The Romance of the Salvation Army. By Hulda Friedericlis. (Cassell
and Co. 3s. 6d.)—It is not without reason that the story of the Salvation Army is entitled "romance." Forty years ago its founder began alone the crusade, and now its organisa- tion, its adventurous missionaries, and its success have secured the respect of civilised nations. True to its original motive and its scheme, it has devoted itself to that class, the submerged tenth, which presents us to-day with an almost insoluble problem. Knowledge of that class is not confined to the Salva- tion Army ; but no other organisation knows it en masse, and, to be quite frank, can do anything with it to any appreciable extent. The history of the various branches of the Army is eloquent of the courageous enterprise of the staff. Miss Friederichs writes well and with restraint, and illustrates her narrative, as the history of the Salvation Army is best illustrated, by anecdotes of its individual triumphs. In short, it is a history that almost any reader may peruse with pleasure, for the human interest of the movement, to say nothing of that attaching to so many of its workers, is un- deniable. General Booth's preface gives briefly his view of the movement, and he dates the rapid progress of the work from the decision to place it on "semi-military lines, adopting responsible and individual command and personal obedience." The previous systems had practically failed. The real strength of the Army lies in personal loyalty, in personal conviction, and in obedience-; and, we should add, not a little in the fact that its officers are derived from the very class it seeks to evangelise.
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