The Authoritative Life of General William Booth | Page 2

towards his Memorial Scheme, which contemplates the
erection and equipment in London and other Capitals of enlarged
premises for the Training of Officers in every branch of the work, or
where they already have such buildings, the erection of new
Headquarters or Halls; but towards the maintenance and extension in
every land of the work he began.
It cannot but be a special gratification to me to know that this book will
be received with eager affection in almost every part of the world. How
could it ever cease to be my greatest joy to strive more and more after
my Father's ideal of linking together men and women of every land and
race in one grand competition for the extinction of selfishness by the
enlistment of all sorts and conditions of men in one Great Holy War for
God and for all that is good?
Whether those into whose hands this volume falls, agree or not with the
teachings of The Salvation Army, may God grant them Grace to join

heartily at least in this, my Father's great purpose, and so help me to
attain the victory for which he lived and died.
W. Bramwell Booth. London International Headquarters of The
Salvation Army.
November, 1912.

Contents

Chapter I
Childhood and Poverty
Chapter II
Salvation in Youth
Chapter III
Lay Ministry
Chapter IV
Early Ministry
Chapter V
Fight Against Formality
Chapter VI
Revivalism
Chapter VII
East London Beginning
Chapter VIII
Army-making
Chapter IX
Army Leading
Chapter X
Desperate Fighting
Chapter XI
Reproducing The Army in America
Chapter XII
In Australasia
Chapter XIII
Women and Scandinavia

Chapter XIV
Children Conquerors in Holland and Elsewhere
Chapter XV
India and Devotees
Chapter XVI
South Africa and Colonisation
Chapter XVII
Japanese Heroism
Chapter XVIII
Co-operating With Governments
Chapter XIX
Conquering Death
Chapter XX
His Social Work
Chapter XXI
Motoring Triumphs
Chapter XXII
Our Financial System
Chapter XXIII
In Germany In Old Age
Chapter XXIV
The End
Chapter XXV
Tributes
Chapter XXVI
Organisation
Chapter XXVII
The Spirit of The Army
Chapter XXVIII
The General as a Writer
Important Events Connected with The General's Life and Work

Illustrations
William Booth Catherine Booth General Bramwell Booth Mrs.

Bramwell Booth Emma Booth Tucker Commander Miss Booth
Autograph Page

The Authoritative Life of General William Booth
Founder of The Salvation Army

Chapter I
Childhood and Poverty

William Booth was born in Nottingham, England, on April 10, 1829,
and was left, at thirteen, the only son of a widowed and impoverished
mother. His father had been one of those builders of houses who so
rapidly rose in those days to wealth, but who, largely employing
borrowed capital, often found themselves in any time of general
scarcity reduced to poverty.
I glory in the fact that The General's ancestry has never been traced, so
far as I know, beyond his grandfather. I will venture to say, however,
that his forefathers fought with desperation against somebody at least a
thousand years ago. Fighting is an inveterate habit of ours in England,
and another renowned general has just been recommending all young
men to learn to shoot. The constant joy and pride with which our
General always spoke of his mother is a tribute to her excellence, as
well as the best possible record of his own earliest days. Of her he
wrote, in 1893:--
"I had a good mother. So good she has ever appeared to me that I have
often said that all I knew of her life seemed a striking contradiction of
the doctrine of human depravity. In my youth I fully accepted that
doctrine, and I do not deny it now; but my patient, self-sacrificing
mother always appeared to be an exception to the rule.
"I loved my mother. From infancy to manhood I lived in her. Home
was not home to me without her. I do not remember any single act of
wilful disobedience to her wishes. When my father died I was so
passionately attached to my mother that I can recollect that, deeply
though I felt his loss, my grief was all but forbidden by the thought that

it was not my mother who had been taken from me. And yet one of the
regrets that has followed me to the present hour is that I did not
sufficiently value the treasure while I possessed it, and that I did not
with sufficient tenderness and assiduity at the time, attempt the
impossible task of repaying the immeasurable debt I owed to that
mother's love.
"She was certainly one of the most unselfish beings it has been my lot
to come into contact with. 'Never mind me' was descriptive of her
whole life at every time, in every place, and under every circumstance.
To make others happy was the end of all her thoughts and