This is the first monthly report from the Salvation Army station here.
At last we have set foot in Cornwall and every place that we set foot in the Lord our God hath gtven it us, so Cornwall is ours. It only waits for us to possess the land.
Hayle offered well for starting and accordingly we secured the Public Rooms seating from 500 to 600, for both Sundays and weeknights, and issued bills announcing that "Two women of God, officers of the Salvation Anny, would speak and sing' on Sunday, the 9th February, and of the wonderful gatherings and glorious prospect we will allow the following extracts from letters of Sisters Sayers and Wesson, who are in charge of this, our most westerly position, to speak for themselves.
Writing on Monday, the 10th, Mrs Sayers says:-
"We had about 150 in the morning and 200 in the afternoon; crammed at night, stairs, lobby, and outside; the hall is no use (not large enough) for nights."
Sister Wesson says on the same day:-
"Felt at home in the meetings yesterday, believers stirred up and wounded all over the hall, though none came out for Salvation, although I believe we shall have a smash."
Later in the week Mrs S. says:-
" Grand noonday meetings with the factory men. Praise the Lord; we had two backsliders (saved), lots more just on the verge of giving in, one got saved in her seat last night."
Again:-
"Splendid midday meetings, 200 to 250 every day, the place packed yesterday, Sunday afternoon, and crammed at night; hundreds could not get in-not half big enough; no souls - felt very sorry to see the people have to go away."
From, 'The Salvationist', March 1879, pages 61-2.
HALLELUJAH! We have had some blessed times in Hayle. Black and filthy sinners have been brought out of the pit of sin and placed on the Rock of Ages; the devil is losing some of his best seRVants. Hallelujah! May God save everybody in Hayle.
Our open-air meetings have greatly improved. We were in the open air a few nights ago and a woman threatened to scald us all with boiling hot water. Instead of frightening us and driving us away, we began to throw the red hot shot from God's word at her. She went in the house and slammed the door, then I gathered our people together and went on her doorstep and held a prayer meeting; we have had no more trouble with her since. '
Our class meetings are times of mighty power, 60 and 70 testimonies every week. Hallelujah! we mean victory through the Blood.
From, 'The Salvationist', October 1879, page 274.
TIIE 80th has the honour of maintaining at the moment the most desperate fight which has lately been witnessed anywhere along our line. Until the beginning of the present month our indoor services had been held in the Public Hall. An attempt was indeed made to get us out of it before the termination of our agreement, but we would not give way any sooner than our legal tenancy expired when those who wish us ill refused to see the door close behind. That hall remains unoccupied and is not likely to be used for any other services so that there can be no question as to the reason why it is not re-let to us. The same feelings which cause people to exclude us from that hall make them equally anxious to prevent our taking any other building, or getting any piece of land in the neighbourhood. A friend not far away is ready any day to erect a hall for us if a site can be obtained, but up to the present we cannot discover any owner of such property who is willing for us to have a yard to build upon. The attempt to drive the Army out of Hayle will stand for ever as a record of the state of religion and religious liberty in Cornwall in 1879.
But those who hoped to see the Army fly when it lost the comfortable shelter of a slate roof must have been bitterly disappointed. Our congregations are not secured by cushioned seats or gilded organs. The frequency of our discourses in any place is not determined by the amount of the collections or the votes of the most influential inhabitants.
The effect of stopping our indoor meetings seems only to have been to rally our people more than ever to the outdoor ones, and to cause us to spring up into greater vigour and activity than ever. On the first Sunday of the new system the Lord_ appeared, especially in the field, saving several souls in the cottage meetings which concluded the day.
From, 'The Salvationist', December 1879, page 327-8.
For future reports see, 'The War Cry' which began January 1880.
I do not know where the meetings were held.