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 27
THE REV. WILLIAM BOOTH BECOMES GENERAL OF THE SALVATION ARMY
1878-1879
THE August number of The Christian Mission Magazine in 1878 ends with the announcement of a "War Congress." The September number opens with the statement, "The Christian Mission has met in Congress to make War." In the announcement William Booth is described as "Mr. Booth" and "The Rev. W. Booth." The first mention of him in the account of the War Congress hails him as "The General."
Although it still called itself the Christian Mission, this enthusiastic company of men and women was now, in spirit and in discipline, rapidly becoming an army. The account of the August Congress tells us that the Mission "has organized a Salvation Army to carry the Blood of Christ and the Fire of the Holy Ghost into every corner of the world." That, I believe, is the first mention of the term Salvation Army. We are also told that, "The Christian Mission Congress has prepared for a war that shall bring true peace into the hearts and homes of the vilest and roughest of the people, and shall shake the Kingdom of the Devil everywhere." Furthermore, many of the evangelists--forbidden by the rules of the Mission to style themselves "Reverend"--were now known, in all parts of the country, as "Captain." This title is popular and friendly in England, and commended itself to William Booth; he would point out that everybody understood it, everybody knew that there must be a captain of a cricket club, a football club, a barge, or a steamer; he allowed his evangelists to be called Captains while he himself remained the solitary and supreme Reverend. He wore a tall hat, but the white choker was now no more!
His title, however, was in a state of transition. He was now "The Rev. William Booth, General Superintendent of the Christian Mission." Miss Short has already told us that in the family circle he was called "The General" quite in the early days of the Christian Mission, rather as a genial tribute to his commanding and autocratic temper, however, than with any reference to the organization of the Mission. But now the evangelists began to speak of him among themselves as "The General," meaning by that title that he was the General Superintendent, not in any way claiming for him a military rank.
In the year 1877, when Europe was watching the struggle between Russia and Turkey, one of William Booth's followers who was conducting a mission in Whitby exhibited some bills with the heading "War! War! War!" and called for "Two thousand men, women, and children" to join "the Forces of the Hallelujah Army." This evangelist, who became Commissioner Cadman in the Salvation Army, relates that when William Booth arrived in the town, he presented his leader not as "The Rev. William Booth" but as "The General of the Hallelujah Army." This, Commissioner Cadman says, was "the first time that the title of General was given to Mr. Booth, and Whitby was the town of England where the organization was first described as an Army."
Bramwell Booth remembers the incident which definitely changed the name of the Christian Mission. He and Mr. Railton were summoned early one morning to William Booth's bedroom to compare notes and to receive instructions for the day's work. Mr. Railton sat at a table, writing; Mr. Bramwell Booth occupied a chair at his side; William Booth, in a long yellow dressing-gown and felt slippers, was walking up and down, dictating his instructions. At that time the Volunteer Movement was established, and was receiving derisive treatment at the hands of the public. The phrase occurred in the article which Mr. Railton was writing, "We are a volunteer army"; and when he came to read this out, young Bramwell Booth leaned back in his chair, glanced over his shoulder at the perambulating General Superintendent, and exclaimed: "Volunteer! Here, I'm not a volunteer. I'm a regular or nothing!" William Booth, who had stopped walking at this interruption, studied his son for a moment, and then coming to the table, leaned over Mr. Railton's shoulder, took the pen from his hand, scratched out the word "Volunteer" and wrote in its place the word "Salvation."
"The effect," says Mr. Bramwell Booth, "of that one word upon Railton and me was really quite extraordinary. We both sprang from our chairs. I remember that I exclaimed, 'Thank God for that!' And Railton was equally enthusiastic."
This decision really marked the beginning of that policy which was to make the Salvation Army a world-wide influence. The old question of limiting or narrowing its message in any way was now settled for ever. The change of name meant an actual warfare upon sin and apathy, it meant a forward movement, it was a definite call to arms. Even if the Mission had retained its name, that forward movement would certainly have been made, for the enthusiasm of the Mission was now hot for the work of widening its influence; but it is evident that the change in the name hastened the forward movement, gave it a violent impulse, and was responsible for many of those changes in method which immediately attracted the public attention.
The adoption of a uniform almost synchronized with the change of name--but at first it was an optional matter, left entirely to the decision of individuals. A few young Officers immediately donned the red jersey; but the women, on the whole, were decidedly against a uniform. Neither William Booth nor Bramwell Booth made any change in their dress for some time.
As will be seen from the following articles written by the General, as we may now call him, William Booth himself saw little significance in the change of name. He announces no new policy; he alters no single rule; he calls for no new sacrifice. And yet one can hardly read this passionate address without feeling that he was at heart conscious of fresh enthusiasms and was moved by a new energy of spiritual aggression.
This article appears in the January number of the Mission's Magazine, now called The Salvationist. It is entitled "Our New Name," and proceeds as follows:
Only the name--the same old friend, neither altered in dress or person, bringing the same message at the same intervals--only a more expressive appellation and a more descriptive one, for in deed and truth has not our paper always been an exponent, advocate, and record of Salvation?
We are a Salvation people--this is our speciality--getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved, and then getting saved ourselves more and more, until full salvation on earth makes the heaven within, which is finally perfected by the full salvation without, on the other side of the River.
We are not the only salvation people in the world. What a pity it would be if we were! There must be many more, both nigh at hand and far away, people who believe, as we believe, in the damnation of Hell and the peril which unsaved men are hourly in of falling into it, and of the opportunity God gives of deliverance; and who, therefore, go about night and day, not necessarily in the way we do, but still they go about in season and out of season, giving men little rest because they won't flee from the wrath to come, and who, when they do get a poor sinner saved, make great glee and rejoicing over him, and make him a Salvationist like themselves. Oh yes, there are other fools and madmen in the world besides us, and in this we rejoice, wish them God speed with all our hearts, but we rejoice also that we are Salvationists ourselves.
WE BELIEVE IN SALVATION.--We believe in the old-fashioned salvation. We have not developed and improved into Universalism, Unitarianism, or Nothingarianism, or any other form of infidelity, and we don't expect to. Ours is just the same salvation taught in the Bible, proclaimed by Prophets and Apostles, preached by Luther and Wesley and Whitefield, sealed by the blood of martyrs--the very same salvation which was purchased by the sufferings and agony and Blood of the Son of God.
We believe the world needs it; this and this alone will set the world right. We want no other nostrum--nothing new. We are on the track of the old Apostles. You don't need to mix up any other ingredients with the heavenly remedy. Wound and kill with the old sword, and pour in the old balsam and you will see the old result--Salvation. The world needs it. The worst man that ever walked will go to Heaven if he obtains it, and the best man that ever lived will go to Hell if he misses it. Oh, publish it abroad!
There is a Hell. A Hell as dark and terrible as is the description given of it by the lips of Jesus Christ, the Truthful. And into that Hell men are departing hour by hour. While we write men are going away into everlasting punishment. While we eat and drink, and sleep and work, and rest, men are going where the worm dieth not, and where the fire is not quenched. Can anything be done? Can they be stopped? Can drunkards, harlots, thieves, the outcasts of the Church and of society, be saved? In theory many will answer, "Yes," but in experience they must confess they have no knowledge of such things.
Look again, perhaps the most appalling aspect of mankind is its bondage. How devils and devilish habits rule it, and oh, what an iron yoke. Ask the drunkards, gamblers, thieves, harlots, money-getters, pleasure seekers. Ask them one and all. Ask the question "Can the power of these habits be broken? Can these fiends be expelled? Can those do good who have been accustomed all their lives to do evil? Speak!" Press your question--"Can these poor creatures, captives, be delivered? Saved from sinning, saved into holy living, and triumphant dying? Saved now?" The desponding answer will be "Impossible.'' Ask multitudes of professing Christians and they will fear it is impossible. Ask the Salvationist, and the answer will be both from theory and experience, that the vilest and worst can be saved to the uttermost, for all things are possible to him that believeth.
What is the use of a doctor who cannot cure, a lifeboat that cannot reach and rescue, an overseer who cannot relieve? And what would be the value of a Saviour who was not good and gracious, and strong enough to save the vilest and worst, and to save him as far as he needs? But our Redeemer is mighty to save. Hold the standard high. Let us tell the world of the Blood and Fire.
WE HAVE SALVATION.--This paper is the mouthpiece of a people who boldly say so. In this respect, with us the trumpet gives no uncertain sound. Many there are who postpone all the certain, enjoyable realisable part of religion to the next state--to the coming hereafter. But we believe in salvation here and now; we believe in feeling, knowing, and partaking here on earth of the leaves of the tree of life, which are for the healing of the nations. Drinking of the river of the water of life which flows from the throne of God. Eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of the Son of God, and being healed, and changed and blessed, and filled with the glory of God, and the peace and purity and power of salvation. We want it now. And we want to know we have it, while we struggle and suffer and fight, and sacrifice, and die; we want the comforting, sustaining, girdling, upholding arms of Jehovah consciously around us, bearing us up, and making us feel glad and strong in the strength of the mighty God of Jacob. We need it, and we have it. There are think-so Christians, and there are hope-so Christians, and there are know-so Christians; thank God we belong to the know-so people--we know we are saved. And why not? Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God. Job knew that his Redeemer lived. John knew that he had passed from death into life. Paul knew that when his earthly house was destroyed he had a building in the heavens. And we know in whom we have believed, and the Spirit answers to our faith, and testifies in our hearts that we are the children of God.
My brethren, if you have salvation you are sure of it. Not because at the corner of the street or from the stage of the theatre you have heard it preached. Not because you have read with your eyes, or heard read by others in that wonderful Book, the wonderful story of the love of God to you. Not because you have seen with your eyes wonderful transformations of character wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost; changes as marvellous, as miraculous, as divine, as any that ever took place in Apostolic or any other days.
These things may have led up to it. But these things, wonderful as they may be, have not power to make you sure of your lot and part in the matter of salvation. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but God Himself, by His Spirit, has made this known.
OUR WORK IS SALVATION.--We believe in salvation, and we have salvation. We are not mere sentimentalists or theory people; we publish what we have heard and seen and handled and experienced of the word of life and the power of God. We aim at salvation. We want this and nothing short of this, and we want this right off. My brethren, my comrades, soul saving is our avocation, the great purpose of our lives. Let us seek first the Kingdom of God, let us be SALVATIONISTS indeed.
God being our helper, this paper shall answer to its name, early and late, whether men are pleased or angry, whether they will read and bless, or reject and curse, it shall know no purpose short of the rescue of a dying world, and no meaner message than the announcement of a present, free, and full Salvation.
And, my brethren, my comrades, you too bear a name, an honoured, sacred name, and you must answer in purpose and character to the name of the great Salvationist.
Look at this. Clear your vision. Halt, stand still as the new year draws nigh, and afresh and more fully apprehend and comprehend your calling. You are to be a worker together with God for the salvation of your fellow-men. Stop a bit. Don't hurry away. What is the business of your life? Not merely to save your soul--win the bread that perisheth not and make yourself meet for Paradise? If it was so, if this were all, would it not be an ignoble and selfish lot for which to toil and suffer, and pray and die, and would it not be as unlike the Master's as could well be conceived of? No, you are to be a redeemer, a saviour, a copy of Jesus Christ Himself. So wake up all the powers of your being, my brothers, and consecrate every awakened power to the great end of saving them. Be a Salvationist.
Rescue the perishing. There are all around you everywhere, crowds upon crowds, multitudes. Be skilful. Improve yourself. Study your business.
Be self-sacrificing. Remember the Master. What you lose for His sake, and for the sake of the poor souls for whom He died, you shall find again. Stick to it. Having put your hand to the salvation plough don't look behind you.
Oh, for a brave year. We shall have one, and you will fight and drive the foe, and rescue the prey, and we will enter the record of multitudes rescued and saved and sanctified and safe landed in Glory in the pages of The Salvationist.
He is far more conscious of the future in front of him when he sits down, only a few weeks later, to issue his instructions to his Soldiers. We think it may be said that from this moment William Booth cherished an ambition in his soul, which, in spite of his extraordinary success and the world-wide affection felt for his person and his work, was to distress him and yet inspire him towards the end of his life because of its delayed but ever possible fulfilment. But of this very interesting matter we shall speak more fully in our closing chapters. It is plain in the following article that he is roused to enthusiasm, that he sees before him a host springing up to overthrow the works of the Devil, and that he definitely sets before his Soldiers, as their supreme objective, "The subjugation and conquest of the world."
The article is called "The Salvation Army. By the General," and appears in the February number of The Salvationist :
What a strange name! What does it mean? Just what it says--a number of people joined together after the fashion of an army; and therefore it is an army, and an army for the purpose of carrying Salvation through the land; neither more nor less than that. If it be wise and lawful and desirable for men to be banded together and organized after the best method possible to liberate an enslaved nation, establish it in liberty, and overcome its foes, then surely it must be wise and lawful and desirable for the people of God to join themselves together after the fashion most effective and forcible to liberate a captive world and to overcome the enemies of God and man.
When Jehovah finished the work of creation, He turned from the new earth to the new Adam, and gave him the commission to multiply and increase and subdue and govern it, so that it should become a happy home for him and his posterity, and bring honour and glory to its Creator. Adam failed in his mission, and instead of Adam subduing the earth, the earth subdued Adam, and he and all his family went off into black and diabolical rebellion. But God still claimed His own, and a second time appeared, this time to redeem by sacrifice the world He had created; and when He had finished the work, He turned to His disciples, the spiritual Adams, and gave them a commission similar to that given to the first Adam, to go and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew xxviii. 19, see margin).
Again it is overcome, conquer, subdue, not merely teach, but persuade, compel all nations, that is, all men, to become the disciples of the Son of God.
So at least it is understood by the Salvation Army. This is the idea which originated and developed and fashioned it in the past, and which dominates and propels it to-day. The world, this very world, including this very England, which never ceases boasting of its freedom, is sold under sin, held in slavery by Satan, who has usurped the place and power and revenues of Jehovah, and who is indeed its Lord and Master, and to deliver it and to fulfil to the very letter the Master's command, an army of deliverance, of redemption, of emancipation is wanted. In the name of the great Three One the standard has been raised, recruits are flowing in. Drilling, skirmishing, fighting, advancing, are going on. Some territory has been won, some captives have been liberated, some shouts of victory have been raised, together with plenty of misfortunes and losses and disasters and mistakes, and all of that which might naturally have been expected in such a war, unless men had suddenly mended of their depravity, and devils had miraculously ceased to be devils; but with it all there has been growth and increase continually. Every day it is becoming more fierce and determined and courageous and confident, and every day more and more a Salvation Army.
Does all this sound strange, my brother--not sacred, not ecclesiastical, not according to the traditions of the elders, and after the pattern of existing things and institutions? Is it something new? It may be so, and yet it may be none the less true and scriptural, and none the less of divine origin and made after some heavenly pattern for all that.
Let us look at it. What is this work we have in hand? To subdue a rebellious world to God. And what is the question to which many anxiously ask an answer? How is it most likely to be accomplished? Now, there are some things on which we may reckon all to be agreed:
1. That if ever the world, or any part of it is subdued, it will be by the instrumentality of men.
2. By holy men, saved, spiritual, divine men.
3. By men using substantially the same means as were used by the first Apostles, that is, preaching, praying, believing, etc.
4. That all that is effected will be by the co-operation and power of the Holy Ghost, given through and because of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now on these lines how could a number of the Lord's disciples conduct themselves in order the most effectually to succeed in the direction of discipling all nations, subduing the world to God?
Supposing 5,000 godly men and women of varying ages and conditions presented themselves at St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow, saying: "We are so deeply impressed with the awful spiritual condition and peril of the world that we cannot rest; the word of the Lord is as a fire in our bones, and the love of souls is such a constraining power in our hearts that it will not let us remain idle, we want to join in a holy crusade for the redemption of mankind. Take us and all we have and use us in the way most likely to accomplish this end." What in such a case could best be done? How could these 5,000 burning hearts be used with the greatest force and likelihood of success? Let us see. It seems to us that substantially something like the following answer must be given.
I. The 5,000 must work in COMBINATION, and that the most complete and perfect possible. To separate and scatter them, leaving them to work out varying plans, would surely be unwise. No, no. Two working in combination will accomplish more than two in separation. Let them be one and the same force, though acting in various divisions and scattered to the ends of the earth. Mould and weld and keep them together. Let them be an army, and make them feel that they are working out one plan. Shoulder to shoulder, Brethren, sisters, comrades, division is weakness, unity is strength. Why?
1. Combination gives the strength which flows from sympathy. The knowledge that if one is sore pressed, wounded, a thousand hearts feel with him, that if he falls they will shout victory o'er his grave, follow him in imagination to "the river," and anticipate meeting him again before the Throne, will be stimulus unutterable, will make him willing to face enemies, loss, death, and devils.
2. Combination gives confidence. There is wonderful power in the consciousness that a multitude are shouldering the same weapons, engaged in the same conflict, marching to the same music, under the same standard, for the destruction of the common foe. Confidence makes men into heroes. Without knowledge there will be no confidence, and without combination there will be no knowledge. Hold together, close together, and there will be giants again even in our own days.
3. Combination gives the strength which comes from mutual help. With a system of combination which is a reality and not merely a name, the strong can bear the infirmities of the weak. In a great real war, no matter how carefully the forces are distributed, there will be weak places that will need strengthening when the conflict rages all along the line. There will be positions against which the enemy will hurl his most powerful battalions, which positions must be reinforced or all will be lost. How glorious for the fresh troops to come pouring in. What would have become of Lucknow had there been no Havelock, and but for Blücher, England would never have been so proud to tell the story of Waterloo.
We must hold the 5,000 together. We know not how the battle will go, and no wing or detachments must be without its supports, and all must be arranged that the power and force of the whole can be directed to strengthen and sustain the weakest part.
4. Combination gives power which comes from example. Man imitates. The deeds of daring and self-denial and sacrifice done here, will be talked about, and printed, and written about and imitated there. Men emulate. In every company there will be spirits more courageous and daring than others, and so all through the 5,000. These will lead and the rest will follow.
II. But such combination or oneness of action will only be possible with ONENESS OF DIRECTION. If all are to act together all must act on one plan, and, therefore, all must act under one head. Twenty different heads, according to the nature and experience and history of heads, will produce twenty different plans with different methods of their accomplishment, clashing and hindering each other more or less. Then what next? Differences of opinion, of feeling, of following, of action. Disagreement, confusion, separation, destruction. I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, soon leads, so far as the actuality of things is concerned, to being of nothing save wrangling and the Devil.
Bring in your earthly usages. How do men ordinarily act? Do you want to tunnel a mountain, bridge a river, manage a railway, or conquer a nation? Is it committeed? Did a committee build the ark, emancipate the Israelites, or ever command or judge or govern them after they were emancipated? Is it not an axiom everywhere accepted, in times of war, at least, and we are speaking of times of war, that one bad general is preferable to two good ones? If you will keep the unity of 5,000, one mind must lead and direct them. Is this direction of one mind all the direction needed? By no means. Subordinate leadership there must be in all manner of directions; all the talent in this direction possessed by the 5,000 must be called into play, but one controlling, directing will must be acknowledged, accepted, and implicitly followed, if you are to keep the unity of 5,000 and make the most of it for God and man.
1. Then of course you will train the 5,000. An army without training, without drill, would be simply a loose, helpless mob, a source of weakness and danger, impossible to hold together without training and drill. And this 5,000 will be little better, though every one of them may now have hearts full of zeal for God and love to man; so we must train them, and that to the uttermost. We must teach them how to fight, how to fight together, and how to fight in the very best way. Train them in the industrious, practical, and self-sacrificing discharge of their duties. Develop what gifts they possess, and help them to acquire others. They will improve. They are only babes now, they will grow up to be men, some of them to be head and shoulders above their fellows; think what they will become when trained and taught and developed, and inured to hardship and accustomed to the war. Don't despise the gift that is in any, you will very often find the last to be first and the first last; let every one have a chance; God is no respecter of persons, nor sex either, neither must you be. Every gift you need is here; they only want calling forth and cultivating, and you will be fully provided for the war. But mind, you must train and teach and develop--no pipe-clay soldiers will be of any service here--and establish your army in actual service. In earthly armies, something may be done in making soldiers with marchings and inspections and drillings in the barrack square, far away from the din and smoke of actual war; but not so here; they must learn as they fight, and fight while they learn. They will train most rapidly in the ranks; and only in the ranks, on the field, with the flag of victory waving over them, can they be made into veterans and inspired with that feeling, or conviction, or whatever it may be that will make them assured that they are the soldiers of the Most High, and therefore invincible, unconquerable, and all conquering.
2. When you have trained your 5,000 you will sort them. When you have trained, and tried and developed your force, and found out what they are, and what they can do, then you will put the right man in the right place, and for every place you will have a man. Gifts differ. You will want the head and the ear, and the hand and the feet, and you will have heads and eyes and ears and hands in abundance. Now for every man in his own order, and according to his several ability. You want infantry and cavalry, and engineers and transports, and every other arm needed to make up a mighty force, and you have all, or you will by your training make all, and to all you must assign the place for which they are adapted and needed.
3. Then of course there must be obedience. If the 5,000 are to act together, and to act on one plan, it will be self-evident that it can only be effected by implicit obedience. If it were otherwise --if the Officers of the Salvation force can only express their wishes for those composing it to act in some particular manner, which said wishes can be received or rejected as they may appear pleasant, then anything like certain and foreseen action is impossible. But if it is known and assured that the 5,000 will act as directed, then the most important measures can be devised and executed with the exactest certainty. If a desired course of action will only be taken on its recommending itself to the judgment, the leadings, the impulses, the feelings of each individual, then you can be sure of nothing except confusion, defeat, and destruction.
Try this on any of the aforesaid human undertakings, and where will you soon be? Any great commercial enterprise, for instance: will not the very speedy result be bankruptcy? Or war? Try it in the presence of the enemy. Let every man fight as he is led, or every regiment charge up the hill and storm the redoubt or do any other deadly, murderous deeds according as they are resolved upon after discussion, and votes and majorities, and where will you be? What sort of telegrams will you send home to an expectant country, and what sort of a welcome back will those of you that are left receive? No! obedience is the word. Somebody who knows what they are doing, to DIRECT, and then simple, unquestioning obedience. Obedience for earthly business and earthly war, and obedience for God's business and God's Army.
4. And then you must have discipline, order. Those who keep the commandments and who excel in service must be rewarded, and those who are disobedient must be degraded, punished, expelled.
5. And lastly, having organized and developed and disciplined your army, it must be used, employed, and that to the uttermost. Nothing demoralizes Salvation Soldiers more than inactivity. Idleness is stark ruin, and the Devil's own opportunity. Push forward, never heed the number or position of your foes, or the impossibility of overcoming them. Your Salvation Army has been made to accomplish the impossible, and conquer that which to human calculations cannot be overcome. FORWARD! If you will only go forward, and go forward on the lines here indicated, you will go forward to fulfil the commission of your Divine Captain, the discipling of all nations, the subjugation and conquest of the world.
It is instructive to remember that as a child William Booth had loved to play soldiers, and that he became a "captain" of a secret society in his youth; it is also instructive to learn that as far back in his missionary career as 1857 he had thought of the soldier's red-coat as a religious advertisement. The following memory of William Booth was written by an aged lady in Cornwall who attended his revival services in that year:
When he saw the people as they entered going in the back seats he would shout, "What are you about? Bring the people up to the front, fill the front seats first." Again and again he would reprove them for one error or another. At the end of the first service in the evening he would be impatient to get at work at the penitent raft. If he thought the people would not come down quietly from the gallery he would exclaim at the top of his voice, "Come down in the body of the chapel, put out the gas and cool the chapel. Do you hear there? Come down; be quiet. There is work to be done here to-night for eternity. Let all the prayer-leaders come up to the front. Come on; be quiet"; waving his hands and beckoning, with his lovely black hair floating about.
His preaching was earnest, faithful, and to the point. His sole aim was to bring sinners to repentance. He was not afraid to preach about the wrath of God, damnation, hell fire, and the smoke of their torments for ever and ever.
When inviting the workers to go with him to an out-door service he once remarked, "I often wish I was a soldier dressed in a red coat, so that it would attract the crowd and bring them to the feet of Jesus."
That the effect upon the world of this new portent in religious enthusiasm was almost immediate, may be seen from the following article which appeared in no other quarter than The Saturday Review. It was published during July, 1879, and was joyfully quoted in the now ringing pages of The Salvationist, with the title, "'The Saturday Review' on the Hosanna Meeting." The article, which is not at all unfair, although it remains studiously on the surface of religious experience, proceeds as follows:
The fortresses of Beelzebub, of course, are music-halls, penny gaffs, dancing rooms, and the like; of these, in London and elsewhere, the Salvation Army, under the guidance of Mr. Booth, has stormed no less than one hundred, and has turned these haunts of ribaldry into places of divine service.
Those must have been very dull or unsympathetic persons who could resist the pious jollity of the anniversary meeting.
The proceedings began with the singing of the following stanza:
Hark, hark, my soul, what warlike songs are swelling,Through Britain's streets and on from door to door;
How grand the truths those burning strains are telling
Of that great war till sin shall be no more!
Salvation Army, Army of God!
Onward to conquer the world with Fire and Blood.
There was some peculiar quality in these last words which a stranger could not catch. The phrase "with Fire and Blood" was sung, or rather roared again and again, until the perspiration ran down the faces of the soldiery as they clasped one another's hands and beamed. Public attention was particularly drawn to one Captain on the lower platform, who vociferated with such zeal as almost to lose the semblance of humanity, who finally gave his neighbour a hard rub round the head in token of spiritual good fellowship. This quaint person afterwards recounted his experiences, and delighted the audience by assuring them that he used to be "a swearing, drunken shoemaker at Merthy Tydvil," but that now he was "a Hallelujah pastor at Whitechapel," to which the entire hall sympathetically replied "Hosanna."
Those foreign critics who blame the apathy and cold-bloodedness of English character can never have attended a Hallelujah meeting. If the sight of many pairs of radiant eyes and waving arms would not persuade them, they would certainly be convinced by a rousing slap on the back from some thoroughly happy and devout stranger. In fact, the flow of animal spirits, the manifest affection of all these rough people for one another, the absence of anything like hypocrisy or self-seeking in the whole affair, were not to be overlooked by any candid spectator. That the nature of the prayers and speeches was oddly boisterous, and that shouts of laughter pervaded what was intended to be a serious divine service, interfered not in the least with the sincerity of the worshippers.
The real good, such as it is, done to the nation by widespread movements of revival like this is less a religious than a moral one, though experience has proved that they are most of all effectual when morality and religion are blended in them to an equal extent. Without religion, to use the pet phrase of the Salvation Army, there is no fire in a revival, without morality there is no blood. Most of our secular efforts to raise the masses have simply failed because of their inability to set the hearts of the populace aflame; while the notable revivals in America and Ireland flashed out and were gone in a few months because all was neglected except the religious afflatus. The strength of Mr. Booth seems to be that he unites the two powers; he preaches doctrines that fill the face of a believer with light and radiance, and he is no less thorough in enforcing a complete reform of life.
It may be said at once that what the Salvation Army accomplished at this time--long before the era of its Social Work--was to provide an outlet, an escape, for that intense burning and explosive religious consciousness which in every age has found neither relief for its suffering nor opportunity for its ecstasy in the careful provisions of Institutionalism. By challenging the world of sin and misery as an army of liberation, by boldly, triumphantly, and with a riotous happiness confronting the world of average common sense and average dulness, the Salvation Army made it easier for zealots to declare themselves, and made it easier for sinners to confess themselves. The Methodist Revivals had lacked this laughing happiness, this hilarious boldness, this immense faith in the power of Christ; they called people to God, but they did not taunt the Devil and challenge the world with so loud an assurance of religious triumph. There was something Hanoverian about them; they were bourgeois; they were, above everything else, a struggle of strong feeling to be respectable. But the Salvation Army, if we quietly consider the matter, was much more English than the Methodist Revivals; it had, indeed, an Elizabethan note in its riot; it trusted the heart of mankind; it broke through reserve and decorum; it beat its drum, and blew its trumpet because it was happy, and because to manifest happiness is natural and true. Singing, dancing, and the occasional embracing--the very excesses which shocked public opinion--were, in sober truth, a return to the more vigorous days of medieval England.
If we quote a few reports from the pages of The Salvationist it will be seen at once how completely the new method appealed to the hearts of those multitudes who found it difficult to be good and impossible to be ecclesiastically obedient. We shall not argue this point; but we would ask the reader to bear in mind that the Salvation Army has largely recruited itself from the lowest, and also from the most neglected ranks of humanity; that its instrument for morality and righteousness obtains its force from men and women to whom the discipline of formalism makes no appeal; and that all the good it has accomplished in this world--including its democratic revival among the more sober and exclusive Churches--flows from the enthusiasm of people who, left alone, would never have lifted a finger for morality and never have sacrificed one moment of their life for righteousness.
In the quotations which follow, the least observant of readers can hardly fail to discern, however fastidious his taste, that here is the spirit of freedom and joy, the spirit of liberation and delight, the spirit of superhuman yearning and ecstasy, even if clumsily and crudely expressed by the rejoicing writers. The phrases which shock, or grate, or disgust are only blunders in the symbolism of language. The fact beneath the words is the fact of human nature radically changed, verily liberated and enlarged, absolutely convinced of union with the Divine.
Glory, glory, glory, glory to Jesus, to JESUS. We must conquer and win Hayle for Jesus. Good times all day on Sunday. Saints jumping, dancing, crying, shouting, and rolling on the ground. We disgusted some people. Hallelujah.--Blood-washed Johnny.
. . . Then came the power. All got down after Mr. Ballington said a few words; then came the glory; such a rush out: then a fight and a struggle. Out came seven feathers, three pipes, three pairs of earrings, three brooches, two other fine things, one grand pin, one Albert chain, one tobacco-pouch, two pieces of twist, one 24 1/2 inches long. They did go in; I never saw such a meeting. Mr. Ballington asked one man, "Does He save you?" He said, "He does." "Tell Him He does again," said Mr. Ballington. He kept telling Him. At last he said, "Mr. Booth, I shall burst if God does not enlarge the vessel." Then he got them to sing, "The Lamb, the Lamb," and they did sing it.
Never can I forget Tuesday night's Holiness Meeting, held in the Salvation Chapel, Spring Garden Lane .... God backed the speaking with convicting, cutting power, after which His Spirit was poured upon us in an overwhelming manner. Immediately afterwards some twenty rushed forward for this freedom from sin. We sang. Weeping and groaning commenced in all parts, when some twenty more rushed forward. Oh, the scene at this juncture. One dear lad, not above seventeen, after lying his length on the ground for some time, cried out, "Oh, it's come. I have it. Oh, God! my God! my God! You do cleanse me." Then followed more wrestling and agonizing, and the forms again being cleared of those who had obtained liberty, some twenty more sprang to the front, and plunged into "the pool." Once more we cleared them, but only to make room for more who were waiting to come out and sing, "I believe, I believe, Jesus saves, Jesus saves"; but at this point nothing could be heard save sobs and groans and heart-rending prayers. Thus continued this mighty outpour until upwards of seventy rose testifying with feelings indescribable and unutterable joy, while all around stood weeping and rejoicing, singing and shouting.
A young man who rushed out of his seat, fell at the penitent-form and cried for mercy--which he soon obtained as soon as he ventured his all on the Blood--being so overpowered with the glory, for we had it down and no mistake, got up, and looking in my face with his hands on his breast, said: "I think I am going to die, but the Blood cleanseth me." I turned to Brother Davies and said, "This fellow is going to die"; and he shouts, "Hallelujah." I turned to the fellow and said, "Get on your knees, and if you die, die at the feet of Jesus"; but, thank God, he is only just beginning to live, and he is still alive, and means to fight in the Army. Glory to God.
I went to one young man that was kneeling at the penitent-form; he was just like a block of marble, he knelt with his hands clasped, and his eyes raised to Heaven. I laid my hand on his shoulder and said to him, "My brother, what have you come out to this form for?" He did not speak for a few moments. At last he gasped out, at the same time laying his hand on his breast, "Oh, it's all here, I never felt like this before," then the tears began to flow, and he began to shout, "Oh, I want Christ! I want Christ! I want Christ!" and Glory to God he soon got what he wanted--for none ever sought His face in vain.
A sanctifying influence and convincing power seemed to steal over all as we sang, "I am coming to the Cross." And we did get to the Cross--to its very foot. After prevailing prayer Captains Smith, Haywood, and Coombs gave powerful testimonies of Christ's taking away. and keeping from the desire of sin. I felt unutterably filled with the Spirit. Never shall I forget the scene that took place when all unsanctified were asked to come forward. It seemed as if Christ said, "What will ye that I should do unto you?" Some, when it came to real definite work, we found had not yet the witness of pardon; others had for years been hungering and thirsting for deliverance from the power of sin, but had been clinging to some fond idol. There was a cry on all sides. Some fifteen or sixteen rushed to the front. "Oh, Lord, I'll not get up till Thou hast sanctified me," said one young man. "My Lord, my Saviour," said one dear young woman, "You know for years this is what I have been seeking: Oh, Jesus, Jesus, give it to me." And He did, and she rose, clapped her hands, and shouted for joy. After this, over twenty more rushed forward; while those who had obtained the blissful peace stood round singing, with faces of rapture and tears of joy, "I am sure, I am sure Jesus saves, Jesus saves, and His Blood makes me whiter than snow." More idols cast at Christ's feet; more rose feeling the liberty; more room was made for those yet seeking; more rushed forward; and while weeping and wrestling and groaning on all sides, a man cried out, "I'm willing! I'm willing! I'm willing! .... What are you willing to do, my brother?" I asked. "Oh," he replied, "willing to confess Christ before my shop-mates." Some nine or ten forms were cleared, until over 200 came forward seeking in an agony of soul and heart a life of purity. We finished this meeting with 250 testimonies.
One dear woman says she will have to thank God for ever for sending the Salvation Army here. She would not yield at our meeting, so she went to our Council of War at Merthyr, and stayed at the all-night of prayer, when God set her captive soul at liberty. When she got saved she shouted and jumped like a mad woman, and Happy Jack jumped with her. It just suited me. Oh, Hallelujah! When she came out her husband scolded her for shouting so, and making so much noise. Since then he has got saved too. He was as bad as his wife. As soon as he got saved he jumped up and shouted, "This is Glory! This is Glory! This is Glory!" And we all shouted together. This man went shouting all the way home, "THIS IS GLORY! THIS IS GLORY!" and we could hear him five hundred yards off. One man said to me, "You have sent him right off his head." I said, "He is all right. They suit me." Oh, Hallelujah!
I once remarked to Bramwell Booth, speaking of the risk that lies in all such fervour as we find expressed in reports of this character, that enthusiasm is a highly dangerous thing. He made answer, "Not if you organize it." The reader must bear in mind that while General Booth was doing all in his power to overcome the torpor and apathy of the world by an excess of religious fervour, he was also at the same time organizing and controlling the enthusiasm which resulted. From the very first with more than one shrewd mind helping him, the General set about organizing the zeal and fervour of his followers. He called men and women by the most violent means to his side, but once at his side he disciplined them into orderly legions. Extreme as some of his utterances seem, fanatical as indeed some of his methods appear, he was yet in some strange fashion the most practical, level-headed, and far-seeing of Englishmen, a man typical of our manufacturing Midlands. He had a detecting instinct for cant, a violent detestation for professional unction, and a perfect loathing for the pernicious egoism of certain religious bodies. "A dunghill religion" was his contemptuous phrase for the teaching of the Plymouth Brotherhood. Many hard phrases did he rap out when approached by men obsessed by introspective religion. He had one test, an infallible, and a scriptural test, for all talkers: "What do you do? What are you willing to give up?" He cut short those who wanted to discuss doctrinal refinements with the instruction, "Go and do something."
At the very beginning of his crusade, when one might think he would be swept off his feet by the astounding success of this new movement, we find him watching over his Soldiers and rebuking them for excess of zeal.
But he did not shrink from demanding an absolute self-sacrifice, and he thought very little of a man who was not ready to give up the whole world for the sake of salvation. One of the Officers in the Salvation Army has a story which shows the way of William Booth with those who are inclined to think first of themselves:
Although I joined the Christian Mission with my father's consent (which was given disagreeably and reluctantly), it was not long before he came to look me up. He thought I was looking pale and over-worked, and protested to the General that "the first law of nature is self-preservation." I think I can hear now the General's sharp repartee, "Yes, Captain Edmonds, but the first law of grace is self-sacrifice!"
But in the midst of his tumultuous, headlong life, stirring up enthusiasm, organizing enthusiasm, calling for self-sacrifice, and directing self-sacrifice--the General, as the sole head of an entirely new religious body, found himself called upon to decide a question in the sphere of doctrine which greatly disturbed him at the time, and remained with him almost to the end of his life as a source of occasional anxiety. He was not only a General, he had to make himself a Lawgiver.
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