From Aldershot to Pretoria | Page 8

had after all only
excited curiosity about his dress.
But it is not always so, and many a lad has been won to better ways
through the ministry of the prison.
=Parade and other Services.=
Then follows the Parade Service, already described, and no more need

be said except that the preacher must be dull and heartless indeed who
is not inspired by those hundreds of upturned faces, and the knowledge
that the word he speaks may, through them, ere long reach the ends of
the earth.
We will not linger either at the Hospital Service or the Sacred Song
Service in the afternoon, or at the Soldiers' Tea, or even at the
Voluntary Service at night, which, with its hundreds of soldier
attendants, is a testimony to the spiritual value of the work.
=The 'Glory-Room' of the Soldiers' Home.=
Let us rather pass into the 'glory-room' of the Soldiers' Home at the
close of the evening Service. There is never a Sunday night without
conversions. And they call it the glory-room because
'Heaven comes down their souls to greet, And glory crowns the
mercy-seat.'
Ex-Sergeant-Major Moss is in charge, and as frequent references will
be made to him in the following narratives, we may as well sketch him
now. A man of medium height, thick set, strength in every line of his
face and figure, eyes that look kindly upon you and yet pierce you
through and through. A strong man in every respect, and a kindly man
withal. A man among men, and yet a man of almost womanly
tenderness where sympathy is required. Again and again in the course
of our story we shall come across traces of his strenuous work and
far-reaching influence. And in every part of the British Empire there
are soldier lads who look upon this ex-sergeant-major of the Army
Service Corps as their spiritual father, and there is no name oftener on
their lips in South Africa than his.
He is in charge to-night, and is telling his experience. He knows all
about it, has done plenty of rough campaigning in his time, but he
knows also that the religion of Jesus Christ is best for war or peace.
Christ has been with him in all parts of the world, and Christ will be
with them. They are going out. No one knows what is before them, but
with Christ at their side all will be well.

And now a Reservist speaks. He cannot pass the doctors, and has to
return home; but he tells the lads how he went through the Chitral
campaign, and how hard he found it to be a Christian all alone. 'It is all
right here in the glory-room,' says he; 'it is all right when the
glory-room is not far away, and we can get to it. But when you are
thousands of miles away, and there are no Christian brothers anywhere
near, and you hear nothing but cursing, and are all the time amid the
excitement of war, it is hard work then. Stick to it, my brothers. Be out
and out for Christ.'
And then another--an Engineer. 'I was going through the camp the other
day, and I noticed that where they were building the new bridge they
had put a lantern to warn people not to approach. It had only a candle
inside, and gave but a poor light. On either side of me were the lamps
of the Queen's Avenue, and only this tiny flicker in front. And I said to
myself, "My lad, you are not one of those big lamps there in the
Avenue; it's but a little light you can give, but little lights are useful as
well as big ones, and may be you can warn, if you cannot illuminate."'
And then with enthusiasm they sang together,--
'Jesus bids me shine with a clear, pure light, Like a little candle burning
in the night; In this world of darkness we must shine-- You in your
small corner, I in mine.'
Then follow other testimonies and prayer, and by-and-by first one and
then another cries to God for mercy, and as the word of pardon is
spoken from above, and one after another enters into the Light, heaven
indeed comes down their
'souls to meet And glory crowns the mercy-seat.'
This is no fanciful picture. It is an every night occurrence. The old
times of the evangelical revival are lived over again in that
'glory-room,' and hundreds are started upon a new and higher life.
But it is time to separate, and with a verse of the soldiers' parting hymn
the comrades go their various ways, and the blessed Sabbath's services
are over--over, all except one service more, the service in the barrack

room, where each Christian man kneels down by his