258 LETTERS TO THE " TIMES " v 



(1) " The Salvation Army ' is emphatically a 

 fiimih' concern. Mr. Booth, senior, is General ; 

 one son is chief of the staff, and the remaining 

 sons and daughters engross the other chief 

 positions. It is Booth all over ; indeed, like the 

 sun in your eyes, you can see nothing else 

 wherever 3'ou turn.' And, as Dr. Geikie shrewdly 

 remarks, ' to be the head of a widely spread sect 

 carries with it many advantages — not all exclu- 

 sively spiritual.' " 



(2) " Whoever becomes a Salvation officer is 

 henceforth a slave, helplessly exposed to the 

 caprice of his superiors." 



" Mr. Redstone bore an excellent character both 

 before he entered the army and when he left it. 

 To join it, though a married man, he gave up a 

 situation which he had held for five years, and he 

 served Mr. Booth two years, working hard in most 

 difficult posts. His one fault. Major Lawley tells 

 us, was, that he was ' too straight ' — that is, too 

 honest, truthful, and manly — or, in other words, too 

 real a Christian. Yet without trial, without 

 formulated charges, on the strength of secret 

 complaints which were never, apjDarently, tested, 

 he was dismissed with less courtesy than most 

 people would show a beggar — with 2s. M. for his 

 last week's salary. If there be any mistake in 

 this matter, I shall be glad to learn it." 



(3) Dr. Geikie confirms, on the ground of in- 

 formation given confidentially by other officers, 



