. One
of his marshals, who with his troops had not arrived in time for the
conflict, came up during the retreat. Napoleon said to him, "We have lost
the battle." "It seems so, sire," was the reply, "but there is still time
to fight another." Encouraged by the words of his marshal, Napoleon
rallied his troops, attacked the enemy, and won a great victory.

If defeated, never count that defeat final. Attack the foe again and keep
at it till you win. Bravery is a quality of mind and soul. You may be weak
in body, you may be timid and shrinking, but if you will, your soul may
rise above all this and wax strong in God. Courage is the basis of your
strength. It will bring strength from God. But should he give you ever so
much strength, only through courage can you make use of it.

TALK FORTY-SEVEN. "BUT JESUS SENT HIM AWAY" (LUKE 8: 38)

How natural it is for us to desire to be in the presence of the Master, to
walk with him, to talk with him, and to behold his wondrous works! How
pleasant to sit at his feet and learn of him! How often we think of those
who enjoyed walking with him over the hills of Judea and wish for
ourselves that glorious privilege! It is our privilege, though our natural
eyes can not see him, to dwell in his presence, to commune with him, and
to learn the deep things of God. In the secret closet we often seem to be
very near to him, and how our souls would love to remain there, but
ofttimes, like the man out of whom the devils were cast, we are not
permitted to remain with the Lord; he sends us away.

When we feel ourselves apart from him, it is not always because we have
wandered away, for often he finds it needful to send us away for some
purpose. Even those who were privileged to be his closest companions while
on earth were sent away from him from time to time on various missions.
Sometimes he sent them with the message, "Go and tell." Obedience to this
took them away from his presence. Their eyes no longer saw his mighty
works, nor did their ears hear his gracious words. They did not have the
support of his presence, but found themselves apart from the Master. So we
must often go out from him with a message, and, being apart from him in a
sense, we shall ofttimes find ourselves needy and seeming to go on our own
strength; but we must daily bear his message to the people, and while we
are bearing it, what wonder if we are lonely sometimes? Like the
disciples, however, when we have spoken ou