LIFE of
The GOSPEL TRUTH WILLIAM BOOTH
FOUNDER and FIRST GENERAL
of the SALVATION ARMY
by
Harold Begbie
1920
In Two Volumes
Volume 1
Chapter 24
FROM THE CHRISTIAN MISSION TOWARDS THE SALVATION ARMY 1874-1878
THE establishment of the Salvation Army in 1878, if it opened a new controversy for the Churches of Christendom, closed a particularly interesting and difficult controversy which had in some measure distracted the Christian Mission for the last four years of its existence.
We do not propose to follow the history of the Salvation Army in any detail, or to trace in the ancient places of orthodoxy the influence of this bewildering phenomenon in the religious life of the nineteenth century. But it is essential to the history of William Booth that record be made of those events in the years 1874-1878 which led up to the founding of the Salvation Army, and in particular to that controversy, little known at present, which put an end to the Christian Mission and determined the character of the organization which succeeded it.
With the energy and courage of a great conviction, William Booth had made himself master of the Christian Mission. An attempt by a few timorous individuals to control the growing organization of this Society, and to set up a harassing and vacillating committee which would have held the reins of government, had been overruled by the force of the man who had called it into being. He got rid of these meddling people, and assumed the powers of an autocrat, to the horror of the fearful and to the great satisfaction of the bold.
But that he did not arrive at this position without opposition, may be seen from the following letter--for which Dickens, we think, would have offered thanks to Heaven--addressed to him by Mr. Henry Reed, of Tunbridge Wells. This letter is dated 15th April, 1870:
MY DEAR BROTHER--Your note confounded me. To find you owed £500 upon the hall was sad--but to tell me you are also £500 more in debt, to this I know not what to say; surely there must be some mistake; still your letter I have before me. You say, "Instead of having £500 to spare I am £500 in debt, and have not wherewith to put the necessary fittings into the place." Again and again you have assured me that nothing would induce you to go into debt; you engage all helpers by the week, with a distinct understanding they must go unless funds come in; that all your places you took on short notices, so that at any time you could stop without debt . . . on no other terms dare I have anything to do with you or the Mission .... I have boasted that you have adopted the principle of no debt, not one penny. I am confounded; and the knowledge that you are in debt after your solemn word given of no debt is such a violation of your word . . . that it will have a tendency to destroy confidence . . . but, above all, such conduct has grieved the Good Spirit, and is grieving Him .... I do not wonder now at the knowledge that you were ill. O the dishonour you are bringing on the cause of Christ . . . but I forbear, my soul is troubled.
You ask what can I advise; I can give you none, I can only say what by God's Grace I would do. First: I would call together all paid agents, tell them my position and give them the weekly notice agreed upon, and send them away. I would then give notice to all from whom I had taken any place, large or small. If all you have in the world were sold I question if you could pay 20s. in the pound. Therefore it is not honest to render yourself liable for places under any pretence of God's causes. "He does not require robbery for burnt offering." Then I should put my own house into the hands of a respectable house agent for sale, taking the first reasonable offer. I would then go into a small house--hundreds of clerks have to live upon £100 a year, thousands of respectable artisans upon 30s. a week--thousands are in Glory who' have made greater sacrifices than living upon £100 a year, for the Master's sake. I would therefore resolve that for the present £100 a year should cover everything, rent and schooling, everything. Your wife and daughters must keep the house and do everything with the exception of washing, which I do not think she is able to do .... House would be small and would require but little labour to keep it clean--cooking would be only for the necessities of life. Your wife would have to give up taking halls and leaving home (I never saw this to be the path of duty) . . . all this is retrenchment--now, then, how are the debts to be paid? I would sell the soup place, which, with coppers, fittings up, lease, etc., would probably realize a good sum; in a smaller house you would want less furniture, I would sell every stick I could do without--then, honestly acting, I would above all look to God--I would begin by confessing my sin and folly, pleading the promise, if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; but it is no use confessing without honestly turning from it, and doing all in my power to pay every man his own and to undo by any means in my power the evil which my conduct may have done.
My beloved Brother--for still I love you and feel a deep interest in you--lay all that I have said before God. My great fear is your wife; if she will honestly and humbly join you and encourage you to do what is right, I believe you will, for you are much influenced by her--but for her to give up all and come down to a plain loving wife and mother willing to stop at home, send her children to a humble day school--Mrs. Booth nothing and her family nothing--I know this practically will indeed be hard--my mother came much lower with a family of little ones; the best school I was at was, I think, 20s. the year, the one before 2d. a week. She worked and with a little sister washed and laboured and brought us up, and was never ashamed of it. The Lord help your dear wife to do likewise. I am fully persuaded my wife would do everything I am asking yours to do, and would encourage me to do all I am asking you to do .... If you truly repent and do what is right, I believe God will deliver you; if not, you will probably find it a sin unto death. Of course you will call together the trustees for the Hall and place everything before them, for even the coppers belong to the Hall, and therefore should not be sold without their consent... and then you will lay before the Mission Committee, all, all, all, and hear what both parties say. Trustees and Committees, unless a reality, are a delusion,--you act without consulting them to a great extent, I am afraid .... If you have them, they must be a reality for the future. Shams of every sort are not in accordance with God's Word. Do not answer this for a week, read it over with prayer again and again, then let your wife read it.--Yours in Christ,
HENRY REED.
Unfortunately, no record exists of William Booth's reply to this remarkable epistle. Nothing is known, more unfortunately still, of what Mrs. Booth said when this letter was read to her.
But we know that William Booth did not take the advice of the plutocrat in Tunbridge Wells, who was a kinder man than his letter would suggest, and who became a true and generous friend in after years. William Booth stuck to Whitechapel; he faced his difficulties; and he tightened his masterful hold upon the Mission.
Yet there were moments when he was disposed, so greatly did the financial burden press upon him, to seek the protection of established organizations, or a committee of wealthy men. In August, 1872, he writes to Samuel Morley:
In conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Paton, with whom I met most casually, I mentioned this thought in answer to his particular and interested enquiries as to our progress, saying that sometimes I had wondered whether it would be possible to tack our Mission, like a little boat, on to some existing religious denomination, or whether a few Christian gentlemen of different denominations might take the financial responsibility of the movement .... It promises me little but a life of toil and anxiety. Such is my conviction as to the necessity of some such movement, and such is my conviction that this is a line of things which, if worked efficiently, is calculated to accomplish great, blessed, and lasting results, that I am willing not only to accept, but welcome with gladness, the little labour it may bring to me.
And in the same year, writing to his wife while he is away from home after a troublesome illness, he shows how lonely he is, and how he longs for her society:
MY DEAREST, MY DARLING, MY OWN LOVE--How mysterious the tie that binds us together, how wonderful the union. How lost and lonesome I am without you. Life loses half, nay all, its charm. I am only living and working here to get better to return to you. My last and first thoughts are given to you. Oh let us try and cherish and keep stronger with a living glow the holy flame of love as kindled in our hearts for each other. I am oppressed with the thought and feeling of my unworthiness, of the devotion you manifest for me.
But, in spite of solitude in his heart, opposition from the world, criticism from wealthy friends, and the tremendous burden of finance, he strove with might and with main to establish the Mission on a sure and lasting foundation.
William Booth had now reached that period in life which John Morley calls the second crisis--the crisis which marks "the resisting quality, the strength, the purity, the depth of the native character." The whole future of his days was to be determined by the work which he now held fast in his hands. What was to be the history of this obscure Mission founded in the waste places of Whitechapel? Was it to be only another failure of religious realism? Was it to leave misery as it found it, and sin still deeply entrenched in the hearts of men? Was it to collect subscriptions, publish an Annual Report, and finally disappear into the limbo of religious enthusiasm? The answer made by William Booth to these questions was the Everlasting Nay of one profoundly convinced of God's presence in his soul. He determined that this Mission should fight its way out of obscurity and reach the conscience of mankind. He was never of a stronger will or a nobler purpose than when he set himself to make this Mission a means of awaking the Church to the hope of a spiritual victory. Everything was against him except that which was indifferent to him; and the number of his faithful disciples was few.
The powers that he assumed to gain this end are set forth in the following emphatic terms under the heading of "General Superintendent," in an old volume of the Society, called The Conference Journal:
I. The Mission shall be under the superintendence of the Rev. William Booth, who is spoken of hereafter as the General Superintendent.
II. The General Superintendent shall possess the power of confirming or setting aside the decisions and resolutions of any of the Official, Society, or other Meetings held throughout the Mission, which in his judgment may be in any way prejudicial to the object for which the Mission was first established.
III. The General Superintendent shall, when present, preside at all meetings throughout the Mission, unless he desire otherwise; or, in his absence, he may, if he deem it necessary, depute some person to preside in his place.
IV. The said William Booth shall continue to be for the term of his natural life the General Superintendent of the Christian Mission, unless he shall resign such office.
V. The said William Booth, and every General Superintendent who shall succeed him, shall have power to appoint his successor to the office of General Superintendent, and all the rights, powers, and authorities of the office shall vest in the person so appointed upon the decease of the said William Booth, or other General Superintendent appointing him, or at such other period as may be named in the document appointing him.
VI. It shall be the duty of every General Superintendent to make in writing, as soon as conveniently may be, after his appointment, a statement as to his successor or as to the means which are to be taken for the appointment of a successor at the decease of the General Superintendent, or upon his ceasing to perform the duties of the office, such statement to be signed by the General Superintendent, and delivered in a sealed envelope to the Solicitor for the time being of the Christian Mission; but such statement may be altered at will by the General Superintendent at any time during his continuance in office upon a new statement being signed by him, and delivered as before mentioned to such Solicitor as aforesaid.
These powers, we must be careful to recognize, were assumed only when the tentative policy of the Conference Committee was seen to be inimical to the advance of the Mission, and only after William Booth had been approached by the most active members of the Mission and asked to assume them. Among those who approached him in this way was the late George Scott Railton, afterwards a very able Commissioner in the Salvation Army. it was pointed out to William Booth that the deputation had given up everything to follow him, and that in making this sacrifice of their worldly interests they had been influenced by the conviction that he was a man specially called by God to revivify the life of the Church; certainly, they had never thought of giving their lives into the hands of a committee whose instincts were little different from the councils and committees of other religious bodies.
With this revolution in the machinery of the Mission, a fresh impetus was given to its work, both in London and the provinces. It became, one may say, from that moment the Salvation Army. Men and women surrendered their lives to the inspiration of William Booth, went wherever he ordered them to go, did whatsoever he bid them do, and suffered without murmur or complaint a hundred hardships hardly to be exceeded at the most distant boundaries of the Foreign Mission field.
The aim of this humble Mission which aspired so greatly, is expressed in the commendable brevity which was one of William Booth's characteristic gifts:
The object and work of this Mission is to seek the conversion of the neglected crowds of people who are living without God and without hope, and to gather those so converted into Christian fellowship, in order that they may be instructed in Scriptural truth, trained in habits of holiness and usefulness, and watched over and cared for in their religious course.
The same brevity is to be found in the Articles of Faith; but here, even to the most inexperienced theologian, brevity must seem a dangerous convenience. But it will be borne in mind by all generous students of religion, that the man who here expresses, or attempts to express, his Christian faith in terms of theology, was one conscious in a supreme and a very acute degree of God's existence, and of the frighttul suffering and havoc wrought by sin. He was a prophet more than a theologian:
I. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
II. We believe that there is only one God who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things.
III. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence, co-equal in power and glory, and the only proper object of religious worship.
IV. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God, and truly and properly man.
V. We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness; and that, in consequence of their fall, all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.
VI. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world, so that whosoever will may be saved.
VII. We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation.
VIII. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
IX. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be "wholly sanctified," and that "their whole spirit and soul and body" may "be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."(1 Thess. v. 23.)
X. We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
Such at the time was the faith of William Booth, and this faith he impressed upon the Christian Mission with all the force and power of his masterful character. None who followed him doubted for a single moment that human life had been an act of special creation, that man in his origin was innocent and perfect, that Satan had cunningly entrapped the human race into disobedience to God, and that every child born into the difficulties of human existence was, in consequence of that original fall, liable to become a sinner totally depraved, and to come under the wrath of the Creator. This was the faith of the Christian Mission. It was a faith which inspired great heroism and a profound loving-kindness.
In the controversy to which we have referred--the controversy which had much to do with the transformation of the Christian Mission into the Salvation Army--we have more than a good example of the difficulties which now and then presented themselves to William Booth; we have a striking illustration of the working of his mind.
It began to be seen early in the 'seventies that conversion was not an end, but a beginning. To convert a thief, a drunkard, a swindler, a footpad, an atheist, was only a first step to making these poor sinners the children of light. A thief might give up stealing and a drunkard abandon alcohol, yet remain for the rest of their lives only respectable and law-abiding, or, at best, only formal disciples of that mystical religion which obviously has Holiness for its supreme end.
But the numbers of evil people were legion; the area covered by crime, poverty, and indifference, enormous. What should be done? Was the Christian Mission to seek the perfecting of a few, or the awakening of a multitude? Was it to go within doors and pray itself into an exquisite small holiness, or to fling itself far and wide upon the extended front of evil, and endeavour to arouse the whole world to the urgency of a decision for God?
Some were for this course, others for that; the Mission, in fact, was all but threatened by a schism. Catherine Booth, whom some people regard as the real founder of the Salvation Army, while influenced by a remarkable premonition of the coming importance of the movement, was decidedly in favour of an intense cultivation towards personal Holiness. There is no question about that. William Booth oscillated between two opinions. As late as August, 1876, he was greatly troubled by this matter, as an interesting letter written during illness to his son Bramwell, then resting in Scotland alter a breakdown in health, makes fairly manifest. We quote this long letter almost in full because of its intrinsic interest; the reference to Holiness appears only towards the end:
August 27, '76.
MY DEAR BOY--Of the abounding mercy of God I am permitted to commence writing my thoughts to those at a distance whom I love, and find it a joy as well as a duty to counsel and commune with; and first, before all others, my heart turns to you. I need not tell you how almost constantly you have been in my thoughts, and how anxiously I have desired that nothing--no evil tidings about me or aught else should interfere with your comfort or mar the good effects of your sojourn in the North ....
Now for yourself, and I cannot write very fully. I must give you the results of my thinking about you.
Your future--i.e., your life work. How can I divine this? You ought to have convictions yourself. One thing alone I insist on--Be something--be master of one branch of labour. This seems to me a necessity, i.e. if you have health for it--if not--why, then, get on as well as you can. You will have God's providence to fall back upon, which makes a way and a provision for the infirm--for those who have no strength to help themselves. That is, for example, if you take up a clerk's work, be a clerk, as fully qualified as your opportunities will allow. Be able to write, keep books, etc. If a preacher, then be a preacher.
My own and a growing conviction is that God wants you to assist me in directing and governing this Mission, and at my death, if it should anticipate yours, to take my place. With my present feelings I should certainly name you to take my place in the event of my decease. True, at present, your youth would be very much against you with some of the men, but you would have Mamma to counsel you and she would have much weight. But my feeling is that God will spare me for some time to come --and every year now will tell in your favour.
[Here follows an account of his severe illness, and the illness of other members of the family. He says of Catherine Booth, "She nursed me with all her might, and, as a result, broke down."]
Well then--what ought you to do with this possible future? Methinks devote all your energies to preparation for it. Do you say--this may be a long way off? True, but there is the work already to be done of a subordinate Overseer during my life, which will be the necessary preparation for the other. This can be entered upon at once--this it may be said you have commenced already, and have obtained more influence of the kind needed than any one else in the concern. You may say--you do not see your qualifications and cannot accept my conviction. I hardly see how you can get out of it, because you see you are not, and will not, be left to judge for yourself in this matter. If I see no one else better qualified to take my place, I am driven back upon You, and if I name you, you will have no alternative but to accept my nomination whatever your own opinion may be as to your unfitness. But you will say--how does this accord with my first remark that "I ought to have convictions of my own and make my own choice "--perfectly, because whatever you choose will only help your qualification, seeing that the definite application to any branch of work, will give your mind that power of systematic application which you need.
Now as to the present--I think you should lay down and act upon some plans that would--
1. Improve your mind.2. Increase your intelligence.
3. Improve your gifts.
4. Add to your education.
To be able to read a Latin sentence or your Greek Testament 1 think desirable, although not necessary--and all this may be done by moderate, and, to you, an easy amount of reading and study. But what are you to do now?
1. Either go to College--to which I should not absolutely object.
2. Or, what I should prefer, if you have strength of purpose to carry it out: Do a modified amount of Mission work and a modified course of study at the same time. You are at present comparatively ignorant of anything except "politics," and herein I am afraid you are not very profound! Now you must have among other things a knowledge of systematic theology. You have felt lately your need here, and as a public man, probably a very public man, to hold your own with the preachers and the public you must have information and skill in controversial theology. There need be no excuse here. You have a mind for it--and you only need (1) To know your Bible; (2) A course of reading. But I forbear--you will see what I mean.
To go to College--the difficulty would arise where? I know not. All except the Methodist Institutions are Calvinistic--cold-blooded--and while improving the mind, do, I fear, injure the heart. Then the effect of my son being at College would not be good, and moreover I am sure that there is no necessity, if you could set yourself and adhere to a moderate round of reading and study. But what meanwhile? Are you to resume your place at the office? By no means. You are not adapted for that and other things--and you are too good for that alone. That we will have clerks to see to, with self and G. S. R. not by any means shutting you out when in London and I am away. But I propose that you join me in taking care of the actual work of the Mission, by visiting in turn the different stations and remaining occasionally a little time in each place. Of the usefulness, nay, absolute necessity, of such a visitation I am quite satisfied--and I am sure I cannot do it effectually alone--anyway, every year it will grow more and more difficult for me to compass.
I cannot now present you with arguments. It seems to me a work for which you are adapted by the same providence that has opened your way to it. Only I can only consent to it on the understanding that you will use every faculty and opportunity given to make yourself a preacher, and to qualify yourself for filling so public and eminently useful a position as that to which God and your circumstances alike seem to call you. Of course you will see that this would not involve you in any great amount of anxiety at first nor of responsibility ....
We must pray a great deal about everything. I have been reading Tyerman's Wesley in my illness and have, by comparing his (Wesley's) experience with my own, I think, derived some important lessons. One is that, under God, Wesley made Methodism not [only] by converting sinners, but by making well-instructed saints. We must follow in his track, or we are a rope of sand. He laid as much stress on visiting the members privately, and in classes, as on preaching. Let us profit by the experience of those who have trod similar paths before us. I wish you had the books.
I hope you will read this carefully. It has cost me some trouble to sit to it and taken me all day, that is with intervals of rest. So do ponder it well. I don't want you to answer it except in bulk.
Give my kindest regards to dear Mr. McKenzie. He has proved himself to be a brother indeed. I am glad you are not shaken in your opinions of the fulness and freeness of God's love. [Bramwell Booth had been meeting in the North of Scotland with many influences of strong Calvinistic tendency.] Wesley's Life will greatly confirm you.
Look directly to God for light and guidance. Try and please Him in everything.
Here it will be seen that William Booth was at this time strongly inclining towards Holiness, was thinking rather about the making of saints than the conversion of sinners, and, as we shall see later on, even when he definitely decided, in 1878, for a world-wide battle in the name of Conversion, carrying Catherine Booth and most of the Mission with him, how he remained, as he always did to the end of his days, mindful of the need for Holiness--"the Higher Up Religion" as he afterwards called this experience. It is important to the student of William Booth's life that he should understand the character of the Christian Mission, for that character is in large measure the character of William Booth himself, and at the second crisis of life, the middle years.
At the outset we see that this Christian Mission had most of the main characteristics of the Salvation Army, that it did not despise any means for awakening the conscience of mankind, and that while it was in dead earnest it was nevertheless able to express its anxiety for the souls of men in a spirit of large cheerfulness and broad humour. The great thing before it was to awaken the sleeper. This was the first step. The sleeper slept soundly. A drum banged at his door, even a trumpet blown at his ear could not rouse him from his slumber. But until he was roused, until he woke and saw the sky of heaven and the desolations of sin, until he came out of the drugged sleep of spiritual apathy, one might as well preach to a stone. First, then, the sleeper must be awakened.
Therefore we find the Mission adopting the traditional methods of Petticoat Lane to attract the spiritual attention of Whitechapel. Rewards are offered for "Lost Jewels," appeals made to help the Master to recover His "Lost Property," and invitations extended to" A Grand Banquet" in the Palace of God. But while these methods are employed--methods of an essentially English character and old as our English hills, the spirit of the missioners is deeply and grimly serious.
No one shall be allowed to hold any office in the Mission who is not a total abstainer from intoxicating liquors, tobacco, and snuff, except in cases of absolute sickness.
No person shall be received or continued as a member who shall keep a public-house or brewery, or be engaged in the demoralising traffic or sale of intoxicating drinks; or who shall frequent any public-house or dram-shop except on business; or who shall sell obscene books or pictures, fortune-telling books, or ballads, or any other publication of irreligious tendency, or who shall exhibit bills for theatres, concerts, or balls, in their windows or premises.
Any members guilty, etc .... of wearing fashionable and unbecoming dress . . . shall be--1st offence, reproved; 2nd, suspended; 3rd, expelled.
Differences of Doctrine. A person shall not necessarily be disqualified for membership by differing with us on minor questions of doctrine, unless such difference, in the judgment of the elders' meeting, is likely to hinder the usefulness and mar the peace of the Society.
Members' Care of Each Other. All our members shall be especially careful of each other's reputation, watch lovingly over each other's welfare, and promote it as far as it lies in their power--
1. By praying daily for each other.
2. By sympathy and practical help in the time of poverty, affliction, bereavement, or any other kind of tribulation.
3. By never allowing evil to be spoken of them unrebuked, by any one in their absence.
Classes. Meet weekly, opening and closing with singing and prayer. Leader relates his experiences and questions each member as to his, gives advice. Each member not to pray more than a minute at a time, so that all may pray. Each leader to avoid a "lifeless, formal manner" in leading class; must train members to give brief, sincere statement of experience during week. Prayers to be brief, singing short and lively.
We find, too, in the instructions regarding Open-Air Services, the same spirit of aggression tempered by a politic meekness which animated the startling street-work of the Salvation Army:
Open-Air Services. All public services to be preceded by one or more in the open air, to be arranged by Supt. of Elders' meeting, preachers to be pious men connected with us or some other Christian denomination. Following rules to be observed:
1. Begin punctually at the time marked on the plan. If there is no one present to help you to sing, commence by reading a few verses of Scripture, praying or speaking.
2. Let all exercises be short and lively. It is better to speak several times, with a little singing and prayer between, supposing there are none present to help, than to speak a long time, unless specially led to do so by the Spirit.
3. Avoid all controversial subjects. Never mention depreciatingly any other religious body. Do not rail at papists, infidels, publicans, or any other special class of sinners, or any peculiar form of error, but deal with men as sinners in danger every moment of the damnation of Hell, and to whom Christ who died for them has sent you to offer a present, free, and full Salvation.
4, If you are interrupted, answer meekly and kindly or not at all. This will disarm opposition: whereas if you say some sharp and bitter thing, although it may turn the laugh against your opponent, it will embitter him against you, and, what is of greater importance still, against the truths you are there to publish.
5. If the police interfere comply with their requirements. If these requirements are unjust appeal to their superiors.
6. In selecting a stand always avoid those spots where you will be likely to cause any obstruction to the thoroughfare.
7. At the close of your service, if possible go in procession to the hall. In doing so select a tune and hymn that is well known. You had better not sing at all than sing so as to render your effort ridiculous. The time in singing should be rather slower than ordinary. Singing in procession is not calculated to be useful under all circumstances. In some respectable neighbourhoods a procession without singing succeeds the best. Friends must act with judgment.
8. Be due to reach the hall five minutes before indoor service commences.
9. The conductor of the outdoor services shall make the most of the force at his disposal, selecting those best adapted for speaking, praying, etc.
10. Every speaker should carefully prepare for open-air services and not depend upon what he might be able to say at the moment.
Prayer Meetings. One or more to be held weekly at every station, after weeknight preaching services when convenient, and after every Sabbath evening preaching except when the Sacrament be administered.
The praying should be loud enough to be heard by all present, but all should refrain as much as possible from praying in a loud, screaming voice, as it distresses the hearers and unnecessarily exhausts the person praying.
Responses are good when natural and made at the close of the separate requests of the person leading in prayer, but when thrown in the middle of a sentence or made in a loud or boisterous manner they divert the mind of the person praying and do more harm than good to others. In this as in other matters persons should take heed of God's Word and exercise common sense, restraining themselves from all that is extravagant or likely to bring the Word of God into contempt with those who are out of sympathy with it.
A meeting should never be kept late unless absolutely necessary, and then it should be closed formally at a suitable hour, say 10 o'clock, and let all the young people be urged to retire. Then the meeting can be recommenced when necessary; but as a rule late meetings are not expedient, they wear out the labourers, interfere with family and closet duties, and create dissatisfaction and unpleasantness at home.
At the close of these meetings and other services all should retire thoughtfully and at once; talking by the doors on trivial and unimportant subjects and all light and trifling conduct shall not be allowed, being calculated to grieve the Holy Spirit and to destroy the good that may have been received. The Stewards or the persons in charge of the station shall be responsible for the carrying out of this rule.
In dealing with the anxious let no one be urged to go forward to the penitent- form who is not deeply convinced of sin and thoroughly in earnest for Salvation. The more thoroughly persons are awakened and broken down before God the more readily will they exercise faith in Christ and enter into rest, and the more stable will they become afterwards.
One sees from these extracts that the spirit of the Christian Mission was marked by the cardinal characteristics of William Booth. It called for a real self-denial, but counselled reasonable care of oneself. It preached the most arresting form of the Christian Gospel, but prescribed an extreme tenderness with the broken-hearted. It denounced sin with an energy that was almost violence, but sought the sinner with a loving-kindness that was entirely beautiful.
William Booth believed that if he could once rouse a torpid world to seize the idea of religion as the soul's enfranchisement from the sufferings wrought by sin, Christianity would begin its final march to the Kingdom of Heaven. It was torpor far more than sin that drove him to a propaganda which startled the parlours of respectability and amused the composed thinkers in loftier places. His faith in the power of Christ to overcome sin was absolute. He felt that his work lay in breaking down the barriers of spiritual torpor so that the power of Christ might be free to act.
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