120 
Editorial. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
February,  1918. 
stand  the  loss  of  men  of  the  type  of  Hallberg,  Wilbert,  Caspari  and 
Holzhauer  and  not  suffer  severely  from  the  resulting  disorganiza- 
tion. More  appalling  the  loss,  greater  the  disorganization,  that  will 
result  from  the  decease  of  Professor  Joseph  P.  Remington,  who 
for  many  years  has  been  recognized  both  at  home  and  abroad  as 
the  commanding  figure  in  American  pharmacy. 
Great  leaders  are  not  born  as  such.  It  is  true  that  certain  in- 
nate qualifications  are  essential,  but  to  personal  ambition  and  to 
personal  efforts  and  developments  must  be  attributed  that  success 
of  an  individual  that  continues  to  lead  to  advanced  standing  and 
greater  influence  until  the  goal  of  preeminence  and  acknowledged 
leadership  is  achieved.  Back  of  all  of  these  there  must  be  ideals, 
predominant  personal  characteristics  that  point  the  path  of  prog- 
ress, some  perpetual  spring  of  incentive  as  a  guiding  influence. 
In  the  great  leader  whose  recent  decease  we  mourn  and  whose 
influence  will  extend  through  many  generations  of  oncoming  phar- 
macists, there  were  strong  personal  characteristics,  some  of  which 
have  been  dwelt  upon  by  his  eulogists.  There  was,  however,  another 
well-spring  upon  which  Professor  Remington  greatly  relied  that  has 
scarcely  been  touched  upon  by  his  many  sorrowing  friends. 
His  faith  in  the  power  of  prayer  and  his  reliance  upon  Divine 
guidance  and  support  was  beautifully  illustrated  in  an  incident  that 
occurred  some  years  ago.  We  had  been  together  one  afternoon  in 
a  conference  on  an  important  question.  That  night,  with  the  weight 
of  the  responsibility  on  his  mind,  he  wrote  to  me  from  Longport: 
"  I  am  writing  this  in  the  "  sma  wee  "  hours,  but  I  must  write  you  my 
impressions  of  the  meeting  this  afternoon.  You  and  I  have  a  grave 
responsibility ;  we  must  work  together.  I  know  that  you  are  accus- 
tomed to  bear  loads  and  that  you  do  not  trust  to  your  own  strength 
in  your  trials ;  neither  do  I ;  if  I  did,  I  would  have  been  sponged  out 
long  ago.  .  .  .  Let  us  unite  in  prayer  about  this — I  know  that  you 
look  for  strength  from  above — and  this  may  sound  strange  from 
one  whom  you  may  have  associated  in  your  mind  as  thinking  and 
believing  in  nothing  but  pharmacy — but  I  have  for  many  years  be- 
lieved in  special  and  definite  supplication  for  guidance  and  I  know 
that  you  do  also." 
This  is  only  a  glimpse  at  the  inner  man,  the  true  Christian  char- 
acter, that  shows  the  power  that  gave  to  him  strength  and  endurance 
under  most  trying  circumstances,  and  made  him  preeminent. 
This  additional  tribute  to  the  purity  of  his  thought  is  due  to 
