THE KING’S BUSINESS 201 contained no implication that a man, “because he had put on his country’s uniform was necessarily lost, or worse than other men.” This is puerile fool ishness. General Funston goes on with an attempted definition of a revival. His words are, “I am justified in giving the word ‘revival’ its usually accepted meaning—a series of meetings Continuing day and night for an indefinite period, with loud exhortation and singing and much emotionalism.” If General Funston had known anything about the Subject about which he attempts to write .he would have known perfectly well that this is not the “usually accepted meaning” of the word “revival.” Revivals are very seldom, if ever, character ized by meetings “continuing day and night for an indefinite period.” In some revivals there are meetings in the day time and also at night, one lasting an hour in the day time and another meeting at night lasting from one to two or three hours, but that is not “ continuing day and night,” revival meetings seldom if ever continue day and night. . Neither are revivals universally or generally characterized with “loud exhortation and much emotionalism.” Of course, some revivals are, but not such revivals as would be conducted under the auspices of the Secretary of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention. There was a revival in the camp at Chickamauga during the Spanish-American war. Many meetings were held, and there were many con versions, very much to the help of the morals of the army, but seldom, if ever, were there meetings covering an hour in the day time and an hour in the night time in the same regiment. There was no loud exhortation, nor was there much emotionalism, but there were many radical changes of character. General Funston asks, “How about the rights-of men who do not want to attend revivals and who do not wish to be disturbed by them ? Are they to be compelled to leave the camp, which is their home, and wander about down town or through fields to get away from them ? -Has a man no rights because he is a soldier ?” I f General Funston had taken the time to look into the matter, and had given the matter some calm thought he would have known perfectly well that there would be no infringement upon the rights of men who did not wish to attend the meetings. They would not be compelled to attend, and there would be plenty of places in camp where they would not be disturbed. They would not have had to leave camp nor to be bothered. The writer is writing from experience in this kind of work in the camp at Chickamauga during the Spanish- American war. As a matter of fact, a very large proportion of the soldiers did elect to come to the meetings, but they were not required to come; they were not disturbed if they did not come. General Funston goes on to say, “There are many religious people who disapprove strongly of revivals, with their attendant emotionalism. And, anyhow, be a man religious or irreligious, be he Christian, Hebrew b r Mohammedan, no other person has a right to rub his belief or his worship into his face—that is, to bring it into the place where he has a right to be, and where he cannot escape from it without abandoning that place.” This hardly needs an answer. There is never an attempt, in meetings of the character that Rev. Mf. Cambrell wished to hold, to rub ones belief or worship into the face of another, and as already said, any one who does not wish to attend the meetings can escape -without difficulty and without abandoning the place where he has a right to be at that particular time. The tone of the whole letter is saddening. The General has evidently lost his temper, which is a very bad thing for a General to do anyhow. He seems to realize more or less clearly that his action was unjustifiable and indefensible by reason
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