Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-11-14
Gen. Funston Is O. Small Man
Holding o. High PLGce--CGndJer

eral Malone, General Gordon, General
Walker. General Dole, General Armi-
! stead. General Kemper, General Smith,
General Hoke, General Ramseur. Gener-
al Wright, General Posey, General COrse,
General Garrett. General PEN
lining, General Kershaw. General Lane,
General Kirkland and General Stewart.
and in many other commands. These
extraordinary movements of divine grace
were not discouraged by General Lee and
General Jackson. They were far too in
Itelligent and far too devout to perpetrate
any such foolish performance as that
which General Funston has now eX-
ecuted.
The spirit of the great captains is
beautifully illustrated by a passage from
the book entitled. Christ in the Camp"
written by DR.. ]. William Jones, one of
Lees chaplains. which reads as follows:
| Let us go some bright Sabbath morn
ing to that cluster of tents in the grove
across the MassaponaX, not far from
| Hamiliton's Crossing. Seated on the
rude logs. or on the ground, may be seen
fifteen hundred or two thousand men,
with upturned faces. eagerly drinking In
the dust during prayer, or listens with
| sharpened attention and moist eyes as
1.-THE preacher delivers his message, is our
loved Commander-in-Chief. General r. f.
i Lee: that devout worshipper who sits at
his side. gives his personal attention to
the seating of the multiure, looks so SUI
/ premely happy as he sees the soldiers
/ thronging to hear the Gospel. and lis
tens so attentively to the preaching. is
| Stonewal' Jackson; those 'wreaths and
stars which cluster around are worn by
some Of the illustrious generals of that
iarmy; and all through the congregation
the stars and bars mingle with the
rought garb of the unknown heroes Of
the rank and file. who never quail amid
! the leaden and iron hail of battle, but
who are not ashamed to 'tremble' under
the power Of Gods truth. I need not
say that this is Jackson's headquarters,
and the scene have pictured one Of fire.
quent occurrence"
| If General Funston had been a COM
mander in the Army OF Virginia, OF
course he would not have attended such
| a service; but who can think of such
a man being a commander in that great
/ army? Such a small martinez would
| have been utterly out of place I'm assoc
citation with Robert Z. Lee, Stonewall
Jackson. John B. Gordon, Alfred Col
quit and Clement A. Evans. He could
not have endured companionship with
men of such lofty character, and he
would have been stili more intolerable
/ to them.
This incident does not concern the
Baptists alone. If General Funston
| can thus deal with that great de-
nomination, he can deal with every
other Church in the country after
| the same manner, and tell all the
christian bodies of the land what
their ministers may, or may not,
preach to the soldiers. and what sort
OF services they may, or may not,
hold The matter should be brought
/ to the notice of the authorities at
Washington, that this man may be
taught a lesson in military decency
and propriety. The American people i
VIII not tamely submit to have
such self-constituted censor OF
religious teaching and christian
methods. On what hath this little
4 soldier of fortune fed that he has
grown so great?
1t is to be hoped that DIR. Gambrell
! and his friends will not delay to take
/ up the matter with the War Department.
/ They owe this duty to themselves and
| to the religious people of America of
all denominations.
The soldiers on the border are not in
| danger of too much religion becoming
prevalent among them. The moral dan
gers which beset them are even greater
than the bodily perils to which they NAV
be exposed. At this time they are NOT
! in active campaigning, but are assem-
bled I'm camps, and have much leisure
IL
both as men and soldiers, than religious
services Of the most fervent character.
They may have to go eventually into
Mexico. where their religious privileges
VIII not be so good even as I'm the camps
which they now occupy. The present
time cannot be better employed than In
promoting their moral and spiritual well
fare.
Doubtless they need much drilling
and military training, but the spirit Of
the men is matter of far more i'm
portance than any mere experiences in
the execution of military tacticse. Even
the ungOdly Napoleon perceived and
said that in war the moral element in
an army is worth ten times as much
as the physical element. In this view
the great Corsican was in perfect agree
ment with all the notable commanders
of armies in Chritendom. So thought
Cromwell, so believed Marlborough, and
Washington and Lee. But the little
general from Kansas who has had prec-
ious little military experience save that
which he had in Cuba and the Philip
pine Islands, evidently is disposed to
reverse the judgment OF all these great
captains.
Under General Funston's command
are thousands of men who have been
brought up under the influence of the
Baptist faith, and still more thousands
who have been taught to believe that
men are lost sinners, and who have
been blest in other days by great re-
| vivals of religion. He has no right
to Interfere with the religious liberty
| Of these men, nor to discredit the chris
/ tian beliefs and practices of the pray
ing fathers and mothers, whom they
/ have left behind as they have gone
forth at the command of their coun-
try. His conduct in this matter is a.
piece of intolerable tyranny, which
ought not TO be endured for a moment
Sono+ov Sno;tb TbonLoI