I shall notice, and that is the want of perseverance.  There are some Officers who have been up the mountain—­part of the way, at any rate, if not to the top.  But through disobedience, or want of faith, they have no longer the experience they once enjoyed.

     “The condition.  You say to sinners that they are never to give up. 
     I do, at least.  So with those who are seeking Holiness.  They must
     persevere or they will never find it.”

Chapter XXVIII

The General as a Writer

None of us have yet any idea how voluminous a writer The General was, because so much of his writing was in the form of contributions to our many publications, or of letters to Officers.

We can only insert here a few, specimens of what he wrote at various dates, and remark that in private letters there was always the very same flow of happy earnest life, the same high ideal as finds expression in the following extracts.  In his Orders and Regulations for Field Officers he says:—­

“It must always be remembered by the Field Officer, and by every one who is desirous of producing any great moral or spiritual changes in men, that the example of the individual attempting this task will be much more powerful than the doctrines they set forth, or any particular methods they adopt for teaching those doctrines, however impressive these may be.

“The correctness of this statement has been proved over and over again in this Salvation War.  Everywhere the people measure the truth and importance of what the Field Officer says by their estimate of his character.  If he produces the impression in their minds that he is a mere talker or performer, they may listen to his message, and—­if he has more than ordinary ability—­treat him with a degree of respect; but if this be all, he will be next to powerless in effecting any great change in their hearts and lives.  On the other hand, where the life of the Field Officer convinces his Soldiers that he is himself what he wants them to be, truly devoted to God, it will be found that he will possess a marvellous mastery over their hearts and characters.  In other words, if he makes his Soldiers feel that he is real and consecrated, he will be able to lead them almost at will; they will follow him to the death.

“The same shot, with the same charge of gunpowder, from a rifled cannon, will produce ten times a greater effect than from one with a smooth bore.  The make of the gun gives the extra force to the shot.  Just in the same way the truth from the lips of a man whom his hearers believe to be holy and true will strike with a hundredfold more force than the same message will from another who has not so commended himself.  The character of the man gives the extra force to the truth.

“The Field Officer, by virtue of his position, stands out before his Soldiers