The Army is only the complete organisation of such efforts for permanent efficiency.  We may have had to use more extreme methods than many before us, because, unlike those who are the publicly recognised advocates of Christ, we have, in the first instance, no regular hearers at all, and have generally only the ear of the people so long as we can retain it, against a hundred competitions.  And yet, to those who live near enough to notice it, the exercise of force by means of church steeples and bells is far more violent, all the year round, than the utmost attack of the average Corps upon some few occasions.

Who complains of the compulsion of railway servants, who by bell, flag, and whistle, glaring announcements, or in any other way, urge desiring passengers to get into their train, before it is too late?  Wherever a true faith in the Gospel exists, The General’s organisation of compulsory plans for the Salvation of souls will not only be approved, but regarded as one of the great glories of his life.

The “Will you go?” of The Army, wherever its songs are heard, has ever been more than a kindly invitation.  It has been an urging to which millions of undecided souls will for ever owe their deliverance from the dilatory and hindering influences around them, into an earnest start towards a heavenly life.

That is why The General taught so many millions to sing, in their varied languages, his own song:—­

    O boundless Salvation! deep ocean of love,
    O fulness of mercy Christ brought from above! 
    The whole world redeeming, so rich and so free,
    Now flowing for all men—­come, roll over me!

    My sins they are many, their stains are so deep,
    And bitter the tears of remorse that I weep;
    But useless is weeping, thou great crimson sea,
    Thy waters can cleanse me, come, roll over me!

    My tempers are fitful, my passions are strong. 
    They bind my poor soul, and they force me to wrong;
    Beneath thy blest billows deliverance I see,
    Oh, come, mighty ocean, and roll over me!

    Now tossed with temptation, then haunted with fears,
    My life has been joyless and useless for years;
    I feel something better most surely would be,
    If once thy pure waters would roll over me.

    O ocean of mercy, oft longing I’ve stood
    On the brink of thy wonderful, life-giving flood! 
    Once more I have reached this soul-cleansing sea,
    I will not go back till it rolls over me.

    The tide is now flowing, I’m touching the wave,
    I hear the loud call of “The Mighty to Save”;
    My faith’s growing bolder—­delivered I’ll be—­
    I plunge ’neath the waters, they roll over me.

    And now, Hallelujah! the rest of my days
    Shall gladly be spent in promoting His praise
    Who opened His bosom to pour out this sea
    Of boundless Salvation for you and for me.