At the age of six, Elijah Cadman—an unusually small boy and the youngest of five—became a chimney sweep. He began his day’s work at four in the morning and was forced to climb inside chimneys to remove soot, dirt, ash and dust until he was 13, when a law was passed that prevented boys from being used as sweeps.
Elijah as a boy
From the age of six he was often drunk, and by the time he was 17 he could “fight like a devil and drink like a fish.” He was a popular boxer in his city and his powerful fists were said to carry “sudden death” by his supporters. He would often fight to win the chance to date a rival’s girlfriend. “Look here,” Elijah would say to a girl’s boyfriend, “let’s fight it out and let the best man take her.” The rival would agree and would receive such a beating that Elijah would feel sorry for him. Having won the fight he could afford to be generous. Turning to his fallen opponent he said: “Look here, I’ve won her, but you can have her!”
At the age of 21 he approached a street preacher whom he’d intended to tease. When he heard the man speak about sin, death and hell, he began to feel uneasy. He threw his boxing gloves to a friend and declared there would be no boxing that day. He went to a local church that night and still found no peace. A young woman approached him as he left the chapel and invited him to a meeting on a Monday night. That service made a powerful impression on Elijah’s mind as people spoke honestly about their struggles and their victories over temptation. “I’m lost!” Elijah cried, “I’m afraid of death!” The leader of the meeting told him of Christ’s power to save and urged him to renounce all sin and trust in God’s power. He did not become a Christian that night but left the meeting crying: “I’m going to fight for God, not the Devil!”
It wasn’t until the tough fighter knelt to pray at his bedside, giving himself fully to the Lord, that the storms of his heart and mind ceased. Elijah was a converted man and knew it. “I saw a Form and a Face,” he said afterwards, “and all my burdens, darkness, clouds and horror were gone, and there was abounding joy. My eyes were full of tears and my heart of gladness. I dressed, ran downstairs, nearly tumbling over my master’s wife who was sitting on the lowest stair. ‘I’ve seen Jesus Christ!’ I told her.” Out of the house he ran, along the streets, telling everyone the good news on his way to church.
The preacher was beginning his sermon when Elijah arrived. As he spoke, Elijah was so carried away by his new experience that he shouted, and continued to shout, whenever the name of Jesus was mentioned. The congregation was upset by these outbursts, but nothing could keep this converted boxer down for long. That same night he stood in public and declared to all men that Christ had saved his soul.
Elijah began to equip himself for a new warfare. He learned to pray earnestly; in private and, after a hard struggle, in public. He began to study the Bible. Unable to read, he hired a boy to read the word of God to him and committed large portions to memory. He began to talk for Christ in the city streets, in the towns, before bars, in halls and spoke of his new joy. He sought to win others for Christ and soon won a number of his friends to this new way of life.
Cadman spent every spare moment preaching the gospel. His type of religion, proclaimed in simple language, attracted the working men of his day, and men crowded to hear him. One day his brother-in-law brought him a red-covered song book that was published by a Rev. William Booth. Elijah was thrilled with the powerful spirit of these songs and in the summer of 1876, he sold his house and moved his wife and children to become an evangelist in William Booth’s Christian Mission.
The Cadman Family
Cadman was unable to read or write until at the age of 22, when he was taught to read by his young wife. He made quick progress and soon displayed an amazing ability with words. His reports to The Christian Mission Magazine provided not only God-glorifying reading but also a high degree of entertainment.
Soon the Cadman’s were sent to begin work (or “open fire”) in Whitby, England where the local citizens, expecting England to go to war at any moment against Russia, were fascinated by a poster announcing that the “Hallelujah Army” was declaring “War in Whitby” under the command of “Captain Cadman”. As a result, 3,000 people regularly attended his meetings, and when William Booth, the General Superintendent of The Christian Mission, visited the town, Cadman announced that “the General of the Hallelujah Army” was coming to “Review the Troops”.
He established the Army’s work in many places, to the loss of those who exploited men’s evil passions, and to the glory of God and the lasting improvement of hundreds of homes. He was ever organizing, advising, teaching, holding Meetings. He was also the inventor of Salvation Army uniform, declaring at the fledgling Army’s War Congress in August 1878: “I would like to wear a suit of clothes that would let everyone know I meant war to the teeth and salvation for the world.”
Elijah was successful in ministering to many types of men, including fighters, wife-beaters, drunkards and gamblers. This skill made him the perfect leader to undertake the development of the Men’s Social Work when, in 1890, William Booth’s great book, In Darkest England created support to end the injustices against Britain’s poor.
High position and honor did not affect Elijah Cadman’s simplicity, sincerity and directness. He brought his creative mind and love for the lost to his new appointment and was anxious that no poor man should feel friendless. His posters declared:
NO HOMELESS OR DESTITUTE MAN
WHO IS WILLING TO WORK NEED BEG,
STEAL, STARVE, SLEEP OUT AT NIGHT,
BE A PAUPER, OR COMMIT SUICIDE.
Ten years after he began this work, it is estimated that Cadman helped provide 30,000,000 meals, shelter for 12,500,000 men and guide 13,750 men in accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. After this, ‘Fiery Elijah’ became a world missionary and carried on the fight against the enemy of men’s souls in the West Indies, South Africa, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Scandinavia and Germany.
Thousands began to follow Christ as a result of this undaunted little warrior, whose boyhood was so marred and whose manhood was so handicapped, but who all through his long life fought bravely against the heaviest odds-and won!
For more information about Elijah Cadman check out “Fighting Sweep” by H. Benjamin Blackwell.
(Compiled and edited from the International Heritage Centre Website)
Youth Department