King's Business - 1917-02

THE KING’S BUSINESS 103 be rebuked by those in authority, and that he ought at least to be instructed to keep within his proper sphere and not enter a sphere for which he is entirely incapacitated by his evident ignorance along those lines. His action in this matter is in striking contrast with that of Major General Brooke, who was over the 60,000 soldiers gathered at Ghicamauga Park during the Spanish-American war. Major General Brooke was i man of real military ability. He had attained to his position in the regular way, by promotion in the regular order. He had been thoroughly trained fo f military life, and not in the irregular way in which General Funston got into the regular army. The writer of the present editorial was preaching at Chicamauga during the Spanish-American war, and had occasion to call on Major General Brooke, and was most courteously received. General Brooke (fid everything properly in his power to further tlje work done by ministers of the different denominations, Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. Neither chaplains nor the workers sent out by the Young Men’s Christian Association were instructed as to what they should preach. Of course they were required to observe the laws and general regulations of the army, as they should be, but they were given every opportunity consistent with military discipline. Men were told that they were lost, and were told how to he saved by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, and hundreds of the men, yes thousands of them, did accept Christ at Chicamauga and went back to their homes better men than they came. Through their conversion the army was greatly improved and the difficulties that arose in connection with intemperance and impurity were very much lessened because 6f the revivals that occurred in camp. General Funston’s peculiar action in this matter was in striking con­ trast with that of one of the bravest and ablest generals in our Civil war, Major General O. O. Howard, at the breaking out of the Spanish-American war. General O. O. Howard was one of the two great heroes of the battle of Gettysburg. Congress passed a unanimous vote of thanks to him for his stand at the battle of Gettysburg. He was a military commander of the very highest order. >This he proved over and over again during the Civil war, and after­ wards in the'Indian wars. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he had already been retired because of age. Except for this retirement he would have been Lieutenant General. At the outbreak of the war he offered his services to the government, though retired by age. It was felt that there was no position high enough for a man of his abilities to which he should be appointed. As he could not be accepted, his two sons went to the war. One of them, Col. Guy Howard, was killed in the Philippines. As Major General Howard could not be accepted for a regular command, he went to the camps to preach. He did not hesitate to tell soldiers that they were lost. He knew that men who were brought to realize that, they were lost and then brought to accept Jesus Christ made the best soldiers.' He himself had been converted before the' Civil war through being brought to know that he was a lost sinner, converted indirectly through another great General. General Funston’s conduct is also in striking contrast with that of some of the greatest generals and one of the bravest admirals in the present war across the seas. General Sir William Robertson has recently said: “I feel that even yet too many of us are putting an undue amount of trust in ‘chariots and horses.’ We may confidently rely upon our soldiers and sailors fighting bravely, and count upon having abundant ammunition, but we must not stop at that. . . . A serious determination on the part of the Nation to seek and deserve' Divine help would, we may hope, enable

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