t effectually settled my conviction for ever that
it was God's purpose by my using the simplest means to bring souls
into liberty, and to break into the cold and formal state of things
to which His people only too readily settle down."

For the sake of readers who have never seen Meetings such as The General
for so many years conducted, it seems at once necessary to explain what
is meant by the terms "seeking mercy" or "Salvation," the "cries for
mercy," and, above all, the "Mercy-Seat," or "Penitent-Form," which
appear so constantly in all reports of his work.

From the first beginnings of his Cottage Meetings as a lad in
Nottingham, he always aimed at leading every sinner to repentance, and
he always required that repentance should be openly manifested by the
Penitent coming out in the presence of others, to kneel before God, to
confess to Him, and to seek His pardon.

This is merely in accordance with the ancient customs practised by the
Jews in their Temple, to which practice Jesus Christ so strikingly calls
attention in His Parable of the Publican, who cried, "God be merciful to
me a sinner." The Psalms of David abound with just such cries for
deliverance, and with declarations that God heard and answered all those
who so cried to Him in the anguish of their guilt.

The General was never blind to the fact that open acts of contrition
like this may be feigned, or produced by a mere passing excitement; but
having seen so much of the indifference with which men generally
continue in sin, even when they admit their consciousness of guilt and
danger, he always thought the risk of undue excitement, or too hasty
action, comparatively small.

The "Penitent-Form" of The Salvation Army is simply a form or a row of
seats, immediately in front of the platform, at which all who wish to
seek Salvation are invited to kneel, as a public demonstration of their
resolution to abandon their sins, and to live henceforth to please God.
Those who kneel there are urged to pray for God's forgiveness, and when
they believe that He does forgive them to thank Him for doing so. Whilst
kneeling there they are spoken to by persons who, having passed through
the same experience, can point out to them the evils and dangers they
must henceforth avoid, and the first duties which a true repentance must
demand of them.

There are many cases, for example, in which the Penitent is urged to
give up at once some worldly habit or compa