The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation ArmyRailton, George S. (George Scott)
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The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army
Railton, George S. (George Scott)
Booth, William, 1829-1912; Salvation Army
"I loved my mother. From infancy to manhood I lived in her. Home
was not home to me without her. I do not remember any single act of
wilful disobedience to her wishes. When my father died I was so
passionately attached to my mother that I can recollect that,
deeply though I felt his loss, my grief was all but forbidden by
the thought that it was not my mother who had been taken from me.
And yet one of the regrets that has followed me to the present
hour is that I did not sufficiently value the treasure while I
possessed it, and that I did not with sufficient tenderness and
assiduity at the time, attempt the impossible task of repaying the
immeasurable debt I owed to that mother's love.
"She was certainly one of the most unselfish beings it has been my
lot to come into contact with. 'Never mind me' was descriptive of
her whole life at every time, in every place, and under every
circumstance. To make others happy was the end of all her thoughts
and aims with regard not only to her children but to her domestics,
and indeed to all who came within her influence. To remove misery
was her delight. No beggar went empty-handed from her door. The
sorrows of any poor wretch were certain of her commiseration, and
of a helping hand in their removal, so far as she had ability. The
children of misfortune were sure of her pity, and the children of
misconduct she pitied almost the more, because, for one reason,
they were the cause of sorrow to those who had reason to mourn on
their account.
"For many years before she died, love, joy, and peace reigned in
her heart, beamed from her countenance, and spoke in her words. Her
faith was immovably fixed on Him who is able to save to the
uttermost. It was a common expression of confidence with her that
'Jesus would go with her all the way through the journey of
life--even to the end. He would not leave her. Her feet were on the
Rock.'"
To this testimony to his mother's worth The General added:--
"To those whose eyes may fall on these lines, may I not be excused
saying, 'See to it that you honour your father and your mother, not
only that your days may be long in the land, but that you may not,
in after years, be disturbed by useless longings to have back again
the precious ones who so ceaselessly and unselfishly toiled with
heart and brain for your profoundest well-being.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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