s something of the child in his own face as he stepped to
the platform's edge, and replied to the enthusiasm of the house by
clapping his own hands to the people. There was always something
naive and delightful in The General's preliminary task of
applauding the audience.

"Here came his first important address of the day, lasting an hour
and a half, or even longer. It had many 'notes,' and displayed The
General in many moods. He was apt to be facetious and drily
humorous at first. He had racy stories to tell--and none can tell a
story for the hundredth time with fresh zest than he--in
illustration of the old and bitter prejudices against The Army. A
typical one was that of an old woman, arrested for the hundredth
time for being drunk and disorderly, who was given the option of
going to prison or being passed over to The Salvation Army. Too
drunk to realise what she did, she decided for the latter. She was
kindly tended, set in a clean cosy bed, and watched over by a
sister till the morning. When she woke the sunlight streamed
through the window, and the happy, unaccustomed surroundings
surprised her. 'Where am I?' she exclaimed in bewilderment. 'You
are with The Salvation Army,' said the sister kindly and softly.
'Oh, goodness gracious,' roared the old woman, 'take me away, or
I'll lose my reputation!'

"Often in these long and comprehensive addresses The General told
how he found the work of his life. He was never so impressive as at
this stage. And the tale in its intensity was ever new. His
language was nervous, intense, almost Biblical, his figure
suggestive of a patriarch's in a tragedy. 'Sixty years ago--sixty
years ago--sixty years ago,' each time with a different and a
grimmer intonation--'the Spirit of the Living God met me.... I was
going down the steep incline when the great God stopped me, and
made me think.'

"In the last stage of his address he was the coloniser, the
statesman, the social wizard who would recast character and
rearrange humanity. He gave an epic sense to the story of
emigration and colonisation. But he was invariably clear and lucid
in his detail, so that the immediate and practical meaning of it
all was never lost on the mayors, and corporation and council
worthies, who heard him. Then miles and miles aw