The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-04

task OF saving other meu. needless Of
his own health and life.
At twenty he went to London ana
began his career there 40 . lay preacn-
er. supplying local chapels on demand
and preaching meantime In the siums.
Conditions In the poverty-stricken re-
gions had ways weighed heavily upon
his mind and heart. He perceived tnat
the sium.dweiIers were the people
thar most needed attention ana had the
least OF Il. He yearned over the men,
women ana children whose lives were
doomed TO be passed In such regions.
The more he pondered upon them the
clearer seemed his mission to try to
help them.
Meanwhile the preaching OF q re-
markable sermon In a Chapman chapel.
the pulpit OF which he temporarily sup
piled, brought to him the acquaintance
OF extraordinary character and ability
whom he afterward married. She was
Of q faith IN religion as fervent and
radical as his own, she wholly SYM
pathized with him In his 1abors among
the 1owliest, towards whom he In
stinctively turned, and until her death,
in 1890, she was HIS constant compan-
ion. sage counselor assistant and sup
porter.
In 1858 william Booth was ordained
minister of the Methodist Church,
for until this time he had been but a
layman preaching. and had earned his
living by clerical employment. For
the next three years he Travelled as an
evangelist through the English cities.
preaching with extraordinary success.
He desired and expected to continue
this work. to which he believed he had
been called as q life mission: but the
MafhnHfof ~ Afara-
garding what he held to be q compact,
undertook to restrain HIM within To-
cal passionate. Mrs. Booth was sitting
in the gallery. her husband was among
the ministers below. As soon as 1t be-
came evident that the Conferences
would interfere with william Booths
labors as an evangelist. Mrs. Booth
rose to her feet, stood for an instant
with her right hand raised and uttered
one word that rang through the hall:
'Neverw
Then she walked calmly to the door.
At the same instant on the floor be-
low her husband had seized his hat
and started for the exit. In the lobby
they met and hand in hand they start
ed forth without a church or a pulpit
without prospects and without money
but absolutely undismayed.
| William Booth went first to Corn
wall, where he started a series OF re.
vival meetings that lasted many months
and were enormously successful
Thence he returned to London to take
up again the problems OF the poor. thu
unemployed, the outcast and the Stun
dwelIer, problems that always weighed
most heavily upon him. More and
more he felt that his mission was u
these vast swarms that he saw abou
him. neglected and perishing. II hs
could not as the evangelist of church
| labor among them he could work fol
them on his own initiative and In his
own way.
On the night of July s. 1885. he made
his memorable venture. The old TEN
was secured and pitched In the hear
of whitechapel. There with the crud
est accessories he began to preach Il
crowds OF unfortunates.
| That was the real beginning of hi
real life work, although It did not un'
/ til years later assume its final shape
/ His mission did well; he knew exactly
how to reach the hearts of the masses
After a time he moved his tent farther
east to Mile End Waste, where II wal
destroyed one night by the wind and
the rain. UndisturbeJ. he found quar-,
tiers in an ancient wool warehouse Will
gaping windows through which this
hoodlums peited the congregation WITH
sticks and worse things. Yet ht
steadily made Roadway his audiences
and his concerts rapidly Increased. Al
last he hired the Bingham Theatre
O place that had borne but III repute
and one Sunday the stage was fillet
with men-and women that had been the
worst and most dangerous In the dis