Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1900-05-26

They Have Always Reen WeIl-Nfgh
UncOnquerable Foes.

Before a recent battle in Natal the
Beers are reported to have stood on
their kopjes with barred heads singing
the hymns that all the Transvaal
know from earliest childhood. These
religious songs, handed down from
generations, are ruggedly strong and
simple. Beyond almost any other
branch of the white race, the South
African burghers are openly devout.
Their prayers are not secret nor their
psalms chanted apart from their daily
vocations. An English writer refers
to them as ''satura 4 with the bible"
Their remarkable OLD president is en-
deared to them because he often goes
into the pulpit to deliver a sermon,
and one replete with living interest,
as were the discourses of Sturgeon.
In the scenes of war, as at home. the
Beers are a praying people, sturdily
and Sternly piouS, no matter if some
would call them narrow. They are
temperate, truthful and not unkindly.
Have the British people fully estimat
ed the military strength of 10000 or
$4,000 men of this moral fiber. fight
ing with their homes at their backs?
If not, then a glance over the history
of what soldiers of the religious type
have done will clear away some of the
illusions as to the seriousness of the
task.
In the sacred book which the Beers
are said to be extraordinarily familiar
the people in the foreground
praying and fighting race, a people
who passed through every phase of
battle, seige, enslaved captivity and
migration. Even the women had the
warlike spirit and, like Miriam, sang
the fervent songs of triumph and de-
Hyerance. Time has proved that such
strain of blood, founded on stable
religious ground, cannot be eXtermin-
ated, but holds its place in the affairs
of the world. While not nation it is
a part of all nations, and it's theology
and moral code tinge the most advanc-
ed civilization. The crusades of the
middle ages turned Europe into a re-
igious camp and the prodi ous
marches and battles of that era were
marked by constant prayer and relig-
ious song. Modern records present
the same phenomena. The praying
soldier is a mighty man in the earth's
annals Cromwell's roundheads could
not be shaken in defense nor resisted
in attack. They, too, sang hymns on
the battlefield and were brought up on
scripture. New England's pilgrims
carried hymn book in one hand and
rifle in the other. Penn was a man of
peace physically, but with a military
spirit in the ethics that must not be
disparaged in the government and de-
velopment of mankind.
Gustavus Adolphus was a religious
monitor well a great and victor
ious general. His soldiers prayed
openly they fought their way
through a third of Europe. Our own
age has produced military leaders like
Havelock and StonewaH Jackson, inn
bued with religious zeal and yet sol
diers of the ablest type. Nor must
the animating purpose of fighting Or
iental races be forgotten when this
subject is reckoned with. The hosts
of Mohammed were checked at last on
the plains of France. Not many years
ago the dervishes, armed with knives
and lances, flung themselves on Brit
ish squares and repeating rifles No
antagonist is more stubborn or reck-
less of danger than the Turk of today.
Before his religious chants the Greek
army recently melted away in panic,
defeated even before the battle was
joined. With the Orientals religion
may be fatalistic fanaticism, but
with the Beers it is a profound moral
principle. He accepts it as an ele-
ment to be frankly declared in his
everyday actions, in the army as well
as in his quiet community and home.
He is no ordinary foeman- To van
quish $4,000 such men in their own
rocky fastHess, is an undertaking of
unknown magnitude.