The Salvation Army's Choice Commander Evangeline Booth, who was elected
on Monday as the fourth General of the Salvation Army, attains a position such as no woman has ever before occupied in the history of the various Churches. Apart from the peculiar case of Mary Baker Eddy, the only possible exception is Selina Countess of Huntingdon, the disciple of George VVhitefield, who built chapels, maintained their ministers, and exercised a benevolent despotism over the little connexion which still bears her name. But Commander Evangeline Booth is the first woman to be deliberately chosen, as against male candidates, as the executive head of a great religious body. Her election will doubtlesg have an important reaction upon those other communions, notably the Methodists and the Church of Scotland, in which a fight for the admission of women to the ministry is now proceeding. Miss Booth, who is the fourth daughter of General William Booth, has commanded the Salvation Army in America with conspicuous success. From the point of view of Army politics, so far as they exist, it must be considered a definite advantage that a Booth should be raised to its chief office by a free ballot. Miss Booth was the leader of those who opposed the dynastic claims of the Booth family, but the old name still has its glamour.
Previous page
