The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation ArmyRailton, George S. (George Scott)
History
The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army
Railton, George S. (George Scott)
Booth, William, 1829-1912; Salvation Army
That the great Mikado, to whose wisdom and energy Japan owed so much of
its great renewal and entry amongst the "civilised" nations, should have
passed into eternity only a few months before the Founder of a wider and
grander, because spiritual, Empire, is an interesting fact. The Mikado
received our General, in spite of every court usage that might have
hindered, because he found that all the greatest leaders and heroes of
Japan, like their Press, saw in him the personification of the highest
and noblest purpose for every land and every people.
The Japanese Government gave our Officers, women as well as men, a
liberty of access to their prisoners greater than we as yet possess in
this and most other "Christian" countries, because they saw the value of
our love for the victims of sin, and our power, by God's grace, to
inspire them with hope for themselves. How many more years, I wonder,
will it take other nations to follow this common-sense example?
Chapter XVIII
Co-operating With Governments
The Government of the Dutch East Indies, which was in the hands, at the
time, of a military man, has won for ever the honour of appreciating and
utilising The Army of The General they had never seen, before any of
those who had seen him. Certainly, The General never ran after earthly
rulers, or showed any disposition to court their favour; but he said
constantly, "Here we are; if any Government, municipal or national,
likes to use us, we can save them more than half of what they now spend
upon their poor and criminal classes, and do for these far more than
Christian Government officials, however excellent, ever hope to do. They
are invariably so bound to avoid any meddling with religion that they
cannot bring to bear upon those most in need of it, the heavenly light
and love and power, in which we place all our confidence for dealing
with these classes."
"Gentlemen," said a Town Councillor, in a German city, when the question
of subsidising The Army was being discussed, "The Army can do for your
poor what you never can attempt. You can only deal with them from
without. The Army works upon them from within, and produces results that
will considerably lighten your burdens."
The General had arranged for the Dutch Indies to be missioned from
Australia, that country being our nearest Field and one accustomed to
deal with pioneer effort. But when he found that Dutch officialdom
dreaded contact with British agents, though ready to welcome Dutch ones,
he very quickly changed his plans, and as soon as the Colonial
Government found that The Army was as much Dutch as English, and could
send them a Dutch leader, they showed themselves ready to use us as
fully as possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account