the Whitechapel Road, and when they all
marched to the Hall, they could usually make their songs heard above all
the din of traffic, and in spite of any attempts at interruption made
by the opposition.

The enemy constantly displayed his hostility at the Meetings held in the
street, whether in Whitechapel or any of the other poor parishes to
which the work had spread, and was not often content with mere cries of
derision either. Dirt and garbage would be thrown at us, blows and kicks
would come, especially on dark evenings, and the sight of a policeman
approaching, so far from being a comfort, was a still worse trial, as he
would very rarely show any inclination to protect us, but more generally
a wish to make us "move on" just when we had got a good crowd together,
on the plea that we were either "obstructing the thoroughfare" or
"creating a disturbance."

But what a blessed training for War it all was! The Converts learnt not
merely to raise their voices for God, and to persist in their efforts,
in spite of every possible discouragement, but to bridle their tongues
when abused, to "endure hardness," and manifest a prayerful, loving
spirit towards those who despite fully used them. The very fighting made
bold and happy Soldiers out of many of the tenderest and most timid
Converts.

And yet I am not sure whether a still more important part of The
Army-making was not accomplished in the Prayer Meetings, and Holiness
Meetings, which came to be more and more popular, until under the name
of "Days with God" and "Nights of Prayer" they attracted, in many of the
great cities of England, crowds, even of those who did not belong to us,
but who wished to find out the secret of our strength, for it was by the
light and help got in such Meetings that Converts became "steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord," so that instead of
merely carrying on a "Mission" for so many weeks, months, or years, many
of them became reliable warriors for life.

How few of The General's critics, who sneered at his Meetings as though
they were mere scenes of "passing excitement" had any idea of the
profound teaching he gave his people! The then editor of "The
Christian," who took the trouble to visit them, as well as to converse
with The General at length, with remarkable prescience wrote, as early
as 1871, in his preface to The General's first important publication,
"How to Reach the Masses with the Gospel":--

"The f