not only to the highways and hedges, but to the slums, the homes of the very poor, the haunts of criminals and riff-raff; in getting hold of these people; in using the worst of them—­’converted,’ as he honestly believed—­as a triumphant advertisement; and then in organising his followers into a vast Army, with himself as absolute Chief.  On the methods adopted nothing need be added to what is said in the memoir; they are familiar to all, though not so familiar as they were some twenty years ago.

“The root-idea of William Booth’s religion, the object of his missionary work, was ‘the saving of souls.’  Translated into other language, this means the establishment of a conviction in the minds of men, women, and children that they were reconciled to God, saved, and preserved to all eternity from the penalties of sin.  We do not propose to enter on the delicate ground of theological discussion, or to argue for or against the truth or value of such a conviction.  The interesting point, in relation to General Booth’s ideas and personality, is to note how this belief is worked into the system of The Army in the official programme, fantastically called the Articles of War, which has to be signed by every Candidate for enrolment.  This curious document, which will greatly interest future social historians, consists of three parts—­a creed, as definite as any taught by the Churches; a promise to abstain from drink, bad language, dishonesty, etc.; and a solemn promise to obey the lawful orders of the Officers, and never on any consideration to oppose the interests of The Salvation Army.  The last part, the promissory part, is made much stricter in the case of Candidates for the position of Officer; these solemnly promise not only to obey The General, but to report any case they may observe in others of ’neglect or variation from his orders and directions.’  Membership of the Organisation thus depends on absolute obedience, and on a profession of faith in Salvation in the definite sense formulated in the Articles of War.  The two are inseparably conjoined.  When we reflect upon what human nature is, in the class from which so many of the members of The Army have been drawn, when we think how difficult it is to reconcile the hand-to-mouth existence of the casual labourer with any high standard of conduct, let alone of religion, General Booth’s success, partial though it has been, is an astonishing fact.  It implies a prodigious strength of character, and a genius for seeing what would appeal to large numbers of humble folk.

“Will that success continue now that General Booth is dead?  Everywhere we hear that The Army is not bringing in Recruits as fast as of old.  Its novelty has worn off; its uniforms are no longer impressive; its street services, though they provoke no opposition, do not seem to attract the wastrel and the ‘rough’ as they did at first.  We can readily believe that the work goes on more or less as before; but the gatherings, we suspect,