A reminder of Darkest England

I had a nice reminder as to why I do what I do when we had a family day out in Leeds and went to the Leeds Art Gallery. There is an exhibition entitled Rank: Picturing The Social Order 1615-2009. It shows how art has been used to describe society down the ages. Prominent amongst the exhibits is a floor-to-ceiling version of the frontispiece to General William Booths classic book Darkest England and the Way Out. Taking Dr Livingstone's tagline describing Africa as the Dark Continent, it made a case that Victorian Britain was just as dark and needed rescuing. His Social Campaign depicted the problems of the country as drowning in a sea of depravations, amongst which were vice, drunkeness, despair, Jack and Ripper and Idiotcy!

Booths plan was Salvation - the rescue of all of those in that dark sea. But Salvation was not restricted to getting them out of the drink - they were to be patched up, given education and then opportunities given here or in the colonies and other places. I was reminded that Salvation is not just a spritual one and doesn't stop at a soup kitchen. We, as a society, need to go further and bring people back in from the dark. Like the Kingdom of God, Booth saw some of it happen in his time and but not all of it. I am glad, and today somewhat proud, to be albeit a small part of this great plan in my own way and place.

There is also another mention of the Army at the exhibition in a French satirical cartoon having a go at the British showing our hierarchical society with a procession headed by Army lasses in their bonnets! Can't interpret that one.

The exhibition is on until the end of April.