l force seemed to have passed out of me, both
mentally and physically. In fact, my heart failed me, and there
seemed nothing before me but the prospect of slackening down. I was
only kept going by the memory of so many deliverances brought out
for me in the past.

"We had one of the largest audiences, and the biggest crowd I ever
addressed in a single day. In the morning it appeared that Satan
sat at my door, suggesting all sorts of discouraging things. He
tried to make me believe that my public work was done, and
especially suggesting that I should renounce the subject on which I
was talking, and wait for better days before I attempted to talk
again. The Prayer Meeting that followed was certainly encouraging.
We had twenty-seven out. Still, I came away with very much the same
feeling that had been aroused while I was talking. I took a little
refreshment, and tried to get a little sleep, but my mind was too
much agitated to allow of it. I woke up and called for the notes
of my lecture. My mind could not put two and two together hardly,
and so I gave up in despair and left myself to my fate. On my way
to the Meeting, however, a strange feeling came over me. It was
like the sun through a rift in the black clouds, and all at once a
spirit of tenderness, hope, and faith came over me. A voice in my
soul seemed to say, 'Go and do the Lord's work, and the people will
gather; go for their souls, and all will be well.' I accepted the
command, my fears vanished, a spirit of confidence took possession
of me, I rose, I addressed the crowd for an hour and twenty minutes
with all the physical vigour and mental liberty I could desire.

"Night. A terrific crowd. I talked for an hour and ten minutes with
the same force and fervour as in my most successful efforts; 147
came on to the stage in the After Meeting."

It was thus in the smaller matters of personal strength and health, as
in the greatest affairs, that The General struggled, believed, and
triumphed all through his career.

Australasia has gone farther than most countries towards State
socialism. But it was well remarked by some statesman many years ago,
"We are all socialists now."

No man within his times was more intensely devoted to the cause of the
poor than William Booth. He was indifferent to no practical scheme or
effort for the