fy the feeling of
monstrosity. They sang frequently:--

He taught me how to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day.

But where were the rejoicing people? Where was there indeed anybody who,
either in or out of a religious service, dared to express his joy in the
Lord--or wished to express anything. It was as if religious societies
had become wet blankets to suppress any approach to a hearty expression
of religious faith. Nevertheless, by God's grace, it all worked in this
case not to crush but to infuriate and stir the new-comer to action.

Preaching, under such circumstances, was a relief to such a soul, and
necessarily became more and more desperate.

One hearing of William Booth was enough for Mr. Rabbits, a practical,
go-ahead man, who had raised up out of the old-fashioned little business
of his forefathers one of the great "stores" of London, and who longed
to see the same sort of development take place in connexion with the
old-fashioned, perfectly correct, and yet all but lifeless institutions
that professed to represent Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. His
sense of the contrast between this preacher and others whom he knew was
proportionately rapid and acute. The effects produced on hearers were
the same at every turn.

This living preaching was and is a perfect fit with all the rush of the
world outside, and the helplessness of the poor souls around.

William Booth was, as we have seen, only seventeen when he was fully
recognised as a preacher of the Gospel according to the custom of the
Methodist Churches, and at nineteen his minister urged him to give up
his life to the ministry. At that time, however, he felt himself too
weak physically for a ministerial career, and in this view his doctor
concurred. So determined was he to accomplish his purpose, however, that
he begged the doctor not to express his opinion to the minister, but to
allow the matter to stand over for a year. Unless a man with a nervous
system like his was "framed like a bullock," and had "a chest like a
prize-fighter," he would break down, said the physician, and seeing that
he was not so built, he would be "done for" in twelve months. The doctor
went to the grave very soon afterwards, whereas The General continued
preaching for over sixty years after that pronouncement.

At this period, some of the Wesleyans who were discontented with their
leaders in London broke into revolt, and there was so much bitter
feeling