240 LETTERS TO THE " TIMES " v 



This proposition seems to me to be indisputable. 

 History confirms it. Francis of Assisi and 

 Ignatius Loyola made their great experiments on 

 the same principle. Nothing is more certain 

 than that a body of religious enthusiasts (perliaps 

 we may even say fanatics) pledged to blind 

 obedience to their chief, is one of the most 

 efficient instruments for effecting any purpose 

 that the wit of man has yet succeeded in devising. 

 And I can but admire the insight into human 

 nature which has led Mr. Booth to leave his 

 unquestioning and unhesitating instruments un- 

 bound by vows. A volunteer slave is worth ten 

 sworn bondsmen. 



(3) That the success of the Salvation Army, 

 with its present force of 9416 officers " wholly 

 engaged in the work," its capital of three quarters 

 of a million, its income of the same amount, its 

 1375 corps at home, and 1499 in the colonies and 

 foreign countries (Appendix, pp. 3 and 4), is a 

 proof that Divine assistance has been vouchsafed 

 to its efforts. 



Here I am not able to agree with the sanguine 

 Commander-in-chief of the new model, whose 

 labours in creating it have probably interfered 

 with his acquisition of information respecting 

 the fate of previous enterprises of like kind. 



It does not appear to me that his success is in 

 any degree more remarkable than that of Francis 

 of Assisi or that of Ignatius Loyola, than that 



