Booth, Catherine Mumford, 1829-1890; Salvation Army -- Great Britain -- Biography
Tens of thousands of our dear Soldiers would gladly have sacrificed a
day's work in order to follow in the funeral procession of one they so
dearly loved; but, so as not to gather too large a crowd, only Officers
were allowed in the march, which passed through countless throngs of
people from International Headquarters to Abney Park Cemetery, a distance
of about five miles.
All along the route the crowds stood in dense masses, and roofs, windows,
and every nook and corner were packed with human beings. Nothing had been
seen like it, said the police, since the Duke of Wellington's funeral,
forty years before.
It was a wonderful march. I wish you could have seen it! Sometimes it
seemed as if every one was weeping; and when the open hearse, with its
plain oak coffin, crowned by The Army bonnet and well-worn Bible, passed,
all heads were bared, all voices hushed, and tears filled all eyes.
The General, standing alone in his open carriage all along the long, sad
way, must have felt that he had the people's sympathy and love with him
in his grief, for scores of heartfelt 'God bless you's!' came from lips
that are unused to such words.
And at last the yellow evening sun shone out as the great procession
reached the gates of Abney Park Cemetery and wound towards the open
grave.
Only a part of the mighty throng could hear The General's beautiful
words, so strong and yet so tender, from which I have already quoted, but
all joined in the song, 'Rock of Ages,' which seemed to roll up to the
heavens themselves.
Several leading Officers and members of The General's own family prayed
and spoke, wonderfully upheld in spite of their deep grief and the strain
of the last days. And then by the open grave the present General led all
hearts to make a fresh consecration, the whole assembly promising, with
God's help, that they would be
'Faithful to Thee, faithful to one another, and faithful to a dying
world, till we meet our beloved Mother in the Morning. Amen.'
* * * * *
If ever you are in Abney Park Cemetery you should visit her grave. It is
very simple. Around the little piece of earth runs a grey stone, with
these words carved on it:--
CATHERINE BOOTH,
MOTHER OF THE SALVATION ARMY
More than Conqueror, through Him that loved us,
and gave Himself for all the world and for you.
Do you also follow Christ?
and above are two small beds of flowers.
Do many people go to see it? you wonder.
Oh, yes. All round it a path is worn in the grass, made by the tread of
many feet; for mothers bring their boys and girls to see it, and tell
them what a mother she was, and men and women of all creeds and races
pause beside it, and remember.
Many Officers, too--from distant lands, and speaking strange tongues you
could not understand--come to The Army Mother's grave when they visit our
shores. For she was their Mother as well as ours, they say.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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