South African News
A U G U S T 2 1 , 1 9 1 2
............................
William Booth is dead. And with him passed away one of the most vivid and
most striking personalities the world has ever seen. Rough and rugged, it
dominated an empire which is like no other empire--a spiritual empire,
unique among such, held by an army whose motto is `Blood and Fire,'
whose weapon is the tambourine, and whose battle-cry is `Hallelujah!' . . .
As an achievement, the Army is a
miracle wrought in an age of materi-
alism, of so outstanding and so striking
a nature that, even if it ceased to-
morrow, the name of the man who
worked it must endure. You may dis-
agree with the methods of the Army;
you may even think its tactics repre-
hensible; but you must recognize the
miracle and acknowledge the gifts of
the miracle worker.
15
Toronto Globe
and Mail
A U G U S T 2 1 , 1 9 1 2
............................
Take him all for all, William
Booth was among the first
ten of the world's great men
of the past two decades. In
certain elements of greatness
he stood alone. With none of
the advantages of social pres-
tige or of financial aid or of
rare intellectual power, he ac-
complished in his lifetime a
task of such world magnitude
as commanded not recognition
alone, but sincere personal
admiration from three British
sovereigns, and won the rev-
erent affection of an innumer-
able host out of every nation
of mankind.
And he did it by the mas-
terful power of a great idea.
His life was truth vitalized and
made redemptive . . . No man
believed more terrifically in the
sinfulness of sin and in its in-
evitable penalty. "No man be-
lieved more unalteringly in the
essential worthiness of life's
waifs and strays. No one relied
more implicitly on the Power
that is not man's power. The
measure of the prodigal's tor-
ment was to him the measure
of the prodigal's
worth, and with
the dauntless op-
timism of his faith
he `never turned
his back, but
marched breast
forward.' A king
among men, so
long as the world
counts.
Daily Express
A U G U S T 2 1 , 1 9 1 2
............................
The man himself was one in whom
the giant spirit found an ally in
the invincible frame. The loss that
his death means to the movement
of which he was for so long the
heart and soul, is incalculable. The
loss to the world is very real, and
really felt. Master of his fate and
captain of his soul, he was a light
to much darkness and an inex-
haustible fount of energy.
Daily News
A U G U S T 2 2 , 1 9 1 2
............................
Whatever may be the fate of the great
fabric which he created, General William
Booth will remain one of the most re-
markable in the religious history of the
modern world. His career has that quality
of independence and isolation that is the
hallmark of great creative minds.
It owed nothing to others; it was in-
different to conventions and traditions
and schools; it flashed across the sky on
an orbit of its own that nothing could
deflect. He began his amazing crusade
amidst the brick-bats and ribaldry of the
East-End, he ended it amidst the sanction
of the whole world; but throughout
he remained careless of the verdict of
men ... He was alone with an idea that
burned at a white heat and consumed
all that lay in its path.
New York
Times
A U G U S T 2 1
, 1 9 1 2
............................
No man of his
time did more
for
the benefit of
the people than
William Booth.
He placed charity
on a practical
basis. He taught
religion to the
lowliest in terms
which they could
comprehend.
Cleanliness, de
cency, and the
will
to do good thri
ved under his ru
le.
Daily Graphic
A U G U S T 2 1
, 1 9 1 2
............................
He has had his
critics. He has
had
his detractors. T
heir voice is dro
wned
not only in the
flood of gratitude
that has arisen
from the countles
s
thousands of so
uls to whom his
work
has ministered,
but in the appr
oval
and sympathy
with which he
has
met from the
highest quarte
rs in
every portion of
the civilized globe
.
y
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