New-York tribune., 1900-08-19
THE RELIGION OF THE BoERs.

Colonel Arthur Lynch, the commander of the
Irish Brigade in the Boer army, con-
tributes to THE Independent" an inter
esting article on the religion of the Beers. At
the beginning of the war the Beers were so
astonished at their success that they felt it
must be due to the special favor Of the Deity
They declared that a gigantic angel on a white
horse led them into battle and many of them
asserted that they had seen this angel One
of those who had been favored had been an
atheist and a horse thief. He at once ceased
to be an atheist; but Colonel Lynch dryly adds
that he did not cease to steal horses. Even in
telligent and educated citizens Of Pretoria i'm
plicitly believed in this angel story. OF course
the time came when they We're forced to con-
clude that for some reason the Lord had re-
moved the angel, and in casting about for a
cause they laid it to "the luxury and Babylonish
character in general of the burghers' way Of
'1ife! And this explanation will doubtless go
down in BOer history as one of the reasons for
their defeat.
Colonel Lynch did not find that the long
prayers or the frequent singing of psalms had
any effect in discouraging lOOtng. "One of
my men taxed Boer with this. He said
You are set of hypocrites and bad men, for
you pray all day and steal our horses at
night The BOer remained calm and seri-
'ous. No he replied. you are the bad men,
" for you steal horses and you do not pray
Another little instance of moral obliquity was
that in which | observed a Boer stealing a
/ "Bible-a fine, illuminated Bible 1 charged
him with the theft. He replied that he was
going to take it home to his PASTOR
President Krugers religion is of most primi-
tive type. He is a sort of lay Pope in the sect
of Doppers, and it was he who at the beginning
of the war announced to the Beers as if by
divine authority, that God was on their side
He consulted the Bible at every point in the
campaign. and inspired the soldiers with cour-
age by reciting to them some of the "cursing'
Psalms. The battlefags were decorated with
texts and ministers were appointed to go from
laager to laager to rouse the dropping by fiery
Biblical exhOrtations Colonel Lynch says:
was present at the first war council held
after the retreat from LadySTnith, and I a
little astonlshed 10 near the Generalss1m9 OF
our forces open proceedings with prayer which
lasted something like half an hour, and which
was a fervent appeal to the Deity to help us
in such gloomy hour and in such trials
as awaited US. From a religious point of view
the prayer eloquent and admirable, but
its tendency was completely to damp our hopes
OF ever recovering the ground we had lost.
The writer sums up by saying that the re-
ligion Of the Beers is genuine. 1t is not a
mask of hypocrisy, in spite of appearances
They have simply failed to make their religious
beliefs tell in their daily conduct. But, un-
fortunately, they are by no means the only re-
ligious people who have so failed. Instead Of
helping them in the war, the religion of the
Beers was really a source of weakness TO them
for 1t prevented them from seeing themselves
as they really were. and from estimating at
their true value the forces arrayed against
them. The foolish belief in the angel actually
made the Beers careless and absurdly confident
Nor is that all; for the discovery that it had no
basis in fact will doubtless uproot the religious
faith of many young Beers, who will conclude
by a natural reaction that every other religious
tenet is just baseless.