MEN I HAVE PAINTED
freedom and justice; Washington founded a state which is now destined to see the last of our modern civilization. General Booth created an ecclesiastical authority of which he was the great high-priest. There was a universal need for such a man; and the man was forthcoming. The churches had ceased to perform efficiently their functions towards that part of the community most in want of their succour and support. They continued to ring carillons, to toll vespers, and to say "Come"; but Booth went to those who no longer had ears to hear, or minds to obey. He sought them out in their lairs, and, having first cleansed their bodies, he spoke the divine message of love to their hearts, baptizing them with water, and then, through the spoken word, with the Spirit of God.
"But other men have done the like," you say. That is true; but have they done as much as General Booth? He was no gentle Christian, tender of touch, and soft of speech, satisfied with winning a soul here and another there, with the redemption of some individual drunkard, thief, or adulterer: that was not his character. He was strong, energetic, commanding: his voice was imperative in condemnation of evil and of unbelief, and forceful in exhortation to confess Christ, and be clean.
But General Booth did more. He made his work permanent, and extended it to every part of the planet, among all nations and all peoples. He was not only an eloquent missioner, he was also a great organizer—in fact, a man of statesmanlike genius as well as a simple follower of Christ. He saw his first little companies grow into regiments, brigades, and army corps. For the workless, shops were needed; for the sick, hospitals; for the services, chapels;
156
