FOR THE SABBATH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 500, 14 September 1912, Page 6

FOR THE SABBATH.

"A GREAT MAN AND GLORIOUS." "So Joseph Died."—Gen. 50, 26. (By Rev. A. Armstrong). The poet says "the paths of glory lead but to the grave." Could you find a better example nf this fact than the case of Joseph? Here we see a man of greatness and of glory. A man of command and of character a man of personality resplendent with shining abilities and virtues, and of great power, governing a great people. He was the hero of two nations—the preserver of the Egyptian and the provider of the Jew. In wisdom unequalled, in courage foremost, in leadership a prince among men and in beneficence clear headed and large hearted. He was the glory of Egypt and tha Saviour of Israel. Yet his story is in truth forced to record the tragic fact that even "Joseph died." We do not wonder that the nation mourned with a great and sore lamentation. They would have despaired but for the inspiring dying testimony Joseph gave of God and the things which remain. Every nation and every individual must inevitably face the time when the apparently indispensible one is carried away by the tyrant—Death. We stagger at the insolence and arrogance of Death. The greater the man the more hateful the enemy seems. Great though one may be as Joseph—the tomb will eclipse all. Earthly glory is linked to the grave. The unly inheritance humanity can be sure of after great struggles is a few feet of undisturbed soil. During the last few days we have been reminded again very forciblv of the end awaiting all flesh. We have sorrowfully found it necessary to modernise our test and say, "So William Booth died"

Another prince among men has gone. Another of earth's uncrowned kings has gone over to lay his fadeless crown at the throne of the King of Kings. General Booth, the originator and organiser of perhaps the most remarkable religious body of tne 19th century has "finished his course wijth joy." He is lying to-day among a multitude of well known and unknown, great and ordinary fellow beings, to whom earthly distinctions have ceased —they are all in the community of "God's acre." The passing of such a man smites us like the white light from the throne of God —we begin to see things in their true perspective in the light of such a life. It is fitting that we should look at the life and death of this character, which towers so gloriously above every so-called great man of the last and present century, and so learn, maybe, by quiet inspiration, "how to make our lives sublime." First let us look at his powerful personality.—There may be some who would hesitate to call William Booth by the term used to describe the founders of Empires—either of the mind or of the State, and yet judged by the things he accomplished merely by way of personal influence and power over his fellows, this nineteenth century Englishman towers over most of the big figures of human hi3tory. As a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as the organiser of a philanthropic agency of colossal proportions, General Booth is a noble and notable personality the commanding genius who with unsurpassed skill handled some of the most difficult and complex problems of modern society. His history is a fascinating and romantic story full of dramatic interest and noble passages. Did you ever see him? If so, count it one of the treasures of your memory-. Having both heard and seen him, now recall with interest the indelible impressions of his presence. The spare form, slightly bent, the prominent Roman nose, depicting character, the flowing hair and patriarchal beard, the divine enthusiasm lighting his eyes, and the firm, strong appeal of his voice combined in a strangely moving magnetism. His was a presence that would have been prominent anywhere, and a personality destined to power over men for their good. The self confessed secret of his power was the grace and love of his Saviour Jesus Christ. "To do greatly, we must believe greatly," says Carlyle—of William Booth we say "Great thy faith in God and man, and greatly beaten out." Reared in the Church of England ha knew nothing of conversion until, when 15 years old, he happened to stray into a Wesleyan service. He was greatly impressed with the simplicity of service, was converted and immediately began to preach—where so many great have commenced —in the open air. He studied and became a Wesleyan minister, but felt called to do the work of an evangelist and urged the conference to appoint him to the work he loved and had proved so successful in. They refused and said that he mu3t settle on a circuit and do a minister's ordinary work. He refused to do this, and in a mistaken moment he was expelled from the church. On July sfch, 1865, he commenced special efforts on behalf of the destitute people of East London and conducted his first service in a large tent in a Quaker burial ground in Whitechapel. This work was called the "East End Christian Mision," from which the greater Salvation Army gradually grew. The instrument of it all was this marvellous man in whom the glory of the Lord has passed Age. Further, General Booth was first and foremost a prophet to the poor.—He touched the untouched. His new method of work proved very effective. Thosß who "belonged to nobody" became his "parish." Never perhaps in the world's history could it be more truthfully said "the poor have the gospel preached unto them"—and preachpd with such practical exhibitions of heplfulness—than during the life of this modern "Francis of Asin." A great deal of the movement for the social uplifting of the I people, has been inspired by the Genii's efforts,

with new zeal in social service. The poor of the world, and of the Old Country especially, mourn the loss of one who became to them the first revelation of a living God and a brother guide up from the gates of hell.

He was also a pleader among preachers. What I remember of General Booth's preaching was the pleading persuasive note that ran through it all. One could say "Thy gentleness maketh me great." The whole of his life was devoted to saying one thine to men —the only thing there is to say to men—"Come to the Saviour —come now!" He will ever he known as a man fully convinced of the truth of his faith—one "who knew whom he had believed" and spent his long year in devoted efforts for the redemption fo a prodigal people. How much poore* is our world in one sense for his passing, yet who can estimate the gain received from his 78 years' of Christian labours? While we sorrow at his death yet. we praise God that in him we see that which glorifies the grave and robs death of its sting. While death conies to all and levels all yet we know by reason and revelation that death is not all. Joseph died in faith, looking for a better country. So the General died saying "The promises of God are sure." One of those promises runs, "They th°t turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." No greater witness for the truth of the Gopel could possibly be found than this ilfe which trusted it through so many years and at last died triumphant in its assurances. The last words the General addressed to the people of New Zealand as hh ship left the wharf were "Get right with God—make it your first business to get right with God." So we would earnestly repeat them as the message of William Booth, "being dead, yet speaketh" to us all, as a voice out of the "excellent glory."