GENERAL BOOTH.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19643, 12 June 1929, Page 2

GENERAL BOOTH.

HONOURED BY THE KING. COiMPANION OF HONOUR. (FBCU OUB OWK COHSZSPCNDENTO LONDON, May 3. General Bramwell Booth received the news that he had been appointed a member of the Order of Companions of Honour at his home at Hadley Wood. The announcement was contained in a letter from 10 Downing street, saying the honour had been conferred "at the Premier's request." The letter went first into Mrs Booth's hands, the General being still weak and ill in bed, and she took it to him after breakfast. When he had read the letter he said: "This is an honour, not for myself, but for the Army. I only wish I were in a better condition to make use of it." "It is not the first time that Royalty has shown interest in him," Mrs Booth said, "and several times during his illness we have had gracious enquiries from the King and Queen, and I do think that the King has shown his ever-present graciousness to the General in bestowing this honour upon him now rather than waiting for the Honours List next month. It must have been among the first things that the King has attended to since his own grievous illness.

"When the doctor called this morning he at once saw a change in the General. The General has wanted some incentive to bring him back to health. This honour will be a tonic to him. We firmly believe that, by God's permission, he will be made well and strong again."

Other Recipients. The Order of the Companions of Honour, which was created, in connexion with the war, consists of one class only, and carries with it no title or precedence, but ranks after the first class of the Order of the British Empire. The number of awards is limited, and is open to both sexes. Those upon whom the honour is conferred are entitled to the letters "C.H." after their name. The honour is reserved for those who have given special service to the Stato and community. Other religious workers who have received the same honour are the Rev. H. E. L. Sheppard, the former vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Dr. J. D. Jones, the well-known Bournemouth minister j Prebendary Carlile, head of the Church Army; and the Rev. H. A. James, president of St. John's College, Oxford. Long and Faithful Stewardship. "The small and remarkable body of men and women who form the Order of the Companions of Honour should be proud to welcome General Bramwell, Booth," says the "Daily Mail," in a leading article. "He comes to them commended by the very special mandate of his Majesty, whose illness gives more than usual significance to those few honours which he considers so important that they cannot be deferred until his complete restoration to health. "But General Booth, in assuming his new dignity, has also as his sponsors the many thousands of people who, during a period of service that has occupied his whole life, have owed worldly succour or spiritual regeneration to the Salvation Army. "When he first began to take his part in the work of his famous father the Army was still a comparatively small body, having to fight scarcely harder against poverty and evil than against the scorn and derision of nearly all who did not ignore its existence altogether. To-day the drums and tramplings of its conquests resound through the civilised—and the uncivilised—world. Its marvellous progress owes as much to tfce long and faithful stewardship of the second General as to the fiery passion of the first. Between them they have worked mightily to mske the King's Empire a better place, and his Majesty's acknowledgment is a compliment to them both and to all who have marched beneath their banners."