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Somehow William Booth got instilled with an uncommonly great social and spiritual concern for others, fortunately for countless millions who have benefited from the many and varied programs of the Salvation Army, which Booth and his wife, Catherine, founded and guided for most of their lives in ‘merry olde' England.

The little Barbour book, William and Catherine Booth, by Helen Hosier, is a very good read and provides a lot of information about the struggles of the organization and its founders as well as about London and England in the second half of the 1800s.

It is also amazing how well-bred and proper the Booths numerous offspring grew up to be and remained. It was daughter Evangeline Booth who took on the responsibility of nurturing and guiding the divine and humanistic organization in the United States for several decades. Eva, as she was better known, became a friend and acquaintance of Presidents, industrialists, and other dignitaries (some possessing dignity and others lacking, as always). Eva never married but adopted four children. That’s interesting in light of today’s single citizens who have an inclination to adopt a child or children.

If we sometimes deceive ourselves by thinking that we help others by giving to the beggar on the street, by giving a bit to this or that organization, to this church, to that drive or campaign, we don’t know much. There probably have existed only a precious few individuals throughout the whole of human history who have helped others more than the English Booths. Tireless workers for the improvement of the souls and social/living conditions of those ‘poorest of the poor’ were both Booths. And most of their children followed in their footsteps, albeit with some variations. Three of the Booth sons made the painful decision to leave their father’s ‘Army’ and do their own brand of social work. Perhaps it was an inability to adhere completely to their father’s sometime autocracy.

After passing the halfway mark in the book, I finally began underlining certain passages of interest. Below are some comments based on those markings.

Many people considered it foolish to talk to a woman or man about their souls while they were half-starved for food. While they had empty bellies. The Bible says ‘Give ye them to eat’. Thus, William founded his Army on this principle, among others.

Branches of the organization were eventually created, much like our many religious sects all under the guise of Christianity. The Booths weren’t too crazy about these people who broke away. I laughed when I read that the Booths were highly independent individuals but didn’t particularly care for that trait in others.

Unlike the leaders of the Catholic Church, both Booths were convinced that the Bible accorded equal status to both sexes; thus, women preachers were allowed and encouraged. Catherine proved to be an extremely effective one.

Although Queen Victoria eventually, and maybe reluctantly, accepted the importance of the Salvation Army, she never quite liked the term Army. She was commander of the army of England and they didn’t really need another one, thank you. Even less, a General Booth. (Booth said he never gave himself that title; others did.)

Although some preachers were certainly formally trained, others came directly from the pubs and ‘their’ testimonial preaching, post-conversion, proved quite effective. Of course, nowadays they must be prepared and ready to discuss theology, defend the faith, dispute, reproach, and whatever, so, it is unlikely that ‘pub preachers’ are still acceptable.

The initial teasing and rejection the Army faced in its early days by those the Army sought to help is still incredulous. What’s more, the Army was anything but popular with the pub owners due to those repenting and changing their lives. You know, business is business.

New York City in the 1870s and 1880s had no fewer than 10,000 street urchins, 8,000 saloons, and hundreds of thousands of citizens living in squalor on its east side.

In England in 1883, the ‘age of consent’ (for sex) for girls was 12 years old! Catherine Booth wasn’t too happy with this phenomenon and became instrumental in helping to get it changed to 16.

Catherine’s casket was glass-covered. We have those still here in Colombia. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the States. Perhaps they were common 70 to 80 years ago (which I wouldn’t remember, would I?).

William opposed looking down on those upon whom misfortune fell. It could happen to anyone. He made a beautiful statement about that in his book, In Darkest England.

And lastly, when William went blind in his last few years, he told his son, Bramwell, that

he’d done as much as he could for God and for people with his eyes, now he’d continue doing the same without his eyes. Thanks a million for reading.