e they were sent.
ii. They were not wanted when they did go.
iii. I soon found that I wanted them myself."

And the more time he spent amongst them the more the sense of
responsibility with regard to them grew upon him. He had discovered what
mines of unimagined power for good were to be found amidst the very
classes who seemed entirely severed from religious life. There they
were, and if only proper machinery could be provided and kept going they
could be raised from their present useless, if not pernicious, life to
that career of usefulness to others like themselves for which they were
so well qualified. They could thus become a treasure of priceless value
to their country and to the world.

On the other hand, neglected, or left with no other sort of worship than
as yet existed to appeal to them, they must needs become worse and
worse, more and more hostile to religion of any kind, more and more
unlikely ever to take an interest in anything eternal.

The General could not, therefore, but feel more and more satisfied that
he had begun a work that ought to be permanently maintained and
enlarged, as opportunity might arise, until it could cope with this
state of things wherever it was to be found.

And now that he had at length a centre to which he could invite all his
helpers from time to time, there was no hindrance to the carrying out of
such a purpose.

With the establishment of a Headquarters that cost L3,500, in one of the
main thoroughfares of Eastern London, we may look upon The General as
having at last got a footing in the world.

Chapter VIII

Army-making

What a place for a Christian Mission centre was Whitechapel Road!

"Just look here," said The General to his eldest son, then a boy of
thirteen, as he led him late one Sunday evening through the great
swing-doors of a public-house into the crowded bar. "These are the
people I want you to live and labour for."

The mere appearance of many a thousand in the neighbourhood, whether
inside or outside such houses, was enough to give some idea of the
misery of their lives. The language and the laughter with which those
ragged, dirty, unkempt men and women accompanied their drinking were
such as to leave no doubt that they were wallowing in the mire. At that
time, and, indeed, until the Children Act of 1909 came into force, it
was the custom of thousands of mothers to take their babies and little
children into the public-house