ar in the big city at eight, and
already it is half-past three.

Five minutes later he has been assisted on to the platform (for this
was before his operation and he was almost blind), and for nearly an
hour pours out a ceaseless flood of eloquence, telling the history of
his Organization, telling of his life's work and of his heart's aims,
asking for their prayers and help. He looks a very old man now, much
older than when first I knew him, and with his handsome, somewhat
Jewish face and long, white beard, a very type of some prophet of
Israel. So Abraham must have looked, one thinks, or Jeremiah, or
Elijah. But there is no weariness in his voice or his gestures; and,
as he exhorts and prays, his darkening eyes seem to flash.

It is over. He bids farewell to the audience that he has never seen
before, and will never see again, invokes a fervent blessing on them,
and presently the motors are rushing away into the wet night, bearing
with them this burning fire of a man.

Such are some of my impressions of William Booth, General of the
Salvation Army.

THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF

No account of the Salvation Army would be complete without some words
about Mr. Bramwell Booth, General Booth's eldest son and right-hand
man, who in the Army is known as the Chief of the Staff. Being
convinced of this, I sought an interview with him--the last of the
many that I have had in connexion with the present work.

In the Army Mr. Bramwell Booth is generally recognized as 'the power
behind the throne.' He it is who, seated in his office in London,
directs the affairs and administers the policy of this vast
Organization in all lands; the care of the countless Salvation Army
churches is on his shoulders, and has been for these many years. He
does not travel outside Europe; his work lies chiefly at home. I
understand, however, that he takes his share in the evangelical
labours of the Army, and is a powerful and convincing speaker,
although I have never chanced to hear any of his addresses.

[Illustration: MR. BRAMWELL BOOTH, Chief of the Staff.]

In appearance at his present age of something over fifty, he is tall
and not robust, with an extremely sympathetic face that has about it
little of his father's rugged cast and sternness. Perhaps it is this
evident sympathy that commands the affection of so many, for I have
been told more than once that he is the best beloved man in the Army,
and one who never uses a stern word.