Sir,--When I first addressed you on the subject of the projected
operations of the Salvation Army, all that I knew about that body was
derived from the study of Mr. Booth's book, from common repute, and
from occasional attention to the sayings and doings of his noisy
squadrons, with which my walks about London, in past years, have made
me familiar. I was quite unaware of the existence of evidence
respecting the present administration of the Salvation forces, which
would have enabled me to act upon the sagacious maxim of the American
humourist, "Don't prophesy unless you know." The letter you were good
enough to publish has brought upon me a swarm of letters and
pamphlets. Some favour me with abuse; some thoughtful correspondents
warmly agree with me, and then proceed to point out how much worthier
certain schemes of their own are of my friend's support; some send
valuable encouragement, for which I offer my hearty thanks, and ask
them to excuse any more special acknowledgment. But that which I find
most to the purpose, just now, is the revelation made by some of the
documents which have reached me, of a fact of which I was wholly
ignorant--namely, that [256] persons who have faithfully and zealously
served in the Salvation Army, who express unchanged attachment to its
original principles and practice, and who have been in close official
relations with the "General" have publicly declared that the process
of degradation of the organization into a mere engine of fanatical
intolerance and personal ambition, which I declared was inevitable,
has already set in and is making rapid progress.
It is out of the question, Sir, that I should occupy the columns of
the "Times" with a detailed exposition and criticism of these pieces
justificatives of my forecast. I say criticism, because the assertions
of persons who have quitted any society must, in fairness, be taken
with the caution that is required in the case of all ex parte
statements of hostile witnesses. But it is, at any rate, a notable
fact that there are parts of my first letter, indicating the inherent
and necessary evil consequences of any such organization, which might
serve for abstracts of portions of this evidence, long since printed
and published under the public responsibility of the witnesses.
Let us ask the attention of your readers, in the first place, to "An
ex-Captain's Experience of the Salvation Army," by J. J. R. Redstone,
the genuineness of which is guaranteed by the preface (dated April
5th, 1888) which the Rev. Dr. Cunningham Geikie has supplied. Mr.
Redstone's story is well worth reading on its own account.
[257] Told in simple, direct language such as John Bunyan might have
used, it permits no doubt of the single-minded sincerity of the man,
who gave up everything to become an officer of the Salvation Army,
but, exhibiting a sad want of that capacity for unhesitating and blind
obedience on which Mr. Booth lays so much stress, was thrown aside,
penniless--no, I am wrong, with 2s. 4d. for his last week's salary--to
shift, with his equally devoted wife, as he best might. I wish I could
induce intending contributors to Mr. Booth's army chest to read Mr.
Redstone's story. I would particularly ask them to contrast the pure
simplicity of his plain tale with the artificial pietism and
slobbering unction of the letters which Mr. Ballington Booth addresses
to his "dear boy" (a married man apparently older than himself), so
long as the said "dear boy" is facing brickbats and starvation, as per
order.
I confess that my opinion of the chiefs of the Salvation Army has been
so distinctly modified by the perusal of this pamphlet that I am glad
to be relieved from the necessity of expressing it. It will be much
better that I should cite a few sentences from the preface written by
Dr. Cunningham Geikie, who expresses warm admiration for the early and
uncorrupted work of the Salvation Army, and cannot possibly be accused
of prejudice against it on religious grounds:--
(1) "The Salvation Army is emphatically a [258] family concern. Mr.
Booth, senior, is General; one son is chief of the staff, and the
remaining sons and daughters engross the other chief positions. It is
Booth all over; indeed, like the sun in your eyes, you can see nothing
else wherever you turn. And, as Dr. Geikie shrewdly remarks, 'to be
the head of a widely spread sect carries with it many advantages--not
all exclusively spiritual.'"
(2) "Whoever becomes a Salvation officer is henceforth a slave,
helplessly exposed to the caprice of his superiors."
"Mr. Redstone bore an excellent character both before he entered the
army and when he left it. To join it, though a married man, he gave up
a situation which he had held for five years, and he served Mr. Booth
two years, working hard in most difficult posts. His one fault, Major
Lawley tells us, was, that he was 'too straight'--that is, too honest,
truthful, and manly--or, in other words, too real a Christian. Yet
without trial, without formulated charges, on the strength of secret
complaints which were never, apparently, tested, he was dismissed with
less courtesy than most people would show a beggar--with 2s. 4d. for
his last week's salary. If there be any mistake in this matter, I
shall be glad to learn it."
(3) Dr. Geikie confirms, on the ground of information given
confidentially by other officers, [259] Mr. Redstone's assertion that
they are watched and reported by spies from headquarters.
(4) Mr. Booth refuses to guarantee his officers any fixed amount of
salary. While he and his family of high officials live in comfort, if
not in luxury, the pledged slaves whose devotion is the foundation of
any true success the Army has met with often have "hardly food enough
to sustain life. One good fellow frankly told me that when he had
nothing he just went and begged."
At this point, it is proper that I should interpose an apology for
having hastily spoken of such men as Francis of Assisi, even for
purposes of warning, in connection with Mr. Booth. Whatever may be
thought of the wisdom of the plans of the founders of the great
monastic orders of the middle ages, they took their full share of
suffering and privation, and never shirked in their own persons the
sacrifices they imposed on their followers.
I have already expressed the opinion, that whatever the ostensible
purpose of the scheme under discussion, one of its consequences will
be the setting up and endowment of a new Ranter-Socialist sect. I may
now add that another effect will be--indeed, has been--to set up and
endow the Booth dynasty with unlimited control of the physical, moral,
and financial resources of the sect. Mr. Booth is already a printer
and publisher, who, it is plainly declared, utilizes the officers of
the [260] Army as agents for advertising and selling his publications;
and some of them are so strongly impressed with the belief that active
pushing of Mr. Booth's business is the best road to their master's
favour, that when the public obstinately refuse to purchase his papers
they buy them themselves and send the proceeds to headquarters. Mr.
Booth is also a retail trader on a large scale, and the Dean of Wells
has, most seasonably, drawn attention to the very notable banking
project which he is trying to float. Any one who follows Dean
Plumptre's clear exposition of the principles of this financial
operation can have little doubt that, whether they are, or are not,
adequate to the attainment of the first and second of Mr. Booth's
ostensible objects, they may be trusted to effect a wide extension of
any kingdom in which worldly possessions are of no value. We are, in
fact, in sight of a financial catastrophe like that of Law a century
ago. Only it is the poor who will suffer.
I have already occupied too much of your space, and yet I have drawn
upon only one of the sources of information about the inner working of
the Salvation Army at my disposition. Far graver charges than any here
dealt with are publicly brought in the others.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. H. Huxley.
[261] P.S.-- I have just read Mr. Buchanan's letter in the Times of
to-day. Mr. Buchanan is, I believe, an imaginative writer. I am not
acquainted with his works, but nothing in the way of fiction he has
yet achieved can well surpass his account of my opinions and of the
purport of my writings.