The record-union., 1896-06-22
ALL TIE WORLD.
The Salvation Army Would Bring II to
God.
Story Of the Origin and Building Up Of
the Great Religious Movement
Started by General Booth.

Booth, his estimable wife, known in
the circles of the organization as the
mother of the Salvation Army. The
organization was first called the Chris
tian Mission, and not until nearly fif-
teen years after was it known by its
present name. Mr.. Booths first idea
vas to confine his efforts to reaching
the unchurched and poor of London.
His most sanguine hopes did not lead
him to expect that his work would ever
expand beyond its borders His first
meeting was on the streets He rented
old factories and anything suitable that
he could get hold of, and began his
work among the neglected classes, and
as the world knows work ON this par
t'cular line has ever since been char
acteristic Of this movement.
The principles Of the Salvation Army
are the common sense principles as
taught and practiced by Jesus Christ
and his disciples and can be summed
up as follows:
First-Going to the people with the
me- ssage Of salvation If the people will
not come to hear it.
Second-Attracting the people. Out
of this has grown the uniforms, the
| marches, the brass and other bands,
and the peculiar style of announce
ments, etc.
Third-Saving the people Out of this
has grown the salvation and holiness
meetings.
Fourth-Using the people. All who
come into the army are expected to
do something. It may not be much at
frst possibly they may be only able
to march and say, II am saved" but
they soon develop and in turn lead
others to give up their lives Of sin.
| The growth Of the organization Is
certainly marvellous. Though only thir-
ty years old, it has to-day about
! 10000 field and 10000 local officers,
and is laboring in forty different coun-
tries and colonies. Their foreign mis-
sion work extends to eighteen heather
rations, while their publications ex-
ceed 50,000,000 copies annually, and
are published In twenty -four different
| languages. When, by those who know
| from it's soldiers to it's General, it is
| considered indisputable that there is
not a more godly set of people as a
whole in any organization in the world,
| this growth may be considered more
marvellous still.
There are many things that are Pc
culiar to the army It's organ, the "War
| Cry" is without worldly advertise
ments. It is devoted entirely to relig-
ion, and it is sold by the soldiers and
officers from house to house, on the
streets, in the meetings, and especially
! in the saloons, and indeed there IS
scarcely g. den Of vice to be found but
| its inmates are asked to buy a Cry. J"
And strange to say, these classes really
seem to love the white-winged messen-
! ger, and 1t is often the means of leading
them to better life. Indeed, thousands
| have been reached in this way.
! The drum and band in the army takes
| the place Of the bell in the churches.
The tones OF the bell are beautiful,
| but is not martial music inspiring?
| Many a poor drunkard who has been
about to tip his glass of beer has heard
the Come come" of the army drum,
and has left his beer never to return;
has gone to the army hall, been con-
verted, and now instead of buying beer
buys beefsteak and bread for his fam
lily.
The flag is a flag of principles. The
red represents the blood Of Jesus, the
blue holiness, mad the yellow stands
for the Holy Ghost, in whose dispensa-
ton we live. In the United States all
our flags have in one corner a small
| American flag, which is not only the
flag of our country, but it reminds US
that through stripes Of difficulty, suf-
fering and Misrepresentation we shall
have the stars by and by. The uni
form Of the army is not so new as one
might at first suspect. The Jewish peo-
pie were commanded by God to wear
a ribbon Of blue on the borders of their
garments that they might remember to
be holy. The army wears the suit of
blue. Again we are told in one of the
visions of prophet Of old that "the
ivaliant men are in scarlet" Whether
this has any reference to this move
ment we may not say with certainty,
but it Is a fact that the most valiant
of the army are in scarlet. I mean
the scarlet guernsey. The uniform also
helps one to be entirely separate from
the world in their style of dress. It
is often a heavy cross to wear 1t, but
it is a protection to the drunkard
when tempted. He would scarcely go
into a saloon with his uniform on. 1t
is guide to those in need, as it has
proved to be thousands of times, for
when one who is in need sees the
uniform he feels at once that there is
beneath it one who will help him If he
can
Salvationists believe that there is as
much worship in JOY as in sanctimoni-
BUSINESS. that God is as much pleased
with life and a few amens and halle
lujahs as he is with formality and quiet
ness, and beside, it suits the class they
seek to reach better. Those who fre-
quent saloons and dens of vice will not
go to place where there is no life. The
places they frequent have life-why
should not those who are serving God?
The military plan of government is
one Of the army's strong character
istics, and 1t is probable that much
of its success is due to this. 1t is GER
tainly strong way of governing This
kind of government in the army Is not
merely in name but IN reality. The
officers and soldiers become such by
voluntarily entering into certain agree
ments and remain such so long as they
keep these agreements. Should they
grow slack in their promises they are
carefully, kindly and faithfully dealt
with, and should they still persist in a
line of disobedience to the requirements
of their position they forfeit the posi-
ton.
The social branch of the army was
started in the year 1872, 1t was seen
that there were special classes that
needed attention and which could not
be reached through the regular lines