him a
limited time in which to speak.

What an expression of his sense of liberty and power "from on high,"
that The General should at once have begun by saying, "Mr. President,
in our Meetings we are accustomed to bring any speech that seems likely
to go on too long to a close by beginning to sing. I shall not take it
amiss if you do so in my case." The general laughter with which this
suggestion was greeted banished at once any appearance of stiffness from
the solemn and exclusive assembly, whose members alone were present. He
then proceeded to explain the origin and work of The Army, as follows:--

"I was told that ninety-five in every hundred of the population of
our larger towns and cities never crossed the threshold of any
place of worship, and I thought, 'Cannot something be done to reach
these people with the Gospel?' Fifteen years ago I thus fell in
love with the great crowds of people who seemed to be out of the
pale of all Christian Churches. It seemed to me that if we could
get them to think about Hell they would be certain to want to turn
from it. If we could get them to think about Heaven they would want
to go there. If we could get them to think about Christ they would
want to rush to His open arms.

"I resolved to try, and 'The Salvation Army' is the outcome of that
resolution. In August, 1877, we had 26 Stations. We have now, in
1880, 162. In 1877, we had 35 Evangelists. We have now 285
Evangelists, or, as we now call them, Officers, and in many
instances they have the largest audiences in the towns where they
are at work.

"We have got all those Officers without any promise or guarantee of
salary, and without any assurance that when they reach the railway
station to which they book they will find anybody in the town to
sympathise with them. The bulk would cheerfully and gladly go
anywhere.

"We have got, I think, an improvement upon John Wesley's penny a
week and shilling a quarter, by way of financial support from our
Converts. We say to them, 'You used to give three or four shillings
a week for beer and tobacco before you were converted, and we shall
not be content with a penny a week and a shilling a quarter. Give
as the Lord has prospered you, and down with the money.'" (Loud
laughter.) "When I asked one of my Officers the other day at a
Meeting hel