We write in a matter-of-fact way that Captain Lucy and Lieutenant Kate
Lee received an appointment to this or that corps, and the statement is
received as it was written--without surprise or reflection. But, in
truth, behind such a sentence lies one of the most notable achievements
of The Salvation Army as a world force--the right to public service for
women.
Looking over the fifty-five years of the life of The Army, and further
back still, we can trace clearly the guiding hand of God in the formation
and direction of this instrument of His choosing.
When, in the order of Divine providence, William Booth was chosen to be
Founder of the Salvation Army, by strange, devious, suffering ways, God
led him, chastened him, disciplined him in preparation for his great
work. At the same time, Catherine Mumford, by the hand of God, was being
fitted to be the Mother of The Salvation Army.
She was a delicate, retiring, but highly intelligent young woman of
twenty-four years of age, when she heard her minister, in the course of a
sermon, give expression to the view that women were mentally and morally
inferior to men. At this suggestion Catherine Mumford felt a strong
native resentment rise within her. Until that hour she had held the view
that God had made men and women equal in gifts of mind and heart; now she
made a thorough study of the subject in the light of the Word of God and
of history, and as a result she formed a reasoned opinion from which she
never swerved. In a letter, remarkable for its logic and its command of
vigorous English, she set forth her views to her pastor. She admitted
that prejudice and custom had relegated woman to positions inferior to
those occupied by men; but argued that, given similar advantages of
education and opportunity, woman is man's equal, fitted to be his
partner, and able, with great advantage to enter with him into all
serious and practical counsels for the benefit of the race.
In championing the cause of her sex, Catherine Mumford found she had to
take the field almost alone. Even William Booth, to whom she was then
engaged, did not share her views. Mr. Booth believed that while woman
carried the palm in point of affection, man was her superior in regard to
intellect. Miss Mumford would not admit this for a moment; and by
degrees, chiefly by the charming power of her own personality and also by
argument, she wholly carried her beloved to her view-point.
In the 'Life of Catherine Booth,' by Commissioner Booth-Tucker, we find
records of the young husband, soon after their marriage, urging his wife
to lecture on various subjects.
The next move along the track which all unconsciously Mrs. Booth was
blazing for a host of women to tread, publishing the Salvation of God,
was in defence of Mrs. Phoebe Palmer, a consecrated American evangelist
who, in company with her husband, was conducting powerful mission
services in England. Mrs. Palmer's ministry, notwithstanding the fact
that it was more honoured of God in the conversion of souls than that of
her husband, excited a vigorous attack from a clergyman of a large church
in Sunderland. In Catherine Booth's breast again flamed that powerful
resentment she had felt on the occasion previously mentioned. She wrote
her mother saying that for the first time in her life she felt like
taking the platform in order to answer the false views propounded
concerning female ministry. Instead, she wrote a well-reasoned and
convincing paper on woman's right to preach--a pamphlet of some thirty-two
pages. By this time her husband was so entirely with her in this
matter that he encouraged her to make her defence. And we find Mr. Booth
copying the pamphlet from his wife's manuscript and preparing it for the
press.
But while Mrs. Booth was the most powerful advocate in England of woman's
right to preach, she herself had never attempted to speak in public.
At last there came a day when she realized that her silence was not
consistent with her profession and at great personal sacrifice she broke
the bonds of timidity and publicly witnessed for her Lord. The following
is an account from Mrs. Booth's own lips of her experience given in a
public meeting twenty years after she began to speak:
Perhaps some of you would hardly credit that I was one of the most timid
and bashful disciples the Lord Jesus ever saved. But for four or five
months before I commenced speaking the controversy had been signally
roused in my soul, and I passed through some severe heart-searchings.
During a season of sickness, it seemed one day as if the Lord revealed it
all to me by His Spirit. I had no vision, but a revelation to my mind. He
seemed to take me back to the time when I was fifteen or sixteen, when I
first fully gave my heart to Him. He showed me that all the bitter way
this one thing had been the fly in the pot of ointment, preventing me
from realizing what I otherwise should have done. And then I remember
prostrating myself upon my face before the Lord, and promising Him there
in the sick room, 'Lord, if Thou wilt return unto me as in the days of
old, and revisit me with those urgings of the Spirit, which I used to
have, I will obey, if I die in the attempt.' However, the Lord did not
revisit me immediately. But He permitted me to recover, and to resume my
usual duties.
About three months afterward I went to the chapel of which my husband was
a minister, and he had an extraordinary service there. Even then he was
always trying something new to get at the outside people. For this Sunday
he had arranged with the leaders that the chapel should be closed, and a
great out-door Service held at a place called Windmill Hills. It so
happened, however, that the weather was too tempestous for carrying out
this design, and hence the doors were thrown open and the meeting was
held in the chapel. In spite of the stormy weather about 1,000 persons
were present, including a number of preachers and outside friends.
I was, as usual, in the minister's pew with my eldest boy, then four
years old. I felt much depressed in mind, and was not expecting anything
particular; but as the testimonies proceeded I felt the Holy Spirit come
upon me. You alone who have experienced it can tell what it means. It
cannot be described. I felt it to the extremity of my hands and feet. It
seemed as if a Voice said to me, 'Now if you were to go and testify, you
know I would bless it to your own soul, as well as to the people!' I
gasped again, and said in my heart, 'Yes, Lord, I believe Thou wouldst,
but I cannot do it!' I had forgotten my vow. It did not occur to me at
all.
A moment afterward there flashed across my mind the memory of the bedroom
visitation, when I had promised the Lord that I would obey Him at all
costs. And then the Voice seemed to ask me if this was consistent with
that promise. I almost jumped up, and said, 'No, Lord, it is the old
thing over again. But I cannot do it!' I felt as though I would sooner
die than speak. And then the devil said, 'Besides, you are not prepared.
You will look like a fool, and will have nothing to say.' He made a
mistake. He over-reached himself for once. It was this word that settled
it. 'Ah!' I said, 'this is just the point. I have never yet been willing
to be a fool for Christ. Now I will be one.'
Without stopping another moment I rose up from my seat and walked down
the aisle. My dear husband was just going to conclude. He thought
something had happened to me, and so did the people. We had been there
two years, and they knew my timid, bashful nature. He stepped down and
asked me, 'What is the matter, my dear?' I replied, 'I want to say a
word.' He was so taken by surprise that he could only say, 'My dear wife
wishes to speak,' and sat down. For years he had been trying to persuade
me to do it. Only that very week he had wanted me to go and address a
little Cottage Meeting of some twenty working people, but I had refused.
I stood--God only knows how--and if any mortal did ever hang on the arm
of Omnipotence, I did. I felt as if I were clinging to some human arm;
but it was a Divine one which held me up. I just stood, and told the
people how it had come about. I confessed, as I think everybody should
who has been in the wrong, and has misrepresented the religion of Jesus
Christ. I said, 'I dare say many of you have been looking upon me as a
very devoted woman, and one who has been living faithfully to God. But I
have come to realize that I have been disobeying Him, and thus have
brought darkness and leanness into my soul. I have promised the Lord to
do so no longer, and have come to tell you that henceforth I will be
obedient to the holy vision.'
There was more weeping, they said, in the chapel that day than on any
previous occasion. Many dated a renewal in righteousness from that very
moment, and began a life of devotion and consecration to God.
Now I might have 'talked good' to them till now. That honest confession
did what twenty years of preaching could not have accomplished.
But, oh, how little did I realize how much was then involved! I never
imagined the life of publicity and trial that it would lead me to, for I
was never allowed to have another quiet Sabbath when I was well enough to
stand and speak. All I did was to take the first step. I could not see in
advance. But the Lord, as He always does when His people are honest with
Him and obedient, opened the windows of Heaven, and poured out such a
blessing that there was not room to receive it.
From that morning Mrs. Booth continued to respond to the call to proclaim
Salvation, until she came to be regarded as one of the most powerful
preachers of her day. Her service was not unattended with sorrow. For
many years this shrinking woman had to face fires of criticism and
blizzards of scorn; but she persevered.
Not only within the ranks of The Salvation Army has Mrs. Booth's brave
example borne a harvest of blessing, but in all walks of public life
women now stand in the gates as co-workers with men in every righteous
cause; sometimes they raise their voice for truth and equity where no
other voice is heard.
When the Christian Mission began to take form, William Booth had no
particular intentions as to the kind of helpers he was to have--either
male or female. Female ministry evolved as a part of its service, as
indeed the whole Salvation Army evolved, without premeditation or plan,
indeed, as it is said of the Kingdom of God, 'without observation.' To
Mr. Booth's early meetings in the East End of London came a godly man and
his wife to assist him with their sympathy. The woman was so shy as to be
unable to pray aloud. She was in deep sorrow over the death of her two
children. Later, when attending a holiness meeting, conducted in an old
wood shed in Bethnal Green, this woman, Mrs. Collingridge, yielded
herself entirely to God for His service. She knelt, a timid, broken
woman, making the sincere offering of herself to God, and rose from her
knees delivered from all fear and inspired with a message to the people.
From that day, with the arresting power of a prophetess, she proclaimed
the Saviour's love and power. She could command a crowd of the wildest
roughs in the open-air, or hold breathless a great theatre audience. She
specially excelled in visiting the converts and others; so blessed was
she in this work that Mr. Booth asked her to become the first paid woman
member of the Mission.
Commissioner Railton tells of Mrs. Collingridge in his 'Twenty-one Years
Salvation Army.' He writes, 'It was no longing for publicity or notoriety
that attracted her, for one hears not so much of her public work, blessed
and glorious as that was, as the victories she won from garret to garret,
from door to door, as she pressed on, resolved never, to the last hour,
to give up a victim of sin.' Worn out with loving and seeking souls,
this--after The Army Mother--the first woman officer of The Salvation
Army was promoted to glory, triumphing in God to her last breath. Mrs.
Collingridge was the forerunner of such spirits as Kate Lee. She raised
up and trained a band of brave women fighters; these women were used with
remarkable success in the growing Mission. William Booth was hard put to
find sufficient evangelists for the rapidly increasing stations about
London and in the Provinces. God had signally blessed the Women's Band as
visitors and exhorters, and William Booth saw in them qualities that
caused him to believe that, given opportuity, woman would excel as a
leader--a commander.
Necessity urged the experiment. The first woman chosen for this purpose
was Annie Davis, who later, as Mrs. Commissioner Ridsdel, after most
distinguished service as a soul-winner, was promoted to glory. A quiet
girl from a village, she had been converted in the old hall used by the
Mission under the Railway Arch at Bethnal Green. From the first it was
evident that the power of God rested upon her.
Annie Davis was placed in charge of the small Christian Mission Society
in Barking. At the end of her term of office she left a flourishing work.
She had managed her committee, successfully led her people, paid her way,
and left a balance in hand.
The fact had been demonstrated that a woman was as capable of filling the
position of an evangelist as a man. Kate Watts (now Mrs. Colonel Josiah
Taylor) was then sent in charge of the Mission Work at Merthyr, in Wales,
where she was used by God in the salvation of hundreds of souls--and Mrs.
Reynolds 'opened fire' at Coventry. To Captain Reynolds was presented, on
behalf of the Coventry Corps, the first Flag of The Salvation Army.
The Hallelujah Lass became an indispensable part of The Salvation Army.
No effort was made to set these women in one common mould and turn them
out replicas of the first. Indeed their naturalness, the very differences
in disposition and method added to their usefulness.
In great contrast to the women already mentioned, was the type of whom
'Happy Eliza' was a specimen. Rough and ready and entirely fearless, she
knew how to capture the most indifferent crowds. At one corps where
ordinary methods had failed to secure the people, she marched through the
streets with streamers floating from her hair, and on her back a placard
bearing the words 'I'm Happy Eliza.' The denizens of public-houses and
the slums flocked to the hall to hear a preacher who evidently understood
them. At another place where a theatre was to be opened as a Salvation
Army hall, she advertised the meetings by hiring a cab. On the box a man
beat a drum, inside two or three others played brass instruments, while
Happy Eliza took up her position on the luggage on the top, and drove
through the streets alternately playing a fiddle and distributing
handbills announcing the coming meetings.
Another indomitable was Chinee Smith. Trampled on by a Lancashire mob,
her bonnet torn from her head, her shoes from her feet, she marched in
her stockings through the streets to the hall, her hair streaming down
her back. Taking her place on the platform she led the meeting as though
nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The hall was packed and souls
sought salvation.
The Army's Founder began to recognize that almost limitless possibilities
lay in these women. Since they could attract and win sinners to Christ,
could command the people of their corps with acceptance, why should they
not be placed in charge of Divisions? He saw no reason. Captain Reynolds
was promoted to the rank of major, and placed in charge of The Salvation
Army work in Ireland, and the decision was fully justified by the blessed
results which followed.
Thus, in a perfectly natural way, without design, woman's position in The
Salvation Army was established. To-day, there is no rank or position in
its ranks which a woman may not occupy, including even that of General.
As may be supposed, the greater number of women officers marry officers,
and therefore, as a rule, merge their activities into their husband's
work. This being the case, not so many women occupy leading positions as
men. Nevertheless, women are to be found holding the highest rank and
occupying leading positions in every phase of Army warfare. As
Territorial Commander, Mrs. General Booth was for several years
responsible for The Army's work in Great Britain and Ireland; Commander
Evangeline Booth for that of the United States; Commissioner Lucy
Booth-Hellberg for Norway; Commissioner Adelaide Cox has direction of the
Women's Social Work in Great Britain. Commissioner Mildred Duff is editor
of The Salvation Army literature for Young People. Commissioner Hannah
Ouchterlony pioneered our work in her native land, Sweden, and now in a
cloudless eventide looks with joy upon a glorious work, the foundations
of which she laid in the face of fierce opposition. Lieut.-Commissioner
Clara Case represents The Salvation Army woman missionary, having just
retired from active service after twenty-seven years in India, during the
greater part of which time she commanded the work in Southern India.
Lieut-Colonel Catherine Booth, as International Secretary at
Headquarters, is the General's representative for Salvation Army work in
European countries.
There are women Divisional Commanders, financiers, training officers,
editors, teachers, and social, medical and nursing officers; and, by no
means least, a host of efficient and devoted Corps Commanders of which
Kate Lee was so worthy a representative.
Upon the woman officer of The Army rests no less responsibility than that
carried by a man occupying a similar position, and she is expected to
'deliver the goods' as her male comrade in like circumstances would be
required to do. And she does it.
The Salvation Army affords an unrivalled field of usefulness to young
women who wish to devote their lives to the service of God. No
organization offers a wider, if so wide a door. As one of its songs has
it, 'There's a place in The Army for all': for the educated and cultured,
whose hearts are free from selfishness and fired with holy passion to
seek and save the lost, and equally for the young woman of moderate gifts
and elementary education, whose heart is also pure and whose soul is
illuminated by Divine love.
The Army is by no means 'a happy hunting ground' for faddists or
sentimentalists who think religious service consists in 'sailing round'
singing songs, and whispering sweet nothings or shouting declarations. It
is an Army out to fight another army; to wrestle; to conquer; to take
prisoners, and to establish and govern territories. The Salvation fight
demands the best a man and woman can give of heart and mind, of sacrifice
and service. But, as one exuberant Salvationist has expressed, 'There's
stacks of fun in The Army!' There are excitement, adventure, tragedy, and
comedy, joy and sorrow, the like of which is found in few, if any other
callings. Men and women who have gone out of its ranks or its commands,
weary of the endless sacrifice and strain its service entails, and who
are to-day well placed and full of the good things of this life, still
sigh at the remembrance of the days of their warfare, and declare that
the joy of a Salvation Army officer's life is without compare in
spiritual work.
The spirit of comradeship which exists between superior and junior
officers is a real and beautiful thing. While Kate Lee as a girl captain
was wrestling with the problems of her first corps in the villages of
England, the writer of her memoir, then also a girl captain, was leading
a village corps in her native Australian mountains. Since Kate cannot
tell of the kindness of her Divisional Commanders, I may, for the sake of
illustration, be permitted to mention my own experience in this relation,
incidentally also showing The Army spirit in operation at the other end
of the world from The Army hub.
At that time I was stationed at a mining township eighty miles from a
railway. The distances between towns in that part of Australia being so
great, my Divisional Commander, Major Jonah Evans, now retired, was able
to visit my corps only once during my term of nine months there, but he
kept in constant touch with his young officers by correspondence. Next to
my mother's weekly letter, I looked forward to one from my Divisional
Commander. In my weekly dispatch I gave him a full account of everything
that concerned my corps, which he was patient enough to read and to reply
to carefully, giving such advice as he thought would help me in my work.
Also, occasionally, a letter would arrive from his late sweet wife, who,
as Captain Helen Morrell, had seen remarkable revivals amongst the Welsh
miners. Passing on to city corps, where conditions were entirely
different and responsibilities pressed heavily, Major William Hunter, now
in Heaven, was my true friend as well as an able leader. The help and
direction which such experienced officers are able to give to young men
and women who are full of earnestness and desire to reach and bless the
souls of the people, minimize the weight of responsibility sometimes
thrown upon young shoulders.
Thirty years ago, when Kate Lee began her career as a field officer, The
Army had not reached that place in public esteem which it enjoys to-day.
The worst days of rioting and persecution had passed, and right of public
speech in the streets had been gained in many countries after a long
struggle. But The Army was still regarded as something of a nuisance by
the majority of educated people, a good thing for the very worst by a
few, with indifference or hostility by the mass. To wear the uniform was
to bring upon one contumely, often persecution. Salvation Army officers
were sometimes perhaps ill fed and poorly clad; nevertheless, because of
the opportunity their position afforded to seek and find the lost, Kate
Lee counted herself blessed above millions when she sewed the insignia of
a lieutenant upon her collar.