re by a row of twenty chairs. 'In
the last Meeting of The General's in Copenhagen thirty-three came
out. How many will it be in Hamburg?' cries the leading Officer.

"The first are soon kneeling, sobbing, praying, their hands over
their eyes at the chairs. Ever new songs are sung--spiritual songs
set to worldly melodies. Ever anew sounds the ringing 'Come' from
the stage. Below, the men and women Soldiers go from one to
another, speaking to the hesitating ones, laying a hand on the
shoulder of the ready ones, and leading them to the front. What a
long time it may be since any loving hand was laid on the shoulder
of many of those Recruits! Life, the rough, pitiless life of the
great city, has always been pushing them along lower and lower down
till it got them underfoot. Here they listen to the sound of a
voice of sympathy, and feel the pressure of a hand that wishes to
lead them. And there above sits The General for a while in an
arm-chair, saying: 'The deepest-fallen may rise again. He has only
to step out into the ranks of The Army, which is marching upwards
to the Land of Grace.' As we left the Hall the thirty-fourth had
already come out."

It must be remembered that all these descriptions come from part of a
single month's journeys, and that The General was dependent upon
translation for nearly every moment of intercourse either in public or
private with the people, and that it will be entirely understood how
great a power for God in this world a man entirely given up may be after
he has passed his eightieth year, and with what clearness witness for
God can be borne even in a strange tongue when it is plain and definite.

"From time immemorial it has been customary to class
philanthropists amongst the extraordinaries, the marvellous
people--who do not pass muster in the common world--exceptions.
Nobody thinks of measuring himself with them, for the battle of
life belongs to the egotists--each one of whom fights for himself.
He who fights for others is smilingly acknowledged by the
well-disposed as a stranger in the world. The ordinary man of the
street pitilessly calls him a fool, and the mass considers him
unworthy of a second thought. He is there, and he is endured so
long as he does not bother any one.

"There are three factors against which the old General has had to