Chapter V

Allusion has already been made to the proclamation of the Grand Council of Neuchâtel, on the 30th January. The news of this proclamation was telegraphed to England, and cheered the hearts of all lovers of liberty here, who rejoiced to think that while Geneva was acting in so arbitrary a manner, in regard to religious and civil liberty, the Canton of Neuchâtel, faithful to its great traditions, had opened its doors to strangers guiltless of breaking any law, and had spoken publicly in the tone with which we are familiar as emanating from free Switzerland. The following is the text of the proclamation:—

“To the Citizens Resident in the Canton.

“Dear Citizens,—

“For several days past disturbances of a grave character have taken place on the occasion of certain religious meetings. At la Chaux de Fonds as well as Neuchâtel, public meetings have been disturbed, inoffensive persons assaulted in the streets, and windows broken by projectiles. At Neuchâtel the worship of a church, long established in our Canton, has been violently broken in upon.

“The Council of State is determined to enforce respect for public order, liberty of meeting and liberty of worship. It has nothing whatever to do with the particular tendencies of this or that public assembly, or of this or that form of worship. It does not regard the doctrines professed in these places. Its duty is to protect the liberties and security of all. It will not fail in this duty. But before taking exceptional measures for the re-establishment of public order and liberty of meeting, which up to this date had been respected in our Canton, we desire to appeal to the Republican sentiments of our fellow citizens. One of 142the most glorious conquests of our Revolution of 1848, was the securing of liberty of public meeting, and absolute liberty of worship. These liberties are enshrined as follows in our Cantonal Constitution:—

“‘Article 11.—Public Assemblies, as well as Associations, which, in their object and in their methods have nothing illegal, cannot be either restrained or forbidden;

“‘Article 13.—Every profession of faith, and every form of worship alike shall enjoy full liberty, and shall have an equal right to protection, on the condition that those who profess and follow such forms of faith and worship conform to the law for the regulation of the external exercises of public worship.’

“Up to the present time no special action has been judged necessary to put in force the law on the external and public exercise of worship. Absolute liberty is given to all churches and to all religious societies. Why should we now abandon this liberal practice so honourable to our Canton?

“We appeal, dear citizens, to your feelings of justice and toleration. Let us give full liberty to the manifestation of all opinions, and of all creeds. Let us discuss them, if we will, and even judge them severely; but let us beware of seeking to suppress them. Let us avoid even the appearance of persecution. If that which you may hear in some public assemblies is repugnant to your feelings, avoid these meetings, and cease to support their promoters. It may be that these people are seeking to advertise themselves by an unwholesome notoriety. You can refuse then to give them the pleasure of creating such notoriety for them. If you wish to protest, convene yourselves public meetings. Discuss these matters, and manifest your opposition by reasoning and argument, and not by noise, mockery, and acts of violence. We have a confident hope, dear citizens, that you will respond to our appeal, and will again assume the calm and dignified attitude so appropriate to free Republicans. Do not let it be said that the right of meeting and liberty of worship guaranteed by our constitution are a dead letter.

143“Citizens of Neuchâtel, we boast of being a free and civilized people; let us show that we know how to respect the public manifestation of convictions, religious or otherwise, however absurd they may appear to us. Let us carefully guard all our liberties, and let us not destroy them for ourselves by ceasing to respect them in others. Let us know how to be tolerant, if we desire that others shall be tolerant to us.

“In the name of the Council of State,

(Signed),

Comtesse, President.

Gillaume, Secretary.

“Neuchâtel, 30th January, 1833.”

The reign of justice and of liberty, however, in this Canton was but too brief. The evil influences which had been at work in Geneva appear to have travelled with telegraphic swiftness, and swept down on Neuchâtel like a storm from the Jura. The letter of Mme. de Gasparin was in the hands of all, as soon as an intimation reached the Geneva authorities of the probability of the persecuted Salvationists taking refuge in the neighbouring Canton. The evil seed found only too many minds well prepared to receive it and to develop rancorous fruits “after its kind.” It is said also that M. Héridier was at this time in communication with his friend M. Cornaz, who occupies a similar position with himself as head of the Department of Justice and Police in Neuchâtel. As kindred spirits, probably they found it not difficult to agree as to the continuance of the extraordinary measures already familiar to the public of Geneva. The Salvationists—who had been invited to come to Neuchâtel, by a letter signed by a certain number of the citizens—in the hope and faith that their work would be now carried out under conditions of freedom, had engaged the great rooms at the Hotel de Mont Blanc, the proprietor of which, M. Elskes, had shown himself liberally disposed, in this as well as in other matters, towards English visitors. In January, the first pioneers of the Salvation 144Army arrived in Neuchâtel, and, though welcomed by many, were assailed from the first with opposition from the most noisy and degraded of the population.

In giving the sequence of the events which ensued, M. Du Pasquier spoke as follows,—at the trial at Bondry:—“The Council of State, repudiating the principles set forth in its firm and noble proclamation of the 30th January, and allowing itself to become the docile instrument of certain rioters, who could have been promptly brought to reason by a little vigorous action, entered on a false path by partially putting a stop to the Salutist meetings. The disturbances were the more encouraged by the voluntary inactivity of the police, and their development led to the Decree of the 15th of June, forbidding all meetings whatsoever of the Salvation Army, until such time as it should have received the authorization of the State; this prohibition being based on the assumption that the Army was a ‘religious corporation,’ in the sense laid down in Article 72 of our Neuchâtel constitution.”

A few friends subsequently opened their houses for private meetings, as there was no prohibition to such. This, however, as we shall see, did not prevent the roughs from persecuting and ill-treating all who were seen attending such meetings.

One of the Salvation Soldiers wrote thus at the time of the earlier meetings at the Mont Blanc:—

“I cannot describe to you all that has passed during this day. Two hundred and fifty people in the Hall at half-past seven in the morning to sing and pray. At three o’clock the Hall was more than full. There are 500 seats, but there were more than 1,000 people crushed into the Hall, and several hundreds in the corridors. But in the evening, what a crowd when we came to open! Cries from all sides from those who were being almost suffocated in the crush. The movement in the crowd was at times like the waves of the sea. They say that never has Neuchâtel seen such a crowd at a meeting, either religious or political. The people in the houses opposite lit up the street and the crowd by coloured Bengal fire, which they lit in their windows. I could see that there were souls there who were thirsting for Salvation.”

145A little noise commenced, when at once one of our Neuchâtel friends rose up, and speaking to the meeting, said—“In the name of Neuchâtel I protest against this noise!” Then about 500 persons rose up and seconded the speaker, and out went the disturbers.

When the invitation was given for those who desired Salvation to come forward and give themselves to God, two young men came out. One of these came forward hurriedly from his place, and threw himself down, saying, “I will! I will!”

Another soldier wrote at this time:—

“Hallelujah, for all the Saviour has done in Neuchâtel during my absence. What a change! When I left there were only a few soldiers upon a very small platform, and now the platform is three times as large as that of Paris, and yet it is too small. On my arrival I attended a Holiness meeting for soldiers. What a joy to find myself amongst these redeemed of Jesus, won through the instrumentality of the Army which has been so despised, and where the devil has so furiously endeavoured to hinder the work of our brothers. Certainly Satan has not been dethroned from all hearts, but glory to God he has from many. Many souls have been rescued, and others who slept in false security had been awakened.

“Yes, He manifests His power here, and if His servants have had to suffer persecution, and will have to suffer it, yet they begin now to rejoice over the fruit of their labours. The Saviour is faithful to His promises.

“Since Saturday we have had two meetings—one on Sunday morning at 7, and another at 3. The hall was crowded, and many had to be sent away—but more than all was the blessing received. God alone knows how many have been blessed besides those who testified.... Tuesday at 3 o’clock another meeting. On Wednesday morning at 6 o’clock again another, at which at least 400 were present. What slaughter in the ranks of the devil!

“The Lord bless the Salvation Army at Paris. Amen!

“Neuchâtel.

“C. H.”

The storm, which had been daily gathering strength, now burst forth first more openly at a meeting in the Hotel Mont Blanc at which Miss Booth was present. The Neuchâtel authorities pretended that their police force was insufficient to keep order. It is impossible here to refrain from a brief criticism in advance. When Miss Booth was arrested in September following, in the forest at a considerable distance from Neuchâtel, the journey to which place involved rough work for those who arrested her, there appeared on the spot 146the Prefect of Police with two of his police staff and fifteen Gendarmes. Now if it was possible to provide at a short notice so strong a force, in order to arrest an unresisting girl in a remote forest, it surely would have been equally possible to have supplied a sufficient force to prevent the disgraceful outrages committed by the mob night after night in the streets around the Hotel Mont Blanc, in the city itself. On the occasion of the meeting referred to, the noise and disturbances within the hall were so great that the words spoken could only be heard, as in the first meeting in Geneva, in the intervals of uproar. The chief disturbances came, however, from the outside. In an open space surrounding the Mont Blanc there was a surging mass of rude noisy people. In the hope of quelling the uproar, and of winning some of those souls, Miss Booth left the hall and presented herself among them in the open air. She gained their attention in a few moments, and spoke gently but firmly of the aims of the Salvation Army, and their desire to win the people to true happiness and peace. A ringleader of the mob, a man of some intelligence and of powerful appearance, rudely interrupted her, and, holding up his pipe, cried, “This is my god.” Then there came a wild response from the people—“And the money-box is their god”—meaning that the object of the Salvationists was to gain money. Confusion and uproar followed. But once more Miss Booth gained a hearing, and then with much power she argued as a messenger of Christ. “I appeal to you,” she said, “as intelligent men, as men able to reason. Do you really believe that we would have left our homes, our friends, our country, to come to Switzerland to be treated as we have been treated, to be hooted, pelted, ill-used and blamed in every way, in order to get money? No; I believe you have more good sense than to believe such folly as this. You know what our motive is—that we wish to see you delivered from the slavery of sin, and brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” The man with the pipe stared at her open-mouthed as she spoke. Looking 147at him she said, “You will follow me into the hall, and you will listen to me?” She retired, and this leader of the roughs quietly followed her accompanied by many others. He put his pipe in his pocket, sat down, and listened with wondering attention. With the ordinary protection which justly they ought to have had from the authorities, and with liberty to make such appeals as these in the midst of the storms of noise, blasphemy, and ridicule they were accustomed to meet, there can be no doubt that the Salvation Army would have won its own way, peace would have been restored, and much blessing would have been the result for the population of that Canton, concerning whom we hear the constant lament of demoralization and lawlessness through habits of drink, and other vices.

On such occasions as the above, Miss Booth said to me,—“I was powerless; there was no one there to enforce order; and I just threw myself on God, asking Him to silence the people for a moment. He heard my cry; He did it for me; He held the people in silence and attentive suspense until I had given them His message.”

The following extracts from letters (the originals of many of which I have seen) will give some idea of the work accomplished in spite of the interdictions of the authorities and the violence of the mob:—

“Although the hall of Mont Blanc is still closed at night, and we are pulling against wind and tide, we are conquering, for the ‘Lord of Hosts is with us.’ It is easy enough to write pamphlets against us; easy to close halls; quite easy for the ‘enemies of the cross of Christ’ to hinder work in many ways, but when the Holy Spirit works in hearts and consciences, who shall hinder? And, bless His name! He is working here.”

Another wrote:—

“For many weeks I have wanted to tell you of the happiness I have in my heart since Jesus is mine. Blessed be the day when you came to our country; it had need of some ardent servants of God who would proclaim without fear His salvation. I know that I am not magnetised, as some here say; but I have found the way to true happiness. And you, dear friends, take courage; yours is the King’s work, and you, will be ‘more than conquerors’ through Him who has loved us.”

148Another says:—

“Before the Armée du Salut came to Neuchâtel I wanted to be saved, but I always fell again into sin and had lost courage. I praise Him that He sent you here to touch my heart. I had heard the Gospel often, but it now seemed new to me. I could not keep away from the meetings, and one day I resisted no longer, and gave myself to God. Since then the chains that held me to sin are broken, and my heart is at peace.”

“How often I am asked,” wrote another Neuchâtel citizen, “What do you think of the Salvation Army? I should like to give you the answer from my own experience. I am sure it is just the sort of people we need in Neuchâtel. We are tired of studied sermons, most of which do not come from the heart, and therefore do not reach it. We need the Word of God with power, and the Holy Spirit. We are not at all surprised to see these dear friends amongst us; it is an answer to the prayers of many a child of God; but we are grieved indeed to see what hard work they find, and much of it because of the so-called Christians. The devil, too, sees he has already lost some of his slaves, and is raging.”

A girl soldier wrote:—

“Last afternoon meeting (Saturday), they locked us into the hall with an immense chain and padlock, and after some time only we succeeded in getting free through another door, having made it known to the proprietor. The mob followed us home, throwing stones, mud, &c., and saying the most awful things. Few of our friends come now to the afternoon meetings, as there is always a crowd, and they don’t like stones and mud thrown at them, and some declare they are afraid of being blown up, as dynamite stories are still being circulated!”

After a meeting in which the danger of harbouring bitterness in the heart had been dwelt upon, a soldier wrote:—

“A man came to see me next morning, and said he had kept rancune in his heart against a man; he must go and put things square or else no peace for him. A testimony from a thief, who told of deliverance from sin, stirred the whole meeting, and as Captain Becquet talked of the ‘love that thinketh no evil,’ hearts darkened by jealousy and hatred were broken down, and many were those who for the first time could honestly pray, ‘Forgive us, as we forgive others.’ On Sunday morning the hall was full at seven, and many standing. A powerful meeting. In the afternoon, 1,000 people in the open air. A young German, who has been one of the worst of our persecutors, gave his testimony for the first time, to the wonderment of his old comrades, some of whom have since followed his example in giving themselves to God. Glory to Jesus. Although surrounded by difficulty, we are marching forward; gentlemen and ladies have offered their houses for evening meetings.

“Few of the Neuchâtelois Christians probably guessed that sin existed 149to such an extent so near their peaceful dwellings until its originator was openly attacked in the Salvation Hall, but they are fully alive to it now, and most anxious that war should be waged. Although all the public evening meetings have been forbidden by the police authorities, every afternoon sees a goodly congregation of men and women assembled together to hear of full salvation. The dear Lord meets with them, and sin-weary souls find rest in His presence. Most of these are women, of all ages. The tales they tell us of long unfaithful years spent in silence, and Divine calls to testimony to Jesu’s saving power which have been quenched, stifled, and unheeded, because of the universal tradition handed down from their fathers which shuts their mouths, calling them disobedient children if they dare to praise their Lord openly, have made us shudder for the responsibility the authors of these traditions have taken upon themselves.

“Every day fresh cases come to our knowledge of this description. At last they are hearing and heeding their Saviour’s voice, saying, ‘Ye are my witnesses.’”

Two of the officers who had been walking through the streets on a Sunday evening, wrote:—

“The streets were mostly deserted at that hour, but the first band of people we met was a dozen or so of roughs, who not being able to disturb a Salvation meeting, were singing Salvation songs as an amusement—

‘I do believe, I will believe,

That Jesus died for me;

That on the Cross He shed His blood,

From sin to set me free.’

“Oh, how we longed that the words they idly and mockingly sung might sink into their hearts and awaken their slumbering consciences? Perhaps they did; who knows? We walked on through one street and another, longing to find an opportunity of inviting sinners to Jesus. Loud talking in a room with partly closed shutters attracted us. We peeped in; and there we saw several small tables surrounded by groups of sturdy fellows, just the kind the Lord wants, drinking freely, and spending their Sabbath evening in coarse talking and jesting.

“We longed to go in, but, alas! we must not.”

From another Neuchâtel Salutist:—

“The infidel doctor, with two other men of the same character, was at the afternoon meeting. I feel sure he will be saved. He listened to all that was said, and never smiled; had not even the courage to light his cigarette, but kept rolling it all the time between his fingers. Pray for the doctor—he is miserable. I wish you had seen him. O Lord, save our enemies, we constantly pray!”

150Miss Booth thus wrote herself of one of the meetings, which were still allowed to be held on Sunday, being forbidden during the week:—

“On Sunday morning the meeting lasted from seven until a quarter to eleven. It was raining hard, yet the hall was quite full, and it was one of the most blessed meetings I ever attended. After singing and some prayer from two or three soldiers, the meeting was opened for testimony; and having so rarely a chance to testify in these times, they rose three and four at a time; although the meeting lasted four hours, they had not nearly all an opportunity....

“A sister said that it was her wish that the Army should go all over Switzerland to bring the same happiness it had brought to her heart.

“And then followed our French version of—

‘I mean to fight for Jesus,’

and certainly, judging from the way our Neuchâtel comrades joined in that song, there is no doubt about their determination.

“Here a man rose, who I was told could neither read nor write. There was perfect stillness when he told us how God had saved him, what he and his wife were, and what they are now. I was much struck, as was everybody, with his earnestness, and the power in his prayer afterwards, showing that he had received the Holy Ghost, which had done more for him than all the education in the world could do. Then rose Jacques. Everybody knows him; a very big powerful man. He told us how he was scoffed at and persecuted, but how happy he was in spite of all. A sister followed who has been suffering much from friends who ought to have been the first to pray for her. She said—‘You can take all away—reputation, everything—but you cannot take Jesus, who lives in my heart. He is everything to me. I can suffer all while I have Him.’

“I cannot but glorify God for the wonderful things He has done in Neuchâtel when all has been, and is, in the dark. Our hall shut up—forbidden even to meet to pray; opposition of the bitterest kind and from all sides to contend with; yet on Sunday morning I felt like Miriam, after hearing those wonderful testimonies, taking a tambourine, and saying, ‘Sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously.’”

Extract from the Journal L’Aurore, March, 1883. Special correspondence from Neuchâtel:—

“The great news of the day is the presence of the Salvation Army. They have hired an immense hall in the Hotel Mont Blanc. Their meetings have been often disturbed from the outside by a noisy and evil-disposed crowd. There has been 151an outburst of hatred and exasperation, such as one would not have thought possible in our little town—windows broken, blows, ribald songs, and savage cries. Everything has been done to upset the meetings, which have, however, continued with calmness and courage, God being evidently with these people.

“I was, for my part, much prejudiced against the Army and their manner of working. But since I have seen them at their work, and witnessed their ardent love for souls, and the strength and power which this consecration of body and soul to the Saviour gives them (the sacrifice even of their lives), I am fully persuaded that their work will be blessed to many. Immense crowds rush to their meetings—men in rags, poor women, porters, workmen, together with altogether different classes. These evangelists present an immediate, present salvation, with much power and with so much simplicity that every child can understand it.

“They have already many converts and many testimonies. We are not accustomed here to these public testimonies, and this habit shocks many people; but it certainly gives to those who testify a decided position as converts, and a great blessing accompanies it.”

I make no apology for the introduction here of a letter written to me by Miss Patrick, the gallant little Salvation soldier at Neuchâtel, who patiently endured insult and even personal violence, in the course of the campaign at Neuchâtel, and who asked to be allowed at the end to share Miss Booth’s imprisonment in order to minister to and cheer her,—a favour which was granted to her. She wrote as follows:—

“Dear Mrs. Butler.—I will give you as well as I can, the principal facts of our Neuchâtel warfare. Our first meeting was held on Sunday, January 21st, at 7 a.m., attended by a good number of Christians, most of whom gave us a welcome as servants of God, although many of them are now our opponents. It was a blessed time of consecration, and of supplication that the blessing of God might rest on our 152future work. The afternoon and evening services were very short, difficulty presenting itself in an overcrowded hall and a few disturbers. On Monday evening, amidst much crowding and confusion, God helped us to hold a Salvation meeting, several gentlemen of the town offering to keep order in the hall. After a powerful address by Captain Becquet, specially bearing upon the necessity of instant decision, and concluding by the question ‘who will give himself to God now?’ two young men sprang out from among the audience with the words—‘Je veux, je veux,’ and knelt down to implore mercy and pardon. These two are good soldiers under the banner of Christ to-day. The next evening the first serious disturbance occurred, a rush to the hall beginning an hour or two before the time for opening, and we soon saw that mischief was contemplated. When once the hall was full, the doors were closed, the police having arrived to quiet the impatient mob outside; but from the first it was easy to see their power was little or nothing. This night a band of organized roughs had entered the hall, the meeting was rendered impossible by laughing, shouting, whistling and song-singing, and although by far the greater part of our audience were anxious to listen, it was useless; we therefore cleared the hall as quickly as possible and passed out, followed by a howling mob, who laughed at the police, calling them ‘old women.’ No announcements of our meetings having been published, we were surprised at the rush of people.

“Anxiously wishing to avoid any ‘scandale,’ we decided to close our hall for a few evenings, and continue only day meetings. A few nights later we opened with admission tickets. Storming, window-breaking etc., followed, which might with a little firm dealing on the part of the police, have been stopped at once, the rioters being chiefly boys from 16 to 20 years of age. The police however only proved useful in walking with drawn swords home with Captain Becquet, cries of ‘Au lac, au lac,’ resounding from all sides. Surprised and startled at this reception from the so-called Christian 153town of Neuchâtel, and surrounded by many Neuchâtelois who confessed their shame of these proceedings, we expected some means would be taken to render our meetings practicable. Instead of this, we received an order to close our hall at nights. This we did, although sadly enough, as the class we wished to reach and lead to the Saviour could not come until working hours were over. Still, God blessed our day meetings, especially one just then held for young women, when thirty-eight professed to give themselves to God. Our morning meetings also, often commencing at 6 a.m. were abundantly owned by God.

“Slander and calumny was our next difficulty. A dear old French lady working with us was the first object of attack. Her character was called in question, and falsehoods set adrift, and after a few weeks, when leaving Neuchâtel for another field of labour, she remarked, ‘My people (in France) laugh at God; but this is worse; these people are too cruel!’ Cruel, indeed, was the pamphlet which a few days after was scattered through Neuchâtel, i.e., that of Madame de Gasparin, a book which will have to bear the light and judgment of eternity. ‘I will repay, saith the Lord.’ The charge of Jesuitism there brought against us, spread like poison; we were met by it in the streets, even in little children who shrank from us as if we would do them harm.

“In visiting houses, door after door was shut in our faces; former friends were now foes, and would cross the street to avoid us; a tide of opposition swept against us; our friends were the omnipotent, the unchanging God, and a handful of those who dared to go against the tide, to stand with us in the dark, feeling that the King of Glory was our guide.

“About this time our dear Maréchale, Miss Booth, arrived. In the evening we held many meetings in a crowded hall, with wondrous power and blessing. On Sunday, special meetings. But presently another arrêté came forbidding these meetings on Sunday, as the report was circulated that some roughs from Geneva intended to ‘blow up our hall!’ Once more these rioters were encouraged, and we were 154forbidden to hold meetings. I cannot remember the dates, but from this time one ‘decree’ followed another; forbidding first Sunday meetings, and then afternoon meetings, and then every meeting whatsoever at our locale. During this time many friends had thrown open their houses to us, and we accepted their invitations gratefully; every evening in crowded rooms of private houses we worked on. Many a happy, holy gathering we have had in tiny rooms and passages, many a sinner has ‘crossed over the line’ and is on God’s side to-day as a result of these meetings; so we praised God and took courage. Still papers, secular and religious, rained accusations upon us, the latter more bitterly than the former.

“One Sunday evening—our hall being closed, and we longing for a united prayer-meeting with our soldiers (many of whom had been discharged from good situations because they were Salutistes)—we received an invitation from one of the leading members of a Christian Church to join with all our soldiers in their evening service. It was accepted—a prayer meeting was announced—a wonderful time followed—tears and prayers were mingled. Amongst others, led by the Spirit of God, our beloved Maréchale prayed. God was not angry, for he answered in filling us all with joy and strength. But, as a result, a confused, divided church followed. We stood and wondered! What had we done? A woman had prayed in a chapel! Just now a large meeting was held at a café against us; the avowed enemies of Jesus joined hands with His professed followers in order to have us sent away. A petition was started against us, to be signed at all the cafés; dear Miss Booth was struck in the street; ink, water, &c., were showered upon us from the windows of private houses;—in the streets, sticks, blocks of wood, mud and stones. Anonymous letters, threats and curses met us at every turn.

“One evening our soldiers were attacked when leaving one of the private houses after a small meeting, and only because God kept us, did we escape and got home without anything 155serious. On June 12th, the house of Monsieur Aimé Humbert was assailed while a few friends were met for prayer;—from the Salvation band only myself and two soldiers being present. On Wednesday, June 13th, the house of Monsieur Convert was besieged by hundreds of infuriated people who stoned and yelled, smashing all the windows within reach, until after midnight, our soldiers escaping by means of a ladder.

“This brought not a single reprimand for one of our assailants, although the ringleaders must have been recognised by the police who were present looking on; but it brought a prohibitory decree against all meetings in any place whatsoever, ‘even forbidding a Swiss citizen to receive us in his home for singing and prayer.’ The people, excited and led on by those who should have protected us, proceeded to all lengths. Some, we know, were paid to give us blows; and so many pints of beer were given for panes of glass broken, &c. After all my comrades had left Neuchâtel I stayed to cheer and encourage the Swiss soldiers; and the fire was hotter than ever. As I walked down the street, windows were thrown open, and I was hissed and spit upon, pushed off the pavement and followed by the police. One day I was chased partly through the town by a man who held a huge hatchet over his head, threatening to bring it down on mine. He said, ‘If you are saved you are ready to die, you say! Then death to the Jesuits!’ Praise the dear Lord, it did not come down, although I was ready. At other times we heard from bedroom windows schemes to do us harm, and especially the English girl who would not go away. Never, perhaps, have we had such deadly opposition; never, perhaps, lighter and brighter hearts; for God was with us at Neuchâtel, and we are convinced that His work there shall never fall.

“I write to you about these little sufferings for Christ’s sake, because I was told you wished to hear; but they are so little, and have been so outweighed by the blessing and joy by their side that they are as nothing, and we can only look back on 156these months with thankfulness for many lessons learned in the darkness.—Dear Mrs. Butler,

“Yours’ fighting for Jesus,

Kate H. Patrick.”

Miss Charlesworth also wrote to me as follows:—

“Miss Booth and Miss Patrick were both struck in the streets of Neuchâtel. We were kicked almost every day in the streets, in broad daylight, pelted with stones, sticks, mud, glass, &c., &c., and even had ink thrown over us. Miss Patrick was struck in the face, and so were some of the soldiers.”

Miss Booth wrote to her friends about this time from Neuchâtel:—

“I snatch a moment in the midst of numerous occupations to send you a line. This town is in a state of great agitation. Meetings are held against us to consider how to put an end to the Salvation Army. A very crowded meeting was held the other night. The leader spoke of expelling us, saying that we got money and brought disunion into families, and that we must be hunted out. Here a gentleman of the town, who stands up for liberty, defied them to expel us under their present constitutional laws, and said that liberty of conscience and meeting existed among them. The speaker was interrupted with cries of ‘To the lake, to the lake!’ Another meeting is to be held to-night to vote against us. A petition is also being signed against us; one is also being signed for us.

“I feel impressed that God is about to undertake for us in a wonderful manner. The spirit of prayer has specially come upon me lately. If we only had a barn to meet in—any place for prayer. On Sunday evening I went to hear a pastor in the Eglise Libre; a great number of our soldiers present. When the preaching was over, a gentleman rose and said that he wished to continue the prayer meetings, such as he had held last year. I had before expressed to him a wish that, our hall being shut up, our soldiers could meet somewhere to pray, and he had asked me to attend this meeting, and ‘I was 157glad when they said unto me, let us go up into the house of the Lord.’ My soul longed for united prayer at this moment. The pastor left, and the after prayer meeting was opened by this gentleman, who asked that the prayers might be short and to the point. One after another prayed, our soldiers also and Captain Becquet, and, although I had not intended to do so, I followed. It was a blessed meeting, and I felt it very good to be there. One has since remarked, ‘Oh, I felt impressed that we should have stayed all night before the Lord. I can understand your all-night meetings now, and my spirit longed for one.’ And so did mine, but the devil, who knows too well the force of prayer, is doing his utmost to stop us.

“The next morning (Monday) I hear a Council of the Church was called. It appears I should not have prayed; but the Holy Spirit led me and I dared not disobey; besides, great blessing was given.

“Well, I am grieved to tell you that the church is closed against the night meetings. It is one of the saddest things I have heard of. But we must go on praying and believing. Meetings are being held in drawing-rooms of different friends every night; but the rooms are crowded and very hot, and it tries our strength very, very much. Just now is a critical moment with us. I do hope you pray.

“Next Sunday morning we are going to have a special prayer meeting at six a.m. Expectation runs high. Oh, my soul, believe for great things!

“Catherine Booth.”

I received from a citizen of Neuchâtel the following account of some of the scenes already mentioned:—

“On the 8th May, some sixty persons were assembled in a private room for prayer, when a great noise was heard in the street, and stones were thrown against the doors and windows. The persons leaving the meeting later were insulted, pursued in the streets, and pelted with stones and mud. Four windows were broken, and it was with the greatest 158difficulty that members of the Salvation Army at this private meeting succeeded in escaping by means of a back door. The mob seemed bent on their extermination. A complaint was lodged with the Prefect by the master of the house (M. Aimé Humbert), but with no result whatever. The same house (in the Rue du Château) was a second time attacked.

“On the 12th June thirty persons were assembled for prayer in response to special personal invitations. They were nevertheless attacked by a part of the population.” (A crowd of men stationed themselves around the house, and when one of the young daughters of M. Humbert went to the door to entreat them to desist, they assailed her with weapons which she herself said were far more intolerable than stones or mud—that is, with the most gross and indecent language, mixed with reproaches against her father on account of his noble work for the abolition of the institution of patented vice. Before these she felt compelled to retire, though difficulties of another nature would not have daunted her). “Again was heard the cry of the crowd, ‘We have our pastors—our good pastors—we have no need here of salvation.’ It was generally, alas! in the name of the pastors that they perpetrated the most illegal and outrageous deeds. One of the Municipal Guards happened to pass at this moment, without interfering or even noticing the violence of the mob. They cried after him, ‘There is a meeting of the Salvation Army here, and these are forbidden by the Council of State.’ ‘You can arrange the matter with Mademoiselle,’ the officer calmly replied, and passed on. Shortly afterwards a great crash was heard as an immense stone was flung into the court, breaking several panes of glass, and covering the outside roof of the court with the fragments. Several other windows were also broken. This state of siege lasted till 11 o’clock at night, when the mob, tired out, dispersed.

“Two days previously to this a similar private meeting had been arranged by a well-known citizen of Neuchâtel, 159M. Convert, at his own house, where the same kind of scene had been enacted. A crowd of three hundred men surrounded the house, and bombarded it with stones and other heavy missiles, yelling furiously. Above all the noise was heard the familiar cry, ‘We have our pastors; we want no Salvation.’ The front door was broken to pieces, and several windows were destroyed. M. Convert, who had gone to make an application to the Prefect of Police, arrived, and was pelted, and received with yells and groans from the populace. M. de Montmollin, the chief of the Municipal Police of Neuchâtel, always the friend of justice and order, endeavoured, but without success, to disperse the mob and restore quiet. Two of his gendarmes who were present endeavoured to the best of their power to quell the disturbance, and were furiously threatened with being thrown into the Lake. The persons attending the meeting only escaped by means of a ladder hastily planted against a window opening on a small back court. M. de Montmollin received them in a room of the Municipal Hotel, which stands at the other side of the said court. The rioters having discovered their successful flight, moved round and renewed their attack on the Municipal Hotel itself. It was after midnight when, wearied out with this coarse and illegal amusement, they retired, and the persons who had attended the meetings were able to return to their homes. Private meetings in houses were from this time almost abandoned, as it seemed useless to endeavour to hold them without the smallest assurance of police protection and at hazards so great as these.”

In regard to the pastors whose names have been so unhappily used as a rallying cry by the enemies of religion and justice, it is certain that they also will have to suffer persecution in their turn if they are absolutely faithful to the trust now committed to them. Their sorrow must have been great in witnessing the manner in which their own work for the Master had been placed in direct opposition to a work equally undertaken in His name. The mob, however, who 160thus professed loyalty to their ‘beloved and honoured pastors,’ had probably never seen their faces, nor ever heard the gospel message from their lips, and are as ready at this moment to stone and insult these very men whose names they have dishonoured, the moment they perceive that their teaching also strikes directly against all the vicious habits and institutions to which they are in their secret hearts so deeply pledged.

During the earlier days of this agitation in Neuchâtel, M. Aimé Humbert^[26] wrote in a brochure published at that time:—

“For several years past my educational work has led me to inquire into certain economic questions, amongst which that of the influence of spirituous liquors and narcotics has presented itself in relation to its effect on families and on society. I was struck with the severity of the judgment which came under my eyes of one of the greatest historians of France—the Freethinker and Democrat, Jules Michelet. He says that, ‘in 1610 men began to have recourse more and more to the brutalizing habit of drowning their senses in drink, and soothing themselves into oblivion with tobacco. Two new devils then appeared in the world—alcohol and tobacco. Nations and entire races have been since enfeebled by them, losing themselves in this silent abyss, the depths of which means the annihilation of love?’ Nothing has given me so much pain as a recent report from the Director of the 161Normal School of Hindelbank upon the degeneracy of the youth of the Canton of Berne. The Educational Synod of Berthoud has expressed the same opinion. Amongst the principal causes of the degeneracy of the race, formerly so strong, all who have anything to do with schools and all the friends of the people write down on the first line—bad nourishment, whiskey, and the immoderate use of tobacco.”

M. Humbert goes on to record the fact that the first temperance society in Switzerland, was formed in 1877 (during the session in Geneva of the first Congress of the British and Continental Federation) and reminds his fellow-citizens that when a law was framed by the Neuchâtel Government for the repression of drunkenness, it passed to the Referendum, and was rejected by the people. He observes that the Salvation Army requires of its adherents abstention from drink and tobacco. Will the people again protest against a moralizing influence, so much needed, by driving out these new reformers? M. Aimé Humbert, was one of the combattants in the struggle which preceded 1848, and one of the chief actors in the deliverance of the Canton of Neuchâtel from the Prussian yoke. He continues to be ever watchful for the true interests of his country. He concludes his careful examination of the legal aspect of the question of the Salvation Army as follows:—“The fall of Neuchâtel will be all the greater from the fact that no State in Europe has occupied so advanced a position since 1848, from the point of view of the great principles of the common law. It would not be difficult to demonstrate this by citing a whole series of legal measures of our Canton. I need only, however, mention that which refers to religious liberty. No commentary can be stronger on the spirit in which that article was conceived, than the fact that although it has been put in practice since 1848, up to the present day, the final clause, “freedom of worship is guaranteed on condition that the worshippers conform to the legal regulations on its external observance,” has been practically a dead-letter; for our authorities have never found it necessary, nor have they had the desire, to regulate the external exercise of forms of worship. They have justly felt that the common law offers at all times, and in all places, the best and 162surest guarantees.... I have set forth the constitutional principles concerning liberty of thought, of belief, of speech, of meeting &c., under which we have lived, and which have been observed, whether they please every one or not. In this respect Neuchâtel and Switzerland itself are only acting conformably with the general law of progress, which constantly tends towards the elevation of the intellectual standard of humanity. This law is inflexible; it does not fail to come to the aid of peoples and governments who are faithful to it; while it comes in open contact with all retrograde tendencies, whatsoever may be their origin. The Federal Constitution of 1848 was a work of progress, resulting from the Pact of 1815. Ancient prejudices and selfish interests however, had succeeded in limiting the guarantee of freedom of worship to the Swiss who belonged to one or other of the Christian professions of faith. According to Articles 41 and 42 of the above Constitution, Jews, even if they were Swiss, were on these points excluded from the common law of the Federation. The great law of progress was, so to speak, endangered by these two articles. The people, it is said have sanctioned them. This is true; but liberty must be made to enter Switzerland by another door; and the Spirit of progress set to work simply to conclude the treaty of commerce between France and Switzerland, which placed reciprocally on a footing of perfect equality the rights of the citizens of these two nations, abstraction made of all considerations of religious faith; and shortly afterwards (January, 1866), the Swiss ratified a new edition of the defective articles, which the Federal Assembly were asked to revise in accordance with the spirit of progress. It is absolutely useless to endeavour to promote a retrograde movement in Switzerland, in this domain, or in any other whatsoever. Just as well might we attempt to return to the days of diligences. For those who complain of the inconveniences which steam presents as a motive force, progress has no consolation to give. Rather she warns—‘Wait a moment, and you shall have electricity!’ Let us get out of this 163retrograde agitation as out of a bad dream; let us follow on the path which our liberal institutions have indicated to us, outside of which there is nothing for us but confusion and anarchy. Thus alone can we work for the maintenance of our good reputation, and the uninterrupted reign of peace and purity in our own dear country.... Instead of repressing and silencing the agitation around us, we must let the steam escape, open the safety-valves, and bring all to the light—the full light—of rational discussion. In the presence of every new problem which arises in our troubled epoch we must never forget that in liberty alone we have the key to every solution. To sum up:—The impressions which I carried away from the meetings at the Hotel Mont Blanc, and which were subsequently confirmed, are that the Salvation Army must rank amongst the list of the strangest phenomena of our great social, political, and religious crisis, while it is one of those enterprises which neither ridicule nor violence will succeed in annihilating. Here, if ever, the saying of the wise Gamaliel ought to be remembered:—“If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found to fight against God.”

The Council of State having received certain petitions for and against the continuance of the Salvation Army in the Canton, and a further petition signed by pastors who, while not sympathising with the methods of the Army, claimed liberty for it as for all, proceeded to draw up a report on the whole question to be presented to the Grand Council. It seems desirable to give large extracts from that Report as follows—

“Report upon the three petitions presented, namely:

“That containing 9,944 signatures, demanding severe measures against the Salvationists.

“That containing 163 signatures, claiming for the Salvationists freedom of worship and of meeting, and

“That signed by 56 pastors and ministers of the Canton which, while condemning the practices of the Salvation Army, pray, that its adherents may be allowed freedom of action so long as their practices have nothing 164in them contrary to law and good behaviour, and demanding the continuance of religious liberty.”

The report gives a complete history of the action of the Salvation Army in Neuchâtel, and from it I take the following extracts:—

“It was on the 21st January that this sect held its first meeting at Neuchâtel in a hall which some one had let to them. Preceded by its renown for eccentricity, and accustomed to stir up noise and scandal wherever it gives its representations, the Salvation Army could not fail to attract the curiosity of a number of Neuchâtel idlers. Very soon the peculiarity of their proceedings, the erection of a platform, and the monotonous repetition of mystical hymns sung to vulgar airs, allocutions, appeals to come to public confessions, sale of songs and pamphlets, and repeated collections of money served to stir up opposition of different kinds. Many turned these proceedings into ridicule, while others were indignant, looking on the whole thing as a profanation of religion. Others, however, already accustomed by the practices of the Methodist sect to mystical exhortations, stood up energetically in defence of the Salvationists. Hence arose conflicts, and on the 25th January a window at the Hotel Mont Blanc was broken, on the 27th a tumult occurred inside the hall, and on the 28th the disturbances were repeated.

“... The Council of State therefore has thought it desirable to refer to the constitutional principles by which it is guided in the matter of freedom of worship and public assembly. An appeal was made to the population to abstain from attending the meetings, but this was not heeded. The crowd continued to frequent the Hotel Mont Blanc, the tumult becoming so great that the gendarmerie, although reinforced, found itself powerless to repress the disturbances without resorting to force.... The Prefect of Neuchâtel received on the 2nd February an order to notify prohibition of the meetings to the Chiefs of the Salvation Army residing in Neuchâtel. Up to that time the Salvation Army had been looked upon as one of the numerous Methodist sects which under different names have invaded French Switzerland for fifty years past. We esteemed it right to follow in regard to them Article 13 of the Constitution. We acknowledged that by that, all Christian sects ought to enjoy equal liberty and protection, provided that they do not offend against public order and good behaviour.”

(After considering the question as to whether these conditions had been observed, the report goes on to say):—

“But in the meantime an unexpected event occurred; the publication of the Orders and Regulations of the Salvation Army by the Countess de Gasparin, from which we learned that this Army is not a simple sect or religious association, but that it possesses very much more the character of 165a religious corporation. The Council of State therefore put out on the 9th February the following decree:—

“‘Considering the establishment at Neuchâtel of a sect known as the Salvation Army;

“‘Considering the extracts from the Orders and Regulations of the Sect published at Geneva by Madame de Gasparin;

“‘Considering Article 72 of the Cantonal Constitution, which prescribes that no religious corporation shall establish itself in the Canton without an express and always revocable authorisation of the Grand Council;

“‘Considering that it is necessary to decide by a formal inquiry whether the Salvation Army does possess the character of a religious corporation before calling upon it to claim the authorisation of the Grand Council;

“‘The Council decrees:

“‘That it charges the Department of Public Worship to proceed to the above-mentioned inquiry.’

“The different documents treating of the Salvation Army were consequently collected and studied by the Department of Public Worship, which, on the 14th March, addressed a succinct report to us, accompanied by the original documents. This report concludes that the Salvation Army constitutes really a religious Corporation, and that in order to establish itself in the Canton it must have the authorisation of the Grand Council. Just at this moment, however, the Army seems to have been forgotten; its meetings were not attracting any except a few devotees and inquisitive persons, and, after having consulted our Department of Public Worship, we did not think it expedient to attract public attention again to the question. We therefore reserved the right to act on the opinion of the Department of Public Worship until fresh disturbances should call for action. The Salvation Army was not, however, satisfied that its scandals should cease. New leaders presented themselves in order to stimulate the zeal of their adherents, and re-excited the curiosity which had partly died out. Miss Booth, the Maréchale, appeared in person, accompanied by her faithful adjutant, Miss Charlesworth. The meetings were now more frequented than ever, and were organised in the houses of private persons, to which the audience was invited by cards. After this certain persons of Neuchâtel were elevated to the rank of officers, and received the distinctive signs of this new religious order. The disturbances in the streets recommenced. The chiefs of the Army having attempted to recommence the meetings at the Hotel Mont Blanc, the Council of State thought it right to confirm its previous order, by a letter addressed to the Prefect of Neuchâtel on the 29th March.

“... Although the chiefs of the Army had promised to conform to the order transmitted to the Prefect, we soon learned that meetings were continued. There was a meeting held in the open air at Pierre a Bot on the Sunday afternoon. Private meetings became more frequent, and invitations 166were so numerous that the enemies of the Army came to know of them. Complaints were made apropos of broken windows and other damages, but nothing could be done, seeing that no one was able to indicate the authors of these excesses. The report of the Council of State goes on to describe another order given to the Prefect on the same subject, much in the same sense as the previous one. The Salvation Army now gave up all meetings except those in the open air, or those which were strictly private in the houses of friends.

“‘Private meetings,’ says the report, ‘continued as usual, and we received a petition signed by Edward Becquet, Anna Furrer, and Kate H. Patrick, in the following terms:—

“‘To the Republican Canton of Neuchâtel.

“‘Gentlemen,—

“‘The undersigned officers of the Salvation Army present in Neuchâtel, have received from the Prefect a communication concerning the letter you addressed to him on the 14th current, and take the liberty respectfully to present to you the following observations:

“‘The Council of State forbade the public meetings in the evening and those on Sunday held by the Salvation Army, and embraced in this prohibition even meetings which might be held in private houses. The Council of State grounds its prohibition on Article 72 of the Cantonal Constitution, which runs thus:— “No religious corporation may establish itself in the Canton without an express and always revocable authorisation of the Grand Council.” Now, if we mistake not, this article was introduced to forbid the establishment in the Canton of religious Orders, but it never had in view religious associations which might hold meetings in the Canton. This may be proved by the fact that no religious association independent of the State has ever been called upon to demand the authorisation of the Grand Council. The State ignores them, or only accords to them the protection which it accords to all the other inhabitants of the country, as your proclamation of the 30th January so well sets forth. The Salvation Army is not a religious corporation, nor does it seek to be recognised as such. Hence we do not understand in what manner the Council of State is able to attribute to it that character. The Salvation Army is simply an association of persons who enter it and leave it freely at will, and who never take any vows of obligation. As such it has a right to the protection of Article 11 of the Cantonal Constitution, since it is impossible to find any proof that there is anything contrary to law either in its aims or the means it employs. Now such proof has not been adduced, and in the letter addressed to the Prefect of Neuchâtel the Council of State alleges absolutely nothing which could justify the exceptional measures adopted against us. Our meetings take place in private houses, and they have not in any way troubled public order 167or tranquillity. Consequently, basing our appeal upon Articles 49, 50, and 56 of the Federal Constitution, and Articles 11 and 13 of the Neuchâtel Cantonal Constitution, we respectfully beg you, gentlemen, to be so good as to annul the decree which you published on the 14th of this month, and to give us freedom of meeting.

(Signed)

“‘Edward Becquet.

“‘Anna Furrer.

“‘Kate Patrick.

“‘April 20th.’

“We cannot conceal our astonishment, Gentlemen, at the sight of two foreigners and a young lady of Lausanne taking upon themselves to give us a lesson in Constitutional law! It is true, however, that the same persons take upon themselves to preach lessons of Christianity to our pastors. The population of Neuchâtel continued to be agitated by the persistent presence of the Salvation Army. The Sunday morning meetings began again to be disturbed, and on the 4th May the popular meeting held on the Place du Port appointed an Active Committee which drew up the petition (against the Salvationists), which is now before us signed by 9,944 persons. The Council of State, after having examined again the publications relating to the Salvation Army, became more and more convinced of the special character of that association, which undoubtedly has the character of a religious corporation. Consequently, on the 22nd of May, the Council of State issued the following decree:—

“‘Having received a request from the officers of the Salvation Army residing at Neuchâtel, demanding of the Council of State to repeal its decree of the 14th April forbidding the meetings of the Army in the evening, and on Sunday, and to authorise again freedom of meetings as often and whenever the Army may please to hold them.

“‘Seeing that in accordance with the result of the inquiry made by the Department of Public Worship, the Council of State deems that the Salvation Army has the character of a religious order or corporation, being constituted upon a military basis, and placed under the authority, unlimited and uncontrolled, of a General, to whom all the officers of the Army owe absolute obedience; that such an institution cannot be compared to any simple association freely pursuing a religious end, and not interfering with the rights of the citizens or of society, but must be looked upon as a corporation such as is contemplated by Article 72 of the Cantonal Constitution, and the establishment of which cannot take place in the Canton without the authorisation of the Grand Council—

“‘Seeing, moreover, that a petition is being signed in the Canton demanding of the Grand Council to take such measures as are necessary against the Salvation Army,

“‘The Council decrees:

168“‘1. That it cannot grant to M. Becquet and his companions calling themselves officers in the Salvation Army the permission which they demand in their letter of the 20th April;

“‘2. That the Council forbids provisionally for as long time as the officers of the Salvation Army shall not have received the authorisation prescribed by Article 72 of the Constitution, all meetings whatsoever and wheresoever of the Army.’

“Since the publication of this decree the Salvation Army seems to have beaten a retreat. Occasionally some timid attempts have been made to hold meetings, but we have undertaken that all such meetings shall be repressed until the Corporation in question has received from the Grand Council the authorisation which is requisite.

“After this historical exposition of the facts, it may seem useful to examine into the causes why the population of Neuchâtel, generally indifferent spectators of all such things, have been so much agitated with regard to the Salvation Army’s meetings. If this agitation had not existed, and if the authors of the disturbances in the streets had not felt themselves supported by the inward convictions of the great majority of the population, it is very clear that the public peace would not have been troubled as it has been. We shall endeavour to explain the matter. For several years past we have seen passing through our Canton missionaries of every kind and of both sexes, who, with the object of rekindling religious zeal, have organised meetings under different names. Our population, frequently annoyed by the intrusions of these modern apostles, and irritated at seeing themselves treated by them as if they were pagans, have not until now, however, disturbed their assemblies. Nevertheless complaints have been frequently heard on the part of those who found it disagreeable to see their wives and daughters leaving the domestic hearth in order to go to these meetings. Others were indignant, and justly so, on finding that secrets which ought to have remained restricted to the family circle were divulged in confessions publicly organised by the missionaries in question. Seeing that these so-called religious meetings were only temporarily maintained, those who suffered on account of them exercised patience; but now that the Salvation Army has published its intention to establish itself at Neuchâtel in a permanent manner, and to hold three meetings a day, and to introduce, so to speak, an element of permanent trouble among our families, our population have revolted. Three facts principally tended to exasperate the public: The frequency of the meetings; the manner of conducting them; and the collections of money. When a father of a family sees his wife or daughter leaving his house at half-past six in the morning, only to return at eight or nine o’clock, and then going out to a prayer-meeting at three or four o’clock in the afternoon, and perhaps also to a religious meeting in the evening, he may well ask himself, ‘What will become 169of the housekeeping, and what will the children do in the absence of their mother?’ Also there are women to whom it is necessary to earn money for the support of their families, and who must consequently sacrifice their work to join the mystic worship of the Army. It is not to be wondered at that the indignation felt at these things should overflow, and that anger should be kindled against those who thus draw away mothers of families from their domestic duties. Religious fanaticism evidently cannot become the ideal of modern society, and if we see violent manifestations against the attempt to introduce it into our midst we must not be astonished. We are accustomed to simple and dignified religious ceremonies, and our inward sentiment is wounded when we see sacred things lightly treated. We are not accustomed to see the state of souls and consciences paraded outwardly. A certain instinctive modesty tells us that the religious man must always remain modest and reserved. We would stamp under our feet these habits and sentiments of the Salvation Army. Their worship seems to us a vulgar parade. They think it necessary to cultivate a noisy style of music, to sing mystical hymns adapted to vulgar tunes, and incessant repetitions of the same cries and the same phrases. Their object is to produce excitement, madness, religious hallucination. They see that, rendered by their influence more or less unconscious of what they are doing, those who assist at their meetings will more readily give themselves up to pantomime and acting, will jump on the platform and confess their sins and the sins of their neighbours. Is it strange that those who desire to increase respect for religion, and not make it an object of derision should protest? and those who do not wish that such practices should lead to hysteria and madness, can they be said to be in the wrong?... And when we hear it asserted that that is the true Christian worship, that outside of these practices there is no serious religion, and when one sees people who pass for coryphites of the purest churches attending and supporting these practices of the Salutists, may there not be a temptation in the minds of many to take exception to Christianity itself, and to turn every kind of worship into ridicule? Truly it is an astonishing thing to have seen the pastors of our different churches taking under their protection a sect which despises them.

“But the essential object of the Salvation Army is to collect money. Its publications turn continually on this point. The sale of pamphlets and journals in order to realise money, repeated collections, reiterated appeals for funds, &c., make it clear enough that the good things of this world have a great attraction for them. A book of hymns edited by Miss Booth, the Maréchale, concludes thus:—‘Funds are always needed.’ The report of the Salvationists war in 1882, published by their General-in-Chief, terminates with a subscription form in favour of the above-mentioned leader. Readers are invited to fill it up.... On account of these incessant appeals for 170money, the Salvation Army realises large receipts. The effect produced on its friends is so powerful that they will go through all kinds of hardships to increase the collections. As the Salvation Army has a good end in view, they say the money originally destined for the support of the family may as well go to enrich the Army. The end, which is the sanctification of souls, will sanctify the means—that is to say, domestic robbery. Hence furious discussions, quarrels, and troubles brought into the midst of the family.

“It is worthy of remark, that the Salvation Army began its operations in Neuchâtel on a ground which was well prepared. We have already said that for many years past, meetings of different kinds had led the way. Moreover, for a long time certain pastors of our churches have emulated each other in their zeal in organising outside of the regular forms of worship, meetings of every kind. They seem to have imagined that religion consisted essentially in going constantly to these extraordinary services, and those who took part in them did not hesitate to speak of themselves as the only true Christians. ‘Oh, he is a good man, he goes to the prayer meetings,’ we have frequently heard it said. Following the natural bent of the human mind, these Christians have been superceded by others professing to be still more Christian than themselves, who brought these meetings to perfection, adding to them more fervent prayer with the addition of groans and tears. Others followed with new hymns of a somewhat mystical nature, then a form of confession made its appearance, at first timid, but afterwards growing in publicity. Professions of faith were demanded; and last of all the Salvation Army arrived, outstripping all these in its practices, so much so that even some of the ‘mystics’ thought they went too far. No doubt the Salvation Army will in its time find another sect which will profess to be still more Christian than itself. We can only hope that the example the Salvation Army has given, will cause those persons who carry religion to extremes to pause and reflect. It is to be hoped that they will see that nothing can be more hurtful to the cause which they defend than to choose in place of a simple and dignified public worship which is open to all, and at which everyone may find himself at his ease, conventicles frequented by persons believing themselves more religious than their neighbours, and who unfortunately are very far from proving by their conduct that their religion has moralised them. The Salvation Army is the last drop in the already over full cup of popular indignation swelling day by day against those who by their religious exaggerations bring trouble into families. Though we may have to regret the unfortunate manifestations of this indignation, we must remember that those whom we blame are persons not accustomed to moderate their feelings. True indignation ought never to excuse violence, and it is a pity that certain of our citizens have not more self-control. A dignified and calm protest would have brought about more quietly the result we all desire.

171“It now remains for us to justify the last measure we have taken in regard to this question.... We are at liberty to examine how far the presence of this Salvation Army as a religious corporation is compatible with public order and good behaviour. In what sense do we call the Salvation Army a religious corporation? The special character of a corporation is that those who are adherents of it are placed under the discipline of, and are dependent entirely on the authority of a chief, while devoting their activity to the service of this corporation. We observe also that all religious corporations occupy themselves in amassing capital.”

(The report goes on to argue further that the Salvation Army must be regarded as a corporation.)

“All that we have stated appears sufficient to prove that the Salvation Army certainly constitutes a corporation, and we are of opinion, gentlemen, that you will approve of our having made reference to the necessity of your authorisation before permitting the continuation of meetings which we should not have forbidden if it had been the case of an ordinary sect. If this corporation demands your authorisation, we beg leave to pronounce our opinion on that head; it will be our duty to decide whether the existence of this corporation in our Canton is compatible with public order, and whether anything in its proceedings and manner of worship is an offence against decency and good behaviour....

“Consequently, we propose to you, gentlemen, the adoption of the following decree:”—

(The decree has been cited before, and ends thus):—

“The Grand Council approve of the action of the Council of State in having forbidden the meetings of the Salvation Army until the authorisation for establishing itself in the Canton has been granted, and charges the said Council to take care that this decree is observed by all whom it may concern.

(Signed),

“Comtesse, President,

“G. Gullaume, Secretary.

“13th June.”

This decree was adopted and published throughout the Canton.

One of my objects in this narrative being to present a true picture of the state of feeling on each side concerning the events which occurred in Switzerland in relation to the question before us, I think it well to give to the reader, as much as possible, the documents and written testimonies referring to them, rather than to tell the story throughout in my own words. These testimonies and documents speak for themselves with no uncertain sound.

172Here follows one of the petitions upon which the Grand Council based the judgment and decree of June 20th, on the report presented to it by the Council of State:—

“MM. President and Gentlemen,—

“At the beginning of this year a corporation called the Salvation Army entered our Canton professedly in order to preach the Christian religion. This corporation, organised in England, has produced amongst us a great perturbation, public order has been troubled at Neuchâtel, families are divided, and the peace of the country is compromised. The Salvationists as they are called make public collections of money, the employment of which it is impossible for us to control; and certain facts lead us to believe that our fellow-citizens have been more or less the victims of their speculations. Our population is excited, our youth above all are subjected to an evil influence, religion is profaned, and the great majority of the people are agreed in testifying that the manœuvres of the Salvation Army are a cause of demoralisation and of the negation of all the principles which lie at the root of our Neuchâtel constitution. Paternal authority is undermined, social ties are relaxed, the indigent classes instead of being succoured, suffer from this state of things; and in spite of all this, regardless of the maintenance of public peace, this corporation continues its agitation. Several citizens of Neuchâtel have taken the initiative of this petition, hoping that the whole Canton will join in it. The undersigned address themselves to the Grand Council with full confidence, entreating it to take into consideration the ways and means necessary for restoring order, by causing these speculators to cease their operations. In one word they pray that the practices of the Salvation Army may be put a stop to as quickly as possible. While bearing in mind Article 13 of our Constitution, we take the liberty, gentlemen, to draw your attention especially towards Article 72 of the same Constitution, which treats of the formalities to be observed by religious corporations.”

Here follow 2,278 signatures.

It should be observed that a large number of these signatures were collected in the country villages of the Canton, and are those of persons who had probably never seen or heard the Salvation Army, and who readily adopted the views concerning it expressed by the zealous collectors of the names. How many of these persons really regarded as a grievous thing the “profanation of religion” referred to in the petition, it would be difficult to estimate; certainly it could not be said of the drinking, vicious, and irreligious 173portion of the people that any feeling of respect for religion prompted their protest against the Salvation Army.

The following counter-petition was presented by citizens of Neuchâtel, which only received sixty-three signatures, some of those being, however, names of weight:

“M. President and Gentlemen,—

“The undersigned citizens of Neuchâtel, or Swiss living at Neuchâtel, having learned that a petition is in course of being signed in our city praying the Grand Council to take measures in respect of the Salvation Army in order to forbid their meetings, feel it to be their duty to claim, on the other hand, from the Grand Council, that it shall respect the right of meeting and the law of the constitution by which it is conferred.

“The undersigned are strangers to the Salvation Army, and reserve their judgment of it from a religious point of view, but they claim for its adherents, as they would claim for others and for themselves, the right of meeting, and of continuing their religious worship according to their own views; for this is a Constitutional right which cannot justly be either restricted or violated, even as the Council of State itself acknowledged in its proclamation of the 30th January.

“Therefore the undersigned are persuaded that the Grand Council, acting now upon the same principles, will exercise in this particular case, as in every other, its high authority in order to maintain them, and in this persuasion we beg you to receive the expression of our profound respect.”

The third petition addressed to the Grand Council was from 59 pastors of the Canton of Neuchâtel, who, while expressing disapproval of the methods and action of the Salvation Army, besought for them, as for all, freedom of meeting and of worship, pleading on behalf of complete liberty of conscience.

A curious view of the duties of the Police in those troubled days was expressed in M. Cornaz’s organ, Le Reveil, of May 14th, as follows:—

“Some of our journals are raising a hue and cry about the inactivity of the police. It seems to us that they have a false notion of the duties of the police in a free country. The public force has no business to interfere for the protection of persons who exercise their functions in the etat major of the Salvationists. It has no business to be accompanying the Maréchale wherever she pleases to walk, following her at a distance as though she were a Princess of the blood royal. It is not the business of the police to stand in the evening before the houses where the Salvation Army are pleased to 174hold their private meetings, which, however, strongly resemble public meetings, and at which are found persons who had no previous knowledge of each other. If these meetings are private, those who convene them have no more right to the protection of the police than a person who asks a few friends to take tea.^[27] If, on the contrary, these meetings may truly be called public meetings, owing to the number of those attending them, they are illegal, and a violation of the formal decree of the Council of State. The police have no right to take any steps for the protection of an illegal thing. The Salvation Army is in our Canton a permanent occasion of scandal and disorder. Excepting a few honest persons like Colonel de Perrot, the greater number of its adepts are very worldly people who simply wish to give themselves the airs of religious folk. They think they have found a means, for want of any other, of distinguishing themselves from the vulgar mob. They have a jargon, a fashion of their own; they are a mixture of vanity and false humility, of mimicry and false education. For a long time past we have been disgusted with British importations of this character, which so strongly savour of base speculation that the most improbable thing that could happen (even in the opinion of the Salvationists themselves) is that they should voluntarily and spontaneously give up collecting money, amassing large sums, and living at the expense of the public like any wretched mountebanks who might visit our town. Our people who toil from morning till evening do not quite understand that there is any obligation to show any particular respect to people without education and without talent, who pay themselves out of their pockets for gesticulating for two or three hours a-day, and shouting ‘hallelujahs’ and ‘amens.’ They think that the Maréchale and her female companions would be better employed—and more usefully—knitting stockings or studying a cookery book. Some of our contemporaries have come to the conclusion that it would be well to ask for the establishment of special constables, who would be a kind of body guard for Miss Booth, and sentinels at the Mont Blanc. We doubt if they would find many persons willing to carry out this brilliant idea, and we think that, if carried out, it might only prove the signal for street brawls in which the Salvationist acrobats might come badly off. And after all, what right would these gentlemen have to act as police against their fellow-citizens? and what measures could they take to prevent the formation in turn of a special batallion opposed to them, who would make short work of their usurpation of public police functions? There is no doubt that the Salvation Army in coming here has greatly shaken and shattered the nervous system of our population, who are naturally very impressionable. 175If it has succeeded in exalting some, however, it has completely exasperated others; and herein it has obtained what it sought. ‘Those who sow the wind, must reap the tempest.’”

The Evangeliste referred to the same events in the following remarks:—

“The town of Neuchâtel continues to be greatly agitated on the question of the Salvation Army. The meetings which the English Evangelists held on Sunday, 6th May, at the Hotel Mont Blanc, were violently assailed, and people going out from these were grossly insulted and maltreated. The Federal Colonel, M. de Perrot, instructor of artillery, who was present in uniform, kept order to the utmost of his power in the hall. He was himself assaulted and abused by the rioters,—‘indignant,’ as certain of the journals say, ‘at seeing an officer in active service, fulfilling the functions of a policeman amidst a troop of mountebanks, who have made such a ridiculous noise in the world.’ The same day Colonel de Perrot wrote to the Gazette of Lausanne a letter, in which he complains of the attitude of the religious journals, and declares that the Salvationists are Christians such as have never yet been seen, who are not content with fine words and phrases, but who practice the Gospel in the manner of the Christians of the Primitive Church.”

Colonel de Perrot, a member of one of the ancient families of Switzerland, is instructor in musketry practice of the Swiss troops. The discipline and influence he exercises in that capacity cannot be too highly commended. In conversation with him one is reminded of our historical portraits of some of Cromwell’s Ironsides. A man of fervent and practical piety, great simplicity of character, and with a short brusque mode of expressing himself, even in religious exercises, he appears a thorough type of the old-fashioned Christian soldier.

The following is the letter of Colonel de Perrot alluded to; addressed to the Gazette de Lausanne.

“I ask for a small space to protest publicly against the infamous treatment and calumnies to which the members of the Salvation Army are exposed at Neuchâtel. I know these people personally; I have both seen and heard them in public. I have had the honour and privilege to receive them at my table, and even to offer to one of them hospitality for a short time. I have read all the polemical arguments of Madame de 176Gasparin, &c., all the attacks of the so-called religious journals which, with an exception here and there, have scattered these calumnies broadcast, while never yet have they shown the common fairness of openly retracting the infamies they have published. “Every day one hears these clever writers and pious orators attack the Salvation Army in public. But has anyone ever heard or seen them speak or take up the pen to claim the protection of the laws in favour of these persecuted brothers and sisters? No! these good people in clerical garb, and these well-known writers busy themselves only, like many others, in the ignoble work of throwing stones at two men and two women! They say it is a foreign importation, and must be expelled! It is too late! The truth has burst upon us! We have seen these simple, modest, fearless, loving Christians at work. If they are expelled, there will be hundreds of persons who must be expelled with them.

“The Salvation Army is exposed at Neuchâtel to the insults, the hatred, the contempt, of a certain number of blackguards who, feeling themselves supported by an approving silence on the part of their betters, take the liberty, and are permitted in broad daylight, to attack and burst in the doors of the Hotel Mont Blanc—to throw mud and offal at the officers, and even to strike women. How is it that these people enjoy full liberty for this, whilst their victims are deprived of the protection of the laws? Is it right that a troop of boys, or a few savages, should make the laws and form the police of the town? If the authorities are powerless now to enforce respect for the law in favour of the Salvation Army, they will in like manner plead that they are powerless to protect us in our houses from being assaulted and broken into one of these days. If the police were only to claim the assistance of fifty citizens, we should soon see whether, in twenty-four hours, all these disturbances could not be brought to an end. I declare openly, and after all that I have read and heard against the Salvation Army as it appears at Neuchâtel, that there exists in my mind only one thought ... and it is this: 177Here are Christians such as I have never yet known, who are not content with words and phrases, but who practice the gospel as in the times of the primitive Church, and this is the reason why I love them.

(Signed) “De Perrot, Colonel.”

Among the various testimonies cited, the following, emanating from a public-house organ, may be interesting:—

“These new visitors to our town have from the first aroused the most complete and unmistakeable antipathy of our citizens. How could it be otherwise? for their conceit, self-sufficiency, &c., are not at all in harmony with our simple and laborious life? These enlightened preachers do not seem to make a sufficiently careful choice of their expressions; for example, they say, ‘the devil is among the public-house keepers, the devil is in the whiskey, the devil in the wine, &c.’ You can very well understand that preaching like this is not at all to our taste. Do they wish us to be plagued with a new Phylloxera? They come to tell us that our vineyards are our enemies, that the vines must be pulled up! Surely it is already quite enough to have two Protestant churches in our midst which hold exactly the same dogmas. It has already been rather more than we could bear to have for several years past acrimonious conflicts going on upon grounds of faith and religious practice. These modern warriors might have done better to leave us at peace. They would, in doing so, have better followed the advice of Christ, who said: ‘Peace on earth and goodwill toward men.’ But now we see what is the end of the work of these marplots, these meddlers with our enjoyments, in regard to our city which was so quiet before these new preachers came to make a revolution among us. Now what is the remedy? When a troop of comic actors, mountebanks, or vagabonds of any kind come to a town, and trouble the public peace, the authorities—that is to say, the Prefect of Police—takes care that they are immediately sent away. This is what we demand in the interest of our good and honest population. Let these comedians—(with all due regard to their high profession)—be thanked for the services they have rendered us, and requested to return to us that which they have taken from us—peace.”

Previously to the publication of the decree of the 20th June, forbidding all meetings of the Salvation Army, and, subsequently to a decree of the 22nd May, closing the meetings held on the week days in the evening, M. Convert, being convinced of the illegality of that decree, continued to invite the Salvationists to his house, using his freedom and 178rights of citizenship as he and his fathers before him had ever done. In consequence of this, the following correspondence took place between the head of the police and M. Convert and others:—

“To Mr. Robert Convert.

“Sir,—I have the honour to inform you that the Council of State has this day ordered me to keep a very strict watch over the carrying out of its decree of the 22nd May last, a copy of which has been supplied to Mr. Becquet, captain of the Salvation Army, and to bring up to the Tribunals all those who shall be found disobeying it. I therefore invite you to abstain henceforward from calling together at your house any members of the Salvation Army, either Swiss or foreign, or to take part in any meeting of this kind, whether in a private house or in public. Trusting that you will take this warning into your serious consideration, I am, Sir, &c.,

(Signed) “For the Prefect, C. Gerster.

“June 16.”

To what an extraordinary state of siege freedom had been reduced, at this date, in Neuchâtel, when a citizen, a man of high character and respectability, could be forbidden to take part in a private meeting in a private house!!

The following is M. Convert’s reply:—

“To the Prefect of the District of Neuchâtel.

“Sir,—The undersigned have received the letter which you have done them the honour to address to them of the 16th June, in which letter occurs the following passage:— ‘I invite you to abstain henceforward from calling together at your house any member of the Salvation Army, either Swiss or foreigner, or to take part in any meeting of this kind, whether in a private house or in public.’ They consider that the above invitation is contrary to the declaration of Articles 49, 50, and 56 of the Federal Constitution, as well as of the 11th and 13th of the Cantonal Constitution, and they protest against this restriction imposed upon their Constitutional 179rights. They take, moreover, the liberty, Sir, of begging you to observe that, according to the terms of your letter every meeting whatsoever which may have a religious, moral, or philanthropic character is rendered impossible, if it is made compulsory to prove that no member of the Salvation Army has taken part in it.

“We have the honour to remain, Sir, &c.,

“Convert and Niestle.”

Rejoinder to the above:—

“To Mr. Convert,

“Sir,—I have received the protest which you have addressed to me this day in your name, and in that of Mr. Niestle, against the invitation contained in my letter of the 16th. This protest leads me to think that I have not clearly explained myself, or else that you wilfully fail to understand me. That being so, I will endeavour to be more clear. The decree of the Council of State of the 2nd May, to which I called your attention, does not, as you appear to think, contemplate interference with all meetings whatsoever which have a religious, moral, or philanthropic character, but the meetings of the Salvation Army, or (in order to be still more explicit) such meetings as those which have taken place at the houses of M. Aimé Humbert, M. Coulin, and more recently at your own house, Sir, and which have been occasions of tumult and disorder, of which you are cognizant. This decree is perfectly consistent with Article 50 of the Federal Constitution, to which you draw my attention, and which only guarantees the free exercise of public worship within limits compatible with public order. Now it is incontestible that public order has been greatly disturbed on these occasions, and that the superior authority has the right, as the Grand Council lately stated, to take measures to prevent the renewal of such scandals, and to secure that the tranquillity of the town be not imperilled without any reason for the same, by a limited number of citizens, however 180honourable they may be, who only look at one side of the question, braving public sentiment, and persisting in claiming rights which are disputed by the majority of the population. There are circumstances, and this is one, in which men should know how to give way, and to wait patiently rather than to run counter to public opinion, or to wait till time has done its work and modified that public opinion if at present it is erroneous. Be so good as to communicate this letter to Mr. Niestle.

“I am, &c.,

“Cornaz.”

“22nd June.”

The three petitions before alluded to, and the report of the Council of State, of which extracts have been already given, having been considered by the Grand Council, the public discussion of the same took place in the Council Room of Neuchâtel. Strangers are admitted to those debates. Several ladies attended on this occasion. The debate lasted many hours.

The following is an abridged report of portions of that debate, which produced at the time such a melancholy impression on many of our minds and stirred up our forebodings for the future.

It took place on the 15th June; M. Cornaz, Director of the Department of Justice and Police at Neuchâtel, taking up the question in opposition to M. Jacottet, “according to his custom when answering that Deputy, began with a series of personal attacks.” He acknowledged that the question before the Council was a very grave one. That was the first time it had been submitted to the Council in a practical form. Nevertheless he besought the Grand Council to cut it short at once; for in his opinion, as Director of Police, it was absolutely necessary that he should know what he was expected to do. “What must I do (he asked) pending the decision? For example, suppose the Salutists continue their meetings and provoke new disturbances?” The Canton of 181Neuchâtel, was not, he declared, a police-governed State. It had a gendarmerie of ninety men, eight of whom were stationed at Neuchâtel. Those eight were manifestly powerless to protect the Salvation Army. The chief of the Council of State even, had declared that order could not be maintained without resort to force. Did the Council wish that these gendarmes should use their swords and revolvers against the people? Did they propose to form a troop of soldiers to protect the Salvation Army? Let M. Jacottet answer. M. Jacottet had declared that they had to do not only with foreigners but with Neuchâtel citizens, who were then making use of their constitutional rights by having Salutist’s meetings in their private houses. He (the speaker) asked how far those people of Neuchâtel, who knew their country, and were perfectly well aware that their conduct was a braving of public opinion, deserved sympathy? He insisted upon an immediate decision of the question.