The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Authoritative Life of General William
Booth, by George Scott Railton

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Title: The Authoritative Life of General William Booth

Author: George Scott Railton

Release Date: November 4, 2004 [EBook #13958]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GENERAL WILLIAM BOOTH ***

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[Illustration: William Booth

Born April 10th. 1829. Died August 20th, 1912.]

The Authoritative Life Of General William Booth
Founder of The Salvation Army

By

G. S. Railton
First Commissioner to General Booth

With a Preface by
General Bramwell Booth

Copyright, 1912,
By George H. Doran Company

Preface

I have no hesitation in commending this small volume as containing so
far as its space permits, a good picture of my beloved Father and a
record of much that made his life of interest and importance to the
world.

It does not, of course, profess to cover anything like the whole story
of his many years of world-wide service. It could not do so. For any
such complete history we must wait for that later production which may,
I hope, be possible before very long when there has been time to go
fully through the masses of diaries, letters and other papers he has
left behind him.

It must not be supposed that I can make myself responsible for every
phrase Commissioner Railton has used. I know, however, that perhaps no
one except myself had anything like his opportunities, during the last
forty years, of knowing and studying my Father's life, both in public
and private, and of understanding his thoughts and purposes.

_Now we wish this book to accomplish something._ We cannot think it
possible for anyone, especially a Salvationist, to read it without being
compelled ever and anon to ask himself such questions as these:--

"Am I living a life that is at all like this life? Am I, at any rate,
willing by God's grace to do anything I can in the same direction, in
order that God may be more loved and glorified, and that my fellow men
may be raised to a more God-like and happy service? After all, is there
not something better f