Catherine Booth | Page 2

was deeply touched by the sin and sorrow around her just as
He was. Even the miseries of the dumb animals moved her to efforts on
their behalf. This sympathy made Mrs. Booth quick to see and
appreciate the toil and self-denial of others, and ever grateful for any
kindness shown to her or to The Army or to those in need of any kind.
The very humblest and youngest of those who read this little book can
be like her in all this.
Mrs. Booth endured to the end. She never turned back. She was faithful.
Her life and work would have been spoilt if she had given up the fight.
She was often sorely tempted. She was slandered and misrepresented
by enemies, betrayed by false friends, and often deeply wounded by
those who professed to love her, though they deserted the Flag. But she

held fast. You can be like her in that. You may make many mistakes,
suffer many defeats, but you can still keep going on, and it is to those
who go on to the very end, whether in weakness or in strength, that
Jesus will give the crown of life.
Mrs. Booth trusted with all her heart in the love and sacrifice of her
Saviour. These were her hope and her strength. When at the height of
her influence and popularity she delighted in that wonderful song
which we still so often sing:--
I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, And purchased my
pardon when nailed to the tree;
and when, amid much suffering, she lay dying, we often sang together
with her:--
Victory for me! Through the Blood of Christ my Saviour; Victory for
me! Through the precious Blood.
This was her victory. You can follow her in the faith that won it. Will
you?
BRAMWELL BOOTH.
_International Headquarters._

CONTENTS
PREFACE
I. CHILDHOOD II. CONVERSION AND SOUL STRUGGLES III. A
THREE-YEARS ENGAGEMENT IV. A LIFE OF SACRIFICE V.
THE SPEAKER VI. THE MOTHER VII. THE WORKER VIII.
GOODNESS IX. LOVE X. THE WARRIOR XI. LAST DAYS XII.
DATES IN MRS. BOOTH'S LIFE

CATHERINE BOOTH: A SKETCH

I
CHILDHOOD
'Parents who love God best will not allow their children to learn
anything which could not be pressed into His service.'--MRS. BOOTH.
The Mother of The Salvation Army was born at Ashbourne, in
Derbyshire, on January 17, 1829, and God gave to her the very best gift
He can give to any child--a good and holy mother.

Katie Mumford, as she was then called, had no sister to play with, and
of her four brothers only one lived to be a man. But her dear mother
more than made up for every lack, and from her lips the little girl
learned those blessed lessons which, in her turn, she has taught to us.
One lesson which Mrs. Mumford early taught her daughter was that our
bodies will not live for ever. She took Katie to see the body of her
infant brother who had just died; and, though she was not more than
two years old at the time, Katie never forgot that first lesson. Spiritual
things were even then real to her, just because they were so real to her
mother. Heaven was home to her, and Jesus her best Friend, ever near
to help and guide her.
Truthfulness was a second of those early lessons which remained with
our Army Mother all her life. She was but four years old when Mrs.
Mumford found her one evening sobbing bitterly in her little cot long
after she should have been asleep. She had told a falsehood, and
conscience would not let her rest. When she had sobbed out her
confession, her mother talked and prayed with her, and at last left her,
happy in the assurance that she was forgiven by her Heavenly Father.
After this you will not be surprised to hear that another lesson early
taught to Katie by her mother was to love her Bible. She could read
nicely when she was but five years old, and she loved to stand by her
mother's side, and read the Bible stories aloud, with just a little help
over the very long words. And this love for God's Word grew deeper
every year, so that by the time she was twelve years old she had read it
through eight times. In later years people often wondered how it was
that Mrs. Booth knew her Bible so well, and could so quickly answer
their difficulties and objections in Bible words. Much of the secret lay
in this early training, and in the hours she spent in Bible study later on,
when she had reached the age of some of our younger Corps Cadets.
I wish we could have seen her in