TOPICS of the DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 199, 20 August 1904, Page 9

TOPICS of the DAY.

I c j (From Our Special Correspondent.) i LONDON, July iv salvationists at the CBYSTAjL palace. The dinar.-; fo the extraordinary series of Salvation Army gatherings that have been held during the past fortnight was to be found in the enormous assembly of Salvationists at the Crystal Palace last Tuesday. The great glass building was opened from Monday midnight to receive excursionists from the uttermost ends of Great Britain. The influx began ere' bflack night gave place to grey dawn, and': ffiie enormous stream of humanity flowing into the Palace showed little diminution till high noon on Tuesday. By that time between 00,000 and 70,000 Salvationists had gained access to the Palace aud its spacious grounds, and the whole \ place buzzed like an enormous hive. Viewed from aloft, the resemblance to the home of the busy bee was very striking, as the people—looking scarce bigger than the honey-gatherers—swarmed in and out of the entrances to the Palace, and when, at 2.30 in the afternoon, the strains of ninety bands, containing 3000 i performers, permeated the air, the similitude was complete. Colour as well as sound was provided in fine confusion when, at 11 o'clock, Mr Bramwel! Booth presided over a meeting supported by the entire international and territorial staff. The meeting culminated in the ••international blend" produced by the mingling of representatives from twenty-four nations to sing "Here ■ Ka.-t Meet -, West, and North .Meets South, I I'nited in Salvation Ponds."' Xot this j "blend." however, but the entrance of the i •'General.'' greeted by the spontaneous j sin-zing of "Soldiers of Our Cod, Arise,'' j followed by a Hallelujah chorus, was the feature of the morning gathering. j "Hallelujah" was lhe subject of his adj address. ••Hallelujah is my one word to j you,'' said the "General," "for it is of the same form and meaning in every tongue. We shall hear it. too. in our celebration in the skies. The first Salvation Army Hallelujah was sounded in the Last End thirty-nine years ago. Whiteehapel was our Bethlehem. The Knglish first joined in singing it; then came the Scotch, fhen the Irish and Welsh; and, in succession, followed Dutch, Germans. Scandinavians. AmeriI cans, Canadians. Africans, Asiatics. We •'are a Hallelujah people, with Hallelujah ; ; hearts, with a Hallelujah object, going . j to Hallelujah Land." What could be j done after this but sing once again the Salvation Army Hallelujah Chorus? I To obtain an adequate conception of ! the mingling of sound, the splendid confusion of colour in person, dress, and flag, the enthusiasm animating the enormous host, one had) to look down on the ter-ra<-es between ."> and C o'clock, when the inarch past took place. It was a sight ; unique in the history of the Palace. On ! the stand in front of the lake, facing the Palace, '"General" Booth stood to review < his troops, who occupied UO minutes in | passing at a steady march. Fourteen battalions there were, each with it* band. : and having in all eighty-three brigades. I At the head came the International llcadi quarter Staff, proudly led by Commissioner Xicol. In these battalions were

included every phase of Salvation Army; activity. Alone amid this vast fckrong the old man. tha "father" af aU, stood out conspicuously with bared m*smi, aAming white beard, and red jersey. Bnt his triumph was not yet complete. Onca more he entered his motor-car a_i4 tha acclaim of all, returned to tae Palace, where, appearing on the Royal balc«ny, he found himself greeted witls tares mighty cheers. This march past—a »f»eetacle vying in interest with the »ig pro? cessions to which the Jftbikes and the Coronatian have accustomed Londoaars — was witnessed by a large ntunbar of social entities of both aexes, including Sir John Coekburu, who has always taken a keen interest in the work of the Salvation Army. A festival of song, lasting nearly au hour, brought this memorable gathering to a close, the last words preceding the Benediction being Cue singing, with full orchestra! accompaniment, of "God Pc With You Till We Meet Again."