GENERAL'S DAUGHTER- SOLDIERS' FRIEND

Mary Murray, O.B.E.

By DORA V. GILLIARD departure , i of, the troops ; so uENERAL'S DAUGHTER- SoLDiERS' FRIEND

MARY MURRAY, O.B.E.

BY DORA V. GILLIARD

First Impression .. .. April, jg43 Second Impression . . . . September, 1343

SALVATIONIST PUBLISHING AND SUPPLIES, LTD.,

, II7-121 JuDD STREET, KINO'S CRO-SS, LONDON, W.C. i

1943 departure lowered the morale of the troops ; so without hesitation she gathered her children orNtRAL'S DAUGH around her and turned back to the fort. Her courage and cheerfulness brought new life to the SOLDIERS' FRIEND tired soldiers. Mary was born some years after these stirring ARY MURRAY was in the front line when events, but grew up in the cantonment, well used but a few weeks old, and an evacuee before to military life. In her teens she spent some time M the word was invented. One evening, at in Belgium, where her schooling was continued, an Indian hill station, she had been bathed and returning to India a tall, handsome girl. Her was lying in the arms of her ayah, when a soldier father decided that she must learn to ride. With burst into the room with the news that tribesmen some trepidation she mounted a horse, but the were surrounding the lonely post. He snatched animal bolted and her friends, watching help• up the baby, and with the ayah ran the child to a lessly, expected disaster. Mary, however, held on refuge in the hills. and regained control of the frightened animal. For a month wee Mary was hidden there, Soon she was riding with her father at the head tended and guarded by her two devoted servants, of his regiment on military parades. a British Tommy and an Indian nurse, first of At the age of seventeen Mary Murray first many hundreds of men and women ^vhose devo• awakened to spiritual things. One day in church, tion was to be won by this daughter of the unable to hear the sermon, she ' amused ' herself regiment! by reading the vows she had taken at her Con• For generations there had been warriors in her firmation. She might never have seen them family. Her mother was a Malcolm ; her father before ! Startled at the bonds she appeared to became General Sir John Murray, K.C.B. When, have embraced, she walked out of the building. during the Indian Mutiny, a group of Indians The following day the chaplain called to ask came to Sir John with their picks and spades and whether she had been taken ill, as she had left the said, ' If you will lead us, we will fight for the church so abruptly. ' No ! ' she replied, handing British,' he formed what was known for some him her prayer book. ' I was reading this, and as years as ' Murray's Jhat Horse ' and later became I have no intention of giving up the world and a well-known Bengal regiment. A great-uncle, who all its pomps and vanities, I have made up my was Admiral of the Fleet, is buried in St. Paul's mind to act no more lies. Some day, if I find that Cathedral, and one forebear was appointed there is a personal God, not merely a First Cause, Napoleon's guardian at St. Helena. I will serve Him. Until then, I've finished with Such was Mary Murray's heritage ! church!' During those days of the Mutiny, when grave In vain the chaplain tried to persuade her. For and imminent danger threatened one fort, all eight years she refused to attend a church service women and children were ordered to evacuate. and checked every desire to pray ; to pray, she As they left, Mary's mother noticed that their felt, would be ' dishonest and superstitious.' 2 man you have heard, and he is taken on again. Mary Murray's favourite hobby was painting. He was a bad lot, but he has done well since he Later in life, when burdened with much respon• joined .' sibility, she found relaxation with her brush and ' But what has done it? ' Mary persisted. easel. She was, too, a most popular member of ' I'm sorry I can't help you there, madam,' the her fashionable circle, a graceful dancer who had manager replied. ' I don't know.' many admirers. Two of these, when she returned ' But we ought to find out,' cried the girl, ' for a to England, travelled on the same ship, so anxious power like that would alter the whole world ! ' were they to win her affections. Both were disap• Mary did not find out that day. Her life, in pointed ! Perhaps already in those early days, fact, seemed to go on much as usual. Shopping, though a rebel against religion, she had some dancing, theatres and her art filled her days. But intuition that a great work lay ahead of her. all the time she was pondering over the power Soon after Mary's arrival in England she came that had changed the drunkard. across a group of people at a street corner, listen• While walking home one day, she prayed : ing to a man who was telling how he had been a ' God, if You are real, do for me what You have slave to alcohol, having sold his children's shoes done for that man.' No heavenly vision came to and the blankets from their beds to get more drink. her, but from that hour she knew the power of ' But now I have given my heart to God,' he God to be a living force in her life. Mary Murray added, ' my children are well clothed and I have had found in Jesus Christ all that her young heart a home of my own.' craved—a Saviour, a Guide, a Counsellor, and a Mary Murray was galvanized into action. She Friend. pushed through the crowd to ask the astonished Two weeks later she went to her first Salvation man what was his name and where he worked. Army Meeting. She was interested but not im• The following day she appeared in the office of pressed. At the close the Captain asked her a cement works, where a shrewd-looking business whether she was converted. man courteously asked what he could do for her. ' Yes,' was the answer. A pretty young lady was an unusual caller. More ' Then why didn't you give your testimony? '* unusual was her request : asked the Captain. ' I am anxious to ask you about a man who is ' Oh, no! I couldn't do that,' Mary replied in making extraordinary statements at the street- dismay. corners. He says that he was a drunkard who used All the rest of the day she thought over the to sell the shoes from his children's feet and the Captain's words, but she felt that she would blankets from their beds to buy drink, and that rather lose all the peace of heart she had found he was dismissed by you. Now, he says, he is than speak in public. saved and has a good home, and you have taken During the night she awoke and it seemed to him on again. Is this true? ' her as if God had hidden Himself from her. When ' Well—ahem—madam,' replied the proprietor, uncomfortably, ' I don't usually discuss the afTairs * Salvationists frequently speak in Meetings of their con• version and their religious experiences. of my employees. But actually I did dismiss the 5 I

she rose in the morning, she put her very new ' I'm sure I don't know,' she replied. ' I want Bible away and began again a life of gaiety, accept• to work, that's all.' ing many invitations from her old friends. A sigh ' Well, you had better buy one of these,' he of relief went round the family. said, affectionately patting a concertina. 'They But a week later, when friends were dining at won't take you unless you can play something! ' her home, to\vards the close of the meal Mary Mary Murray's heart sank, and when she was suddenly got up and, muttering some excuse, told she must see Mrs. ,"" she dashed to her room, to seize an evening cloak and sadly wondered \vhether this was because she had hurry out to find The Salvation Army. no concertina ! As she entered the Hall, she was struck by the Mrs. Booth, during the interview, expressed her sordid appearance of the building, the badly fear that Mary was too delicate for the work. painted walls, the battered seats. But a woman ' But come on trial,' she said. was speaking of what God had done for her, and The applicant promised to start on the following as soon as she sat down Mary Murray was on Monday. her feet. All eyes gazed at her expensive cloak and evening dress, and her bare head. But she was ' Well, have you been accepted this time? ' her beyond caring, and spoke of the work of God in her people asked when she returned home. heart. As soon as she was finished she sped out of ' No,' she replied reluctantly. ' I am to go up on the Hall. approval.' Whereupon a chorus broke out : ' What utter folly ! What madness to go, when Slowly Mary began to reahze that it was God's you are not even \\anted ! ' will that she should become a Salvationist. Her On the Monday morning, in heavy rain, Mary natural feelings strove against the idea ; she dreaded the publicity, and the attitude of her Murray set out for Hackney. So ignorant was she friends. But her logical mind insisted. In The of the East side of London that, to use her own Salvation Army she had heard men and women words, she might have been ' going to Siberia ! ' speak of the power which she had found in God. The Women's Social Headquarters in Mare She had seen bad men made good, sad hearts Street, Hackney, was a dreary looking house. gladdened, God becoming real to folk. God had Vigorous knocking brought to the door a young spoken to her through a Salvationist. She must girl, who exclaimed, ' We can't take in any more enlist ! cases to-day ! ' She asked a policeman where was The Salva• But Mary Murray quickly pushed her box— tion Army's recruiting office, and was directed to which a man had carried for her—into the door• where the Officers lived. A few weeks later Mary way, and followed it. went to Headquarters for an interview. In the ' Why have you come ?' asked the guardian of small room she entered sat a country lad who also the door. wished to become a Salvation Army Officer. ' I was told to come,' was the reply. He asked whether she, too, wanted to be an * Daughter-in-law of The Army's Founder, , OflFicer. who herself was the first Head of Salvation Army Women's Social Work. 6 7 ' Who are you? ' leaped in fury upon the Salvationist and struck * At the moment,' Mary declared, ' I am goods her in the eye. From the effects of that blow Mary on approval !' Murray never recovered ; long afterward the After this the girl shot down the staircase, eye had to be removed, and in the latter years of whispering hoarsely through the banisters, ' Stay her life she was almost blind. where you are ! ' All this, however, was but preparation for Mary Mary was wet, hungry and already homesick. Murray's life work. The Naval and Military Why had she come? Why stay where evidently League of The Salvation Army"" was in its infancy. she was not wanted? Then her hand closed over Soldiers and sailors were getting converted. Who a small framed text a poor Salvationist friend had better fitted to serve their interests than Mary given her. She recalled that it said: ' Walk in the Murray, who—Adjutant in The Salvation Army— Light of I he Lord.' in 1899 was appointed Assistant Secretary of the The street door opened and a file of young League. women, in Training for Social Work, entered. When the Boer War broke out and troops were Their leader, seeing Mary, apologized for having hurried to South Africa, General Booth des• forgotten that she was coming and welcomed her. patched Adjutant Murray to Cape Town to And so Mary Murray, daughter of the British discover—what could be done by his Army for Army, joined the Army of Salvation. the troops at the front ; what part a woman Her Training days were hard. She had never could play in such a work ; how to conduct the soiled her hands with rough work ; now she had work in an eflBcient and economical manner. to scrub as well as pray. This was the beginning of the vast activities She visited the poor, marched the streets or now carried on under the sign of the Red Shield stood in the open air, preaching the Gospel—in all in many parts of the world. kinds of weather which more than once made her Mary Murray's party consisted of ten Salva• long for India's sunshine and warmth. tionists, who set out in pairs to follow the fortunes By and by Captain Mary Murray \vas ap• of different regiments. They held official passes pointed to ' Midnight Work' in Piccadilly, where entitling them to draw rations and move with the she and other Officers patrolled the streets be• troops. They were to assist the sick and wounded tween eleven p.m. and two in the morning, getting and look after the spiritual welfare of the men. to know the girls who were in need of help. Mary Murray and her helper, Elizabeth Hurley, On one occasion she tried to lead a girl away pressed on into Natal. They spent many days from a man whose evil face, seen under the fitful within sound of the guns at Ladysmith—writing glare of the gas lamps, made her shrink with to relatives about or on behalf of servicemen, horror. As the Captain pleaded, he swore, and visiting hospitals and camps, and at night supply• tried to drag the girl off. When Mary laid her ing hot cocoa to sentries. The men soon learned hand on the girl's arm, the poor prodigal burst to know and appreciate them. into tears and promised to go with her rescuer. * An organization for Salvationist servicemen and, latterly, Seeing that he was losing his prey, the man servicewomen.

8 9 One night, when it was raining in torrents and The men were very ready to obey, but often pitch dark, Mary Murray and her companion set the crowd was so great that even the Salvationist out over the lonely veldt with a large jug of cocoa leader had barely room to stand. She conducted and a lantern. When they reached the bank of a many a Meeting with one arm round the tent shallow but swollen stream the lantern went out. pole, to keep her upright in the crush ! The average nightly attendance was over 500. On the They knew that somewhere in front of them was still night air the old hymns rang out from this a sentry, with orders to shoot. The stream was great choir. And it was no uncommon sight to at their feet, and the precious cocoa had still to see a row of men kneeling in front of their com• be delivered. rades, giving themselves to God. ' Picket ! Picket !' called Mary, hopefully. ' You don't expect him to reply, do you? ' When the Last Post sounded, ' Good-nights ' asked her practical companion as, seizing the were said, and the tent emptied. cocoa, she stepped into the stream. Mary Murray A remarkable understanding sprang up be• followed, and when they reached the further bank tween the troops and this general's daughter. They a voice shouted, ' Halt ! Who goes there? ' were not afraid to put her to the test. Once she ' Hot cocoa ! ' answered Hurley. announced that she would hold special Meetings The password was accepted. In a few minutes once a week—in a small bell tent—only for those cold, rain-soaked men were filling their mugs with who were trying to live a Christian life. Eight men hot cocoa. arrived for the Meeting, but when they started to pray, strange noises disturbed the company. Later in the campaign a marquee arrived for Adjutant Murray opened her eyes, to see men's the Salvationists, who flew over it a banner in• heads appearing close to the ground all round scribed : The Salvation Army Soldiers' Home. It had the walls of the tent, tier evening congregation not been put up an hour before a row of sleeping had decided that they would not be shut out, men was stretched across the floor—men who had though they could not come by the ' front door ' been uncomfortably cramped in their bell tents. as ' Christians.' It was her first and last attempt Others were writing at the solitary table or enjoy• at Meetings for ' Christians only.' ing the rare luxury of sitting in a chair ! Only three dozen chairs were available, and Mary Murray and her tents moved with the there was much amusing competition who should troops. She worked under shell fire. She was use them. The fortunate ones carried their chairs always finding new ways of service. while buying their tea, lest some one else should When among a new company of men notices appropriate them ! were distributed that Meetings would be held Day after day the tent was filled with men. nightly in the Salvation Army tent ; for several They read, wrote, obtained refreshments, or just evenings no one appeared, then one man came. slept. At half-past seven each evening Mary A congregation of one is not very inspiring, but Murray would rap gently on the table, which the Officers held a Meeting with him. meant: ' Pipes out ! Caps off. Take your seats The next night again there was only one man, on the floor. Get ready for the Meeting.' a different one. This happened for several

11 evenings: there was never more than one in the kneel on the ground and try to reduce the vegeta• congregation, but always a new face! And each tion with table knives! evening the Meeting was held. Washing day was a problem. Sometimes a One morning two corporals approached shyly. Kaffir was secured to wash the clothes at the ' We have come to apologize,' said one. river ; sometimes they had to manage themselves. 'What for? ' asked Mary Murray. But the great difficulty was the ironing. They ' Well, you see,' they said, ' we have been find• had to manage without an iron, and yet look ing out what you both were like. Now we're all smart! coming to the Meetings.' The one-man congre• Mary was a General's daughter, and she was gations had been sent as scouts. never beaten. Each article was folded, damped It was never easy to get'Mary to talk about her and tied in a blanket J then the bundle was laid work, but when, later, she told this story, she said, in the doorway so that every one who entered had ' Had we considered it not worth our while to do to walk on it. Thus was the ironing done. They our best for one man, what disappointments even had supplementary devices, such as slipping a would have awaited us! As it was, our little bundle of handkerchiefs on the chair of a corpulent " Hall " thenceforward was packed nightly.' visitor ! As the weather grew colder, porridge was sup• After the relief of Ladysmith the two women plied at 6 a.m. It became as popular as the Officers moved on again with the troops. Chal• Meetings. Officers and men used to look in for lenged, as they boarded a troop train, with: it each morning. ' Passes all right ? ' they had no need to answer ; The bell tent in which the two wornen-Officers for a soldier cried, ' Of course, the Sisters go lived was always pitched some distance from the everywhere ! ' marquee in which they worked. When the last One night, as they were preparing to sleep, a ' Good-nights ' were said, they would light their message reached them from the Commanding lanterns and start on their journey ' home.' A bell Officer. ' There are two men out on the veldt tent is not an easy thing to manage, and often when about four miles back. I want you to bury them.' they arrived ' home ' at the end of the day, they Summoning a burial party, they started off on would find that every cord had tightened to board- the long lonely walk through rugged, hilly country. like stiffness, and the only way in was by crawling The only sound they could hear was the ring of the underneath. Or they found their canvas beds full picks as the men dug the grave. In the darkness of water ; or a dust storm had arisen and their Mary prayed and read the committal service over few belongings were decorating the veldt. two of the thousands of her comrades, the soldiers. Sometimes, just when they had made them• She was always looking for opportunities. One selves comfortable in one place, and cow-dunged day, hurrying home to her tent, she noticed a the floor of their tent, they would hear that camp soldier looking depressed and lonely. She was was being struck, and so on they moved again. very tired, but stopped to ask, ' Can I do anything Their tent might have to be pitched in long grass, for you? To-morrow is mail day—perhaps I can and before they could sleep the two women would post a letter for you in the village? '

12 13 Military Work. All her thoughts and energy were ' No, thanks,' was the reply, ' I never write put into the building up of this. In seaports and home. We fell out years ago.' military towns Homes for servicemen were So Mary Murray sat on a bank and talked to opened. the man, who finished by writing something on a slip of paper torn from her notebook, which he When the Great War began, the activities of asked her to post. The incident was forgotten the Naval and Military League were multiplied. until twenty years later, when during the Great Its leaders—Mary Murray, who had come to The War a reservist made inquiries regarding her. Salvation Army in evening dress, and Martha ' If you see her,' he said, ' tell her that letter Chippendale"' who had come in clogs and shawl— reconciled us.' were beloved of all the servicemen. In many parts of the world they read letters sent to them by their In due course Mary Murray followed the troops ' Colonel' Mary Murray, reflecting a sturdy over the border into the Transvaal. Volksrust religion worthy of a soldier's daughter right was but a handful of houses on the veldt, a stone through. She imparted this sturdiness to the railway station and a tiny church and chapel. All servicemen, and saved many from yielding to around them were trenches and soldiers, though temptation. Soldiers' wives found their way to the Dutch inhabitants were carrying on as usual— her office, and her bright presence and under• children playing, biltong hanging from the rafters, standing mind did much to lighten the burden of and women baking in the open with their Dutch those dark days. Her whimsical humour, too, ovens. often saved a difficult situation. Here Mary secured the use of a tiny corrugated iron house, which a military ofiice'r christened In August, 1914, Mary Murray crossed to ' Salvation Cottage.' Every night Meetings were Belgium and actually watched the Germans held, and in a few days the little room was packed. marching into Brussels. She was able to leave, After one particularly big ' jam,' Mary asked one however, and return to England. The Salvation of the soldiers if he had enjoyed the service. ' Yes, Army's work with the expeditionary force was Sister, very much,' was the reply, ' But I have been organized by other Officers. She herself was sitting on nothing ! ' As late arrivals pushed in he always struggling with weakness of the body. had been squeezed further and further, till he Heart attacks %vould seize her, but she refused to had completely lost his foundation! give in. The thought of death had no terrors for lier. When one day she heard of the passing of a Night after night men were found seeking comrade who had suffered much, her face lit up as Christ. Even here Tommy's sense of fun would she said, ' I'm so glad, so glad ! How happy she out. Some of the tents took to flying flags of truce ; must be now! ' Heaven was very near and dear they had surrendered to the Sisters! Others to Mary Murray. posted sentries warning their mates : ' Booth's guns were about to open fire ! ' To the end of her life, though retired from Veldt campaigning over, Mary Murray re• ' active service,' she went on with her work for turned to the Old Country, where she was placed in charge of The Salvation Army's Naval and * See ' Salute to a Mill Girl' in this series.

14 15 L others. When she could not see to write, a friend wrote her letters for her. Wherever need was, there was she—to help if possible. In a little flat at Hurlingham, close to the river OTHER ' LIBERTY ' BOOKLETS Thames, she spent her last years. During the Threepence each Munich crisis, evacuation from London was sug• gested, she being over seventy and almost blind. SALUTE TO A MILL GIRL (Martha Chippendale, M.B.E.) But Lieut.-Colonel Murray refused to go. She By Frederick L. Coutts. would be needed, she declared, to look after FIGHTING SWEEP (Elijah Cadman) soldiers ! By H. Benjamin Blackwell. Two months later, rifle' shots rang out in a TWO MEN IN THE SNOW (Jack Stoker) soldiers' salute, and the Last Post was sounded By Reginald Woods. for her. A SCOT IN ZULULAND (J. AUister Smith, O.F.) Perhaps she is still looking after soldiers. Who By Catherine Baird. better fitted to stand on the other side and wel• ' I HAD NO REVOLVER ' (Edwin Sheard) come her men as they answer the call, than Mary By Frederick L. Coutts. Murray, General's daughter and soldiers' friend? LARGER LIFE-STORIES

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