said he should be 'back in

a second.' When he did come he was unwilling to take me without his

baas' leave, so we set off to find the baas; he was not at his

house nor at his stable; he might be at church. I went and routed

him out of his devotions, finally bargaining with him to take me

there and back for £3!

"Now Mr. ----'s 'farm' comprises some eighteen or twenty different

farms, of which about 160,000 acres are in one block, and some

80,000 acres more in three or four separate pieces. Each of these

farms is managed by a farmer who is responsible to the top manager,

who also has charge of one of the individual farms. My destination

was a farm where Mr. ---- was believed by the railway people to be

that day.

"The first half of the ride we were cooked in the sun; then

darkness came on--black darkness; then some ominous drops of rain,

which were soon _sheets_ instead of _drops_, and such thunder and

lightning as I never want to hear or see again in this life.

"I was afraid we should get lost in the dark; for, although it was

called a 'main road,' it was in reality merely a _track_--not that

in many places--with any amount of 1 ft., 2 ft., 3 ft., and 4 ft.

holes (no, I draw the line at the 3 ft. holes, upon consideration);

but my driver, who dignified himself with the title of 'mail

contractor,' was sure that his horses could find the way in the

darkest darkness, as they do the journey each way twice every week.

But when the darkness got so dense that we could not even see the

horses except when it lightened, even he grew doubtful, remembered

that he _himself_ had not driven them along that road for more than

eight months (though his boy had done), and he thought that we had

better stand still where we were till the storm was over and the

moon rose; but I knew the moon would not rise till 10.30, and we

were already about eighteen miles from anywhere!

"My entreaties that he should proceed met with success, and the

result that we lost the road twice, got into a deep hole and

capsized--the whole caboose.

"When at last we reached the farm, it was to be met with the

announcement that Mr. ---- had left there the previous day, and was

believed now to be about twenty-six miles (three hours nearly)

further on.

"I was soaked to the skin, as hungry as a hunter, and dead beat

into the bargain. The farm manager insisted that I must stay the

night--it was imposible to go on in that storm--and go on in the

morning.

"This is a little world. Mr. ---- had mentioned my name in speaking

to him of The General's visit to Johannesburg, and he had

remembered it as that of the only Salvation Army Officer from whom

he had ever received a letter. Ten years ago or more he had

addressed some inquiry or other to Headquarters, and I had written

him in reply.

"The next morning I drove on to -----, and found Mr. ----in his

orchard. He had not received The General's wire saying I was coming

for the simple reason that, not wanting to be bothered with mails

or telegrams for a couple of days, he had instructed the post

office people to forward all his dispatches to a place which he did

not intend to go until the next day!"

If public receptions at railway stations, speeches and addresses by

Governors, Mayors, and Ministers, and Press eulogies could have

satisfied him, The General could not but have been delighted with South

Africa, as the following extracts may show. In _The Ladysmith Gazette_

we read:--

"General Booth has flashed past Ladysmith like a meteor, but I am

inclined to think he has left a trail of light behind him. It is

fifteen years since I last saw the Leader of The Salvation Army.

Those fifteen years have made but little alteration in the man.

There is the same old Saxon profile, the same storm-defying,

weather-beaten, almost eagle-eyed features, and the same slightly

rasping, but intensely interesting in its earnestness, voice.

"There is plenty of strength still in that patriarchal figure, and

with the exception of a slight stoop The General is as vigorous as

he was fifteen years ago. In appearance, The General reminded

myself of Canon Kingsley. They have the same Anglo-Saxon,

falcon-like features, and the same indomitable energy and courage.

Canon Kingsley was not so well provided with hair as The General;

but, on the contrary, he could boast of a more prominent nasal

organ. Both men had flashing eyes, deeply-set and overhanging

eyebrows, giving force and determination to the face.

"Both the late Canon and General Booth were equally sturdy

specimens of Saxon descent, and both worked for the masses. Canon

Kingsley, as he would admit to-day, was before his time, and in

aiding the Chartist movement made a fatal mistake. Canon Kingsley,

as shown in _Alton Locke_, endeavoured to raise the masses to

heights attainable only by men of education and men of thought, and

to-day the recoil of that pernicious doctrine is being felt.

"General Booth places a man in the position God intended him to

occupy, and if the man can raise himself higher by strenuous effort

then well and good.

"The Salvation of General Booth is the true Salvation--the

Salvation of regeneration, and the world's thinkers are surely

recognising the fact that The Salvation Army is a factor to be

reckoned with. General Booth and his people have succeeded when all

others have failed."

_The Rhodesia Herald_, of Salisbury, said:--

"General Booth has well been called the Grand Old Man of The

Salvation Army, for undoubtedly it is his remarkable personality

and fierce energy which has made The Army what it is to-day, and

has enabled it to do a work which no other religious organisation

has attempted to do on anything like the same scale, and to reach a

section of the people who remained untouched by the more orthodox

methods of other bodies. It is not so very many years ago that

branches of The Army in many towns in the United Kingdom were

striving to make headway against most determined

opposition--opposition employing methods of which the authors soon

became heartily ashamed. Yet to-day, the different branches of The

Army are doing their work, not only unmolested, but helped and

encouraged by all classes of the community. And this because The

Army has wrung recognition by transparent honesty of purpose, and

unceasing efforts to help those most in need of help and

encouragement. As the aged General put it on his arrival in

Johannesburg, the Organisation of which he is the mainspring has

set before itself the task of giving a helping hand to the very

poor, those who are without friends, and those who have fallen in

the battle of life."

The members of the Cape Town and district Evangelical Church Council in

their address to General William Booth, D.C.L., said:--

"We have been deeply touched by the energy, the wisdom, and the

consecration with which you carry on your work at a period of life

when most men have retired from active service.

"We would join with our brethren of the Christian Churches

throughout the world in assuring you of our admiration, mixed with

our wonder, at the success which has attended your labours for the

Salvation of the most helpless and degraded members of our race.

"Hand in hand with your efforts for the Salvation of the souls of

the fallen have gone a true Christlike care for the bodies of the

unfortunate, and an attempt to stem the current of social evil and

degeneracy.

"We are deeply interested in your experiments in colonising those

parts of our Empire which are at present sparsely populated, and

thus relieving the tension of social problems in the larger cities

of Great Britain, and that congestion of population which is a

fruitful source of individual and of social degradation.

"We trust your visit to South Africa may result in the settlement

in the rich lands now untilled of a population, which by its

industry, thrift, and character will compare with those of Canada,

New Zealand, and Australia.

"We rejoice that the great Captain of Salvation continues to lead

the Organisation, of which you are the head and heart in one, to

great victories over the forces of evil, and assure you that in

this land we recognise The Salvation Army as a powerful force for

the spiritual and social uplift of the people. It is always a

pleasure for the Churches we represent to render any aid in our

power to an Organisation for whose members and whose work we have

the deepest regard.

"It is the earnest prayer of the Council that your visit may be

full of blessing to your community, that it may result in a fresh

infusion of hope and enthusiasm into the hearts of your

fellow-workers, and that God may abundantly fill you with spiritual

and physical energy in the fulfilment of the great enterprise on

which you have entered.

"_August 26_, 1908."

The address of the Bloemfontein Town Council very carefully avoids any

reference to the proposed Over-Sea Colony. Perhaps the whole secret of

South Africa's indifference to it is revealed in the following extract

from a paper, whose name we omit, lest any appearance of hostility to

any locality or any element in that enormous country should seem to have

crept into our feelings here.

After half a column of compliments as to his good work and intentions

the editorial gentleman, not of Bloemfontein, goes on with his great

"But" as follows:--

"But the social elevation, or the spiritual conversion of the boozy

scum of a European nation may not be advanced at the cost of the

well-being of our own people. We protest most earnestly against

that at once. It does not matter whether he has fixed his eye upon

Rhodesia or the Kalahari desert--these lands belong geographically

to South Africa, and we need it for its own peoples. True, we have

plenty of territory, even for others who may wish to come and

settle amongst us, and wish to be of us.

"But we have no room for the 'submerged tenth' of any other nation

whatever."

In vain did The General keep explaining in every land he visited that he

had never thought of, or made any plan for, "dumping" crowds of wastrels

on any country, but only such people as had been tested and proved fit

for such an opportunity as they could not get in overcrowded countries.

There was always the same loud and continued applause for "his noble

work," and, then, almost everywhere--not often with the honest

outspokenness of that newspaper--the same "I pray thee have _me_ (my

country) excused from receiving this Colony."

And then the old man would give the tiny handfuls who, thanks to insane

constitutionalism, have been left to monopolise vast areas of the

earth, warnings of the future that may be remembered by generations to

come. Whilst in South Africa he was gladdened by receiving the following

report as to the multitudes he was sending out to Canada:--

"Emigrated from October, 1903, to July 31, 1908, 36,308; of whom

were assisted by loan, 9,400; total amounts advanced, £38,375;

total amounts repaid (within first five years _already_!), £5,112."

But as to South Africa, he grasped the main feature of the situation

there; and thus wrote, in words that may be remembered, _not only in

that country,_ when, for the British Empire, it is for ever too late:--

"The more I see of this country, the more I am convinced of the

folly of the controversy that prevails in some minds, and of the

fears that are entertained about the predominance of the Dutch

element. Before many years have passed the question will not be as

to what nation of whites shall have the mastery, but whether the

whites will have any mastery at all; not whether it shall be Dutch

land or British land, but whether it shall be a white man's land.

The undisputed growth in intelligence of the African and Indian

combined will soon give them so great a preponderance that they

will capture the agriculture and trade generally.

"What is to hinder them from the capture of the mineral production,

and the mastery of the country in general? There is only one way

for the white man, and that is to add to his numbers such as will

join him in the struggle, and to convert the coloured element to

righteousness and truth and honesty and industry.

"I want to help them, but they cannot see far enough.

"These are the sentiments that ought to be pressed upon the

attention of our government."

Here is another letter which is valuable especially for the light it

gives with regard to The General's careful examination during his

journeys into all that concerned the efficiency of The Army and of every

leading Officer in it:--

"I have not said much about the character and condition of the work

generally, having reserved my ideas for the closing of my

correspondence.

"In a general way, however, I will make a few observations:--

"1. The Territory must certainly be in better form than it has ever

been before. This, considering the havoc made by the war, is saying

a good deal. There are more Corps, more Officers, more Soldiers,

plenty of money to meet their requirements, and as much favourable

public opinion as is good for them, perhaps a little more.

"2. So far as we have had opportunity for observation, the Officers

and Soldiers appear to be in good spirits.

"3. Some important advances are under consideration, or in

progress, in the direction of properties, both Social and

Spiritual.

"4. Several very remarkable Revivals have taken place.

"5. The Commissioner appears to be much improved.

"6. The more I see of ---- the more I like him, and my impression

is confirmed that he is a long way the best man in the country for

dealing with the natives.

"7. The Commissioner thinks that what there is to be known as to

cattle, land, products, etc., is known to ----. I love him very

much.

"8. The same applies very largely to ----. What he does know he may

know better than ----, though I am not sure whether his knowledge

is so extensive.

"9. I have seen little of ----; but he is said to be very

successful in his present appointment. Two gentlemen who have been

inspecting his place say they could not have believed that such

wonderful results could have been achieved in so unlikely a place.

"10. This man, ----, has sat on the platform, and prayed when he

has been called upon to pray; but he has done nothing more. I shall

instruct K., I think, to ask him a few questions, one of which will

be whether he is willing to take a position in another part of the

world."

Of course, I am only snatching such sentences as convey the main ideas,

without their fuller development, which would risk indicating the

persons referred to.

Will it be believed that, whilst this octogenarian was toiling in the

heat to prepare if he could a brighter future for some of the poor, a

syndicate of slanderers in London, some well educated, some of the

Trafalgar Square bawler type, were seeking to bless "the British

public" by enlightening them as to his selfish and foolish designs upon

them? According to their theories his every new scheme was only brought

forth to turn aside attention from his entire failure, and ensure a

continuous flow of money into his coffers!

Perhaps, the best feature of all about his "dreams" was that they never

became less cheery for all that, and their continuously increasing

infection of the world, despite every attack.

The General writes, after his great Meeting with some of our native

comrades as reported in connexion with his final Congress:--

"I have been much occupied, as I have already told you I expected

to be, with the _Native Question_; and I am satisfied that one of

the greatest things ever done in the history of the world can be

done here, and I am determined to make an attempt to do it.

"I do not say that our chance is _greater_ than it is in

India--though I am not sure whether it does not equal it in many

ways. Anyway, it appears to me that it is open to us to realise a

mighty success."

Chapter XVII

Japanese Heroism

Japan, amidst all the records of its modern progress, must certainly

count the honour of having properly recognised the value of The General

and his Army before the old "Christian" countries of Europe did so.

The Army's beginning in Japan was almost laughable in its feebleness.

The little company of Officers sent out by The General, in 1895, were

indeed truly devoted, and in their anxiety to be from the first "as

Japanese to the Japanese," were so taken in whilst halting in Hong Kong

that they landed in the most extraordinary garments--and it was a long

time before they seemed likely to make any impression upon the

non-Christian Japanese. But upon the Christians they, undoubtedly, made,

from the first, an excellent mark.

With all their lack of knowledge of the language, there could be no

mistake about their willingness to learn, and to be the servants of all

men. It was clear that they possessed those two great qualifications for

Apostolic success, an unlimited readiness for hard work, and an

unbounded faith in the will and power of Christ to save. Their first

interpreter, a student anxious to do his uttermost for Christ and his

country, was speedily won over completely to their side, and as he was

already known amongst the Pressmen, this became a very great help to the

progress of their work generally.

Yet, under several successive leaders, they toiled on for some years

with but little prospect. The language is one of the most difficult

imaginable for foreigners to learn, and, although there was from the

first great liberty as to Open-Air Meetings, and congregations were

gathered outdoors and into the little Halls that were contrived out of

shops and dwelling-houses, it seemed likely to prove slow work to raise

a Japanese force.

But all at once, in 1902, God gave the little company a great

opportunity. For years already some faithful Japanese under missionary

influences, had been lamenting the position of the girls given over to

immorality, who were severed for life from the rest of the community,

and kept under police supervision, in a special quarter called the

Yoshiwara of each city, as well as cut off from all the hopes of the

Gospel. A law had indeed been passed allowing such girls as might wish

to abandon their awful calling to do so; but it was so administered as

practically to remain a dead letter.

"Why," thought our leaders, "should we not issue a special edition of

our _War Cry_, explaining Christ's love and power to save the deepest

sunken in sin, and our Rescue Work, and then go and sell it in the

Yoshiwara?"

The idea was carried out, and, to all appearance, the first day, with

wonderful success. The great companies of pleasure-seekers saw in the

"Paper" a novelty of interest and bought and read it eagerly. But it was

far too great a success to please the brothel keepers, who at once hired

men to attack _The War Cry_ sellers, should they repeat their invasion.

When it became known that our Officers had thus been attacked, reporters

of the Tokio and Yokohama papers hurried to see the, for Japan, unusual

sight, and then the whole Press of the country came out strongly on our

side. We were fully recognised as the loving friends of the friendless

and oppressed, and from that day our standing in the country was

assured.

Not many girls were gathered into our little Rescue Home; but thousands

learnt the way of escape from their houses of bondage, and within a few

years many thousands returned to their old homes all over the country.

It should be explained that the brothels were really supplied as a

result of the heroic devotion of the girls to their parents and homes.

It was common for a girl, in any time of extra want or destitution, to

suggest or consent to her sale to one of the bad houses for the relief

of her family. This fact, however, of course increased both the

national sympathy for the victims, and the high appreciation of our care

for them.

But the main thing, after all, in all this action was the revelation of

an Army, unable as yet to make itself well understood in words but

capable of thus manifesting its resolution to fight for the liberation

of all men from the power of sin.

We had issued already a _Common People's Gospel_, written by our Chief

Secretary, Colonel Vamamuro, which gave a very clear explanation of our

teachings and system. This book was not only a sort of harmony of the

Gospels, but explained how we understand and teach the Salvation Christ

bought for us all. This Gospel came to be appreciated and utilised by

almost all the missions in the country, and greatly helped us also in

making clear our meaning to the nation. By its sale, as well as that of

_The War Cry,_ throughout the country very many, even of those who were

too far off for it to be possible for them to attend any of our

Meetings, were led to Christ.

And thus steadily, though slowly, we made our way, until we had Corps in

most of the great cities, and became known generally wherever there were

thinking and reading people. Our Halls were, and still are, very small,

it being almost impossible to find either large ones hireable, or large

spaces available for building upon, in the great cities. Yet marvellous

were the displays of God's power to save in the little rooms, which were

packed to the doors night after night, and in the Open-Air Meetings. Our

leaders in the country, for several years, were Officers who, amidst the

multitudes of India, or of the slums of London had seen how souls could

be won, in spite of every outward disadvantage, by the irresistible

power of the Holy Ghost. And thus the numbers of our Japanese Soldiers

and Officers steadily grew. Just as in England, men who had been

notorious in sin became equally notorious witnesses for Jesus. Japan is

a great country for holiday festivals, when all the streets are by day

beflagged and by night illuminated with Chinese lanterns, almost the

whole population turning out on such occasions. Our troops naturally

made the most of such days, and it became a common thing to see men and

even women kneeling in an Open-Air Meeting to seek Salvation.

So when it was announced, in 1907, that The General was coming, Japan

resolved to give him a welcome such as he had never had before. That a

man should undertake, at seventy-eight years of age, such a journey, was

felt to be a tribute both to the country and to the man himself, and

there was a desire, if anything more in non-Christian than in Christian

circles to hear him, and do him honour.

"Tell him," said a Tokio editor, "that he is coming to a country such as

he has never before visited--which can appreciate self-sacrifice, as we

have shown in the late war."

And from the moment when his steamer entered Yokohama Harbour to that of

his departure, nothing was omitted that could open his way to the ears

and hearts of the entire nation. I had the pleasure myself to witness

those unforgettable scenes, and to notice The General's own astonishment

at the universal interest of the people. In each city he found the

railway station decorated. A platform was erected, generally in some

public space, whence he could address the multitudes who came out to

hear him. The largest public buildings were crowded for his indoor

services, and hundreds came out publicly in reply to his appeals for

their surrender to Christ.

Not only was he received by the late Emperor in his palace, and welcomed

to every provincial centre by the Governors of the Provinces, and the

Mayors of the Cities, but again and again the most eminent men gave him

opportunities to plead with them for Christ. What a sight it was to see

the great platform crowded with all the chief men of a city, singing

like the rest of the audience "Stand up, stand up for Jesus." The

General was accepted by almost unanimous consent, as representing a life

of entire self-abandonment to the glory of God and the Salvation of the

lost, and far beyond anything even that at the moment appeared, was his

Campaign a general victory for the Saviour.

There could be no mistake as to the message he delivered, for, even to

the vast crowds of students gathered in the quadrangle of the

University, or in and around the Theatre of Kobe to hear him, he stood

and cried in no new terms, although with due adaptation to their ways of

thought, just as he might have cried to any English audience, that God

demanded and deserved a whole-hearted, life-long service from every one.

"What?" asked the Ambassador of a great power, "Do you really want me to

come out on to the stage and confess my sins before everybody?" when a

woman-Officer invited him to one of The General's last Meetings. Had His

Excellency done so, no Japanese would have thought it anything beneath

the highest human dignity, for they all recognised the value of that

courage for Christ and His War which The General personified to them.

We are still few in number and struggling hard for victory in Japan, for

the very appreciation of all that is excellent tends to create in the

people a self-satisfaction that fortifies them against all appeals for

repentance. But one of the leading officials of the Japanese Home Office

has recently paid a tribute to The General's helpfulness to every

people.

Mr. Tomioka says, in his _Society and Humanity_, after having studied

The Army in England and America, as well as in Japan, that he considers

it to be "the greatest and most successful Organisation in the world for

dealing with and helping the poor and unfortunate classes of society."

He attributes our success to the following reasons:--

1. The great personality of The General, whose character greatly

resembled that of his Divine Master--the Founder of Christianity.

2. Our aggressive spirit--ever marching on, like the Japanese soldiers

in the last war with Russia.

3. Our adaptation to the circumstances of every country.

4. Our straightforward and practical way of preaching Salvation.

5. Our principle of self-support. Teaching men and women to help

themselves.

6. Our scientific and business-like methods, as distinct from mere

sentimentality.

Some day, surely, men equally eminent in other countries will begin to

speak as heartily and thoughtfully of The General's life work.

That the great Mikado, to whose wisdom and energy Japan owed so much of

its great renewal and entry amongst the "civilised" nations, should have

passed into eternity only a few months before the Founder of a wider and

grander, because spiritual, Empire, is an interesting fact. The Mikado

received our General, in spite of every court usage that might have

hindered, because he found that all the greatest leaders and heroes of

Japan, like their Press, saw in him the personification of the highest

and noblest purpose for every land and every people.

The Japanese Government gave our Officers, women as well as men, a

liberty of access to their prisoners greater than we as yet possess in

this and most other "Christian" countries, because they saw the value of

our love for the victims of sin, and our power, by God's grace, to

inspire them with hope for themselves. How many more years, I wonder,

will it take other nations to follow this common-sense example?

Chapter XVIII

Co-operating With Governments

The Government of the Dutch East Indies, which was in the hands, at the

time, of a military man, has won for ever the honour of appreciating and

utilising The Army of The General they had never seen, before any of

those who had seen him. Certainly, The General never ran after earthly

rulers, or showed any disposition to court their favour; but he said

constantly, "Here we are; if any Government, municipal or national,

likes to use us, we can save them more than half of what they now spend

upon their poor and criminal classes, and do for these far more than

Christian Government officials, however excellent, ever hope to do. They

are invariably so bound to avoid any meddling with religion that they

cannot bring to bear upon those most in need of it, the heavenly light

and love and power, in which we place all our confidence for dealing

with these classes."

"Gentlemen," said a Town Councillor, in a German city, when the question

of subsidising The Army was being discussed, "The Army can do for your

poor what you never can attempt. You can only deal with them from

without. The Army works upon them from within, and produces results that

will considerably lighten your burdens."

The General had arranged for the Dutch Indies to be missioned from

Australia, that country being our nearest Field and one accustomed to

deal with pioneer effort. But when he found that Dutch officialdom

dreaded contact with British agents, though ready to welcome Dutch ones,

he very quickly changed his plans, and as soon as the Colonial

Government found that The Army was as much Dutch as English, and could

send them a Dutch leader, they showed themselves ready to use us as

fully as possible.

Our Officers in every town and village are supplied with all the

medicines and bandages they can use, for the Government has found that

they live amongst the poorest all the time, and are always ready to

bathe and bandage their wounded limbs and feet, or to give them the few

medicines needed to combat the ordinary maladies. Moreover, from some

terrible losses by death of Officers, in our earliest years there, it

was made only too plain to every one that our Officers would not abandon

their people in times of cholera or other epidemics, but would rather

suffer and die with them.

More unsanitary surroundings than we have in lovely Java could scarcely

be imagined, and no government can hope to alter the habits of an entire

people very rapidly. The Chinese and others in the cities have never yet

begun to consider dirt in house or street as dangerous, and the entire

population has grown up with such a love for bathing in the very same

canals which serve largely for drainage and every other purpose, that

there cannot, for a long time to come, be great hopes of much sanitary

improvement.

But when it was seen that we had Officers not only willing and ready to

live and die with the people, but, also capable of lifting them into a

new life, and of carrying out any simple administrative duties that

might be laid upon them, we had first one and then another of the

Government's institutions offered for our care, as well as the

provisioning of the hospitals. From daybreak in the morning till the end

of their evening Meetings, our Officers may be seen showing the people,

old and young, brotherly and sisterly love; and though they may not, as

yet, have succeeded in many places in raising up such a native force as

we should desire, the Government has found them as persevering as if

they had gained the crowd which their toils and endurances have

deserved.

The first Leper Institution placed in our charge was so rapidly

transformed from a place of despair and misery into a home of Salvation

hope and joy, that the Government naturally desired to see more such

institutions, adequate to receive the entire leper population of the

islands, which is, alas! large.

Our position in Java, and the consequent discussion of us in the Dutch

Parliament, led to our first public recognition in the world as a

Christian force. Because we do not baptise with water there has been in

Java a disposition amongst some Christian teachers to refuse to any of

our people burial in a Christian cemetery. But when in the Dutch budget

discussion this was made an objection to our receiving any grant, the

Colonial Minister simply read out the whole of our Articles of War, and

asked how any one could refuse to recognise as Christians those who had

signed such declarations.

The Governments of the various Australian Colonies must, however, have

the credit of first giving to our Officers public patronage. As has

already been mentioned, the Governors, Premiers, and Ministers have, for

some twenty-seven years past, been seen presiding over the anniversaries

of our Colonial work, speaking in no measured terms of all our

activities, and so helping us to get the means to support them.

The Queen Mother and the present Queen of Holland were the first royal

personages personally to visit our Institutions, although the present

King of Denmark, when Crown Prince, had for years used our Refuges in

that country for cases he thought deserving, and his brother, King

Haakon, of Norway, attended, as a warm friend, one of The General's

Meetings in Christiania.

Canadian and South African Governors and Ministers have acted like the

Australian ones in their public expressions of confidence in us, and

they have given us very considerable liberty in their prisons, so that

most of the criminal population comes more or less under our influence.

The greatest of our governmental victories have, however, been won in

Switzerland and Germany, where we were for so many years looked upon as

a dangerous, if not harmful, influence, owing chiefly to the gross

calumnies of "Christian" teachers and writers. The results of our work

upon those whose lives had been a disgrace and burden to the community

could not be hidden, however, and there is now scarcely a cantonal

government in Switzerland which does not subsidise some one or other of

our Institutions. The cities of Hamburg and Elberfeld, in Germany, have

led the way in granting to us similar assistance, and it can only be a

question of time before we gravitate into an equally honoured position

elsewhere. For although we continue to keep as far as possible aloof

from all parties, and party feeling, and have not, therefore, the means

of influencing and obtaining grants from politicians in the ordinary

way, we compel attention by what we do, and have, undoubtedly, done more

than any other religious community to create that inclination towards

intelligent care for the criminal and outcast which is almost becoming a

fashion, in governmental circles, nowadays.

It begins to look as if, had The General lived, some of the South

American republics would have been the first, after all, to gladden his

heart by a hearty and handsome co-operation. For twenty years he pleaded

for an opportunity to show what could be done for those whose life and

character have been wrecked amidst the breakers of modern life, if they

were removed from their old surroundings and compelled to live under our

influence in country air. We have come so far in this direction, in New

Zealand, that we have bought islands, where former inebriates and their

children can be kept completely severed from their old temptations, and

so have every opportunity to begin a new life if they will. Men, as well

as young people, are frequently handed over to us by the authorities;

but there is not yet anywhere a sufficient power given to detain those

who are disinclined to hard work.

And recently, The General was promised, in the course of interviews with

authorities, a considerable extension in the United Kingdom of the

liberty to deal with prisoners, which we have long enjoyed in America

and Canada. The long night, when prisoners were treated only as

troublesome animals against whom society needed protection, seems to be

passing, and with the new, earnest resolve to try and fit them for a

better life, which, without God's help, can never be done, we are

looking forward to greatly improved opportunities. In India, as has

already been noted, many persons belonging to the criminal tribes are

already under our care, and, wherever we have the opportunity to prove

what the power of God can do in such hearts, there can be no doubt of

the ultimate result.

Upon the question of temperance, there is happily a widespread awakening

amongst the nations. So convinced are all Governments and peoples that

drinking and crime are closely connected, that much has already been

done, with good effect, to lessen the sale of intoxicants in many lands,

and more is being promised. Anxious as we are to see the drink-traffic

abolished everywhere, it has never appeared to us to be desirable to

join in agitations of a political kind on the subject. And the wisdom of

this attitude has been shown, on both sides of the Atlantic, by the

manner in which this question has been used to embitter party strife.

But it was a puzzle at first to know by which course to steer. When a

Licensing Bill was before the English House of Commons, The General

wrote:--

"The Licensing Bill has given me much anxiety, mainly because I see

so imperfectly what we ought to do. However, we shall do what seems

the best to be done--with what success has to be seen. I am

heartily sick of politics and parties, and that, mainly, because

they seem to me so insincere.

"What an unsatisfactory thing is life, apart from the real work we

do for God and the Salvation of souls! I want more faith, more

conquering faith. I must have it.

"I have got work to-day to do that cannot be done without Divine

wisdom. I have asked for it. I am asking for it while I write, and,

surely, it will be given; and yet it seems as though the Spirit

whispers in my ear, 'You will not believe you have it when it is

imparted.' But I will. Anyhow, I will make a desperate effort to

believe that the Spirit of the living God guides my judgment,

however I may feel, or whatever the outcome may be. Pray for me. I

cling to life and the work I love so well."

Remarkably enough, the German police, who, more than any other,

suspected and watched and restricted us at first, have become the first

convinced of the value of our operations, and those in the city of

Cologne have been the very first heartily to arrange for our

co-operation with them by placing at our disposal a convenient

hand-waggon for the transport of helpless drunkards, and by arranging

for their officials to call us upon the telephone, whenever such help is

needed, instead of taking the poor drunkards to the cells.

This plan was arrived at only after the police had seen the work carried

out by our people with an ambulance which required the services of two

strong men. But there is reason to suppose that our cordial

relationships with the authorities in Cologne and elsewhere are largely

due to the good impression made upon them by The General himself. Of his

great Meeting in Cologne, attended by many officials, and other persons

of influence, he wrote:--

"I had certainly a remarkable Campaign, and my Meeting in Cologne

was one of the most remarkable in my history. Oh, it was a moving,

hope-inspiring affair. Oh, what wonders the dear Salvation Army may

yet accomplish in the Fatherland! I am sure it will be so, whoever

lives to see it."

Thank God that he was spared to see another seven years of progress in

that direction since this was written.

In Japan, which cannot be supposed to be specially favourable to any

Christian Society, we have long had opportunity regularly to visit all

persons in custody, and as we have already seen, to invite all girls

living an immoral life to come to our Institutions.

Why is there still difficulty in the way of our work for the prisoners,

and other needy ones in Christendom? Chiefly, because there are

chaplains and others specially appointed to deal with such needs, and

who, naturally, do not wish to see others "interfering," as they think,

with their parishioners. In very many cases nowadays there is a much

better feeling than formerly, and such persons heartily welcome our

help, knowing that we never wish to meddle with any one's work, but only

to work where others can gain no entrance.

In a certain Australian jail, at the time when men there could be

sentenced to death for many crimes other than murder, a condemned man

was in such agonies of remorse that none of the warders could get any

rest. The help of one of our Officers was greatly desired, but the

chaplain would not consent, so that our Officer could not be admitted.

In another part of the prison, however, one of our Soldiers was a

warder, and those who knew this sought him out and brought him to the

distressed sinner, whom he very soon succeeded in leading to the

Saviour, who gave him a peace as complete as that which He gave to His

companion in crucifixion.

It is by this patience and efficiency that our Officers, wherever they

get opportunity, win the favour of authorities, prisoners, and sufferers

of every kind. Therefore, we reckon that it can only be a question of

time before our way is opened to do far more than ever for the

friendless of every land.

In times of special emergency, The General's Officers always find an

opportunity to distinguish themselves. Thus, in the last earthquake of

Jamaica our Officers in Kingston were said to have been the calmest and

readiest to undertake all that needed to be done. In those terrible

days, again, of earthquake and fire in San Francisco the Salvationists

provided food and shelter for the Chinese, and others of the most

despised; and in South Italy such was the impression produced by the way

in which our Officers laboured, when Calabria was desolated by

earthquake, that our Officer there, Commissioner Cosandey, had the

honour of a Knighthood conferred upon him in recognition of the manner

in which he had superintended the distribution of blankets and other

articles provided out of the Lord Mayor of London's fund, the skill he

manifested gaining the approval of both the Italian Government and the

British Ambassador there.

We seek neither honours nor rewards, however; but only the opportunity

to carry out our first General's plans for the good of all men

everywhere.

Chapter XIX

Conquering Death

Only those who have had some experience of a perfect

life-partnership--such as existed for thirty-five years between The

General and his wife--can form any conception of the sufferings he had

to pass through, in connexion with her prolonged illness and death.

She had always been more or less delicate in health, yet had, through

nearly all those years, triumphed so completely over weakness and

suffering as to be at once one of the happiest of wives and mothers, and

the most daring of comrades in the great War.

During much of 1887 she had suffered more than usually, and yet had

taken part with him in many great demonstrations; but in February, 1888,

new symptoms made their appearance, and she decided upon consulting one

of the ablest of London physicians, because she had always dreaded that

her end would come, like that of her mother, through cancer, and wished

to use every possible care to prolong, as much as might be possible, her

days of helpfulness.

When in February, 1888, Sir James Paget told her that she had,

undoubtedly, got this disease, and would, probably, not be alive for

more than eighteen months or two years, she received the announcement

with the greatest calm and fortitude. The General says:--

"After hearing the verdict of the doctors, she drove home alone.

That journey can better be imagined than described. She told me

how, as she looked upon the various scenes through the cab windows,

it seemed to her as if sentence of death had been passed upon

everything; how she had knelt upon the cab floor and wrestled in

prayer; and how the realisation of our grief swept over her.

"I shall never forget, in this world or the next, that meeting. I

had been watching for the cab, and had run out to meet and help her

up the steps. She tried to smile upon me, through her tears; but,

drawing me into the room, she unfolded to me gradually the result

of her interview. I sat down speechless. She rose from her seat and

came and knelt beside me, saying, 'Do you know what was my first

thought? That I should not be there to nurse you, at your last

hour.'

"I was stunned. I felt as if the whole world was coming to a

standstill. She talked like a heroine, like an angel, to me. She

talked as she had never talked before. I could say nothing. I could

only kneel with her and try to pray.

"I was due in Holland for some large Meetings. I had arranged to

travel there that very night. She would not hear of my remaining at

home for her sake. Never shall I forget starting out that evening,

with the mournful tidings weighing like lead upon my heart. Oh, the

conflict of that night journey! I faced two large congregations,

and did my best, although it seemed to me that I spoke as one in a

dream. Leaving the Meetings to be continued by others, I returned

to London the following evening. And then followed, for me, the

most painful experience of my life. To go home was anguish. To be

away was worse. Life became a burden, almost too heavy to be borne,

until God in a very definite manner comforted my heart."

After this, there were two years and a half of such tortures for him to

bear! For some time, indeed, Mrs. Booth was still able occasionally to

take part with him, even in very large Meetings. But any one can

understand how such privileges only increased his sense of coming loss.

Her last address was delivered in the City Temple, on June 21, 1888, and

she had to remain for nearly an hour after in the pulpit before she

could move. Nevertheless, she was able to continue her help by writing

for our publications, and to individuals, for a long time after this.

Before the Self-Denial Week of 1888 she wrote to our Soldiers:--

"Although not able to be at the front of the battle in person, my

heart is there, and the greatest pain I suffer arises from my

realisation of the vast opportunities of the hour, and of the

desperate pressure to which many of my comrades are subject, while

I am deprived of the ability to help them, as in days gone by."

In 1889 she wrote:--

"I am now realising, as never before, how much harder it is to

suffer than to serve. I can only assure you again, by letter, that

my heart is as much with you as ever. Regard no opposition,

persecution, or misrepresentation. Millions upon millions wait for

us to bring to them the light of life."

To the great Crystal Palace Demonstration of 1889 she sent a message

which was displayed in large letters:--

"My place is empty, but my heart is with you. Go forward. Live holy

lives. Be true to The Army. God is your strength. Love and seek the

lost. God is my salvation and refuge in the storm."