“From Greenland’s icy mountains, From India’s coral strand, Where Afric’s sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand, From many an ancient river, From many a palmy plain, They call us to deliver Their land from error’s chain.” Another was: “Must Jesus bear the Cross alone, And all the world go free? No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me.” Our favorite was: “Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow thee, Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shalt be. Perish every fond ambition, All I’ve sought, or hoped, or known, Yet how rich is my condition, God and Heaven are still my own!” This hymn exactly expressed our situation at the time. Here at the top of the “Mount of Flowers” we took up our cross, determined to follow Jesus, even unto death. Here we forsook all our fond worldly ambitions. Heretofore we had dreamed of becoming great men of the world, either statesmen or soldiers, or business men, perhaps millionaires. Human nature is the same everywhere. Young people are always dreaming of great things, but now we had chosen to become “naked, poor, despised, forsaken,” for Christ’s sake. Here we took our firm stand, and prepared to face a storm of persecution, which was just bursting upon us, to crush and overthrow this little band of forty boys. Then, as the last act of our dedication service, I offered a prayer of consecration for all. Thus armed with power from above we descended the hill, singing and rejoicing. This was indeed a bold challenge to the enemies of Christianity. As soon as the meeting of the Christian boys at the Mount of Flowers was known abroad, our persecutors took stronger measures. Many of the Christian boys were taken out of the school and imprisoned in their own homes, or other places, being cut off entirely from their Christian friends in the school, and subjected to very severe treatment, in some cases even to cruelty. In the home of one of the boys the mother was so grieved over her son becoming a Christian that, when she saw no simple persuasion would avail to turn his heart from following Jesus, she betook herself to a last resort. In the olden days the high class ladies in Japan carried small swords in their bosoms as a means of protection; so now, with her sword in her hand, she faced her boy and demanded an immediate renunciation of his Christian faith. And in case he would not do so within twenty-four hours, she threatened to commit suicide, to atone for the sin of dishonoring her ancestors by letting her son become a follower of an “unclean religion.”