place should have the
spirit exhibited by Alexander Duff when he said: "Having set my hand
to the plough my resolution was, the Lord helping me, never to look
back any more and never to make a half-hearted work of it. Having
chosen missionary labor in India, I gave myself up wholly to it in the
destination of my own mind. I united or wedded myself to it in a
covenant the bands of which shall be severed only by death."

May our Living Leader give to his men the spirit expressed by Edmund
Burke when he said: "The nerve that never relaxes, the eye that never
blenches, the thought that never wanders: these are the masters of
destiny."

In Ladd's _Rare Days in Japan_, reference is made to a telegram
received by Mr. Matsukata, the President of the shipbuilding company
at Kawasaki, from Admiral Togo just two days before the battle of the
Sea of Japan. Admiral Togo had received the following order from the
Emperor: "Find and destroy the Russian fleet." Because of the weight
of his responsibility it is said that Togo ate or slept but little for
several days after receiving the Emperor's order. His mind must have
been filled with thoughts such as these: "Where was the Russian fleet?
Where could he find it? And if he did find it, how could he destroy
it?" In those hours of anxiety he formed one plan and abandoned it,
thought out another scheme and gave it up. Finally he determined upon
his course of action and wired Mr. Matsukata, "After a thousand
different thoughts now one fixed purpose."

There are a thousand demands upon the time and strength of the modern
man. They are bewildering and often conflicting. The Christian man is
not less busy than the man of the world, and insistent calls are
ringing in his ears every hour. The Church is increasingly needing his
strength and leadership. The state calls, the city makes large drafts
on his strength. What shall he do? What causes are most worth while?
How shall he spend his energy and his money? What is the most alluring
task? Let him choose the highest and the greatest way to spend his
life. _If the missionary principle is not unalterably entrenched in
the citadel of your life will you not resolve before you put this book
down that henceforth all life shall be built around the one purpose
which is most worth while;--to let life run out to the end rich and
deep and full in the plans of God for the world?_

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm