THE MARECHALE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 70, 24 March 1937, Page 21

THE MARECHALE

HER LIFE WORK

AN ENTHRALLING STORY

MISSIONS IN FRANCE

Every seat, in the Town Hall was occupied last evening when the Marechale (Mrs. Catherine Booth-Clibborn) told the story of her life work and of her early missionary work in France. Throughout the whole of her story, which was told with vivacity, humour, and conviction, the audience listened enthralled, and when she concluded there was a roar of applause, iven after she had resumed her seat the impression she had made was apparent, and the hundreds in the audience appeared unwilling to leave. From 7 o'clock onwards scores 01 men, women, and children poured into the hall and its galleries, and before 7.30 every seat except a few at tne extreme rear of the hall had an occupant. These were filled by latecomers, and those who arrived after the half-hour had difficulty in finding seats. Those who arrived early aid not. have a dreary wait, however, an enjoyable period being spent in singing under the leadership of Mr. C. E. Eoss, the Marechale's secretary. .The Marechale and the Rev. W. Gilmour entered a few minutes after 7.30 while a hymn was being sung, and Mr. Gilmour called on the gathering to open the meeting with the hymn, "Down From His Glory." The Rev. J. Bolton-Smith then led in prayer. It was a great honour to be asked to preside over such a meeting, Mr. Gilmour said, and as he knew something of the Marechale's work and had heard her speak sixteen years before, he felt that the honour- was a double one. The Marechale was received with applause and was listened to with rapt interest. Her first words were words of thanks to all who had helped to make her meetings in Wellington a success. The Church of God was the hope of the world, she said, and there had never been greater need for it than at the present time. She then read the Psalm, "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills," and offered up a short prayer before beginning her address. EARLY MISSION DAYS. Long before' the Salvation Army had its name, she said, there was a salvation army known as the Christian Mission. Her father (the late General Booth) had begun his mission work in Mile End Waste, a place with a population of 2,000,000. It was a very poor neighbourhood, and their family was very poor. Salvation Army officers of today had no idea of the poverty of those days or of the violent opposition that had to be faced. In those days her mother used to preach—a thing unheard of—and there was a "hurricane" and columns in the papers, but her mother continued to preach with great success. _ There were no Salvation Army homes in those days, the Marechale said, and their home was turned into a refuge for everyone, but her mother loved it all, and made them all love her. Then the children of the family held their own meetings, and they were packed with other children. Later, said the Marechale, she had started visiting, and had enjoyed every minute of it. She described some of the incidents that had occurred, and she both stirred and amused her audience' with her lively narrative. "What a mother we had to allow us," she said. Her mother had been wise, and had encouraged their efforts instead of snubbing them. Soon after that she had travelled with her father and Bramwell Booth, the Marechale said. She was only sixteen then, and she had heard a man confess murder. Those to whom her father preached were so eager to come to Christ that on one occasion a man jumped from the gallery of the theatre to get to the penitent form. His legs shouM have been broken, but he was unhurt. For three years there was a great struggle in her life. She wanted a quieter life. She had seen her mother struggle with the confusion of the start of the Army, and she did.not want such a life. Eventually, however, this controversy in her mind ceased, and it had never returned. FIRST MONTHS IN FRANCE. The call from France came when she was between twenty and twenty-one, the Marechale said. There was no corps in Europe then, and as far as she knew there was not a single Salvationist on the Continent. She did not decide at once, and when she.did her father danced around the room for joy. In Paris a hall had been taken, but it was a cul-de-sac; there was no proper outlet. On one side they were singing, on another they were throwing peas; others asked her if she would have a drink; but the services were held. The first month or six weeks was terrible, but in spite of the mockery and opposition the work went on. From the underworld of Paris she went to the elite of the city. She found, that only women and old men went to church, so she took a hall and announced services for men only. That raised a storm, but the hall was packed \ and there were lawyers, members of the Chamber of Deputies, and other prominent men present, and that continued. Scores had to be turned away because they could not get in. Those audiences were composed of men who were unbelievers; who would not admit there was a God, but she had been received with kindness on the most unexpected occasions. Work in the provinces followed, and in Rouen much of her speaking had been done in the midst of uproar, but she was happier addressing a hall full of devils than a hall full of cold, halfhearted Christians. After a few weeks scores and hundreds were coming forward to confess their sins and ask for absolution. She told them where to find absolution, and the work went on. IMPRISONED IN GENEVA. After a brief interval the Marechale continued with the story of her imprisonment in Switzerland. She had been in prison twice and those'times had been excellent opportunities for rest, she said. Switzerland was the garden of Europe and the country of freedom, but the Swiss broke their own Constitution to imprison her. Geneva was a seat of learning, and all seats of learning were very proud; with reason, perhaps, but she believed that to know how to pray was of more value than all the learning of the world. When she and her companions reached Geneva the principal paper in Switzerland asked, "What has this group of children to teach us?" Meetings were held and hundreds were converted and then the persecution started. Two hotels closed because they had no clients and the theatres complained that their places were empty. "Of course the. Devil wasn't going to let that go on," she said. "If I was the Devil I wouldn't let that go on." The hall they were using was closed, she said, and they used twelve small places instead of one. Meetings were held in small rooms with the windows closed. One day a window was opened and twelve policemen came in and took them to the court -where they were charged v with holding .an open-air meeting.' They went five miles into the country and eight hundred people came in all sorts of conveyances. The service was commenced • and the Prefect and eighteen . policemen in full uniform came with a carriage to arrest her. The Prefect stood beside her, and he stood there for four hours while testimonies were heard. At the end of that time she was arrested and taken before the Magistrate. She secured bail for twenty-four hours to attend the funeral of a Salvation Army officer in Geneva, and another Prefect with twelve policemen came to the graveside to arrest her again. When she arrived at the prison it was very cold and there were awful odours. She sang hymns and the authorities complained about the crowds who listened below. She converted the gaoler and his wife, and at last came before the Court. The case lasted for two days; the Public Prosecutor raved for hours, and said that if she was not expelled from the coun-

try there would be civil war. When he had finished she addressed the Court and told them what she had been doing. The jury retired for four minutes and acquitted her. That was the start in Switzerland, but the work had gone on and Switzerland had been won. The meeting closed with the singing of "God be with You till We Meet i Again." '