Then I need not say that we want men of ability. We do not want
a man who cannot succeed anywhere in this country. A gentleman
wrote me once recommending his pastor as a candidate for foreign
missions. He had understood that it was not necessary for a mission-
ary to preach as ministers preach in this country ; that they only
wanted a good, careful, prudent man, who would not do anything very
foolish and never anything very wise. He thought his pastor was just
the man that ought to go to the heathen ; he was so much in advance of
the heathen. I tell you, Mr. Chairman, there are not so many of us
that are in advance of the heathen. The intellect of the Hindoo, of the
Chinaman, of the Japanese, will put you to your mettle when you come
in contact with them.
We also want men of good sound common sense — not simply
mental ability, but we want the roundaboutness of common sense.
We want a man who will look at things with an even eye, a man who
will not be suddenly moved by unpropitious junctures of circumstances,
a man whose expectations of success, whose demands upon the people
for whom he labors, will not be too extravagant. We want a man who
can take a common sense view o'f the problems that are presented to
him and of the work that is committed to his hands.
We must have men of good repute, so we are obliged to look up
the record of every man who comes to us asking for an appointment.
