Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-04-29
THE SALVATION ARMY.
fts 0rtgia-Its Method OF work-whas ~
Has Done.

English journals during the past two
or thrcc years. have been frequently
struck with the graphic descriptions
given of the doings and progress of a
queer religious organization known as
the Salvation Army" Now that q
detachment OF the army has come into
our midst, with ways and methods of
work so sharply In contrast with our
own modes OF evangelical work, and a.
they are likely to be an object Of in
creasing interest for at least some time
TO come, IL may not be amiss 70 give the
readers of the EUeuing Mail a brief his
tory of the origin of this singular organ
ization, with some account of what IL
has already done, and what IL proposes
TO do in connection with its visit to this
country.
The founder of the organization and
the present head of 1t, or generalissimo.
is Rev. William Booth, nm ex-Wesleyan
Methodist clergyman, of London, Eng
land. lie is man Of rare tenderness
and sensibility of heart, and was deeply
moved for the degraded and criminal
classes which crowd some parts
OF the city, and whom 1t seemed
impossible TO reach through any
OF the ordinary methods of tho
church. So deep was his interest In
these wretched classes, and such his de-
termination to do something for their
salvation, that he requested the confer
ence TO make this a special work, and
assign him TO the charge of it. This.
however, the conference declined to do,
and assigned him instead TO a country
charge. With his whole soul absorbed
with this one idea the result may be
easily anticipated. He withdrew from
the conference, and, alone and unaided,
took up the work upon which his heart
was set. He went among the lowest
slums, he visited freely the vilest dens.
and TO the most wretched and degraded
refuse of humanity-so stepped in vice
and crime that all semblance OF hu-
manity seemed to have faded out of
them-he freely offered the salvation Of
Christ to all who would accep. it. The
vile, the criminal, the besotted in sin and
wretched, the refuse of the alleys and
dens heard with astonishment, for the
first time in their miserable lives, words
OF sympathy and kindness. They could
hardly trust their ears as this new Ian
guage fell upon them. They crowded
around him by hundreds and thousands,
and followed him wherever he went.
Nor was it the bread of life" alone that
he gave them; like the Divine Master
who, nearly nineteen hundred years ago,
went about doing good to the bodies and
souls OF men, so he dispensed also, wnen
II was needed, the bread that perisheth.
The result was that in short time hun
dreds were converted.
1t now became the great question how
TO secure these converts and utilize
them in the further advancement of his
great work. It would be of no use to
bring into operation the ordinary church
machinery In their case. 1t would no
hold them a single day. They were a
peculiar people," had led peculiar
lives, and had peculiar modes of thought.
Their lives had been different from the
lives of other men and women. Their
very modes of life had made them SEN
sational and prone TO the extravagant,
the startling and the out-of-the-way,
and so it was necessary in their case
that some extraordinary and novel
method should be devised to enlist and
hold them. 1t Ii easy TO see how to a
mind and temperament like that Of Mr..
Booth, who, in the course of bis work
had many n hard fight with the archad-
versary, and whose mind was full of the
militant figures of the Scriptures, the
idet. of a military organization, or 4
fighting Christian army should suggest
itself; and so gradually the organiza-
tion grew into the Salvation Army
with its battalions, detachments, its
professions and banners and music, its
captains and companies, its orders and
proclamations, and all the attractive ct
ceteras 80 calculated by their very
novelty to draw the attention of those
TO whom all ordinary attractions had
become blase. The success of DIR.
Booths organization is evidenced by the
fact that the Salvation Army now con-
sists OF l25 corps and stations with I7s
officers wholly employed In its labor,
while privates are numbered by tens
OF thousands. It's headquarters are
in the east of London. in White
chapel street, consisting of q large
building containing large hall for pub
lie meetings and smaller halls for busi-
ness purposes connected with the work.
Latterly the organization has rapidly
extended over all the principal cities and
larger towns of England, Ireland and
Scotland. and IL has the hearty support
10 many wealthy and influential persoos
both in and out of the church, who
freely advance the funds necessary for
the prosecution of the work.
II Is claimed that through the labors
of the Salvation Army the character of
the whole population of South Wales
has been changed for the better, that the
! charge sheets oil police courts have been
greatly reduced, the liquor traffic almost
suspended, and whole counties reused 10
spiritual concern. The same good re-
suits have been claimed for Il in the
principal towns of Great Britain in
which 1t has operated, and, it must be
confessed, with a considerable degree Of
truth. AT any rate, there Is one great
lesson being taught the church. and
Christian philanthropists generally, in
the rise and success of the Salvation
Army, and that Is. IL the lower classes
are ever reclaimed and brought TO
Christ, it must be by going down TO
them with the gospel. The angel must
step down into the pool before the
truth taught Is, that even the lowest and
vilest can thus be reached; that they
thirst for human sympathy, long for
something better and are ready earprlv