We have given an account of the work that is going on in Gateshead in regard to the evangelisation of the masses, and it will be interesting to many to know how the movement originated, and what is the history of the singular mission. It originated with a Methodist minister, who was stationed in Gateshead about seventeen years ago — the Rev. William Booth. He left the Methodist New Connexion and became an independent evangelist, and since then he has established what he called “The Christian Mission” in the east end of London and in a number of large towns. The history of the work is published in a volume entitled “Heathen England, and what to do for it,” which was published last year by Messrs S. W. Partridge & Co., London, and brought the work up to the end of 1877. From it we have taken the following account of the founder of the movement, and the remarkable result of twelve years labours:—
“In the streets, in the lanes, aye anywhere,
There is a straightforward, outspoken, businesslike style about all the work of the mission, as will be seen from the following advertisement at the end of the book in relation to applications from persons desirous of being engaged in the mission:—
The peculiar feature of the “Christian Mission” is that women labour is so largely employed in the work. The following pointed plea in favour of women taking such a position, and an earnest appeal for such labourers is from “Heathen England;” and it gives an idea of the style of the book when not dealing with a simple narrative, like the account of the Mission:—
“The report of this wonderful movement, however, had spread in all directions, and led almost immediately afterwards to his visiting Longton, Burslem, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke, Oldbury, Bradford, Gateshead and Manchester, for similar labour. So successful had Mr Booth been in these places, and so evidently adapted for this kind of labour that the conference of the following year set him apart for the work of an evangelist, and in that capacity he visited Guernsey a second time, York, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Hunslet, Leeds, Halifax and Macclesfield. The ensuing conference re-appointed him to the office, and Yarmouth, Sheffield, Birmingham, Nottingham, Chester, Bristol, Truro and Stafford were each for a time the scene of his labours. The Methodist New Connexion Magazine and other prints of the year show that the following results attended his ministry. At Hanley “upwards of four hundred persons of all ages” were registered as converts. At Newcastle-under-Lyme, in “one week, 290.” At Halifax, “in four weeks, between four and five hundred.” At Chester a congregation of a thousand was gathered every night, and “hundreds” sought salvation. Fifteen persons converted in connection with these labours are known to have entered the ministry of different denominations.
Some ministers, however, were opposed to the special services, which are now coming to be almost universally fashionable, and in deference to their wished, Mr Booth consented to return for a season to the regular pastoral work; accordingly he spent a year in the Halifax second circuit, and three years at Gateshead-on-Tyne. At the latter place, a large congregation was established, and the society trebled during this time. But so deep were his convictions and those of his wife, that he could more effectively serve God and his generation as an evangelist, that he offered himself once again for this work. And when the Conference of 1861 deliberately refused to allow him to return to that sphere, for which he had proved so peculiarly adapted, and insisted on his settling down permanently to the routine of a circuit, he resigned his position in the ministry, and went forth trusting God, to hold services wherever a door might open.
“The next two years were mostly spent in Cornwall, where services held in chapels of various denominations, were blessed to the salvation of souls. Whole neighbourhoods were stirred, religion became the all-absorbing topic of the hour, and the principal theme of conversation. Men left the mines and fields to seek mercy; and in one case, a chapel had to be kept open from early morning from midnight for a week, so continuous was the rush of desperate seekers after God.
“Mrs Booth commenced preaching twelve months before Mr Booth left the ministry, holding evangelistic services during that year in Durham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, East Hartlepool, and in Sunderland, in addition to regular preaching engagements in Gateshead. During Mr Booth’s evangelistic tours, Mrs Booth shared his labours; her ministry then and since being marvellously popular, everywhere attracting crowded audiences, and leading large numbers to decision. How great a share she has had, publicly as well as privately, in the establishment of the Mission, will appear in the following pages.
“From Cornwall Mr and Mrs Booth proceeded to Cardiff, Newport, Walsall, Birmingham, Leeds, and various other places. Between two engagements Mr Booth went to London in June, 1865, and calling at the office of the Christian, he was invited to hold a week’s services in a tent erected in Whitechapel. Here he saw the enormous population of utterly godless people which swarmed on every side, and feeling his heart strangely drawn out for their salvation, he resolved in the strength of the Lord to turn aside from those who in all directions throughout the country would have invited him to continue the work of an evangelist in their midst, and to spend the remainder of his life in endeavouring to Christianise the millions of his countrymen who, instead of inviting, might be inclined to repel his labours.
“He began by preaching in the open-air upon a piece of land by the side of the Mile End-road, where shows, shooting ranges, petty dealers, and quack doctors rival each other in attracting the attention of the poor. In those days it was rather a novelty for anyone to stand there statedly and regularly in all weathers to preach to the people. And this dark tall stranger who came to talk to them familiarly about their souls, using every passing event and every common proverb to pass along the line of their ordinary thoughts, bringing in great truths long forgotten if ever known, was a new wonder — an attraction equal at any rate to Punch-and-judy or the giant baby. Crowds surrounded him, and while he spoke a Mightier far than he sent into the depths of many a dark soul the lightning flash of conviction. Men and women long burdened with sins followed him to the tent, and one after another fell down at the feet of Jesus and sought and found mercy. The autumn winds and rain soon demolished the tent; but the work went on in the open air. While a ring of devoted men and women wrestled with God as they stood on the ground, the power of the Holy Ghost repeatedly fell upon those around, so that they were constrained to step out before the staring crowd and then and there to submit to God and to seek His mercy.
“Soon, however, an old dancing saloon was secured for indoor services, and then a low public-house was purchased entire and converted into a mission hall. These places were small, but as people, crushed together on floors and stairs and passages, listened with eager ears and hearts to catch every sound, often from lips they could not see, the Spirit smote great and small together, and many were daily added to the Lord. The time had come for a great advance, and God showed a way. A large theatre hard by was taken for Sunday afternoons and evenings, and there by thousands, came old and young, nearly all of them utterly unaccustomed to the sound of the Gospel. Here, on the stage, by rows at a time, poor sinners sought and found salvation. As the fame of the work spread, hearers came, not merely from the immediate neighbourhood, but from every part of London, and especially from all its eastern districts. Saved themselves, they naturally looked around their circle of daily associates and friends with longing hearts, and from Bethnal Green, and Limehouse, and Poplar, and Canning Town soon came pouring out in earnest, undeniable entreaties for the commencement of similar work amongst the masses there. The invariable answer was, ‘Well, see if you can get any room suitable for service, and let me know what it will cost, and I will come and see about it.’
“To working people, who were determined to get something, this opened a pretty clear course. A club room, a cellar, a shed, a back room behind a pigeon shop, an old abandoned chapel, an old factory, a schoolroom, a cottage, were just as eagerly sought after where nothing larger could be got, as the great theatre or music-hall. And in the most uncomfortable and disreputable haunts of the mission, the mighty power of God to save the vilest sinners was constantly exemplified in the most marvellous manner by the instrumentality of converted navvies and thieves, and infidels, and drunkards, and gipsies, and sailors, and butchers, and dog-fanciers — in short, the roughest, most ignorant, and wildest men and women who could well have been got together, and set up as witnesses for Him who plucked them as brands from the burning.
“Twos and threes of such men were soon multiplied in each locality to strong bands of trained and indefatigable labourers. In 1869, Mrs Booth held services at Croydon, Hastings, and in each of these places Christians were stirred up to seek the salvation of souls with a diligence hitherto unknown to them. They asked for the establishment of a branch of the mission in each case, and the request was complied with. After a few months, however, the evangelists and friends at Brighton thought proper to separate from the mission, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the work which had been accomplished. Some of the Croydon converts, at the request of one of their number who had removed to Bromley, rode over in a waggon to that place, and commenced services, which resulted in the establishment of a branch of the mission there. Some of the Whitechapel converts removing to Old Ford, commenced a work there, which after various successes, was brought to a close in 1874, by a dispute as to the ownership of the hall hired by us.
“In 1870, services held by Mrs Booth in Stoke Newington resulted in the commencement of a blessed work there, which has now for its head-quarters what was formerly a small brewery and public-house. A gentleman from Tottenham, visiting the Shoreditch branch, and seeing the marvels wrought there, succeeded in securing the extension of the mission to his own locality. At Stratford and Millwall, spiritual work commenced by two gentlemen for the benefit of their workmen, was taken up by the mission; and although only very small buildings are available in each case, a very notable work has been done, and is likely to be carried on by the little companies of converts, who have gathered from the world, and trained amidst difficulty and opposition of the fiercest character, to stand their ground.
“In 1870, the mission acquired its largest portion of earthly goods — the People’s Market at Whitechapel, a building fitted to accommodate 2,000 people, which has served well as the head-quarters of the movement. From the Hastings branch grew, in 1871, a small one at Ninfield, a country village ten miles away, where the first hall built expressly for the mission was opened, the labour and materials having been largely supplied by the poor, simple-hearted servants of the Lord on the spot. Various other villages and the town of Rye have also been missioned from this centre. In 1872, halls were built or commenced at Croydon, Canning Town, and Poplar, which afford accommodation for 1,200 people. As a result of services held in Tunbridge Wells by Mrs Booth, a work was commenced in The Lew, a low square of that town, where persistent daily preaching and visitation by a devoted young man resulted in the conversion of more than 100 of the poorest people, whom the mission has, perhaps, ever dealt with as a body. Rag-pickers, clothes-peg makers, and all manner of tramps and riff-raff became devoted servants of God. The brother whose labours had been so devoted to them emigrated to Tasmania for the benefit of his health, and is now doing a good work there. But we were utterly unable, at the time of his departure, to supply his place consequently had to hand over the work to the care of a religious denomination.
“1873 will always be memorable in the history of the mission, for it witnessed an almost complete transformation in the aspect of the whole. The illness of Mr Booth, in 1872, laying him aside for months entirely from the work, had very seriously affected the whole character of the movement. Early in the year 1873, Mrs Booth began holding services in Portsmouth. For nearly four months she had gathered a congregation of some 3,000 people in a low music-hall, frequented by soldiers and sailors and the worst of characters. From these services grew one of the largest and strongest branches of the mission. Scarcely was the Portsmouth branch established, when Mrs Booth commenced preaching at Chatham. Illness cut short her period of labour here; but a branch of the mission was again the result. Meanwhile a brother had removed to Wellingboro’, after trying, by open air services, to do something for the people there, wrote entreating us to take up the work. At first, all we could do was to hold Sunday services, but again the Lord raised up agents from the bosom of the mission to carry on the work. At first, a young brother, with but slight experience, was the only one available for the post. He struggled nobly on, in spite of the most disheartening difficulties, his only place of meeting for some time being a tent put up on land which the rains reduced to a perfect quagmire. But a length an older man was set at liberty, and under his faithful and diligent labours, the work was extended and consolidated.
“In London, the spirit of holy aggression was breaking through the barriers of the past, and carrying the work into new localities with almost too rapid an overflow. Now it was a little shop at Cubitt Town; then a charming chapel at Plaistow, abandoned by its pastor; next a wooden shed at North Woolwich, and at last, a little upper room at Barking, which attracted our attention, and into which mission preachers hurried, thinking only of the pressing need for securing the salvation of perishing souls.
“The next year was a natural sequel to 1873. A great deal of hard toil to consolidate the fruits of the former year’s vigorous advances; but, at the same time, further and even bolder steps to reach new neighbourhoods. In Soho, where the whole population seems to be shrouded and overwhelmed in the dense fog-bank of drunkenness and sin, a little fortress was opened, where, perhaps the most valiant band of workers ever gathered in any branch of the mission has toiled, with unflagging devotion and unquenchable zeal, to snatch brands from the burning, and, thank God, with no small success. But the distinguishing mark of the year was the establishment of the Hammersmith work. Here a lady who had long been aiming at the evangelisation of the poor, had been persuaded by her Bible-woman, a mission convert, to invite us to assist by sending preachers for Sunday services. As soon as possible, however, an evangelist was placed there, and, in a year’s time, some hundreds of sinners had yielded to the power of the Gospel, and a great body of working people were helping diligently to spread the glad tidings yet further and further. From the first, too, this was done with very slight expenditure of the general funds of the mission, friends in the neighbourhood supplying any little deficiency in the offerings of the people.
“The work done at Wellingboro’ had attracted attention in the neighbouring town of Kettering, and friends there who were desirous of missioning the town availed themselves of our assistance, and eventually agreed to support an evangelist. The year had thus passed with comparatively little increase in the number of stations; but the number of services held in each station had increased very largely, and as the last days of the old year were fading into the first days of the new, a converted tinker at Stockton, a converted railway guard at Middlesbro’, and a converted navvy at Cardiff were commencing what have since become large and powerful missions in each.
“1875 was made memorable by the development of these. In each town a large public building was taken for Sunday use, and not only in the open air but in those places, thousands who had never before listened to the gospel crowded to hear it, and in the plainest and directest terms that one of their own class could use, heard God’s condemnation of their sin and his offers of mercy. Hundreds of working people, converted in connection with these services, were organised into bands. A good hall was opened in Hackney this year.
“In 1876 we took our stand in Leeds, Leicester, and Hartlepool. We did not, owing to various circumstances, gather so large congregations and so large a company of soldiers for the Lord from the public-houses and the streets as in Stockton and Middlesbro’ the previous year, yet we trust the work, if a little slower in its early growth, will become perhaps even more solid and permanent in its character. The only building of the year was a nice hall for the week-night work at Hammersmith. It was amongst the greatest joys of the year that Mrs Booth, somewhat restored after long illness, was able to hold a series of services at Leicester, and that, when unable to preach any longer, her eldest son and daughter were able to step into her place and carry on the work. It was amongst its darkest shadows, however, that this effort, with a few subsequent services, overtaxed her strength, and removed her from the active list again for a time, soon, we trust, to be passed over; and that Mr Booth, borne to the borders of the grave by typhoid fever, was also for three months kept away from the field.
“The progress of the mission in 1877 has been more remarkable internally than externally. True, that the work begun in East Hartlepool in the previous year has not only matured, but has led to the opening of a mission in West Hartlepool. True, that the Stockton branch has been added to by the commencement of a station in South Stockton; and that in Bradford and Whitby great congregations have been assembled, and a great and marvellous work done. But we really begin to look upon our extension into one town after another, and the aggregation in the course of twelve months labour, of a huge congregation of working people and a powerful society on the spot as no longer a wonder. We have found out how to do it now.
“Not the least significant event of the year was the death and funeral of Miss Anderson; the first evangelist who has died in the work. She had only laboured at a station for a few weeks, when inherent disease brought her faithful, unflinching efforts to an end. She had been looked down upon as a female preacher, even by some who ought to have loved and valued her most. But when we buried her, a large force of police was required to keep back the immense concourse of people who, with every mark of respect and reverence, surrounded her grave. A local paper estimated that a fourth of the adult population of the town gathered on an ordinary work-day afternoon at the funeral of one who was known as the true friend of the souls and bodies of the poor. Oh, yes! the people know the value of the faithful ministry, even of a woman!
“Many a bitter lesson as well as many a sweet one has been learnt in the passage from the single open-air stand of July, 1865, to the large number of theatres, public halls, and other buildings, and to the hundreds of open-air positions occupied weekly now in town and country; but the blessed sum total that is that “the best of all is, God is with us,” and we venture to say that He has shown in connection with our history how to do a spiritual work amongst the poor, such as had never been accomplished before. To His name be all glory!”
The writer thus gives what has been done for heathen England by the instrumentality of the Christian mission from its commencement by one man, on the 6th July, 1865, up to the end of 1877:— “There have been established thirty missions, each holding hundreds of services in the open-air and indoors annually; the greater part of the expense connected with the hiring of buildings and the support of evangelists under whose leadership the work is carried on, being defrayed by those whom these missions directly benefit.. More than forty theatres, music halls, and other buildings have been brought into regular use for the purpose of religious services, thus providing comfortable accommodation for over 25,000 of those who dislike ordinary places of worship. Fifteen good, plain, substantial mission halls have been erected or purchased in neighbourhoods where no building suitable for our services could be rented. Towards the cost of each of these the poor have contributed their share in cash or in materials and labour. Throughout every district of the East of London, from Aldgate to Canning Town, and from the Thames to Stoke Newington, and in a number of large towns, including Chatham, Hastings, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Leicester, Leeds, Bradford, Middlesborough, Stockton, and the Hartlepools, the Gospel of Christ has been proclaimed to the working classes in the streets, and in such buildings as have been obtainable.
“Remembering that over 25,000 public services have been held during the past year alone, it would be difficult to form anything like an accurate estimate of the number of services held during the whole series of twelve years, or of the number of different persons thus reached with the gospel. It is certain, however, that the names and addresses of many thousands of persons have been recorded who have professed conversion at mission services, and that from amongst the ever-increasing ranks of these have come forth the large bands which now carry on the work, and who, from being drunkards, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, and pleasure-seekers, have become upright, respectable members of society, and earnest propagandists of true religion amongst their own class. Nearly 700 of these habitually speak in public. We have the names of no less than 105 persons, most of them converted in connection with the services of the mission, who, after having been led by its instrumentality to devote their lives to the salvation of souls, have been wholly employed in the work of God. Of these, 31 are labouring as evangelists in connection with the mission itself, 68 ministers, missionaries, evangelists, Scripture readers, colporteurs, or Bible women in connection with various religious denominations, and 8 have completed their labours on earth and gone to reap their reward in heaven.”
The book is altogether an extraordinary record — a wonderful shilling’s worth of Christian experience and mission labour among the lowest, and the mission and practice are thus described in one of the songs:—
Our cathedral is the open air.
We may be rough, and speak aloud,
But our words are blessed to the pardoned crowd.”
Wanted always, for the Christian Mission Evangelistic Staff, Men and Women of God, anxious to devote their lives to the work of saving souls.
“What is woman’s work if not to preach? The devil made her the first preacher on earth, and the result of her first sermon was the ruin of us all. And now she must not preach any more! Of course not. Devil! — how clever a deceiver you are! But stay! The double-faced devil will consent to thy advancement to the most public position possible if it be but to lead souls to hell. The stage! Oh, yes, by all means, go on to the stage. Dance there half-dressed, if you like. Take part unblushingly in the representation of the vilest iniquity before a dense crowd of the highest and most learned in the land. Sing, speak, perform, be shameless, be a great, public, constant lie, and you shall be worshipped by whole nations for it all. Nobles shall pour their wealth at your feet for the honour of your hand. The greatest monarchs of the earth shall bow to you, the whole press of every Christian people shall beland you. The ‘religious papers’ reserve a little quiet corner on purpose for such names as yours! Every kingdom of the world shall be yours if you take the foremost part in leading men down into the pit.
“But to stand upon that very same stage to lead men to Heaven! To speak, or sing, or to pray there! Oh, horrible! Abomination! Degradation of your sex! Disgrace to religion! Outrage upon society! Society! — the very society that would gloat over your performances as an actress, and shut you out of its circles because you were one! And as to appearing in the open air, at the street-corners, addressing men, braving insult, and standing amidst the godless multitudes to speak aloud for God, — why, you must be demented — lost to every sense of propriety, utterly without respect for yourself, to dream of anything of the sort! Surely, you will not make such an exhibition of yourself, and disgrace family and friends for ever?
“Woman of God, make thy choice! There is the stage — there is the open air stand. The multitudes will crowd to hear thee — no matter what thy name, thy position, thy abilities — simply because thou art a woman. If thou, by the power of God, no matter whether with finished oratory, or with faltering, disconnected phrases, shalt move their hearts, they will come, and come again, and thou wilt see many of them fall at the feet of Jesus, if thou wilt but go forth and speak to them. Thy God says to thee as much as to anyone, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.’ There is neither ‘male nor female’ in the eye of thy Creator, thy King, thy Saviour, thy Judge. Wilt thou obey Him? It may cost thee all thy friends, thy reputation, thy comfort, in life, thy home, thy fortune, thy health, thy life, thy all; but ‘He freely gave himself up for us all’ — for women as well as for men. Wilt thou give up all for Him? Wilt thou hear the Master’s voice, and gladly answer when He calleth, ‘Here am I — send me, send me.’ Oh, woman, Heaven, and earth, and Hell are eager to catch thy answer! Wilt thou? . . .
“But women are not qualified for the management of spiritual affairs! Indeed! Are they not? How many large mansions and large families are under the care of a woman, and well cared for? How many millions of money are gained and how many millions of souls drowned in drink yearly in public houses and hotels, under a landlady? . . . Not allow a woman to usurp authority over a man? Ye named man what are the facts? Aye, and ye moon-struck youths too? Is it not the very joy of your life to submit in everything, from the choice of a business — a town — a horse to that of a stud, or a salt-cellar to the sweet little gentle influence that can usurp to any extent, before you know it had done so? Is it not time somebody usurped authority over the millions of professedly Christian men, who stand idle while the world is perishing!
“If a house were burning, and a woman, finding all the fireman gaping below, usurped authority and showed how to save it, would the insurance companies object? Did anybody cry shame when the captain of a brig having fallen ill on the Atlantic a few years since, his wife usurped his authority and brought the vessel into port? The helm of many a church is in feeble enough hands to-day! Members idling, chatting, entertaining one another, and their dear pastor, while the souls around are perishing for lack of knowledge that churches should diffuse! May God raise up some spiritual Grace Darlings, who, even if they have to row alone in the boat they manage, may bring salvation to thousands who, through mismanagement, and carelessness, and stupidity of men, are ready to perish! Grace Darling, wherever you are, for ye are legion, come forward in spite of earth and hell, and usurp authority to save!
“If the Christian mission ceased to exist to-day, it would have amply justified its past career, because it has brought forward again to the light that chosen instrumentality of the Kingdom of Heaven, female ministry, and allowed of the demonstration of its utility and power — its divine right. The Christian mission woman at a street corner can get and hold as large a crowd by even giving out a hymn as the most eloquent of the male evangelists. The power of the woman’s speaking, as her own heart melts and her tears flow at the sight of the lost around her, and streams of tears flow from eyes that never wept for sin before, heaving breasts and broken hearts, attest it a million times every Sabbath day.”
There is no lack of vigour, it will be seen, in dealing with the woman’s rights question in Christian Mission work in “Heathen England,” and the work that has been done in Gateshead demonstrates the truth of the position assumed by the vigorous writer of the work from which we have quoted.