The General's Diet

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 56, 19 July 1940, Page 8

The General's Diet

IS simplicity was shown also in the plainness and frugality of General Booth’s diet. In spite of the fact that friends were anxious to bestow upon him the best of everything, he purposely denied himself in order to keep physically fit for his work, and to live simply and humbly before those to whom he was ministering. Wealthy people who entertained him would often ignore what they had been told about his simple requirements and provide a dinner of many courses for their guest. One hostess was greatly astonished when he declined her sumptuous meal and called for a basin of bread and milk. William Booth’s active life and longevity was, of course, a remarkable testimony to the benefits of

a simple diet. When he dilated upon the subject No one dared to argue the point, because his extraordinary energy and alertness of mind were indisputable proofs of the wisdom of his simple manner of life. When the General, as sometimes happened, was the guest of a physician, I have seen him suddenly turn to his host and with a flash of those sparkling eyes spring the question, "Doctor, why don’t you diet your patients?" Amused by his host’s embarrassment, the General, quick to seize the opportunity, would say, "Shall I tell you why? If you did, you’d lose your practice.’--(Impressions of William Booth, the Founder of the Salvation Army," Lieut.-Commissioner J. Evan Smith, 2Y A, July 5).