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
We shall see from the welcomes given to him by great official
personages, that these remarks do not in the least exaggerate the
feeling created all over the country by the activities of The Army. Had
The General merely made great proposals he would only have been looked
upon in the generally favourable way in which men naturally regard every
prospector of benevolent schemes. But the country recognised in him the
man who, in spite of the extreme poverty of most of his followers, had
raised up, and was then leading on, a force of obedient and efficient
servants of all men.
The journey was arranged, for economy of time, so as to include a visit
to Canada, and its general course was as follows: From New York he
travelled to St. John's, New Brunswick, where the Premier, in welcoming
him, said the work of The Salvation Army had "placed General Booth in a
position perhaps filled by no other religious reformer." From New
Brunswick he passed on to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Montreal (where he
was the guest of Earl Grey, the Governor-General), Ottawla, Kingston,
Hamilton, London, and Toronto. Thence he returned to the States, and
held Meetings in Buffalo, Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, Des
Moines, Kansas City, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland,
Omaha, St. Joseph, St. Louis, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Pittsburg, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Worcester, in three of
which cities he conducted Councils of Officers, in addition to public
Meetings.
The impression invariably made wherever he went, was thus ably summed up
by the _Chicago Interocean_:--
"No other man _is_ General of an Army of people that circles the
globe. No emperor commands soldiers serving openly under him in
almost every nation of the earth. No other man is called
'commander' by men and women of a hundred nationalities.
"Aside from his power over the great Organisation of which he is
the head, General Booth is one of the world's most remarkable
figures. His eloquence stirs and stings, soothes and wins; and this
eloquence alone would make him famous, even if he had never
undertaken the great work he has done with The Salvation Army.
"As he speaks, his face is radiant with the fervour that carries
conviction. His tall figure and long arms, used energetically in
gestures that add force to what is said, his white hair and beard,
and his speaking eyes, make him an orator whose speeches remain
long in the minds of those who hear them. The feeling of the
members of The Army towards their Commander has in it both the love
and reverence of a large flock of their pastor, and, added to this,
the enthusiasm, loyalty, and energetic spirit of an Army."
[Illustration: General Bramwell Booth]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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